#nancy drew ransom of the seven ships spoilers

[netscapenavigator-official]

Okay, so in order to explain this to you, fully, I have to spoil the game's plot. So Spoiler Alert to anyone interested in playing Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships (Game #20).

Basically, in this game, Nancy gets stranded on a resort island in the Bahamas with her best friend (Bess) and her best friend's cousin (George). Nancy arrives on the island AFTER Bess and George, and when she gets there, it's revealed that Bess has been kidnapped and George found a ransom note.

In Nancy's adventures to fulfill the kidnapper's requests, she meets a "beach bum" who has a boat and (allegedly) travels from beach to beach just living life like a hippy (or whatever). When we first meet this man, he introduces himself as Johnny Rolle, a Jamaican man who has dreadlocks and a heavy accent (this is relevant).

Some time later in the game Nancy is exploring a cave and she stumbles across a driver's license. Whose driver's license? Well, the photo is of Johnny Rolle, except the name is "John E. Poole" and the license, itself, is very clearly from Victoria, Australia. Nancy confronts Johnny with this piece of evidence and he admits the truth to her by doing this:

~

[Thick Jamaican Accent] "Okay okay, you're right. I'm not Jamaican..."

*removes dreadlock wig*

[Thick Australian Accent] "I'm Australian."

~

Except then, it gets worse. Because after Nancy has finally found the thing she needs in order to fulfill the terms of the kidnapper, she receives another note saying to leave the ransom with "the beach bum" and that the "kidnapper" will pick it up from him, later. She does this, and then Johnny reveals that he is, in fact, responsible for everything, and that he is NOT Australian either. He is the whitest of white pricks from Stay Tuned For Danger (Game #2) known as Dwayne Powers. Dwayne was Nancy's friend's talent agent who was so far in debt that he blamed one of his former clients to the point of volatile hatred. He hated his former client so much that he mailed him a bomb, and later, he mailed a bomb threat to Nancy because she was getting too close to finding him out.

He decided to kidnap Nancy's friend and force Nancy to find a hidden treasure for him as revenge for "ruining his acting career and agency."

Oh, also, both the Jamaican Accent, Australian Accent, and American Accents for this ONE character were voiced by the same (white) man.

HeR Interactive, in light of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, discontinued sales of Ransom of the Seven Ships (Game #20). Although, a lot of fans speculate that poor sales and bad fanfare towards the game also contributed to their decision (it's not exactly a good game, tbh.)

This was the first Nancy Drew game where the villain had been seen before. Before this game, HeR Interactive had been planting the seed in people's heads that a villain would be returning for revenge. Nobody knew when, though. This was the reckoning of that foreshadowing. But because the "plot twist" and "twist villain" plot lines involve a literal race reveal, it's not uncommon to see people clown on this game. Also, like I mentioned before, it's not a particular good game, either.

In addition to all this, the Dwayne Powers we see in Game #20 looks nothing like the one in Game #2. They aren't even voiced by the same actor. ALSO, Stay Tuned For Danger (Game #2; Dwayne's original appearance) isn't particularly well-liked by the ND Fanbase, so bringing back it's villain was a controversial move from the get-go. Overall, this game was just an EXTREMELY horrible botch-job on an extremely important moment for Nancy's story line, and all these other compounding problems just make the game entirely nonredeemable, with the blackface, race-reveal plot being the final nail in it's coffin.

Oh boy! I sure am looking forward to playing Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships; The first game where Bess and George appear in-game! I sure hope there isn’t a blackface plot line, or anything.

[ndconceptarchive]

Ransom of the Seven Ships Concept Art (Spoilers)

We try to be spoiler concious on this blog (at least for major spoilers), so click only if you've played through the game already.

Concept renders for Dwayne Powers in Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships

[mrs-xenia-and-dagny]

For the ND ask game: 3, 19, 22, 37

<3 <3 <3

Thank you for the ask!

19. Favourite Nancy Drew soundtrack

YES THANK YOU! Here's a shameless promotion of the Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon soundtrack I arranged and performed with my orchestra a few years ago, which should answer that question:

Honorary mention to Deadly Device, Secret of the Old Clock, and Sea of Darkness.

22. Most underrated game

Midnight in Salem! It definitely has its flaws, but I don't think it's as bad as some of the other games (Shattered Medallion, Ransom of the Seven ships, Secrets Can Kill to name a few). I would actually say it has better navigation than Seven Keys, it has a cohesive design and atmosphere, and it has the bones of a good story. It doesn't deserve the hate it gets tbh. And if I'm honest, I think it's better than Mystery of the Seven Keys. While MID lacks a lot of puzzles, KEY's puzzles are often unintuitive, unfinished/unsolvable, and overcomplicated. MID's puzzles are simpler, the story is intuitive, and it has a logical throughline which I think some of KEY lacks.

37. Most disappointing ending

The Silent Spy honestly. When my sister and I played it for the first time we were dead set convinced that Revenant weren't actually the bad guys they were described to be, and that Cathedral was a little shadier than they pretended to be. Expecting some wild twist to take place at some point, the already disappointing cuprit and motive was that extra bit bitter.

3. If you could change the culprit of a game, what game would you pick and you would you make the culprit be?

Spoilers for ICE, CLK, and CAP under the break

This one is tricky, but a few games I think the culprits have boring motivations and it should be someone else - the White Wolf of Icicle Creek culprit should be Lou, because what even is Yanni's motive (I've literally forgotten); I think Topham should be the culprit in Secret of the Old Clock, or that Jane and Topham should be working together bc they have similar motives; and I wouldn't change the culprit to one of the other characters in Captive Curse bc I don't think any of them could believably be the culprit, but I don't like Anja's motive it's p boring and unrealistic. I don't really know how I would change the games to fit the different culprits, though.

[meganlpie]

Back again! Thanks for answering my questions! What's one fic you've written that you think about rewriting to make it better in your eyes? What about your least favorite video games in those same franchises and why?

Hi again! Um, I often think about rewriting a lot of my older fics from when I first started out. A lot of them aren't as inclusive as a reader-insert should be. I couldn't name just one.

For those least favorite video games and why(this is your obligatory spoiler warning for Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, and Nancy Drew games!)

[[MORE]]

1. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. I love the story and the characters as always. But I despise the card battle mechanic. I really really do.

2. Nancy Drew 20: Ransom of the Seven Ships. There is literally one freaking suspect on the entire island!!! Not to mention, you can only lose a game to monkeys so many times before it gets old. There's also a HUGE social faux pas in this game to the point that Her Interactive is no longer making/(I think)selling the game.

3: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I've got two words. The Imprisoned. That's it. Look, I don't hate the game itself. I hate the mechanics(the motion controls) of the original game and the super long tutorial section(though the original Twilight Princess has that beat). And I don't like that you have to fight both Girahim and the Imprisoned 3 times!! I like a little variety in my mini-boss/boss fights.

Finished with my rant now.

[iwantakokokringle]

Dwayne Powers revealing himself in RAN

[yiikesyikes]

You really have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy Ransom of the Seven Ships. You have to believe a Spanish sea captain could write in modern English (without spelling mistakes!!) during the 1600s. That Nancy would BELIEVE any of Dwayne Powers accents. And more importantly if Nancy (with the aid of modern technology) barely has enough time to solve the underwater puzzles. How did the stranded sailors put them down there?!?! Lastly... why were these Spanish sailors aware of sudoku, a Japanese game.

[unknowncitzen]

Nancy Drew Game Checklists

Hey all, I’ve seen people saying that they want to play on senior detective but miss the checklists and I remembered that I had (because I am crazy like that) typed up all of the checklists from a fair number of the games for just this purpose. Here is a master list with links to all of the individual game, obviously spoilers are behind each of these links, but I hope people can use them!

Checklist Masterlist:

Secrets Can Kill (Remastered)

Stay Tuned for Danger (not completed yet)

Message in a Haunted Mansion (not completed yet)

Treasure in the Royal Tower (not completed yet)

The Final Scene (not completed yet)

Secret of the Scarlet Hand (not completed yet)

Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (not completed yet)

The Haunted Carousel (not completed yet)

Danger on Deception Island (not completed yet)

The Secret of Shadow Ranch (not completed yet)

Curse of Blackmoor Manor

Secret of the Old Clock

Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon

Danger by Design

The Creature of Kapu Cave

The White Wolf of Icicle Creek

Legend of the Crystal Skull

The Phantom of Venice

The Haunting of Castle Malloy

Ransom of the Seven Ships

Warnings at Waverly Academy

Trail of the Twister

Shadow at the Water's Edge

The Captive Curse

Alibi in Ashes

Tomb of the Lost Queen

The Deadly Device

Ghost of Thornton Hall

The Silent Spy

The Shattered Medallion

Labyrinth of Lies

Sea of Darkness

Midnight in Salem

[blackjack-15]

Hunting For Some Buried Story — Thoughts on: Ransom of the Seven Ships (RAN)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY, VEN, HAU

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it. Like with all of the Odd Games, there will be a section between The Intro and The Title called The Weird Stuff, where I go into what makes this game stand out as a little strange.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: RAN; STFD; mention of FIN; GTH; mention of SPY.

The Intro:

We’re two-thirds of the way through the meta series officially (yay for meta #20!), and what a way to cap off that marker: with the last of the Odd Games.

And my land, how Odd it is. And that’s ignoring that in August of 2020, this game was very quietly discontinued — speculated to be because of the…well, pseudo-brownface in the game.

Oh yeah, we’re starting with that little bomb.

Before we truly begin, however, let me state one fact: the controversies over this game do not make it any more interesting, unfortunately. I don’t know how a game can be both this objectively bad and this objectively boring as a mystery, but RAN is an example of many, many impossible feats in the video game industry (boring yet bad, controversial yet uninteresting, finicky yet sluggish in controls, so it might as well begin as it means to go on.

I’m also stating here for the record that I’m not really going to focus on the social aspect of this game; it’s always been out of the scope of these metas to focus on current events or social issues, and race is such a hot button issue that no matter what anyone says, someone gets mad. Besides that, it’s really not an interesting tack to take with this meta, not when there’s so many things to talk about regarding RAN as a game and/or as a mystery. If you came into this meta expecting a breakdown as it relates to any social issues, this might not be the meta for you.

If you came for a beat-down on RAN, however, you’re in the right place. Get comfy.

Ransom of the Seven Ships had all the pieces in place to make it a great game; we’ve got Bess and George in the (weird, plasticky) flesh, a fascinating and beautiful location, a historical background based in Spanish exploration, the Age of Piracy, and treasure hunting…all of these are great, honestly, and it’s part of what makes RAN so offensively bad — it could have been really great.

Instead of a wonderful game based around pirate treasure, however, Nancy plays games with monkeys, drives on the world’s slowest golf cart, and trusts the only other person on the entire freaking island when he says he didn’t kidnap her friend. Even though he is the ONLY OTHER PERSON ON THE FREAKING ISLAND.

This game is based off of a Nancy Drew mystery entitled “The Broken Anchor”, which actually is fairly close to the plot of the game — the girls win a contest (though in this case it’s one they didn’t even enter) to go to the Bahamas, Nancy arrives (with Carson) and can’t contact Bess or George, there’s a mysterious treasure, etc. etc. In part, I think, RAN’s problems come from following the book too closely, as there’s really very little to the plot of the book. Game plots necessarily have to have a little more meat to them, as you can’t spend the whole time with Nancy pontificating on the scenery or food (as she is wont to do), and RAN is missing a lot of meat.

Specifically, the meat that it’s missing is any suspects at all. Like I said, there’s only one other person (other than Nancy, Bess, and George) on the island, and it’s ‘Johnny Rolle’ — a self-professed fisherman and loner who’s boat has been wrecked by the monkeys.

There are way too many effing monkeys in this game, side note. How I wish the monkeys were a side note.

Nancy, despite her normal M.O when a kidnapping of a friend has taken place, just kinda rolls with his story and accepts it, digging pointless holes in the sand while he definitely has Bess trapped. And then there’s the weirdness with the monkeys trying to kill her as she scales a sheer cliff wall.

Honestly, if I go any more into it, I’m just going to end up tearing it apart piece by piece, and that’s for the Fix section. So let’s move on to the specific things that make this game truly the capstone of the Odd Games.

The Weird Stuff:

This game is, first and foremost, a story about personal revenge — or, at least, that’s the big takeaway, no matter what HER actually intended for it to be about. After being busted by Nancy (and Lillian, and Ralph, but he apparently doesn’t care about them), Dwayne sat in prison stewing over his ignominious defeat at the hands of a teenaged sleuth until he heard about the supposed treasure on Dread Isle. His greed for the treasure combined with his hatred of Nancy began to fester together, culminating in a slightly complex but ultimately stupid plan to get both money and revenge.

This is a motivation unlike any we’ve encountered. Sure, a handful of Nancy Drew villains have sworn their revenge on Nancy (most notably at this point in the series Helena from VEN), but no one has actually done it — until Dwayne.

This should have made the whole game feel intensely personal — and indeed, bringing back tokens and things from Nancy’s past cases and locations should have built to that. However, the game never really comes to a fever pitch of a feeling of someone is watching Nancy and actively hates her, even though it makes a few attempts. More than any other game, Nancy should have been scared here — and it’s odd that she isn’t.

The second odd thing here is the returning villain. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all — I love the idea of a returning villain — but I do think it was a mistake to pick Dwayne Powers. At this point in the series, STFD was hardly a well-known game, and was generally unplayable due to technological advances.

Yes, later STFD would get a bit of a sprucing up and become playable again (and this game, funnily enough, would be relegated to the ‘unplayable’ pile — Dwayne never can win, I guess), but that didn’t matter at the time that RAN was coming out.

