The Hidden Object genre has moved successfully over to mobile, thanks to the larger screens on tablets, and the higher resolution possible on the new iPad. Deadly Association, and other games like it, are already leveraging retina displays to give us an experience closer to what would have previously been possible only on PC. The graphics are really important to Deadly Association. Not only are all of your clues visual, but you tend to spend a lot of time staring at a static backdrop. If these scenes are boring, you’re going to mentally check out of the game. Variety is key, and Deadly Association has that covered. The game plays out in locations that are rarely repeated. Along with the typical scattering of objects you need to locate based on word clues, Deadly Association also features small mini-games that offer welcome variety.

The narration of the game’s story is handled by live actors, inserted into the game artfully enough to appear as part of the backdrop. Casting real people is a nice touch, something more games should try as a way of imbuing the virtual world with more humanity. There are a few word cues that are out of sync with American audiences at least, such as prompting with the word “torch” when the hidden object is a flashlight. This was probably just a misstep, or maybe an attempt at misdirection? In any event, objects are placed artfully into the background in such a way that finding everything on the list is challenging and fun. Exactly as a hidden-object game should work.

Story - real story - is usually a throwaway in games like this. Game creators generally seem to feel that audiences are in it for the search, rather than the narrative. It’s no surprise that developers are taking a harder look at this, considering there’s a more competitive landscape around this genre. Deadly Association has a real story, albeit a rather derivative one, that you will enjoy unravelling as you search for objects from level to level. Not only does the game progress logically in a way that follows the story, but the content of each level actually matches the events taking place at that moment in the plot. This all works to motivate one to finish Deadly Association, at least to find out how everything works out with the characters and the story.

Traditionally, games like this are judged level-by-level, but the storyline in Deadly Association helps it stand out. You play as one member on a team of investigators, following a series of murders that point to foul play in a business whose partners appear to be hiding a secret. Hence the “association” reference from the game’s title... It’s a staid plot premise, but well executed here. It’s not as if you immediately know the culprit, and there’s good fun to be had with investigating, interviewing suspects, and exploring crime scenes for evidence. Even when you have mentally solved the crime, you’ll need to apprehend the criminal, and Deadly Association manages to create some excitement as the story comes to an end. Creating excitement in a hidden object game isn’t easy, but they manage to pull it off by injecting some timed challenges and more physical gameplay. It feels like the game wraps up too quickly, but better to “leave them wanting more” than to have bored players bailing before the credits roll.

Taking a cue from puzzle-based games like Professor Layton, Deadly Association breaks away from scavenger hunting to offer up various challenges that range from extremely easy to serious head scratching. Just as you’ll find in the main game, hints are available, plus the option to skip through completely. Certain puzzles are better suited to people who think well about spatial orientation, like the one modeled on the “parking lot” tabletop game that has you trying to move cars around to get that one car out. In another puzzle, you have to move tiles around to complete a picture, similar to those sliding tile games that used to come out of dispensers at the grocery store. In every case, these games are matched to the theme of investigation, so it’s not like they come out of left field. Once you complete the main story, you can go back and select these individually for play, or to stump your friends! The bulk of the screens are where you collect objects, and these sections are done well. The developers mostly took a simplified approach by making each room a complete and distinct challenge, rather than expecting you to carry over items from room to room or construct items from pieces gathered in a room. There are some instances where you combine objects, but again it works in service to the story, rather than feeling completely arbitrary.

The controls in Deadly Association are extremely straightforward. There are some interesting choices that should have been used more widely, such as letting you move objects or change perspective by tilting the iPad. The latter feature was introduced with very little fanfare, but we thought it was one of the coolest ideas we’ve seen executed in this genre, on this platform. The gist of it is that you can tilt the iPad to look behind objects in the scene, or change your point of reference to scan more of the room. In other scenes, Deadly Association falls back on the simple pinch-to-zoom controls, or a double-tap to zoom in and out. There’s even one section that has you scanning the room with a flashlight, which was kind of cool. The game ran without a hitch, albeit a bit slow to load in some areas, and heavy on dialogue.

If you like the idea of a more realistic (there is some mature content here around the nature of the crimes and the depiction of the victims) setting for a game genre that still seems capable of spinning off new innovation, Deadly Association is well worth a look. It’s a no-brainer for Hidden Object fans, albeit a bit on the short side. Considering there are a few puzzles here that may stump you, Deadly Association may have slight replay value. More than anything else, think of it like a fast-paced detective thriller you buy for a plane trip or a weekend on the beach.