One of the Xbox Showcase pre-show world premiers was a sequel to the cult classic Hello Neighbor, unsurprisingly titled, Hello Neighbor 2. 

Just like you'd expect, there's plenty of smart stealth involved in Hello Neighbor 2. You play as a reporter named Quentin, investigating strange disappearances in Raven Brooks. The home your investigation leads you to is none other than the home from the original Hello Neighbor. Only this time, it’s occupied by a strange creature in a raven costume (It isn’t. The trailer shows it’s the original neighbor, but it's still fun).

Like before, you’ll use everything you can in the environment to distract and outwit your foe. It appears there’s the same sense of immediacy and dread as you figure out ways to keep the neighbor from realizing you’re there — and then the desperate scramble to find some means of escape once you’re discovered. 

But developer tinyBuild said Hello Neighbor 2 uses smart AI, where enemies learn your patterns and stalk you accordingly. So you’ll have to bear that in mind as you explore the environs in Ravens Brook since your investigation includes multiple places outside the house.

If you can't wait to get your hands on it, you can try the Hello Neighbor 2 alpha available now.

Hello Neighbor 2 is planned for a 2021 release date on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC, and it supports Smart Delivery as well. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Hello Neighbor 2 news as it develops.

Best Buy is running a limited-time Halloween sale as part of its weekly bundle of deals. There's a fair bit on offer here, from this year's frightening favorites to the tried-and-true horror staples of days gone by.

Here's a bit of what you can expect from the Scary Games sale, including Resident Evil 2, Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Luigi's Mansion, Dead by Daylight, and dozens more. 

Here are some of the highlights.

Best Buy Halloween Sale Highlights

That's but a sampling of the close to 50 games included in the sale. You can check out the full list here, and if that's not enough Halloween for your video game, be sure to take a gander at our games with Halloween events list as well. 

If you're a PlayStation player, be sure to check out PlayStation's Halloween sale, which is full of devilishly good deals. 

The publishers of Hello Neighbor and Speedrunners, tinyBuild, revealed a slew of announcements at this year's PAX West, including some new game reveals and additional news on some of their previously announced upcoming titles like Rapture Rejects and Secret Neighbor.

Before getting into the juicy details of these new games, there are some important updates to some titles that may be on your radar. 

The official Cyanide & Happiness game Rapture Rejects is officially available for pre-order, which gets you exclusive access to the private Alpha. The Alpha will be playable on weekends from Friday 12 p.m. to Monday at 10 a.m. PST. Putting a spin on the Battle Royal genre, Rapture Rejects is a top-down isometric shooter where the last man standing wins.

Party Hard 2, the sequel to the stealth strategy game about ruining parties, is hitting digital-shelves this Halloween. You can check out the new trailer here with its stellar soundtrack and deadly party poopers galore.

Joining the Halloween festivities is the Secret Neighbor open alpha. Part of the Hello Neighbor universe, Secret Neighbor is a multiplayer social horror game in the same vein as Friday the 13th. Set between the first and second act of Hello Neighbor, a group of kids tries sneaking into the neighbor's basement to find their friend — except one of the kids is actually the neighbor in disguise. You can sign up for the alpha here.

Speaking of alpha builds, you can now sign up to test Pathologic 2 after the PAX West conference. A sequel to the 2005 psychological horror adventure game, Pathologic 2 opens up the setting to an open world town consumed by a deadly plague. The eerie teaser trailer shows a collapsing society who have lost all sense of hope. The narrative-driven survival thriller has players making difficult choices with no positive outcome in sight while deciding whether to win the affection of locals or lose their trust. You can sign up for the alpha on the Pathologic 2 website now.

The first playable game out of the new releases will be Hellpoint. Developed by Cradle Games, the Dark Souls-style sci-fi action RPG game is set in the aftermath of a massive quantic cataclysm. Fighting demons and space monsters along the way, you can play this game split-screen or online with your friends. The game is set to release in 2019 on PC, Xbox One, and PS4, and you can download a free demo on Steam now. Check out the announcement trailer while you're here.

Next up is a prequel and a new addition to the Hello Neighbor universe — Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek. Coming this December, Hide & Seek tells the story of the creepy neighbors family before the events of the first game. You'll meet his wife and kids, and experience first hand what caused his life to fall into shambles. You can download the free alpha of the game now for PC.

Donning seven unique characters, a unique pixel-art style, and a compelling story, UnDungeon is a roguelike RPG game that has already raised €95,000 on Kickstarter since it debuted. Partnering with tinyBuild, developers Laughing Machines are set to release a demo to Kickstarter backers later this year. The game combines permadeath, loot-based RPG mechanics, and oozes of style and flair. 

The eccentric and odd minds behind Punch Club and Graveyard Keeper have created a new and anachronistic game called Swag and Sorcery. Described as a streamlined RPG where you can build your own village, the biggest appeal is creating and customize characters and sending them out to find new swag. Swag and Sorcery is set to release sometime in 2019 for PC.

Last but not least on the list is a quirky, stylish first-person zombie shooter Pandemic Express. The trailer shows players escaping hordes of zombies while traveling on a train, in the same spirit as The Final Station. Pandemic Express spawns players at a train station, where one person gets infected and turns into a zombie. Players must escape to the train to avoid getting infected — or become infected themselves and swap sides. Backed up by some sweet 80's synthwave, the announcement trailer gives a solid idea of the parkour and action you can expect.

PAX West is still beginning and there's bound to be plenty of more announcements to come, so for the latest keep it at GameSkinny.

You may have escaped the basement dungeon and unlocked the mystery of Hello Neighbor, but this game is just getting started as two whole new modes are arriving: Secret Neighbor and Hide And Seek.

The secretly released Hide And Seek update has only been available to a select few before its official wide launch. If you want to get ahead of the game and learn how to complete the animal hunt, we've got you covered with a full guide below.

Hide And Seek Animal Location Guide

From the game's start point, head upstairs and go through the door in the room with the hole. After the cut scene, go back through the room you just exited to find a huge outdoor make believe area.

The goal is to not get tagged by your brother while putting all the stuffed animals in the cage, so there's still the same element of trying to solve puzzles while not getting caught from the base game.

Because there are fewer places to hide, you need to distract the brother in his tiger mask by throwing the basket ball, which he will chase.

If you have trouble finding anything, grab one of the pairs of binocular lying around so you can survey the landscape, which is much more open and large than in the original Hello Neighbor's cramped hallways.

 Toss animals into the pen to complete the level (thanks to Blitz for the screenshots)

Zebra Location

Look for a normal sized red dresser with three drawers in the middle of the area. You can open the drawers, but can't grab what's inside from your current position. Use one of the nearby air fissures for a boost to land on top of the dresser and crab the zebra in the middle drawer.

 Zebra

Monkey Location

The monkey is the easiest animal to grab, as it is found on the ground level sitting just underneath a red log very close to the animal pen.

 Monkey

Lion Location

Also on the ground floor, the lion is found underneath a small pile of rocks near one of the gopher holes and beneath the giant bucket. You can't quite reach him, however. 

Dive into the lake and head towards the glowing spot to find a steak. Hold the steak as your main inventory item and the lion will roll towards you so you can grab him.

 Lion

Bear Location

This one is sitting directly beneath the giant bird toy that's tied to a chair. Getting it is tricky though, as the bird's sounds draw your brother over. You have to act quick to grab the toy before you get tagged, so bring a basketball to distract your brother.

 Bear

Lemur Location

On the edge of the tag area, look for a huge pile of rocks leading up by the window. Jump your way up to the top, then turn and look for a massive black chair. On the edge of the chair you will find the lemur stuffed animal.

 Lemur

Rhino Location

From the ground, you can see the rhino stuffed animal using the binoculars. Look for a radio sitting on the giant wood drawer (with the black front piece and the gold handle). The rhino is on the edge of the black wood piece. You will need to use fissures to jump the furniture to reach the rhino.

 Rhino

Goat Location

The goat can be seen on top of the giant boxes near the large trees and the giant red book case on the wall.

Elephant Location

Way up above the giant clock (near where you found the rhino) is a key rack up on the wall. The elephant is on the edge of the key rack.

 Elephant

Beetle Cow Thing Location

Honestly, I have no clue what this is supposed to be. A beetle? A cow? Dunno. You can grab this oddball stuffed animal on the second shelf of the giant red book case up on the wall near the animal pen.

 Beetle Cow Thing

Those are all the stuffed animals we've been able to track down so far. Have you found any others or have tips on reaching some of those crazy locations up high in the air?

Let us know in the comments below, check out our other Hello Neighbor guides at Gameskinny here:

• Hello Neighbor Achievements
• Act I Puzzle Walkthrough
• Act II Puzzle Walkthrough
• Act III Puzzle Walkthrough
• Friendly Mode Neighbor Changes

After a rocky start with more than a few bugs and completely nonfunctional achievements, Hello Neighbor has since seen several patches fixing a slew of issues.

If you're ready to start back over from the beginning and nab all the achievements, we've got you covered with step-by-step guides for each and every one that is currently working.

Some of these achievements can't be unlocked until the later portions of the game. If you haven't figured out how to complete the main acts yet, be sure to take a look at our full walkthroughs to reach each level:

• Hello Neighbor Act 1 Guide
• Hello Neighbor Act 2 Guide
• Hello Neighbor Act 3 Guide

Hello Neighbor Achievements List

This creepy breaking-and-entering simulator features 17 achievements to unlock on PC or console, with an associated bump in gamer score of course if you are playing on the Xbox One.

For some reason, there are major discrepancies between the Steam and Xbox versions of the achievements, however, with different names and icons between the two editions.

In the full achievement unlock guide below, we've noted these discrepancies, as the names will be different for you depending on where you are playing.

Double Fun Achievement

This one is called "No More Fears" on the Steam version. To unlock it you need to reach the first fear room in Act 3 either by climbing up to the roof through the attic (or using some boxes and the stopped trolley) and then gliding across to the secondary house by using an umbrella.

You will also need the red key to access the fear room inside the small secondary house. In the fear room, you will be shrunk down to tiny size and must use objects to reach the top of the shelf, like propelling yourself with the toaster or making your own ladder with darts.