There were several better choices — VEN’s Helena, SHA’s Shorty, DOG’s Emily (who had already received a mention recently in DAN) — so why go with Dwayne? Did they pick him on purpose because no one would suspect (or rather, remember) him? Was he the most obscure villain they could think of? Mitch Dillon (who never appeared really) from SCK would have been an equally obscure but somehow more frightening choice. I’m really at a loss to figure out why they chose Dwayne, of all people.

The third thing that makes this game odd is the lack of suspects. Sure, they give a hat-tip to the Gibsons perhaps being hidden on the island (which, let’s just say, they shouldn’t have — never use as a red herring something that would have made the game so much better), but Dwayne/Johnny really is the only suspect.

I have no idea if they were rushed, if they thought that his different identities counted as extra suspects, or if they just wanted to try something different with this game, but it in no way worked. It’s so mind-bogglingly simple to figure out who kidnapped Bess that it makes Nancy look like she’s quite a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

The last Odd thing that I’ll hang on is how incredibly out-of-character Nancy is in this game. We’ve only seen Nancy work kidnapping (or supposed kidnapping) cases a few times in the series as a whole — FIN’s Maya, RAN’s Bess, and GTH’s Jessalyn — but in both FIN and GTH Nancy takes them very seriously, being harsher and more impatient with less time for people’s lies and stories than she usually is, and really feeling the pressure of the clock.

It makes sense; even discounting the Missing Mom trauma that sits deep within Nancy, the first 48 hours of a kidnapping are basically the only window that she has, statistically speaking, to find the victim still alive and okay. She nearly flies off the handle at the suspects in FIN, and digs uncomfortably deep even at very touchy subjects in GTH.

It then stands to reason that, with FIN in the past and GTH in the future, that Nancy would react similarly in this case. Bess is one of Nancy’s best friends, and the friend that we’re shown most often (think of the flashback in SPY; Bess is the one who comes over after Kate and Carson’s fight) around Nancy, like in CRY.

You’d think that, in the face of Bess’ unambiguous kidnapping, that Nancy would be raising hell — contacting anyone she could, taking no prisoners, ripping Dwayne’s tarp down, turning the island upside down, etc. — but instead, she’s calm, almost relaxed, spending time playing games with monkeys and driving aimlessly around the island.

It honestly makes no sense that she’s like this. This is one of a small handful of games where Nancy is deeply, personally invested, where she has a quick running clock, and where the stakes are deadly yet somewhat unknown.

Nancy comes into this with no background, no contacts, no ability to really look things up, and no help — George’s meager efforts do not count — and yet she acts like there are really no stakes. It doesn’t make me dislike her, it doesn’t make me fold that into her characterization — it just makes me say “wow, the writing is really bad here, huh”.

The Title:

Ransom of the Seven Ships is an amazing title; there’s really no getting around this fact. And for the bare bones of the game, it’s more than a suitable title. You’ve got the word ‘ransom’ doing double duty — meaning both treasure and the price to return someone who’s been kidnapped — you’ve got the ships indicating pirate treasure, and that also tells us we’re probably on an island.

Honestly, this is a far better title than this game really deserved (which is half the reason for this meta: turning the game into something that deserves its title). It’s certainly far better than “The Broken Anchor”, its source material, while keeping a pirate-y nature about it. While it’s a little different than most Nancy Drew games’ titles have been up to this point — as they’re usually “The (Adjective) Noun of Location” or “The Adjective Noun”, that’s not a bad thing at all.

This title really does make me sad with how wonderful it is. It deserved so much better. Same with Ship of Shadows, which is also boss.

The Mystery:

Having won an all-expense paid vacation to Dread Isle in the Bahamas (which should have been their first clue that something hinky was afoot), Bess invites Nancy and George along with her. Nancy arrives the day after the cousins, having stayed for a later flight because of a prior engagement with Carson, and is greeted by a frantic George who tells her that Bess has been kidnapped, that the owners of the resort – the Gibsons — aren’t there, and that she’s been worried sick.

  Nancy, naturally, senses something Amiss, and sets off to explore the islands, beginning from the pink sand beach where Bess’ water powered golf cart (yes, I know) is still sitting. She discovers Bess’ shoe next to the only other person on the island — a fisherman named Johnny Rolle from Jamaica — and sets off to explore the rest of the island.

Along the way she finds notes from Bess’ kidnappers, instructions on digging for treasure, twisting island paths, and monkeys. So many friggin monkeys. All of whom Nancy must appease in order to progress in her hunt for one of her oldest friends.

Yeah.

As a mystery…well, what is there really to say about the mystery? It should have been over the second Nancy found Bess’ shoe right outside Dwayne’s camp where a Suspicious Tarp Just Big Enough To Hide the Body of a Young Adult was hanging. An intelligent way to draw it out would be to have Nancy discover Bess there, but for Dwayne to pull a fast one on her and trap her below…but this isn’t the fix section, so let’s just move on past that.

If you weren’t going to add in any new characters or suspects, it might be best to have this game flip from a whodunnit to a howdunnit/howcatchem after the first third; as it is (aka since I’m going to add far more characters in The Fix section), we’ll move right along to the suspect in question himself.

The Suspects:

Yes, I know that this part should just be “The Suspect”.

Believe me, I know.

Wearing a whole cornucopia of masks, Johnny Rolle — aka John E. Poole — is an Australian accountant, hiding from ‘bad clients’ by painting himself brown and adopting a horrible (and horribly stereotypical) Jamaican accent. Nancy discovers his ‘true’ identity by finding an ID with his name on it while he’s still in the ‘Johnny’ disguise. Of course, this ‘true identity’ isn’t his true identity as all…

Dwayne Powers —aka Owen W. Spayder — is sitting underneath the bad wig, bandana, brownface, and horrible accents, and is voiced in this go-around by HER’s chameleon of many voices, good ol’ JVS. After hearing about Dread Isle’s rumors of treasure and their monkey research lab shutting down from a volunteer at his prison (yes, we’re already way too complicated for this game), Dwayne started planning to get the treasure and get revenge on Nancy at the same time.

As the culprit…man is Dwayne horrible. He’s so stupid that it really kills me that Nancy actually falls for his act, because it makes her even stupider. It’s not a good plan, it’s not well thought out, it’s not even a complete plan — it relies on too many unknowables. What if Nancy and George had just stormed his camp and found Bess? What if Nancy figured out it was him? Like, I know Dwayne is an egotist, but this is just dumb.

Before I eviscerate any more, let’s just move on to the few good things in this game.

The Favorite:

The best thing about RAN (other than its music, which as always is super good) is honestly its location. Dread Isle is beautifully and uniquely rendered, and doesn’t look like any other game with the pink-sand beaches, beautiful horizon line, and foliage all befitting a Bahamian resort.

I also like the idea of a returning culprit; while it wasn’t handled well here, I do think it’s a great idea as quite a few culprits have promised revenge on Nancy at the end of their games. Do I think it would have been better if it was Helena, who promised revenge only 2 games ago, rather than going back 18 games to a game that most hadn’t played due to lack of availability? Of course; but the idea behind it was sound.

