I, for one, was very disappointed in the game. It was extremely short for one. But my main complaint and disappointment was the fact that Her Interactive seems to be losing the "mystery" part of the Nancy Drew games. This game, to me, seemed very long on chores and very short on snooping, interacting with characters (except to get the next chore assigned) and all about running around doing chores that neither seemed to tie into the "mystery" nor were terribly enjoyable!

Of course, I will continue to buy and play the games- I just hope Her Interactive gets back to the detective, snoopy genre instead of chores, chores and more chores!

Thanks, Donna, for the info on the game. I don't have it yet.

So it seemed to you to be lacking meaningful interaction with others, and perhaps story depth?

I wonder if Her Interactive is becoming formulaic in their approach to these games?

I won't go into details so I don't spoil anyone's game, and certainly did not want to deter anyone from playing! It just seems like since Secret of the Old Clock, and for sure with Danger by Design that the old feeling of the game is gone. More chore oriented and less interaction with the characters and far less snooping! I'd be interested in your opinion once you play. There are lots of positives too, graphics are good and the scenery is pretty. Switching from Nancy to Joe and Frank was an interesting concept too, but neither of their "mysteries" seemed to gel with one another until the end- at least for me. I am sure that others may feel entirely differently, so play the game, and let me know how you felt about it! Happy gaming!

I will let you know as soon as I play it

Donna,

I totally agree with you.

I agree also. Very dissappointing game.

I can't wait to play the game, My daughter tells me why I would want to play ND Games being that they are for 10 year olds and up? I told her..the whole Idea in playing adventure games are for adventure and believe me ND is great sure Ive had a game or two I didnt like either but you know what I play them for adventure! I love Capri, I love ATTWN, and I wish to continue playing ND games good or bad 10yrs old or 65 yrs. old I still love playing adventure games hey any point and click games that have adventure in them I play them and I dont care what my daughter or anyone says about a game its the adventure of where you will be going and what you will find there Im so sorry you guys did not approve of the game! I personally cant wait to play it! as an example I personally did not like driving all over town in a luxury car then working for the gas to top it all off! no I did not like that game but I did like the adventure sooo my point is hey Nancy Drew show us more but I guess more Intense and drastic (( but please no timed one))

That my fellow game boomers is "MY" point of view I guess we are all intitled and again Im sorry I didnt mean to offend anyone like I said its my point of view that Im sharing with all of you

I think Donna has a good point. I have played all 15 Nancy Drews and the writers(in the past few games) seem to lack that adventure --- that mystery. The chores are a little much and not interesting. I takes away from the story line. The timed puzzles are awful but I can live with them. This is my first review. I think no matter how bad the games are getting people will still buy them and play them. Isn't that what it's about? Selling Games. Gees

Leeana- I am almost 57 and have played all the ND games, and will continue to play them, since I too like point and click, non-violent games. The only point I was trying to make is that I am disappointed in that HER seems to be moving away from the mystery and not fully developing plots and moving more towards chores than being a detective. It was not my favorite game, but I still encourage everyone who wants to play to go ahead and have a blast! Everyone has different tastes and needs in their games and leisure activities, what floats one person's boat may not float someone else's.

No offense was taken at all! I posted that I would like to "hear" other's opinions!

Happy gaming!

That's the great thing about gamers and Gameboomers. We all love adventure games, and respect each other. Yet, we all have such differing taste in games.

I love to hear all sides--those that like and why. Those that dislike the game--and why.

It helps me to form a clearer picture of the game.

L4L- have you had a chance to play it yet? I played through a second time to do a few "fun" non-essential things. If you have not played, a tip is to snorkel once before you "have" to. Very pretty and lots of fun, since it is not timed. I was in search of Easter Eggs since I found that cool one in Danger, but was unable to find any. Did any one who played find any? If so, could you tell me where and how to find them?

Donna, I haven't played yet, but would love to hear about Easter Eggs that people find.

The only one I ever found I thought was a glitch that worked in my favor until I saw others post about it

What Easter Egg did you find, and in which game. If it was in Danger, was it the one in the dark room? I have found plenty of Easter Eggs in past games, which were amusing, but not nearly as useful as this one! LOL!

Not that one--I can only wish! I went KaBooom many times before I finished that puzzle

I found a way past a puzzle in Davinci---totally by accident. That's the only one I've ever found.

