Found It! Hidden Object Game

This game starts out wonderfully. The artwork is fun, the levels are interactive and sometimes require some puzzle-solving which is pretty creative I think, but the more you play, the more pop ups there are. You get pop up for coins you’ve “won”, pop ups for hints to spend the coins on, pop ups to spin a prize wheel, pop ups for daily prizes and collectibles…. I kind of just want to look at the beautiful level and find stuff but instead I’m struggling to see a good chunk of the picture because all of the sides of the screen are covered in alert icons trying to sell me in-game stuff I don’t want. It’s annoying, but I can deal with it just to chill and hunt for stuff, but as you progress through the game, the ads get obnoxious. I understand the app needs to make money, and I’m too cheap to pay ten bucks to go ad free for 30 days, but it’s frustrating to be enjoying a well-done game just to be interrupted every couple of minutes with a reminder of how many objects I have left to find and a mandatory ad. I’d rather pay a small price to actually buy the game up front and then not have to worry about it instead of being hounded to pay ten dollars a month for no ads. Seems steep to me. This is small potatoes in the world today, I know, but I was really liking shutting my brain off for just a second and finding silly things in the levels that are clearly quality. The incessant ads make it not worth it. Bummer.

I don’t care much for regular hidden picture games. Personally, they are merely visual acuity tests. But, “Found It” is THE. best I have played. It is unique, as one must actually utilize a bit of logic. For example, to find a helmet, you must access the storage space underneath the seat of a motorized scooter; to locate a cupcake, click on the doors of the bakery, to visualize a cupcake; or a paw print? Click on an animal to make it walk away, leaving (revealing) a paw print. There are countless episodes for each scene. Graphics and animations are great. I love this game and try to play every day - often, for many, MANY hours. Thank goodness I’m retired! It’s a perfect way to unwind. This is the ONLY game/app I have ever paid for. I loathe ads so I paid $ 9.99 for the ad free version. Others who have written reviews state they were compelled to make additional purchases to solve scenes, but I have yet to make any additional payments, and am able to find all hidden items. You just play at least 10 episodes of one scene before a new scene is unlocked. But each episode is slightly different. There is also (what I call) a bonus section where you can earn tools. However, I have never used any tools. In this section your character must find items and trade them for a specific tool. Again, I am not one to buy games or apps. I’ve never even touched or seen an X Box. But I enjoy strategic and word games. Only one other time have I purchased a game, back when Palm Pilots came out: Spellbound - the word game. So it was over 20 years before I made another purchase, and it was for this game; Found It. That says something, right? Well, other than, “I’m frugal.”

I’ve been playing this game pretty consistently (at least 1-2 times daily for 20-30 minutes) and I’m already done with all the maps and the last one says “coming soon.” So what now? Just keep playing the same maps I’ve been playing? I know where almost everything is in the first few maps now because I’ve played them over 20 times! It’s annoying there’s no advancement happening. I paid for the no-ad experience and I highly recommend going that route. I have never bought boosts or helpers and I’ve never had a problem finishing a map. Some items are more challenging than others, but I enjoy the way some items have to be made or procured by some other movement or action in the map, it makes it more challenging. But once you figure them all out, you’ve figured them all out and there’s no new actions or rooms, it’s always the same ones every other map or so. But I do enjoy the graphics, the challenging way some items are semi-hidden behind stationary and moving things, some things are kind of transparent, so you have to really pay attention to the map and what changes from play to play, but it is an enjoyable game to play… until it’s not because you’ve played all the maps too many times and are at 20+ plays on each map. New maps, please!! I do like this game, I docked one star for the lack of ability to advance and slow updates. And just so you know, you can have an enjoyable gaming experience without having to buy the boosts, I’ve never bought them and I always finish the maps (but I did pay to get rid of the ads because those were annoying and seemed like they came every 12 seconds, way too much).