Fantastic Findings Hidden Seasons

In Fantastic Findings Hidden Seasons it is time to turn up the holiday spirit while you help Santa track down his missing reindeer and find many other Christmas goodies along the way!

🎄Gameplay & Settings🎄

This game truly is filled with the holiday spirit. There are lots of animated characters to meet, moving machines, blinking and buzzing elements, all parts of the North Pole coming to life in each map.
The developers are a passionate group who care about their community and game. I went into the backend to work with them testing some of the levels during my review process and they were quick to respond to my feedback. A team who wants to give you a great Christmas experience.

However this game does have one element that is wonky at times…the camera. Trying to get into small areas to look around can be a challenge or rotating around some objects in smaller spaces. You will have to zoom in and out to grab some items and dance with the camera at times.

My one wish is if the devs could add a hint system for Gingerbread cookies. Some levels have a lot to find and when you get down to the last few on a large level it can be really hard to find them. So hints would be appreciated.

Settings include; camera options (move speed, zoom and orbit speed), audio controls and graphics settings such as resolution, quality and fullscreen or windowed.

🎄Helpful Notes🎄

🔹 ️ To use hints, collect cookies then click on the item you're having issues finding. There will be a “?” in the top left. Click to reveal a text clue. The hints are only available for the hidden objects (not Gingerbread cookies, messes, or food).

🔹 ️ Gingerbread Cookies are not part of the food count. The cookie counter is located to the left of the center bar where you’ll find the items you need to locate. The left number is your hints count (you need 3 cookies to earn 1 hint). The right side is your total cookie count.

🔹 You can go back to a level to finish at any time or reset each level individually to replay. To continue a level just hit start (reset button is the last option underneath and ONLY resets that level).

🔹 You will need to earn 10 stars across all levels to unlock the last level

🎄Overall Experience🎄

This game is a Christmas treat to get you in the mood for the upcoming holidays, which are fast approaching. The scenes come to life in each level with moving characters, interactive elements, flashing lights, moving parts and lots of humor thrown in to top it all off. ❄️

---

IndieGems wishes to thank Shapeshift Entertainment ApS for providing a review copy for this game.

Follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one.

Please follow our curator page, Otome Lovers, if you'd like to see more reviews like this one!

There are only a handful of 3D hidden-object games available on Steam, and Fantastic Findings: Hidden Seasons is not just one of these rare exceptions, but also a wonderfully crafted experience wrapped in a cozy Christmas theme. It’s a genuine delight to explore a festive HOG world where perspective and depth contribute meaningfully to the gameplay.

Fantastic Findings: Hidden Seasons fully embraces the warmth and charm of the holidays through its beautifully designed environments. The game offers nine levels, each more enchanting than the last, and every one feels like its own miniature world of Christmas magic. While each level comes with a list of 10–20 main items to find, there are hundreds of additional hidden objects scattered throughout. Extra mechanics, such as cleaning spiderwebs, stacks of letters, messy hay or coal piles, add yet another layer of interactivity beyond the standard item list. You also get to collect food items, a goal that fits the Santa theme perfectly (he is quite the gourmand, after all). Gingerbread pieces are rarer, but they are very much needed, as they act as currency to buy hints for the main objects.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3617371089
Each of these categories awards a completion star, and unlocking new levels requires accumulating a certain number of stars, meaning these side tasks can’t be skipped entirely. As a general rule, reaching a new level typically requires obtaining, on average, one star per previous stage.

The levels themselves are impressively complex, consisting of multiple interconnected rooms. Santa’s grand mansion, a Christmas Express with a dozen cars, a massive workshop, a bustling Christmas market with many stands and a merry-go-round, an impressive Christmas museum with all sorts of things, are just a few of the fantastical worlds you’ll explore. The game is also packed with witty little surprises that make exploration even more fun: sheep tangled in Christmas lights throwing a wild party in the train, a tiny beach scene hidden in the attic of a penguin-operated mill, a pig marriage proposal, and long conveyor belts full of crates hiding all sorts of items. It’s these unexpected moments that make wandering through each area such a treat.

Environmental interaction is one of the game’s greatest strengths. Pots, crates, drawers, suitcases, and many other containers hide collectible items, encouraging players to rummage through every nook and cranny. Exploration thus feels rewarding, and the game’s 3D mechanics encourage curiosity in a way many 2D HOGs don't, especially since some items are only visible from certain angles.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3617371261
As wonderful as the game is, it does have a weakness: the camera. Although it has undergone multiple improvements before release, it can still feel a bit wonky at times. The zoom can be overly aggressive, and the camera angle tends to tilt toward the floor, making it hard to spot items on higher shelves. At other times, it zooms too far out, making smaller objects difficult to recognize or click. Changing the zoom level and orbit speed in the settings helps adjust the camera controls to your mouse sensitivity and playstyle, but even with these tweaks, the camera occasionally feels unnatural or difficult to control.

Another minor drawback is the lack of hint support for auxiliary collectibles. While there is a hint system for main items, there’s no help for finding the last few food items, cleanable spots, or gingerbread pieces, all of which are required for achievements. Completing everything can therefore demand quite a bit of patience and persistence. Even the main-item hint system doesn’t point to exact locations, opting instead for brief textual nudges that can sometimes feel vague or insufficient.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3617371141
Fantastic Findings: Hidden Seasons’s 3D environments full of holiday charm might just become your next comfort game or even a seasonal favorite. A few camera and quality-of-life improvements would go a long way, but the core experience remains charming and satisfying. The game is well worth playing for anyone who enjoys exploring richly detailed environments, crafted with a dash of holiday cheer.

💜 If you like this review, please consider following Lilly's Corner Curator page
🌸 Website

Very cozy. It's obvious a lot of love has been put into the levels for this game. Levels are fairly easy to finish, but challenging to complete. The chief thing I noticed while playing through the game, is that there is a great sense of humor behind the level design. The employee of the month wall in Santa's workshop had me chuckling pretty good for a bit there, and the Christmas cracker dad jokes were groan-worthy in a way I tend to feel pretty wistful about during the holidays.

Great game to play with a mug of cocoa and a cozy robe.