Best Hidden Object Games on Facebook

Besides being free, Facebook Hidden Object Games (HoGs) feature some social elements that make gameplay quite engaging. Players can visit their FB friend’s mansion, send gifts, and play mini-games. Also, players have their own space to decorate. Mansions, manors and gardens can be decorated with mini-buildings, flower patches, embellished items and many more.

Games like Gardens of Time started this tradition on Facebook and it seems all Facebook HoGs have added this feature to make them more immersive and entertaining. Here are some of the best hidden object games on Facebook that have been quite successful in adding social elements to the traditional HoG genre.

(Update: New HoGs Hidden Haunts and Blackwood & Bell Mysteries added to this list).

One of the very few HoGs to climb the ladder of success is Gardens of Time. Currently it is the only hidden object game to feature in almost every top 10 lists. The game combines traditional HoG with plenty of social elements. What’s more, there are many scenes to explore, far-off lands to visit and awesome characters to interact with.

The game puts you into the shoes of a rookie time traveler who gets recruited for the mysterious Time Society. The main objective of the society is to explore world history by visiting the past. In your bid to explore the world, you will interact with many interesting and not-so-interesting characters, including another new recruit girl who is your fiery competitor.

There are very few social aspects, but this casual game truly stands tall when it comes to gorgeous scenes. It was one of the first Facebook games to introduce a “dress-up” mini-game that lets players decorate their garden. Any ancient artifact unlocked while finding objects can be used to adorn your garden. This gives you the opportunity to earn reputation points, with which you can unlock new scenes.

Despite some repetitions in gameplay, Gardens of Time is an amazing HoG, partly because it easily blends with Facebook, the most popular social networking platform. With competition between different hidden object game developers soaring high, this game will have to include some very interesting updates and enhancements to attract more casual gamers.

When Zynga decides to launch a game different from its Farmville model, it strikes gold. Empires and Allies was a big hit in the social gaming scene. Recently the company launched a hidden object game called Hidden Chronicles. This might mean Zynga wants to do something new or is well aware of Gardens of Time’s popularity ranking.

Within a few days, the social game received thousands of Facebook likes, and this well means that the HoG genre is surely getting some attention from the casual gaming crowd. Zynga does its research and knows which gaming genre is best suitable for teens, moms and HoG fans.

Hidden Chronicles (HC) borrows all traditional HoG elements and presents a splendid social game. You are tasked to solve the mysterious death of your uncle. To uncover the truth, you will have to solve hidden object scenes, play mini-games and decorate Ramsey Manor to unlock more scenes.

HC also allows players to visit their neighbor’s manor, place secret gifts and play a timer-based hidden object game that requires them to find all hidden items in one minute.

The highlight of the game is its variety. There are plenty of secret rooms to explore, hidden object scenes to unlock and mysteries to uncover. The game has a good plot, which makes it even more interesting and engaging. Hidden Chronicles is competing with Gardens of Time and is becoming more popular than its competitors.

New kid on the social gaming block, World Mysteries looks promising. It has a plot very similar to Hidden Chronicles. You, along with your friend Sarah, go on a mission to search objects lost in antiquity and reveal myths and legends. This will help you come closer to the mystery behind your uncle’s disappearance. With more than 20 hidden object puzzles currently the game requires to earn items by completing quests and unlocking them.

Like other Facebook hidden object games, World Mysteries allows gamers to find objects scattered in a room. The more quickly you find these items, the more the chances of earning bonus points. The developers haven’t tried anything new and kept the social HoG tradition intact. There’s also the “decorate your mansion” feature, which allows players to buy decorations from the coins earned from each puzzle.

My only gripe with World Mysteries is its repetitiveness. Although most Facebook HoG games are a bit repetitive, they compensate with additional mini-games to keep gamers busy. This game wants gamers to play the same level again and again to progress to new levels. Also, finding items can be a bit frustrating because some of them aren’t descriptive enough. Many other items are very difficult to search. I am all for a challenging game, but this is annoyingly challenging. Objects are not camouflaged, but are very tiny and hence some scenes are an eyesore.

Nonetheless, World Mysteries is a good hidden object game. And mind you, it’s quite new. I am sure developers will be looking forward to making some changes and enhancements to make each puzzle challenging, but not complicated. Let’s wait and we might get to see new improvements and features in the comings months.

One of the first social HoGs, Mystery Manor isn’t as good as all hidden object games listed here. The visuals are average and the HoG puzzles are a bit repetitive. But the social features make this a perfect FB pastime for casual gamers.

The game dabbles with fantasy instead of murder mystery and is filled with myths and creatures. The Manor features amazing characters to interact with. Each character will request you to complete a task, which usually comprises of solving hidden object puzzles and playing mini-games. A Harry Potter-esque map will guide you to different rooms. You can explore these rooms, find hidden items and unlock additional rooms to complete tasks.

I liked the in-game magnifying glass, which allows you to find objects that are difficult to find with the naked eye. The in-game currency lets you purchase flashlights to find items in a dark room or buy hints to help you solve puzzles. However, these can be collected for free when you complete tasks.

While the game does not compromise with the traditional HoG formula, it does get repetitive sometimes. The day/night cycle adds some twist, but there isn’t any randomness in the game. You will have to search for same objects over and over again. Worse, all objects will be placed in the same place and rarely do they get placed randomly. Mystery Manor is good, but not great when it comes to variety.

The number of new social hidden object releases nowadays clearly shows that the hidden object genre is getting the much-needed attention. New game developer Making Fun has just launched Hidden Haunts, a spooky HoG with “photo-realistic” visuals and some very nice features that stand out from the crowd:

Illegal clicks attract a 5-second delay penalty and new scenes get unlocked once the lodestone meter gets filled up. However, certain elements such as estate decoration are an integral part of gameplay. You will have to decorate your estate with items in order to unlock scenes. You will also have to unlock areas to expand your estate.

Hidden Haunts boasts variety when it comes to HoG scenes. Besides room-based scenes, there are also scenes that allow gamers to find objects hidden inside attics, séance rooms, portrait galleries, haunted cabinets and gardens. Not every scene will be same. If you revisit solved scenes, the objects you will find have changed from the previous session.

One of the highlights of this new social HoG is the use of photographs. The developers have captured photographs and added them to most of the hidden object scenes. The inclusion of photo-realistic graphics makes this game more interesting than the rest of the games on Facebook. While it is still in beta, the game is touted to be as popular as Hidden Chronicles and World Mysteries.

It seems Disney-Playdom is taking the hidden object genre too seriously. And why not, after all Zynga already has a blockbuster and Gardens of Time is still a huge hit. The latest game promises even more hidden object solving fun and targets the adult female crowd.

With a dark Victorian setting, Blackwood and Bell Mysteries puts you into the shoes of an amateur sleuth who joins a detective agency. By solving hidden object scenes and placing objects in your “Evidence Yard”, you unlock scenes and solve murder mysteries. The game has plenty of scenes, each categorized under cases. Each scene has a hidden clue, which you need to collect in order to solve the mystery.

The latest Facebook game has impressive visuals. Some animation in each scene makes them even more amazing. The objects date back to the industrial revolution, so it might be difficult for you in finding them all quickly. The game mechanics is very similar to Gardens of Time and an interesting murder-mystery plot makes this game quite unique and charming. B and B Mysteries is a must-play for all casual hidden object fans.

So far, these games are considered one of the best Facebook hidden object titles. I will update this hub with more titles as soon as it gets featured on Facebook. Do you have any other games in mind that are as immersive as these HoGs? Have any questions? Do share your views and suggestions and I will try my best to answer those in this comment space.

Screenshots taken by the writer