Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness takes place in Iceland which I thought was neat since I went to Iceland last year. I don’t think I have had this experience yet where I play a Nancy Drew game and I have actually visited the place that Nancy visits. I feel a bit biased when it comes to writing an honest review for Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness because I loved this game, but I’m wondering if it’s partially because Iceland is the setting for this installment in the Nancy Drew PC game franchise. Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness is definitely one of my favorite games and I think the mystery itself was intriguing.

Nancy is called to Iceland to investigate the disappearance of Captain Magnus Kiljansson who is leading the efforts to historically preserve a famous ship called the Heerlijkheid. There are rumors that there is buried treasure somewhere in the glaciers and that Captain Magnus not only found the treasure but escaped with it. Nancy isn’t fully convinced and she sets off to investigate whether Captain Magnus disappeared on his own free will or if something more sinister happened to him.

The first thing I noticed while playing Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness was how pretty the game is. In the above screenshot, there’s an aura of darkness in the town that Nancy is wandering around in. I think the darkness adds a certain level of uncertainty which I think makes the Nancy Drew games more enjoyable. I liked how Nancy could also board the ship besides walking around the small town. I thought there was a lot to see and unlock as the game unfolded. I ended up playing this game during Superbowl weekend which was perfect considering the wintery setting of the game.

One thing that’s worth noting is this Nancy Drew game is puzzle-heavy. Every locked box has some sort of contraption that Nancy has to solve for. There are several things that Nancy has to collect which are found in many of the locations Nancy can explore. I found most of these puzzles to be fair, meaning that the solutions weren’t frustrating and could easily be obtained by reading all the material Nancy collects. There’s nothing more aggravating than trying to solve a puzzle and it feels like there’s no way to interpret the solution unless you use a walkthrough. I didn’t think this game fell into that at all.

Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness was a memorable and notable adventure. I liked how Iceland was the backdrop to the game and I thought this game was well-balanced between being challenging, but also satisfying when a solution to a puzzle was achieved. I’d rate Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness five stars as I think this would be one of the first Nancy Drew games I’d recommend to someone new to the franchise.