Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: Review code provided by the kind folks at Silesia Games)

Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro is a family-friendly “hidden object”-style Puzzle Game released on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2025. As the title indicates, this game has you searching for cats hidden in locales emblematic of Rio de Janeiro – the Maracanã stadium, the gondola lifts, the Carnival celebration, and so on. In addition, you’ll also be looking for specific people in each stage.

While this game has many elements in common with other games in the Hidden Cats series, it lacks the silly and superfluous story that was present in Hidden Cats in Tokyo, and personally I feel like that’s for the best – I don’t think anyone plays a game like this for the story anyway.

As for the rest of the presentation, the game uses a cartoony 2D art style that gradually colors in as you’re discovering hidden objects, with levels that have a fair amount of detail to them, and some nice animations, though these animations throw in contrast characters who are static and still even if they’re in the middle of an action. These visuals are backed by a lighthearted soundtrack that reminded me a lot of elevator music or customer service hold music, but it suits the relaxed gameplay well enough. I will warn you to expect to hear a lot of meowing as you play, though.

The gameplay here is pretty solid for this genre, letting players zoom in and out as they please, move the screen, and select objects using either a gamepad or the touchscreen in handheld mode, with the touchscreen controls working pretty well, letting you pinch-zoom as well. Cats can be hidden behind or inside objects, but these are given away by small animations that draw attention to these areas, so it’s not like this feels unfair. There are also areas with characters scrolling across the screen, which was a nice dynamic element. In addition, the game has a nice help feature that acts as a compass toward the object you’re looking for rather than outright giving you the answer, which I feel is a good mechanic that works well here.

Honestly, the only gameplay complaint I can think of is that sometimes objects can be hidden behind the HUD, requiring you to move the screen around to see and access them. Otherwise, the gameplay works quite well and it’s hard to find much to complain about.

At $4, Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro is a pretty good price for a hidden object game, with the game boasting 900 hidden objects spread across 8 levels, which I think works out to a decent enough value. This game does little to transform the genre or present it in a way that’s likely to win over anyone who isn’t interested in this sort of game, but Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro is still a good take on the genre that should satisfy those who do like this style of Puzzle game. If that sounds like you, you may find this game worth trying out.

tl;dr – Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro is a family-friendly hidden object-style Puzzle game where players try to uncover the 900+ hidden cats and other objects within a contemporary Rio de Janeiro setting. Mechanically this game works pretty well, and mostly this is a good but unspectacular take on the genre that should be well worth its $4 price tag for players who enjoy this style of game.

Grade: B-

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