DonnaKaren, Hi! I do agree with you yes HER is moving away from "Mystery Seekers" line and more into puzzles, timed sequences, and alot of mazes and things! But without all that we just might as well make a huge spy glass as big as this monitar and walk around hunched over looking for thumb prints going hummm
well I dont know but my opinion is I will just tolorate doing all the puzles etc.
oh well take care thanks for letting me speak-up

JA just posted my review of this one here: http://www.justadventure.com/reviews/NancyDrewKapu/KapuCave.shtm

I think I came to the same conclusions as you guys did.

Hi DonnaKaren, having played 14 of the ND games and partway through Kapu Cave I totally agree with you! I've always enjoyed the puzzle/errand diversions but I have never felt up until the last four games that they dominated over the story. I am now finding that the ND games are becoming very much about a sequence of increasingly tedious errands & puzzles loosely strung together by a story. (Okay some of them are enjoyable but don't enhance the plot!)

Two games is a lot for a developer to come out with each year - personally I would prefer just one of a better quality!

Thanks Ivinia for an interesting review, I think you have summed things up - for me the errands & puzzles haven't in the past detracted from the story but in recent games they definely do because there seems to be an overkill here!

Ivania, thanks for the link.

Crissy, if you could change one thing about this game, what would improve it most?

Hi looney4labs, I had to give quite a lot of thought to that!

If I could change one thing I would choose to dumb down on the money making aspect or make it a lot more varied. It is a fun aspect up to a point and then it starts to get very repetitive & have found this to be the case in Secret of The Old Clock (driving around & driving around!)& Danger by Design (painting the same two pictures over & over!)

But I am enjoying the game! & I think the plot is a lot better than the one in Danger by Design!

Even though the question wasn't addressed to me, I think they should have incorporated the puzzles into the story better.

Very early on you are supposed to pick up the keys to the jeep at the surf shop. Instead of handing you the keys, the shop owner has you make him a necklace first. It made no sense what-so-ever and became one of many 'chores' that you had to do before getting what you needed. I think it would have been more effective if he had misplaced or lost the keys while doing something and you had to figure out how to get them back and maybe uncover a clue or two in the process.

Heck, even Nancy argued about it a little the way it was presented which lets me know even the developers didn't think it was right and weren't so crazy about having the player do it that way either. It was like they already knew what the player reaction would be - so why did they still do it?

At the risk of looking like a conspiracy theorist, I can only guess that the person writing the dialog was having a bit of a dig on the person who was designing the game play - assuming they are two different people.

Well thought out response, Ivania

Mea culpa- -it really was meant as an open question for whomever cared to answer.

I have to agree with many of your points. Though I haven't played this one, I didn't mind earning money in Danger by Design. But I did mind the lack of variety. A greater choice would have turned what became a "chore" into a fun interlude.

is there a game by nancy drew called the secret of the forgotten cave???????????
if so how is it????????

Hi motherofsix, great to see you here in the review forum <img border="0" alt="[pumpkin]" title="" src="graemlins/pumpkin2.gif" />

I did not find a Nancy Drew Computer game called Secret of the Forgotten Cave. I did find the book bundled with a Nancy Drew game called Secret of the Scarlet Hand, so perhaps that has caused confusion?

Have you played other Nancy Drew games?

Hi All:

Well, as a 36 yr. old mystery lover,(and a guy to boot) I'll continue to buy the ND games as well. Everytime the theme music pops on, I get excited. However, I do agree with most of the postings. The ND games haven't been up to par with some of the older titles. I haven't finished playing Danger by Design, but I've actually been quite bored with it, and I guess that's why I haven't been in a hurry to finish it.


And even though I know the game is geared for a younger audience, I still think HER Interactive can be coming up with more mysteries to solve. I think Deception on Danger Island blended the chores seemlessly into the mystery plot, and since then, the company has gotten too formula driven. I think they need to get back to basics. A good story can keep most of us adventure gamers glued to our PC's. And definately more snooping and investigating, because isn't that what Nancy does best? Elements like snooping on a suspect from a secret passage like in Message in a Haunted Mansion come to mind.

And though I've said this before, I still don't understand why we can't attempt to "solve" the mystery ourselves at the end. I know Stay Tuned for Danger tried this. After all, that's what a good mystery is all about. Even the younger gamers are smarter than people give them credit for, and I'm sure they'd enjoy a chance at cracking a full blown mystery case.

But until then, like most of you, I will continue to support the line and buy these games. There's something familiar and comforting about them.

Hi there NJMysteryMan, I haven't played Deception on Danger Island yet, but it sounds like I need to move it up in the pile.

I like a good story, and lots of snooping also. It will be interesting to see what direction future Nancy's take.