Report updated May 5, 2026
Hello Neighbor
For casual gamers and fans of the stealth horror genre who enjoy puzzle-solving and adaptive AI challenges.
Hello Neighbor is an established games app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 3.9/5 rating from 674.9K reviews, it shows polarized user reception. Users particularly appreciate nostalgic gameplay loop and compelling story narrative drive long-term player retention, though aggressive monetization gating acts two and three behind a paywall frustrates players remains a common concern.
What is Hello Neighbor?
Hello Neighbor is a stealth-horror game for mobile devices where players infiltrate a neighbor's house to uncover secrets while avoiding an adaptive AI.
Users hire this app for the challenge of outsmarting a learning AI in a horror-themed puzzle environment. The core job is to test tactical stealth against a dynamic pursuer.
Current Momentum
v2.3 · 12mo ago
Maintenance- Shipped technical updates for mobile compatibility
- Maintained core stealth-horror gameplay loop
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
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What Are The Key Features?
Enemy AI learns player movement patterns and places traps or cameras in response to specific tactics
Objective-based infiltration of a neighbor's house to uncover basement secrets
Connected game series including prequel, sequel, and multiplayer spin-offs
How much does it cost?
- Free-to-play base game
- In-app purchases available
Monetization relies on ad-supported gameplay and in-app purchases, typical for high-install volume mobile titles.
Who Built It?
tinyBuild
Delivering high-stakes stealth horror and physics-driven experiences to mobile gamers through established cross-platform franchises.
Portfolio
13
Apps
What other apps does tinyBuild make?
Explore the full tinyBuild report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by tinyBuild.
What do users think recently?
High confidence · Latest 100 of 197 total reviews analyzed · Based on 197 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a mixed sentiment. Users appreciate nostalgic gameplay loop and compelling story narrative drive long-term player retention and minimal ad frequency creates a clean and immersive experience for mobile players, but report aggressive monetization gating acts two and three behind a paywall frustrates players and technical instability and visual glitches disrupt the core horror experience post-update.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for Hello Neighbor?
How's The Games Market?
How does it evolve in the Games market?
The app maintains a presence in the Games category with over 670,000 total ratings across platforms. The mixed sentiment score of 45 indicates that while the core concept is strong, monetization and stability issues are currently limiting growth.
Rank progression
200 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
The definitive mobile stealth-horror benchmark featuring a persistent AI pursuer and high-frequency content updates.
Differentiators
- Persistent, non-scripted AI pathfinding
- High-frequency content updates and seasonal events
Head to head
The target app must leverage its superior AI tech to create more dynamic, unpredictable encounters to differentiate from the 'escape room' puzzle-heavy loop that Granny dominates. Prioritize a more frequent content update cadence to prevent the player base from migrating to the more active Granny ecosystem.
Contenders(4)
Olesya Shlyakhtina
Features a high-stakes stealth environment where players must hide from intelligent robotic pursuers in a police station.
Differentiators
- Tablet-based security camera monitoring
- Resource management (flashlight battery)
A first-person horror game with a strong emphasis on stealth and solving puzzles while being stalked by an AI clown.
Differentiators
- Multi-ending narrative structure
- Active development and frequent feature updates
Keplerians
Focuses on sneaking into a dangerous antagonist's home to rescue a hostage using stealth and puzzle-solving.
Differentiators
- Hostage rescue mechanics
- Dynamic AI behavior based on sound
Iterates on the stealth-horror formula by adding a second AI pursuer, increasing the difficulty of avoiding detection.
Differentiators
- Multi-AI threat management
- Expanded map complexity
Same space(3)
A major asymmetrical horror game that prioritizes stealth and evasion over direct combat.
Differentiators
- Asymmetrical 4v1 multiplayer
- Deep character class system
Team Terrible
A viral stealth-horror game involving domestic tasks and avoiding a supernatural antagonist in a house.
Differentiators
- Domestic task-based gameplay loop
- Supernatural horror elements
Mob Entertainment
A leading mascot-horror title that shares the same target audience of fans looking for puzzle-heavy horror experiences.
Differentiators
- GrabPack puzzle mechanics
- High-fidelity mascot-horror aesthetic
Compare Hello Neighbor against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for Hello Neighbor
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Adaptive AI creates unpredictable encounters that differentiate the core loop
- Franchise-wide cross-promotion drives organic acquisition
Critical Frictions
- Paywall gating acts two and three behind a single-purchase barrier
- Technical instability post-update causes visual glitches and persistent crashes
Growth Levers
- Implementation of a non-hostile practice mode to lower the barrier for new players
- Cross-platform save synchronization to reduce churn when switching devices
Market Threats
- Granny's 3-release cadence in the last 6 months outpaces current update frequency
- Rising mascot-horror titles capture younger demographic attention
What are the next best moves?
Rebuild technical stability because post-update crashes disrupt the core horror experience → reduce churn.
Technical instability is a top-three complaint theme in recent sentiment analysis.
Trade-off: Pause new content development for one sprint to focus on stability.
Ship cross-platform save synchronization because progress loss is a recurring pain point → improve retention.
Users report losing all saved data when moving between devices.
Trade-off: Deprioritize the requested practice mode to allocate engineering hours to data persistence.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's reliance on a single-act free model is not a failure of monetization, but a necessary filter to protect the high-fidelity horror experience from low-intent casual users.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Persistent, non-scripted AI pathfinding (available in Granny)
- Multi-AI threat management (available in Granny: Chapter Two)
Key Takeaways
Hello Neighbor holds its category lead through unique AI-driven mechanics but bleeds players to more active live-ops competitors, so revenue growth hinges on stabilizing the technical experience and easing the paywall friction for later acts.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
The stealth-horror market is consolidating around titles with higher content velocity and lower entry friction. Hello Neighbor's current maintenance-mode cadence leaves it exposed to more agile rivals, so the PM must prioritize stability and monetization balance to prevent further erosion of the player base.
Technical instability post-update causes persistent crashes, which erodes the immersive horror experience and drives negative sentiment.
Aggressive paywall gating for later acts creates conversion friction, leading to player frustration and potential migration to free-to-play competitors.