I don’t have a favorite puzzle or favorite moment; even Dwayne’s dramatic reveal is ruined by the fact that Nancy is at all surprised that he was wearing a disguise and, once again, that the only other person on the island was responsible for kidnapping her friend.

The Un-Favorite:

As far as this section goes…there’s a lot that I don’t like, but there are a few things that stand out more than the rest as truly un-favorite.

My least favorite thing about this game, as you might be able to guess, is that it makes Nancy seem so stupid. We’ve had 19 games of Nancy (mostly; this meta series does go over the exceptions) figuring out clues, chasing bad guys, and solving puzzles without breaking a sweat, and then for this game she’s fooled by some makeup, a wig, and a bad accent? At least in STFD Dwayne put some effort into his work; this is just sad, and it’s even sadder that Nancy falls for it.

My least favorite moment in the game is probably the first conversation with ‘Johnny’. Nancy finds Bess’ shoe, gets strung up in a trap, and then believes that the guy sitting a few feet away is innocent and telling the truth? It’s a moment that truly sets up what a crap shoot this game is about to become, and that alone is enough to make it my least favorite.

My least favorite puzzle is anything to do with the monkeys; playing games with them, scaling the cliff, talking to them, talking about them — literally anything. I don’t like monkeys on a good day, but to have so many puzzles in the game revolve around playing their stupid little games with them? Not a good thing at all. Especially since getting around the island (and, of course, the monkeys live quite far away from anything else on the island) is so aggravatingly slow and clunky — it makes everything feel like a total slog.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Ransom of the Seven Ships?

My gosh, just remake the game.

More seriously, there are quite a few things that I would do in order to make playing through RAN a little more enjoyable and a lot more story-driven (and in line with Nancy and George’s characters). As always, I’m trying to keep this as close to the actual game as possible with few or no huge changes, so Dwayne will still be our culprit, Bess will still have won his giveaway, and Dread Isle will still be the spot of El Toro’s treasure.

The first thing I would do is get rid of Dwayne’s brownface/first disguise, and have him be the Australian accountant named John E. Poole, running from Bad News clients who he didn’t allow to cheat come tax day. That sets him up as a good guy to begin with (if a little foolish to cross such powerful clients), and gives a reason why he’s not staying at the resort (he’s trying to hide and not leave a paper/money trail at the same time). He should be staying in a little homemade hut, not with a Suspicious Tarp Obviously Hiding Bess, as he would have had to been on the island for a while to perfect his disguise (and seem trustworthy to the people at the resort).

I would also have the game take place on Nancy’s 19th birthday; if we assume she was barely 18 at the time of STFD, that makes it about a year that he would have been plotting and escaping and setting up this contest and such. It also makes sense as to why Nancy would have a banquet-thing with Carson and why Bess invited her and George — it’s a fabulous birthday party trip, even for the well-off Nancy Drew. That would also add to her anger — this was a great present that Bess (and George) gave her, and Dwayne has just straight-up ruined it.

Another change that would help the atmosphere is to have at least half the game take place at night. I would have the game take place over roughly two days — it ends the night of the second day — so that you can see the island at night. A lot of the demands made by ‘the kidnappers’ should be done at night — treasure digging, in particular — so as to not be more disruptive to the island than a missing persons case would already be.

Of course, one of the biggest things to do would be to add more suspects.

The Gibsons — both of them — should definitely be there at the resort. I’d have one half of the couple be in the resort during the day, and the other at night, so Nancy can interact with them both differently and have different tasks/discussions with them. Perhaps Mrs. Gibson is an expert on the island’s ‘lore’ — El Toro’s treasure and stuff — while Mr. Gibson is more up on island life and is the law enforcement liaison for the island (who can effectively deputize Nancy to help with the search for Bess).

I would also add one other guest who was supposed to check out right before the first note from the kidnappers came in, and is now stuck on the island until the case is solved. What I’d probably do is make them a Secret Australian (to contrast with Dwayne’s fake Australian accent) — sporting an English accent due to a posh upbringing and studying in England for most of their school life, living in England somewhere (maybe near Blackmoor Manor for a cool Easter egg) — who is Very Grumpy about this and thinks Bess ran off to explore and just got lost. I’d probably make them unhelpful to the last — even when Bess is found and had definitely been kidnapped, to just shrug it off and to board the plane to get home as quickly as possible.

The last person I’d add in is someone working the desk — specifically, an older teenager who is very cagey about themselves and how they know what they know, but who seems to know a lot more than they let on. This person would, of course, end up being a member of ATAC, and once Nancy figures it out, would be able to connect you with help from the Hardy Boys. This ATAC member would be scoping out the Gibsons for evidence of getting guests under false pretenses, but would ultimately change their suspicions to Dwayne and help Nancy and George catch him. Through this ATAC teen, the Hardy Boys could use outside information to give Nancy information about monkeys, the island, treasure, El Toro, and anything else that she encounters, as well as spread their feelers out about the Gibsons, the other guest, and John E. Poole.

I would of course want to improve the tone, which would be helped by having more people on the island — Nancy should feel scared that Bess disappeared with this many people around, and it should feel personal. As the game goes on, even with the added help, the walls should feel like they’re closing in. I would include way more second chances, traps, threatening notes, maybe even recordings of Bess screaming or scared or in pain — something that might push the rating to E+ because, quite frankly, the situation calls for it.

Mechanically, I would put way less focus on the monkeys; they really shouldn’t control everything on the island. Keeping them for a minigame and location is cool, but they definitely shouldn’t have their place of prominence in the game.

I would also remove the fact that you can control George. Out of all the games where I think controlling people other than Nancy would be great, this is not one of them. As worried as Nancy should be, this is George’s cousin — practically her sister, from how close their families are and how much time they spend together — and George would probably be in a State. Sure, she can help with some of the tech stuff, but the player definitely shouldn’t be playing as her in this game. It just feels forced, and it’s not necessary.

Would these changes make RAN a fantastic, award-winning game? No, honestly, they wouldn’t. In order to do that, you’d probably have to scrap the game entirely and start over with even barer bones. But I do think it would help to make it at least better and more playable, and I think that’s a win. Let RAN be remembered for its returning villain and its kidnapping plot, not for being the game that everyone skips during a replay of the series.

[nd-herinteractiveheadcanons]

Submitted by the blog creator

(For context, after the Sonic.exe creepypasta got removed from the Creepypasta Wiki and moved to the Trollpasta Wiki, the original author went on this huge, Dwayne-like rant. It doesn’t help that the guy who did the voice of Rick Arlen also did the voice of Sonic for a while.)

[trademarknickersoncharm]

The Nancy Drew Games as clickbait YouTube titles: (spoiler warning)

Secrets Can Kill: Why Murder by Staircase in High Schools are Destroying America

Secrets Can Kill Remastered: THIS is how my “uncle” threw a man down the stairs then drunk coffee!

