Adventure Gamers - Forums

I was always hesitant to try Nancy Drew adventures, because they seemed too casual for my taste, but I’ve just finished the last one “Ghost of Thornton Hall” and it was quite entertaining. I must add that I love spooky, haunted houses adventures, so that was definitely a plus (that’s why I picked it up in the first place. That and some good reviews I’ve read).
So now I’m willing to try more Nancy Drew titles. I’m actually forcing myself a bit to like them, because there are so many of them, that I would never be without an adventure to play again. :)
Which ones would you guys recommend to play next?

I’ve played the following Nancy Drew games:
Legend of the Crystal Skull
The Phantom of Venice
Secrets Can Kill (Remastered)
Shadow at the Water’s Edge
The Captive Curse

I liked them all, I would pick the one with the most interesting theme.

Leged of the Crystall Skull is an old mansion in Louisiana with hints of voodoo and of course the South American crystal skull legend. It’s been a favourite one for many, but I didn’t find it better than the rest (except for perhaps the kinda tasty goth guy).

The Phantom of Venice is a treasure hunt in Venice.

Secrets Can Kill was the first game, a mystery in high school.

Shadow at the Water’s Edge is about Japanese culture and horror.

The Captive Curse was an old cursed castle in Germany turned into an inn.

I think perhaps I liked The Captive Curse best, but can’t really be sure.

While I haven’t played any of the Nancy Drew games, I would like to point out that Curse of Blackmoor Manor made the AdventureGamers Top 100 of All-Time. That means that some of the staff here think that’s the best game in the series (well, at least before the last couple of games were released)...

It was at #99. Consensus probably made them put a single game from the series in there.

Doing a top-100 on your own is difficult enough, trying to make one with an entire team is pure hell to reach consensus.
Besides, wanting to acknowledge a pretty popular series that has 25+ games merits a single low spot on a top-100, no?

I’ve been told by a local ND fan I know that she liked Treasure in the Royal Tower the best.  Hope that helps.

Thanks guys! I checked all your suggestions and I think I might like those from millenia’s list the most. I’ll probably start with the Legend of the Crystal Skull because everyone seems to like that and The Captive Curse. Keep adding recommendations though, it’s good to have them in one place, not only for me.

Amazingly, “The Clue Bender Society” on the Nintendo DS was an excellent Nancy Drew game.

“Ghost Dogs of Moonlake” is an excellent Nancy Drew game on the PC - playing it was fabulous. I didn’t wonder after I finished it why a Nancy Drew game was in the top 100 adventure games list.

Just finished The Legend of the Crystal Skull. Really solid game. A few more locations to visit would be welcome and there’s too much backtracking in the last third of it, but all in all very enjoyable.

CoyoteAG - 18 June 2013 11:35 AM

The Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon is a blast too.

I was hoping that one was good - I love trains!

CroGamer - 01 July 2013 05:59 AM

I don’t know.

I tried Nancy Drew but I didn’t really like it. Is seemed too childish for me and to me, Nancy doesn’t have to much character.

Nancy is very bland yes. If something, she is goody-two-shoes. But the games that I played were still charming. The secondary characters have much more flavour and some of them are actually really entertaining.

I’d still say that everyone should try out the games that interest them on their setting and theme, that way the experience is more enjoyable. I will need to write down the recommendations on this thread though, I have a few ND games that I haven’t played yet but I could track down the ones considered best. It’s too bad that the Steam ND package is so expensive (it’s not much per game but the total price makes me cringe), if only we would get a 75% sale from it this summer .

CroGamer - 01 July 2013 05:59 AM

I don’t know.

I tried Nancy Drew but I didn’t really like it. Is seemed too childish for me and to me, Nancy doesn’t have to much character.

I agree, Nancy has no personality and the games are somewhat childish, but they are still much better than I expected. As chrissie said – they have this soothing homely aura. When you are going through a stressful period and you need a fun game that is not too emotionally involving to stress you even more, and that will divert your attention without making you think too much, but still not making you feel stupid for playing it, than Nancy Drew is the way to go. 

So far I have played all the games from millenia’s list except Secrets Can Kill and I liked all of them, although Ghost of Thornton Hall is still the best so far. In search for something similar I tried The Haunting of Castle Malloy and I don’t recommend that one: the beginning is promising but it soon becomes irritating (stupid story and boring puzzles).

I’m taking a break from Nancy for now.