Given the source material, racism in the “Nancy Drew” games should come as no surprise. Such representation, especially in the realm of gaming, is incredibly important and immediately appealing to her fans. As a teenage detective, her in-game battles mirror the real-life battles that many real-life women face in school or in the workplace. Nancy is a smart, independent and yes, fully-clothed female protagonist in an era dominated by male leads or the male gaze. Perhaps the most important aspect of these games concerns the central character.

The combination of narrative-driven gameplay and intricate puzzles has attracted a steady user base for these games. They also provide opportunities to play with puzzles, testing players’ problem solving and logic. The “Nancy Drew” video games allow players to be detectives, bringing them into intricate narratives of intrigue. Other puzzles, however, are more traditional logic problems, like Sudoku or sliding tile games. Some of these puzzles are in the traditional adventure-game style, where it’s all about using the right inventory item at the right time. These recurring characters create a network of familiarity in the otherwise novel situations.Īs Nancy attempts to solve each mystery, she collects items in her inventory and solves a series of puzzles.

Her boyfriend Ned is a frequent side character, as are her friends Bess and George, but so are the Hardy Boys, protagonists of their own series of young adult mystery novels. Wherever she is, Nancy always has her cell phone and thus, the ability to call her old friends as well as new contacts she meets during the investigation. The games work to teach the player aspects of these new cultures, from language to cuisine and all things in between. In the game’s version of Japan, the local hotel is thought to be haunted, while in Iceland Nancy and the player are on the search for a missing treasure hunter. The games are point-and-click adventure games in the style of “Myst” or “King’s Quest,” moving the player screen by screen through Nancy Drew’s world.Įach “Nancy Drew” game takes Nancy to a new location, introducing the player to a new cast of characters and a new mystery to solve. The “Nancy Drew” video games follow Nancy on various global mystery cases, where she attempts to crack the code through problem solving and dialogue.

Nancy drew video game characters