One More Go

Over the last handful of years, who hasn’t yearned for a safe space to hide away and gather themselves? In Hiding Spot, that’s exactly what your player character is doing. Room after room, floor after floor, you shuffle around furniture, creating cubbies enclosed on all sides, your avatar entombed within. Other than the satisfaction of a puzzle well solved, the overwhelming feeling when playing Hiding Spot is one of loneliness. Each room you enter is a carcass, the life it once held boxed and discarded, existing only to act as a barrier between the character and the world outside. There are no audio logs or any McGuffins to dole out narrative, so there are no explanations as to what’s happening. Just an empty building, and worn furniture to shove.

Hiding Spot is a game created by Corey Martin, the developer of Bonfire Peaks, though it released a few years earlier the formula of Martin’s games is already on full display. Each piece of furniture has its own set of rules, cabinet drawers can be opened or closed and tables can be toppled to create makeshift walls. As in Bonfire Peaks, the way these pieces interact start off simple, but with each new puzzle, the number of interactions grow, creating a challenging sequence of stages that will often leave you scratching your head.

Despite its sinister atmosphere, Hiding Spot is a playful game. Encouraging players to experiment with its building blocks. The ‘aha’ moments of a game like Hiding Spot don’t come from discovering the solution, but in identifying a hidden or surprise interaction. One puzzle that seemed impossible to me, was ultimately solved by placing a block on top of a table, allowing me to slide it into position upright rather than flipping it over. Something that was obvious in hindsight, but in the moment I was relying on the same methods that had worked in previous puzzles, rather than experimenting with new ideas that might work. Hiding Spot is a game with few pieces, and fewer mechanics, and yet it finds many ways to surprise and challenge players.

Hiding Spot is a much shorter game than bonfire peaks, containing 50 or so puzzles that will only take a few hours to work through, but in its short runtime it encapsulates everything I like about these games. Puzzles that grow in challenge and difficulty, novel and surprising interactions between pieces, and an evocative world to consider as you think through each stage. If you’re even slightly intrigued, Hiding Spot is a great entry into the genre, and a game I would wholeheartedly recommend.