Criminal Case
Parents say
Based on 13 reviews
Kids say
Based on 4 reviews
Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Criminal Case
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Criminal Case is a hidden object game played on Facebook. The game is free to play, but players can pay real money to unlock new content more quickly. Players investigate gruesome, bloody murder scenes that include dead bodies and severed limbs. While gameplay is simple enough, the content is definitely not suitable for young children.
Community Reviews
Gruesome Cases and Inappropriate
Report this review
Level Up
Report this review
What’s It About?
As a detective in CRIMINAL CASE, players investigate murder cases by searching for clues in hidden-object scenes. Players earn stars for completing missions and spend them to examine clues in the lab, interview suspects, and eventually piece together enough evidence to identify the perpetrator and solve the case. Players can receive support from Facebook friends who are also playing the game by taking them on investigations as partners that grant extra hints and bonus points.
Is It Any Good?
Criminal Case is a polished hidden-object game with interesting mystery stories built around each chapter of seek-and-find gameplay. But the game suffers from pacing issues. It takes many play-throughs of the same handful of scenes (albeit with a new list of randomized items to find each time) before the player unlocks enough stars to move things forward. The story also drags due to having to wait several hours of real-time to receive certain lab reports. Unless you're willing to pay to speed things up, Criminal Case will be a slow-moving experience.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about detective stories. Are there any TV shows, books, or movies that this game reminds you of? Why are stories and games about detectives so popular?
Does the gory, graphic content help to make the experience more realistic, or is it too gruesome for you?
What aspect of detective work (such as investigation, interrogation, or forensics) do you find most interesting?
Game Details
- Platform: Facebook
- Subjects: Hobbies: fashion, Language & Reading: vocabulary, Math: patterns
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, deduction, solving puzzles, Collaboration: meeting challenges together, Self-Direction: work to achieve goals
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Pretty Simple
- Release date: November 21, 2012
- Genre: Adventure
- ESRB rating: NR
- Last updated: August 26, 2016
Our Editors Recommend
For kids who love being social and solving puzzles
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate