50
The competitive mode is fine, but the rest of the game is not. It’s short (no unnecessary background-building scenes whatsoever), the characters are just shallow cut-outs, the choices seem meaningless and on top of all I experienced some technical issues. [01/2018, p.64]
70
Hidden Agenda is great if you want to have a special 'movie night' with friends, filled with discussions about what the next step should be.
91
As I said up top, there are certainly reasons to be wary of Hidden Agenda. It’s hard not to search a crime scene for clues with your unresponsive PlayLink app and come away wishing that you were just using a plain controller. But that’s more than outweighed by the fact that the game also does a better job of capturing what makes mystery novels so compelling than nearly anything else I’ve ever played. Hidden Agenda may not be perfect, but it knows how to keep you hooked right to the very end.
10
Plot awesome but game so short, I've done it for 3 hours it's so short, but game cool.
7
Hidden Agenda is an interesting game for sure with good enough graphics and an interesting narrative but it suffers from a poor control scheme, there's absolutely no reason why a controller can't be used with this game but instead you're forced to use a crappy mobile app and suffer with control/input delay as a result. For some god forsaken reason there is also a part in the game where if you do a certain thing then a few minutes later fail something else the narrative takes you down an immediate "you lose" path that absolutely doesn't make sense. Clearly Supermassive fancied themselves another Quantic Dream with this game but the narrative certainly needed going over at least a couple more times and the controls looking at again. Not bad game but getting boxed into a "game over" situation even though you did a lot of other things right and other olive branches should have come into play at that point is just absurd.
5
The ideea of gameplay I think it is ...to boring. When only thing you can do is pres x, and square or etc, ... it is artful. Right now we have Netflix with this type so doesn't matter right now. Only good thing is story in this game but it is sad because it is short, to little gameplay... and ... nothing good offers.
Hidden Agenda
Released On:
Oct 24, 2017
Metascore
Mixed or Average
66
User score
Mixed or Average
6.7
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
66
31% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
64% Mixed
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
4% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Jan 11, 2018
91
As I said up top, there are certainly reasons to be wary of Hidden Agenda. It’s hard not to search a crime scene for clues with your unresponsive PlayLink app and come away wishing that you were just using a plain controller. But that’s more than outweighed by the fact that the game also does a better job of capturing what makes mystery novels so compelling than nearly anything else I’ve ever played. Hidden Agenda may not be perfect, but it knows how to keep you hooked right to the very end.
Nov 2, 2017
80
Supermassive Games brings players another unique adventure in the multiplayer, action-adventure, thriller Hidden Agenda.
User score
Mixed or Average
6.7
44% Positive
73 Ratings
73 Ratings
39% Mixed
64 Ratings
64 Ratings
17% Negative
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
Oct 19, 2025
10
Plot awesome but game so short, I've done it for 3 hours it's so short, but game cool.
Jan 5, 2024
10
I don't know what people are on about this game being bad. It is a lot of fun to play with family and friends.
My only three small complaints are the lack of chapter select(which I guess isn't very needed since the game is so short) and the lack of time given to shoot during combat events. Sometimes I don't even have enough time to see what's going on and decide to shoot or on not. This could be a problem for people who have a slower reaction time, especially if you play with multiple people, since it requires the mayority to go to the box to shoot. During the finale, this can often cause some death of the main protagonists.
One more issue is the lack of controller support, but this is a really small issue, because even if the mobile app can't be installed through Google Play/AppStore, it can be installed as an APK.
Other than that, the game is very engaging and fun to play with friends, even with players who haven't played any videogames whatsoever in the past.(For example, some of my family) And it's easy to to pick up and play for everyone.
The story is well written, the voice acting and animation is top notch. Your choices ACTUALLY MATTER. Plus, they made a full hungarian localization, which doesn't happen very often.
Have not played competitive mode yet, but that seems fun, too.
The trophy list is easy enough, it doesn't have that many trophies, and according to guides it can be completed in 5 playthroughs, although there are some critical decisions to be made to achieve certain endings.
The app for the game is working perfectly fine, and people who can't install it should download it as an APK and install it like that, but it can still be installed normally on many devices.
In conclusion, this game is very easy to play for everyone, it is engaging and very fun. Well-written story, fleshed out characters and top-notch voice acting.Only thing that is missing is chapter select and controller support.
Dec 15, 2017
70
Not exactly family-friendly Christmas fare, but definitely worth a look with friends. [Christmas 2017, p.60]
Nov 28, 2017
65
As an interactive movie, you could do a lot worse than Hidden Agenda. However, technical issues and a number of unsatisfying endings are flaws that deserve to be mentioned.
Dec 15, 2017
60
Hidden Agenda is a funny - but very short - cinematic adventure game with a lot of QTE and social features, available only for PlayLink users.
Nov 24, 2017
55
Hidden Agenda fails to deliver on its potential. The game makes some poor design choices, making it hard to fall in love with this game. Hidden Agenda, nevertheless, gives hope for more non-party PlayLink games.
Oct 27, 2017
40
In single-player or multiplayer, Hidden Agenda is a game in which winning almost always feels like losing.
Nov 29, 2017
10
I have played many games in this genre (cinematic/choice driven games) and Hidden Agenda does the best job out of any game with story layout and choices. The details and the small dialogue options really matter, not in stupid, unforeseen ways but in ways that actually make sense. It was innovative and genius to add a cooperative or competitive element to this type of game play and I really hope we see more of this in the future. Hidden Agenda really brings a social element into play by asking teammates to pick: "who is the most observant among you?" and then forcing that person to make a decision alone that hinges upon how observant they actually are. On the first playthrough, the story may seem rushed at times, but this is something you are grateful for on subsequent playthroughs. The story sticks to what is necessary for the plot and really cuts down on any narrative overtones or bridges. Despite this, they do a good job at creating some pretty fleshed out characters in such a short time. The graphics, length (about 1.5 hours per play through with high replay-ability), and audio weren't phenomenal compared to other similar titles, but they far exceeded my expectations at a 20 dollar price. Overall, Hidden Agenda is a great game to play with friends and family regardless of whether or not they are gamers. I believe anyone would enjoy this game. The game is also fun to play alone, but it looses several of it's most interesting mechanics so I certainly recommend playing it with others.
Jul 3, 2025
7
Hidden Agenda is an interesting game for sure with good enough graphics and an interesting narrative but it suffers from a poor control scheme, there's absolutely no reason why a controller can't be used with this game but instead you're forced to use a crappy mobile app and suffer with control/input delay as a result. For some god forsaken reason there is also a part in the game where if you do a certain thing then a few minutes later fail something else the narrative takes you down an immediate "you lose" path that absolutely doesn't make sense. Clearly Supermassive fancied themselves another Quantic Dream with this game but the narrative certainly needed going over at least a couple more times and the controls looking at again. Not bad game but getting boxed into a "game over" situation even though you did a lot of other things right and other olive branches should have come into play at that point is just absurd.
Dec 19, 2021
7
[RU] Сначала сюжетный режим мне не очень понравился. Он слишком короткий и игра очень быстро раскрывает личность убийцы. Тобишь, на один раз сойдёт. Но когда мы в компании решили сыграть в режим "мафии", тогда игра заиграла новыми красками. При том, что нас было трое, мы получии весёлый экспириенс от игры. Кроме того, игра ОЧЕНЬ дешёвая и с лихвой окупает свою стоимость. Рекомендую!
Jun 2, 2022
4
That this game requires a phone or tablet to play is ridiculous. I play games solo, as a rule. The option to use a controller instead of wrestling with a tablet would have made this a thousand times less painful. I have an ethernet cable that connects my console to a router SPECIFICALLY because my wifi is spotty and unreliable. Every time the wifi stutters or stops for a second, the game grinds to a halt and warns me I've disconnected. Of course, sometimes it takes a second to register a disconnection. And sometimes that happens during a time-sensitive decision I have to make, and I'm left sitting there watching Becky make a choice that's gonna get her killed because I physically cannot intervene to save her. This was a shame. The acting was good, the characters graphically looked good (the backgrounds, on the other hand...), and the mystery was intriguing. I just don't get forcing people to use phones or tablets for this game when they're playing solo. Even just the option to just a controller would have been so much better.
May 9, 2018
4
It's the kind of game I really want to like but it just lets down on so many levels. I played it together with my wife, still forced to use the smartphone despite us deciding decisions together anyway. So, even if you play it in SP - you have to use your smartphone. It starts out really well but becomes confusing with the cuts very soon to the point where it doesn't make any sense. In between the parts we checked the biography updates and there was info in there which was not in the game. The quality in terms of animation isn't constent, especially our detective protagonist has some really awkward lip animations. The state attorney on the other hand is done quite well. All in all - it seems like they were quite ambitious with this game but then lacked the budget to pull it off properly Yes - it's hard with multi-decision games but as mentioned, the narrative just stopped making sense, especially in the last third of the game. Compared to Until Dawn it's really messy. Still, we'll give it another shot some day with different decisions.
SummaryBlending the best elements of movies and games, this story-based adventure drops you into a tale rife with chilling moral dilemmas.
Rated Mfor Mature
Platforms:
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date:Oct 24, 2017
Developer:
Publisher:
