Adventure Game Expectations
I’m entertained when I hear about people’s first experiences with Nancy Drew games. I often hear that men start into the games thinking something like “It’s Nancy Drew, it’s an adventure game, this will be easy and I’ll finish it fast.” And then they are pleasantly surprised that it is not exactly what they thought it to be!
This is a fun article below that was posted today, it’s a good read:
It’s true: the Nancy Drew games have their scary moments, and their really hard puzzle moments. They are more in-depth and rich games than first-time players expect – and it’s great!
Was your first Nancy Drew game experience hard for you? Was it scarier than you expected it to be?
I remember my first Nancy Drew game: Message in a Haunted Mansion, and I remember being scarred about turning every corner for fear of a shadow or a ghost jumping out at me. XD
-Little Jackalope
My first Nancy Drew game was Treasure in a Royal Tower. I saw my sister play it and she said I was too young. ( at the time I was six and my sister was eight teen.) so, when she left for a couple minuets I completed the chains puzzle to cross the bridge to get to the tower. She was surprised I finished it. Ever sense then I’ve been playing Nancy Drew games! I’m now thirteen and still play them all!
The first game I played was Tomb of the Lost Queen and I was a little nervous for some timed puzzles.
Hey LJ!
My first Nancy Drew game was Message in a Haunted Mansion too. I got as a gift for Christmas in the early 2000s. When I was playing it I wasn’t scared but my adrenaline was pumping while listening to the sounds of the ghosts and so on. It was an experience that I will never forget and its one of the reasons why keep playing Nancy Drew games.
felicity18
My first game was MHM too! The ghost in the mirror outside Abby’s room was what did me in… for quite a while after seeing that, I always took a completely convoluted path through the hallways to avoid ever passing that mirror!
My first ND game experience was way back in 2005. I was four at the time and my friend invited me over to her house. I think she was around 15 at the time. That was the day I played my first ND game: Stay Tuned for Danger. The only things I can remember from that game on that day are the part when you have to oil the wheel to get on to the catwalk in the stage. I remember the picture of the wheel and what Nancy said. I also remember looking down over the stage. That’s all I can remember and all I have remembered. Many years later, I played STfD again and got to that part. When I did, I almost shouted out with joy and happiness for I had finally found which Nancy Drew game it was that I played so many years before! I could never remember the title of the game until I played it again. The first game I beat was FIN. It took me three years, but I finally did it. I was so happy when I beat it! I think I started FIN in 2006, so 2009…? Either way, it took me a long time. I’m so glad my friend got me into Nancy Drew so many years ago. Elisabeth, if you are reading this, you’ll never know how thankful I really am. Miss you lots!
My first Nancy Drew game was Secret of the Scarlet Hand. My mom was playing it and I was about six or seven years old. I was curious as to what she was doing, so I peaked over her shoulder, and she invited me to join her.
So I sat down, and we solved the radio puzzle together! Great memories 😀
My first game I ever played was The Final Scene, and I don’t remember a great deal about it. The first one I played on my own was Ghost Dogs and I was terrified :0. My first game that I owned was Shadow at the Water’s edge… I bet you can imagine how that went 😉
My first Nancy Drew game was Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake. I’d been reading lots of Nancy Drew books at my local library and was sad when they sold most of them, leaving only a few.
One day, I decided to look on the internet to see which other libraries had it when Google put “video games” at the end of my search term. I clicked, and discovered Her Interactive.
Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake looked interesting, so I played it. It was a little bit scary for young me, but I kept going and beat the villain.
I’ve been playing ever since and can’t wait for future games!
Treasure in the Royal Tower was my first game. I had read the book before I got the game and was so excited to be playing it. But I was so nervous every time I went in the elevator 🙂
Like many others, Treasure in the Royal Tower was my first game. When I was about 9 (so 10 years ago) I wanted a new game to play so my mum found TRT on eBay and we played it together, and from then on I’ve collected all the games 😀
The first game I ever played was Last Train to Bluemoon Canyon. I was pretty scared especially when I saw the creepy dolls:)
My first game was The Haunted Carousel. My dad brought it home for my sister and I when I was about 13 or so. We weren’t expecting much, but man were we surprised. It was hard! And we got so immersed in the stories because of the well developed characters. I remember the rollercoaster getting stuck on us was very scary.
Lol, my scariest game moment was not even supposed to be a scary part! My sister and I were playing Captive Curse and we had completely forgotten that we had changed Nancy’s ringtone to ‘Cow’ at the beginning of the game…so in the thick of the plot, when where we’re out actively looking for the monster and already nervous about turning every corner and expecting to find him, there’s this sudden low growl sound that I did NOT recognize was a cow mooing! I thought it was the monster and it scared me half to death, and it took a few long seconds of gripping my sister’s arm before I started to realize that the caption on screen said “Phone ringing.”
