Small Town Murders: Match 3 Reviews

by RickinLA

I really wanted to like this game! The concept is great and the graphics are awesome. However, as in most games on the net the developers greed ruins whatever fun you might have in the game. When you advance in the game the odds of you moving forward depends on one thing, and ONE thing only,........money!! And how much you’re willing to throw away! The “Match Three” becomes impossible to complete without throwing your money down the drain! Trust me, I’ve spent plenty on the game in order to complete the match three portion of said game. But it’s never enough for the greedy developers. They throw recorded ads into the mix and they make plenty off of advertising, but they still make it impossible to finish a game without spending prolifically! Save your money! We’re just making these guys rich and they’re laughing at us all the way to the bank. Another sad commentary on the times we live in!

Why? Why do these developers get to be so stinking greedy! I’m at level 208 and you CANNOT win unless you keep spending money! And I’ve spent over $100 trying but they just keep demanding more!! Do not waste your money!! I promise you will be wasting every single penny!!

by YAY4TODAY

First, some of the grammar in this makes me cringe. I have found soooo many errors. Nora doesn’t need to loan a blouse she needs to borrow a blouse. And “you seen this?” makes my skin crawl. Now back to the worst part. The creators of this game only want to make money, not have a huge following. It costs $900 to play on and you only win $50 per most games so it is literally impossible to play this for any length of time without having to buy expensive packages. I blew through $21,000 in coins (cost me $35) after only playing this for 1 hour. I told myself when that money is gone, I’m done. So now the story isn’t done and I’ll never know who did it and why but I don’t even care. This game can be more expensive than a car payment at that rate and it just isn’t worth it to me. You could make it easier and cheaper and have fans for life but instead you’d rather have a few fans paying a lot for a little while. So I’m out you greedy losers. Good riddance!

by JES010178

I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time and money on this game. Constantly being left w no moves, but the last move you need to win is RIGHT THERE.

I’m at the end of the game, which means I keep waiting on cases to come out. One came out yesterday. What WAS a fun, challenging game became a greedy money pit OVERNIGHT. In the last case you put out, you say they’re “easy levels” but cannot be passed without using boosters and extra moves, and I’m DONE. I deleted it. This last case is stupidly and ridiculously hard and I refuse to spend ANY more money w Rovio because the greedy a holes KNOW what they did. The “easy levels” in this case you posted yesterday are FAR HARDER than the red “super hard level!” in previous cases. This is ridiculous. When people get to this point, where the developers are basically EXTORTING you for money to pass the level, they delete SmallTownMurders . Which is exactly what I did. I was spending far too much on this game, so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Enjoy the $$$ you made from me, there won’t be any more coming. Greedy jerks.

by Frustrated With Advertising

This game can be fun but I really hate it when you’re playing and make your next move but instead it was asking you if you wanted to play on for 900 coins. I can’t tell you how many times I have hit this button accidentally. It should have a double check button on it. “Do you want to spend the 900 coins right now” or something like that. I have thrown away more coins by accident then I’ve actually gotten to spend. Please make this change.

Update: another time I just wasted 900 coins because I tapped on wrong button. Now it doesn’t even let you know you’re on your last 3 turns. If this doesn’t get changed where it asks you to verify you want to spend coins I’m going to delete.

It happened again. It takes coins when I hit it accidentally so I don’t have coins when I can actually use them. This really makes me not want to actually purchase coins - time to rethink this developers.

by Alosavio

Download this game for the crime aspect of it, and it seemed fun to follow a storyline and relax playing an easy match three. The stories are pretty good. But there are points where you are on a roll and winning the match three games one after the other, and then you hit a wall. You use all your hints and your cheats and your credits and then you have nothing. I refuse to spend money on a game that I downloaded for fun and relaxation, so it literally takes me a week sometimes to complete a single puzzle. I am sure the programmers do this on purpose so you spend money, and then know that you’re getting so frustrated when you don’t, they actually give you a break so you “win” and advance on just to keep you hooked in hopes you dish out money at some point. I’ve deleted this game six times already because it’s been more stress than fun, yet I reinstall it because it’s so addictive. I have just spent nine days trying to complete one match three game and it’s going to be deleted again shortly. And probably reinstalled once I get over my frustration. You win, Rovio. You win.

