Small Town Murders | Match-3 with a Murder Mystery Twist

"Small Town Murders is a Match 3 Murder Investigation Game created and distributed by Rovio Entertainment. It is available on IOS and Android"

 

If you have heard of Novio Entertainment it is probably because you have played, (or at least have heard of), the media and mobile gaming juggernaut Angry Birds. Novio has however diversified their catalogue mainly with two seperate IPs. Sugar Blast, (a bubble pop game similar to their AB Dream Blast), and Small Town Murders which is one of the more unique match-3 games I have played.

 Match-3 has always been a favorite mechanic in the casual market but as I briefly mentioned in my Gallery review the M3 genre is a bit staid when it comes to innovation. Match-3 games generally fall within two camps; The "Candy Crush" or "Bejeweled"  Model where the levels are played one after the next without a bridge narrative and the "Gardenscapes" Model where the narrative centers around some sort of renovation or decorating. On the other hand Investigation/Crime Procedural games are not as common in the casual market* as their plot heavy narrative does not always gel with the pick-up put-down style of gameplay. There are some notable examples to the contrary but the investigatory genre mainly revolves around Hidden Object Mechanics. All of this is to say is that when I say Small Town Murders in the App Store I was intrigued to see how two unlikely sub-genres would mesh together. 

The general premise of the game is a gender-bent Castle, you shadow Nora Mistry, a mystery writer who moves to the sleepy little town of Thornton Grove to relax and work on her books. When the little old lady who lives across the street from her BnB gets viciously murdered she teams up with Dt. Shanahan to help the police solve this crime. Each Case, (there are 10 at the time of writing), is episodic but the characters development over the course of the game. Being a mystery lover I can't say that I am overwhelmed by the sherlockian brilliance of the plot. However, I do find that the cases are interesting even if they are not overly complex. STM is a fun, light, and surprisingly comedic murder mystery game more on the side of Brooklyn 99 than Criminal Minds.    

The murder investigation acts as a bridge narrative to guide the player between levels. The case will be divided into several "phases" of investigation, such as investigating crime scenes, interrogating witnesses, or examining evidence. To complete any of these actions one has to beat a match-3 level. It terms of innovation I feel that STM manages to find fresh mechanics which can be difficult in such a saturated market. That is not to say that the game does not borrow from conventional gameplay mechanics just that the levels provide novel gameplay elements among more conventional match-3 tropes. In terms of balance the game hits the nail on the head not always guaranteeing an easy win but not upping the difficulty so much that one feels they are forced to pay to win. The difficulty is measured and more importantly honest. The game does offer Micro-transactions but I have never felt the need or inclination to imbibe. The monetization is subtle and unobtrusive which is extremely refreshing for a mobile game especially a M3. Overall the gameplay is polished and enjoyable provided a solid experience in both the murder mystery and match-3 aspect. 

While its occasionally cartoony aesthetic might throw off players who enjoy more grim-dark storytelling Small Town Murders puts its best foot forward with enjoyable characters and a unique gameplay premise. If you are looking for a casual investigatory style game or are a M3 fanatic tired with the ho-hum offerings of the App Store Small Town Murders might scratch that itch with its light, sometimes quirky gameplay. 

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*While I am sure there are many many games that fit the bill I myself have not seen many games that fit the description that being said some examples are CSI: Crime City and CSI: Miami Heat Wave on Social, the scene of the crime series by pastel games on Flash, and the Criminal Case Series and Murder in the Alps on Mobile.  

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Dear Readers Thank you for reading this review. We are currently living in and ill put this lightly pretty fucked up times. Below I have listed some articles so that you can be educate yourself on some of the things that have happened recently. If you can please consider donating to Jacob Blake and the protesters in Kenosha. Thank you for your continued support in the fight against police brutality. 

https://mashable.com/article/how-to-help-jacob-blake-kenosha-protesters/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/world/europe/belarus-protests-guide.html

https://time.com/5878424/poland-lgbt-protests-police-brutality/