Hello Neighbor gets asymmetrical multiplayer sequel Secret Neighbor
Oh won't you be my neighbor?
Hello Neighbor was one of my favorite games of 2017, mostly because it tortured its audience with bizarre visual lore and then wrecked beta players and reviewers alike with its surprise use of act structure to include three different games in one. I also got to chat with the devs about how you make such a terrifying A.I. to hunt players, and all the errors they ran into along the way. So finding out that there's a new game set in the Hello Neighbor universe featuring asymmetrical multiplayer and betrayal... well, I'm making a face that would frighten you if you saw it. Just gimmie Secret Neighbor already.
Set in the gap between the first and second chapters of the main game, Secret Neighbor sees a group of kids attempting to rescue their friend. However, one or more of those friends will actually be a secret betrayer in disguise who can influence their surroundings and hide in plain sight to dispose of the children one by one. Billed as one of the first "social horror" titles, Secret Neighbor features proximity-based voice chat as its weapon of choice. And yes, someone does indeed play as the titular Neighbor.
Check out the trailer here:
There's a lot going on here, but overwhelmingly I'm excited to see how the original title's borderline experimental adventure game logic plays out in a group setting. And, of course, how much new weirdo backstory allegory they're going to sneak in for this new title. Growing the Neighborverse is something I'm absolutely stoked to see.
You can follow the game on Steam by clicking where these words are different colors. The game is available "2018-ish" and you can sign up for the Alpha at the official site. (Note: it looks like this is going to be a completely new game but there's a bit of ambiguity about whether it might be an additional mode. Feels like a new game to me.)
Also, it is worth noting that I found tinyBuild's E3 press conference to be the best press conference, because it was a musical. Take a look at that below:
