Parents' Guide to

Criminal Case

By Erin Bell, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Gruesome crime scenes become Facebook hidden-object puzzles.

Game Facebook 2012
Criminal Case Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Criminal Case Game: Screenshot #1
  • Criminal Case Game: Screenshot #2
  • Criminal Case Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

See all
age 16+

Based on 13 parent reviews

Nessa102
Nessa102 Adult
March 28, 2021
age 18+

Gruesome Cases and Inappropriate

Even though this is an cartoon game, I still found it to be quite violent, gruesome and scary due to how some of the cases are. The cases are using really scary, unrealistic and exaggerated deaths/ killings and reason for the crime, that make you anxious and scared of it. As someone with severe anxiety, this triggered it heavily with thoughts of "what if this happens to me?", and extremely afraid and worried of it occuring in real life. There are far too many ads and asking of money for their "products". I use to enjoy it years ago, until I played further and discovered more cases with horrific deaths, images of the victims and scary reasons for the murder. This has honestly traumatised me, as the thought of these gruesome and scary murders has made me anxious. I HATE THIS GAME!

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
tuggerlab
tuggerlab Adult
September 25, 2019
age 18+

Level Up

Right now I’m playing 3 of the games. However the level up is a little unfair. I went in and after my spins I had 160 energy right after me first star I got a level up. It was not added to the energy I already have it just set me back to 110. Why is the level up not just added to what is already in energy
See all 13 parent reviews

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?

Our review:
Parents say (13):
Kids say (4):

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

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.

See all recommended game lists

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