History VideoGame / NancyDrew

* GameShowAppearence: ''The Shattered Medallion'' focuses on Nancy and George competing on of George's favorite game shows, Pacific Run.

* RecordedAudioAlibi: In the "The Final Scene", Nancy realizes Joseph is the culprit when she stumbles upon a recording of the sound check he supposedly did when Maya was kidnapped.

# ''Mystery of the Seven Keys'' (TBA)

* PromotedToPlayable: In most games in the series (including all the earlier ones), you play exclusively as Nancy. However, in some of the later games, other characters become playable for various amounts of time (either in small roles, or with almost as much screentime as Nancy herself). Notably, whenever you can play as someone else, it's always when Nancy is in a completely different location, so you never see her in third person.

** ''Midnight in Salem'': There are two different segments of the game where the Hardy Boys make discoveries that contribute to Nancy's investigation. You play as Frank Hardy yet again for these portions, while Joe acts as a NonPlayerCompanion. (When playing as Nancy, your NonPlayerCompanion, when present, is instead Deirdre Shannon.)

* SwitchingPOV: In most games in the series (including all the earlier ones), you play exclusively as Nancy. However, in some of the later games, other characters become playable for various amounts of time (either in small roles, or with almost as much screentime as Nancy herself). Notably, whenever you can play as someone else, it's always when Nancy is in a completely different location, so you never see her in third person.
** ''Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon'': You play as Frank Hardy very briefly (for one minigame) when he's working in the kitchen to eavesdrop on a source of vital information.
** ''The Creature of Kapu Cave'': You can switch back and forth between Nancy and one of the Hardy Boys regularly. The first time you switch to the Hardys, you're playing as Joe to search an office; at the end of the scene, you-as-Joe get knocked unconscious and switch back to Nancy, with Joe ending up in the hospital. In all subsequent switches, you play as Frank.
** ''Legend of the Crystal Skull'': You occasionally switch to Bess at Lamont's antique store, and repeatedly have to incapacitate Lamont in order to find a clue to pass on to Nancy.
** ''Ransom of the Seven Ships'': You can switch to George, since she and Nancy are in different locations while searching for the kidnapped Bess.
** ''Alibi in Ashes'': Nancy is framed for a crime and kept in jail at the police station for more than half of the game; as such, you play as Ned, George, and Bess to clear her name and free her so she becomes playable again. You can switch between Bess, George, and Ned freely, but some of them work better or worse for questioning certain suspects than others. (E.g. Alexei is much less cooperative with Bess because she accidentally breaks something the first time she enters his store, and Deirdre is more willing to talk to Ned because she has a crush on him.)
** ''Midnight in Salem'': There are two different segments of the game where the Hardy Boys make discoveries that contribute to Nancy's investigation. You play as Frank Hardy yet again for these portions, while Joe acts as a NonPlayerCompanion. (When playing as Nancy, your NonPlayerCompanion, when present, is instead Deirdre Shannon.)

** ''Alibi in Ashes'': Nancy is framed for a crime and kept in jail at the police station for more than half of the game; as such, you play as Ned, George, and Bess to clear her name and free her so she becomes playable again. You can switch between Bess, George, and Ned freely, but some of them work better or worse for questioning certain suspects than others. (E.g. Alexei is much less cooperative with Bess because she accidentally breaks something the first time she enters his store, and Deirdre tends to be more willing to talk to Ned because she has a crush on him.)

*** A more minor one: [[spoiler:not long after Nancy learns about Teegan's role in the fire, Olivia asks Nancy to give Teegan a picture of the two of them together with Lauren and Mei. Nancy can either turn her down in light of her discovery, or agree to pass it along anyway. If you choose the latter, you can give Teegan the photo, and she's very happy to receive it]].

*** Nancy also learns earlier in the game [[spoiler:that one of the other suspects who is not the BigBad (specifically, Teegan Parry) was responsible for burning down the Hathorne house, which Teegan insists was an accident. Nancy has the option in her dialog with the judge to contradict this and assert that Teegan actually did it on purpose; doing so will result in the latter not appearing at the house party with the other characters at the end because she was arrested for arson, and Mei, Teegan's younger sister, will be angry with Nancy for this. However, if you have Nancy believe Teegan and reaffirm with the judge that the fire was an accident, Teegan gets off with just 200 hours of community service and will be present at the house party, where she is grateful to Nancy for her help]].

