I thought I'd try getting my young teenage nieces interested in adventure games by introducing them to the Nancy Drew games.

Now, ole SirDave has never played a ND game (I've got 3 or 4 of them unopened), so I don't really know which are the best. I don't think I've ever seen a thread listing the best ND games so the Gameboomer crowd seems just the place for it.

So, could those ND 'experts' list their top 5 or even 10 ND games. That should give me a good idea where to start!

Edit: Oh BTW: the ND games I have are Secrets Can Kill, Stay Tuned for Danger, Royal Tower & The Final Scene. Are any of them any good?

My favorite may not be in agreement with others but I liked Secret of the Old Clock because you get to drive this antique car all over. It was so much fun. My second favorite was Message in a Haunted Mansion which wasn't too scary. Depending on her age I'd check to see how scary they are by reading the reviews.

Gameboomer has reviews...look for the link on top of this page. Also reviews by Amazon customers who played the games below.


You can get complete reviews web page

The earlier Nancy Drew like Secrets Can Kill and Stay Tuned for Danger are a bit different in gameplay than the middle ones like Royal Tower and Final Scenes.

As stated, it is a personal taste.

To me, the earlier ones are not as logical as the later-newer ones.

I agree with NYLady
That Game is My Favorite: Secrets Of old Clock

Haunted Mansion is my favorite, but I haven't played many of them.

I too, enjoyed Secrets of the Old Clock as well as Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon, and Creature of Kapu Cave.

Hi there. My all-time favorite is Treasure in the Royal Tower, followed by Message in a Haunted Mansion and Ghost Dogs. But I did enjoy the Final Scene and Stay Tuned for Danger as well. I think your nieces will enjoy those---and honestly will probably like all or most of them!

Cat, Nancy Drew addict and proud of it!

One that your nieces might really like is " Secret of Shadow Ranch." They get to rope & ride horses, collect eggs from the chickens, Bake a cake, barrel race search an old ghost town. Also Depending on their age, but I loved this one. Being a country girl and all.

I have the whole series of ND. Also Message in a Haunted Mansion, if good. A lot of things to do.
Hope they enjoy them. I still am at , my age. And we'll just leave that out . LOL

Secrets Can Kill and Stay Tuned for Danger were the first two ND games in the series, and in my opinion the weakest - particularly SCK, with its constant, maddening disc-swapping.

Hard to choose favourites otherwise, because the other games are all so good, but these are the ones I've particularly enjoyed:
Secret of Shadow Ranch (Ellimay gives great reasons in her above post).
Secret of the Old Clock (packed with fun puzzles, a game of crazy golf & a car chase).
Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (some of the best puzzles in this one, and a ride in a roller coaster).

I hope they have fun with whichever game you choose for them!

My personal favourite is Mystery of Blackmoor Manor, 'cause it's spooky and deals with magic and stuff. So it's a little more fantastic than the others. But I also really liked Shadow Ranch and Secret of the Scarlet Hand.

WW

My faves are Ghost Dogs , Royal Tower, and Haunted Mansion. My LEAST faves are the more current ones like Old Clock (HATED that car!) and Kapu Cave. I think the newer ones are way easier and have a lot of repetitive actions- which actually may make them better for a younger age group!
My 11 yr old niece's fave is Deception Island, but she is obsessed with orcas.......

Thanks for the very helpful responses so far. There are some consistent choices there that are giving me a good idea where to start:

Secret of the Old Clock
Haunted Mansion
Royal Tower
Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (like the idea of secret passages)
Shadow Ranch
Blackmoor Manor (heard good things about it elsewhere also)
Last Train to Blue Mountain Canyon (looks good from the one comment above)

Anybody think I'm missing something? I'm a little wary of The Final Scene because of an apparent time limit- is that of concern? And, could some of you possibly grade the above in difficulty on a scale of 1 to 5- 5 being most difficult?

So many questions, but you guys are the experts!

Sir Dave, most of the ND's have one timed scene. I find that once I die a few times, I know what to do and then can easily get through it.

It's a pain, but the second chance button makes it easier.

Look for the "Double Dare" sets of 2 games for the price of one. Good way to get her started. These are at Amazon:
Ghost Dogs/Scarlet Hand
Blackmoor Manor/Shadow Ranch
Old Clock/Blue Moon Canyon

Hi SirDave, all of the games can be played as Junior or Senior detective. I don't know whether this makes any difference to the difficulty of the timed sequences but certainly think young teenage girls are going to have an easier time with their reflexes than some of us 'more mature'
gamers! And there's always the option of a saved game!!

Sir Dave- I have played all 15 ND games. My first was Message in the Haunted Mansion. I just finished playing it again for the second time. My favorites are - Blackmoor Manor, Treasure in the Royal Tower, Old clock, and Blue Moon Canyon. Of course, I love all 15 of them. As for the time limits in many of the ND games you get a second chance. I find it exciting. I just keep hitting second chance until I get it right. I think many GameBoomers are holding on to their ND games because they do play them over.

You are right Gees, I wish I hadn't traded The Old Clock because I'd love to go back and play that miniature golf. That was a lot of fun!
Nancy Drew's puzzles are the best! They are games in themselves.

My absolutely fave was "Curse of Blackmoor Manor", and I also liked "Last train to Blue Moon Canyon" and "Creature of Kapu Cave" (I didn't care for "Danger by Design")

I agree that all of the ND games are really good--Blackmoor Manor, Haunted Mansion, Royal Tower, and Ghost Dogs are my favorite. My daughters loved all of them too, Secret of the old clock not being their favorite (ages 10 and 12)

I've been replaying a lot of them recently. Finished Deception Island last night, which was great fun, and I'll probably load up Scarlet Hand tonight - although I do remember an awful lot of running around up & down museum stairs in that one...

I think the best Nancy Drew was the Scarlet Hand. You will enjoy that one Rushes.