User Reviews (21 - 31 of 84)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Nancy gallops toward adventure in the Secret of Shadow Ranch

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: December 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Nancy's 11th outing takes her to a working ranch in Arizona, where she is to stay with her cousins' family. However, Nancy arrives at the airport to a less-than-warm welcome from a ranch hand, only to find that Ed Rawley was bitten by a rattlesnake and is in hospital. As if that wasn't enough excitement, cousins Bess and George are stranded at the airport due to bad weather, so Nancy has to explore by herself.

A phantom horse has been sighted on the ranch just before bad things happen (broken pipes, downed power lines, rattlesnake bites),and it's up to teenage supersleuth Nancy to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding a historical romance that unfolded on the ranch between Frances Humber, daughter of the local sheriff, and outlaw Dirk Valentine. Before he died, Dirk buried his treasure for Frances to find using a series of hidden clues, and the treasure remains somewhere on ranch property. Besides Shadow Ranch, Nancy gets to explore a canyon full of petroglyphs, a Native American shop, a ghost town, and abandoned cave dwellings.

There are a number of suspects: Dave the ranch hand, Tex the head wrangler, Shorty the cook, and Mary Yazzie, a Native American jeweler. Nancy meets other characters over the phone, including a famous novelist, the local sheriff, and the Rawleys.

Several new features have been added, including a larger game window, which I liked, although navigating a full inventory could be confusing at times. Nancy gets to learn about horses, barrel racing and how to use a lariat. To get from place to place (there are six major locations), Nancy rides Bob the quarter horse. Nancy can search for information on the web with her cell phone, which provides numerous hints as to how to solve puzzles. There is a strong educational element here, as Nancy sifts through information on not only ranch life (cattle branding, barrel racing, picking vegetables, feeding horses), but numerous other topics (knitting, agates, petroglyphs, flowers).

I liked the nature of the puzzles, although many reviewers complained about the repetitive chores, including daily egg collecting, vegetable picking, cake baking, and feeding the animals. Nancy is expected to help out during her visit by performing tasks for various characters, including putting together a bridle, collecting eggs and vegetables, arranging a jewelry display, and collecting arrowheads. There are a fair number of slider puzzles and several mazes. This game is more difficult than others in the series but not as hard as Secret of Blackmoor Manor.

Secret of Shadow Ranch had a very strong story, good character development, excellent music (Spanish guitar, country western, scary music in the ghost town that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck), improved graphics, well integrated puzzles, and a satisfying conclusion (which I didn't find in Secret of Blackmoor Manor). Plenty of romance and suspense for young sleuths!

Fun for parent and child to play together!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This was a truly good time to share with my daughter. We played this game together and had hours of fun doing it. We are anxious to get our next one. I would reccomend this to be played by someone 10 or older if by themselves but with help of an adult I think even younger children would enjoy it.

another fun mystery

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Not quite as challenging as past games but still a fun story in Nancy Drew world. I think the older games are definitely more challenging-like maybe the game makers were still thinking too much like adults? If you love horses and or the west, you'll definitely enjoy all the little reading inserts throughout.

my first experience with Nancy Drew

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I thoroughly enjoyed this game!

I had moved away from PC games for awhile after being endlessly frustrated by the glitchiness of some of the Ubisoft games from the Myst series. It annoyed me that I couldn't play the games without thoroughly upgrading my computer - and so I had gone back to the good ol' Playstation 2.

However, console games have been sorely lacking the emphasis on puzzle solving, which is my favorite element of interactive games. Not to mention the fact that you have to pay $50 for them, vs $15 bucks for a great PC game like this.

The Nancy Drew series seems to have found an excellent balance of high quality graphics and glitch-free gaming, which is just what I was looking for.

The ghost town in this game is amazingly well done, among many other details in the game. It is great eye candy to simply scan around an area and take in all the details that the designers took so much effort to create.

