Review Insights · App Store
The Company Game
Chain Reaction Games LLC · 875 ratings · ★ 4.7
4.7
★★★★★
875 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 23 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"game"
11 negative reviews mention this · 48% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Dishonest about data collection. Unable to play because they lied about what data it needs to play. This is an unsafe game that claims no data is collected." - Mkagen
2
"access"
7 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable. If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results. However, like many people that I’ve seen on…" - PJ Salad
3
"puzzles"
6 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable. If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results. However, like many people that I’ve seen on…" - PJ Salad
4
"location"
6 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "asking for my location??. this app looked amazing and really fun, but i was very disappointed to see that right when i opened the app that i immediately had to give access to my location...wasn’t pleased with that given that i had just paid money for this app." - Lg222111111
5
"level"
5 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Level 12. Was having fun with this one until level 12. Spoiler alert...if your cellular carrier does not allow you to adjust your date or time you are screwed and cant get passed level 12. Developer oversight since many cell carriers dont allow you…" - buckleyrogers
6
"interesting"
5 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable. If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results. However, like many people that I’ve seen on…" - PJ Salad
7
"play"
4 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Dishonest about data collection. Unable to play because they lied about what data it needs to play. This is an unsafe game that claims no data is collected." - Mkagen
8
"allow"
4 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Level 12. Was having fun with this one until level 12. Spoiler alert...if your cellular carrier does not allow you to adjust your date or time you are screwed and cant get passed level 12. Developer oversight since many cell carriers dont allow you…" - buckleyrogers
9
"change"
4 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Level 12. Was having fun with this one until level 12. Spoiler alert...if your cellular carrier does not allow you to adjust your date or time you are screwed and cant get passed level 12. Developer oversight since many cell carriers dont allow you…" - buckleyrogers
10
"phone"
4 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable. If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results. However, like many people that I’ve seen on…" - PJ Salad
11
"running"
4 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable. If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results. However, like many people that I’ve seen on…" - PJ Salad
12
"work"
4 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable. If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results. However, like many people that I’ve seen on…" - PJ Salad
📋 All 23 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Dishonest about data collection
Unable to play because they lied about what data it needs to play. This is an unsafe game that claims no data is collected.
Too invasive
Not only did I find the puzzles to be ridiculously difficult, but the app is too invasive on your phone.
Impossibly difficult
I like challenging puzzles, but this was ridiculous! Regret the purchase
asking for my location??
this app looked amazing and really fun, but i was very disappointed to see that right when i opened the app that i immediately had to give access to my location...wasn’t pleased with that given that i had just paid money for this app.
Broken
Level 25 of the first section broke. When I try to swipe right it either crashes or the way to change the letters is invisible. This is on IOS 13
Only for the able-bodied
There’s a level in the first section that requires fast movement. There’s probably a number of things people could do to solve it, but none of them can be done if you can’t go move around quickly. If you can’t drive or run or ride a bike or whatever, you’re not going to advance through the level; there’s NO way to skip it or perform an alternate solution.
Which is kind of a real problem for anyone who bought the game hoping for a diversion from their covid sickbed, so just be aware that this limitation exists in the game and is a blocker. I’ll change my review to five stars if they fix it, because otherwise it’s quite clever, but this assumption that everyone can follow that instruction is a problem.
Which is kind of a real problem for anyone who bought the game hoping for a diversion from their covid sickbed, so just be aware that this limitation exists in the game and is a blocker. I’ll change my review to five stars if they fix it, because otherwise it’s quite clever, but this assumption that everyone can follow that instruction is a problem.
There's no way in hell I'm giving you location access
Literally a wasted purchase. Cannot even begin the program.
Seriously?
I’m running as fast as I possibly can, I’m out of breath and the bar wasn’t even anywhere near half way full, how am I supposed to play now, I’d like a refund
Nope.
I have zero (0) positives to convey when it comes to this app.
I realize(d) that I hardly represent ‘everyone’ or ‘anyone’ so thinking outside ‘my’ box, I asked four friends (who allowed me to say this here) who are savants in their own right and they recommend I extend my questionnaire or research in order to gauge a broader spectrum.