Stay Tuned For Danger: 12 Reasons Soap Opera Star in Danger is the END of the WORLD as We Know It

Message In A Haunted Mansion: The Most BORING Video About Ghost in a Chandelier House You'll Ever Watch.

Treasure In The Royal Tower: The SURPRISING Truth About How My Alleged Best Friend Backstabbed Me!

The Final Scene: MY HEADLINING STORY SAW MY ABDUCTION! The story of a survivor.

Secret Of The Scarlet Hand: 11 Ways Investing in Cinnabar Hands and Amneisa Can Make You a Millionaire

Ghost Dogs Of Moon Lake: I SAW A GHOST! And other fun vacation stories.

The Haunted Carousel: 10 Ways Gangsta Carousel Can Help You Live to 100

Danger On Deception Island: Killer Whale Terrorizing Coastal Shelf!!? - Pay Attention To These 8 Signals

Secret Of Shadow Ranch: I CAUGHT THE GHOST HORSE THAT ATTACKED ME ON CAMERA (MY RECENT SOUTHERN PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE) 

Curse Of Blackmoor Manor: I SAW WITCHCRAFT AS A CHRISTIAN! How I overcame myself.

Secret Of The Old Clock: THIS woman lives everyday like it’s 1930!

Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon: 13 Ways To Get Through To Your Ditz On A Ghost Train

Danger By Design: I impulsively got a tattoo! (not clickbait).

Creature Of Kapu Cave: I WON FAKE CURRENCY! My experience in pawning.

The White Wolf Of Icicle Creek: How I became a maid and cook in less than 10 minutes: MY story of success.

Legend Of The Crystal Skull: MY experience in New Orlens (with a little bit AHS Coven and Indiana Jones 4)

The Phantom Of The Venice: WE GOT ROBBED! (Not clickbait)!

The Haunting Of Castle Malloy: I CALLED MY WEDDING OFF (stories that my caretaker wants you to believe)

Ransom Of The Seven Ships: WE GOT SCAMMED IN THE BAHAMAS! (not the way you think)

Warnings At Waverly Academy: I PAID A NEW GIRL TO EARN MY VALEDICTORIAN STATUS FOR ME! (how I became valedictorian)

Trail Of The Twister: How To Take The Headache Out Of Chores And Tornadoes!

Shadow At The Waters Edge: MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE GRUDGE GIRL! NOT fake.

The Captive Curse: THIS German Castle has been the hotspot of Germany for centuries.

Alibi In Ashes: MY WHOLE TOWN TURNED ON ME! How I coped.

Tomb Of The Lost Queen: I REWROTE HISTORY (and saw some bugs)

The Deadly Device: You’ll NEVER believe what this Tesla Coil did (how to stay safe in the workplace)

Ghost Of Thornton Hall: STORY TIME: I FAKED MY KIDNAPPING (and dressed up as my dead cousin)

The Silent Spy: DEAD MOM WAS A SPY! (NOT clickbait).

The Shattered Medallion: I went on TV! (How I took a break from mystery solving for once!)

Labyrinth Of Lies: 5 easy steps to art fraud and rave theatre reviews (THIS THEATRE TROUPE WILL SHOCK YOU)

Sea Of Darkness: I forgot my anniversary! How a SWORD saved my relationship.

Midnight In Salem: I HIT PUBERTY! (How my voice changed overnight).

[naancydrew]

ranking the nancy drew games based on dead mom content™

you read that right. also spoiler warning obviously

33. ransom of the seven ships  -1/10   no dead mom content. negative bc of the fact that there’s blackface

32-24. stay tuned for danger, message in a haunted mansion, the final scene, secret of the scarlet hand, ghost dogs of moon lake, danger on deception island, the secret of shadow ranch, danger by design, the shattered medallion  0/10  no dead mom content™

23. the captive curse  0/10   no mom mentioned for lukas, is she dead or just somewhere else? we just don’t know.

22-21. secrets can kill, the deadly device  0.5/10  someone is dead but it is not a mom

20. the phantom of venice  .75/10  only a dead husband here...no moms

19. treasure in the royal tower  1/10 no dead mom but there’s dead estranged dad content. was marie antoinette a mom? idk

18. the white wolf of icicle creek  1/10  kinda estranged mom content but shes still alive. yanni’s grandma was killed by wolves if that counts and if he was telling the truth about that.

17. alibi in ashes  2/10  i cant remember if kate is ever mentioned, but just the fact that they’re in river heights and carson is gone and can’t help and she doesn’t have kate to help her out and has to go to her friends....idk hits if u think about it

16. last train to blue moon canyon  3/10  camille hurley was not able to have kids so technically isn’t a dead mom but she had her dolls....still sad as hell

15. curse of blackmoor manor  4/10  we learn about the penvellyn family so of course a family full of dead ancestors is full of dead mothers. one of those dead mothers is the iconic elinor who died from being burned at the stake. also the underlying plot is happening because of, not a dead mom, but a divorce and then new stepmom. lotta mom content in general.

14. the haunting of castle malloy  5/10  fiona’s parents were both killed in an explosion and really messed that girl up.

13. labyrinth of lies 5/10  grigor is an orphan, therefore there is some dead mom content, but its very minimal.

12. midnight in salem   5/10  not a technical dead mom, but dead mother figure with frances tuttle and lauren holt (i think that was their relationship....i played it once and theres not much on the wiki for MID yet) so technically the whole plot is in thanks to it, but i dont remember how much grief there was

11. trail of the twister  6/10  some dead wife content that nancy is an absolute dick about. you read the paper about ma. stop fucking pestering pa.

10. legend of the crystal skull  6/10  we get mr sad boy orphan henry bolet crying at his parents’ crypt. also his mom has the same photo as dr predovicu

9. the creature of kapu cave  7/10  for once we get a hardy asking someone about their dead mom instead of nancy! even tho, no one involved seems too sad about it and is very briefly mentioned. in fact, pua seems kinda happy that it’s just her and her dad so she can just surf all day.

8. ghost of thornton hall  7.5/10  again, dead mom content just because we learn about ancestors. a lotta dead sister/cousin content though. also it really hits you when you’re looking at the dates on the family tree and realize that harper and charlotte’s parents died like 4 years before charlotte died, and then harper and clara were alone except for each other. also the fact that clara’s mother died while she was young and before she ever told her who her father was just to have her new guardians die......rough.

7. secret of the old clock  8/10  woooo!!! another plot caused by a dead mom!!! not at traumatic as haunted carousel, but the culprit posing as your recently deceased mother’s friend is ROUGH. also nancy is actually nice when talking about gloria.

6. warnings at waverly academy  8/10  the twins’ mom dying and dad not knowing how to raise 2 girls causing them to pretend to be one person to get a scholarship and not be put up for adoption is so messy but a very good plot twist

5. tomb of the lost queen  8/10  jamila having a similar experience to nancy, where she thought her mom died in a  car crash, but turns out she was part of something bigger that she follows in her footsteps, KNOWING that it might end in her death too. AND those notes from that first exploration and all of the daughters of nerfertari leaving to find their ultimate dead mom (nefertari) and dying/disappearing in the process....idk it gets me!!

