Critics panned the gameplay, control scheme and technical performance, although some praised the story, mystery elements, and art style. While the initial alpha versions of Hello Neighbor were received positively by fans and critics, the final product was met with largely negative reviews. The game's artificial intelligence (AI) modifies the neighbor's behavior based on the player's past actions, such as setting traps along paths the player followed in a previous attempt. The goal of the game is to successfully sneak into the basement of the neighbor's house to uncover a dark secret while avoiding being caught by the neighbor.
The player takes the role of Nicky Roth, who investigates his mysterious neighbor named Mr. Initially released as public alphas from 2016 to 2017, it received a full release for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on 8 December 2017, and later for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, IOS and Android on 26 July 2018. Hello Neighbor is a survival horror stealth game developed by Russian video game studio Dynamic Pixels and published by TinyBuild.