So, I did. I asked: seven highly-educated professors at prestigious colleges around the world, 24 children, 56 self-proclaimed gaming addicts and gamers of all types, 13 grandparents, 17 parents, 36 math, English, musical, artistic, logistical and behavior recognition genius’ and even a few war-hardened veterans (who barely gave me permission to mention them), five game developers for multiple platforms, seven board game creators and their managing staff and 16 pre-school and kindergarten teachers who work with highly intelligent, overly energetic, incredibly intelligent kids and their code creating parents.
(The kid’s parents are the coders, not necessarily the educators. Although three of them came from similar family backgrounds.)
I even left the app music on in the background to see what my dogs would do. They whined, pawed the doors, began howling .... and I felt like the most awful person in existence.
ALL of the takeaway info, statements and general feelings of those queried was: “This game just isn’t fun. Aren’t games supposed to be fun?”
And: “Bored.”
And: “I played this for a half hour one day then an hour another day, just to give my best feedback and I felt like all the joy had gone out of me.”
And: “I don’t get it.”
And: “This is a mean unhappy app.”
So,
Take it as you will. I did my due diligence and didn’t allow my own perspective to flaw my review.
Thank you so much to those who struggled through, gave their time, laughed at and got frustrated with me and most of all, are still talking to me.
CBD
15APR2019
I realize(d) that I hardly represent ‘everyone’ or ‘anyone’ so thinking outside ‘my’ box, I asked four friends (who allowed me to say this here) who are savants in their own right and they recommend I extend my questionnaire or research in order to gauge a broader spectrum.
So, I did. I asked: seven highly-educated professors at prestigious colleges around the world, 24 children, 56 self-proclaimed gaming addicts and gamers of all types, 13 grandparents, 17 parents, 36 math, English, musical, artistic, logistical and behavior recognition genius’ and even a few war-hardened veterans (who barely gave me permission to mention them), five game developers for multiple platforms, seven board game creators and their managing staff and 16 pre-school and kindergarten teachers who work with highly intelligent, overly energetic, incredibly intelligent kids and their code creating parents.
(The kid’s parents are the coders, not necessarily the educators. Although three of them came from similar family backgrounds.)
I even left the app music on in the background to see what my dogs would do. They whined, pawed the doors, began howling .... and I felt like the most awful person in existence.
ALL of the takeaway info, statements and general feelings of those queried was: “This game just isn’t fun. Aren’t games supposed to be fun?”
And: “Bored.”
And: “I played this for a half hour one day then an hour another day, just to give my best feedback and I felt like all the joy had gone out of me.”
And: “I don’t get it.”
And: “This is a mean unhappy app.”
So,
Take it as you will. I did my due diligence and didn’t allow my own perspective to flaw my review.
Thank you so much to those who struggled through, gave their time, laughed at and got frustrated with me and most of all, are still talking to me.
CBD
15APR2019
More annoying than clever or interesting
Not fun or satisfying, sorry.
Location and camera required
They got my $1.99 and I got to the second screen. Can’t go any further if you don’t allow access to your camera and location. No thanks. I regret not reading the reviews first.
Cant play without giving your location
You cant play the game without giving your location, which I'm not willing to do. You should have made it clear before purchase that this was necessary.
Why does it need camera access
Please allow use of app without having to allow camera and location. Should have option to skip puzzles requiring access. Would be useful to see if you liked the game first.
Broken
Tried running all over the place but can't beat the Run. Part of the game. Stupid game.
Didn’t open/work.
I miss my 2 bucks.
Boring
I find it very dull. There doesn’t seem to be much of a story. At least not a very deep one. Not when you compare it with amazing games like The Talos Principle.
It forces you to use AR, which gets annoying fast and the hints are so silly, they only tell you what you already know. So if you’re stuck, there is almost zero help.
It forces you to use AR, which gets annoying fast and the hints are so silly, they only tell you what you already know. So if you’re stuck, there is almost zero help.
Level 12
Was having fun with this one until level 12. Spoiler alert...if your cellular carrier does not allow you to adjust your date or time you are screwed and cant get passed level 12. Developer oversight since many cell carriers dont allow you to change the date or time. Wasted money on this one.
Fun Puzzles, Not Very Accessable
If you like puzzles, then this game may be for you. It has challenging but fair puzzles to solve, and I quite enjoy how it sometimes uses new information in previous puzzles to obtain new results.
