The journey begins when a farmer and her son El Hijo are attacked by bandits who raze their farm to the ground. The mother decides to leave El Hijo at a secluded monastery in order to protect him. However, El Hijo decides that the monastic life is not for him and decides to escape. El Hijo is a non-violent stealth game. Violence is instead exchanged with the mischievous, playfulness of a young child. Shadowplay is in the core of the game and El Hijo will often have to hide. Without needlessly adding new mechanics, the gameplay is extended naturally, as variations of existing mechanics are gradually introduced and then combined with each other to increase the challenge. These twists on familiar mechanics are often a product of the varied, increasingly dangerous environments that El Hijo must traverse to reach his ultimate goal.
