Criminal Case

Criminal Case (commonly abbreviated as "CC") is a detective-themed hidden object game released on November 15, 2012 for Facebook. An iOS version was released worldwide on August 28, 2014, followed by an Android version on April 15, 2015. Developed and published by French indie studio Pretty Simple, Criminal Case has over ten million average monthly users.

Criminal Case has been one of the most popular and addictive Facebook games ever since the start of 2013 and also has been highly competitive with Candy Crush Saga, the most popular game on Facebook with over 46 million average monthly users. On December 9, 2013, Criminal Case was crowned the Facebook Game of the Year 2013, beating Candy Crush.

Setting
The game is set in a fictionalized version of modern-day United States.

Grimsborough


The player first investigates in the fictional city of Grimsborough, which is most likely based on New York City. Grimsborough consists of six districts: Industrial Area, Financial Center, Historical Center, University, Maple Heights, and Airport.

Pacific Bay


The player later travels to investigate in Pacific Bay, a fictional city primarily based on Los Angeles, California. Pacific Bay is divided into ten districts: Ocean Shore, Bayou Bleu, Inner City, Jazz Town, White Peaks, Ivywood Hills, Rhine Canyon, Innovation Valley, Paradise City, and The Wastes.

World Edition
Players can't investigate crimes worldwide unless they've completed both Grimsborough and Pacific Bay. In this season, players travel to actual places throughout the world in real-world continents, some of them divided in multiple segments. The player works for The Bureau, a highly-respected police force that answers to nothing but justice, and investigates crimes impossible for local governments, Interpol, or the United Nations to solve in a short notice.

Gameplay
In Criminal Case, the player acts as a detective to solve murders in order to progress through the cases.

The player must locate relevant clues at crime scenes by clicking items in the scene. Greater scores are awarded for finishing the scene quickly; the player also earns stars that can later be used as a type of currency for performing necessary tasks such as examining evidence and questioning suspects. During this process, the player will also have to come across necessary autopsies and analyses that may take a few real-time hours to complete. Furthermore, as the player progresses through each case, they acquire clues as to who the victim was, how they were killed, and what relation they had with the case's suspects.

At the conclusion of the case, the player is presented with these suspects and must arrest the one who fulfills all the criteria gained throughout the investigation. If the decision is correct, the case is solved and the next one is unlocked – though past cases may be revisited (and also replayed) at any time to grind for rewards. However, to unlock the next case, a silver medal is first required, which can be earned by completing the solved case's post-indictment chapter. The silver medal enables the player to receive reports in order to move to the succeeding case. This process, however, varies in few of the earliest cases.

While investigating cases, the player must also go through a variety of puzzle elements, such as puzzle-style hidden object scenes that must be unscrambled and few simple click-and-drag activities to break up the player's routine, like shuffling through garbage or clothes.

Other gameplay features include: customizing the player's avatar; purchasing police pets to boost up the score after a crime scene investigation; utilizing special power-ups such as boosters and snacks; and obtaining collectibles such as lucky cards and trophies. There are also various progression features integrated into the game.

Like many other Facebook games, Criminal Case incorporates an energy system, which is used to engage in crime scene investigations.

The game is primarily a single-player affair, but it does involve a number of social features. Each crime scene has a leaderboard, for example, and the player may choose a "partner" from their list of "teammates" (friends who play Criminal Case and are recruited to the player's team) to join the investigation of each scene and provide hint bonuses. Teammates mainly help to accumulate a higher amount of energy points – allowing the player to progress much faster in the storyline.

Plot
The game begins when the silent protagonist – a rookie cop whose basic identity corresponds to the player's specified name and gender – is shown pursuing a career with the Grimsborough Police Department, a law enforcement agency in the city of Grimsborough. Partnered with David Jones – a senior but lazy and comical detective in the force – the protagonist is soon proved to be an auspicious talent, defying obstacles like ruthless murderers, serial killers, and notorious organizations, even catching the mayor's attention in the process.

After solving a total of fifty-six cases across Grimsborough, the protagonist succeeds in bringing peace back to the city. Knowing that crime rates in Grimsborough is likely going to reach all-time lows, the protagonist accepts a position in the Pacific Bay Police Department, but not without accepting a farewell party from fellow Grimsborough PD officers as a commemoration of the memories and respect the protagonist earned.

Leaving Grimsborough, the protagonist steps foot in the city of Pacific Bay. Now assigned with Amy Young and Frank Knight in the Pacific Bay PD, the protagonist's promising career is continued in the same, impressive manner.

Characters
Characters play a key role in Criminal Case. They may or may not have serious impact in the game, and are classified into the following categories:


 * Main Characters
 * Central Characters
 * Supporting Characters
 * Minor Characters

Popularity
Already by the start of 2013, Criminal Case had attracted many users towards it.

As of mid-2013, Criminal Case attracted more than ten million monthly users and became highly competitive with Candy Crush Saga, the most popular game on Facebook.

On December 9, 2013, Criminal Case won the Facebook Game of the Year 2013 award.

The game has a 40-percent share of Facebook users.

Some reasons cited for the game's success include its graphic crime scenes and meaningful narratives.

On July 15, 2014, the game's official Facebook App Page reached a milestone of 50 million "likes".

Gallery
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