100 hidden aliens

Developer: Anatoliy Loginovskikh | Publisher: Anatoliy Loginovskikh | Release Date: 2020 | Genre: Casual / Hidden Object / Indie | Website: N/A | Purchase: Steam

After 100 Hidden Eternals added a few minor puzzle elements to the usual hidden object formula, 100 Hidden Aliens feels like a step backwards in terms of interactivity. As with the other entries in Anatoliy Loginovskikh’s “100 hidden” series, the premise is very simple. Players are presented with a black-and-white hand-drawn illustration and must find all 100 hidden objects scattered throughout it. This time, the objects are aliens, and the setting has a cosmic theme.

Unlike the gnomes in 100 Hidden Gnomes, where most targets looked similar and stood out immediately, the aliens here are strange little creatures with odd silhouettes. Some look like blobs, some resemble insects, and others appear to be little more than weird shapes with eyes or limbs. This does make them harder to identify at first, as players need a few moments to adjust to what the game actually considers an alien.

Unfortunately, once that initial adjustment is made, most of the aliens are still not particularly difficult to find. The majority can be spotted within seconds simply by scrolling through the illustration carefully. This makes 100 Hidden Aliens more challenging than 100 Hidden Gnomes, where the targets barely felt hidden at all, but less interesting than 100 Hidden Eternals or 100 Hidden Snails. Eternals at least had a few interactive elements and minor puzzles, while Snails benefited from a surreal art style that allowed its targets to blend into the background more effectively.

Gameplay is as basic as ever. Players scroll around the monochrome illustration and click on every alien they spot. Each alien found unlocks a Steam achievement, making this another quick option for achievement hunters. There are no timers, penalties, hints, mini-games, or puzzle mechanics to worry about. The game also includes the familiar options to press “N” for night mode and “Del” followed by “Esc” to reset achievements and progress.

The lack of puzzle elements is the biggest disappointment. After 100 Hidden Eternals experimented with objects that could be clicked, dragged, or manipulated to reveal hidden eternals, it is hard not to wish that 100 Hidden Aliens had done something similar. The cosmic theme would have been perfect for strange machinery, portals, or moving elements that could hide some of the aliens. Instead, the game returns to the most basic version of the formula, where everything is simply hidden somewhere in the picture.

Visually, 100 Hidden Aliens uses the same black-and-white cartoon style as many of the other entries. The cosmic setting gives the artwork a bit of personality, and the strange alien designs are amusing. However, the illustration is not as memorable as the surreal doodle style of 100 Hidden Snails or 100 Hidden Eternals. It is pleasant enough to scan through once, but it does not leave much of an impression afterward.

The audio is also very simple. The Steam description jokes that players should not be afraid of the alien music, and while the soundtrack fits the theme well enough, it is not something that elevates the experience in a meaningful way. Considering how short the game is, this is not a major issue, but a stronger soundscape could have helped give the cosmic setting more atmosphere.

Controls are exactly what players would expect. Everything is handled with the mouse, from scrolling through the image to clicking on the aliens. There is no complexity here, but the simplicity works for this type of game. Once all 100 aliens have been found, there is little reason to return unless players reset their progress and play again.

Overall, 100 Hidden Aliens is another very short and inexpensive hidden object game. It does exactly what it promises by hiding 100 aliens in a black-and-white cosmic illustration, but it offers very little beyond that. The varied alien shapes make the search slightly more interesting than 100 Hidden Gnomes, but the absence of puzzle elements makes it feel like a step down from 100 Hidden Eternals. Achievement hunters and fans of quick hidden object games may still enjoy it, but expectations should be kept low.