Here is your guide on how to play Hello Neighbor, the secret neighbor party game. You might already be familiar with Hello Neighbor, the popular game app on which this party game is based. The concepts are very similar, but this newer version can be played at your next party with five to ten players.
Object of the Game
Imagine yourself as a kid walking along your street when you hear something suspicious from your neighbor’s house. You realize your neighbor has locked someone or something in the basement. Being a brave and adventurous kid, you vow to unlock the door to the basement but you need help. You must recruit some other kids in the neighborhood to be part of your rescue effort. In this party game, the players in the role of kids are trying to use keys to unlock the door in the neighbor’s house. The players in the role of neighbors are trying to prevent the kids from unlocking the door.
What’s in the Box
You’ll find the following when you open the box:
- 3 plastic keys, red, green and blue
- 10 object guides
- 40 object cards
- 10 role cards
- 1 quick start sheet
- 1 rule book
- Dized interactive tutorial code
Setting Up the Game
Before setting up, players decide who will be the leader. This person shuffles the cards, deals out the appropriate number of cards and helps in various ways throughout the game. The leader will also play as one of the regular players.
The leader determines the correct number of cards and keys based on the number of players playing. He or she will also give each player a role card. Then players will receive one of three role cards that they will look at and place face down in front of them: a kid, a neighbor or a secret neighbor.
Next, the leader gives one object guide and deals four object cards to each player. The correct number of keys (one for five players, two for six players, and three for seven to ten players) are placed on the table.
How to Play Hello Neighbor
Number of Players and Playing Time
Five to ten players can play the Secret Neighbor party game, and it takes about 30 minutes to play.
Gameplay
It’s fairly easy to learn how to play Hello Neighbor. First, players close their eyes and neighbors put their thumbs up. The players in the role of neighbors open their eyes–except the secret neighbor. The secret neighbor keeps his eyes closed and thus doesn’t know who is on his team.
There are two phases to each round, and there are as many rounds as it takes to determine whether the neighbors or the kids win the game. In the first phase, the trading phase, players look at their four object cards and then begin walking around and talking to other players in an attempt to trade cards and also get a sense of who might be on their team. By trading cards, they are trying to get three of the same object card. If they get three of the same card, they can use those cards in the next phase of the round.
In the next round, the power phase, the players with three cards can use their powers to gain a special advantage, look at another player’s object cards and steal one, steal another player’s power, see other players’ role cards, force another player to discard her entire hand, or take a key.
A player who has a key can use the key if a majority of other players vote affirmatively. Players in the kid roles vote yes if they think the player with the key is a kid. Players in the neighbor roles vote yes if they think the player with the key is a neighbor, so secrecy, sneakiness and deduction are important parts of the game.
If all keys are used by kids, the kids win the game. If any key is used by the neighbors, the neighbors win the game.
Player Interaction
The Hello Neighbor board game has a lot of player interaction but in a secretive way. Everyone is trying to find out the roles of everyone else without giving away their own role.
Scoring and Winning
This game has no scoring other than determining who wins or loses. If kids use all the keys, they open the doors to the basement and find whatever is inside. If neighbors use one of the keys, they prevent the kids from discovering the secret.
History of Hello Neighbor
The Hello Neighbor board game is based on the Hello Neighbor app, the highly rated survival stealth horror game played against artificial intelligence that learns from the player’s moves. The board game, created by Arcane Wonders, uses the same storyline where a kid is trying to stop a neighbor who has secrets in his basement, and turns it into a party game where players use social deduction to try to find out who is on their side.
Other Hello Neighbor Themed Games
Several Hello Neighbor apps are available for download:
- Hello Neighbor
- Hello Neighbor Hide and Seek, the prequel to the hit game
- Secret Neighbor, a multiplayer social horror game
- Hello Neighbor 2, the sequel where the player is being hunted by a mysterious creature
- Hello Engineer – where the player puts together machines from scrap metal while avoiding the neighbor.
