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Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 196 / 207
Date: November 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you thought the books were good, the games are way cooler! Full of intrigue, mystery and fun. You play a girl detective named Nancy Drew, who is helping her friend Rose turn an old mansion into a cozy inn. When things go awry and questions are asked, Nancy rolls up her sleeves and plunges into her next suspenseful mystery! While being the typical 'Who-done-it' type game, Her Interactive adds another element, making this a sure candidate for Game of The Year! Although boys might think this is a "sissy" game for little girls, don't be surprised if suddenly you find them at the computer unable to tear themselves away! Excellent graphics, unique gameplay, and absolute non-stop fun! I highly recommend this game, a must buy!!!!!

Rich Graphics, Fun Gameplay, and Spooky Suspense

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 37 / 37
Date: January 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Let me preface this review: I am 22 years old. I am not a "gamer". I love to play computer games now and then, but it seems that 99% of those games are impossible to solve (or at least they aren't solved before I become frustrated enough to quit). I thought I would try this game out, as I love the Victorian age, and I grew up on Nancy Drew. Fantastic!

The player wanders around a richly done up Victorian mansion. Oil paintings and fine tapestries adorn the walls. There are plenty of secret passages and other neat "finds" along the way. Stuck? Just go down to the parlor, pick up the Victorian reproduction phone and dial Bess and George, your trusty friends. You can also dial home to talk to Hannah, your housekeeper, or call in a favor with a local journalist. I am certainly not in the age range of this game's target audience, and I still needed to refer to the parlor phone to get through a few binds.

The background music is suspenseful and appropriately creepy. The sound effects will raise goosebumps. This game was a 6 hour immersion for me, and I was thrilled with it.

The only problem? It was 6 hours. Now? The game is over and I know all the puzzles, I know where to find what I need to get through the game again. This game will be great to watch others play, but I don't know that I will get the same joy again. I just wish that there was some other "after you win" features. Maybe a chance to explore the mansion further? How about getting to decorate my own Bed and Breakfast? I guess its too much to ask. Regardless of its short gameplay, this software is phenomenal! I only wish this sort of treat was available ten years ago, when software for girls was almost unheard of!

Enjoyed Nancy Drew at 7, still enjoying her at 57!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 29
Date: January 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Thought "Message in a Haunted Mansion" would be a wonderful gift for my 8 year old grand-daughter. However, when she wasn't around I started playing the senior level and became addicted in the first 10 minutes. The graphics are a delight, the plot intriging and the hints and clues picked up much harder to put together then I anticipated. I haven't enjoyed any role playing game this much since the earlier Kings Quest (when you could still get through them without having to buy a hint book). Oh, and the last visit by my grand-daughter meant hours of fun as we played the game together. So, here I've evolved from reading Nancy Drew books as a youngster to playing Nancy Drew games as a grandmother. Who would have seen that one coming? Now, I'm off to purchase the first two Nancy Drew computer games! What a kick!

A GREAT GIFT

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 29
Date: December 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I just got this game for Christmas and even though I am only ten, and wasn't sure if I could do this game, it turned out to be my favorite computer game. This game is full of realistic looking people, puzzles, clues, tools,and much more It's hours of fun. My friend Lindsay and I enjoy the challenge and endlessly try to solve the mystery. After I solve this mystery I hope to get the whole collection of Nancy Drew games. I recommend this game for anyone over the age of ten. It is a fun game, but also a bit of a challenge. I think that you will be very satisfied if you order this game. It is a very fun game to play.

Fun for any Nancy Drew fan!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: May 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge Nancy Drew junkee! I collect the books and the computer games and I have been reading Nancy Drew since I was little. My friend recommended this software game to me because she knew I loved Nancy Drew and I went out and purchased it. Let me tell you... if you love Nancy Drew you'll love this game! In this game you portray world famous teen detective Nancy Drew. You have been summoned to San Francisco to solve a difficult mystery, a friend of your family who bought a Victorian mansion has been having some.. problems. It looks like sabotage... but who is doing it and why? That's your job to find out. This game will give you hours of fun and you'll feel great when you finally solve the mystery (Not that I have, even on "Junior Detective" it's pretty hard.) And before I stop typing I have one more thing to say. I know Nancy Drew has a reputation of being for girls... but even though this box says "For Girls 10 and up", it shouldn't. If you like mysteries and have some time on your hands, it does not matter what sex you are. You will still love this game. So buy it already! I promise you wll not regret your purchase.

nancy drew rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: February 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

My dad got this game for me at best buy. I thought, I love Nancy Drew, and I also thought that this game was going to be easy. I was wrong. The puzzles are a little trickey, but once you solve them you have the mystery solved. You get to go around the house, talk to several different people, and talk to Bess and George. They are very helpful in hard times. You can find secert attics, two other secret rooms, false floors, and safes. If you get stuck, take a break and try it again later. It worked for me. One time I set my alarm and got up at 6:00 just to play it. Here are some tips.
- the maze isn't really solveable, but you need to play it.
- scroll your mangfiying glass over everything. Sometimes in despreat times you'll be glad that you did.
- times matter! you can only solve the case at a certain time. to get some clues it needs to be a certain time.
- the game does not end if you let the bad guy or girl get away. There is a way to stop her or him.