4. sea of darkness  9/10  here we have some primo dead wife action, along WITH the child. extremely sad and gets me absolutely every time i play through it.....the fact that he holds onto it being his fault.... oh my god im getting sad again!!!

3. the haunted carousel  10/10  dead mom content to the MAX. dead dad giving clues to daughter to find the last remaining photo of her dead mother since she burned every image of her after she died and then blacked out the memory. thats some trauma right there. interestingly.... im not sure if we learn her mom’s name even though her plot revolves around remembering her.

2. shadow at the water's edge  11/10  oh yeah theres a dead mom and shes HAUNTING YOU!!! kasumi’s story is so sad and nancy has absolutely no right to be poking into these people’s lives and absolutely deserves every time she gets second chanced because asked the wrong thing about their dead mom. also SO absolutely fucked up that anyone’s boyfriend would go “hmm, i want my sister to quit her job and move to the city with me,... oh yes! i’ll haunt her business with her dead mother. perfect!”

1. the silent spy  10000000/10   the FUCKING ULTIMATE DEAD MOM CONTENT™. nancy suddenly learning that her mother wasn’t just a civilian who died in a car crash and that the people who killed her were now after her??? so juicy. we get carson trying to protect nancy from kate’s fate, we get all those flashbacks, those recordings from revenant, nancy piecing together her mother’s double life that she never knew about... GOD!!!! and yes, i absolutely cry when i read kate’s note to nancy. that shit hits man. also kate writing a song for her and carson and then rewriting it to have a part for nancy in it once nancy was born really gets me too. p.s. moira was in love with kate you can’t convince me otherwise.

well. thanks for taking this journey with me. 

[netscapenavigator-official]

After having a while to think about it, I feel like the closest comparison game to Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys is definitely Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships.

That is to say, both games were shit, had exuberantly hard puzzles for Junior/Amateur Detective mode, and had a painfully obvious villains, all while trying to desperately do fan service and cram in as many references to old games as possible.

The only difference between the two is that I would gladly replay RAN for the puzzles and the cozy "stuck on a private island resort in the" atmosphere. There's no way in hell I'm going to replay KEY anytime soon.

[ndconceptarchive]

Unlocked! The Nancy Drew Podcast

Bob Heath | Episode 002

 Nov 18, 2016

We've been making transcripts of the various videos on the Her Interactive YouTube channel, and one that will be a continued series is for the official Nancy Drew Podcast up on their channel. They regularly interviewed people involved with the making of these games.

Click on the link above for the podcast itself.

Some notes on the episode:

Bob Heath was the voice actor for Ralph Gardino, Dwayne Powers (STFD), and Joseph Hughes (FIN)

There are spoilers for those games respectively and also Ransom of the Seven Ships

Both Scott Carty (previous episode) and Bob Heath have noted that the voice actors weren't really shown images/drawings/renders/anything in the development of the characters that they voiced.

As voice actors, they also wouldn't get to read the full script.

(Without diving into spoilers for STFD and FIN) it also seems like voice actors wouldn't be given a ton of detail about the characters themselves? Just enough information to build the character from).

Bob also offers some advice to aspiring voice actors.

Tammy Tuckey: Hello, fellow detectives, welcome to Unlocked, the official podcast for all things Nancy Drew. Heads up, there will be spoilers in this episode. I'm your host Tammy Tuckey, and this week we welcome voice over artist Bob Heath to the show. Welcome, Bob. 

Bob Heath: Thanks for having me. Hi, everybody. It is a pleasure. So exciting. 

TT: As I stated in the beginning of every episode, there are spoilers, and with Bob we have plenty of them because of the characters he has played. So if you have not played Stay Tuned for Danger or The Final Scene, I would just pause the interview right now and go ahead and play those games if you can, and come on right back because we're going to talk a little bit more about the character description and detail from here. 

But Bob, it's really exciting. You got to play two different villains in two different games. Did you know this coming in when you were when you first came in? Did they just say, oh, we just want to make you the villain all the time? 

BH: Actually, I wish they had said that. They didn't say that. I think when I booked the first one, it was many years ago. [They told me] these are the characters you're gonna play, and I think it was two primary characters and a few characters off on the side if my memory serves correctly, and it was just a lot of fun. Great group of people to work with. And, that's what I liked about it. Then they had me back for the second game. Again, I didn't know going in that I was going to be the villain in that game either. But, it was always a lot of fun to do. 

TT: Now let's talk about your beginnings in the entertainment industry. What was one of your first acting jobs or voice over jobs? 

BH: Well, that's a great question because I came to this as a second career. I was in the Army for 22 years prior to that. I had done a little bit of broadcast work while I was in the Army as a broadcast officer. And you know, [I did] more TV and radio as opposed to voice-over work. But when I retired and moved to Seattle, I had done some theater, and somebody (I forget who it was) but someone had mentioned to me that I had a “great voice for radio.” 

At that time I was doing a lot of industrial work, more in front of the camera work. And I said, well, I'd be interested in giving it a shot. So I took some voice over classes with a woman by the name of Veronica Weikel who I really enjoyed working with, just to see if I had the chops to do it. 

They helped develop my voice over demo reel, they produced it, and did a phenomenal job. In fact, I still use it today. I started booking voice over gigs, for Microsoft, Visa, Hewlett, Packard. Then I got offered the chance to audition for this gig. And I guess the rest of the time I was in Seattle, I did, as you know, two of these games plus several others for different companies. 

TT: And the first game you worked on with Nancy Drew is Stay Tuned for Danger. 

That was their first game in which the characters weren't drawn in an animation style. The first game was Secrets Can Kill, and this was Stay Tuned for Danger. It was the first game where they were digitally animated characters, which was very exciting. And it was, I think, a great feel to it because it's based on a fake soap opera, and the main star, as most of us know, is getting death threats.

TT: And two of the characters you got to play are Dwayne Powers and Ralph Gardino with Stay Tuned for Danger. So you're saying when you came into these roles for Nancy Drew, they would never tell you who it was until the very, very end of the recording sessions? 

BH: Well, as I recall. Now, having said that I'm going back 15 or so years. As I recall when I first got booked, they said "you're going to play this character and this character and some of these additional characters," Alright. And I don't remember being told that, "Ohh, by the way, this is the villain of the piece or this is the good guy of the piece." [It's more like] here are these characters. Here's their background. Develop a voice, go for it.

TT: Did they show you images of the characters at all to help you with the development of the voice? 

BH: You know, Tammy, that's a great question. I don't remember if they did or not. I don't. I don't recall seeing pictures of the characters. They may have had some, I just don't remember.

TT: Who was your favorite to voice between the two?

BH: Oh, that's an excellent question. Probably Dwayne. Only because once I found out he was the villain, I was able to play with it a little bit more, you know, add a little. 