by 001Kevin

I have been playing this game for what seems like forever. It’s very addicting. The graphics are great, and you almost feel a personal attachment to the characters.
There have been programming “modifications” to the game’s responses to the player’s moves.
There are paper airplanes that are a power up. When activated, they used to go exactly where you would have wanted them to: to the most advantageous block on the board. Now, they’re practically useless. They typically will go to the least beneficial spot, doing the player virtually no good at all.
There are also many times that a move should produce a power up of some sort, but they do not.
The blocks you matched up go away as usual, but no power up award for the move.
I know they make money when players purchase various packages that are offered, but come on.
At lease be fair about the programming in the game play.
I play many, many match three games, and 100% of the others reward you with the best possible result for spending a power up. This one is the only one that does not. It sometimes takes several days to clear one level, with most of the games ending with the solution being only one move away. Then they try to sell you a package that contained a variety of power ups and coins that can be used to purchase more game play.
I would quit playing completely if it weren’t for the cleverly, sometimes corny story lines, and the attachment to the characters.

by Von Langley

This is your typical match three game with power ups and a story overlay. You’ve seen them before. Home remodeling, garden remodeling, etc. I have played all these games because they are fun. At first. Then after they’ve hooked you the puzzles become so aggravatingly difficult that you are tempted to throw your phone across the room. This one at least is unique as the murder cases are interesting and fun to solve. But this ended for me today as I tried to get through one puzzle that took me 42 tries to solve and never did. I deleted the game.
On the other games similar in design I have paid to play but I can’t do that anymore. They have designed it purposely to get you to pay more and more and more. Well I refuse.
A message to developers. If you want people to continue to play your games, make some adjustments. Instead of 900 coins for 5 more moves, make it 100. When what you receive for solving a puzzle is usually around 60 coins, this would make it easier to play. Eliminate the number of lives you are giving. If you don’t solve a puzzle after 5 lives you can’t play until you earn the 5 lives back. And again you feel like crushing your phone. Instead of a free game, let us solve the first murder, the pay to buy the game. 5.99 or something like that. Until a major change is made I can’t play this game. But it’s not because I don’t like it. It’s because I can’t afford to get a new phone.

by Spooby0220

So I really do enjoy the stories, but they are making the game entirely too hard to the point it is unfair. Their power ups rarely activate when you need them causing you to miss by one and have to spend coins that become a necessity later on. Now they’ve started giving you fewer magnifying glasses per round for the bonus stories, so that matched with the fact that you might spend a couple of days on one level makes it more frustrating than fun. You write them and they tell you the game is fair and can be passed without spending money, which is technically true, but I’d rather enjoy myself than pull out my hair while playing a game. Oh, and if you do happen to spend the 900 coins to continue a level be prepared to keep dropping 900 coins because you’ve opened Pandora’s box once they know you’ll spend them once. Also, if you write them this in an email, be ready to be ignore. Just put it back the way it was already.

by Annoyed Panda Pop Player

I love the game, but why not let the players try to solve the murders. That would make the game a little more fun. At the very least, we should be able to choose which order we want to question people. And why give an introduction to what is about to be said by the witnesses and then have them essentially say the same thing. It’s redundant. I would also like to play a few rounds before I have to question people or look at evidence.

Amended:
I did love this game. But now it’s making me play three difficult, if not impossible, levels just to talk to Mike or someone else. Then they have little to say and you have to play three more hard levels just to get another line of dialogue. It’s obviously that the developers have rigged it to get you to pay money, which I have already, but come on. It’s getting ridiculous. I’ll keep playing for a little while longer, but I’m about to give up on this one and move to another.

by Dmh1955

I love match-3 games such as these with a fun story that progresses as you win levels. This one is exceptionally fun as I am a true crime fanatic si the murder aspect is cool even if unrealistic. I love the characters, especially Mrs M who runs the B&B. But I have spent waaaay too much money on this already! As you progress, some of the levels are truly impossible with the number of moves provided. I understand that game-makers deserve to make a living so I am not expecting to routinely play for free. But after spending more than the price of an xbox game, I would expect the levels to be fair. Sometimes I’ll be frustrated enough to ride a level out for days and days, refusing to pay coins for 5 measly moves when it is obvious to me that at least 15 more moved are needed. Then, after holding out, all the stars align and I’ll win the level with 5+ moves to spare! I used to be a programmer so I know much of winning and losing is in the hands of the developers, it’s just frustrating when a level is obviously impossible. Kind of makes me want to move on. So, after spending what I believe is a fair amount, I will get to where I only play these types of games once a day. I’ll have several games like this progressing at the sane time so I always have something to play. So, I DO RECOMMEND, just be sure you are able to exercise self-control or you’ll find yourself in the poorhouse!

