June's Journey ~ RIEview

June's Journey, by Wooga, is a hidden object game with island decorating and a main storyline rolled in one. I actually had the game quite some time but left it on hiatus because I got distracted (either by another game or by studies, or perhaps a mix of both), until mid-2019 when I found out my friend at work had (then) recently downloaded the game and was playing it during our tea break. Suddenly motivated, I decided to delve back into June's Journey, just in time as Wooga released a new feature that had me hooked than I ever was before. Read on and see what's the change!

Game Plot 

In the late 1920s, our protagonist June Parker returns back to her home on Orchid Island after she received news of her sister Clare murdered by her husband, Harry, who then killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide attempt. June's niece, Virginia, showed June a photo of the crime scene, which fuels her suspicion that things may not be as they seem. And so June begins her investigation of truth to discover what really happened behind Clare and Harry's deaths. 

June's Journey has 3 volumes in total, and as we can guess the truth behind Clare and Harry's deaths were only the beginning of June's journey (no pun intended) as a detective. While June is no true detective like Sherlock Holmes or Poirrot, she finds herself in situations where the only way she can move forward is to find who did the crime and why. Aside from the main storyline, players restoring landmarks (e.g. lighthouse) will unlock interesting anecdotes about the island, the landmark, or about the characters. 

Verdict (5/5) 

Solid plot, with the story unfolding gradually with every scene cleared. While the storyline is great, I do feel that you need to consistently put in effort to play in order to continue reading the story. But other than that, I have enjoyed the story so far and look forward to learning what happens next! 

Character Diversity & Personality 

The main character of June's Journey is, of course, June Parker herself. June is no pushover; in fact she served as a nurse in the (formerly ended) World War I, so she has the wits and intellect to brave through the different circumstances that come her way. She doesn't blindly believe in the information she receives, but ponders and considers if the information is true. In fact, I would say that she's similar to a fictional character that I love – Tintin, who also has his own fair share of mystery adventures (albeit he willingly solves crimes since he's a reporter by profession). 

The focus of June's Journey, in my opinion, focuses more on what role each character plays in the storyline. The backstory of characters often stay unknown unless it is relevant to the plot; which makes sense because June's Journey is first a hidden object game – leaving the story and subsequently the characters secondary on the priority list.

Verdict (5/5)

The characters introduced so far have their backstories, and June's Journey made sure to get one particular message across: Never judge a book by its cover. The person you think is bad because they look bad? Probably a personified cinnamon roll. That one person you never thought would be bad? Whoops, looks like you're totally wrong on that one! I will say my favourite side character (at the moment where I am with the plot) would probably be Mr. Talbot, who's such a sweetheart when you learn more about how he met Mrs. Talbot when you're rebuilding the lighthouse. 

Game & CG Art 

As I've mentioned before, I'm not an art connoisseur. I do appreciate all kinds of art style, be it anime-style  like Naruto and Ayakashi: Romance Reborn to western-style like Marvel and Disney, I enjoy the diversity of art as long as it's consistent. June's Journey leans majorly towards the western-style, to what I would say have more realistic figure proportions. While I'm not 100% familiar with the fashion from the roaring 20s, I did some brief research and from what I found, I would give them kudos on the historic accuracy. I mean, there's a century difference between then and now so even if there's some difference, I would let it slide. 

Verdict (5/5)

What's there not to love about the art? While there are a few CG art (in the form of character puzzles you can find at the estate), all hidden object scenes are beautifully designed that I sometimes wish the developers would have an album collection of the scenes. I should also add that the decorations and buildings are also well-designed that I (and all collectivists) want them all on the island, if not for the fact that I don't have enough coins to buy them all. I mean, with limited edition sets being released every month, it does get tough on players to have enough coins (and diamonds!) to buy them all.

Game Mechanics

June's Journey is predominantly a hidden object game. So in every scene you need to find items based on their names. This can be confusing because some items share the same name, for example there is a baseball 'bat' and also the animal 'bat', and often the game doesn't distinguish which bat they want you to look for and expect you to recognise the bat when you see it. After each play you can obtain a mix of rewards which include 1 or more from: coins, diamonds (very rare), building materials (either to upgrade buildings or get complete an order at Jack's hanger), energy (needed for each play), compasses (to open up new areas on the island), and wind-up keys (for Detectives Needed challenge). You can opt to watch a video and reduce the energy needed (from the usual 15 to 10 energy) for 30 minutes.

Different duration for different delivery orders in Jack's Hangar

Aside from being a hidden object game, another highlight of June's Journey is decorating the island. You will first start with Orchid Island, and with the coins you get from completing each play, you can purchase buildings and decorations to decorate your island as you wish. Do note that some buildings and decorations require diamonds instead of coins. You can get diamonds from exchanging bushes with your boat friends or club members, though you only get diamonds after someone gifts you a bush. Your first bush to gift is free, with subsequent bushes requiring coins to gift while limited edition bushes are the opposite (pay with diamonds and harvest coins). 

A recent feature is the Detective Lounge, where you can join a club and compete against other clubs! If club competitions isn't your thing, you can always opt to join a coffee-only club. Yes, a feature of a club is you get to share coffees, AKA energy, with your club members and also get tips when they drink (virtually) your coffee. Tips can then be used in the tip store to either get a pink box, upgrade your coffee (maximum is 15 energy per cup), and even buying new avatar for yourself or your coffee (i.e. changing it to a juice or wine). 

Aside from getting energy by exchanging coffee in a club, you get energy when you completely restore a landmark. You'll first start with the lighthouse, and once you're finished you (or rather Mr. Talbot) will move onto the wedding chapel, and so on. Just with the purchase of decorations and upgrading of buildings, you will get flowers for every time you complete restoring a section of the landmark. Flowers are especially important because you need them to level up and unlock new scenes to play (and to continue the storyline). 

Verdict (4.5/5) 

While it may seem confusing for rookies first starting June's Journey, not to fear because features are gradually released as you level up and progress through the storyline. If you're concerned that you might forget an aspect of the game, there is a Help section in the settings (gear icon on top left of your home screen) for players to refresh their understanding of the game.

In-Game Events 

June's Journey frequently hosts events of different kinds. There is a seasonal event referred to as Celebration in the game, which you can find at the gazebo when the event is running. During the duration of the event you will need to play a certain number of scenes per day in order to claim a reward. At the end of the event you will be awarded with a big prize like a limited edition decoration. 

Detective Needed challenge appears more frequently than Celebration. To qualify for different prize tiers you will need to collect the respective amount of wind-up keys. Depending on what is stated below the challenge, you can obtain the keys only from playing scenes, or from playing scenes and completing Help Wanted cases. Each Help Wanted case will award different prizes depending on the difficulty of the case, and there is a refresh button in the event that you want another case rather than the one that you've been given. 

The most common events are held in the Detective Lounge: Club Competitions. As the name suggests, you can only access the competitions if you are in a club. Club Competitions come in 2 types: Time Rush and Spot the Difference. Time Rush is a timed version of the usual hidden object gameplay, with each play only given 35 seconds for you to find as many items as possible. Spot the Difference is also timed, where you have to find as many differences as you can between two of the same scenes, all within 2 minutes. Because it's a team effort, the total score of each team will determine the ranks and therefore the respective prizes for each participating member.

Verdict (4/5) 

While the concept of each event is great, there have been problems in some of the events. For example, in Help Wanted case you can only refresh one case once a day, so this becomes a problem if you're in a rush trying to get wind-up keys for the Detective Needed challenge before the challenge is over. The Spot the Difference competitions have been a major source of problems among players due to the Magic Eye technique. Players who are able to use Magic Eye will score an absurd points with the minimum of 3 million at the start, while others who don't or can't use Magic Eye are only able to score a maximum of 1.5 million within the same amount of time as Magic Eye users do. The developers at Wooga has yet develop an algorithm to sort Magic Eye teams apart from normal teams, hence there has been dissent and division among the players over the Spot the Difference competition.

Overall, June's Journey is a great game if you're looking for a mystery plot with a hidden object gameplay and some island building in the mix. The in-game events are optional, so if you dislike club competitions and not wanting to commit when you're a casual gamer, you can always opt out or join a coffee-only club to get the extra energies for your usual gameplay. To keep updated on latest events and releases of new chapters, follow June's Journey on their social media like Facebook. Head over to the App Store or Play Store to download the game, or play the game directly on Facebook via their official page! 

Happy Gaming!

~ RieRie