We still laugh about that and we never set Nancy’s ringtone to anything potentially monster-like anymore! 🙂
My first ever Nancy Drew game was Secrets Can Kill…been a fan since the beginning 😉 My dad saw the game in a store and knew that I loved mysteries and reading the Nancy Drew books, so he picked it up so we could play through the game together. We got stuck right near the end of the game and didn’t realize the message boards existed yet. It was definitely stressful/tense for younger me…especially the library for some reason. I always thought the culprit would run and attack me in there! But we finally beat the game and I’ve been hooked ever since!
A while later I played CUR in a dark room with my back to the door…my sister snuck up behind me and scared me half to death! Especially with those random Ethel jump scare moments XD It’s been a great ride though. I can’t wait for more games to come out. I’ve graduated college and now any time a game comes out, I road trip to my sisters house and we play through it together. Lots of love for these games and the community it brings about <3
Heya!
Thanks so much for sharing my little article, means a lot.
Cheers,
Kevin
My first game was White Wolf of Icicle Creek, but the first time I came to know Nancy Drew was about five or six years ago.
I was very sick to the point I couldn’t even walk a few feet to the bathroom. There was a nebulizer next to my bed in our living room that I had to use every hour, my hair was falling out (it still hasn’t completely grown back), and I was told that due to my heart and lung problems, I would never play tennis again (if not for this I would be playing professionally by now).
One day, my mom came home from the library with a few things including the book “Secret of the Old Clock”, and the Nancy Drew movie. She told me that she loved Nancy Drew as a girl and that she hoped my sisters and I would love it, too, and we did.
Some time later, she bought us White Wolf at a book sale, and we loved it more so than the books. We even wrote a rap about it. 😉
Now we have all the games except STFD, Captive Curse, Lost Queen, Thornton Hall, Silent Spy, Shattered Medallion, Labyrinth, Sea of Darkness, and, of course, MID. I’ve enjoyed playing them all and I’d like to think they’ve helped make me better.
I can now walk, run, dance, sing, or anything (my tennis is a bit rusty though). Playing isn’t what healed me, of course, but it did make me smile in a time when I was fighting pneumonia as well as severe gluten, nightshade, and bromide allergies.
So, I thank you, HeR Interactive and Nancy Drew. In a way, you helped solve the case of my “Mystery Illness”. There were doctors and nurses and my family, but Nancy Drew helped me directly, and if you want to so much as cameo my Nancy Drew Fan origins, I would feel honored.
–A girl who isn’t afraid of a mouse.
This is a fantastic story, Nancy! Would you consider emailing it to feedback@herinteractive.com so that it could be featured among the testimonials on our web site?
I’ll think about it.
Hey LJ, I just wanted to say thanks for all that you do for us 🙂
Thanks for your encouragement Arianna! Wish I could do more!
Oh my gosh, this brings me BACK! I had always been super immersed in the Nancy Drew book series while growing up (The Dana Girls, too) because it was something my mom had gotten me into; but I first discovered the computer games one fateful day on the back of one of those like ‘scholastic book fair/order’ pamphlets that teachers used to pass around every once in a blue moon? Does anybody know what I’m talking about? Like where you’d check off the boxes, or fill in the corresponding ‘item’ number’ and had your parents send you back with an envelope of money for your teacher to send them in or what not.?
Lol, I honestly don’t remember how they worked, if they were like a monthly thing, or just once a year, quarterly, who knows; what I DO remember is flipping to the back–where the ‘cool stuff-stuff’ that came WITH the books,’ or occasional-on it’s own pc game’ or like unrelated inflatable see through bubble-air-chair-lookin’ backpacks and trinkets were, and just like jaw-dropping at the sight of it.
Fourth grade mind TOTALLY blown at the sight of a Nancy Drew COMPUTER GAME.
And I REALLY want to say that it was Treasure in the Royal Tower, but the more I think about it, especially time frame and release date wise, I think it would have had to have been Message in the Haunted Mansion, or they might have BOTH been on there, or come together as a package deal, no Idea; regardless, those were definitely the first TWO I played, but TRT has, forever now, and for ever will be my absolute favorite. (So I’m pretty sure my brain just overrides MHM). But no joke, I’ll replay it any day of the week. And it NEVER gets old to me! So, in short, THANK YOU Scholastic Book Orders, and THANK you Fourth Grade slash Catholic school for handing them out, because I’ve been hooked ever since. Having played every game at this point, starting off with my mom and I sitting down every chance I could get after school, then with my younger sister, well only by four years, got old enough she’d want to watch and my mom got fed up with my having usurped total control–then WITH my younger sister in tandem, haha and even my good friend and old college roommate who had also known of them for an ENTIRE summer that we’d taken off school.