The achievement unlocks when you jump across the room near the green arrow and use the pull string to reach the exit.

Hmmm... Bacon Achievement

This achievement is unlocked through the second fear room in Act 3 (found by flipping the switch in the room with the hole in the floor near the couch, where you also found the umbrella and dropped the red-hot crowbar).

During this fear room, grab the chips, orange juice, pink 2 liter soda, pickles, and pink round jar, and put them all in the basket. Push the basket to the checkout stand, where the marionette clerk will ring you up to unlock the achievement as you exit the fear room.

Get'em George Achievement

In Act 3, you need to get the green key by turning off the magnetic machine in the room above the main trolley track room. Use the green key to open the third fear room in the hallway near the ladder that leads up to the trolley room.

In this fear room, you have to wait in the lockers for the bell to ring to let you know when it's safe. Wait until there's just a single white mannequin with a flashlight searching to run from locker to locker before the bell rings again. The achievement unlocks when you open the final exit door and fight off the giant mannequin.

Shoot'em Up Achievement

In Act 3, you can find find four slices of cake and four mannequins by searching both your house and the upper floors of the neighbor's house.

If you arrange all four slices at the seats in the birthday room on the second floor, then set the four mannequins around the table as though they were eating, the ceiling will explode with fireworks and unlock the achievement.

         Arranging the mannequins around the table

Like Father Like Son Achievement 

For some reason this one is called "Is She OK" on Steam, and it takes place at the very end of Act 3.

When you enter the basement and see a strange segment where the younger boy is running around, be sure to stand in front of him whenever he stops to protect him from the shadow man. After the last segment when you protect the kid, the achievement will pop.

Let's Go Deeper Achievement 

This one is called "I Had No Choice" on Steam and again takes place in the basement segment of Act 3. Break the brick wall and run into the white door (the same one you get caught in at the end of Act 1). After the giant neighbor destroys the room, use a box to flip the switch up on the top of the wall behind you.

Run around behind the wall and jump up the flashlight to reach the toaster, which will propel you up to another platform, where you can manually flick a large switch. Quickly jump down on the wood platform, which will be rising up into a metal tube. Break through the window and flip yet another switch, then grab one of the umbrellas as you fall to the ground.

Climb up the metal platforms that lead towards the red house up in the air supported by yellow stilts. Partway up the platforms, press the red button on the console, then go back the way you came and return to the toaster, which will now slingshot you on top of the red house, where you can grab a candle.

Float back to the ground with the umbrella and use the candle to light the fireworks in front of the giant neighbor. Use the toaster yet again, but this time we're going the opposite direction, to where you should find a crossbow, which you can use to hit the giant neighbor and knock him down (if you haven't patched your game and are on a previous version, you need to use two baseballs instead).

To finish off the achievement, use the toaster to float onto the house that appears on the giant neighbor's back.

Space Jam Achievement

In act 3, grab a basketball (one is usually found in the kitchen on the floor) and throw it in the hoop on the left side of the neighbor's house.

Don't Bite Snow White Achievement

Grab the neighbor's record player and then use the trolley and pipes to reach the roof where all the bushes are growing. Turn on the record player, which makes the bushes expand and contract. When they contract, go behind the area where the gears are found to reach a secret ladder.

Climb up the ladder to the windmill, then leap across with an umbrella to a hidden platform with two chairs and a bear skin rug. Grab the seed on the chair. After getting the seed, grab a watering can and take it into your house, where you can fill the can using the kitchen sink.

Drop the seed in the dirt mound in the neighbor's front yard (it's in in the corner right next to the fence), and then use the full water can to water it. Now go play the game for about three hours until the seed blooms into a tree, which will drop an apple. Pick up the apple for the achievement.

Sadly, this one seems to still be bugged, as no one on Steam has actually unlocked it at this point.

Watch Your Head Achievement

This one is called "Top Of The World" on Steam and is unlocked by traveling to the secret windmill (see the above achievement for instructions on how to reach this area).

From the windmill platform, jump out onto a small pipe and climb up around the back side of the mill. Use some boxes to jump over the fence to reach the top of the windmill, which unlocks the achievement.

Meet Joe Black Achievement

During the third act, grab one of the mannequins in the neighbor's house and plop it on the road. Run up to the trolley tracks and watch the road until a car hits the mannequin to unlock the achievement.

Neighbor MD Achievement

This one seems to still be bugged -- if anyone has discovered how to unlock it, let us know and we'll get this updated!

Wrong Place To Bury Achievement

Xbox lists this one as "No Digging," and it seems like it should unlock when you dig up the grave in act 2 to grab the pink bow key, but it isn't unlocking for me. Anybody get this one to pop yet?

Back to School Achievement

This achievement doesn't seem to be working -- we'll update this guide once more info is available!

Beeep! Achievement

This achievement doesn't seem to be working -- we'll update this guide once more info is available!

No Swimming Achievement

This achievement seems like it should unlock if you jump in the water and face the robot shark in Act 1, but it isn't working at the moment.

Change For Gas Achievement

This achievement doesn't seem to be working -- we'll update this guide once more info is available!

Freeze! Achievement

Steam calls this "Don't Tell Anyone," and it seems like it should unlock when you freeze the water heater room in act 2, but again, it isn't working properly.

---

Those are all 17 Hello Neighbor achievements and everything we know about unlocking them so far! Have any other tips for getting these to pop? Let us know in the comments, and check out our full list of Hello Neighbor guides for completing the entire game.

Each act in Hello Neighbor tells a different segment of the story, skipping around in time as a boy grows up and bad things happen in the neighbor's house.

By Act III, you should already have a pretty good idea of the game's mechanics and what sort of things to look out for in terms of finding new routes or discovering items and keys.

There are a few changes in the formula for this last act, though, and the basic run through is quite similar to the the previous Alpha build with the Dr. Seuss/Willy Wonka-style roller coaster.

Hello Neighbor Act III Guide

Some overlap exists between Hello Neighbor Acts II and III. If you haven't yet finished the in-between segment taking place in a different time, walk into your house for a cutscene, then grab the green key out of the car trunk to access the neighbor's house and pick up the phone. With that out of the way, it's time to get started back on the regular gameplay.

First, grab any small, throwable item (such as the VHS tape in your house) and two boxes. There are again boxes in the closet of your house, or you can find some outside in the neighbor's yard.

With those items in hand, head around the right side of the neighbor's house to the back. Throw down the boxes in front of the open grate where a red switch is just barely visible.

Jump on the box tower and throw your item at the switch to flick it over and unlock a door inside the house.

 Reaching the switch

Break the window directly next to you and head inside the house. Immediately turn left and enter the door that was opened by the switch, which leads to several long sets of ladders going up.

Go up the first two ladders to a landing platform, then pull the red switch above the door. Head inside to find the rollercoaster track. We're not going on this section quite yet, though. Instead, go down the red staircase to your right, and open the door to your left at the bottom of the stairs.

Looking down through the open door, you should see empty space leading to part of the track and a window far across. If you step down onto the track, you should see a hole just in front of the window that you can jump into.

 Aim for the hole in the left-center near the window

Jumping through the hole takes you to the roller coaster track control room. Flip the switch on the far left side of the control panel (be careful not to move too far over and fall through the hole), then push the red button to the right to start the track running.

After pressing the button, jump through the hole in the floor right in front of the control panel to return to the yard. Head back into the house through the same window you broke before, and go up the stairs to your right near the cluttered hallway (if you are entering through the front door instead, go to the back of the house, and the stairs will be on your left).

On the second floor, up the stairs, you will see a gated-off portion of the room. To get past the gate, jump up onto the wood railing, then turn and jump onto the lamp on the opposite wall.

 Jumping past the gate

From there, turn around again, and you should see an open section of floor you can safely reach with a jump.

You can pull the switch on the wall if you want, which opens the gate so you don't have to do the jumping puzzle again, although this does mean the neighbor will also be able to patrol the area more easily.

Use the boxes in this room to make a tower so you can reach the paintings on the left wall. Interact with the painting of the apple at the top near the ceiling to turn it sideways (just press E instead of holding it to pick up the painting), which opens a ramp back on the other side of the gate.

 Turn this painting!

Run up the painting ramp, then head up the stairs and ramps until you reach the top floor, where you can see a candy cane-striped entrance with a "No Guns" sign.

Head inside, then take the door on the right, and the next door on the right, until you reach a room with more metal bars blocking off part of the room. We aren't actually going to get past them this time, though.

Ignore the wall fence and instead grab the shoe off the shelf, then turn back around towards the bars to find a box with a switch on the wall.

You can't open the box, but if you hold down right click to wind up a throw for the shoe, you can launch it through the grating into the box on the right side, holding the lever into the open position.

 Propping over the lever with a shoe

Run back into the previous room, where another sealed box will now be open, letting you grab a red key. It's easy to accidentally mess up this segment, so if the shoe doesn't move the lever over, just grab something else like the binoculars off the shelf and try again.

Go back into the room with the metal fence, and open the door on the left to find a new room where a door is held closed by a chair. Pull off the chair and open the door, but don't step forward, as you will fall to the lower floor.

Instead, open the breaker to your right to find a red-hot crowbar. Grab the crowbar, which will immediately fall, as it is too hot to hold. 

 Too hot to handle, but we'll need this for later

We'll have to do something about the crowbar being heated up, but first jump down into the lower room and grab the umbrella off the floor.

With the umbrella in hand, jump through the square hole next to the couch to enter a strange room with a half-open wall to your right.

Look through the hole and search the bookcase to find a barely visible magnet. Grab that, as you will need it to pick up a metal object.

 With this, we can pick up the hot crowbar!

Now, head back into the room where the crowbar dropped. There should be several routes there now, as you have opened the ramp and unlocked the doors.

When you get back to the room, use the magnet to pick up the crowbar by holding left click while pointing at the crowbar with the magnet in your current inventory slot.

 Holding the crowbar

Go back down through the square hole next to the couch to again enter the room where you found the magnet. This time, throw the switch on the wall and go through the metal fence when it opens. There's a key on the box in this room you can use to explore another area, but it isn't required to complete the act.

Head through the door right in front of you (ignore the doors on the right and left sides of this room) to enter the bathroom. Turn on the shower and hold the glowing hot crowbar under the stream of water. After a few seconds, it will cool down so you can hold and use the tool (finally).

Pick up the cooled crowbar so it goes in your inventory, then head back out into the hallway. Turn left, then remove the chair and open that door to enter a room with a large chair and a bunch of television monitors.

Open the drawer underneath the TVs, and you should hear a click. Head to the right side of the room and open the door on the floor to jump down to the ground level.

Go through the door to your right to return to the main ground floor room. Here you can use the crowbar to remove the bolts holding the boards in place that restrict access to the basement.

 Removing the boards

Although the chair and boards are removed, you still need a keycard to open the electronic lock to the basement. Make sure you still have the umbrella in your inventory, and return to that long series of ladders you used way back at the beginning. 

Go back through the door you opened with the switch to return to the room with the track. If the trolley is there, wait for it to pass. Otherwise, walk forward out onto the track and into the area outside the house.

 Returning to the track room

Run down the track until you re-enter the house and can turn into a room on your right.

You have to time this part carefully so you don't get hit by the trolley, as it may be close to you when you get to this section. If you have trouble, wait for the trolley to reach you, then go right after it leaves.

Don't forget that the umbrella slows your fall if you press left click while holding it, so you can actually use it to jump out of the way if the trolley is hurtling towards you.

Stand in the side room until the trolley slows down and stops in front of you. Open up the door and hop inside to take a ride across the track.

 Waiting to hitch a ride

Move into the second section of the trolley and wait until you are almost through the hole in the wall that returns to the main track room. Pull the lever to stop the trolley, then jump out.

This part is super glitchy and behaves in odd ways, so you'll probably end up flying through the air and then walking all the way back up into that first track room. 

Drop a box on the track and jump onto the pipe on your left, then from there, jump on top of the stopped trolley. Turn so you are facing the front of the trolley, and jump onto the roof section right in front of you.

If you find this part totally glitches out for you constantly and you can't get it to work, just wait for the trolley to pass, then stack two boxes on the edge of the track to jump across to the pipe, then drop another box so you are higher up. With a few tries, you can use the umbrella to reach the roof manually without the trolley.

     Jumping onto the roof from the trolley

Turn left and run up to the top of the roof to find a bunch of trees growing. Jump across the tree tops to the opposite corner of the roof, where you will find a small breaker box-type opening on the ground. Open it and throw something like a box in to junk up the gears.

With that done, go down the right side and jump onto the pipe. Out in the distance you should see a small building suspended in the air by boards. Jump across and activate the umbrella to land on top, then jump down the access hole.

 Reaching the secondary building

Use the red key we got waaaaaaaaaay back at the beginning to open the door inside, which takes us into a fear room, where you are shrunk down to tiny size.

Make your way up the shelves, knocking over boards with cups when necessary to make your own ramps. When you reach the toaster, jump inside to be catapulted upwards.

After exiting the fear room, go back to the main track room and go out the opposite side of the track you had been traversing before. When you can see segments of the house again, jump forward and go to the left so you land on the area with the bullseye rug and a chair.

Go through the outside door and then the next door to your right. Now head through the next door that should be on your left (if it's locked, it means the neighbor dropped a chair on the other side, so you will need to go through the house from the other direction). 

Flip a switch on the wall and head through the odd metal door to enter a green room. Grab the guitar on the floor here.

 Grabbing the guitar

Go back out into the hallway and head in the other direction until you see some boxes. Grab the flashlight on top of the boxes, then proceed around the corner to find a blue kid's room.

Your goal here is to recreate the dresser and wall segment exactly as it is shown on the wall painting. Put the flashlight on the shelf, the guitar and hat on top of the drawers, the pillow on the floor to the right of the drawers, and the skateboard directly in front of the drawers. You will hear a sound if you did it properly.

Look for a black wire on the ground running over to the window. Follow the wire and jump out onto the fenced area, which should now be open, and press the red button on the generator. This turns off a device preventing you from grabbing the green key.

     Flipping the generator switch

Return to the main track room, and jump up on the railing for the red stairs to see an open section of wall blocked off by boxes up above. Throw something at the boxes to get through, then run into the next room and grab the green key.

Return to the main floor and go to the hallway where the ladders are located, and there are the stairs leading up to the ramp room.

Instead of taking either direction, go down the cluttered hallway on the side and jump over the boxes. Use the green key to open the door and enter another fear room.

 Green Door

After finishing the fear segment, go back up the painting ramp and return to the room where you first grabbed the umbrella (the one with the small square hole next to the couch).

Turn the red lever (connected to a long black cable) positioned behind the blue couch. Head through the wood door that opens after you pull the lever to enter the next fear room.

When you complete this segment, return to the main floor and enter the kitchen. Open the freezer to find the keycard to the basement now waiting for you (if you haven't completed the fear rooms, the keycard will not be there).

Now you can finally enter the basement for the last time, where things get super freeform and weird as the story wraps up. Enjoy!

It was in the freezer the whole time?

Did you find any other secrets we missed? Let us know in the comments section below!

Haven't finished the earlier parts of the game yet? Check out our full Hello Neighbor walkthroughs for the game's two previous acts right here:

• Hello Neighbor Act 1 Guide
• Hello Neighbor Act 2 Guide

Each main act throughout stealth horror game Hello Neighbor has you trying to outwit the title villain and work through his house to uncover secrets, or even escape his vile clutches after being captured.

Below we cover everything you need to know to fully explore the house and escape in Hello Neighbor Act 2. With this guide, you can easily make it to the end, but make sure to get caught a few times so you don't miss out on the story cut-scenes.

Hello Neighbor Act 2 Walkthrough

Starting in the weird, fake room you discovered in the previous act, there's nothing immediately to pick up or throw, and the door won't unlock. Go peep through the keyhole and look right and left until you hear a sound letting you know something fell over.

Go look at the window where the boards fell over, and you should hear a click letting you know the door is now unlocked and can be opened. Head outside and grab the air duct grate in front of the red light so you can move through the crawl space. 

 Crawling through the ducts

From there, head up the ladder to find that the neighbor's house has changed quite a bit, and you are now locked in behind a giant fence. Off to your right in a broken section of a fence is a pipe with a red turn wheel.

Your first goal is to get the gauge on the wheel into the red by pulling levers on three other pipes around the area. The first one is found just by following the fence a bit further. 

 Turning the first pipe lever

Turn around and go back the other way in the yard to find the second lever on the long pipe that sticks up out of the ground and runs into the house. You can't reach it yet, though, because it's so high up in the air.

For now, head around to the other side of the house and look for a window leading into the kitchen. Smash the window with an object (like the binoculars or shoe) and then open the freezer to find the wrench.

 Stealing the wrench

You already know the drill on the wrench from the previous act. Use it to unscrew the makeshift fence that prevents you from accessing the ladder in the back yard that leads up towards the top of the house.

Up the ladder, walk forward across the roof (it looks like you should fall, but you can walk forward above the pipes). Crouch down at the end and slowly move forward to reach the second lever that was previously too high up to access.

Slowly move the reticle up and down near the red band until it expands and lets you know you can turn the lever (it's easy to fall here, so stay as far back as possible).

 Turning the second pipe lever

The third lever is actually inside the house. Based on where the neighbor is patrolling, getting to it may require a different route than I used, but the most direct way is to go around and enter the front door, then go through the door on your right. The pipe is clearly visible up against the wall next to the couch.

 Turning the third pipe lever

Head outside near the area where the pipe is jutting out of the ground, and break the single window facing the side fence (next to the pipes and opposite two other windows facing the back fence).

Drop a box in front of the window and jump inside to find an odd hallway room with a light switch, door, and a blocked-off area covered in junk. Go through the door and flip the switch on the giant boiler after all three levers have been turned.

 Break this window and throw down a box to get inside

After flipping the switch, go back to that first pipe with the glass gauge and the red wheel you found in the fence when you escaped the basement.

The wheel will be removed, and a bunch of gunk will be spraying out all over the ground. Pick up the red wheel off the ground in front of the pipe, as you will need it later.

 Grabbing the red wheel

With the wheel in hand, go back up the ladder and move across the roof. About halfway across the pipes you should see a red band segment that looks like it should have a lever, but doesn't. 

Getting on the actual pipe is sort of annoying due to the controls, and it takes a few tries. I recommend going forward until you see the pipe junction, then crouch, turn right, and slowly move forward until you fall onto the pipes.

Interact with the red band area while you have the wheel as your current item to screw the wheel in place. Turn the wheel after it's been set down (you should hear water gushing), then pick the wheel back up so you can repeat the process at another location.

 Placing the wheel

Grab two boxes and head back up the ladder. When you reach the top, directly to your left is an intersection where the fence meets the sloped roof. Drop one box on top of the other, and jump up on top of the fence.

You can crouch and slowly move forward to find the next place to drop the wheel, turn the wheel, and remove the wheel. Water will start gushing out of the pipe, which drains an area up above filled with water and -- no joke -- has a shark patrolling around.

 Using the wheel on top of the fence

After getting the wheel back, jump off the fence so you are still on the roof and enter the door. Head up the ladder and then go up all the makeshift stairs through another door.

Now you can walk through this area that used to be filled with water and had a a patrol shark. Don't use the wheel on the pipe clearly visible against the wall or it will refill the pool. Instead, go grab the shovel in the middle of the area on the red rug.

 Shark-Be-Gone!

Head through the door on the opposite side of the room, and grab the gold key off the keyring on the wall. Unlock the door, and now you have an easier access point for getting around the area if you are being chased by the neighbor.

There's a hole in the center of the floor here -- go down the ladder inside the hole to gain access to a kid's bedroom with a dollhouse. Pull the chair off the door so you can get back in later. Exit the room and head down the staircase to get back into the main part of the house.

Look for a big pump device with a red pull lever, and follow its wires to a nearby door. Grab the key and unlock the door so you can use it as a shortcut later. Return to the pump and again place the wheel on so you can turn it, then pull the wheel back off. After turning the wheel, pull the red lever.

 Using the house pump

Head out the door you unlocked and through the next door to return to the yard. Head around to the side (the area with the ladder inside the fence leading up the roof) with the shovel in hand and look for the section where there's dirt instead of grass. Use the shovel to dig up a coffin, then grab the key with a pink bow found inside.

 Digging up the coffin

Remember the kid's room you dropped into from the roof? Go back in there and use the key on the dollhouse. Open the doors inside the tiny dollhouse and you should hear some noises letting you know things changed inside the neighbor's house as well. This unlocks access to the bathroom and a side room with a switch.

 Using the dollhouse doors

Now go back down to the yard and return to the room with the big boiler you turned on to first pump the water and get the broken wheel (if the area has reset after getting caught, you will need to break the window and set down a box again).

Set the wheel on the red band part of the pipe on the right side, and repeat the process yet again of turning and removing the wheel. After getting the wheel back, go to the front of the house and look for an open ladder to the left of the porch (this one isn't blocked by a fence).

Head up the ladder and walk across the roof to find yet another pipe segment where you can use the wheel (just before the white lattice section of the roof).

 We're getting an awful lot of use out of this wheel

Head back inside the house and go to the floor with the kid's room where the dollhouse is located. In the hallway outside the kid's room, go up the ladder and look across to see a red faucet. You need to crouch and jump down onto to the pipes to use the wheel again. This time, the faucet will turn on and flood the room.

After the room is flooded, return to the hallway outside the kid's room and open the door nearby. Flip the switch on the wall next to the gauge, which should be all the way over into red now that you have turned on all the pipes.

This will turn on the coils in the flooded room, freezing the water. Go back up the ladder and run across the frozen water to access the door.

 Crossing the frozen water

Inside the next room, grab the red key off the door. Go back down to the first floor and access the bathroom through the door in the kitchen. Grab the giant Lego guy holding a crowbar off the toilet.

Go all the way back up to the kid's room and set the Lego guy on the toilet in the dollhouse. Leave him there, and now you can run back down to the bathroom. Mysteriously, the Lego guy will be back on the toilet and the crowbar will be unlocked -- grab it out of the Lego guy's hand!

 What odd mysteries does this house hold?

With the crowbar in hand, head over to the front of the house and then go to the right side of the porch. Look for a segment of fence near the ground where you can use the crowbar to remove several black metal tacks. When the tacks are gone, crouch down and crawl out to initiate a cut-scene. 

 Using the crowbar on the fence

When you appear in the next segment, use the binoculars to look out the window until there's a knock at the door, then grab the postcard that pops through the mail slot to initiate another cut-scene and finish the act.

Looking for the Hello Neighbor Act 1 puzzle walkthrough instead? You can find that one over here, as well as getting info on the oddball changes implemented with Friendly Mode.

Did you find any other interesting secrets or methods for completing Hello Neighbor Act 2? Let us know in the comments!

The full version of stealth puzzle game/breaking-and-entering simulator Hello Neighbor finally saw official release after a host of fun alpha releases polishing off the mechanics. 

Even with all that fan input over the last year, some new players have struggled to make it past the neighbor and successfully explore the interior of his mysterious abode.

There was hope for those who couldn't overcome the diabolical neighbor and his nefarious traps, as a patch was just released adding in a new toggle option titled Friendly Mode.

As with most of the game's mechanics, there's no description of what exactly this toggle changes or how Friendly Mode is different from a standard run through. Here's what one member of the development crew had to say about the new option:

Easy Mode ... or Not

If you were having problems constantly getting caught or even just making it into the house, you can toggle this option during an existing game and don't even have to restart.

Sadly, Hello Neighbor's Friendly Mode doesn't actually seem to do what the developers intended at this point! There's been no noticeable change in standard detection or chasing behavior.

In fact, in my run through, he seemed to get more aggressive, jumping through windows to reach me when he didn't normally do that before. He still throws pots or other objects, still chases, still drops bear traps or turns on cameras and lights, etc. In some cases, the neighbor seems to notice you through a wall even if you are sneaking and have closed everything behind you.

More than a few players are baffled by what exactly this option tweaks in the AI, with several Steam threads that can basically be boiled down to "What the hell does Friendly Mode mode even do?!?!?!?" now at the top of the discussions page.

 Now that I've got the basement key, he seems even more hyper-aware of my every move!

Hello Neighbor Friendly Mode AI Modifications

There was one verifiable change I was able to discover, and it seems to be more a bug than a new feature released on purpose.

Apparently, now the neighbor can get stuck doing calisthenics in odd locations where he wouldn't normally engage in that behavior. Yes, you can absolutely use this to your advantage if you've gotten frustrated trying to reach a certain item or room.

In the first act, for instance, I lured the neighbor out into the street and slightly away from the house. For some reason, he chased me down the street past the point in his yard where he doesn't normally run, and then engaged in his typical AI routines like he was in his living room, but never left.

I was able to complete the entire basement segment -- normally extremely challenging with the neighbor chasing you the whole time -- without him ever even returning to the house.

 He's seriously doing jumping jacks out in the street ... and never stops!

It seems like a pretty good bet that this is not the AI behavior change the developers had intended, taking it from "too hard" to "the neighbor literally doesn't even enter the house," so expect a patch changing this up in the near future.

Whenever a new version of Hello Neighbor's Friendly option arrives, or when there's an update from TinyBuild about the odd AI behavior situation, we'll update this article with additional info on the game's new mode.

Have you noticed any other changes with Friendly Mode? Let us know in the comments below!

---

For those who haven't managed to find all the secrets and reach the basement yet, be sure to check out our full guide to completing Hello Neighbor Act I and learn the ropes on how to break into the house undetected.

While browsing through the toys at Gamestop last week in search of Christmas gifts, I couldn't help but notice a Hello Neighbor plushie prominently displayed on prime shelf real estate.

I think it's safe to say that Early Access and crowd funding have made a pretty serious dent in the industry if an indie game that wasn't even out at the time and had only been played in alpha somehow got its own merch in major retail stores.

More than a year and four alpha builds after first getting noticed, we're finally able to get our hands on the full, complete version of Hello Neighbor. The end result is a pleasure for those who have been following this eye-catching game since the early days, and I'm excited to report more of the horror elements have returned after going missing in recent builds.

 When a ball slowly rolls into frame in front of a menacing house,
you know it's about to go down for real

Another Day In Paradise

The art style and color palette may seem an odd choice for the game's horror concept at first, as Hello Neighbor is sort of like a brightly colored, '70s-drug fueled version of Tom Hanks classic The Burbs (which is about to be re-released on BluRay -- coincidence or dark providence?).

That nightmarish Dr. Seuess-on-acid house from the previous alpha build is gone in the full version (well, in Act 1 anyway), replaced by a warm, quiet neighborhood where nothing bad could ever... and oh god we've been kidnapped.

Long time alpha players will be very pleased with the story elements wrapping everything together now, and there's an excellent mashup of style and substance here, like seeing the game world from a little kid's short, slanted, and dyslexic point of view.

Now more than just random breaking and entering for fun and profit, there's a reason for everything going on, with plenty of twists and turns you won't expect. Get ready to jump, scream, and maybe even feel a little bad for the villain.

 Apparently, a bunch of kids have gone missing in the neighborhood...

Stealth And Puzzles

The bulk of the game is figuring out how to work your way past the observant neighbor to unlock new secrets in, around, under, and even above the main house.

There's quite a lot of content to explore in that one location, and plenty of clever puzzles to work out as you try to reach a closed off area, nab a key, access an object, and so on.

While the puzzles can be difficult, they aren't ever completely illogical or devoid of a clear solution. If you take the time to explore and think about how items in the game are connected, it won't be too frustrating to reach the next area.

The opening cinematic for instance actually shows you exactly what object you need to get and how to get there to work through Act 1, but if you aren't looking for the clues, you could easily miss what's right in front of your nose.

 How do we get past this guy?

Many of the same types of puzzles and objects from the alpha builds return, but they are arranged in different ways now so you can't just repeat what you've done before. There's still the magnet gun for instance, and having to use boxes to create ladders or break windows, but the layout is completely different.

Actually getting past the neighbor and unlocking the basement, which was previously the ultimate purpose of the alphas, is now just the beginning. There's much, much more to explore now as the game builds on previous concepts in each successive act.

Along the way new players will have to learn from trial and error how to draw the neighbor away from unexplored areas, using a combination of stealth and speed, and open new routes or close off old ones so he can't catch you as easily.

The whole experience is wrapped up in fabulous sound effects and a wonderfully odd visual style, like Wallace and Gromit collided with We Happy Few. Style is easily the game's strong suit, and it's used to stunning effect in several notable locations.

 A table missing its family, centered around a painting of a mustache with shelves for platforming... that's Hello Neighbor in a nutshell!

The Bottom Line

Having played the game in various early iterations and watched new players give the full build a go, I'm left wondering if those who devoured the alphas will get more out of Hello Neighbor than anyone just now jumping into the fray.

In particular, there's a major sense of satisfaction just in seeing a lot of the concept art come to life in scenes that weren't present in the previous builds. TinyBuild Games also utilizes a really clever use of player knowledge on gameplay mechanics to give you a sinking sense of despair when you reach the end of Act 1. You can practically hear Bender saying “well, we're boned” when you reach the end, and then there's an unexpected twist and satisfying opening to the second act.

Totally new players who didn't puzzle things out in alpha, on the other hand, will probably be more than a little lost. Sadly, there are still some game mechanics not explained well, like that you have to hold E to pick up objects, not just press it, or that the longer you hold right click the farther and harder an object is thrown. 

Some of the controls themselves are also still a bit wonky -- simply figuring out how to jump up objects without bouncing off takes some major effort.

 Your first time carrying boxes up to the roof will be an exercise in frustration

Despite all the alphas and feedback, there are still some bugs as well. For example, if you are noticed and start a chase, but then quickly manage to get in a spot where the neighbor can't reach you -- like up on a segment of roof – the game will crash as the neighbor tries to go somewhere he can't physically access over and over.

