As mentioned in a previous blog post, I became inspired to revisit the Nancy Drew games by Her Interactive. Steam has almost all of the Nancy Drew games available for purchase. I picked Nancy Drew Ghost of Thornton Hall as it was highly rated. The Nancy Drew games are challenging, engaging , and slightly scary.

In this outing, Nancy is summoned to Thornton Hall to find a missing girl named Jessalyn. In the process of looking for her, Nancy learns about Thornton Hall and the Thornton family. Charlotte Thornton was a family member who died in a mysterious house fire long ago. Many of the NPC’s (non-playable characters) warn you of her ghost roaming the premises. This ties into the mystery of locating Jessalyn while simultaneously uncovering why Charlotte is still haunting the grounds.

For anyone who has never played a Nancy Drew game before, I have a couple of hints to share. My first hint is taking a break. Some of the puzzles are time-consuming. I would play this game for 2-3 hours at a time and I found myself getting frustrated if I couldn’t figure out the puzzle. In turn, this led me to utilizing a walkthrough versus trying to solve the puzzle on my own.

My second hint is noting the importance of the information that’s given. Honestly, it might be worth it to take notes. One of the final puzzles in the game is unlocking a briefcase. To open the briefcase, the code can be solved based on the Thornton family history. I found myself failing multiple times as I didn’t have this information written down in front of me.

Another hint I have is being prepared for jump scares. Charlotte as a ghost appears when she wants and the music accompanying the game helps to establish the eery atmosphere. I didn’t find the jump scares to be too obnoxious, but it’s enough where I genuinely jumped as Charlotte appeared. Additionally, there are moments where if you press the wrong button, Nancy can be killed in a booby trap. It adds to the tone of the game.

Since purchasing Nancy Drew: Ghost of Thornton Hall, I have already put 11.4 hours into the game. I’m re-playing the game on master sleuth which increases the difficulty of the puzzles and eliminates the game offering hints. I haven’t played the other Nancy Drew games, but Ghost of Thornton Hall is a well-made, introductory game into the series. Nancy Drew Ghost of Thornton Hall can be purchased and downloaded on Steam.