I’m back with another Nancy Drew video game review. I still have four other Nancy Drew games I purchased that I haven’t played through yet. I tend to play each Nancy Drew game on Sundays because I usually have a couple of hours I can spend playing the game before I go to bed. Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill is the first installment of detective games. While Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill was released in 1998, the game was re-mastered in 2010 and released on Steam. This was another fun outing, but it’s a bit clunky as the Nancy Drew video game formula hasn’t been established yet.

Nancy Drew visits her Aunt Eloise in Florida. Her aunt is the librarian at a high school and Nancy is looped into investigating the murder of one of the high school students, Jake Rogers. Since Nancy is in high school, it’s assumed she can get information from the students. Nancy is introduced to the staff, several students, and works with an undercover detective to gather evidence as to who murdered Jake. From Nancy’s investigations, it seems every person Nancy interacts with would have a reason to want Jake dead. Who killed Jake and will Nancy be able to solve the mystery without putting herself in danger?

The answer to the above question is no. There are several instances in this game where Nancy can die if she doesn’t solve the puzzle in time. This includes being trapped in a boiler room and accidentally setting off a gas explosion in a diner. Both puzzles weren’t tough to solve, and while I died at least once, I was able to figure out the puzzle rather quickly. There is one broad puzzle that encompasses the entire game which involves searching for periodic elements Jake has hidden on student boards. The puzzles were fun to solve, and it helps to have a notebook handy while playing through the game.

I will say, this game does have a twist ending I didn’t see coming. There’s a videotape Nancy discovers that illustrates the conclusion as to who could have been involved with Jake’s murder. I had my mouth open for a little bit because it genuinely came out of left field. This bad guy suddenly appears behind Nancy which did give me a bit of a scare.

Although this was a fun game, I wouldn’t start playing through Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill first. While it’s the first game released in chronological order, it’s a bit clunky and the graphics while re-mastered are still not the greatest. I would recommend trying Nancy Drew and the Haunted Carousel or Nancy Drew Ghost of Thornton Hall first before starting this game. I think I liked this game more because I had played other Nancy Drew games first.

Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill was worth playing through. Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill can be purchased and downloaded on Steam.