nerd alert : nancy drew the secret of shadow ranch

Nancy is headed to Arizona for a wild west vacation with her friends Bess & George. Too bad that vacation is about to turn into a full blown mystery involving a lot of accidents and a glowing phantom horse.  Learn first hand the hard work of living in the west and explore ghost towns and horse trails looking for clues. Help Nancy figure out who is trying to scare the Rawley's off their ranch before its too late.

The 10th game in the Nancy Drew series from HerInteractive is one of my favorites. Its got mystery, puzzles, villains, and treasure to boot! Riding around the dessert on Nancys horse Bob was definitely a highlight - but the ghost town was my favorite. Did I mention the love story theme makes this one perfect for valentines day?

01/ canteen $14.00  //  02/ campfire logs $27.00  //  03/ southwestern throw $35.00  //  04/ tuning fork $5.95  // 05/ turquoise ring $17.00  //   06/ petroglyph box $8.99  //  07/ boots $49.99  //  08/ cactus picture $65.00  //  09/ western romance novel $7.99  //  10/ horseshoe necklace $31.00  //  11/ picture agates $2.99  //  12/ horse print $16.95  //  13/ cuff $55.00  //  14/ fools gold $10.00

5/6 Toes // Overall


1 // Graphics
good. the backdrops in this game make it beautiful because of all the desert mountain scenery. The characters are believable and for one of the earlier games it looks pretty good.

1 // Storyline and Characters
The love story mystery in the wild west. horseback riding, treasure, ghost towns and southwestern style will have every girl out there swooning.

0.5 // Soundtrack and Sound Effects
Very appropriate for the settings. I could do without shortys horrible singing at the cookout but other than that it was great =)

1 // Length of Game and Price
This game takes me about 2 afternoons to beat, which is a lot longer than some of the earlier titles (but way longer than the twister!) I will say that overall HerInteractive game lengths vary - but this is one of the longer ones.

1 // Replay Value
The storyline keeps me coming back to this one - its like taking a mini vacation to the Arizona desert without leaving my apartment. I've played it at least 5 times and an definitely not done yet.

0.5 // Puzzle Difficulty
this whole game is a scavenger hunt, which is great. There are all different kinds of inventory puzzles and mazes. Also one of the first Nancy games where you searched via the cell phone which i like - i didn't like the realistic lack of service when you were out exploring the Arizona trails!