by Attorneychick

I absolutely loved this game when I first started playing. I’m a fan of match 3 games and this one reeled me in with its story line, puns (sometimes corny) and clever writing. I’ve dropped some change on this game but I’m at the point that I won’t spend any $$ on it. I’m at level 1200+ and it’s obvious that some of the levels (not the “hard” or “super-hard”) are impossible in the number of moves provided. In fact, the “easy” levels are often more difficult that the “hard” levels. The planes were on target at the lower levels, but I’ve recently noticed that they strike targets that aren’t necessary to complete a level. They’re absolutely worthless now. Also, I’ve noticed that combos that should give a power up when combined often don’t now - that’s cheating btw. I don’t expect to get to play forever for free, so I’ll patiently wait out the time until my lives are restored and play other games that actually operate like they should. I don’t mind staying at the same level for days now, when I used to drop $ to get lives because there was actually a chance to advance. Fix these problems and I won’t mind spending the occasional $ here and there.

by AlleyDee

This is the second time you have apologized because a “wonderful” new update sets people back into scenes they have played before but how about putting us back two cases!! Somehow getting 24 hours of free play is suppose to make us happy?!?!? Sure I’m on the same level I was but this time you have thrown me back 2 crimes. So now I have to work the puzzles again and yet I already know the story lines and who is guilty. We are not stupid. There is a way to update games without messing up YOUR customers game play. I don’t see what you think you are gaining except making “clients” which is what we are or maybe customers is the better word —ANGRY and Frustrated with your company.
I believe that most people who play games like these will search out other games by the same company. If you continue messing up people’s playing you will lose any future and probably current clients.
I really liked this game but since you have messed up my games twice now I don’t think I’ll be looking for any other games by your company.

by Eventyr613

Ok, so I’ve never loved this type of game, but this one was kinda fun. Until the levels became impossible out of no where. I’ve had this game for a while and I’m on level 267. I’ve managed to pass the previous levels by using power ups or paying 900 coins, but it’s taking forever to get through case four. Challenging is fine, but through the past cases, I had been doing okay and I just suddenly couldn’t pass the levels anymore. Especially when I go from one or two tries to 10 or 20 tries. It’s annoying to just hit a wall and fail constantly with basically one tile left to put carpet on or one more light bulb to collect, so I don’t really no what to do because I’m not going to pay for more power ups and this has just turned frustrating.
Oh and one last small thing, I just find it funny that Nora is supposed to be a right Sherlock Holmes and she just does not pay attention to the speech of other characters (like Mr Hunt basically said that Mrs Higgins was his wife and she just did not care) I just find that a little amusing

by Mark_Eanes

Stuck on level 108 for a week. Seems unlikely without A LOT OF power ups. I don’t have any and I ain’t buying any. I think these guys are affiliated with Angry Birds ....Dream Blast is a nightmare . Same problem. WILL BE DELETING SOON IF I GO STAGNANT. Too bad... the USED TO be kinda relaxing. But who needs the stress.

Edit: so I did keep on playing and I beat the game which was fine. Even spent some on my hard earned cash on it!

I made it in the world tournaments and did great… But after your update, it reset my progress! I’ve now made it back up to level 425 but I’ve hit it with everything I have including several of the strongest power ups and combos ! I’ve hit it with three combo strobe light balls, three times in a row and still no success! I played that level for an hour and a half straight, non-stop going back at it again and again and again, and still can’t beat it! That’s ridiculous. I paid one time to get where I was, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna pay again! Thanks for the awesome update that reset my data…

by Mrs. M's Biggest Fan

I’m on level 2000-something. I mention that just to say that obviously I’m pretty hooked. I have paid to play more than I’d like to admit, too. But the challenge of the games and the puns imbedded in the stories keep me coming back! Clever writing, sometimes corny. Not extremely accurate crime solving, but, hey, it’s a game! I have noticed two big changes from when I started playing, though: 1) the airplanes used to be downright sentient, I swear. They would strike at exactly the place where you needed them to strike. And now they hit targets that aren’t even necessary to advance in the level, they hit spots not even on the “to-do” list! Obviously a programming gimmick to encourage spending money. I am constantly left just ONE MOVE SHORT! That can’t be a coincidence. 2)Also I’ve noticed several times I have made a move that should have created a power-up, but it didn’t. That’s called “cheating” IRL, frankly. But other than that, no real complaints. Like I said, I’m hooked, so I power through without the power-ups. Just hoping to make the developers aware: those changes are noticed and not appreciated! Please put it back the way it was— with the airplanes hitting targets that actually matter and power-ups actually being created after you make a move that creates them. That’d be great! Thanks!

by Bthyw

Ok, I am ADDICTED to this game! I love the story, I love Nora and Mike’s dialogue, the graphics are great, and the puzzles are super fun! I just have two problems.

