Hello Neighbor Hide and seek is the latest installment of the mysterious mystery fest
that features this fine, mustachioed gentleman.
Throughout our Hello Neighbor journey we have taken in all sorts of terrifying things such
as a basement meant to trap a child and fool them into thinking they’re NOT in a cage
of sorts.
Hence the weird reality simulations that really aren’t too convincing.
Anyway since the very beginning we’ve asked the question...why is our neighbor building
this monstrosity of a Dr. Seuss house?
Carpentry can be a cathartic hobby but this is ridiculous!
You may recall that several moons ago we here at Treesicle brought you a two part SYNK on
the FINISHED GAME that was Hello Neighbor.
We concluded and pondered all sorts of spooky things that tied together a rather convincing
narrative if I do say so myself.
I’d recommend checking those videos out if you haven’t seen them yet or if you need
a refresher.
I’ll be going over some info from them but definitely not going too deep.
I’ll just be summarizing a bit.
Speaking of which, we pieced together the neighbor’s family’s backstory...including
but not limited to...the wife died in a car crash, the son killed the daughter in some
kind of horrible, pushy accident that involved gravity, and the shadowman is our protagonist’s
fear of the neighbor and his house manifested into a misty, ethereal entity.
There were some Zak Bagans references too.
Duh.
But how much of this was actually true?
Well gentle viewer the answer to these questions and ones not yet asked lie within the dream-like
and slightly poopy splendor of Hello Neighbor Hide and Seek the...the demo.
Fetch quests were never so revealing probably.
HIT IT!
Like any story, let’s start at the beginning.
The opening of Hide and Seek shows this is clearly a prequel.
The Neighbor’s family is happy, healthy and not-at-all dead.
The mother is cooking breakfast, the children are playing and the neighbor-husband himself
is...on the phone.
Hmmmm.
Tiny Build knows this update would be picked apart by groundbreaking YouTube channels like
ourselves so surely the neighbors actions during this scene are not to be glossed over.
While the rest of his family is engaging in loving togetherness, our neighbor is taking
a call.
Presumably a business call.
Such a scene paints the picture of a father who wasn’t quite there.
Likely he showed his love by providing but being with the family is just as important.
Also he’s wearing his black gloves and that’s pretty weird.
Anyway, while the mother cares for her kids and the dad is talking business the children
retreat into their imagination during a rousing game of hide and seek.
A likely mundane room is transformed into an African oasis type deal and naturally what
follows is sixteen fetch quests.
One after the other.
Whoop whoop!
You’ll notice the sign with nine animal plushies and an arrow pointing to a big ol’
basket.
The logical implication of this is that one must obtain nine plushies and place them in
said basket.
But then you may say…”
Grant if there’s nine plushies on the sign then why did you say there’s sixteen fetch
quests?”
The answer is...I...I don’t know.
There’s seven additional duplicate animals you’ve gotta find and throw into the basket
because reasons.
Maybe that doesn’t make any sense but don’t worry!
This here clock on the wall keeps track of how many you’ve collected and how many more
you need!
Nine plushies on the sign, sixteen to collect, and all this is kept track with a clock that
goes up to twelve.
As clocks do.
BECAUSE SCREW NUMBERS.
THE NUMERIC CHAOS OF HELLO NEIGHBOR HIDE AND SEEK ONLY DEEPENS THE MYSTERY.
Numbers are just an abstraction of the human mind used to quantify the universe anyway
so only losers take them seriously why should they be consistent?
Moving on, the daughters thumb is super weird and gross which isn’t that important but
it’s kinda funny.
Also if you get glitched between a rock and hard place don’t hesitate to hit the “I
am stuck” button.
And further still, I forgot to mention that during all this hunting and fetching the brother
is trying to catch you...a la Hide and Seek...and if he succeeds he’ll take an animal or two
or five out of the basket and place them randomly around the map...wasting sand in the hour-glass
that is a metaphor for you life.
We’re getting DEEP people!
But we ain’t stopping here.
Oh no.
While the lovely oasis doesn’t have much in terms of plot development, we do get a
cutscene of a raven picking up the daughter cuz birds are strong AF.
Alright!
So far we’ve got a father who isn’t there, a two children, nine different plushies, sixteen
in total, a 12 hour clock and...a raven.
GASP!
WAIT A MINUTE.
Zero plus two minus 9 plus 16 divided by 12 plus 1 is...1.75.
WHICH IS ABOUT HOW MANY POUNDS THE AVERAGE RAVEN WEIGHS.
Hnnnnnnng.
THIS CAN’T BE.
This raven means something.
Something...diabolical.
We KNOW the daughter was killed sometime after Hide and Seek Took place.
Clearly this raven...is an omen.
A SIGN OF TERRIBLE THINGS TO COME.
Like death.
And dark witchcraft.
Just ask Edgar Allan Poe.
About the death part.
And behold!
After putting all 16 animals in the basket it’s eatin’ time.
Time to eat bread with some spoons and...wait a minute...SOMEONE IS WATCHING US.
And then they fly away.
I KNOW IT’S YOU RAVEN YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM ME.
DOER OF DARK WITCHCRAFT.
And wouldn’t you know it!
YouTuber and l33t h4x0r Ertyez verified that a black flying demon is indeed watching us.
Check out his video in the link down below...there’s all kinds of weird, hilarious stuff he finds.
Anywho what’s odd is ravens have been referenced before in hello neighbor.
For instance, after our protagonist gets evicted and is driving back to the neighborhood from
his effed up childhood, there is a bunch ‘em perched on a sign.
Probably cawing.
AND in the start menu to this game we see a doll hanging onto a shelf for dear, inanimate
life as a raven stares at it.
We know from previous games this doll is representative of the daughter...we go over it in the stories
you never knew.
This further confirms the daughter falls to her death at some point...which is sad stuff.
Not to mention we also see in the trailer for the full release of Hide and Seek the
father and daughter looking super sad which leads me to believe someone died before the
daughter did.
I’m guessing the sadness on these two faces is caused by the wife’s death because in
the roller coaster dream-sequence from the original game we see the brother at the controls
of the coaster which has little pushy hands that ultimately push the daughter to her death...symbolically.
Which is representative of reality!
So the brother kills the daughter which means he can’t be dead yet.
It’s hard to kill when you’re dead.
I would know.
It’s odd the brother isn’t in this trailer at all but maybe he’s just playing guitar
in his room or something.
Recall in our Story You Never Knews we believe the brother to be the last family member alive
besides the neighbor.
He isn’t associated with raven in this new game so I think it’s safe to say it’s
confirmed he ain’t dead.
He just felt super guilty for killing his sister and ran away.
So to sum this all up, the daughter is confirmed to get killed because ravens are symbolic
of death, the wife is confirmed to be dead because of all the sadness from the trailer
and the brother is likely still alive.
Also the neighbor is probably a father who works too much and wears creepy black gloves
for no reason and his family was once indeed happy and not dead.
Honestly not too many answers in Hide and Seek but remember this is a demo and there
will be a reveal on August 30th.
In spite of some bizarre numeric choices and unfortunate thumb something rather I can’t
wait for this game!
I’ll be at PAX West when it does come out but you better believe Ryan and I will be
playing this bad boy either during the convention or after we get back.
I feel I’ve summed up everything from this installment but let me know if I missed anything.
I guess there are the chin swirls that seem...genetic...the neighbor and his kids all go in the same direction.
Not protagonist’s chin swirl tho.
He’s got his own stuff going on.
Weird stuff but I dig the attention to detail.
Anywho, let me know if I missed anything and while you’re at it check out our playthrough
of this demo.
I assure you there was no salt.
I’m Grant...and I’ll see you next time.
Bye!