Hello Neighbor 2: Beginner Tips Guide (2025)

Fans of stealthy puzzle games will have a lot to love in Hello Neighbor 2. You'll need to have keen spatial awareness if your breaking and entering skills are going to stay up-to-scratch, or else you'll be thrown out on your butt.

Related: Hello Neighbor 2: Level One Walkthrough

With a very short tutorial as your only introduction, things can go south fast. If you're having trouble getting past that surly police officer, or if you can't help but pet the bakery kitty and keep getting spotted, here are some tips and tricks to up your chances of success in Hello Neighbor 2.

Keep Your Crowbar

During the tutorial, you'll pick up a crowbar to smash through a glass window and retrieve one of the three cogs needed to escape the barn. If you pick the crowbar back up before you open the door and carry it out with you, it will spawn in your inventory at the start of Level One.

This will be incredibly helpful and allow you to complete objectives early. In case you forgot to pick it back up, don't worry; there is another crowbar in the blue house you'll be exploring, which can be found in the secret room, along with the doll of the little boy needed to complete the dollhouse puzzle.

Watch How Noisy You Are

See Also

Hello Neighbor 2: How To Beat Act 1

Every noise you make risks alerting your pursuer to your location. Watch out for stepping on squeaky toys on the floor, heavy items you throw around, or puzzles with loud mechanisms like the race-car puzzle. If you make a noise, quickly head to the nearest empty wardrobe and hide.

Remember, you can also climb up on top of furniture to stay out of sight if there are no wardrobes around, and you can even hide behind other furniture to break the line of sight!

Listen Out For The Pursuer

If you take a few moments at the start of each level to listen to your pursuer, you will notice patterns in their voice lines (if any) or movements. They will usually patrol a specific path or carry out a set of actions in order, and these are only disturbed if you make noise to draw their attention.

Pay attention to any changes in their voices or any creaking on their stairs; these might be your only cues before you're barged in on by a very disgruntled neighbor.

Pay Attention To Lights And Visual Signposts

Oftentimes, you'll find yourself confused as to your next moves. There is little to point you in the right direction, but you should pay attention to things like lighting, drawings, or other clues to help you find your way.

The semi-open world layout can be a bit disarming; it might take quite a bit of walking to get your bearings. But if you keep an eye out for open doors, bright colors, or heavily-lit pathways, you should find your way around in no time.

Explore Other Houses

In Hello Neighbor 2, you don't just have the blue house to worry about. Your travels will take you all over the town, from the Bakery to the grand palatial house next to your own. You'll even find some very useful tools hiding in a few of them; the pair of scissors you need for Level One can be found in the blue tree house, for example, which is just across the road from the house you're trying to explore.

Take time to explore all the houses and look for open doors or other people, signifying it might be worth checking out.

You Only Have One Save File

You've thrown away a useful tool, and now you can't find it. Disaster! Think twice before you restart the game; there is only one save file in Hello Neighbor 2, so you'll lose all your current progress if you opt to restart.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you've not gotten too far into the game, but it's worth bearing in mind if you don't want a nasty surprise. It's also possible to find new versions of discarded tools, such as the scissors you can pick up in the Bakery in Level Two to replace the first pair.

Place Key Items ASAP

You never know when you'll get grabbed in Hello Neighbor 2, with some instances being too close to call. When you do get snatched and kicked out, all items picked up in the house will be returned to their spot and taken off you.

When you pick up a puzzle piece, you should quickly place it instead of hanging onto it for later. As much as you may want to save yourself multiple trips to the locked basement door, if you're caught at any point, you'll need to go back to fetch everything again.

Use Alarm Clocks

The alarm clocks dotted around the place aren't to be used in any puzzle. Instead, you can use these clocks to attract the attention of your pursuer, getting them away from a certain place you need to access.

Do this by interacting with a clock and then quickly hiding somewhere safe. When you see them heading to the source of the noise, quickly head to the newly-vacated room and act quickly; they're likely to come right back.

Run Outside When You Get Chased

If you've alerted the attention of your pursuer, don't panic. You can easily outrun them if you keep moving and make a beeline for the nearest open window or door. Exiting the house during a chase and waiting awhile will get them to lose your scent.

Don't hide in a wardrobe right under their noses; they'll just yank you back out again. Leaving the house is your best bet to keep all your gear and sneak back in – and this time, you'll know where they'll be waiting.

Don't Forget To Run

The game doesn't tell you directly, but you can put more speed behind you by running rather than walking. Holding the left trigger on your controller (shift key on PC) will speed you up in no time.

As nice as it would have been for the game to give us a heads-up on this, here's your sign: quit creeping around and start taking your pursuer for a few laps around the place. You can't run while crouching, however. Bummer.

Next: Relatable Things We All Do In Stealth Games