CRIMO

I like the game a lot. What I noticed over the past week of playing is that I can play the game with a weak internet connection (perhaps airplane mode even) but then my pop-up “helpers” for the game are ads to buy in game currency. This was the only game I could play the last two days when we lost power and cell coverage was messed up (hurricane Ian) so I did experience frustration of needing to restart a whole batch of puzzles when I ran out of health due to mistakes. However after full cell service was restored, the pop-up helpers come sporting offers to watch ads for help. And if I’ve just run out of cones, a cone helper comes up and if I’m low on health, a health restorer comes by. Do I like watching ads?! Nope. But after spending thousands on other “free” games, I’ll watch the ads. If you like this type of game, the developer makes another like this without much “story,” called Riddle Stones. And if you like Crimo but want more story, Crimo Stories has a bunch of reading / background story. I found these games because this developer originally made Treasure Madness, the most epic game on Facebook for years. I was so sad to see it go. I hope to see them revisit a similar app for mobile. In the meantime, hooked on this one.

The police crime aspect of the game makes no sense. None. You do nothing but ‘solve’ grids based on number sequences. You find a clue on each grid then you click on that clue for your crime lab to analyze the clue. Which is just a timer. The clues are ridiculous. Briefcase, lipstick. Etc. i can ignore the idiotic game play aspect of the crime portion as it doesn’t interfere with playing the grid cross games, which i really like. The aspect of the game i think is the most ridiculous is, you start out with a health pool of 100%. if you make ONE wrong move, you take a 60% hit. For one wrong move! You have three options for regaining that health. Their in game money, to refill the health, close the app and let time refresh the health, or eat random types of food you might find on a game grid. So far i have seen an apple(gives next to no health boost) a hamburger, pizza slice and hotdog. You need to click on the food buff for it to count and to raise your health up. Just finding the food is not enough. NONE of these give anywhere near the 60% health that you lose from one wrong move. You are not guaranteed to find one of the food types on every grid and i have gone multiple grids without finding a food buff. As a matter of fact, i find the food buffs more when I don’t need them, than when i do. And if you do happen to find a food buff, hope that it isn’t on the last space of the grid you solve, because the puzzle immediately locks and you can’t click the food buff.

This game is perfect for when your brain needs a break for a few minutes. If you are paying attention you can usually figure out the number pattern. One small suggestion would be to make the clues more logical. For example, in one game finding a broken bone ruled out blunt force trauma (the wrench), but left open to speculation poison, gun, knife, molatov, or chainsaw? I understand that this is most likely random, but if not.... Another suggestion is to offer the option to make a guess like in Clue, but if you are wrong, you forfeit (or have to watch comercials). A final suggestion is to steer clear of the commercials with forced sound. If I need my volume on, which I frequently do, I can't play your game for fear of the disturbance to others (or silently watch your commercials, which is your profit). I do enjoy the game for what it is.