Furthermore, there's the issue of game length to keep in mind. Depending on how good you are at puzzle solving (or how often you are referencing guides), we're talking about 5 – 8 hours or so of content. While that's on par with any given shooter's campaign these days, keep in mind there aren't any other game modes.

Replay only involves mopping up remaining achievements you might have missed or trying to tackle the challenges in different orders. The AI does change up its tactics based on how you play, so there's different ways to be caught or successfully hide, but probably not enough to warrant playing through more than once or twice. 

There are plenty of differences between each act's layout and puzzles, though, so its not the exact same experience all the way through and has plenty of variation.

While the game is short and lacking in clear direction, it does excel on nearly every other front. The visual aesthetics are eye-popping, the story is intriguing, and the stealth/puzzle mechanics are satisfying. For an indie excursion that tries something unique, Hello Neighbor is mostly a success, and well worth checking out.

After hours of flipping switches, breaking windows, hiding in closets, and picking up every object known to man, you're probably more than a little stumped on how to complete Hello Neighbor's Act 1 segment.

If you are having trouble getting into the basement and figuring out how to proceed past all those stubbornly locked doors, we've got you covered with a step-by-step guide to the neighbor's security system.

Note that we're going for the most direct route to solve the main puzzles and not diving into all the various secrets for every achievement. If you want to fully experience the game, be sure to explore the whole house instead of heading straight for the basement!

Related content: 

• Hello Neighbor Act 2 Walkthrough
• Hello Neighbor Act 3 Walkghrough
• Complete Achievements Guide

Hello Neighbor Basic Controls

For those just jumping into the game and getting frustrated by the lack of explanation on the game's controls, there are a few basics to keep in mind. You can have up to four items in your inventory at once, with old items you pick up disappearing and going into previous inventory slots.

After the opening segment, press and hold E to pick up any object that makes the reticle become a larger circle, then hold the right mouse button to aim and release to throw. The longer you hold, the farther and harder it goes. If you only right click without holding, objects won't actually break windows. 

 Knocking over the neighbor with a coffee mug

Objects can also knock over the neighbor, so keep something like the bowling ball or even a cup in your inventory for situations where you can't hide. If you hold down the right click for a stronger throw, he'll be knocked off balance for a few seconds so you can get away.

Hiding under beds or inside cabinets only works if the neighbor didn't specifically see you enter the room, so you need to get ahead of him when he's chasing you. 

Hello Neighbor Act 1 House Exploration

Your goal at the beginning isn't to explore all the rooms in the house, but rather use boxes and get up on the roof where you can access the top floor.

Before heading to the neighbor's house, open the closet beneath the stairs in your house to get four boxes for free. Its easier to grab them here than to get the boxes in the neighbor's yard where he might see you through the window.

 Free boxes!

Because of how wonky the controls are and how easy it is for boxes to slide off the roof, I recommend breaking out the second floor window before you even go up there.

Just grab something like the ball or even the weird eye painting off the wall in your house and chuck it up at the window from near the fence. After that's done, make sure there are at least two boxes in your inventory and climb up the leaning yellow shelves to the left of the front door.

 Break this window!

Head to the top yellow shelf and drop two boxes on top of each other. Jump on the box tower, then turn left and jump onto the brown section of roof nearby.

From there, jump across to the roof/awning section above the porch. If you have trouble getting across, drop another box so you can jump from a higher vantage point.

From there, walk forward and jump across the white lattice to the brown awning in front of the window you broke previously. Inside the bedroom, throw a box (or any object in the room) at the painting of the flower next to the door to open a secret passageway.

 Who needs keys?

In the purple room, grab the gold key sitting next to the door and then unlock it so you can get through easier. To your right, look for a keyring on the wall and grab the red key. This one will let you open the trunk to the red car back down on the lawn.

Go back out the window in the bed room and head down to the car. Unlock the trunk to get the magnet, which lets you steal metal objects from a distance.

 Ain't no junk in this trunk!

With the magnet in hand, grab several boxes and head around to the back of the house near the area with the ladder (blocked by a shoddy fence completed with some boards).

Look for a small open window that's positioned up high enough that you can't quite reach. Set down a few boxes in front so you can jump up and see inside to the work shed area.

 Making your own path

I found it easiest to create a step ladder using a large box as a base and two tiers of small boxes to actually get up high enough.

You can't use the magnet to grab the wrench just yet, but you can pull the silver lock pick off the top left side of the shelves (near all the pots of glue).

After grabbing the pick, go inside the open window on the side of the house (the one with the black wire running inside) and open the door to your left. 

 Knicking the lock pick

In the hallway, you can now use the lock pick to open the door to the left of the staircase. That door leads to the shed where you stole the lock pick.

Now you can physically grab the wrench off the wall instead of using the magnet. Head back outside to the exact same place where you previously made the box tower and stole the lock pick. 

 The wrench is ours!

Use the wrench on the makeshift fence that is blocking access to the ladder right next to the shed window. Climb up the ladder to get to the roof and run across a wood plank until you can look down and see through a hole in the ceiling.

Jump down the hole to enter that room that was previously locked and couldn't be accessed. Now you can pick up the red key on the green table that was seen in the game's opening cinematic.

Head back downstairs to the main floor and you can now use the red key to unlock the basement. Huzzah, the first part of Act 1 is complete!

 Jumping through the roof

Hello Neighbor Act 1 Basement Guide

After running down the stairs, open the old timey washing machine up against the wall to reveal a secret passage into the next area.

Open the door to discover a rather disturbing room where a whole fake world has been created to fool someone (anybody else thinking of the opening segment of Prey?).

Pull one of the paintings of an open window off the wall to exit the fake room stage and access the rest of the basement.

 There's more than just dirty laundry in there!

There's a wall breaker you can turn off, but don't do it just quite yet. Instead, flip the nearby wall switch to open the grating to another room and gain access to very large area to explore. You are looking for a section with a red light bulb and a marionette near another grate.

Flip the switch to open the grate and you will see a large open room with a fence. Behind the fence is a generator and some sparking wires that can't be reached. Near the fence, pull the chair off the door and head into the next room.

To your right on the wall is a section of black bricks which you can break by throwing any object.

 If it seems suspicious, always try breaking it!

Through the broken wall you can now access the sparking lever and the generator, but don't do that yet since you don't want to get electrocuted.

With the wall broken and all the grates opened, go back to the beginning and flip the wall breaker you ignored earlier. This turns off the sparks so the switch can be safely used.

Now you can turn on the generator to power the final exit, which is back on the opposite side of the fence (in the room before the hallway before you broke the brick wall).

Flip the switch on the green lit exit door and get ready to run! After a chase you end up at a door covered in colored locks that you don't have keys for. All appears to be lost... 

 What the heck? I don't have any of those keys!

Although it seems like the end, this frantic chase to nowhere is actually just the beginning! Special thanks to YouTuber Razzbowski for a handful of the screenshots above.

Did you find any other ways to access the areas besides our method? Let us know in the comments below. Stay tuned as we cover the next act of the game where you try to break out of the house instead of sneak in, and things get even more crazy on the story front.

If you're one of those depraved folks like myself who demand that the scares come hard and fast, then 2017 was likely a very satisfying year for you.

We've had a knockout trip around the sun on the horror front, with indie excursions like The Void proving small-time production companies can release killer movies, and of course, the Stephen King It adaptation taking the world by storm and being a box office smash hit.

We didn't lose out on the video game front, either, and somehow managed to go a whole year without a new Five Nights At Freddy's (did I just hear a collective cheer echoing out from the horror fanbase?).

From the vampire-themed Crimson Court DLC for Darkest Dungeon to some absolutely massive entries in the biggest series, horror fans got absolutely spoiled in recent months. Sadly, it wasn't all gray skies and bloody lollipops, as there were some notable flops in the horror genre this past year as well. Let's take a look back at what was worth playing and what's destined to hit the bargain bin.

Biggest Horror Disappointments Of 2017

You might be tempted to look at this year's roster of games and muse that with Resident Evil returning to proper horror form, and new entries landing in the Outlast and Evil Within series, perhaps there was nothing to complain about. Unfortunately that wasn't quite the case, as a few games failed to bring the fright factor. 

Freddy Krueger... or Freddy Got Fingered?

I was absolutely in love with Dead By Daylight when it first landed way ahead of Friday The 13th or The Last Year, although over time, as changes have been made, the fanbase has become pretty surly about nerfs to the monsters.

Things reached a fever pitch with the Nightmare On Elm Street DLC, which was a clear shot across the bow aimed directly at rival asymmetric slasher title Friday The 13th.

Playing as Freddy Krueger is something many a horror fan has wanted for decades, but now that it's here, the reality is more tepid dream than blistering nightmare. Krueger is probably the weakest and least fun of the all the slashers to play, managing to even land below the Wraith, and that takes some serious effort.

 Maybe it should have been Drop Dead Fred instead?

Swing and a Miss at Blind Horror

Perception was an indie title I was eagerly looking forward to, and I closely watched its development after that Kickstarter success. The little dogs have been bringing some big treats to the table lately thanks to crowd funding, and it seemed that would be the case here.

When a developer doesn't have to deal with publishers who won't risk money on new concepts, you can get some truly amazing games. Perception had the intriguing concept part down, but it just doesn't quite deliver on the execution.

It's a shame, too, because there are some really interesting elements utilized here in playing as a blind character, such as using a smart phone's descriptive text service to see what something looks like. And honestly, what game wouldn't be made better with killer dolls? Although it seemed like it would revolutionize first-person horror gaming, the end result is surprisingly "meh."

 What a shame.

Horror Shooter Mess

The exceedingly atmospheric Inner Chains managed to land on our most anticipated horror and FPS game lists last year based off the strength of its unsettling aesthetics and interesting designs, but it seriously failed to deliver on either the horror or the shooter front.

Although pretty to look at (when it isn't glitching out), the gameplay is quite tepid, and the fact that this isn't a AAA offering really shows. Inner Chains currently sits at an abysmal 40% rating at Metacritic, with Steam reviews decidedly on the "mixed" front.

It may be worth checking out at this point for new players, however, as the game has received some upgrades since release, including key bindings, more environmental sounds, and additional animations.  Hopefully we get a much better overall horror experience with the upcoming Agony, which is set directly in hell and lands next year.

