Recently, I unearthed a gem that deserves to be crowned "Best Game for Slacking Off of the Month": Hidden Pigeon.

"This art style is so incredibly soothing!" — That was my first reaction upon opening Hidden Pigeon.

Each level in the game is a meticulously hand-drawn illustration. From bustling city streets and serene park benches to fantastical castles in the clouds, the artist uses wonderfully simple lines to sketch out a rich and colorful world.

The greatest magic of this art style is its subtlety. It doesn't fight for your attention with flashy special effects. Instead, it quietly unfolds before you, like a black-and-white comic from childhood, making you unconsciously slow your breathing.

You'll notice steam rising from a coffee cup on the sidewalk, leaves gently swaying in the wind, and even varied expressions on the faces of passersby. And our main characters—those cooing pigeons—blend perfectly into these details. They might be disguised as part of a lamppost, hiding in the folds of a cloud, or even standing brazenly on a statue's head, pretending to be part of the monument.

The core gameplay is very simple: find a specific number of pigeons in a complex illustration.

Sounds easy, right?

You couldn't be more wrong.

The game designer is an absolute master of psychology, expertly exploiting our visual blind spots and habitual ways of thinking. To save you some trouble, I've summarized a few of the clever tricks I encountered.

Masters of Mimicry: In one level, I searched for a full ten minutes before realizing a pigeon was disguised as a leaf! Its wing pattern blended perfectly with the leaf's veins. If I hadn't tapped it by accident, I never would have found it.

Hiding in Plain Sight: You know the saying, "the safest place is the most obvious one." Sometimes you'll zoom in to the max, scanning every corner as if with a microscope, only to zoom out and—bam!—there it is, right in the middle of the screen on the biggest billboard, tilting its head and practically laughing at you.

Interactive Easter Eggs: This was the most delightful surprise. Some pigeons aren't immediately visible. You need to poke a patch of grass, pull back a curtain, or shake a tree trunk to make them flutter out. This interactivity brings the game to life, making it feel like you're playing hide-and-seek with a mischievous little spirit.

I also have to give a special shout-out to the game's sound design.

I highly recommend playing with headphones! The background music is usually soft Lo-Fi or natural white noise (birdsong, wind, flowing water). Every tap on the screen is met with a pleasant, rewarding sound.

As a game blogger who has played countless titles, I keep asking myself: Why can a simple hidden object game (HOG) like Hidden Pigeon still find its place in today's fast-paced, fickle gaming market?

Perhaps it's because, in an age where we consume everything at double speed, Hidden Pigeon forces you to slow down. You can't rush it; the more you hurry, the harder it is to find anything. It teaches us to observe the world with patience and to appreciate the small, beautiful details we usually overlook.

If you've been feeling tired or burnt out from the daily grind lately, give Hidden Pigeon a try.

👉 Click here to check out Hidden Pigeon