My Hidden Things (Review)
Source: Cashmoneys
Price: £6.19 (£2.09 for soundtrack)
Where to Get It: Steam
Dreams can be powerful things. Many believe they can tell us about a person. Their hopes, their fears… But the meaning is nearly always hidden, sometimes just by being personal, sometimes by being heavily symbolic. And, although it’s not always coherent… They can tell a story.
And that symbolism, finding it within a chaotic landscape, is what My Hidden Things is about. As well as a number of other subjects, like grief, finding yourself, dementia… All in a hidden object game where the objective is to make the objects from other ones, based on silhouettes. Not that you always see what you’re meant to make in the later levels, but… That’s your basics.
A black and white art style ensures most elements are easily visible, and colourblind friendly, although when it ends up black on black or white on white, it… Is annoying at best. And that does happen, occasionally. But mostly, it’s accessible, with minimalist music that nonetheless fits the mood. Sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it’s contemplative… But the simple stories are what got me.
Vignettes of lives, sometimes intertwining, and… One in particular being dark, the aforementioned dementia vignette, where you can see what they’re having trouble seeing, and understand where it’s going… Until Xary, your guide through these dreams, tells you… There’s nothing more you can do here.
I looked and felt a bit grim after that one… But I went the full rollercoaster with another, earlier one, where a child tries to come to terms with her dad being ill, and… Well, it has its rough spots, but the feelings aren’t all negative. Indeed, there’s most usually a mix of emotions in each little vignette.
This is a short game, but it knows what it’s aiming for, and I appreciate that. It wants to tell those stories, for you to see the symbolism, both in the objects you’re making (or what they turn into), and the rest of it. I would recommend this one to hidden object fans who want something a little different.
Generally speaking, I take a bundle of words and another bundle of words, and mash bits of them together to create a review. So I’m experienced in this sort of thing.