 How did this manage to NOT be awesome?

An Uncertain Development

Whether this one is a "disappointment" or a "cautiously optimistic" scenario is up for any given reader to decided, but I'm landing solidly on the former when it comes to Scorn's very uncertain future.

You might remember that killer first trailer (available below) that strongly evoked feelings of H.R. Giger, Alien, and Cronenberg with its disturbing fleshy technology.

Hype was high, but there was a big crash not long afterward with a Kickstarter failure and an announcement that the game would be split into two segments, which is never a good sign. Things seemed to be back on the upswing with the announcement of a publisher, but then immediately took a dive again when the developers announced another Kickstarter campaign.

To me, it doesn't speak of a stable product on the way to completion when additional money beyond what was provided by the publisher is still needed to make the first half of the game polished enough for release.

Granted, I would love to be proved wrong here -- this is a game that I legitimately want to succeed -- but I just don't envision the full two-part game ever seeing the light of day, or the first half being a finished and polished experience.

Indie Horror Triumphs 2017

If you want to know where horror absolutely thrives, you have to look beyond the big-name releases. That's true of the movie and publishing industries, and it's equally true in the gaming world. Smaller developers with a project they are truly passionate about can often trump big name companies restrained by bureaucracy and skittish publishers.

Observer

Featuring the star power of Rutger Hauer, Observer flew under the radar for a lot of gamers, as it wasn't hugely advertised, but if you love psychological head games or disturbing visions of the future, you want to play this game.

Although not without some flaws, the game sees Bloober Team take the concepts from Layers Of Fear and catapult them to the next level, translating that style of game into a very different experience featuring a detective in a dystopian cyberpunk future.

Hacking into the brains of the deceased is a harrowing experience, and there were times when I legitimately wanted to rush as quickly as I could to the end of a segment to get out of someone's mind hellscape.

 Get ready to lose your mind -- or gain a few others.

Distrust

You can always rely on the little developers to give you a completely new vision of something that's become standard. Distrust is basically The Thing the game, but it's a very different experience than the actual game based on that movie.

The atmosphere of cold and paranoia is on full blast here, and the top-down style brings to mind something like Dead State but in a much more polished rendition with better controls.

  Sadly, there's no Kurt Russel. 

Little Nightmares

After Among The Sleep showed that you can play a harrowing game as a toddler, it was only a matter of time before we saw kids play a more prominent role in creepy games. 

Little Nightmares goes for the platformer style instead of a first-person experience, but it's still incredibly creepy and atmospheric. When you're a little kid, everything bigger than you is scary in the dark -- and the disturbing David Firth-style designs don't make things any better.

The gameplay is incredibly solid, and the sound effects are utterly spot-on. Even if you don't normally dig horror, you should still give this one a shot, as it was probably one of the best games to come out this year in any genre.

 How did this game manage to be adorable and horrifying at the same time?

Home Sweet Home

There have been some killer horror titles from smaller developers based around Korean and Chinese myths, and now we've got a Thai entry to expand your horizons even further.

Although a shorter entry that's only the first episode of a larger experience to come, Home Sweet Home is absolutely drenched in dread, and this is the sort of game that can have you literally screaming while playing alone in the dark.

 Put the headphones on, turn the lights off, and get ready to shriek.

Stories Untold

I think "whoa" might be an appropriate response for this totally unexpected collection of four adventures. Stories Untold very strongly showcases how indie developers can do something really interesting by going off the beaten path.

You wouldn't think a text game colliding with a point-and-click adventure could be this engrossing, but trust me, this is one you want to experience first-hand.

There's strong echoes of series like Black Mirror or even Stranger Things as the game focuses on narrative above all else. The 80s-themed synthwave soundtrack is a nice bonus as well.

 Seriously, just play it.

Early Access Horror 2017

As the Early Access phenomena becomes more commonplace in gaming, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that horror games have gotten on the bandwagon as well. There are three this year that stand out and are nearing full release worth paying attention to.

P.A.M.E.L.A.

I'm digging the non-traditional setting on P.A.M.E.L.A. and am glad to see gamer feedback from the early access edition getting filtered to the developers, but there's one nagging question I can't let go of.

Considering the intense similarities in location, mechanics, and tone, can this indie offering have any chance of beating out Arkane's Prey? Hopefully we'll have something along the lines of a new classic System Shock experience, but only time will tell.

 Looks familiar, but maybe it can deliver something new?

We Happy Few

Oh boy, things have gotten ugly between this game and its fan base in recent months. After a very successful Kickstarter and more funds coming in from early access, the developers made a rather controversial decision to team up with publisher Gearbox at the 11th hour.

Backers and Early Access buyers (perhaps rightfully) feel a little betrayed there, and new players aren't happy either, since the price got jacked up after the publisher deal. It's a good bet we can expect game elements to be taken out and delivered piecemeal back to us as DLC.

Despite that whole unfortunate debacle, when it comes to the actual gameplay and visuals, I'm personally still greatly looking forward to We Happy Few's finished version coming in April.

 Have you taken your Joy today?

Hello Neighbor

We're only weeks away now from the retail version of Hello Neighbor, and I'm eagerly awaiting what the final product will look like after several fun alpha tests. 

The game isn't precisely "horror" per se but definitely has an element of mystery and the unknown. In the alpha builds I've played so far, there are hints at odd and unsettling things going on down in that basement -- and some truly weird and ethereal in-between segments when you unlock certain doors -- but overall the early versions were more bubbly and colorful than scary.

The tension is in not getting caught, although that's diffused somewhat by the fact that the bad guy throws jars of glue at you, and nothing really happens when you get caught except for some heavy breathing. Maybe we'll get something really dark next month in the full release?

 Instead of "What's in the box?" now it will be "What's in the basement?"

Biggest Horror Releases Of 2017

We've covered the small fish, so now let's take a look at the gigantic whales that made the biggest splashes this year in franchises that have become household names.

Resident Evil 7

It was very welcome news indeed when the Resident Evil 7 crew realized that the defenseless horror style had vastly overtaken the action-horror genre. RE7 gave us something completely out of the ordinary for the series, and it was exactly what was needed to revitalize this faltering franchise.

My hope is that there's yet another jump in gameplay to something completely different in the next installment so that we don't fall back into stagnant territory again.

 Always decline hillbilly dinner invitations.

The Evil Within 2

Surpassing the original game in nearly every single way, oddly enough The Evil Within 2 basically gave us the classic Resident Evil experience that we didn't get with RE7. If you find yourself longing for that classic third-person survival horror experience, Evil Within 2 delivers it and then some!

Outlast 2

After being blown away by the first entry in the series, this was my most anticipated game of 2017 by a mile. Taking the claustrophobic style of Outlast and putting it out in the backwoods with a group of hillbilly cultists seemed a recipe for some major scares.

While the game was good overall -- even great in parts -- Outlast 2 didn't necessarily get better even though it was made bigger. Some of the fright factor was reduced with the bigger outdoor areas, and the main villain Marta just didn't have the same visceral terror as the bad guy from the first game. 

I wouldn't go so far as to put it in the "biggest disappointments" category, but this sequel did definitely lose something from the first game. Maybe third time will be the charm?

 Still, getting your crotch split open with this axe is pretty terrifying the first time around.

Friday the 13th

This latest entry in the many vs. one style got off to a rocky start with non-functional achievements and server problems galore over that first week. If you didn't have those issues though, Friday the 13th is a ton of fun and a fine example of the asymmetric gaming style.

There are some quibbles about how the maps are very similar and how they really need to get Space Jason in there from Jason X, but otherwise, this one really surprised me and managed to easily match or exceed the Dead By Daylight experience.

 Chee chee chee, ahh ahh ahh!

Forecast for Horror in 2018

If this year was good for horror, it's really 2018 that's shaping up to be phenomenal, especially for you Lovecraft fans out there. With no less than three Mythos-focused games coming, there is a lot to look forward to next year.

Tentacled Madness From The Depths

Getting to a new Call Of Cthulhu game was an appropriately winding and tentacled path, starting off with Sherlock Holmes developer Frogwares announcing the game and then going curiously silent.

Considering the focus on investigation and clues in their previous games, Frogwares seemed like the perfect fit. Development unexpectedly shifted over to Cyanide, however, and the game's style shifted significantly, with a 2018 release date now expected. 

Curiously, Frogwares then announced The Sinking City, revolving around a 1920s private investigator in New England, which sure seems like a Cthulhu mythos game to me. . . . Honestly, I'm perfectly fine with getting two games instead of one. I just wish things had been more transparent and come together more quickly.

Although more of an RPG than a horror game in the traditional sense, easily the game I'm most looking forward to arriving next year is Stygian: Reign Of The Old Ones. Take the Baldur's Gate style of travel and conversation, mix it with the turn-based strategic combat of Heroes Of Might and Magic, and then coat it all in an apocalyptic 1920s Earth where the Old Ones rose and destroyed humanity, and you've got Stygian.

 For the old-school gamer, this is going to be a must-have game.

Zombies Galore!

For those who prefer the walking dead over sanity-blasting madness from the stars, there's no shortage of titles coming soon. Days Gone has got to be the most anticipated at this point, with its outlaw biker protagonist trying to survive in a post-apocalytpic world.

Don't discount State Of Decay 2, however, which also promises a third-person, open-world experience. Supposedly that Walking Dead VR game is also coming, but we hear that every year, so who knows.

     Get ready to face the shambling hordes!

---

That about wraps up our whirlwind tour of all things that went bump in the night throughout 2017 -- what did you think of this year's lineup of horror titles, and what are you most looking forward to playing in 2018 horror games?

The much-anticipated Hello Neighbor has changed quite a bit since our last look at the previous Alpha build, as Alpha 4 now features an actual control keymap list (huzzah!), improved UI, a working day/night cycle, and some very creepy mannequins.

Most of the same controls and tips and we covered before are still applicable here, as is our previous stealth guide to distracting the neighbor. But the newest game version has been expanded and has some key differences. We cover them all below in our complete Hello Neighbor Alpha 4 walkthrough below.