And I'm not doing the voice justice because it's been like I said, many years since I've heard it, but just adding a certain little sinister sense to it, if you will.

So those are always fun to play because [it's a 180 from] my real personality. Well, that's one of the things I like about this business.

When you're doing voice-over in particular you can bring out a lot in a lot of ways, it's a lot like acting in front of the camera. You can bring out different aspects of your personality or you can go with types of personalities that aren't necessarily yours. Embellish upon them and try to bring that character to life. 

TT: Did you get to meet any of the cast members during the recording sessions or afterward? 

BH: I don't think so. Not that I remember because I think I share with you that it was one of the first animation projects I did and it always has stayed with me as a very special time. 

TT: And before we talked, I kind of explained that Dwayne does make a reappearance in Ransom of the Seven Seas. You said that you relocated and you were not in Seattle anymore, which is where they mostly hire the actors to voice these characters.

They cast another individual [Jonah von Spreecken] who I think did a very good job too. So if Dwayne were to come back (there's always been hints and rumors about it) would you be interested in reprising your role?

BH: I'd be interested in working with these folks anytime. I really like it. I said I had a great experience working with them and they were always good to me. And I mean I've got a studio, I don't have an in-home studio because I'm not that technically proficient. If they wanted me to voice Dwayne or Ralph or whoever, I'd be more than happy to.

TT: We also have the final scene, which is another really different, exciting game. I was kind of watching it last night. There are a lot of players who post their own versions of playing the game. You voice Joseph Hughes and Sergeant Ramsey, and that's a character via phone, so you're never going to get a physical representation of him.

BH: So again, it all relies on the voice. It relies on the process of how you develop the character with your voice. And then we have Joseph. And I think Joseph is probably one of the saddest villains in the Nancy Drew series. Because we come to find out at the end, he has found out that his brother has died. So their whole plan of starting their own theater or their own business is gone. And he doesn't have anybody else in his life. And so he really stoops to the lowest of the lows and kidnaps Nancy's friend. 

TT: When did you find out about that specific part while doing the recordings?

BH: Well, as I recall when we did the second game, I think it was like a year to a year and a half after the first, they just called and said, would you like to come in and work with us? Said sure, in a New York minute. So I came into their studio and went from there.

He's slowly going crazy, but it's not evident in his tone, in his voice. And I thought that that was so subtle and enjoyable as a player because it really creeps you out. Well, I think what we were trying to do there was to show that the character was maintaining control outwardly, but inside falling apart, he's such a great character. I really, I really enjoyed Joseph. 

TT: And do you have any particular favorite character between both games now that you really enjoyed voicing? 

BH: Well, that's an excellent question because I enjoyed voicing all of them. I guess if I had to pick one.It would probably be the Joseph Hughes. I'm gonna say had the most going form in terms of from a character perspective.

He gave me more to work with and if an actor has a good foundation to work from, he can really do a lot more with that character. The strength of these games back when I first did them was the writing, you know. The writing to me was very sound. But also at the same token, they would give me the liberty that I felt I wanted to phrase something a little differently, and keeping it in the same context, I could do that.

The biggest problem that an actor has with a written script if the script has not been written to be spoken. It makes it very difficult. In these scripts, they were written to be spoken.

And what I mean by that is a lot of folks write scripts thinking they sound great. But they never read them out loud. So if they don't read them out loud, they don't know if they're, if there's, if they're, if they sound real or not. You need to get a good pacing and be able to use, phrases and terminology that the actors are more comfortable with with the spoken word. And that makes it more real. 

TT: There's been plenty that has happened since the final scene. And stay tuned for danger. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, what you've been up to since then, I'm sure since moving back to the Philadelphia area?

BH: I've still been active in film and stage and voice-over work, I worked in a couple of different TV series, a show called Political Animals which was on the USA network with Sigourney Weaver, where I played Admiral Taft, commander of the Pacific Fleet in a couple of episodes. Had an episode of Veep. Where I played the MC of the Vic Allen dinner. House of Cards. A couple of voiceover projects. More voiceover industrials than animation, although I am doing voices on a TV series that airs every Saturday on the Fox Business Channel called The Sensibles, which is a small cartoon that teaches young kids about money.

TT: Is any of your material online on a website that our listeners can go ahead and feature? 

BH: All three of my voice over demos are online. They can go to a site called dragonukconnects.com and that's DRAGONUKCONN.CTS dragging up connects.com. And they can put a I think a back slash and then my name. And it should go right to the website. Perfect. I'll put it in the show notes below as well, so our listeners can go ahead and just click and they can listen to some of your current voiceover tracks before we end our interview. 

[Editor's note: I haven't verified if the website is still up and running since this video was released, but the website generally seems to be for searching up various acting talent. The youtube description had this link www.dragonukconnects.com/262].

TT: Do you have any advice? I know there's a lot of individuals out there who would really like to take a shot at being in the voice over business. Do you have any advice?

Sure. 

BH: One thing everybody needs to keep in mind is voice-over work. It's great work if you can get it. It's not an easy field to break into. You gotta continue to plug, but the key is having a solid voice-over demo. And I have three. I have a voice-over demo for narration, for commercials, and for character voices. You've gotta be able to show your range. And.If you can't put one of those together, you're not going to get into voiceover work because that is the calling card for voiceovers. Having a good solid demo.

Once you get that demo made, submit it. Find some recording studios that are doing a lot of work. Submit your voice-over demo to them. Or if you have an agent, have your agent submitted but keep plugging away.

Keep practicing. Read a cold copy. You know, Read commercial copy. Read character voice copy. And you can download that offline. Keep working on your instrument and staying current. I mean, I've booked some jobs. Just meeting somebody at a party. You know, the guy said, oh, you do voiceover work. I said, yeah. I said, what are you doing? I told him. He said, you know, we're putting a project together. Would you be interested in it? I said, yeah, sure. 

TT: Well, thank you so much for coming on the show, Bob. You know, we love you in these games. And in the nicest way, like I said, I'm very flattered that you called. So I cannot thank you enough for coming on the show. And if we can close out our interview with one more question, if you could sum up your experience working for Her Interactive and being a part of these Nancy Drew games in one specific word, what would it be? 

BH: Phenomenal.

[hardyfrank]

Nancy Drew Top 3′s

List your top 3 favorite...