This game also had a good balance of "not-too-obvious, yet not-impossible" puzzles. I like to be challenged, but I don't need every puzzle to be so hard that I need to be psychic to get it. Within the game is all the information you need to solve any puzzle - you just need to play around to find it sometimes.

I would definitely recommend this game to young and old alike.

Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a definite horse person. Though the game didn't focus on the horses, the whole ranch-y theme was very fun. I played the game all the way through twice. The only problem with the game is the whole barrel-racing thing. It's very hard and it took me a long time to get my horse to go fast enough. Some things (like the puzzle under the rock) are nearly impossible, but there are little cheats to get you through. I've found that all Nancy Drew games are much more easily played when using the help of a hints website. Overall a great game and a GREAT buy!

Love it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I got this game at the end of last year and spent 2 whole day solving the mystery. It was my 1st ND game and i loved it and I can't wait to buy another one. I just finshed playing it again on the advanced level. I love all the characters and their different personalities.I really felt like i was part of the ranch with all the chores i had to do. That was awesome! I'd just like to comment on Jane from Idaho 's review. My favorite character was Bob as well, hes a very patient horse by the way ,and although i would loved to ride one of the other horses since i thought Bob needed a break every now and then. i really fell in love with that horse and enjoyed feeding him and even falling off of him when i got to excited about the game and forgot about the girth. Well to anyone who is thinking of getting this game, get it you wont be disappointed although it was tricky for a NDnewbie even with the walkthrough it was great fun and one more though does anyelse think that the cowboy beside the henhouse is kind of cute lol

WORKING ON A RANCH IS FUN

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I LOVED THIS NANCY DREW! IT WAS A CHALLENGE TO FIGURE OUT ALL OF THE PUZZLES THAT DIRK HAD LEFT FOR FRANCES. WITH THIS NANCY DREW YOU GET TO WORK ON A RANCH RIDE ON HORSE AND PICK VEGETABLES. THE BEST PART IS GETTING TO EXPLORE AN OLD GOST TOWN WHICH IS SOMETHING YOU DON'T DO VERY OFTEN IN NANCY DREW. JUST LIVING ON A RANCH, MEATING COWBOYS, AND WORKING IS ALOT OF FUN TO ME! THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE NANCY DREWS.

Engaging, though irritating.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

While I for one happen to love the new format of the inventory box, as well as a wider screen, the game still managed to get me flustered in more ways than one. In this game, your character has just arrived at a Ranch, expecting a fun vacation with fellow female companions Bess and George. However, upon arrival you discover that your hosts are in the hospital, and your friends stuck at a faraway airport! To make matters worse, there are stories of a "phantom horse" that appears to be causing mayhem around the ranch.

The storyline is clever enough, as are the puzzles, tasks, and clues (bearing in mind that the game is for those 10 and up), yet several elements felt incomplete, or unenjoyable. The "phantom" horse that appeared was merely a display of shoddy graphics, heavily pixelated, milky white, and unfinished looking.

And while some of the farm-related puzzles were quite fun, (I personally enjoyed picking vegetables and baking a cake), others grew tedious far too quickly.

All in all, the game is a pleasant addition to a mostly wonderful series, though the thrill and adventure promised appeared to be lacking.

Saddle up! Have fun without the pain.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

One of my favorite Nancy Drew PC games!

You get to sample life on an Arizona ranch. I like the character voices reading the old letters and diary. Great graphics, characters, voice acting, sound effects, etc.!!

Some factual and historical details make it even more interesting.

Some of the 'stunts' are tricky, but you get the hang of it with practice. The puzzles are fun. There are some great tips and hints online at [...].

Yee Ha - Fun game!

Secret of Shadow Ranch

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This was a fun game with a lot of interesting puzzles to solve. The graphics were excellent and it did give the feel of the southwest. Nancy goes on her adventure riding a horse to get to each destination. Not to give away the sdventure but it is important to follow the clues because you are sure to get lost!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next 

Actions