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Imagine: Detective (Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi)

common sense media says

Detective game for girls has great play, good role model.

parents & educators say
See all 9 reviews | Review it

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a teen detective game suitable for tweens and up. Players take on the role of a crime-fighting high school teenager who looks for suspicious activity, solves mysteries, and makes sure justice is served -- as when she unravels the events behind a school fire and keeps the building janitor from being falsely convicted of the crime. She does carry out a few sneaky deeds -- like rifling through a fellow student’s purse for evidence -- but it’s all in the name of truth. She’s a good role model for girls. Note, though, that the game touches on a few issues that may be sensitive to kids, including divorce and the death of our protagonist’s father.

Educational value: Some of the game play involves using logic.
Positive messages: This game is all about being smart and solving crimes. Among the many cases players take on is one with the noble goal of exonerating a school janitor wrongly accused of starting a fire. Not all of the cases have such righteous objectives, but they do all involve the making sure justice is served.
Positive role models: Our heroine, whose parents divorced when she was younger and whose father recently died under suspicious circumstances, is an intelligent, justice loving, enigma-unraveling teen. She occasionally engages in dodgy activities, such as rifling through a girl’s purse looking for evidence or distracting a security guard so she can sneak into a crime scene to examine it, but there is never any doubt that she is doing it all to serve the greater good.
Ease of play: Everything is self explanatory, and hints abound. Two skill levels allow players to set how challenging they want the game’s puzzles to be. Players always have a chance to redo puzzles to score more points and improve their detective rank.
Violence: The player’s character prefers to use her brains rather than her brawn to solve cases. However, there is one mini-game that involves tapping fists with the stylus. It clearly suggests -- but doesn’t show in any detail -- a minor scuffle.
Sex: Not an issue.
Language: Not an issue.
Consumerism: Not an issue.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not an issue.
Our ratings and reviews are informed by child development guidelines. Learn more.

More on Imagine: Detective

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about what it means to be a detective, and how it’s important to alert adults to any activities you think might be criminal rather than try to investigate them yourself.
  • Families can also discuss the importance of privacy and the difference between true detective work and plain old snooping. Can you think of any instances in which it is acceptable to look through someone else’s private belongings?

What's the story?

What's the story?
Imagine: Detective, the latest entry in Ubisoft’s Imagine series of games geared for girls, puts kids in the shoes of teen detective Kirsten Spark. A student in a small town high school, she’s still recovering from her father’s recent and suspicious death, and is a bit obsessed with solving crimes and ensuring justice is served, whether it’s investigating a missing book or finding out how a school fire began. Players spend their time investigating suspicious scenes by moving objects around with the stylus and tapping on items of interest to reveal clues. They also engage in mini-games, including one where they stealthily move around a room without being seen and another that involves stopping spinning pieces of a puzzle to reveal a picture. Once enough clues have been found, players need to remember them and quickly pick the proper ones out of groups to solve the case. With each solved case, we move a little closer to learning what happened to Kirsten’s dad.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Imagine: Detective is a girl-centric game that is blissfully free of the genre’s typical superficial trappings, including fashion, makeup, and shopping. That’s not to say that Kirsten isn’t fashionable or feminine (quite the opposite), but rather that play is focused entirely on the investigation of crimes, which will hopefully help girls believe that they can use their brains to figure out riddles and complex problems.

The investigations are both brisk and fun. Players can drive Kirsten’s scooter anywhere in the city with a single tap of the stylus, and once they get to their destination it’s usually straight to work, with perhaps just a quick and witty bit of dialogue to preface her search for clues. It’s all over a bit more quickly than one might like, but once each investigative mini-game has been played it becomes available as a standalone activity from the main menu, giving the game a minor boost in longevity.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi
Not available online
Genre: Girl
Developer: UbiSoft
Released on: September 8, 2009
Price: 29.99
ESRB Rating: E for Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence
Screenshots
This review was written by Chad Sapieha
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

RocksRock99
kid, 11 years old
 
don't play it
don't play it
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helped me decide (9) | had useful details (7) | read my mind (14)
shyne786
kid, 11 years old
12
 
A little scary, but a good game!!!!
Great game! It is a little scary, so that is why I reccomend it for ages 12+. It is about a teenage girl (maybe about 14 years old) who likes to be a detective and solve mysteries. Her best friend is a silly cat. The part that says that her father died before could be changed to make it better. Other than that, it is a great game and makes you feel like a real detective!
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helped me decide (10) | had useful details (10) | read my mind (10)
CrazyBlu4Eva
kid, 10 years old
9
 
So cool!I've always wanted to be a detective and now I can be in this game.
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helped me decide (9) | had useful details (9) | read my mind (10)
mksamek
teen, 13 years old
11
 
LOVE IT YA THINK?
Love it..... LOL!
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helped me decide (11) | had useful details (6) | read my mind (11)
tabbycat24
kid, 13 years old
10
 
great for ages 10 amd up
I love it!!!!
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helped me decide (9) | had useful details (7) | read my mind (10)
undergurl
kid, 12 years old
9
 
I loved this game! It is easy to play, the mingames are cool, and youc an even have your own pig collection!
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helped me decide (9) | had useful details (9) | read my mind (7)
mlp49
parent of 13 year old
12
 
Way too short.
My daughter (12 yrs) loved the game, but finished it in about 4 hrs. Replay value is almost nil. Apparently there will be sequels, but not enough value for the price.
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helped me decide (8) | had useful details (8) | read my mind (8)
anha
teen, 17 years old
10
 
my review1
love it,,,, un lang
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helped me decide (7) | had useful details (8) | read my mind (8)
LoveVideoGames
kid, 12 years old
9
 
awsome EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE IT
love it!! :)
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helped me decide (5) | had useful details (9) | read my mind (6)

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
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