Sneak Out's face-paced mix of stealth and chaos sees you and five friends playing a hyper charged game of powered up hide and seek in this free to play party game. The core rules are the same - hiders have to hide before the countdown ends and then the hunter sets out to find them.
Except this time both the hiders and hunters have a range of powers and abilities to help them as you chase, run, complete tasks, level up and customise your penguins and monsters to be the best playing and looking competitors in the field.
So how does it all work? Let's take a look…
How to hide 101
Obviously as a hider, hiding is your core super power as you wait for the escape portal to open. Bushes, vents, chests and lockers - if you can get in it, you can avoid the Hunter's prying eyes. You can also use a prop hunt ability to disguise yourself as random objects, hoping the chasing monster passes you by. You can even make your own hidey holes and shortcuts in a pinch by throwing chairs and barrels at breakable walls for a quick getaway when needed. Sneaking can help hide footprints that can give you away, while, if you do get caught, a quick dash move can help you avoid danger or let you slip quickly through special passages. It's also an idea to keep an eye out for hidden paths and secret shortcuts to whisk you away from danger.
And if danger finds you, a well thrown object can stun a pursuing hunter to help you get away. Or you can even knock out another hider to sacrifice them in your wake. You also have a range of tools to help you. Things like a broom for a temporary speed boost to help you escape. Or a banana you can throw to make someone else slip up. And, if you want to get really serious, you can even use a bear trap to pin someone in place. Things can get magical too with a wand that lets you swap places with other players and teleporting cabinets that let you warp across the map in an instant.
Whatever you do, don't stay in the same place for too long though, as there's a pesky mouse that loves finding anyone hiding and giving them away with loud squeaks.
Life after death…
If you're a hider that gets captured, death is not the end. Get caught and you become a ghost. As a spectre you can still help your teammates or obstruct hunters by opening and closing doors, as well as using your otherworldly powers to help or hinder the other players. You can drop ectoplasm for example to slow anyone that passes through it. Or take a more targeted approach by buffing a hider's speed, or slowing a hunter. If all else fails you can even take a more physical approach by possessing knight armor or furniture to attack other players.
How to seek hunting perfection
For hunters, or seekers, it's all about finding the hiders as quickly as possible and attacking them to claim your victim. Like hiders, hunters can sneak to hide their footprints but, depending on who you play as, it's all about using your monstrous abilities and attacks to catch people.
There are six hunter characters to ultimately unlock, each with a different way to trap their victims:
- The Reaper can blink to teleport around the levels or sprint to close the distance on his prey.
- The Scarecrow can use their head as bombs to leave as traps, and deploy a crow to help them search.
- Dracula can turn into a bat to fly around the map quickly, and use a short sprint in his more human form.
- The Mummy can lay quicksand traps to slow players, and unleash a sandstorm across the entire map to again slow everyone while also reducing visibility.
- Butch uses his slasher skills to catch victims with an extendable hook. Or throws exploding chickens which knock everyone in range of the blast.
- The Clown uses a hammer with a splash damage effect that swaps the hiders' controller inputs around and causes confusion for all.
Whoever you play as you'll unlock a choice of upgrade options with each elimination on a level. Things like increased stun protection or better footstep detection to help you find more victims.
Just remember, you're here to have fun
It's not all about hide and seek (although it is) so in between matches you'll be able to spend time in the village hub buying cosmetics and outfits to personalise your look. As well as boosters to improve your escape skills. This is also where you can unlock new hunters. There's a garden where you can gather resources to create more items for your character, and you can just relax with some football and dancing. Sneak Out has it all.
Wishlist Sneak Out on Steam ahead of its June 6th release date.
