Want to crack a Cold Case?

         Hello lovelies, for this post I’m doing something different.                                     I’m going to try to convince you to play this IOS, and Android game I became addicted to.                                                                                                                                         To start off, I didn’t find this game out myself, a best friend of mine from my former school put me on this game during the Summer.  I was hesitant at first because it looked like one of those games that could hack my phone (which it didn’t so don’t say no yet) and the description was creepy.    Also, she texted me about the game out of the blue (meaning she hadn’t texted me in 3 days) while I was about to go to bed.  She said:  Hey!  I need you to play Elmwood Trail right now.   It’s about you solving a case and it’s crazy. So that right there is what caught my attention, but when I looked it up and read the summary I texted back: I don’t know this is looking too realistic.    Which to me now is a great thing, and I know I’m writing statements that contradict my statement but trust me after downloading this game all of my doubts went down the drain and I became obsessed.  

So now let me tell you about the interactive game, The Elmwood Trail

                                                   

      

Elmwood trail has the best elements (to me) for a good interactive game.  

For all of those who love interactive games, this is for you. 

For all of those who love mystery, horror, and suspense games, this is for you. 

For all of those who ever wanted to go through someone’s phone like an FBI agent (I do not mean going through real-life people’s phone without consent) and find unexpected secrets, this is for you. 

For all of those who ever wanted to be a cop or FBI agent and crack a cold case, this game is FOR YOU. 

Also, one interesting thing is, you can call actual numbers and text people that will respond, but I’m pretty sure it’s set up like a call operator so it’s not dangerous.   

Here’s what the actual game is about: 

                                   

It’s been 3 weeks since 18-year-old girl Zoey Leornard has been missing.   After finding little evidence the detectives on the case have closed the case and declared it a runaway situation.                                                                                         Everyone decides that they tried their best and she can’t be found, well everyone except YOU. 

You are playing as detective Adam Lane, someone who feels like Riverstone Town is miserable.  People keep going “missing” and everyone else is giving up on them.  Yep! You too were about to give up on Zoey’s case until a unanimous message text you, forcing you to take on Zoey’s case.    You’re hesitant, you know you can’t right now because the messages from your own phone indicate that you have too much drama going on in your life.                                                          This is what you explain to the unknown messenger, but they don’t care.  What the messenger does care about is finding out what happened to Zoey so to make that happen they give an offer they know you wouldn’t refuse. 

After all of the introductions you do some research on Zoey, but you can’t get far without any specific evidence.  So, when you’re about to tell the unknown messenger that you give up, they decide to send you a “gift.”  Shockingly, it’s Zoey’s phone.   You know it’s crazy that some unknown person knows your address and has a missing girl’s phone, but you can’t question it when you’re in too deep.  The only thing you can question is everyone that knows Zoey’s lies, truths, and what could be her secrets.   

                                                 

There are necessary puzzles in this game that build the spooky atmosphere.  I’m a fan of puzzles and I loved these because they weren’t too hard.   You get to read everything on Zoey’s phone and Adam’s phone.  Reading is a ton of fun because like a real teenager’s phone there are so many contacts, and you can text all of them.  Some people you can call and ask them questions when the time is right.   Zoey and her friends have their own Instagram which is set up like actual Instagram which makes it feel so realistic.  The people themselves look drawn but it doesn’t take away from the spooky feeling.  It actually makes me feel better knowing the people aren’t real.  The background music gives you chills in a good way.  It actually provides that feeling like you’re a detective on a TV show.  The dialogue of the suspects and the way they text and speak are so emotional.   They don’t sound like robots rehearsing a speech, they read in an actual modern teenage manner.  Their reactions are our everyday reactions.                                                                   

To me the storyline is engaging; you won’t be confused of who’s speaking or who they’re talking about.  A good part is for some scenes you get to be in the narration from Zoey’s point of view.   Her view is supposed to explain to you her thoughts outside of the text messages between her friends and also let you in on the secrets she has.  But then some twists make you wonder if you can even trust Zoey yourself.  Is she telling the truth of what actually happened?    Did she actually run away?   You don’t know.   There are so many questions that will leave you on a cliff that I ended up playing this one sitting.  Especially when you’re trying to figure out what’s with Adam’s life drama?                                         Then your main question would be:  How do you know you didn’t take Zoey? 

For the technical aspects of the game, the graphics are clear and pretty.  The way you can transfer between Adam’s and Zoey’s phone is not complicated.    All of the messages are responded to quickly (when they’re supposed to).     Most importantly, There’s NO WAIT.   You don’t have to wait for time to be added back or wait 3 hours to play the next part.  You can read this game like a good book where no one can stop you (which I did.)                                                           Overall, I love this game.  They’re still updating though and if you follow the creators on Instagram they post when it’s updated.                                                      Thanks for reading this, Good Day to You.