OVERVIEW
Game: Zootopia: Crime Files
Genre: Hidden Object Game
Developer: Hibernum
Rating: 3.5 / 5
VERDICT
Zootopia: Crime Files is your standard hidden object game. While it doesn’t introduce anything new or exciting, it’s a well-made game with lots of fun story and character elements for fans of the Zootopia universe.
Full review follows below
ONBOARDING
Overall this had a good onboarding experience. The tutorial takes you through a whole case from start to finish in around 5-10 minutes depending on your pace. 3 different gameplay scenarios are introduced: 1) Hidden object main gameplay 2) Lab analysis and evidence examination mini game 3) Suspect lineup and accusation
There is a good sense of accomplishment during onboarding. The player levels up after finishing the second hidden object scene, earns a medal and a first arrest commendation rounding out 1 complete case. Right after case 1 finishes, the story and game seamlessly transition into case 2 where the player gets the first look at the world map then can immediately continue playing.
Being a Zootopia game, IP and character recognition are big strengths and they use it well. The game has a nice, natural story element. The story is kept simple and straightforward enough so that it doesn’t feel too wrote, but there is still good characterization. And of course, the story elements are there for those who want it, but skippable for those who want to get right to the gameplay.
The only downside for me was the notification permissions popup right at the start of the game. I prefer it when those popups are integrated later on in a part when they make more sense to appear such as when players first run out of energy or have a long lab analysis in the works. I feel there should be as few steps as possible during part 1 of onboarding while trying to get the player to the main gameplay as fast as possible. I also believe that you can get a better conversion rate of players allowing push notifications to be sent if the permissions popup appears at more strategic point.
All in all, you get everything you want from an onboarding experience: simple straightforward tutorials, a sense of accomplishment, and a seamless transition into regular gameplay.
FIRST SESSION
After onboarding, continuing the first session I was able to play around 10-15 more minutes before running out of stars and energy.
Good points
Good length for a first session
Got to experience enough gameplay to get me engaged enough
Leveling up refills your energy. Within the first session, you should be able to reach level 3 therefore refilling your energy twice. It’s a good way to lengthen the first session and give the player a nice leveling up experience
Around 10-15 mins in, my only available task left was an evidence analysis that had around 10-15 mins left before completion. This is a good opportunity to get the players to spend in-game currency to speed up results, but it’s also a good stopping point for session 1. In 10-15 mins when the evidence is ready, that would be a good way to re-engage the player for a 2nd session.
Needs Improvement
Timing of starter pack. It appeared on my first return to the map after onboarding. I think this could have been pushed a little further in the session since at this point I didn’t understand the value of the coins or what the function of the pie and ice pop being sold were
Video ads in session 1. I think video ads really break a good game flow and technical problems with ads could push players out. If you must have ads, I would definitely limit it to just 1,2, or put a cooldown within the first session. (Not sure if they were truly unlimited, but I watched 5 consecutive video ads just to test it out)
Not enough hidden object gameplay tasks
GAMEPLAY
Basic gameflow
Zootopia is an energy based game. The player needs stars to perform actions that will help the player progress through the case. Stars are earned through the main hidden object gameplay. Each hidden object game round costs 10 energy. Energy refills with time.
3 game modes
Standard: Standard hidden object gameplay. Player is given a set number of objects to find. Round is over when all the objects have been found
Puzzle: The scene is visually shuffled around and player must put each piece back in the right place. Round is over when the player solves the puzzle
Time Attack: The player is given a set amount of time to find as many hidden objects. Round is over when time is up
Strengths:
Replayability: Each scene can be replayed as many times as the player wants. The replayability leads to memory. Eventually the player begins to memorize where all the objects are as their positions don’t change from round to round. Instead of creating a repetitive vibe, it leads to a memory style gameplay where the player can finish rounds faster and earn more stars once they know where the objects are. The time attack gameplay enhances this as it becomes a fun goal to try and get ALL the objects before time runs out.
Ensured Progression: The player cannot quit rounds once they begin. In each round even if the player gets stuck there are character hints and eventually hidden objects will shake ensuring that the playing finishes the round. That means for energy spent there is an assurance that the player will earn some star points, XP, and coins.
