Intruders: Hide and Seek

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Three intruders have your parents. You are a boy, and you can only hide.

Platforms: PC, VR, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (72% of 280 reviews); Metascore 62 on PS4 from 16 critics; 3.96 of 5 on the PlayStation Store from 700 ratings
Length: about 2 to 3 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or controller; in VR (SteamVR or PS VR) you look with the headset and move with a keyboard or gamepad
Made by: Tessera Studios
Released: 2019

No. 24 of the home invasion horror games

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store (PS4, PS VR)Xbox Nintendo eShop (Switch)

What frightens On a family holiday at a modern country house, 13-year-old Ben sees on the panic room's cameras that three intruders have taken his parents hostage. He cannot run away or confront them, so he creeps through the dark house with a small flashlight, hiding in cabinets and under beds while a man in a deer skull mask and his crew search the rooms.
Content: violence, blood, strong language.

Intruders: Hide and Seek is a first-person stealth horror game by Tessera Studios, playable with or without VR. As Ben, a boy whose parents are taken hostage by three intruders at a country house, you sneak and hide through the dark rooms to save your family and find out what the intruders want.

About Intruders: Hide and Seek

Intruders: Hide and Seek is a first-person stealth game by the Spanish studio Tessera Studios. It came out on PS4, with PS VR support, in February 2019 and on Steam in September 2019, where it can be played on a monitor or with a PC VR headset. Daedalic Entertainment publishes it on Steam, Xbox and Switch; the Xbox and Switch versions came in February 2023, without VR.

You are Ben, the eldest of the Richter family's children. The family is on holiday at a modern country house when, in the night, you see on the panic room's security cameras that three people have broken in and taken your parents hostage. With your parents tied up and your little sister hidden, you are stuck in the house with them, and you have to find a way to save your family while working out who the three are and what they want.

Ben is a defenceless child, so you cannot run away or fight. You have a small flashlight and you can sprint, but the game is about moving from cover to cover: crouching behind furniture, slipping into cabinets and under beds, and waiting for the intruders to pass. Their leader wears a deer skull mask, and he is joined by a large, brutish man and a young hacker with pink hair. Listening in on their talk is how you learn why they came. When one of them comes near your hiding place, you calm Ben's breathing by gently shaking the controller. Puzzle pieces and documents are hidden around the house to collect.

The fear here comes from people, not monsters: torch beams sweeping a dark living room while you hold still in a cupboard a few steps away. Critics praised the atmospheric lighting and the stealth, and several found it works best in VR, where the house looks too big and the adults too close, as it would to a child. The common complaints were the stiff voice acting and dialogue and some bugs.

It is short, about two to three hours by reviewers' accounts, and suits players who like hide-and-seek horror against human threats, played in one evening.

How to play Intruders: Hide and Seek

Buy Intruders: Hide and Seek on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox or Switch; on PC and PS4 you can also play it in VR.
Learn to crouch, pick things up and climb into cabinets in the opening hours of the holiday, before the intruders arrive.
Move from cover to cover through the house as Ben and stay out of the intruders' torch beams.
When one comes close to your hiding place, steady Ben's breathing by gently shaking the controller, and wait for them to leave.
Listen to the intruders' conversations and search drawers for documents to find out who they are and how to free your family.

Screenshots

Intruders: Hide and Seek: a man in a dark suit holds a glowing flashlight in a dark, teal-lit two-storey living room

Intruders: Hide and Seek: a hulking bearded intruder in a dark coat looms at the top of a staircase, seen through a rainy window

Intruders: Hide and Seek: a pink-haired intruder with a backpack, seen from behind beside a card table in a dark games room

Intruders: Hide and Seek: a small child in overalls and a headset stands before a wall of monitors in a dark control room

Intruders: Hide and Seek: an antlered deer skull rests on a bloodstained green armchair in a dark room

Intruders: Hide and Seek: looking down a dark staircase into the lit open-plan living room of the country house

Intruders: Hide and Seek: a children's playroom with a toy house, a chalkboard and a slide in pink dusk light

Tips

The intruders spot you when their torch beam finds you, so watch where the light falls and keep out of it.
Their patrol routes repeat; watch one pass once before you move.
Running rarely saves you once you are seen; reach a cabinet or a bed to hide under instead.
Open drawers as you go: most of the collectible puzzle pieces and documents are tucked inside.

Questions

Do you need VR to play Intruders: Hide and Seek?

No. It is playable with or without VR. VR is supported on PC through SteamVR and on PS4 with PS VR; the Xbox and Switch versions are played on a screen.

How long is Intruders: Hide and Seek?

Reviewers finished it in about two to three hours.

Is Intruders: Hide and Seek gory?

Not very. It is rated ESRB Mature for blood, strong language and violence, and PEGI 18 for strong language and extreme violence, but the threat is three hostage-takers and most of the game is spent hiding from them.