Cyber Crime Unit is a collaborative, ARG-style, puzzle/ detective game created by Paradox Games.
Format
Style of Play:
- Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
- Play on demand
- Light puzzle hunt
Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, mobile device, and access to email and Facebook
Recommended Team Size: 2-4
Play Time: no timer, probably less than an hour
Price: $19.99 per team
Booking: purchase and play at your leisure
Description
You’re working at a Cyber Crime Unit and there has been a murder at a suspicious company. You have to figure out who the killer is and what their motives were.
This is a website-based game where you look at pictures and different websites, send emails, make a phone call, etc. Once you solve a puzzle, you input the solution on the website to get more information.
All players log into a shared link. Whoever purchases the game is automatically assigned as the detective. The other players are forensic investigators. Players will have different information appear on the screen and will need to communicate to effectively solve together.
Teams need to set up their own communication (via Zoom or any other platform).
Cara Mandel’s Reaction
Cyber Crime Unit was a reasonably enjoyable, fairly intermediate level remote game. It employed a similar mechanism to some other games in the market. Players have unique sets of information and must communicate effectively in order to collaboratively solve each question presented. The issue was perhaps that our team was a bit “overpowered” for this game. Several times I found us solving using deductive reasoning before we even had all the necessary info. This might be a good game for less experienced players to try, as it provides clear objectives and has a helpful graded hint system if needed. This may not be the game for seasoned players, but it was still fun to play.
Joel Smileypeacefun Reaction
We were detectives and forensic agents. Together we had to solve a mysterious murder case at a suspicious company.
At its best, the game separated the players into different roles and gave each player different clues. This meant that talking to each other was key. We were all involved in the puzzle-solving process. The puzzles themselves all solved pretty clearly and the solution always made sense within the game.
At its worst, most puzzles felt a tad bit too easy. The website recommends 2-6 players. Although we had a good time as a group of 3, I have a hard time imagining that the game will occupy a group of 6. We should have paid more attention to the plot because for the ending puzzle you need to understand what is going on, but we simply weren’t that interested in the rather generic storyline.
Be aware that since this is a murder case, some adult topics will come up. For me, it was a nice simple game, but nothing groundbreaking.
Tammy McLeod’s Reaction
This game has an interesting format where one player is the detective, and all the other players fill the role of forensic investigators. As such, the puzzles were generally focused on player communication. I was an investigator, so I got to have the fun of searching for puzzle elements or untangling the logic clues, then relaying that information back to the detective. It was satisfying, despite not getting to see the detective’s portion of the game. Since the investigators all get to see the same interface, I would recommend keeping the group size inversely proportional to its experience level, so that players will be appropriately occupied.
Disclosure: Paradox Games provided the Hivemind reviewers with a complimentary play.