Common Sense Media Review
By Paul Semel
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fun but tough puzzle mystery game inspired by TV show.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
The X-Files: Deep State
What's It About?
In THE X-FILES: DEEP STATE, you play as an FBI agent who ends up investigating a series of crimes that may or may not have a supernatural or science fiction element to them. In the first case, for instance, you investigate a woman's murder by searching the crime scene for clues (and other, unrelated items), questioning her husband and her son, and deciding who you believe. But while this is inspired by the titular TV show, you don't get to play as either of the show's main characters or interact with their co-stars. Mainly, players will hunt for objects in hidden-object puzzles. There will also be occasional sliding picture puzzles or puzzle pieces that need to be connected to make a larger image, but for the most part, you're searching for items to help your investigation along.
Is It Any Good?
Though it's not as smart or engaging as the show that inspired it, this mysterious puzzle game can be fun and challenging. In The X-Files: Deep State, you play as an FBI agent who investigates a series of crimes that may or may not have a sci-fi or supernatural element to them. But while none of these crimes would work as episodes of the show, and you don't get to be either Mulder or Scully, the puzzles manage to redeem this somewhat. Specifically, this is discovered through the found-object puzzles, which dominate this game, and provide most of the challenge by being trickier than most found in similar games. The things you're looking for aren't always where you'd expect them to be, colored in a way that makes them stand out from the background, or even look like you'd expect. For example, the divorce papers in one case -- spoiler alert -- look more like someone's passport. Otherwise, though, this is fairly rote, with the secondary puzzles being way too easy, and the dialogue choices often having little or no consequence. Still, if you're looking for a hidden-object puzzle game that's a bit more challenging than most, The X-Files: Deep State will give your eyeballs something to do until the next episode of the show.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in games. Does it make a difference that in The X-Files: Deep State, you're investigating the murder of a fellow human being, as opposed to a nonhuman creature?
Talk about commercialism. Clearly this game is designed to get you to watch the show, but do you think that's OK? Does it actually make you want to watch the show?
Discuss spending money wisely. In this game, you can spend money to change your character's clothes, to avoid waiting for something to happen, or to keep playing, but does this seem like a good use of your money?
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : February 7, 2018
- Genre : Puzzle Games
- Topics : Adventures , Fantasy
- Publisher : Creative Mobile
- Version : 2.0.9
- Minimum software requirements : Requires iOS 10.0 or later; Android 5.0 and up
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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