---
key: mechanic/puzzle--family-search
type: mechanic
id: puzzle--family-search
lang: en
title: Search and recognition
summary: >-
  The player finds a required object, feature or pattern among distracting
  details.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/puzzle--family-search/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/puzzle--family-search.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/puzzle--family-search.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Puzzles
  - Mechanics catalog
sourceIds:
  - source-804a52d40e5a173b
sources:
  - id: source-804a52d40e5a173b
    title: Hidden Folks
    url: 'https://hiddenfolks.com/press/hidden-folks-1'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: puzzle
    id: family-search
    title: Puzzles
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/puzzle/#family-search'
    categoryIds:
      - section-1
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Search and recognition
    description: >-
      The player finds a required object, feature or pattern among distracting
      details.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/hidden-folks-jungle.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      crop:
        x: 422
        'y': 56
        width: 759
        height: 754
      game: Hidden Folks
      sourceUrl: 'https://hiddenfolks.com/press/hidden-folks-1'
      originalUrl: 'https://hiddenfolks.com/images/hf1/HiddenFolks-JungleTutorial.png'
      credit: Adriaan de Jongh & Sylvain Tegroeg
      rights: © Adriaan de Jongh & Sylvain Tegroeg. All rights reserved.
      alt: A target and clue help locate an object in the scene
      caption: A target and clue help locate an object in the scene
      markers:
        - x: 53.5
          'y': 94
          label: Target and clue
        - x: 64
          'y': 42
          label: Discovered character
    tips:
      - Distinguish search difficulty from poor object visibility.
    examples:
      - title: Hidden Folks
        url: 'https://hiddenfolks.com/press/hidden-folks-1'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on
  2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are
  preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire
  classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and
  editorial review.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/puzzle
---
# Search and recognition

id: puzzle--family-search
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/puzzle--family-search
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/puzzle--family-search/

The player finds a required object, feature or pattern among distracting details.

## At a glance

![A target and clue help locate an object in the scene](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/hidden-folks-jungle.webp)

[Hidden Folks](https://hiddenfolks.com/press/hidden-folks-1) · © Adriaan de Jongh & Sylvain Tegroeg. All rights reserved.

1. Target and clue
2. Discovered character

- Distinguish search difficulty from poor object visibility.

- [Hidden Folks](https://hiddenfolks.com/press/hidden-folks-1)

## How it works

Find the desired object, sign or pattern in the presented information.

## Variants

### Variants and applications

<a id="family-search-variants"></a>

- Search for an item. Definition: Find a given object among distracting details. Conditional example: Find a key in a workshop. Terms: hidden object; search for objects. <a id="variant-hidden-object"></a>
- Search by silhouette. Definition: Match a contour with an object, taking into account rotation and overlap. Conditional example: Find a detail by its shadow. <a id="variant-silhouette"></a>
- Finding differences. Definition: Compare states or images and note the changed elements. Conditional example: Find rearranged objects in a room. Terms: spot the difference. <a id="variant-difference"></a>
- Search for the superfluous. Definition: Derive a general property of a set and select an element that violates it. Conditional example: Eliminate a figure without an axis of symmetry. <a id="variant-odd-one-out"></a>
- Continuation of the pattern. Definition: Define a change rule and restore the next or missing element. Conditional example: Continue a series of rotating figures. Terms: visual matrices. <a id="variant-visual-sequence"></a>
- Recognition by fragment. Definition: Restore the whole from a limited part of the characteristics. Conditional example: Identify the mechanism from the cross-section. <a id="variant-fragment"></a>
- Combining layers. Definition: Combine transparent or partial images to reveal information. Conventional example: Overlay two halves of a card. <a id="variant-overlay"></a>
- Reading negative space. Definition: Find a figure or message in the spaces between objects. Conditional example: Read the number between the columns. <a id="variant-negative-space"></a>
- Counting hidden structures. Definition: List all shapes, intersections or combinations, including composite ones. Conditional example: Count triangles of different sizes. <a id="variant-visual-count"></a>
- Detecting change. Definition: Remember the state and determine what has changed after the break. Conditional example: Name the missing exhibit. <a id="variant-change-observation"></a>

## Context and limits

A wide catalog of mechanics for digital puzzles, paper logic problems and physical puzzles. Each position contains an action or rule and a conditional example of application.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.

- [Hidden Folks](https://hiddenfolks.com/press/hidden-folks-1) (id: source-804a52d40e5a173b)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors