Wondering if June’s Journey is worth playing? Wonder no more. In this June’s Journey Review we’ll go over everything you need to know about the game and whether or not it’s worth playing in 2020.
June’s Journey is a hidden object game by gaming studio Wooga. Wooga has made a hidden object game before called Pearl’s Peril. Pearl’s Peril used the be the gaming studio’s most popular game, until they released June’s Journey. When June’s Journey was first released in 2017 it was first only available for Facebook Gaming. After a few months it also became available as an app. You might think that this review is quite late; after all 2017 is quite a long time ago. However, the game is still very popular with many new players every day. It also still receives frequent updates. I couldn’t find many in depth reviews of the game either. In this June’s Journey Review I’ll go over the graphics, whether the game is pay to win, the game play and more. Let’s get into it.
The game play
June’s Journey takes place in the roaring 20’s in several locations such as Paris, New York and many others. As the name “hidden object game” suggests, you have to find hidden objects in these locations. The reason to find these hidden objects is because the protagonist, June Parker, is on a quest to solve the mystery of her murdered sister.
During this quest she uncovers many long forgotten secrets of her family.
Every scene you progress through takes your further into the story. The story itself is really quite good. It’s really immersive and the way the game tells the story makes you want to keep playing to learn more.
Another aspect of the game play is Orchid Island. This is the home where June grew up. When you progress through the game you restore the island by placing and upgrading buildings. You can also decorate the buildings to your taste. This is an essential part of the game because doing so unlocks flowers. These flowers are required to unlock new scenes and chapters.
A review of the graphics in June’s Journey
Graphics are always a tricky thing to review. After all, graphics are art and art is subjective. Some person might love the art style of a certain game while other might hate it. In my opinion, June’s Journey has nailed the graphic aspect of the game. The puzzles are really pleasing to the eye and the scenes are designed with a lot attention to detail.
The best way to give you an idea of the graphics you can expect to find in the game is by showing you a video. We recorded a short gameplay video that’ll show you the graphics you’ll find when you play the game. Check it out:
Is it pay to win?
Since many mobile games feature pay to win features nowadays, we believe it’s important to discuss this aspect in our review of June’s Journey.
June’s Journey is a free-to-play game. However, the game does have micro-transactions. This means that it’s a freemium game. There’s a premium currency in the game called Diamonds. The main use for these diamonds is unlocking more energy. Energy is very important in the game because you need enough energy to keep playing. This makes diamonds equally important.
Nevertheless, these diamonds do not come cheap. The most expensive package (2500 diamonds) costs $100. This is a pretty insane amount of money to spend on a mobile game. To put into perspective of what the diamonds will get you if you decide to buy them; 1 bar of energy costs 59 diamonds. Extending your energy bar costs 799 diamonds.
You can also use the diamonds to upgrade your buildings instantly.
If that wasn’t enough there’s also a second premium currency: coins. Coins are equally expensive as diamonds. Coins can be used to buy decorations and items in the shop. Furthermore, they can be used to clear obstacles from Orchid Island.
Coins are easier to get through playing the game than diamonds, but buying them is still much faster of course.
Overall, it is possible to play the game without spending money but you’ll be time gated; meaning that you’ll be unable to progress without waiting for your energy to recharge. In our opinion the game does have too many micro transactions and their pricing is not very consumer friendly.
Conclusion
June’s Journey is a beautifully designed game with an engaging story. The game could’ve been amazing if it wasn’t for the the amount of micro transactions that are present in the game. We understand that a free-to-play game has to make money somehow, but charging $100 for some diamonds and then even having a second purchasable currency on top of that (coins) is taking it a bit far in our opinion.
The game is playable without buying these premium resources, but only if you play very casually. The fact that you have to wait for your energy to recharge means that unless you’re willing to pay for the diamonds necessary to recharge you will do a lot of waiting.
All in all, the game had a lot of potential but the way the game is monetized kind of kills the joy. Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of hidden object games it might still be worth checking out.
You can find June’s Journey for Android here and the iOS version can be found here. If you’d rather play on Facebook you can find that here.
We hope you found this review for June’s Journey informative and that it helped you shape your decision on whether or not you should download the game.
I don’t pay for anything, so I just wait till I have the rewards. I don’t think a game like this is worth getting too obsessed with anyway. One thing you don’t mention is the teams you can join. About once a week there’s a competition, and the more people on the team who play, the better your chances to win the best in-game rewards. On top of that you can get and give decorations, which can be converted to coins and diamonds. It feels like a little group of friends!