Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger

Age Group: Age 8 and Up, Adults Type: Puzzles/Memory, Thinking Games Price: $35

Description:

Nancy's on the case again, this time in New York, on the set of the fictional daytime soap opera Love of Our Lives. One of the stars of the show, Mattie Jensen, has requested Nancy's help in discovering who's behind the mysterious death threats her co-star Rick Arlen has been receiving.

All is not "love" on the set, and Nancy soon finds herself knee-deep in suspects, as many people have a motive to get rid of Rick Arlen. Is it Lillian, the jilted director? Millie, the reality-challenged founder of the show, who thinks the characters are real? Mr. Pappas, the producer who may decide that if he can't have Rick on the show, then no one can? And what about Mattie, the former love of Rick's life? Did she hire Nancy as a smoke screen? Dwayne, the dumped agent?

This 1st person role-playing game features rich characterization, gorgeous backgrounds, tons of clickables, humorous dialogue and lots of red herrings: in short, everything a great adventure game needs!

Features:

• Nancy Drew!
• Lots of very tricky puzzles
• Detailed characters and plot
• Intriguing story that draws players into the game
• Hours of fun!

Technical Aspects:

There is one difference in this second game, as the characters are now 3D, instead of the animated ones in the first game. This looks odd at first, but grows on players after awhile.

Report and Conclusions:

However, this game is also one of the hardest games for kids I've ever seen. There are 3 difficulty levels, but as this only affects the puzzles in the game, the same adventure is played by all. Players have many opportunities to get hopelessly stuck: roaming around aimlessly, rehashing conversations, and getting nowhere fast. For example, part of the story can only be advanced by exploring the WWB offices at night, using a code to get in the back door. Well, unless you have looked around the corner of the front of the building, you wouldn't even know that door was there! I'm an experienced adventure gamer, but some parts even had me stumped, and I had to resort to a walkthru. (I would strongly advise parents to help by glancing at the walkthru at our Hints Heaven area upon request to get kids past stuck points, but be sure to just give hints, not the entire answer.)

But even so, I still believe that this is an incredible game for older kids/teens, especially when you consider the limited options available for this age group. While there is danger, and threats of violence, there is no actual death, no sexual innuendo, and everyone's dressed modestly. The first game had a murdered student in a high school, which I found odd in a game designed for kids, albeit older ones; this game has no actual victims, just intended ones.

As is true for most adventure games, replay value is limited, but the first time around is well worth the price, especially if there is more than one possible user (friends/relatives). Males and females alike will enjoy this game immensely - the 14-year old boy and 13-year-old girl here are deeply engrossed with trying to solve the game before the other one does. I highly recommend it!