When it comes to casual-friendly games that are appropriate for all ages, hidden object puzzlers may be the most abundantly-represented on the Switch. Varying from more classic forms from yesteryear to more modern interpretations that have some value-added flair, there’s even a bit of variety. Among the most contemporary, doing things their own way, are the Hidden Through Time series titles.

With a very distinctive style of animation, these games don’t adhere to the classic mold of static items in some way integrated into the scenery, waiting for you to find them. Instead, more often than not what you’re looking for tends to be hidden in plain sight. The sheer amount of things to look at in each scene is a big part of the challenge, forcing you to be very focused to help ignore the visual noise and get to the business of finding the very specific person, animal, or item in question.

Adding even more flair, these puzzles feature different themes, often have buildings you’re able to reveal the inside areas of, and some even change as you alter the time of day or year. These features are generally pretty unique to this series, which does give them an edge in creativity, but it also can sometimes open the door to implementation concerns like ambiguity of what areas can be revealed, or knowing something should be able to open but not quite being able to find the sweet spot to make that happen without some troubles.

Overall, there’s no doubt that if you’re a fan of this sort of title, this series has consistently proven to be a reasonably-good challenge, at least while it lasts. In order to help add a little potential for added longevity the game also features a puzzle designer, allowing you to experiment and perhaps make something to share with others… but on consoles there’s no doubt that it is extremely cumbersome adding every single element using a mouse pointer moved with your controller. As it always is with these community collaboration functions, whether it amounts to much, or at least whether there’s anything decent being made and shared, would remain to be seen. Still, there’s no doubt that this is a solid choice if you enjoy these sorts of puzzles overall.