Neighbours From Hell

Neighbours From Hell (or Neighbors From Hell in the US) is a point-and click game released by Jo Wood Interactive in 2003. The plot of the game revolves around Woody, a generally nice guy until his obnoxious neighbor, Rottweiler finally annoys Woody to the point that he snaps. Woody decides to call up his TV producer friend and the two secretly break into the neighbor's house, wire hidden cameras in every room and Woody proceeds to break into the house repeatedly to pull various pranks on Rottweiler. The results are broadcast as a television show.

The game was followed up by Neighbours From Hell 2: On Vacation in 2004 which sees Woody follow the neighbor on his trip around the world to cause even more grief. Tagging along this time are Olga, a female from the neighborhood that Rottweiler has a disturbing obsession with, Olgas's son, Mrs. Rottweiler, the neighbor's overbearing mother and her yapping dog. The game takes place aboard the cruise ship as well as stops in China, India and Mexico.

The first game saw slightly enhanced ports to the Nintendo Gamecube and Microsoft Xbox though they were only released in Europe. The second game saw a port for the Nintendo DS but again, only in Europe. The only US release of the series has been on PC.

Not to be confused with a cartoon series of a similar name about demons from Hell.


 * All Men Are Perverts - Rottweiler, definitely. As said below, he has a picture of a naked woman taped above the toilet. He spends the first level looking through binoculars at a female neighbor across the street. In game 2 he follows Olga around, trying to woo her and taking almost any chance to gawk at her if she might be naked behind closed doors.
 * Amusing Injuries - Everything Woody does is recorded by hidden cameras to air as a reality TV show and the more elaborate, and faster the pranks, the better the ratings for the level. Almost every injury Rottweiler receives falls into this category.
 * Butt Monkey - The neighbor, and possibly his mother as well. Both seem to ask for it though.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar - It's grainy and small but there appears to be a picture of a naked woman taped up above the toilet in Rottweiler's bathroom.
 * In the second game, Mrs. Rottweiler's dog gleefully humps a stuffed toy quite often.
 * Fan Disservice - Olga in game 2 runs around in a bikini. She has breasts literally the size of watermelons. She also has ungodly muscle mass and a man's face. Mrs. Rottweiler, a fat old woman with very hairy legs, also spends all her screen time in a bikini. Don't forget Rottweiler himself in a speedo for the entirety of the second game.
 * Jerkass - Both the neighbor and his mother. They seem to share a common rudeness and disregard for anything that isn't them, including other people and any animal they can get away with abusing.
 * No Animals Were Harmed - Completely subverted at almost every opportunity.
 * In season 2 of game 1, Rottweiler has a pet parrot. In one level, Woody replaces its food with spicy chips. Rottweiler feed the bird and the animal breathes fire all over Rottweiler. In season 3, we see the parrot's severed head mounted on a wall with various other animal "trophies".
 * Season 2 features a level with Rottweiler taking care of a pig. He keeps it in a cage barely bigger than the pig itself. In the next level, the pig is gone and Rottweiler is barbecuing pork steaks.
 * In season 3, Rottweiler's dog serves as the alert animal. If the dog is alerted to Woody and he escapes the room, or the dog whistle is used, Rottweiler will yell at the dog severely.
 * In the second game, Rottweiler chooses to harass elephants in TWO DIFFERENT LEVELS. Both times, Woody helps the elephants take their revenge.
 * Let me explain this one... on one of the boat levels, Rottweiler is forced to take care of his mother's annoying dog. he usually stops at a harpoon setup to launch a plush toy into the water. Woody can snag the dog's favorite toy and throw it into the bin, which causes Rottweiler to grab the toy. The dog will jump on, start humping his favorite toy and be launched out to sea.
 * Reality TV - Everything Woody does to his obnoxious neighbor is filmed by hidden cameras to be broadcast as a TV show.
 * Shoddy Knockoff Product - Oh boy... Russian game publisher Russobit-M obtained the license to translate and sell the games in the Russian market. They promptly followed up with their own unofficial clone series Pranksterz, or possibly How To Get A Neighbor, whichever you prefer. The game layout is about the same but oh god they suck. They are often found on torrent sites titled Neighbours From Hell 3, 4 or 5.
 * Shout-Out - The designs of all the characters seem quite reminiscent of Nick Park's Wallace & Gromit characters.
 * Stealth Based Game - Played straight. Woody has to go about setting up his trick without being seen as he is technically trespassing in Rottweiler's home. Getting spotted will result in a severe beating and level failure. Some rooms with Rottweiler's pet animals require the player to sneak quietly at a slower pace or the animal may wake up and yell out, alerting Rottweiler. Game 2 uses the same setup but gives the player three lives per level, allowing him to be spotted twice without failure. Of course, now he has to worry about being spotted by the neighbor AND his mother.
 * Toon Physics - Most, if not all of the tricks Woody plays on Rottweiler are this. Some are standard and "real world" but almost all the others are so ridiculous and likely dangerous if played on an actual person but at best, Rottweiler ends up only mildly injured or annoyed whenever tossed out a window, blown up or forced to sit on a sharp object.
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential - While the point of the game is to pull harsh, painful pranks, most levels do not require that every prank be pulled to complete and move on. Pulling all pranks is often optional.
 * You Fail Geography Forever - Practically nothing in the second game really resembles where it's supposed to be set.