Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2044 in Computer & Video Games
• Color: Message in a Haunted Mansion
• Brand: Her Interactive
• Released on: 2000-11-23
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 95

Amazon.com Review
Step into the stylish shoes of teen supersleuth Nancy Drew to crack the case of the haunted mansion. As Nancy, you'll hang your hat in San Francisco, where you've been invited to help a family friend renovate a historic Victorian home. Some strange things have been happening in the old house--could it be spirits from the past, or just shifty characters on the make? Use your magnifying glass to search the place from top to bottom for clues. You'll find trap doors, personal papers, keys, tools--all sorts of spots and items to explore or hang onto for later use. You never know when you might need a paint scraper or crowbar to help you out of a bind. To fill in some of the gaps, talk to characters in the game, and choose your responses to their questions based on what you want to know.

Play Message in a Haunted Mansion in one of two modes: new or younger players can sign in as junior detectives for more simplified play, while old pros can log in as senior detectives for serious sleuthing. Once you're in, you may never want to leave--the graphic detail of the Victorian-mansion setting is stellar. The Chinese-influenced décor is authentically and exquisitely reproduced, and many elements can be highlighted to better focus on the level of detail. (Those interested in Victorian interiors will be especially pleased.) Also realistic are often-overlooked touches that add a true-to-life ring, such as photos of family and friends on the wall, and sunglasses kept in the kitchen drawer. The sound effects further add to the sense of realism and heighten the air of suspense. You'll hear doors and cabinets creak open and shut, haunting cries, and loose chandeliers swaying overhead.

This third installment in the popular Nancy Drew interactive series (a follow-up to Stay Tuned for Danger and Secrets Can Kill) is successful not just for its design and production, but for its thoughtful features that keep players hooked, even as things start to feel hopeless. When you're in a bind, you can call home or old friends Bess and George for help. And if you make a game-ending decision, simply pick up right where you left off before the terminal mistake by utilizing the Second Chance feature. There's even a self-updating journal in Nancy's suitcase that records clues as you find them, to help you keep track of all the facts you unearth. And, of course, you can save your game after each session--no backtracking through clues you've already found, or conversations you've already had.

Our only complaint: the game takes some time to install, which can be hard to stomach if you've played the previous Nancy Drew games and are as excited to play the third as we were. But once you're in the game and can see the wealth of what awaits, you'll realize that it's worth a lengthy installation. A nice improvement over previous games is the inclusion of a tutorial to explain gameplay to new users. (Ages 10 and older) --Leah Ball

Amazon.com Product Description
In this interactive mystery game, girls play as teenage supersleuth Nancy Drew, called upon to help a friend renovate a beautiful Victorian mansion. But there's trouble afoot ... from collapsing scaffolds to leaking gas, suspect fires to ghostly threats, Nancy is about to stumble onto a secret that someone--living or dead--would rather keep unknown. Follow your hunches as you explore a fully interactive three-dimensional mansion filled with peepholes, trapdoors, and hidden passageways. Interview fellow guests, poke around dusty nooks, and uncover cryptic messages. Clues, dead-ends, and trickery abound. Created especially for girls ages 10 and up, Nancy Drew features two "spy IQ" levels of difficulty, more than 20 hours of gameplay, helpful hints if you need them, 3-D graphics, and much more.

From Parents' Choice®
Will Nancy uncover what's behind the series of accidents at the creepy Victorian mansion her friends are restoring into a bed and breakfast? Why is the clock in Nancy's room set at 8:30 a.m. and the alarm set for 9 a.m.? What does the arcane inscription, "When the 10 daughters are reunited in order . . .," on the tapestry mean? Will Abby's séance reveal the secrets of the haunted mansion? And why are the "spirits" in the house interested especially in Nancy? These and other mysteries begin to unfold with the opening scene in the third of these remarkable Nancy Drew interactive role-playing games that put players right in the middle of trying to solve another classic Nancy Drew case. Fans of Nancy Drew books step into their young heroine's shoes as she investigates the mansion's various rooms in search of clues. Especially compelling software for pre-teen and early teenage girls, this 3-D cyber-mystery is totally from the first-person detective perspective-doing everything from unlocking creaky doors, jimmying secret bed-post knobs, questioning suspects and witnesses, calling cohorts on the phone, and collecting evidence to build a case. But not without some help: The short interactive tutorial will get newcomers started right, the magnifying-glass cursor turns red when passing across a clue or a direction worth taking, and the ever-present help icon saves the day if players get stuck. Graphics and animation is dramatic and realistic. The voices, spooky background organ music and special effects are crisp and fun. But the evolving storyline is the star of the software--except for Nancy, that is. A 2000 Parents' Choice® Gold Award.

Reviewed by Don Oldenburg, Parents' Choice® 2000

Customer Reviews

mystery lover!
I got hooked on Nancy Drew when I was a kid...glad to see it in "game" form. This game is great for all ages because it gives you a second chance for when you "accidentally die". Great game overall!

Fun, but had glitches..
Nancy is in San Francisco in Rose's mansion. There are mysterious accidents going on and it's Nancy's job to figure out whose causing them. This game is the third in the series so it's kinda old. When walking around in hallways its kinda confusing the screen jumps so far ahead you get kinda lost. took me forever to learn where all the rooms are such as the room im staying in and where to find the owner. maybe its just me. the letters i find throughout the house were really hard to read because of the script handwriting, so i didn't read half of them, some were impossible to read! Since this is an early nancy drew game, you have that annoying alarm clock. Sometimes in order to get ahead in the game all you have to do is go set the alarm for the next morning or later on that day so something can finally happen. kinda stupid. but the theme was fun it actually freaked me out a few times with the ghosts wandering around and im a grown woman!

Message in a Haunted Mansion= GREAT
I am almost [...] and I love the ND games. I have only played four of them so far and this is probably my 2nd favorite. It is filled with "hauntings" and much more.

The game was short and easy once you are on the right path. But if you had no idea of what to do, it became difficult. I found myself having to go to a hint website that tells you everything you need to know. But other than that, I enjoyed it a lot.