Mastery: Even after the player has finished the case, there is still a mastery element that could extend gameplay. In order to get all 3 medals, the player must perfect each stage. Bonus items are also up for grabs for those perfectionist players.
Weaknesses
Examine evidence mini-game: This mini-game just doesn’t work for me. It goes against the puzzle style element of the game. The speed rubbing motion feels off and awkward to do. I think a very simple puzzle game would be a good alternative
Video Ads: Like I mentioned above, video ads appear too early and don’t seem to have a cooldown. Value wise, the rewards also seem off. Watching an ad gives you 4 energy, you need 10 energy to start a scene, which means that at 0 energy you need to watch 3 ads to play 1 round. At this rate, the player spends more time watching ads than playing the hidden object round.
Third Case Unlocking: When I reached case #3, I needed to wait 3 days before I could start playing. This was only on day 2 and I’m already being asked to wait 3 days before I could continue playing. I continued to replay the old cases to get 3 stars, but this only took me 1 more day. Of course, there is a pay option to use in-game currency to unlock it immediately, but this still seems like a tricky time to put a time gate while the player is still getting invested and engaged in the game.
Task Flow: There’s a little bit of imbalance between crime scene search tasks and examine / talk to witnesses tasks. Examining and talking to witnesses takes stars, and majority of the tasks seem to be examining evidence and talking to witnesses. This means before players can complete tasks, they will need to grind on crime scene searches to earn enough stars. If the tasks were better spread out so that there was more crime scene searching, the player would still be grinding for stars, but it wouldn’t seem that way since they would still be checking off tasks in the task list.
No social: Lack of social features seemed odd. This is the perfect kind of game for competition or the energy request mechanic.
No unique features: Biggest drawback of course would be that it doesn’t do enough to set itself apart from your standard Hidden Object Game. If you’ve played Criminal Case or any other popular HOG, you’ve played this one as well.
RE-ENGAGEMENT
The game uses timer mechanics to re-engage the player. The following features all have cooldown/ refill mechanics:
Energy: Player needs energy to play HOG rounds. Energy refills once every 2 minutes. At 0 energy, player needs to wait 5 minutes to play 1 round.
Backup hint cooldown: Every HOG round, the player can choose backup. Stronger backup means more hints. Each backup has their own cooldown time ranging from 8 to 2 hours.
Lab Analysis: At certain points in the investigation, there will be lab analysis tasks. These task take time to finish, but require no player action. Waiting times can range from a few minutes to long hours.
Unlocking New Cases: Player needs to wait a certain amount of time after finishing 1 investigation before they can proceed to the next case.
These timer mechanics all have their own notifications that should pull the player back into the game when various features are ready. The thing that is lacking daily return bonus or reward. There’s nothing that ensures a daily login. The lack of social also is a weak point since having friends in the game always helps with re-engagement
MONETIZATION
The game has 2 currencies: coins and bucks. Coins
Gained:
Through HOG gameplay
Progressing through cases
Dropped sometimes as rewards during cases
Purchased using bucks
Used to:
Buy boosters
Bucks
Gained:
Dropped sometimes as rewards during cases
Purchased using real money
Used to:
Speed up lab analysis
Unlock new cases instantly
Buy pies and juice (give energy)
The main monetization squeeze point is speeding up gameplay timers for the player. If the player doesn’t want to wait for lab analysis, energy refills, or case unlocking, they can spend bucks to bypass the waiting time. This is a fairly proven and effective method that is used across many free to play games. There’s not much different about the way it was implemented in this game.
The coins do feel a little bit useless as they are just used for boosters. There’s no reason why boosters could not use the same model as pies and juice where they are given as occasional rewards and can be purchased via bucks. Though coins are given every time the player finishes an HOG round so it is nice that the player is getting another reward aside from experience points.
Overall there is nothing too new or creative about the way monetization is implemented in the game.
VERDICT
Zootopia: Crime Files is your standard hidden object game. While it doesn’t introduce anything new or exciting, it’s a well-made game with lots of fun story and character elements for fans of the Zootopia universe.
Comments