Hello, Neighbor! is unexpectedly terrifying

Monsters among us

“Whatever happened to that old saying: ‘Love thy neighbor’?”

I don’t remember the last time I was caught this off guard by a game announcement. Hello, Neighbor! is a first-person thriller with shades of Rear Window. Your goal is simple: sneak into a suspicious man’s house and uncover the secret hiding in his basement. But he’s on to you.

“We think that modern games lack the deployment of artificial intelligence, therefore we decided to change the situation and create a truly smart opponent who will be able to: learn by himself, study the player’s tactics, undertake counter-actions, remember the player’s decisions, and make plans.”

That concept might not sound so scary, but the execution is on point. Watch the trailer! I can only imagine how tense this will feel when you’re in control and have to think under pressure.

According to the developers, every item you see can be used, whether it’s jamming a door closed with a tilted chair, or placing a bear trap in a hallway. But the neighbor can also use items.

What happens if he catches you?

“You are respawned to your part of the map with all your progress saved, but all the objects from your inventory are lost. The game goes on; there are no checkpoints, but if you wish to stop or pause the current game, just click ‘save and quit’ at any point.”

While the team behind Hello, Neighbor! has a history in mobile gaming, it feels free-to-play titles are “losing their soul and keep harvesting their users.” This is clearly a passion project.

Dynamic Pixels is seeking $100,000 on Kickstarter for a basic PC release, with stretch goals for things like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports, multiplayer, and a role-reversal mode.

Hello, Neighbor! [Kickstarter]