Fun But Could Be A Lot Better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: December 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I read Nancy Drew religiously in my early teenage years and although I outgrew the books about ten years ago, I was still anxious to try these games when I heard of them. I have now played three of them (SCK and FIN are the other two) and The Final Scene is the only one of them that I would recommend to anyone. This one was fun, but it just isn't worth buying. It has some cool puzzles and clues to solve, but it just didn't take long enough. I finished it in about half of the 20 hours that the package promises and I played on senior level. And I'm not a genious or anything. I even failed a couple of classes in high school. The characters in the story were kind of flat and dull, too. And the game is just way too limited. From the title, I was expecting a big mansion with lots of rooms and secret passages to explore. Upstairs, you can only go in to one bedroom besides Nancy's and then the attic. Downstairs, you could only go into the front entrance area, the parlor, library, and dining room. Then there was the basement. There just wasn't enough places to explore. Another complaint I have about this game, along with the others I've played, is that, for the most part, the characters stay in the same places doing the same things. They leave at certain times so you can search the areas they're in, but other than that they're always in the same places doing the same things unless it's absolutely necessary that they be somewhere else. It would just add so much realism, not to mention length, to the games if you could go more places and if you had to search for someone when you wanted to talk with them instead of being able to just go right to them. It's not like the game designers have to put the characters in fifteen or twenty different places. Just having the characters in two or three places throughout the game would be enough. There should also be more interaction with the characters. It would also make the games a lot better if George, Bess, or Ned were actually in it instead of just being on the phone. Or maybe have Nancy's father or Hannah in it and Nancy could go home and discuss the case with them. Sure, this would make the designers' jobs harder, but if you're going to do something, do it right. Because I really do not feel like paying 20+ dollars for a game like this if it's only going to take me a few hours to play it. Because these games are really not that good after you've played them once. Most of the game is just searching for clues and talking with suspects and once you know where everything is and what everyone's going to say, the game is just not that fun. I'll play them a second time just to see if I missed anything the first time, but after that they're pretty much useless.

32 year old mom (bought it for ME)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: January 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ok, I'm 32, have a small child of my own, and bought this for me. I've always liked Nancy Drew, and always had fantasies of being this sort of detective (like Charlie's Angels, which, uh, I still have dreams at night about)....anyway, this is a totally fun game...I find myself hooked on this and have a hard time putting it away....which my poor daughter can attest to! The reviews stated it took a long time to install, but I seem to remember it taking no longer than any other I have, only a few minutes...I have started with being a Jr. Detective, and I find it quite challenging, and I am a college degreed woman! I've already used the "second chance" feature as I continue to learn how to "be a better sleuth"...I highly recommend it, and am going to purchase the other two games, although from what I understand they do not have some of the latest features in them that this one does. Looking forward to (hopefully) the next one!

best in the series!! (is that spelled right?)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

ok, so saying this game is perfect sounds cheesy...but really, it is!! This game is by far the best in the series(again, is that spelled right?)...you dont have to spend hours bored by pointless conversations(ahem, The Final Scene), or slave away at annoying tasks(ahem, The Secret of the Scarlet Hand). In this game, its obvious that Her Interactive wasn't desperate to live up to their 20-hour game playing standards. Message in a Haunted Mansion includes great graphics, perfect music, a spooky plot, and was overall put together increadibly well. The ending is entertaining, and its nice how the game isn't so linear(ahem, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake)...for example, the sceance only exists every other game or so. I would recommed this game to any Nancy Drew book lovers, young and old. Start sleuthing!

Nancy Drew's Haunted Mansion Mystery

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: January 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First, you must know that I am 30 years old and a big fan of Nancy Drew having read all of her Mysteries when I was a young girl, not to mention never missing an episode of the TV series. I was amazed at the skill level I needed to find all of the clues. I couldn't have done it without help if I was a 10 year old girl. I am very pleased to say that I breezed through most of it. But, there were times when I needed those helpful nudges from Bess and George. This is a fantastic game and I would highly recommend it to anyone regardless of age. The only thing I would say to improve on it would be to have more rooms to explore and more characters to question. I look forward to playing all the other Nancy Drew games.

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