Covet Fashion – Shopping Game - Crowdstar Inc

This review of Covet Fashion – Shopping Game was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 16 December 2014.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Covet Fashion – Shopping Game contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

This app does not contain levels, but was played for approximately 3 hours.

App description

Covet Fashion is an app based around fashion and shopping. The objective of the game is to create various ‘looks’ for events, after purchasing a range of clothing and accessories in order to create a personal wardrobe. There are limited skills needed, other than creative and fashion-related skills, as well as motor skills to use the functions of the app itself. 

Reviewers comments

The app opens with a page that encourages players to sign in via Facebook in order to ‘Create head-to-toe looks that are shared with friends. Connect to see your friends’ clothes, looks and more’. Players are also offered the option to ‘Play Solo’. After this, they are taken to a screen containing a model and a selection of clothing garments.  Text on the screen welcomes users and suggests that they ‘Create a first look! Dress the model for a Celebrity Birthday Party. Choose the clothes, hair and even make-up’. Players start with $4,000, 300 gems, and 50 out of a possible 75 event tickets.

Players begin with a mostly naked model on the left-hand side of the screen – it is a tall blonde woman wearing only a black bikini. On the right-hand side, players have the options to adjust the following features: Closet, Skin, Make-up, and Hair. There is also an option called ‘Filter’, which brings up a second side menu bar – this second menu contains the option for users to filter their search results via: Season, Brand, Type, Colour, Material, Pattern and Prizes. Each item of clothing that players may choose from contains a small thumbnail preview, a price, a brand name and item description. There are dresses, shoes, as well as a range of accessories including handbags and jewellery. In regards to the varieties of make-up available to choose from, players can select from a range of approximately 30 different pre-made looks. There is even more variety in regards to selecting a hairstyle, as each style comes in a range of colours (some styles have only natural hair colours to choose from, whilst other cuts have a selection of bright colours such as green and purple also). The styles range greatly in their shape, from simple long and wavy, to mohawks or half-shaved looks.

After completing the look, players press ‘Enter’ and a pop-up screen appears to notify them that their ‘Look has been submitted’. The text states ‘Great job! You’ve earned $250. Results will be ready in 1 hour. Would you like to be notified?’. The app then asks players if they would like to share their new look with friends via social media websites. They are then informed that they may ‘Cast a vote’. The text states ‘You choose the winning looks! Vote for the looks you think best fit the theme. Choose how much you prefer either outfit’. At this point, players are provided with two different looks – a small line of text above tells players ‘Vote on the best flirty flapper look that moves as you dance to the energetic 1920’s rhythms’. Players have the option to prefer one option slightly more than the other, or significantly more than another. After selecting, the screen briefly flashes with the user account (including the name and profile photograph) of the player who created the look.

After voting, players are instructed to build their own closet with $4000 to begin with. They enter the ‘shop’ to do this, and are able to select garments and accessories by sorting via New Arrivals, Brand or by Type. It is possible to gain rewards by ‘entering events’ – this costs the players a certain number of tickets, but will earn them cash rewards and potential prizes (in the form of accessories). In order to do this, players must adhere to the rules of the event – for example, they must wear one red item to the event. Other events require that a particular item of clothing be purchased and worn. It is possible to borrow an item from a friend when a player creates an account for the app also. Players require tickets to enter events, and it is possible to get more by voting on other looks.

Certain items are level locked – if players attempt to purchase or use them, a small pop-up screen appears stating ‘To unlock this item, you need a closet value of $5000, your current closet value is $____’. It is possible to increase a player’s closet value by purchasing more items.

The app also contains advertisements for real-life products, and includes Covet Fashion Exclusive Deals which involve receiving 150 in-game diamonds for every $1 spend on fashion websites such as LionetteNY.com. The app shows real-life products, and it is possible to purchase them through the app via PayPal, or by entering personal and payment details.

In App purchasing

It is possible to make in-app purchases with real-life money within the game. Players are offered a ‘starter package’ for $7.99, which includes 200 tickets, $2000 cash and 2400 diamonds. It is also possible to purchase diamonds that may be used to spend on ‘premium goods’. These packages include 600 diamonds for $1.99, 1575 diamonds for $4.99, 3300 diamonds for $9.99, 6899 diamonds for $19.99, 18000 diamonds for $49.99 or 37500 diamonds for $99.99. These diamonds may be used to buy either in-game cash or tickets.

As stated above, it is also possible for players to use real-life money to make larger purchases (of several hundred dollars and above) by buying real products of fashion websites, via the app.

Online information

Players have an Inbox where they may exchange personal messages with other users. There are also links to the app’s Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages. In addition to this, it is possible to ‘share’ newly created looks with friends via social networking sites such as Facebook.

 

Gambling

No gambling content found during the review.

Advertising and product placement

There is advertising for famous clothing and accessory brands within the app. The app also includes advertisements and exclusive deals for real-life fashion websites, advertising the products that are sold on such websites and making it possible for players to purchase them through the app itself.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

The app depicts quite a strong gender stereotype for women, with the clothing presented being quite form fitting, sexualised and generically attractive. The models appear to have disproportionate physical figures, with unnaturally small waists, very long legs and a long neck, and they are very thin also. This may potentially lead to negative body image issues within users who are shown a myriad of images of the same thin body type.  

 

Coarse language

N/A.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

N/A.

Other

N/A.

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