Comparison

Hidden City vs Mystery Files

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hidden City

Embark on a thrilling detective adventure to rescue a friend from a mysterious phantom city. Solve puzzles, explore dark dungeons, and battle strange creatures as you uncover secrets and confront evil.

Highlights
  • Hidden object scenes
  • Quests and puzzles
  • Dungeon exploration
  • Combat against monsters and cults
  • Offline play
  • Friend assistance
Features
Read full description

Hidden City is a hidden object detective adventure for players who enjoy cozy mystery games, search-and-find puzzles, story-rich quests and richly detailed scenes. Explore a mystical Victorian city, find hidden objects, follow clues, solve puzzles, meet unique characters and uncover magical secrets in the City of Shadows. Your next investigation awaits in a game where detective cases, beautiful search scenes, puzzle variety and magical events blend into one captivating mystery story. Look closer, collect clues and discover why every object, note and artifact matters. What will you investigate? Search atmospheric scenes filled with hidden items, evidence, notes, artifacts, keys, symbols, curiosities and visual clues. Every location invites careful observation and rewards players who love to find meaningful details in beautiful environments. Explore foggy streets, ornate halls, manor-like rooms, curious shops, gardens, arcades, laboratories and magical city districts. Each place supports the mystery and turns object search into part of the investigation. Which search modes can you play? Hidden City keeps the main investigation fresh with different modes designed to test your observation skills: • Words mode: Classic hidden object searching using text lists. • Silhouettes mode: Visual challenges based on object shapes. • Night mode: Focused searches in dim scenes using a spotlight. • Pairs mode: Matching identical or logically related objects to test your attention. These modes support players who enjoy search-and-find adventures, visual puzzles, detective games and finding hidden items through careful observation. Are there mini-games and puzzles? Yes. The core search mechanics are supported by puzzle modes that add variety without taking over the main experience. Take a break from the investigation and play through: • Spot the difference: Compare two scenes using sharp observation. • Match-3 levels: Crystal and gem matching for satisfying puzzle breaks. • Brain teasers: Logic mini-games, memory challenges and story-driven riddles. This mix works well for players who want a detective game with brain teasers, a mystery puzzle with clues or a search-and-find adventure with match-3 elements. How does the story unfold? Follow narrative-driven quests, character stories, special cases and event investigations. Assemble artifact collections, solve anomalies, complete requests and unlock rewards that help you continue your detective journey. Every quest connects detailed scenes, puzzle challenges, magical discoveries and story progression into one polished mystery adventure. Play Hidden City your way • Play offline: Continue your investigation anywhere, even without an internet connection. • Follow the story: Return to character quests, detective cases and magical events as your mystery unfolds. • Regular updates: Discover new cases, quests, search scenes and special events added over time. • Cross-device sync: Save your progress and switch between your devices. While this game is absolutely free to play, you have the ability to unlock optional bonuses via in-app purchases from within the game. You may disable in-app purchases in your device settings. You can play this game even if you’re offline! Game available in: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Ukrainian. ____________________________ Sign up now for a weekly round-up of the best from G5 Games! https://www.g5.com/e-mail ____________________________ Download more great games here: https://store.g5.com G5 Games — World of Adventures™! Collect them all! Search for ""g5"" in the App Store! ____________________________ Visit us: https://www.g5.com Watch us: https://www.youtube.com/g5enter Find us: https://www.facebook.com/HiddenCityGame/ Join us: https://www.instagram.com/hiddencity_ Follow us: https://x.com/g5games

About

Mystery Files

Engage in free-to-play detective puzzles and brain teasers. Discover hidden objects in various locations and choose from a library of interactive stories and quests. Earn achievements and collect unique items as you unravel mysteries.

Highlights
  • Hidden object puzzles
  • Point-and-click adventures
  • Interactive stories
  • Brain teasers and mini-games
  • Achievement system
  • Collectible items
Features
Read full description

Free-to-play puzzles, brain teasers, and mini-games in Mystery Files: Hidden Objects, where you need to win mystery games and find hidden objects in every location! This is a library of Domini games and interactive stories that you can choose from. · Play your favorite puzzle games! Choose your own point-and-click adventure! In a single app, you can play any quest you like. An easy-to-read progress meter shows you which hidden object games you have already completed. Never choose between romance and detective genres—play both! · Never get bored! Are you worried about missing a brand-new release from Domini? Not anymore! All of our newest detective games are added to this wonderful collection. Any hidden object adventure quest you want—right at your fingertips! · Earn achievements! Play and replay your favorite puzzles to earn achievements! Be the quickest one to uncover cleverly hidden objects and show off your skills to your friends. Can you unlock them all? · Gather your own collection! Each of our thrilling adventures is full of secrets and mysteries. Be attentive as you travel through unknown worlds and beautiful locations while solving hide-and-seek interactive games! Find morphing artifacts, notes that expand the story, and fun trinkets to collect. Will you be able to complete the whole collection? Download Mystery Files: Hidden Objects—choose any quest you like and play for free! If you want bonus materials or need additional help, you can use the in-game store. ----- Questions? Email us at support@dominigames.com Visit our website to play more brain teasers and puzzles: http://dominigames.com Become our fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dominigames Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dominigames

