The evil neighbor's house is filled with more secrets than just what lies in the locked basement...
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?