** About halfway through ''Danger by Design'', you can choose whether or not to get Minette's assistant Heather [=McKay=] fired. Though the game goes on either way, if you choose to spare Heather, she lets you model in her spring show. If you tell Minette and get her fired, she stays angry with you and you aren't invited.

** About halfway through ''Danger by Design'', you can choose whether or not to get Minette's assistant Heather [=McKay=] fired. Though the game goes on either way, if you choose to spare Heather, she lets you model in her spring show. If you don't, she stays mad at you and you aren't invited.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: The culprit, Joe]] in ''The Final Scene''. [[spoiler: This person]] treats Maya well despite kidnapping her, and committed the crime in a desperately misguided attempt to keep the theater open.

** In ''Midnight in Salem'', [[spoiler:you discover about three quarters of the way through the game that Teegan Parry, who is ''not'' the BigBad, is the one responsible for the Hathorne House catching on fire. After confronting her about this, a remorseful Teegan insists it was an accident, and all signs point to this being true. However, in your final conversation with the judge, you have the option to contradict this when revealing that she was responsible and have Nancy claim it was an act of arson; the judge will believe her, Teegan will be absent from the final house gathering at the end because she was arrested offscreen, and her younger sister Mei will be angry with you and refuse to talk to you]].

* VillainBall: At the end of ''Stay Tuned for Danger'', you are actually able to accuse who you think the culprit is in the final conversation before the finale. However, if you choose anyone that isn't the real one, the culprit outright just reveals themselves instead of letting someone else take the blame for their misdeeds.
* VillainousBreakdown: Just about all of the culprits in the games. Some are more subtle, some are over the top.

** In ''The Final Scene'', [[spoiler: the kidnapper is not the one who sent the funeral wreath.]] Nancy and her friends can even comment on this, wondering when they would have had time to arrange it in the first place.

** About halfway through ''Danger by Design'', you can choose whether or not [[spoiler:to get Minette's assistant Heather [=McKay=] fired]]. Though the game goes on either way, [[spoiler: if you choose to spare Heather, she lets you model in her spring show. If you fire her, she stays angry at you and you aren't invited]].

** In some of their appearances and phone calls, Frank and Joe casually mention working for a secret agency for teenagers called "ATAC" (American Teens Against Crime), which is right out of their ''Undercover Brothers'' series. In the crossover books between the two, Nancy and her friends become some of the few people who know about their involvement with ATAC, which is why the boys don't mind mentioning it around her.

* CanonImmigrant: Not really an immigrant, but it took nearly '''eighty years''' and numerous untold books, spin-offs, movies, TV series, games and who knows what else for someone to finally give Nancy's deceased mother a name, Katherine "Kate" Drew (nee Austin) -- which may just be another ShoutOut to ''Series/{{LOST}}'' (Evangeline Lilly's character is named Katherine "Kate" Aust'''e'''n).

* VomitDiscretionShot: Eating multiple chocolate bars in ''Crystal Skull'' makes the screen tilt and turn green.
** Done twice in the "Give Nancy food poisoning" game over in ''Deception Island''. If Nancy gives Kate food poisoning, Kate turns around and the camera cuts to the phone where Nancy is explaining what happened.

* {{Bishonen}}: After spending most of the series only seeing his name and never knowing what he looks like, ''Sonny Joon'', of all people, turns out to be very handsome in a "pretty boy" way when you meet him for the first time in ''The Shattered Medallion''.

[[spoiler: '''Jessalyn:''' This is]] ''[[IWarnedYou your]]'' fault. Night so black. Dear sweet Charlotte, please come back!]]\\

Two additional games with a less immersive format — ''Lights, Camera, Curses!'' and ''Resorting To Danger'' — have been released under the "Nancy Drew Dossier" heading. Most of the games are available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} [[note]]Except for ''Stay Tuned For Danger'' [[/note]], and a digital version of ''The Curse Of Blackmoor Manor'' is now available on [[http://www.gog.com/game/nancy_drew_curse_of_blackmoor_manor GOG.com]]. Big Fish Games also has all releases from 2000-2014 (including the Dossiers).

