How to find hidden objects faster
In a hidden object puzzle you find listed items inside a busy picture. Here, object pictures are scattered over a famous painting and you find a few of them.
What a hidden object puzzle is
A picture with a few items tucked into it, and a list of what to find. It's a long-time favorite in kids' magazines and newspapers, and a popular mobile game genre today.
You get the list first and you're done when every item is crossed off.
The basic order
Read the list and fix each item's shape and color in your head.
Split the scene into four areas and search one at a time. Matching what's in one area against the whole list is often faster than hunting for one item across the whole scene.
Found items are crossed off the list and circled in the scene.
How this site builds its scenes
The background is a painting The Met made free to use, with object pictures scattered over it. Easy has 6 objects to find among 45 others, Medium 8 among 85, and Hard 12 among 140.
No item on your list has a lookalike copy in the clutter, so there's never a question of which one is right.
Objects are tilted a little and some sit under others. Anything covering a listed object reaches at most 40% of its radius, so nothing is fully hidden.
Tapping anything that isn't on your list locks the scene for 3 seconds.
Basic tips
Start with bright colors. A red apple or a yellow lemon jumps out against a painting's muted tones.
Watch for lookalikes. A tangerine and a peach, or a hammer and a wrench, may both be in the scene.
Reading the list out loud makes it a nice game to play with kids.
Going faster
Look at outlines. A tilted object keeps its outline, which you can spot before its color.
Objects under a pile only show their edges. Trace around the piles.
Where people get stuck
Can't find the last one? Check the four corners and under the piles.
Tapped and got a wrong? It may be a similar-looking object. Compare it with the picture in the list.
Really stuck? Show answers circles what's left. That run isn't ranked.