One, the time it takes for your lives to refill. You get five lives and each one takes half an hour to refill. If you’re out of all of your lives, that adds up to TWO AND A HALF HOURS so you can play again! I get that there’s a refill option, but that costs coins and often, I don’t have enough coins to refill it. And I never buy coins cause I hate blowing my money on a mobile game.

Two, I recent played a round and put all of the beginning power ups on since I’d been saving them up for a while. I realized that the level wasn’t worth playing since it looked too hard, even with all of those power ups, so I backed out of the level without touching it. The thing is, while the game let me keep that life, it didn’t give me back the power ups I hadn’t used! And that’s really annoying to me.

Other than these flaws, I adore this game! I’ve clocked over 49 hours on it since I downloaded it! So, if you shorten the time it takes to get lives back to say, 15, maybe 20 minutes, I will definitely change my rating to five stars!

by Hare-y Potter

We’ll executed game. Great art. Great writing. The mysteries are fun, the gameplay is challenging and, yes, sometimes frustrating. But if it was easy, it wouldn’t be as satisfying when you do win. One huge flaw is when you’re asked to continue. I’ve accidentally hit “continue” at least 20 times, spending huge chunks of my hard-earned gold. There’s no “are you sure?” prompt (but there sure is when you decide to quit), so when you make the mistake of accidentally touching the screen or thinking you’re making another move when your moves have expired, you’re screwed. You lose your gold. No undos. It happens so often, I’m beginning to think it’s a deliberate way to get us to spend more money. Fix that issue and this is easily a 5-star game.

by Kei6591

I really like this game. It’s super fun, I’m almost done with the first case. There are a few things that I wish were different. One is the points and coins per level. I wish there was a bonus for unused moves, like extra coins after the level. I also wish the points scored during the level actually meant something. As far as I can tell they don’t, but I just started the game so I’m not sure yet. The last thing I wish was different is that in other games similar to this one I can play a bunch of levels and save up stars for doing the tasks. That way when I wanted to go faster through the story without stopping I could, instead of having to stop and do the task then watch the scene. Especially when I have unlimited lives I like to breeze through levels.

That’s just me being picky though. The game is seriously a lot of fun and I do like the story line so far!

by Kmoose96

Nice game except not enough boosters. Also I was on level 5 and the game all of a sudden sent me back to level without warning. It is hard enough to get boosters without going back another level and all of the boosters end up gone. The other problem is you earn a max of 150 points if you win but lose 900 points when you want to continue and so you points disappear quickly. Plus, I find that I get to one or two obstacles to get 2-4 times in a row and then run out of points. Was a fun game to play now it is just frustrating. I am about to say goodbye to what could be a fun and relaxing game. On level 924, Have been playing this game for 6 days. Refuse to put any more money into it. It is very frustrating to try and get 86 blue squares and 18 pink cameras with 29 moves and it takes to long to get more lives. Game has gone down hill since I started. I am on level 3985 for the last nine days and used multiple boosters without a win. It looks like a setup so you can’t win without spending a great deal of money. Hope this game is reset to be more fair without breaking the bank. How about a fair chance to win!!!

by Young Coin Master

FIVE STARS!! I’ve only had this game for two or three days and I’m almost done with the first case! It’s so exciting that I play along and guess the murderer, put the clues together, all while having fun! SmallTownMurders is amazing! Nothing to fix really. It’s almost perfect! You get rewards easily, no ads, and no in-game purchases beside the coins. Either way you can choose to buy them. I usually get the levels first try though. Some are harder than others but once you get to higher levels and get rewards from events, challenges, etc., the game goes pretty smooth.

I would definitely recommend this game!
FIVE STAR REVIEW!!
P.S. This game doesn’t make me feel as lonely when I’m not playing with my friends! And I’m a very lonely kid. 😂🥺😢