* ActorAllusion: The actor that voiced Rentaro (from ''Water's Edge''), a character who built a robotic cat, also voiced Mason (from ''The Deadly Device''), who ''also'' built a robotic cat. {{Lampshaded}} in arglefumph's blind playthrough.

** Deidre Shannon in ''Alibi in Ashes'' is another example. Downplayed in her reappearance (well, just as a phone contact) in ''The Deadly Device''. [[spoiler:The teaser for ''Midnight in Salem'' now has her desperately asking you for help.]]

** In ''Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake'' [[spoiler:Emily Griffin]] is waiting for you to solve a puzzle in order to trap you. This person even brandishes a bone menacingly at you and tries to [[spoiler:lock you in an underground safe]].

* AxCrazy: ''Many'' of the villains' sociopathy is played [[NightmareFuel disturbingly straight]].

** If you lose Jacques' [[spoiler:medallion]], he will get mad at you and not talk to you for pretty much the rest of the game.
** Elliot Chen will kick you out if you accidentally knock down a can of paint. Alexei Markovic does the same with anyone who breaks one of his antiques.

** [[spoiler:Harper]] in ''Ghost of Thornton Hall'' gets you to push Clara's ForTheLulz: the Thornton matriarch doesn't know who her father is.

** While the series itself has no real "Big Bad", every game usually has one (Sometimes two) figure(s) that act as this, called "The Culprit" by the fandom and WordOfGod. The Culprit is the one committing the game's crime, and sometimes makes attempts on Nancy's life, although some of these happen by mistake. However, there is one aversion (see NoAntagonist).

* BigNo: In ''The Final Scene's'' climax, you get the option to do this in response to [[spoiler:Brady insisting that he demolish the theatre despite the fact that Maya could be trapped inside it]]. You can choose not to, [[RuleOfFunny but why would you?]]

** The culprit of ''Stay Tuned'' shouts that "Time's up!" if you fail to finish a timed puzzle before attacking you. This is justified, though, as [[spoiler:Dwayne]] has confused reality with fiction ("Real life ''is'' a soap opera.") and thus treats everyone like characters in a plot... which they ''are.'' They've just mixed up the villains with the heroes.

** ''Stay Tuned'' was especially guilty of this trope. At the end, Lillian calls you and asks you to met her at the TV studio. At night. With no one else around. And right after that, you receive a note threatening to murder Nancy if she doesn't go back to River Heights ''now.'' And you have to go.
** In ''Shadow,'' you have no choice but to demand Takae tell you about her daughter's death. Even though you know the memory hurts her deeply. Even though every time you have tried this previously, it resulted in Takae getting angry and refusing to speak with you at all.

** In ''Shadow Ranch'', the most random of these is a book that provides vital information about [[spoiler: a 19th-century purse]] Nancy finds ... a book which '''George''', of all people, just happened to buy at an ''airport'' because she was ''desperately'' bored.

* ContinuityNod: In ''Alibi in Ashes'', Brenda Carlton says that the fire at Town Hall is the biggest thing to happen since Old Man Crowley's will was found, a reference to the very first Nancy Drew book (which was also adapted into a game), ''The Secret of the Old Clock.''

** ''Danger on Deception Island'': Nancy Drew, as the PlayerCharacter, makes a sandwich, and there's many possible sandwiches the player can choose to made, adding things such as jellyfish, mayonnaise, baking soda, ice cream, tomatoes, mustard, and peanut butter. If a bad sandwich, a.k.a [[spoiler:using the expired mayonnaise, or adding baking soda]], is created, TheFoodPoisoningIncident, which is a NonStandardGameOver, results.

* CoolTrain: Where two thirds of ''Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon'' is set. It was the private train of, [[FridgeLogic strangely]], a failed gold miner, and contains lots of varnish and fancy furniture, [[spoiler:as well as a secret passageway and a funky steampunk apparatus]].

** The trailer for the 29th game consists of [[spoiler: nothing but a phone call to you in the middle of the night, while a heavily processed voice effectively informs you that not only your mother is alive, but that [[ParentalBetrayal she is also a spy]].]] Holy trailer, Batman!
*** The second trailer released ramps it up considerably. For the first time you get shot at with an ''actual gun'', and this may be the first game where instead of being caught up in some external affair she is the center of attention and is possibly being intentionally targeted by the bad guys. Screenshots show a training arena, the caption of which states that you can 'hone your combat skills', which may indicate more physical confrontations or events than in past games.

