Criminal Case: Travel in Time is a hidden object adventure game for mobile devices that tasks players with solving historical murder mysteries.
Product velocity
Maintenance
Daily rank 🇺🇸
—
Games
Sentiment
4.5
22k reviews
Nemesis
New York Mysteries 1
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
The app serves players looking for episodic detective narratives, but the current progression model creates friction that forces monetization, causing long-term fans to churn.
For Casual mobile gamers interested in mystery, narrative-driven puzzles, and historical settings.
What does it look like?
Key features
Players search through historical crime scenes to locate specific evidence and clues.
Mini-game mechanics for processing samples and interrogating suspects to progress the narrative.
Weekly service providing an increased energy bar limit of 170 and removal of advertisements.
How much does it cost?
Freemium model anchored by a weekly subscription that removes ads and expands the energy-gated session length.
Velocity
Maintenance developmentperformanceopaqueShow more...
With no new feature builds or events in the last 334 days, the app is currently in a maintenance phase. The latest release, which shipped over 11 months after the previous update, contains only routine maintenance to ensure compatibility with current system updates and devices. Development has effectively stalled, with no evidence of new content or live operations to drive engagement. The cadence is significantly below the threshold for active development.
Who built it?
Pretty Simple
9 apps tracked · Games
Criminal Case
Criminal Case: Pacific Bay
Criminal Case: Save the World!
Criminal Case: Mysteries
Criminal Case: The Conspiracy
Criminal Case: Supernatural
Criminal Case: Paris
Sorcery SchoolUser Sentiment
What do users think recently?
The recent review mood reads frustrated. Users appreciate the core mystery-solving gameplay loop remains highly engaging for long-term fans of the series and the narrative-driven time travel concept provides a fresh and interesting experience for returning players, but report the new star-based progression system and time limits create artificial friction that forces monetization.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- The core mystery-solving gameplay loop remains highly engaging for long-term fans of the series
- The narrative-driven time travel concept provides a fresh and interesting experience for returning players
- The new star-based progression system and time limits create artificial friction that forces monetization
94 of 109 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Frustrated overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 2 more frustration themes and 1 user request, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for Criminal Case: Travel in Time
How's the Games market?
The app currently struggles with a 3.99 rating on iOS, significantly trailing its nemesis in perceived quality. The reliance on energy-gated progression limits its ability to compete with high-fidelity adventure titles in the current market.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
By FIVE-BN GAMES
This title directly competes for the same detective-themed hidden object audience, leveraging a high-production narrative style that mirrors the core loop of this app.
- Features a significantly more polished, cinematic art style that elevates the immersive quality of investigations.
- Maintains a massive, established user base with over 60,000 reviews, creating a strong social proof barrier.
- Offers a more cohesive, singular narrative experience compared to the episodic nature of this app.
Lost Chronicles (F2P)Contender
Dark Parables: Jack and the Sky Kingdom HD - A Hidden Object Fairy TaleContender
Artifact Seekers (F2P)Contender
Artifact SeekersContenderUnlock the head-to-head verdict: where this rival wins, and where it loses.
Access the full report for freeThe Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for Criminal Case: Travel in Time
Where is it heading?
The casual adventure market is consolidating around titles that offer high-fidelity narrative experiences and stable progression. Criminal Case: Travel in Time remains exposed due to its reliance on outdated energy-gating and persistent technical failures, which will continue to erode its player base if not addressed.
- Persistent Facebook login errors prevent progress recovery, which drives user churn and negative sentiment across the community.
- The shift toward aggressive monetization creates artificial friction, causing long-term fans to request a return to classic, less restrictive gameplay.
The SWOT
- Episodic time-travel narrative provides flexible content expansion
- Implement cosmetic-only monetization to reduce session friction
Next best moves
Fix Facebook login integration because it is the top technical blocker for cross-platform play → improve retention
+ 1 more prioritized moveThe counter-intuitive read
The app's maintenance-mode status is a strategic advantage…
Read the full takeFeature gaps
Cinematic art style (available in New York Mysteries 1 but missing here) +1
Since the last report: Development activity has effectively ceased, with the app entering a year-long maintenance cycle while sentiment remains negative due to unresolved technical and monetization friction. The competitive focus has shifted from high-scale social games to direct narrative-driven rivals.
Bottom line
Transitioning from energy-gated friction to a cosmetic-based monetization model would address the primary churn driver, allowing the core mystery loop to retain players without the current ad-load pressure.
Unlock 2 critical frictions, 1 market threat, 1 more prioritized move and the analyst’s take.
Access the full report for freeFAQ
Is Criminal Case: Travel in Time free to play?
How does this compare to New York Mysteries?
Does the game work offline?
Are there alternatives to this detective game?
Sources
- [1] Play Store listing, source
Report last updated