My Nancy Drew Gaming Strategy

 I don't think I'm surprising anyone by saying I'm part of the Nancy Drew gaming community. Those that know me personally know my love of Nancy Drew continued from when I was ten until present day. I have a strategy for any Nancy Drew games I play. Today I'm going to let you in on that. 

Photo by The Senior Detective Blog

The Herinteractive Nancy Drew games are point-and-click mysteries for the PC, with the exception of maybe a Hardy Boys DS game and few other forms that didn't work out as well. There are a few that are discontinued, in case you were curious, but otherwise, most of them are available on the Herinteractive website, Big Fish Games, and Steam. You can find the discontinued ones on E-bay or Amazon for varied prices. 

The idea of this game series is that you are Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery. She travels everywhere and anywhere asking questions and solving puzzles. Most games have a balance of plot and puzzles. Some are puzzle or question heavy. I've learned that everyone has different priorities when it comes to which ones they love, aren't into, or hate. Try them all (if you can get your hands on the ones that are discontinued, give them a chance, too) and make your own judgments. If you can play it and have fun, I consider it a good game.

Senior mode and Junior mode are barely different in some games and drastically different in others. It depends on the game itself. The older ones tend to be at the same challenge level and just lack hints. Senior has no checklist or a vague checklist in games. Try to finish it quickly at this level or keep a manual task list. Always keep a task list on paper while playing the first and oldest games.

First Steps

Imagine you are playing a new game or a game you haven't played in forever. Given this assumption, my first step is to explore everything and avoid the conversations the game does not force you into. Look and click on everything the game lets you. Pick up what you are allowed to grab. This saves you a lot of time and energy later when you need an object for a puzzle. Seeing certain files or images triggers conversations later on. Clicking one object or seeing a poster may open up a triggered event that progresses the game. Stopping to read the information you need later and taking notes on it is a great idea. Not sure you need it? Take notes anyway.

Photo by Red Around the World

Speaking of taking notes, let me enlighten you on how some games work - mostly the oldest ones. Phone numbers and other details are added to Nancy's journal or phone automatically on newer games, but not the oldest ones. Write down everything and make sure you have the numbers and info you need to finish puzzles. The less you have to come back to places, the more you solve in a quicker time. It is wise to write it down (especially phone numbers!) and then check the journal to see if it was put in. Checklists are the same concept. Senior level lacks a checklist entirely in newer games, but still includes the journal entries (thankfully). 

Once you get to the point of finding puzzles and you haven't spoken to those who didn't flag you down, go solve what you can. People give you tasks. Get what you can reasonably solve finished before you get any more. If the game does not let you solve it you may have to do something else to make Nancy touch it. From here we can go into conversations after you can't do anything else.

The Characters

Here we are, all ready to talk to people who give Nancy tasks in order for her to get something in return. Chore-heavy games are loved by some people and hated by others. Conversations can be entertaining and open doors to puzzles. Not all conversation is necessary, however, so you can avoid some chit-chat if you so desire to. This depends entirely on the game itself. All of them have certain conversations that need to happen or you can't continue. 

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Secrets can kill is an extreme case of this due to the way it was programmed. One conversation option can stall you into starting the game over entirely. This is the only game to do this. You lose options as the conversation continues, too, so be careful on this game in particular. The others are not nearly as finicky as this. You are at the end of the game, too, when you can stall out; this is straight-up awful if you have to restart it all. Keep save files often. It is a good game, yes, but you need to be aware of this from the start.

Anyway, conversations trigger events, which trigger more conversation, which leads you into the plot and some new locations. When stuck on what to do you should talk to everyone (older games are built like this). Phone calls are sometimes important and other times optional. Ned or Bess and George will call you in some games if you don't call them. There are times where you can use them for hints on junior mode. In Alibi In Ashes you need to call them and play as them to finish the game itself. Necessary or not depends on the game, in the general sense. I find Nancy's friends to be fun conversations and they make me laugh.

Puzzles and Mini Games

Mini games are what I love in a Nancy Drew game. Others may not agree, but we are all allowed to have our opinions on what makes games beloved. Often you can play them after you are required to (and if they are in the game, you probably have to at some point). You can make money off these for souvenirs or needed objects to solve puzzles. I have save files labeled "mini games" so I don't have to play the whole game to play the mini games. It's brilliant! Also, the dossiers that are arcade style have a mini game arcade and you can play just mini games, which is so beautiful to me.

Photo by Gamepressure

The main puzzles are a joy or a pain, which depends upon the puzzle itself. If you are playing a harder or puzzle-heavy game you might find that one puzzle is insanely hard for you and others are shockingly easy. Or it may all be so hard and you want to quit. My advice is to step back and relax. Do something else until you can logically process what you need to solve it. If you give up, Game Boomers are a great help with their walkthroughs. I wouldn't have solved all the games without it. Do try to do it yourself, first, if you can.

I have a strategy for doing the puzzles. I pick one location and do everything I can, then move to another location and do everything......and so on. I do this until I can solve every puzzle and have the means to do them all. Puzzles pop up later, as usual, but it is less overwhelming to do things this way. The newer games tend to overwhelm me with puzzles and I found this to be the solution. 

Awards and Eggs

These games have phone charms to find, Easter eggs to find by doing absurd things, and awards to unlock and win. I suggest doing the game without the goal of this added incentive first, then looking up a walkthrough that tells you how to get these extra objects and awards. People found these by literally clicking everything a lot and playing around with the game. Go stand on their shoulders and go easy on yourself. The eggs sometimes help you skip puzzles and finish tasks. Other times they are just fun to acquire. 

Why You Should Try Every Game Before You Go By Reviews

Everyone who plays these has a different favorite game, literally everyone. Some hate MID, others like it, and others are right in between (for example). I have come back to games I disliked as a kid and I like them more as an adult. My point is simple; try it before you decide it isn't good because not everyone has your standard of what's fun. 

There are three aspects to a mystery game, which are storyline, puzzles, and interrogation. Some of these games have more puzzles than interrogation or vice versa. Some have a weak storyline and others have a strong storyline. Graphics are sometimes not good and other times beautiful. You like what you like and that is okay. You can disagree with rankings all day long and be fine. In this way, you decide what you enjoy, not the ranking videos and articles. Give them all an equal chance and see what ranking you create. This is your downtime and you can do what you want with it.