However, like many people that I’ve seen online, I’ve bumped into the issue of LVL22 - Run (which I will be spoiling). The level requires the user to reach and maintain a speed of 3.5m/s for quite a while. While an interesting idea in concept, it ends up blocking off content for some users.
If you are trying to quarantine at home, don’t have easy access to a car or public transport, in a sketchy area, have no access to Cellular Service (as the speed is determined by distance traveled and not velocity of phone), or are playing at night and really don’t want to go for an impromptu 1 AM jog, well you’re boned. I personally live 20 min away from an area with working cell service, so you can understand why I’m a bit miffed.
From reading other reviews, it seems like the developers are aware that players are running into this issue, but have not implemented any way to bypass this one level other than emailing them for the dev code that unlocks all the levels. If they implemented some sort of work around (ex placing a button/code in the hint screen of LVL22 that let you skip that one bit) that would raise my score to 4 or 5, but as is I can only give a 2 for giving me 21 of a promised +78 levels.
However, like many people that I’ve seen online, I’ve bumped into the issue of LVL22 - Run (which I will be spoiling). The level requires the user to reach and maintain a speed of 3.5m/s for quite a while. While an interesting idea in concept, it ends up blocking off content for some users.
If you are trying to quarantine at home, don’t have easy access to a car or public transport, in a sketchy area, have no access to Cellular Service (as the speed is determined by distance traveled and not velocity of phone), or are playing at night and really don’t want to go for an impromptu 1 AM jog, well you’re boned. I personally live 20 min away from an area with working cell service, so you can understand why I’m a bit miffed.
From reading other reviews, it seems like the developers are aware that players are running into this issue, but have not implemented any way to bypass this one level other than emailing them for the dev code that unlocks all the levels. If they implemented some sort of work around (ex placing a button/code in the hint screen of LVL22 that let you skip that one bit) that would raise my score to 4 or 5, but as is I can only give a 2 for giving me 21 of a promised +78 levels.
Just okay
Puzzles have generally arbitrary solutions. No real logic or reason needed in many cases. Interesting game concept, just poor execution.
Clever, but way too invasive!
I give props to the dev for being creative, but this game is way too invasive. Not comfortable giving a game this much access to my phone, especially when their website has no privacy policy on it.
Broken Puzzles
Enjoyed some of the innovative puzzles that used the different features which was pretty interesting. But I can’t get past level 13 because the fourth colored button at the bottom is broken. The puzzles where you try to make all the squares colored was also broken. I was able to beat finish them but I could only tap whichever two squares were to the left and right of the center square.
Clever but ultimately invasive
There are some seriously interesting uses of the iPhone’s technology at work here that I haven’t seen done elsewhere. However, there’s a reason for that: such usage is incredibly invasive. For example, the game will suddenly start flashing your phone’s camera light or require you to change the date/time settings on your iPhone or maximize the volume, etc. I was luckily playing at home but if something like the camera light flashing happened in public it would have been a problem, and having to change the settings of my phone is a bit uncomfortable.
Ultimately, I decided to call it quits when the game asked me to “run.” I live in an apartment in a city, and while I tried running back and forth a bit (as well as trying to trick the phone by shaking it, etc), nothing worked. There’s really nowhere for me to go “run” and frankly I have no interest in trying to make it happen. I think it’s an unfair ask of the player, a situation where the game’s cleverness gets the better of it.
So, kudos for the concept, there’s some serious outside-the-box thinking here. I don’t think this really works in execution, though.
Ultimately, I decided to call it quits when the game asked me to “run.” I live in an apartment in a city, and while I tried running back and forth a bit (as well as trying to trick the phone by shaking it, etc), nothing worked. There’s really nowhere for me to go “run” and frankly I have no interest in trying to make it happen. I think it’s an unfair ask of the player, a situation where the game’s cleverness gets the better of it.
So, kudos for the concept, there’s some serious outside-the-box thinking here. I don’t think this really works in execution, though.
Privacy concerns
I got just past the username screen when it asked for access to my camera and location data. Not going to happen ever. This is a game and, while those features might make the game more immersive, should not be necessary to play. I would like to play and will not be requesting a refund. Here’s hoping that a future update fixes this issue for us more privacy conscious players.
Sentiment summary
93%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
5%
Negative (1-2★)