TinyBuild unveil Hello Neighbor follow-up Hello Guest with a free alpha
You got a ticket, pal?
Like the supernatural intruder it loves so much, stealthy successor Hello Guest snuck its way into this weekend's not-E3 proceedings. Taking Hello Neighbor's home invasion out of the suburbs and into the pine-sheltered alcoves of a haunted amusement park, TinyBuild opened the turnstiles to their stealth-horror follow-up with a free alpha beginning this weekend - no tickets required.
Following a brief tease earlier in the week, Hello Guest was properly debuted during TinyBuild's not-E3 non-press conference yesterday.
Hello Guest is a follow-up to Hello Neighbor, a 2017 stealth-horror game about sneaking into someone's basement by outwitting the AI next door. The schtick was that the neighbour in question would learn from your actions - figuring out routes and tactics you trended towards and using that intel to foil your plans. A bit like Alien: Isolation's titular xenomorph, really, if it wore a cardigan and had a moustache to twirl.
Rather than sun-dappled suburbia, Hello Guest shifts the frame to Golden Apple Theme Park. You're not the interloper this time - rather, you're put in the boots of a security guard, keeping an eye out for unwanted guests. In this case, it's this Jim Henson-looking beaky boy. He's awfully frightful of the light, sure. But, like Neighbor's eponymous neighbour, the AI-driven critter will start to figure out how to get around your more reliable tricks.
We haven't really written much of anything about the "Hello" games on site, but I gather they've done quite well for themselves. Turns out, the series' unpredictable AI behaviours lead to some awfully watchable, YouTube-able shenanigans. Delivering more of the same in a Scooby-Doo theme park? Sounds fair game, I reckon.
Hello Guest's free alpha can be downloaded over on Steam, the Microsoft Store or directly via the Hello Guest website.
Whatever you call it, hit our E3 2020 tag for more from this summer's blast of gaming announcements, trailers, and miscellaneous marketing. Check out the PC games at the PlayStation 5 show, everything at the PC Gaming Show, and all the trailers from the Xbox showcase, for starters.