Review: The Grossery Game

Today I’m taking a look at The Grossery Game - a free-to-play app available to download from the Google Play Store. The Grossery Game is based on the series of blind bag collectible figurines from Moose Toys - The Grossery Gang. If you’re unfamiliar, they’re little rubbery toys of everyday grocery store items - but massively past their use-by date! They’re often covered in mould, slime, maggots and flies - and are proving popular with thousands of kids and toy collectors alike - myself included.

The Grossery Game is ideal for fans of the figurines, particularly children with a gross sense of humour. The game itself is actually several mini-games based in hub world known as the Yucky Mart - a convenience, or some might say, an inconvenience store where The Grossery Gang live. The main Grosseries who host the various mini-games are Putrid Pizza, Sticky Soda, Dodgy Doughnut, Rotten Egg and Shoccoli.

As you earn high scores in the mini-games, you will earn coins - which you can trade in for mystery milk crates - each either containing a virtual Grossery Gang figurine or more coins. Your virtual collection can all be viewed in the form of 3D postcards and can be dragged and dropped to create dioramas. You can also place them in the real world and add them to photos taken with your smartphone’s camera. There is also a game called Cruddy Crunch - which is essentially an augmented reality mini-game - which involves either pointing your phone’s camera at packaging from Grossery Gang figures, or printing out a target.

So, let’s take an in-depth look at each mini-game. 

Firstly, we have the Mucky Maze. This clever little game employs the use of your smartphone’s GPS sensor to detect movement. The object of the game is to roll Rotten Egg around on a greasy baking tray while collecting coins and avoiding obstacles. To control him, you simply tilt your device from side to side to roll him in the desired direction - it works remarkably well and is pretty addictive for such a simple concept.

Next is Maggot Mash. You are faced with a mucky microwave, covered with congealed nacho cheese and absolutely crawling with maggots and flies. You're on a timer to see how many slimy maggots you can splat and squish with your finger! Once you have squished around 50 or so, you can turn on the microwave and zap the on-screen critters to quickly clear the screen.

Next we have Goo Shoot. This is my favourite of the mini-games, and in my opinion, the easiest one to quickly earn coins on. You use a catapult, assisted by Lame Licorice to fire blobs of goo at the green, black and yellow soap bubbles that are rising from a scummy mop bucket below. Hitting combos increases your score multiplier - and if you aim carefully, you can quickly earn a lot of points!

And finally is Sludgie Slurp. In this mini game, you control 3 Grosseries who are standing underneath the Mushy Slushy machine, in hopes of grabbing a drink. Drops of slushy will drip from the machine, and it’s up to you to tap each Grossery to make them jump up with their mouths open - and if you time it incorrectly, they’ll end up with a bunch of gross goo dropped on their heads!

As I previously mentioned, The Grossery Game is free-to-play, but like many free-to-play games, there is the option to spend real-world currency to purchase milk crates to quickly fill up your collection - but is isn’t necessary to fully enjoy the game. There is also the option to watch advertisements, usually for other apps, to double the coins you have won. However as it is a children’s game - the app will prompt the player to “ask a grown-up” before an advertisement is played. The app is also easy to understand for children, as instead of long winded instructions, each mini-game is explained simply with easy to understand diagrams.

As a fan of The Grossery Gang myself, I can wholeheartedly recommend The Grossery Game to other fans and particularly recommend it to those who may not be able to find the figurines easily for sale in their country, or may not be able to afford to buy them on a regular basis - as the game does a reasonable job of replicating the excitement of opening mystery milk crates and filling up your collection.