Keep in mind that there are other potential routes to reach the ending -- this is just the way I went on my first playthrough!

Hello Neighbor Alpha 4 Puzzle Solving Guide

To get started, remove the box from the yellow car trunk right outside your house and grab the red key. You won't need this till way at the end though -- so if you need inventory space, just set it on the ground somewhere you can pick up later.

Red Key Location

Head around to the right hand side of the neighbor's house and use two or three boxes to create a makeshift ladder so you can reach the open grate near a window. Throw any object smaller than a box -- like a shoe or a banana peel or even your flashlight -- to hit the switch visible through the grate.

 Grate With A Hidden Switch

Head inside the house and go down the hallway to the corner where you can either head up to the second floor or find a section of hallway blocked off with boxes.

Since you hit the switch, a new door will have opened, leading to an extremely long ladder that heads straight up. You'll need this route open to get across the neighbor's weird Dr. Seussian-style home that has no rhyme or reason to its floor plan.

The Ladder Shortcut

About three quarters of the way up you will see an opening on your left. Head inside and tap the big red button on the generator inside this room. You should now see the roller coaster track just to the side, but ignore it for now (although we will return here several times later).

Head down the stairs in the corner and open the regular door (ignore the door in the floor that drops straight down). Take a deep breath and jump across to the roller coaster tracks.

Yes, you will have to do this several annoying times, because the jumping and physics still aren't perfect in this Alpha version. (Note: Jumping is easier if you have an umbrella in hand and use it while falling, which slows your movement.)

 Jump Attempt #1 Of ???

Immediately down and across from you is a boarded red window, and below that is a white landing platform. Jump to the platform, then grab the mannequin and smash out the window in front of you. Head inside the window, then jump down through the hole in the left corner of the room.

Heading Down

Head over to your left towards a blocked entrance and crouch down. You should see a red and blue magnet device just poking out of the shelf blocking your way -- grab it!

Remove the chair blocking the nearby doorway and head through to a hallway filled with paintings of eyes. Turn right, then take the first door on your left. There will be an empty spot in front of you and a platform over to the left just out of reach.

Get ready for another annoying sideways jump to reach that platform. Pull down the painting off the wall here to reveal a hole into the next room. Use the magnet to pull a blue key out of that room.

If Your Inventory Is Full, The Key Drops To The Ground

Jump back across the annoying gap and turn left to open the door at the end of the hall filled with eye paintings. Flip the big yellow switch on the wall near the stairs to open the iron fence. Now you can freely move between the first and second floors of the house.

Go through the opened fence and head up the stairs to the locked door, which can now be unlocked with the key you just picked up. Now you have unrestricted access to the upper third floor, and more places to run and hide.

Unlocking The Third Floor 

Head through the nearby door and look on the wall to see a crowbar stuck to the wall. Throw anything against it to break it free, then use the magnet to pick it up. Don't touch it with your hands -- it's molten hot!

Instead, go all the way back down to the first floor and throw the crowbar in the kitchen freezer, where you can also pick up the blue keycard. The keycard isn't needed until the very end of the game though, so you can safely leave it here for now.

Cooling Down The Crowbar

If you don't have an umbrella yet, grab one from just behind the the front door. Head all the way back up the infinity ladder to the room where you jumped out onto the tracks before.

Do so again. But this time, instead of going for the platform, you are aiming to land just beyond it to go through a hole in the blue floorboard. Be sure to deploy your umbrella, as you are jumping to get more maneuverability!

 Jumping Through The Hole

You will land in a control room -- pull the lever and press the big red button to start the tram moving across the coaster track. This will break the various obstacles preventing you from accessing track areas. Head down the hole in the floor to your left to get back on the ground. 

Once more, head up the ladder to the room with the track. But instead of jumping down, just walk forward through the part of the wall that was previously boarded up but is now broken and allows direct access to the track.

Run across the track through a blue room and keep going down until you reach a yellow room that was previously visible through the control room glass. Remove the chair from the control room door, then head inside and hit the red button again to move the tram forward slightly.

Go all the way back the way you came until you reach the original track room. Go out the opposite end, where you should see the tram in front of you and a large silver pipe to your left. Jump out on the pipe and head up, then turn around and use the umbrella to reach the top of the tram.

 The Mary Poppins Form Of Travel

From the top of the tram, jump across to the roof and then head all the way up until you see a small silver door with a yellow danger sign. Open it up and throw something in (like a box or a shoe) to stop the gears from moving.

Now for the tricky part. Head back down into that main track room you've been in several times. Look for a hole in the wall near the ceiling that's filled with boxes. Build a box ladder to reach the hole, then pull out all the extra boxes blocking your path and throw them anywhere. Carefully jump up and to the side to enter the room through the cleared hole.

Yes, it's ludicrously frustrating, and you'll probably do this a dozen times. It seems to work best if your box ladder is at least 5 boxes high. When you finally achieve sweet, sweet jumping victory, head through the door in this room and grab the yellow key on the floor near the large metal cylinder.

 Reaching This Room Will Have You Smashing Your Keyboard, Guaranteed

If you need inventory room at this point, you can get rid of the blue key and the magnet -- just make sure you have the yellow and red keys in your inventory. Go the ground floor and head down the hallway leading towards the ladder. Instead of going forward toward the ladder, turn left and go through the wall of boxes, then unlock the back door with the yellow key.

There will be a very creepy segment here, after which you return to the main game area. Head back up to the roof where you gunked up the gears (you may have to turn on the tram in the control room to get it in position to reach the roof again). From the roof, look down and jump onto the upper part of the steel pipe.

 Adventures In Home Ownership

From the pipe, turn and face left -- then very, very carefully use the umbrella to jump out onto the box with the yellow roof. Go down the ladder into the box, then use the red key to unlock the door inside.

Get ready for a weird segment. After completing that segment (I won't spoil it for you, but it's fun), make sure you have the blue keycard in your inventory and then go back to the ground floor and grab the cooled crowbar out of the freezer. 

You can now remove the boards from the basement door found on the main floor of the house in the living room (with the crowbar in your equipped item slot, hit "e" while looking at each of the nails).

 Unlocking The Basement Door

Next, use the keycard to open the electronic lock -- and you can finally reach the bizarre ending.

Have fun, and let us know if you took any different routes or found any other secrets that we missed in Hello Neighbor Alpha 4!

Although a very bare bones game at the moment, there are plenty of hidden secrets to be uncovered in the early access stealth horror title Hello Neighbor for those willing to go searching (check out our complete review of the current Alpha build).

One such secret recently puzzled out by the Hello Neighbor community was the appearance of two partial QR codes in very out-of-the-way locations that didn't seem to have any major in-game effect. Below we break down what exactly is going on with these codes and what they might mean for future editions of the game.

Need help with other aspects of this difficult breaking and entering simulator? Check out our guides:

• Learning the Controls and Getting Into the House
• Item and Distraction Guide

Finding The Codes

Near the top of the neighbor's house on an outside deck (a location that isn't necessary to reach to actually finish the game) is a hidden alcove with a locked door.

If you crouch down and check through the keyhole with a flashlight, you can just make out what appears to be a QR code you would scan with a smart phone. It isn't a complete code however, and is missing the lower half, making it quite useless on its own.

Hmm... interesting

After completing the main segment of the game by gathering all the tools and accessing the locked basement, a second half-QR code can be found by peeping through a keyhole in the bright room with the couch and all the doors.

The bottom half!

But What Does It Mean?

After combining the codes together with photo editing software and then decoding it with a QR code reading program, it reveals the number 1003063 and the phrase "I had to hide it, they might find out." Perhaps it's not quite that YouTube guy screaming "It's a double rainbow, what does it mean?" but it is still definitely a puzzle of some kind that needs to be unlocked.

"I had to hide it, they might found out" is certainly a chilling little secret in line with the game's tone and atmosphere, and it seems like it may be leading to some sort of secret true ending in a later edition of the game that more fully fleshes out what's being hidden in the basement. At the moment, this number and phrase don't appear to have any in-game function however. 

So what does the number mean? In all likelihood, it will be used as a password or some sort of unlocking mechanism in a later Alpha build or the game's full, feature-complete version. For those willing to do a little sleuthing, there's another layer the expose in this mystery.

Real World Tie In

Searching for the number 1003063 in Google reveals something interesting in the top result: a real estate listing for an area that has some startling similarities to the Hello Neighbor game world layout... Considering the game entirely revolves around one specific house and its secrets, it seems like that has to be more than just a mere coincidence.

While it is possible this may just be a fun Easter egg to fans showing where inspiration for the game's street design came from, some players are speculating there's a real-world component to Hello Neighbor slowly being revealed in each Alpha build, and that this may actually be an augmented reality game that isn't advertised as such.

For now the mystery remains unsolved, and we'll have to wait until the next Alpha build to see just how deep this rabbit hole truly goes.

What do you think of this vexing QR code number, and what secret is the neighbor hiding that we might discover in the next build?

Thanks to newer funding strategies like crowd funding sites and early access development, a crop of intriguing games offering up very different experiences have managed to see release that otherwise would have languished without publisher support.

One of those indie entries is the adorable and terrifying Hello Neighbor, which balances cutesy graphics and a very iconic cartoon style with legitimately unnerving gameplay.

Just moved in... better introduce myself to the neighbor!

What's Here and What's Coming

Expected out in a complete version this coming summer, Hello Neighbor is currently available in early access with Alpha Build 3, and there's already loads more material than was present in the original pre-alpha free edition.

Since the game isn't finished yet, this review will be based both on the quality of what currently exists and the potential of what could be once the final, feature-complete version arrives.

In other words, I'm strongly taking into account the limited nature of the alpha and basing my analysis on what is slated to arrive down the line.

The neighborhood may be empty now, but there's more coming

Gameplay and Difficulty

There's a major shift in tone and style from what you'd probably expect from something labeled a "stealth horror" game. There's no shooting or stabbing, no robed cultists, and no monstrous creatures, but instead, there are pots of exploding glue to slow you down so you can be "caught" and start over.

Despite the deadpan British-isms and cuter style, there's a serious learning curve and actually an exceedingly high difficulty level on display here. It's not Dark Souls punishing, but it's close.

