OVERLOOK is a Challenging and Clever Seek-and-Find Game

I can’t think of anyone in my life who doesn’t enjoy a hidden object game. I’ve loved them since I was a wee child and would pick up Highlights magazine at my doctor’s or dentist appointments. They’re something incredibly satisfying about being able to find tiny objects in a large canvas of tiny objects. I still pick up I Spy and Where’s Waldo? books at the library and play along. 

OVERLOOK is a hand-drawn hidden object game from developer omidjm. On the service it looks like any old hidden object game you’ve played in the past, but it has unique game mechanics that make it really stick out from the crowd. Not only are you looking for objects, but you’ll even help people with their problems by finding particular items and interacting with the environment. 

First of all, the game looks fantastic. Its hand drawn environments are colorful and fun. Everything goes so well together it isn’t obvious what parts of the world you can interact with until you’ve clicked on them. And discovering different ways to interact with the environment is half of the fun. You can open windows and doors, honk horns on cars, you can even collect tools like knives to cut through grass or shovels to dig holes in the ground.

Typically, I prefer hidden object games where finding the objects is the only goal. The reason for this is because once you’re required to play around with the environment, it becomes less a hidden object game and more a “click everything until you find something” game. For example, in one level there are a few vehicles lined up one after the other, and I clicked all of them wondering if a window or door would open and have the object I was looking for behind them - turns out you couldn’t open those windows or doors but there was a different set of vehicles where you could. It’s a small frustration, but it’s something worth mentioning if you’re not the biggest fan of pixel hunting by clicking frantically everywhere with your mouse.

Some levels are larger than others and will require a lot more work. Some have hidden areas where you’ll have to complete missions for people in order to unlock them. It’s honestly, a really clever idea, that makes the game much more than just a Where’s Waldo-like - even if that’s what I usually prefer. 

I’ll definitely be going back to OVERLOOK when I'm looking for a laid back and relaxed little puzzle game. The time I’ve spent with it so far has been really fun, even if there are some frustrations when it comes to having to click everything hoping for a discovery.

OVERLOOK is available now on Steam.