Nancy Drew Mystery Party Game 2005

The Nancy Drew Mystery Party Game was designed in the style of the Nancy Drew Girl Detective books. It is meant for birthday parties for young detectives and is subtitled “Mystery #1 One Step Ahead.” I am unsure if this game is available any longer to purchase new, or if sequels existed.

Box Contents

• One box
• One host booklet guide
• 8 party invitations and envelopes
• 8 detective notebooks
• Police crime scene map
• 5 posters of location in River Heights
• Nancy Drew Mystery Party CD
• Mystery solution envelope
• Mystery solution card
• 3 additional paper clues
• 8 loot bags (small yellow lunch bags for you to fill on your own)
• Map of River Heights

My review:

While I did not play the game in the way it was designed, I did read through the host guide and follow along with the CD, looking at the clues on paper in front of me. The game guide for the host to read instructs to choose rooms in your home to place the posters and corresponding clues in each of those spaces, include a few extra instructions to add richness to the investigation (such as water droplets by a window). 

The images printed out were obviously edited and styled with little thought to quality. There are formatting errors and noticeable design flaws in the guide alone, but nothing that detracts from the ability to solve the mystery. It was thoughtful of the game to add the necessary clues to the box in case the players did not have access to the internet. The web site needed to access during game play was www.playnancydrew.com, and the replacement for that was the poster and two clues (River Heights Police Dept. Crime Bulletin, and the blue/yellow email from George) for the CyberCafe and Bookstore, unfortunately, the host guide was unclear that these two items were the replacement elements.  Thankfully these clues were included in the game, because as of October 2023, the webpage www.playnancydrew.com is no longer operating.

In the host guide, the extra recipes included are: homemade pizza, garden salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, brownies.

For the phone number clue on the Museum flyer, I tried calling the number in real life (as implied by the game) but as of Oct. 2023, that number leads to an automated survey promotion for people over 55 years old. I hung up. Simply listen to track six for the clue.

There is a mild continuity error about the start tattoo. In a picture clue, the star is on someone’s hand (and Nancy confirms this), yet the police bulletin mentions the star tattoo is on the person’s arm. In other continuity error, Nancy on the CD mentions that the River Heights museum is on Howe island, but Howe Island is not mentioned anywhere in the clues, which is fine because it is not necessary. The Aurora Borealis mentions are not prompted in any way, unless I missed or overlooked an audio clue. Another mild irritant of mine, which is not a big deal, is the poster of Nancy Drew’s home does not match the image illustrated on the large map.

I found the clue from the phone number to be a bit far-fetched but unnecessary since there were other clues pointing to the same direction. When I thought about the Van, I suspected the reporter’s van, which is not mentioned at all in this story, and for good reason – Nancy calls out that “River Heights Star” as the name of the newspaper, which is fake.

CD Track Info:

1. Overview and instructions to play
2. Nancy narrates instructions and what to do first: go to Mrs. Mahoney’s
3. Nancy’s 4 clues from the crime scene at Mrs. Mahoney. Next step is to go to CyberChat Cafe and Bookstore
4. Nancy reviews the clues at the CyberChat Cafe and Bookstore. Suggests visiting Psychic Lucia to learn about stars.
5. Nancy reviews Lucia’s clues. Lucia’s vision suggests looking for a phone number back at Mrs. Mahoney’s.
6. Nancy reviews the clue from calling the phone number: “Go to my van to find part of my plan.” We’ve learned that Polaris is known as the North Star, which sailors used as a compass point in the sky. Nancy suggests going to the police station to talk to Chief McGinnis for his 4 clues. Nancy alludes to another way rather than streets the criminal can travel by. 
7. Nancy reviews the clues at the police station. Now you must solve the case: Who is the thief? Where did the hide his loot? Where will he hit next? What’s next of the things he’ll steal?
8. Nancy reveals the solution and goes over all the key clues. She also alludes to the next mystery, which is to take place in Paris, known as the “City of Light.”

Credits:

Noted in the 13th page of the host guide:

SBG Creative team: Barry Hobbs, Mark Sutcliffe, Phil Biggerstaff, Mike Mahoney, Dave Lloyd, Marc Hill, Tim McCormick

Writer: Colleen Mahoney

Illustration Assistance: Fire Engine Inc., Toronto

Sound: Sound Dogs, Toronto

Special thanks to: Robb Pearlman & his team at Simon and Schuster Childrens Publishing

(SBG = Specialty Board Games Inc. www.playsbg.com. As of October 2023, this web site is no longer operating.)

In the four-ad spread at the end of the host guide, there is an ad for the Nancy Drew mystery games by HeR Interactive, Inc. THe game featured in Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor.