Only a Few People Can Find All the Faces Hidden in This Tree – Are You One of Them?
A mind-bending optical illusion is making the rounds online, challenging even the sharpest eyes. It’s a detailed image of a tree — but hidden within its twisting branches and rugged bark are multiple human faces, expertly camouflaged into the natural patterns. The question is: how many can you find?
At first glance, the tree looks like a simple black-and-white sketch, filled with dense branches, leaves, and shadows. But if you stare a little longer, something begins to shift. A nose emerges from the texture of the bark. An eye seems to form where two branches cross. Then suddenly — a full face pops out. And once you see one, you can’t help but keep searching for more.
The viral illusion has captivated social media users, many of whom claim they can only spot between four and six faces. But the artist, whose work is based on classic perceptual tricks, says there are actually ten faces hidden in total. That’s right — ten.
“It’s a fun test of how your brain interprets visual information,” says Dr. Kevin Lorenz, a cognitive psychologist. “Some people are more tuned into pattern recognition than others. What’s especially interesting is that once someone tells you where a face is, you can’t unsee it — it becomes part of your perception permanently.”
The illusion is part of a long tradition of art that plays with our visual expectations. Much like the famous “young woman vs. old lady” sketch or the “duck-rabbit” image, this tree face illusion depends on the brain’s tendency to create familiar shapes — like faces — out of random patterns. This phenomenon is called pareidolia, and it’s the reason we sometimes see faces in clouds or electrical outlets.
Online, people are challenging each other to find all ten faces, sharing screenshots, circling their discoveries, and boasting about their visual prowess. “I thought I got them all, but then someone pointed out the face in the roots — mind blown,” one user commented. Others are stuck at seven or eight, wondering if the last few are even real or just tricks of the eye.
If you want to try it yourself, the trick is to stop thinking of faces as frontal portraits. Some are in profile, some upside down, and some are cleverly blended into shadowed parts of the trunk. Zooming in helps, and so does tilting your head.
This puzzle isn’t just fun — it’s also being used in classrooms and cognitive tests to explore visual intelligence and attention to detail. “It’s about persistence and observation,” Dr. Lorenz explains. “It reveals how your brain tries to bring order to chaos.”
So, are you among the rare few with “eagle eyes”? Take the challenge. Find all ten faces in the tree. And if you can, congratulations — you’re part of a very observant minority. Just don’t be surprised if the image stays burned in your brain long after you’ve closed it.