** Several early games require Nancy to manually dial the phone numbers as [[TechnologyMarchesOn Cell phones were not common]].
** ''Stay Tuned For Danger'' allowed Nancy to actually make accusations as to who the culprit was.

** ''Curse of Blackmoor Manor:'' if the historian in the library sneezes Nancy will say "bless you" in one of several foreign languages and he will respond in the same language.

* HideYourLesbians: Subverted; Dagny Silva from ''Sea of Darkness'' is possibly the first lesbian character (definitely the first explicitly lesbian) in the video game series.

*** From the same game, girls asking the new girl to do their homework for them. As anyone can tell you, that's a ''very'' stupid idea. It may be a case of "It's {{not cheating unless you get caught}}", but you could easily get several other girls either expelled or dropped out of the valedictorian running for cheating on their homework.

* MementoMacGuffin: You mention that Ned gave you a locket just before she goes to Italy. [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil There's a picture of the phantom thief holding a locket on the cover of the game.]] Was there ever any doubt that the locket would become this? [[spoiler: Interestingly, the cover's locket looks nothing like yours. You ''do'' manage to retrieve it, at least]].

** Moira Chisholm from ''The Silent Spy'' knows Dagny from ''Sea of Darkness'' - her name is on a book found in Dagny's suitcase.

** Played with in [[spoiler:''Lights, Camera, Curses!'']]. The game starts with a typical investigation, but doesn't end with anyone going to jail (though an unsympathetic character gets some LaserGuidedKarma after trying to sabotge you). Instead, once you've confronted the person responsible for [[spoiler:sabotaging the set]], the conflict shifts to revolve around [[spoiler:finding the lost footage from the original ''Pharaoh'' before the studio goes bankrupt.]]

* {{Oktoberfest}}: Played straight at first in ''The Captive Curse'', which is set in Bavaria. However, conversations with the employees reveal that their boss forces them to wear lederhosen and dirndls because that's what tourists expect of Germany. And of course, being a game with a mostly teenage demographic, there's no alcohol involved.

** Downplayed in ''Lights, Camera, Curses'', where [[spoiler:the culprit didn't want to hurt anyone and was only sabotaging the set in a desperate attempt to generate publicity so the movie wouldn't flop and bankrupt the studio. Once Nancy confronts the saboteur, they confess and beg for her help finding a reel of lost footage that could save the studio]]. Most of the other problems were just due to bad luck or personal conflicts between members of the cast and crew, most of which get resolved once they actually talk to each other about them.

* ShipTease: In ''The Captive Curse'' and ''The Deadly Device'', it's heavily implied [[spoiler: Frank Hardy]] has feelings for Nancy.

* SolveTheSoupCans: The more recent games have become fond of using this, though the earliest example can be traced back to ''Stay Tuned For Danger'' which, on top of everything else, ''imposed a time limit.'' Fortunately, the game makers took mercy on the players still screaming in frustration [[NightmareFuel (or fear)]] and created a downloadable patch to give you an infinite amount of time.

* TeensAreMonsters: Lampshaded by you in the beginning of ''Warnings at Waverly Academy'': "I'm about to be thrown, totally on my own, into a world of bright, privileged, clique-conscious teenage girls. This could be my scariest case yet!" She is soon proved right. Though you were proved right long before that, in [[spoiler: ''Secrets Can Kill'']].

* VitriolicBestBuds: Deirdre is this with Nancy, as she explains near the end of ''Alibi.'' She even becomes helpful in ''The Deadly Device''. [[spoiler:In the teaser for ''Midnight in Salem'', she's now asking for your help]].

* WhamLine: In the 29th game's teaser trailer: "But you know her by a different name. [[spoiler: [[FakingTheDead Kate]] [[MissingMom Drew]].]]"

* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Egregious in ''Stay Tuned'''s finale. You are in a room with a crazed psycho who has made it clear that they are about to murder you. There is no one to help you, and your only way out is locked by an extremely time-consuming puzzle. And yet, the game will not let you pick up the nearby fire axe and use it to defend yourself. There's even a DamselInDistress with you who would testify that you'd done it in self-defense!

# unnamed 34th game (TBA)