This isn’t a game I expecting a sequel at all. The original Hidden Through Time wasn’t bad… but it wasn’t amazing, either. In essence, it was a glorified Where’s Waldo, a game about searching for specific items on a gigantic diorama full of crap meant to deceive your eyes. Play it once, find all of the hidden items, get some achievements, move on. I had the dumb idea of playing it on a controller back then, so I don’t think I ended up having the best time with it. With the release of Hidden Through Time 2: Myths and Magic, I wanted to not only assess if the sequel had more content, replayability and a better interface, but also experience it as it was supposed to, with a mouse.

And here we are. Hidden Through Time 2: Myths and Magic is indeed better than its predecessor for a handful of reasons. First of all, yes, playing this game with a mouse makes it almost trivial. Night and day. Then again, the “triviality” of it all may actually stem from the less messy maps and slightly less confusing hints featured alongside each item you need to look for. There’s also the fact its puzzles now feature a sizeable and fair difficulty curve, starting out as small dioramas not exactly plastered with visual noise, with your eyes and brain steadily adapting to larger puzzles with each new level.

We now have four “campaigns” to choose from at the start of the game, each with a different theme: Ancient Greece, Aladdin, Medieval Europe, and a weird mixture of 80’s high school flicks and Harry Potter. Nothing changes that much in terms of gameplay, it’s just a different assortment of items to look for. Each campaign has a brand new theme song being played in the back, and each one of them is so much better than the one horrendous song available in the Hidden Through Time it’s not even funny.

As for the rest… well, Hidden Through Time 2: Myths and Magic is pretty much the same thing, but that is not exactly an issue. Think of the original as a foundation, and this sequel being a full-fledged title taking advantage of the simple, but momentarily engaging formula. After getting rid of all puzzles, including the secret ones which can only be unlocked by finding a secret item in each chapter of a campaign, you can also create a puzzle of your own or download community-created ones. Although I always vouch for games featuring community-created content, Hidden Through Time 2‘s custom maps are usually an ultra-hard, borderline unfair test of patience. It does improve replayability quite a bit, but the developer-curated levels are easily the highlight.

Slightly better puzzles and more visual variety make Hidden Through Time 2 more enjoyable than its predecessor, but do not expect a lot of depth from this pastime of a game. There’s just so much you can do with a game that’s essentially Where’s Waldo with a different art style. I appreciate the improved presentation, better UI, and community-created content, even if the latter will remind you of how unfair the first game’s puzzles were by the end of it. As a small puzzler meant to exercise your brain for a few minutes, it surely gets the job done.

 

Graphics: 6.5 It looks identical to its predecessor; it just features slightly less convoluted levels, making it a bit more pleasing to the eyes.	Gameplay: 8.0 Playing this game with a mouse is a lot more comfortable than trying to guide a cursor with a controller. As for the rest of the game, it’s still the same gameplay loop.
Sound: 7.0 A vast improvement. Each campaign has its own well-composed theme. They are not amazing, but sure are a godsend when compared to the terrible sound design from the first Hidden Through Time.	Fun Factor: 7.0 Slightly better puzzles and more visual variety make Hidden Through Time 2 more enjoyable than its predecessor, but do not expect a lot of depth from this pastime of a game.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Hidden Through Time 2: Myths and Magic is available now on PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Hidden Through Time 2: Myths and Magic was provided by the publisher.