Much like the xenomorph from Alien: Isolation, the neighbor learns how you infiltrate his home each time you fail, and he knows the building's layout far, far better than you do. He will take shortcuts or suddenly veer off the chase to come at you through a side window while you are running blindly to get away.

This guy has paintings of an eye and a mustache. He must be up to no good!

Along the way, you've got to find interesting ways to distract the neighbor using various objects (calling his phone, turning on his TV, breaking a window, setting an alarm clock, etc.) so you can grab the items needed to unlock a door leading to whatever nefarious thing is hidden in the basement.

The neighbor isn't just hiding inside and waiting for you to learn his secret, though: he goes on the offensive as well by setting traps, wedging chairs to lock doors you've opened, and chasing after you if you aren't sneaky enough.

You'll have to learn from your mistakes, eventually unlocking new entrances to the house and discovering new routes to take to reach certain rooms.

This dude really likes his glue!

Needed Changes

My main concern with Hello Neighbor at the moment is the lack of content, and I don't mean what's currently available in the alpha version.

While the whole neighborhood block is currently being constructed and added with each update, it appears those other homes will play a minimal role at best, and the vast majority of the game in the feature-complete version will still revolve around breaking into one single home to find a way into the basement. 

Even with all the different ways to go about different tasks and the trial and error of finding each item needed while getting into the house repeatedly, it seems like there can't possibly be enough replay value for such a simple setup. After you figure out the mystery and get into the basement, why ever turn the game on again?

Good thing it's pretty hard to actually get in there!

The devs will need to find a way to expand this scenario -- or at the very least make the interior of the home significantly larger than it is now with a ton more items to utilize -- in order to draw in players who want more than a few scant hours of gameplay.

Compare this setup to We Happy Few, another early access game that blends horror and comedy but offers a full city and open world missions, and you can see the massive difference in overall content.

The Bottom Line

I'm loving the stylistic touches and how much fun Hello Neighbor is managing to cram in with so simplistic an idea (and with such a stripped-down control scheme). At the moment, the difficulty is also just right to lure me in and make me try another run at the house, rather than having me throw my keyboard and click "uninstall."

The big question mark is how long the game can maintain interest when it's finally finished. If it stays where the trajectory appears to be going, I'm concerned Hello Neighbor will be more of a quirky oddity to play for an afternoon, but with some expanded and upgrading it could be an indie stealth gem.

Alright, one more attempt at breaking into a home tonight!

Ready to dive in and try your hand at well-intentioned breaking and entering? Check out our basics guide here as well as a more in-depth look at exploring the house while avoiding the neighbor over here.

As a bare bones alpha, the core gameplay of Hello Neighbor currently consists of distracting the suspicious neighbor, breaking in, and searching the house while looking for a way to access the upper levels and eventually the basement.

That's all a lot harder than it sounds in this stealth horror game though, as the neighbor is on the lookout for intruders, learns from your break-in patterns, and he's got pots of glue to slow you down. Below we cover all the main items and distraction possibilities to explore the main level of the house.

Before any of this info will be useful, be sure to read the controls guide here, since Hello Neighbor offers no tutorial and has no key binding screen letting you know how to interact with the game world.

IMPORTANT: this information is current as of Alpha Build 3. Subsequent builds may invalidate or change some of the item positions and enemy AI!

Hello Neighbor AI

In this build the neighbor now learns from your actions, so if you get caught, be sure to go in through a different route than before. It's also critical to learn the layout of the house, as the neighbor knows the layout better than you and can predict your actions.

For instance, if you turn and try to run out the front door when he catches you in the hallway, he will take an open side window to meet you at the door as you leave, which means you need to learn multiple routes for escaping when you are noticed.

Hey, this isn't FNAF, quit giving me jump scare screens!

Another key AI change to be on the lookout for is that sometimes he traps doors with objects other than just the standard bear trap -- beware of items set next to or on top of doors that will tip over and make noise when you open them.

Distractions and Items

Nearly anything you can pick up can serve as a useful distraction. Pick up items like boxes, chairs, brooms, lamps, etc. and throw them against windows or into other objects to cause a ruckus and give yourself some breathing room to escape.

An easy way to distract the neighbor at the very beginning of the game is to turn around and go back inside your house and pick up the cordless phone. Using the phone (from anywhere -- even inside the neighbor's house) will call the neighbor's phone and send him walking towards it near the living room.

The call is coming from inside the house!

Other than the phone, stay on the lookout for anything that could potentially make noise, like the TV remote or the super useful alarm clock. There are multiple clocks, with one right in front of your house on a box by the car. Using the clock while it is your currently-held item will wind the alarm key.

If you then set down or throw the clock, it will begin ringing after a few seconds, which draws the neighbor's attention and effectively serves as a time-release distraction to let you sneak by.

Once you get inside, be on the lookout for the super useful flashlight sitting inside the medicine cabinet in the bathroom (turn right from the front entrance into the hallway, then turn left to reach the bathroom). Alpha Build 3 is incredibly dark, so you will absolutely need this to see both in and outside, but always keep it on for as brief a period of time as possible so you don't draw attention.

In a pinch, throwing the flashlight can serve as a distraction, but that's a measure of last resort, since you respawn still holding the flashlight after getting caught if it was in your possession.

Grab this as soon as you can

Getting Inside and Exploring

If you aren't going in through the front door, always crouch when moving along either side of the house so you aren't visible through the windows. There are multiple entrances and interactive points alone both the left and right side.

On the right hand side, look for the tall, skinny window farthest along the house and closest to the back yard. Throwing a box at the top of the window will smash it out, allowing you a new entrance (and drawing the neighbor's attention).

Might as well get a little B with our E!

On the left side of the house, the kitchen has an open window with a cable running out that's connected to a generator.

You can jump in this open window without having to unlock the kitchen door first (which seems like a major oversight considering how much of this house is locked up tight).

Once inside the kitchen, be sure to remove the chair propped up against the door to your left, as this unlocks the back door and allows another entrance point.

That's what's known as a security vulnerability

Also on the left side, just before the open window, is a breaker box. Open it and interact with the breaker to turn off the power inside (but probably do this AFTER picking up the flashlight). This puts you at more of an advantage and evens the playing field against the neighbor.

Good thing I've got a flashlight!

After going in either through the front, back, or side entrances you can open one last entry point. Head through the living room hallway until you reach the area with the staircase going up to the second floor.

If you wade through the wall of boxes next to the staircase (making a lot of noise unfortunately) and then remove the chair, you unlock the door behind the kitchen area (the annex section with the security camera).

Finally, the second floor seems blocked off as it has a steel fence, but you can climb onto the chair and jump around the fence to get to the other side. This provides access to the upper levels of this maze-like home, which will be more fully explored in the next guide.

Let us know about any other interesting objects, distractions, or stealth patterns you've discovered on the ground floor of Hello Neighbor!

Although this creepy stealth entry failed to reach its funding goal on Kickstarter, that didn't stop the persistent development team, which is now plugging along with Hello Neighbor in alpha and a summer 2017 full release currently expected.

The odd deadpan style mixed with cartoonish visuals will reminds players of We Happy Few meets Wallace and Gromit. Like with We Happy Few, the game is currently more about the potential of what's to come than what is actually available in these earliest builds.

 Dr. Seuss and Satan apparently teamed up to build this home

Those who have jumped on the alpha build might be baffled at first as there's no explanation of what to do and no menu screen explaining the controls: you are dumped onto a street and expected to figure it all out on your own.

If you don't fancy a lot of dying through trial and error, below we cover all the currently functioning controls and the basics of how to stay alive while investigating your nefarious neighbor's home.

IMPORTANT: This information is current as of Alpha Build 3, and is subject to change as new builds are released.

Hello Neighbor Controls

As with your typical first person game, the WASD keys are for movement, so that's normal territory that you don't need to figure out. Here's the rest of the unexplained controls:

• Hold down E when the reticle is enlarged to pick up an object 
• Hold down E when facing a locked door with a keyhole to peep into the room
• Tap E to open doors or hide inside a cupboard / standing closet
• Tab brings up inventory
• Hold Tab and press the number keys (1, 2, 3, 4) to swap between held items
• Tap CTRL to crouch and increase stealth in the dark or at a distance
• Space is for jumping
• Hold Shift while moving forward to sprint when the neighbor chases you
• Left click to use an item
• Right click to drop/throw an item
• C and Z are supposed to be for leaning to look around corners, but don't appear to work at the moment

It's important to note that (as of this alpha build anyway) the "use item" functionality is very limited and doesn't seem to have proper animations associated yet.

For instance, left clicking winds the alarm clock while you hold it, but there's no prompt or on-screen indication that you've actually done it properly. You just have to set it down, walk away, and then a few seconds later the alarm will start going off.

The alarm clock is an effective method of luring away the neighbor

Hello Neighbor Stealth / Exploration 

Now that you've got the controls down, it's time to start exploring the house! Stay alert for audio / visual cues when the neighbor is near and when he's spotted you, increasingly getting louder as the screen blurs black. These audio cues show up even if he's in a different room or you don't physically see him yet.

The first order of business is getting past a nasty bear trap blocking the front door. Throw an object like a glue bottle at the bear trap to get through -- but remember he will reset it eventually, so keep an object on hand at all times.

Well that's suspicious...

While inside, stay crouched down, keep away from light sources, and take note of cabinet locations so you can quickly hide. Keep in mind that most doors open towards you, not outwards, so if you are too close to the door when pressing E it won't actually open.

Any changes you make while inside the home remain in effect even after you get caught (unless it's something the neighbor manually resets). So for instance if you remove the chair and unlock the back door, you can now get in through the back door for each subsequent break-in, even after you get caught.

Having trouble getting into the front door the first time to start opening other entrances? Lure the neighbor out by throwing something loud at the bear trap (or using the alarm clock), then run back to your house and wait. Eventually he'll leave out the front door and head to the back yard, letting you inside to start your search.

What's he got hidden down there?

That's the basics of what you need to know to begin unraveling the mystery of just what's going on in the neighbor's basement! Stay tuned for more guides coming soon on how to use each object correctly and reach the end of the game!