Popular themes include detective crime stories, adventure, gothic romance, and mystery.
Boosters and hints in hidden object games are essential tools that enhance gameplay and help players progress through levels.
Other early incarnations are the video game adaptations of the I Spy books published by Scholastic Corporation since 1997.
Mystery Case Files: Huntsville established many of the principles in both gameplay and narrative that would be predominant in hidden object games since then.
[3] More recently within indie games, new takes on the hidden object genre have changed the approach.