But just UGHHH so good!!! Like, Secret of the Scarlet Hand? SUCH a cool and actually informative concept, again Treasure in the Royal Tower, got some classical music, crazy Hotchkiss, and castles!?? Previously owned by a man named EZRA, aka, most epic name EVER. And Ghost Dogs, with Red-Knot “Red-tailed Hawk,” and just, well, ALL of them, they were so great, bahaha and just the horror of how many times you accidentally killed Nancy or the fact the outward repetition of “IT’S LOCKED,” has become imbedded in my vocabulary. OH, and just, remembering being younger and literally GEEKING out at the end of every finished game when the preview for the next release came up, I feel like the Haunted Carousel was the first game ‘sneak peak’ I ever saw, and again was just like THIS IS INGENIOUS! CAN’T WAIT!
Hah OR the fact that I still, to this day, am frantically keeping countdowns; religiously awaiting new releases, and I JUST turned twenty-five, NO SHAME! Absolutely NONE!
Albeit, I am a little heart broken they’ve steered off, or diverted from, the path of putting them out regularly in order to focus on prioritizing their new spin off, what ever it is, over their production of the classics that started it all, instead. I mean, I think it’s great they’re gearing them towards even younger generations, but STILL, can’t leave us all out to dry like this!! However, another observation and sort of criticism being, even though, I’ve sincerely loved and played each and every game regardless, I also sort of wish they’d revive some of the more ACTUAL like PUZZLE’ elements of the older games versus recycling the same numerical, technological-esque pretend, you can legit just button mash at some point puzzles I’ve begun to notice trending though the more recent volumes. OR THE FACT THAT THEY NEED TO GIVE US THE OPTION TO BE CALLING UP THEM HARDY BOYS MORE OFTEN–no offense Bess and George, or even you Ned, but NOTHING beats Frank and Joe phone calls!!
(Sigh) Anyways, I’m rambling away, but these games hold the most special place in my heart, and have for such a long time that I’ll be real sad to see them go; I mean, lol you KNOW it’s bad or been FOREVER when you walk into Best Buy or any department store and are taken totally aback like, “HEY WHERE’D THE COMPUTER GAME AISLE GO!?” All while some confused salespersons both looks at you as if you’re insane and then points you to like the two by four bottom shelf stack of all 8 existing relics of technology they still carry.
So, I REALLY hope Herinteractive finishes up this new one they’re working on SOON, because it’s gotten pushed back and given hiatuses and then pushed back so much it’s driven me crazy, like waiting for the next GOT book to come out lol. And even further still, I REALLY, sincerely, to the extent I’d be willing to PAY to ensure that they don’t abandon the series. I mean, FOURTH grade to TWENTY-FIVE?, I am still SO not ready to give them up yet!!! On the other hand, though, thank you for ever putting forth the time, effort, and ever expanding fanbase for just making these games a reality, and for as long as you have! Hah I seriously think I’m about to swap out my MacBook now to see if my old gateway will start up and I have any of my old discs somewhere around my apartment.
BUT SERIOUSLY, THE NEW GAME, PLLLLEEEASE! lol
I think I was 5 and I played stay tuned for danger when it came out. It was bought with a bunch of games when we got a new computer for Christmas and I loved it until I blew up during the bomb puzzle and I didn’t play for like 5 years! I was like I’m going to beat this stupid game! Then I was hooked and now I’m 24 still running nancy drew game marathons with my best friend. We’ve gotten pretty deep about the philosophies of Nancy drew. I love the series please put out the new one soon! I’ve been playing for almost 20 years and I hope to play for 20 more:)
In 2005 my family was relocated to a new town 3 hrs away from where my family had lived for 8 yrs and my hometown. Needless to say it was a lonely and cold winter that first few months, being we moved to a snow belt. For sanity sake I took my kindergartener to the library and borrowed some DVDs and CDs, thus bringing home the very first Nancy Drew game we ever played Treasure in the Royal Tower. At the time I had 3 growing girls and that xmas season we sat around a table playing Nancy Drew in Theatre mode. My husband being an IT geek figured out how to project the game screen on the living room wall. The game proved to be a challenge. Back then there were no online cheats for us, so we struggled for days and binge played during the snowstorms. I am happy to say that two of my girls are now grown adults and the youngest is a teen. We also added an additional boy 7 who now enjoys ND as well. IT has been a family tradition to get ND for Christmas and play over the holiday season..Sadly due to advancements we missed finidng a hardcopy of any game this season and are now playing a digital version a little bit past Xmas..I will be sad if the franchise ends.. Keep the games coming