Gamehouse just released a new Time Management Mystery game, Undercover: Secret Management. The game is available on PC, but also mobile, both on Android and iOS.
Today’s review is based on the Android version of the game, although all versions are similar in terms of gameplay, with minimal differences between platforms.
If you enjoy this genre, I recommend reading: Best Time Management Games. Plenty of great alternatives to Undercover: Secret Management.
Now, back to today’s game! The story is your regular casual game mystery story. This time, you’re helping Vera and her sister.
As the city is rattled by a gruesome murder, Vera’s determination leads her into the heart of the investigation, causing old wounds to reopen. These are all from the previous game in the series, Blood Bonds.
So it’s back to acting up as a bartender, get some good ol’ eavesdropping done and solving mysteries in your free time.
If you like this one, make sure to check out other titles from GameHouse: the Fabulous Angela and Emily’s Delicious Games are probably their best known time management series.
The Game
Undercover: Secret Management brings the challenge from the second mission. I had to replay it once in order to get the three stars and the two unlockables needed for a flawless run. This will happen constantly as you play.
I liked this, because most Time Management games nowadays are so annoyingly easy that I simply lose interest. Well, this one goes hard from the beginning.
Soon, you will have plenty of orders to take care of, tables to clean, mini-games to play AND interact with some characters before the time runs out. It’s a fun, enjoyable chaos that will keep you challenged and glued to the screen.
The gameplay itself brings nothing new to the genre: except for the fact that some of the items are placed at various distances and you can multitask on most occasions, it’s your regular game of paying attention to the orders, preparing them and serving them correctly before the customers become too angry and leave.
You get various bonuses for completing actions in a row (like getting the money from multiple customers in a row, cleaning tables in a row and so on), so a bit of planning in all that chaos will be needed.
In between the missions, you have some nice cutscenes that keep the story going. You have 60 missions to complete, during which time you will start uncovering the murder mystery, which gets crazier and crazier.
A good touch comes from the fact that you change the setting fairly often, with brand-new locations that come with new items to serve to your customers. The problem is that the first time you are playing in a new location, you won’t know where everything is… but that’s part of the challenge, I guess.
My biggest problem was related to the size of the things on the screen. While I am sure that on a laptop’s screen these problems wouldn’t happen, on my phone things were a bit small and resulted in missed taps every now and then, especially in the starting location.
This becomes frustrating on some occasions – and can actually prevent you from getting that final, difficult, star. With all the chaos and multitasking, missing a click on an item you prepare and moving to the other can have consequences.
It might be just me getting old and my eyesight not being what it used to be… but even so, I wouldn’t have minded for them to find a way to make the things easier to click on and maybe a bit larger.
But this is definitely not a game breaker. Undercover: Secret Management remains a solid game for those who enjoy playing Time Management games, although I would still recommend the PC version over the mobile one (unless you’re playing on tablet).
Because, mobile has a double-edged sword attached to it: you can play the game entirely for free. If you do, though, after completing the first 5 missions, you will start getting unskippable, long ads.
You will also need to watch ads to play a level (or replay it), you will have ads after completing a level… they do add up. This is why I recommend paying for the ad-free experience or buying the PC version of the game. Still, it’s good to know that, if you want to, you can experience the game entirely for free, at the cost of watching a few ads.
Don’t forget – the game is challenging and shows no mercy. You will have to replay many levels if you aim for perfection, but I personally don’t mind that grinding. On the contrary, I find it relaxing.
If you don’t, you can adjust the difficulty from the game’s menu. I have played it on normal and found it really challenging. You also have an easy mode – but also a hard one, if you’re a superhuman and want more.
The game also has achievements that you complete as you play – I haven’t mastered any yet to see if they reward you with diamonds, but getting them to 1 or 2 stars doesn’t. Just for bragging rights, then.
Speaking of diamonds, as you play the game and complete its missions – you are rewarded with diamonds. These are used to unlock various items on your desk, which help you go through the story. At the same time, they don’t seem to have any effect on how the story goes, nor can you buy them with real money. Just an extra touch for decoration.
All in all, Undercover: Secret Management is an enjoyable time management game. It’s challenging and fast paces, it has enough variety not to get boring, and the story flows nicely. Exactly what we need from this type of games!
Undercover: Secret Management can be downloaded for PC from the GameHouse website but is also available on Android and iOS.
Also read my previous lists, with games I am sure you will enjoy playing or learning more about: