Were you ever a fan of Choose Your Own Adventure books? I could not get enough of them when I was younger. One of the best parts about them was that there were so many alternate endings, some of them even resulting in death. The books did not hold your hand like most children's books.
Well, now with touchscreen phones and tablets making their way into millions of homes, technology has allowed for new kind of Choose Your Own Adventure book, or interactive novels. The great thing about these games is that you do not have to turn pages back and forth to find the right one. It's done automatically.
One of the greatest games using this concept is Electronic Arts' Cause of Death. In this murder mystery game, you play through the eyes of various characters, from murder victims to detectives, to the murderers themselves. EA does not pull any punches in this game. The Episode "Tough Love" starts you off as one of the victims of the Maskkaker, being killed by having plaster buried over your face. This is not a game for children, as the descriptions can be very graphic. It's refreshing to see a game like this with great storytelling, characters and dialogue, that does not need to resort to gimmicks or gore to catch your attention.
The way the game works is that speech bubbles appear and you simply tap the screen to see the next one. Periodically, you'll have to make a choice between several options. There are always better decisions and worse ones, some that could even end in yours or your partner's death. If you make enough right decisions, you get ranked as a Detective and unlock the bonus footage. It's often worth it to replay the game if you mess up, just to see more of the story. Wrong decisions could even get you ate by a zombie in the Halloween episode.
Another great aspect of this game is the fact that it's free, and has weekly updates that add more free stories. The sooner you download the app, the more free content you get. But if you miss some episodes, you can always purchase them with IAPs. Each week offers one chapter of a story. Each story features the same characters, Detective Mal Fallon and FBI Agent Natara Williams, along with various other characters and a different serial killer. It feels like you're part of an episode of CSI.
If you like good stories and do not mind a lot of reading, Cause of Death is just the game for you. There's really nothing to complain about here. The graphics are polished, the characters are entertaining, and the murderers are genuinely scary. Just download it and start solving murders!
Here are some tips to help you make detective ranking:
1. Pay close attention to everything you read, because you never know when you might need to repeat is as a password or to prove you've been paying attention. Remember any names of people or places that are given to you.
2. The safe choice can often be the wrong choice. Do not say something simply because you think that's what the other character wants to hear, because they often can read right through your lies. You have to think like a psychologist sometimes!
3. Make sure to check for updates weekly so you do not miss any of the story!
That should be enough to get you on your way to becoming a great detective!