After playing (and loving) Clue on the iPhone we were excited for EA to bring us more secrets to uncover from the Clue world. So you can imagine our delight (and then disappointment) with their Clue offering on the iPad. This hidden object game is decent, but it lacks coherent cases or any relation to the Clue franchise.
Like any hidden object game, here you're tasked with searching a picture to find all the hidden objects listed. Each of the seven cases holds a total of six puzzles that must be completed within an hour. The first four puzzles are your standard hidden object fare, and the fifth adds a fog mechanic where you can only see a portion of the screen at a time. Each case ends with a spot-the-difference game with 15 differences to spot. Note that the advertised "minigames" are in fact the latter two puzzles.
The difference that broke the camels back.
Also worth noting is the hint, or clue, system. Once enough time has passed, the clue meter will recharge and allow you to bring up a magnifying glass. The ring around the glass will light up as the object you’re looking for comes into view. It still requires you to find the object, albeit in a small portion of the picture.
Secrets and Spies ends up feeling short because it has fewer than a dozen pictures, and disjointed because you solve cases without finding any objects of actual meaning. In fact, every case would seem the same if not for very short text blurbs at the beginning and end.
Making matter worse, Secrets and Spies holds almost no relation to the Clue franchise at all. The rare cameo appearance of a character from Clue exists only to deliver a bit of dialogue at the end of a case. In the end, it seems that EA simply tacked on the Clue name to boost sales.
With luck, EA will release a version of the Clue board game for the iPad in the near future. It’s hard to recommend this obvious cash-in, even to the craziest hidden object fanatics.
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