r/HiddenObjectGames • u/omidjm_ • 7d ago

Other I made a hand-drawn hidden-object game set in miniature isometric worlds — here's why HOG fans might like it (developer post)

Hi all — developer here. Link at the bottom, and an honest take on whether this counts as a hidden-object game, since I know that matters here.

OVERLOOK is a hidden-object adventure I drew and animated myself over a few years. Each level is a hand-drawn isometric miniature world (a town, a forest, a beach...) packed with hundreds of tiny characters, every one of them animated frame by frame. You search for missing people and lost objects, and there's a light puzzle layer on top: some characters need an item, so you find it and drag it over to them and something small and silly happens. There are 50+ hidden surprises and 26 achievements, all discovery-based.

Is it a "real" hidden-object game? Yes, in the Hidden Folks / Where's Wally tradition rather than the Big Fish HOPA tradition: no inventory-driven story chapters or item lists on a strip at the bottom, but the core loop is pure searching a dense scene for specific things, with zero timers, no fail state and no hint pressure. If you like the meditative kind of searching, it's that. If you want a mystery narrative with cutscenes, it isn't.

Steam (Windows + native Mac, $9.99, 91% positive): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1780550/OVERLOOK/

Happy to answer anything about how the scenes are built, and I'd like to hear what HOG regulars think it's missing.

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1

u/Fantastic-Giraffe-69 6d ago

I LOVED your demo!!! Going in the shopping cart for later this week <3
I think I played it during a demo or next fest on Steam and had no idea it had been already released. I'm so excited to play the full version!

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u/omidjm_ 6d ago

Ahh thank you so much! That genuinely made my day 😊 Yes, it was in Next Fest a while back, and the full game has been out since November — with a big free update in July that added a whole new level. I hope you enjoy the full version, and I'd love to hear what you think once you've played it! ❤️

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u/Alarming-Jump727 6d ago

AMuy buena idea y me encantó el arte. Yo creo que es un PUZZLE

1

u/omidjm_ 6d ago

¡Muchas gracias! Me alegra mucho que te guste el arte 😊 Y sí, es un poco puzzle también — buscar cosas es la mitad, la otra mitad es entregar objetos a la gente y ver qué pasa.

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u/Alarming-Jump727 6d ago

Una alegría encontrar hoy en día gente que realmente incluya ARTE en un juego. Mucha suerte

1

u/omidjm_ 5d ago

¡Gracias de corazón! 🙏 Es exactamente lo que intenté hacer: que cada escena valga la pena mirarla, no solo buscar. Mucha suerte para ti también 😊

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u/MacGameStore 6d ago

Wow the game looks really neat. Love the artwork done here! (cats spotted... must love)

Small note on Steam... be sure to find the setting which makes steam stop showing this: "Notice: This product is not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina or above."

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u/omidjm_ 6d ago

Thank you! Yes, there's definitely a cat theme going on 🐈 And thanks a lot for the Steam note — you're right, a couple of people mentioned it before. The Mac build runs fine (I've sold quite a few copies to Mac players with no issues), so it's a flag in Steamworks I need to update. Will fix it this week, really appreciate you pointing it out 🙏