HELLO. I just came across this Hunt a Killer Nancy Drew game! It was released in September. Has anyone played it? This looks like it would be so fun to play during holiday get-togethers!
My last post about this is now very outdated, so I spent some time today trying out different apps reminiscent of some favorite Nancy Drew minigames! These are all available for free on the iOS App Store, and are the ones I found to be the most satisfying to play and pleasing to look at!
Details and a couple of brief reviews under the cut!
HexLogic Zoo: for fans of the LIE pomegranate puzzle. There are other HexLogic apps with different themes, but Zoo is the only free one.
Polygrams: offers several styles, but select Tangram -> Classic for the kind seen in the games.
Hex-A-Maze: Hidato/Hidoku puzzles AKA Renograms in SAW! I know I saw another user post about this app a while back but I can’t find the post anymore, so please let me know if that was you so I can link you!
I just found this in a folder that was transferred from an old laptop!Â
I’m pretty sure this dates back to the old HeR Blogspot blog (RIP. I thought Krolmeister’s posts were so funny). I remember printing and wrapping this around a Crunch bar so my best friend and I could have real life Koko Kringles.
Sharing in case anyone wants to do the same! I still have mine and sometimes use it as a bookmark.
I am sure to be out of here before you find my treasure, but in case I am not, know that it is all yours, and that you are more precious to me than ten thousand treasures put together.
Since Memorial Day is coming up I thought now might a good time to do a bit on our favorite girl Nancy Drew during War Time and what to look for in your book hunting!
During WW2 many book publishers were hit HARD by the demands of war and at the time the Statemeyer Syndicate were no different. As explained in, Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak, Statemeyer were forced to give up all their original printing plates for Scrap metal.Â
At the start of 1942 book publishers could only use so much paper, 90% to start which eventually dropped to 75% in by 1944. Britain’s publishers suffered worse restrictions. As a result Grosset & Dunlap was forced to be printed on what is called “Pulp Paper” which grows VERY brittle and browns over time. It was much cheaper than normal paper at the time. It also was not as thick as normal paper and so a normal Nancy Drew book is about 2in in 1941 but by 1942 it had decreased to 1in.
Bellow is an example of paper quality which is very typical of pulp paper. As well as an example in the difference. “Secret of Shadow Ranch” on the Left having normal paper. And Lilac Inn on the Right has “Pulp Paper.”Â
Also during this time the cover boards will have a slight change. The quality obviously was forced to cut corners. To the Left bellow is a 1930′s edition of Shadow Ranch before the restrictions and to the right is the comparison.Â
Also During this time the classic heels and scarf changed from a more 1930′s look to the second flats silhouette in 1947. The Tweed cover soon following.Â
One last Tidbit to look out for when collecting these little secret gems is the infamous “disclaimer” which appeared printed on the inside front page, which reads:Â
“This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full compliance with government regulations for the conservation of paper and other essential materials, is COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED.”
What is very interesting is that during War time the sales of these books were said to have continued and even rose!Â
So there you have it Sleuths! These are ALWAYS Fun to look for, as a memorabilia of a time passed!Â
For Further Reading on this subject please visit the links bellow.
After reading this I immediately combed through my books to see if I had any wartime editions and was very pleased to find one! I’m pretty sure this was purchased from an antique mall a few years back. I love little pieces of history that were once well-loved by others.
I love collecting different editions of Nancy Drew books, and wanted to show some of my favorites. I started collecting around 2006 using tips from Jennifer Fisher at Nancy Drew Sleuth. If you’re interested, she has a couple of posts here and here. @getacluedrew​ also has a really great and helpful post with collecting tips and the differences between The Secret at/of Shadow Ranch here!Â
There are SO many different editions of the books with varying boards, dust jackets, chapter numbers, end papers, and artwork/illustrations, so if you ever want to dive deeper or know what you’re looking at when you are buying or selling I really recommend looking into those posts.
Whenever I am looking for Nancy Drew books at an antique or used book store my primary interests are whether they have the original 25 chapters or Russell H. Tandy artwork (side note: I became obsessed with the Russell H. Tandy covers and his model Grace Horton when I read Not a Girl Detective by Susan Kandel in 2006. I think it’s why I have so many copies of Sign of the Twisted Candles, except for the elusive Tandy cover. Has anyone else read that book?) I hope you enjoy, and would love to see some of your collection as well! My inbox is always open if anyone wants to chat!
My last post about this is now very outdated, so I spent some time today trying out different apps reminiscent of some favorite Nancy Drew minigames! These are all available for free on the iOS App Store, and are the ones I found to be the most satisfying to play and pleasing to look at!
Details and a couple of brief reviews under the cut!
1. Color Crunch {a bit like Aggregation in The Deadly Device}
This all started when I was trying to find a match 3+ game like Flag Match and Petroglyph Punch. That didn’t happen, but I thought this game was fun and hit a lot of Aggregation notes! My only wish would be for each round to last longer than 30 seconds.
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2. Peg Solitaire {Lizard Leap in Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon}
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3. Unblock. {as seen in The Final Scene, Haunted Carousel, Captive Curse, etc}
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4. X Lines {portrait backing puzzle in Shadow at the Water’s Edge}
Not for everyone, but so satisfying!
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5. Fox and Geese-Online {White Wolf of Icicle Creek}
You can choose to play as either the Fox or the Geese, and against a person or the computer. It’s actually a lot of fun and not as irritating as it is during ICE gameplay! I found it funny that the computer’s avatar during this particular round looked like Bill Kessler.
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6. Memory+Concentration {memory match as found in Warnings at Waverly Academy, Legend of the Crystal Skull, etc)
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7. iScopa LE {The Phantom of Venice}
I tested ALL of the available Scopa apps. To be honest, I did not find any of them to be as enjoyable as playing during VEN or with a deck in real life (you can find one on Amazon!) I liked this version the most, and downloaded the Sarde deck because I find it helpful to have the numbers in the corner of each card.
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8. Nonogram FRVR and Nonograms Unlimited (Shadow at the Water’s edge)
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I hope you enjoy these in your spare time!Â
I would LOVE to have Petroglyph Punch and Number Punch on my phone so I can play them anytime. I know Number Punch is still on the HerInteractive site (remember when the lead up to each game’s release included an online mini game??) but it’s not quite the same. Let me know if you’ve found anything similar or have other game suggestions!
I wanted to pop in and mention that I have published several previously hidden boards over on Pinterest for games that I was planning aesthetics for but unfortunately never ended up having the time to make. These include CRY, GTH, CUR, FIN, MID, and WAC (a few of my faves!). I’m going to try to be more active on that account and continue posting to the boards even though my drive and time to make aesthetics is way down, so feel free to follow!
I have received many requests to publish my Nancy Drew boards on Pinterest, and I was finally able to take some time to do so this past weekend! Six boards will remain private for the time being, but I will make them public once I’ve made some long-planned aesthetics with them. I will continue to add to these boards, so please feel free to follow and I hope you enjoy them!
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