1. Games? - Phantom of Venice - Alibi in Ashes - Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon

2. Soundtracks? - Message in a Haunted Mansion - Curse of Blackmoor Manor - Legend of the Crystal Skull

3. Suspects? - Deirdre Shannon [Alibi in Ashes] - Izzy Romero [Warnings at Waverly Academy] - Dylan Carter [Tomb of the Lost Queen]

4. Culprits? (Spoilers) - Rentaro Aihara [Shadow at the Water’s Edge] - Helena Berg [Phantom of Venice] - Dwayne Powers [Stay Tuned for Danger, Ransom of the Seven Ships]

5. Phone friends? - The Hardy Boys - Ned Nickerson - Carson Drew

6. Character dynamics? - Frank and Joe Hardy - Nancy Drew and Deirdre Shannon - Nancy and Carson Drew

7. Cover artworks? - Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon - Sea of Darkness - Message in a Haunted Mansion

8. Indoor locations? - Wickford Castle (especially the library) [Treasure in the Royal Tower] - The mansion (especially the living room) [Message in a Haunted Mansion] - The Royal Palladium Theater [The Final Scene]

9. Outdoor locations? - The ryokan garden [Shadow at the Water’s Edge] - The ship deck and exterior [Sea of Darkness] - The lighthouse area + the caves [Danger on Deception Island]

10. Hidden locations? - House-connecting tunnel [Secret of the Old Clock] - Hidden garden [Treasure in the Royal Tower] - Bill Kessler’s workshop [The Haunted Carousel]

11. Overall game atmospheres? - Message in a Haunted Mansion - Legend of the Crystal Skull - Treasure in the Royal Tower

12. Historical backstories? - Dirk Valentine and Frances Humber :( [Secret of Shadow Ranch] - Mickey Malone [Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake] - Harry Houdini’s ownership of the Royal Palladium [The Final Scene]

13. Cutscenes? - Mine cart end challenge [Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon] - Seance [Message in a Haunted Mansion] - The phantom horse and pump house explosion [Secret of Shadow Ranch]

14. Treasures? - Letter from Abraham Lincoln [Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon] - Crystal skull [Legend of the Crystal Skull] - Gold hearts [Secret of Shadow Ranch]

15. Mini games/puzzles? - Scopa! [Phantom of Venice] - Snack Shop [Warnings at Waverly Academy] - Any slider puzzles :)

16. Rooms Nancy has stayed in? - Chinese room [Message in a Haunted Mansion] - Room at the Ca’ Nascosta [Phantom of Venice] - Room at Castle Finnster [The Captive Curse]

17. Jobs Nancy has held? - An extra [Stay Tuned for Danger] - Assistant entomologist [Creature of Kapu Cave] - Fashion intern [Danger by Design]

18. Foods Nancy has eaten? - Gumbo [Legend of the Crystal Skull] - Clam chowder [Danger on Deception Island] - Captain Cove’s Fundae [The Haunted Carousel]

19. Animals Nancy has encountered? - Isis [White Wolf of Icicle Creek] - Loulou [Curse of Blackmoor Manor] - Iggy [Legend of the Crystal Skull]

20. Memories of your experiences playing the games? - Alibi in Ashes will always just be a special game for me because it was the first Nancy Drew game I played when it was first released, so I just clearly remember sitting in my sister’s room with a laptop on a floor table playing it. - I was 14 when Ghost of Thornton Hall came out, and I was genuinely on edge the whole time playing because I was a scaredy cat back then. - I genuinely thought it was really cool when I reached the end of Labyrinth of Lies and found out that ALL of the suspects were culprit (even if I thought the rest of the game was mediocre).

[extraordinarygirl]

I saw @letmeclaireify​ made this Nancy Drew game tag thing that looked fun and I’m desperately trying to procrastinate so here are my opinions!

Nancy Drew 20 Qs

List your top three favourite…

1. Games? The Silent Spy (cuz it made me cry) Warnings at Waverly Academy Shadow at the Water’s Edge

2. Soundtracks? The Deadly Device Curse of Blackmoor Manor Ransom of the Seven Ships

3. Suspects? Ryan Kilpatrick Dylan Carter Zoe Wolfe (or Samantha Quick or whoever she really is)

4. Culprits? (Spoilers) Helena Berg Jane Penvellyn Lori Girard

5. Phone friends? Prudence Rutherford (praise the queen) Hilda Swenson Markus Boehm 6. Character dynamics? Frank and Joe Hardy Rachel and Kim Hubbard Moira Chisholm and Kate Drew

7. Cover artworks? Labyrinth of Lies Tomb of the Lost Queen Danger by Design

8. Indoor locations? Ramsey hall (WAC)  The Mayan temple (SSH) Camille’s Car (TRN)

9. Outdoor locations? The ryokan garden (SAW) Pont Neuf (DAN)  Three Finger Rock (CRE)

10. Hidden locations? Ezra Wickford’s garden (TRT) Mickey Malone’s Speakeasy (DOG) The cat tomb (TMB)

11. Overall game atmospheres? Danger on Deception Island Ransom of the Seven Ships The Haunting of Castle Malloy

12. Historical backstories? Marie Antoinette Mayan history Noisette Tornade and the French Resistance

13. Cutscenes? Jake Hurley’s Machine Josiah Crowley’s machine Lori’s introduction around the table in the dining car 14. Treasures? The stained class  (DAN) The gold hearts (SHA) The diamond of misery (TRT)

15. Mini games and/ Puzzles The giant nonogram (SAW) (sorry)   Bento boxes (SAW) Scopa (VEN)

16. Rooms Nancy has stayed in? Brigitte’s room (CUR) The Chinese room (MHM) The room in the Glaucus Lodge (SPY)

17. Jobs Nancy has held? Deputy Curator (SSH) Fashion intern for Minette (DAN) Entomology research assistant (CRE)

18. Foods Nancy has eaten? Scoop shakes (ASH) Black forest cake (CAP) Dog’s eye (CUR) 19. Animals Nancy has encountered? Tumi (SEA) The orca (DDI) Bob (SHA) 20. Memories of your experiences playing the games? -Literally jumping at every jump scare in SAW -My mom refusing to call Ned back to apologize for hanging up on him when I tried to get her to play CRE -Brute forcing the treasure hunt for El Toro’s journal the first time I played RAN by literally digging in every space until I found it because I couldn’t figure out which set of palm trees to start from. After I found it (like 2 days later) I worked backwards to figure out which set it was, but I didn’t want to resort to cheats on the first puzzle of the game

[i-shouldnt-steal]

I posted 418 times in 2021

25 posts created (6%)

393 posts reblogged (94%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 15.7 posts.

I added 191 tags in 2021

#cwnd - 73 posts

#cwnd spoilers - 29 posts

#clue crew - 15 posts

#cw nancy drew - 13 posts

#nancy drew - 13 posts

#ven - 12 posts

#her interactive - 12 posts

#dan - 9 posts

#ssh - 8 posts

#trt - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 116 characters

#1b makes more sense because i just don’t see mystery of the seven keys being confused with ransom of the seven ships

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Carson: I don’t need chill. I need to know that my daughter is safe.

Ryan:

92 notes • Posted 2021-10-20 03:27:13 GMT

#4

~Sneaking~

101 notes • Posted 2021-02-15 06:12:30 GMT

#3

103 notes • Posted 2021-11-21 03:45:29 GMT

#2

156 notes • Posted 2021-03-06 22:56:58 GMT

#1

Why is this so funny

191 notes • Posted 2021-03-24 20:42:51 GMT

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