Created by Showtime and Ecko|Code, the game development studio started by Marc Ecko, Dexter: Slice of Life is a strategy and stealth-based game that launched to coincide with the premiere of the popular TV series’ sixth season. As compared to other social games based on TV properties (including Ecko|Code’s own Weeds: Social Club game), Slice of Life stands out for its close content ties to the show.

The game is designed to follow the storyline set out by each episode of Dexter’s sixth season, with new content available to play each Monday morning, following the episodes’ Sunday night air time. Players control Dexter, a serial killer who only targets criminals, as he explores the everyday world in order to obtain the items he needs to reach the stealth portion of the game. In an early example, he’s stalking a pair of EMTs who are killing patients and selling their organs. In order to get to them, he must investigate the EMT dispatch center to find clues, along with items such as evidence bags and stolen organs. Investigating requires energy, which refills over time. Dexter encounters people who must be charmed into helping him, a task which also requires energy. His various tasks to complete are represented by mission icons on the left-hand side of the screen.

Once players have collected the necessary items, they enter the stealth-based potion of the game. Here they must spend stealth points in order to hide behind objects in the environment and sneak up on unsuspecting prey. If the player exhausts these points, they must wait to make another move or purchase more. If they’re spotted, they must start over and try again. If successful, they take their prey to the kill room. Here, they dispatch of their captives in inventive ways, the first being through the use of a defibrillator, which must be found before it can be used.

Players can also visit the kill room when they’re not stalking a story-based victim in order to attack other players. This is done through an asynchronous mechanic, so the player’s friends don’t actually have to be connected to Facebook at the time. Other social features include the usual selection of friend invite, Wall bragging, and gifting.

Dexter: Slice of Life is monetized via a soft cash currency and a premium one represented by blood slides, a nod to the show. Virtual cash can be used to buy items in the game’s shop, while blood slides, purchased using Facebook Credits, are used for premium items, plus energy and stealth refills. Cash and slides can also be used to purchase deco for Dexter’s apartment complex home.

The game will be updated on Monday mornings with new content reflecting the storyline of the previous night’s episode, so that players can recreate Dexter’s exploits. These situations are expanded for the game, letting players take part in events that happened immediately before those seen in the episode, for example.

You can follow Dexter: Slice of Life’s progress using AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.