Screenshots

Hidden City4 screens
Mystery Files4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Mystery Files at 4.6 against Hidden City's 4.3. Mystery Files also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Hidden City's advantage is ratings volume (95K vs 6K) and review sentiment (72% vs 58%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Hidden City sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Mystery Files sells 20 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mystery Files holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hidden City has 95K ratings behind it against 6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 72% of Hidden City's written reviews are positive against 58% of Mystery Files's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hidden City ships an update every 9 days, Mystery Files fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Hidden City versus Mystery Files: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHidden CityMystery Files
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (95K ratings)4.6 (6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.3% of reviews — better58.5% of reviews
Number of ratings95K — better6K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#122 — better#167
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size320 MB432 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperG5 Entertainment ABDO GAMES LIMITED

Customer experience

Hidden City

All ratings95,045 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral10.4%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews2,587 reviews
Positive72.3%
Neutral10.7%
Negative17.0%

Mystery Files

All ratings5,929 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral5.7%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews1,218 reviews
Positive58.5%
Neutral17.9%
Negative23.6%

User reviews

Hidden City

From 95K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Challenging
  • 👍 Fun and challenging
  • 👍 Great fun
  • 👍 Fabulous
  • 👍 Never knew I could be such a clever person

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Hidden City: You have a VERY offensive ad in your line up
  • 💰 Too costly, not enough bang for your hard earned bucks
  • 💰 Game is the most frustrating I have ever played, very little in return for achieving goals
  • 💰 Game is getting more and more difficult to play without making in-app purchases
  • 🐛 Quite often when visiting friends, the game freezes and I can no longer continue playing

Mystery Files

From 6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Continuous levels
  • 👍 No ads
  • 👍 Multiple games in one app
  • 👍 Challenging puzzles
  • 👍 Enjoyable stories

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs
  • 🐛 Unresponsive controls
  • 🐛 Broken hint system
  • 🔑 Excessive use of keys/coins to progress
  • 🔑 Long wait times for keys

Bugs and requests

Hidden City

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Can not access the game to sign in after changing password
  • Game freezes and crashes frequently
  • Losing progress and achievements when switching devices
  • Glitches with events and mini-games
  • Disappearing items and rewards
Show 1 more
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

9 requests
  • Give more free rubies, game is too expensive
  • Make the game less expensive
  • Give more rewards for completing goals
  • Make the game less frustrating and more enjoyable
  • Fix the glitches and technical issues
Show 4 more
  • Provide better instructions and tutorials
  • Offer an ad-free version for a one-time purchase
  • Make the mini-games less difficult and frustrating
  • Improve the social features and gifting system

Mystery Files

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzles not working as intended
  • Scenes/items disappearing or becoming uninteractable
  • Game progress being reset or lost
  • Crashes and freezes when using in-app purchases

Requested features

3 requests
  • More ways to earn hints/coins without paying
  • Better instructions for mini-games
  • Ability to skip difficult puzzles

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Hidden City

One-time10
  • Special Offer$0.99
  • Cluster of Rubies$1.99
  • Tray of Rubies$4.99
Show 7 more
  • Super Deal$4.99
  • Platter of Rubies$9.99
  • Hyper Deal$9.99
  • Drawer of Rubies$19.99
  • Special Deal$19.99
  • Trunk of Rubies$49.99
  • Stockpile of Rubies$99.99
20 purchases

Mystery Files

One-time20
  • A Handful of Coins$1.99
  • Pack of useful things$1.99
  • A Handful of Crystals$2.99
Show 17 more
  • A Pouch of Coins$3.99
  • A Pinch of Gems$3.99
  • Handful of useful things$3.99
  • Pack of useful things$4.99
  • Chalice of Coins$4.99
  • Currency box$4.99
  • Heap of Coins$4.99
  • Heap of Gems$4.99
  • A Handful of Gems$5.99
  • A Pouch of Gems$6.99
  • A Bag of Coins$7.99
  • A Bag of Gems$7.99
  • Bandbox of Coins2 variants$9.99
  • Bandbox of Gems$9.99
  • A Chest of Coins$11.99
  • Handful of useful things$12.99
  • Jewelry Box2 variants$14.99

Questions

Is Hidden City free?
Hidden City is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mystery Files free?
Mystery Files is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hidden City or Mystery Files?
Mystery Files is rated higher. Hidden City averages 4.3 out of 5 from 95K ratings, while Mystery Files averages 4.6 from 6K ratings.
Do Hidden City or Mystery Files have ads?
Both Hidden City and Mystery Files show ads.
Which is updated more often, Hidden City or Mystery Files?
Hidden City ships an update every 9 days, and Mystery Files fortnightly. Most recently, Hidden City was updated on October 31, 2026 and Mystery Files on October 31, 2026.
Which is more popular, Hidden City or Mystery Files?
Hidden City currently peaks at #122 in the App Store charts, and Mystery Files at #167. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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