Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys

Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys
Developer(s)	HeR Interactive Emerald Light Pictures Solid Bash Room 8 Studios Unity Studios
Publisher(s)	HeR Interactive
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Windows macOS
Release	NA: May 7, 2024
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

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Mystery of the Seven Keys is the 34th installment of the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by HeR Interactive. The game takes on the first-person view of Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery by questioning suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. The game has two levels of difficulty: Amateur sleuth and Master sleuth. The Amateur sleuth's difficulty offers a task list and gives the possibility of hints in-game, compared to the Master sleuth option which has no task list, no hints, and more challenging puzzles. This is the first game of the series that offers a dual navigation system: point-and-click and free-roam. It has an ESRB rating of E10+ for moments of mild violence. ^[1] It is loosely based on the 83rd novel from the Nancy Drew Files series, Diamond Deceit. ^[2]

Plot

Nancy Drew is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the theft of a client's heirloom necklace in Prague, Czech Republic. Players will navigate and sleuth through the city's mysterious old-world environments. Challenging puzzles, riddles, and clues are entwined with medieval legends, alchemy, and lore. As the investigation deepens, Nancy uncovers a web of cybercrime. She must outwit devious suspects and use her detective skills to unravel a mystery threatening the city's Bohemian heritage. ^[3]

Characters

• Nancy Drew (Brittany Cox) - Nancy Drew comes from a small fictional town called River Heights, located in the United States. She was brought to Prague by a mysterious letter from Adela Čzerná.
• Adela Čzerná (Rachelle Heger) - Adela knows more than she tells. Her studies and business dealings allowed her to travel the world, leading to rumors that she is of noble blood despite preferring a simple lifestyle.
• Patricie Vítkovci (Jane Ballard Samson) - Patricie owns the Hungerkünstler Café, which has been in her family for generations. She seems to know a bit about everyone. She has a habit of making her customers help around the café. She privately wishes for a more glamorous lifestyle but is committed to maintaining her family's legacy.
• Oskar Dvořák (Jet Thomason) - Oskar is a specialty exhibit curator. He works with valuable collections at prestigious museums that gave him the director role at Prague Castle's exhibit. He is a perfectionist whose pride often makes him disagreeable.
• Vladéna Zlatý (Chanel Samson) - Vladéna is an expert in gemology and appraisals with a long family history in Prague's gem business. She owns Zlatý Custom Jewelry, a prestigious store where she crafts branded jewelry. As the first woman in her family to be the store owner, she has little patience for those who may question her.
• Eliška “Elka” Strojník (Kelly Baskin) - Elka is a computer science student with a strong sense of conviction. She runs half of Aparát alongside her grandfather, from which she has turned into an electronics shop. She is fond of Radek.
• Marek Strojník (Cambron McKinney) - Marek is a craftsman and tinkerer who runs the other half of Aparát. Contrary to his granddaughter Elka, he has no interest in modern technology as his passions are deeply rooted in Prague's past.
• Radek Nepovím (Kieren Regan) - Radek is an actor and puppeteer who runs the pop-up marionette theater in Prague Castle's courtyard. Radek's personality comes to life when he can share his passion for Prague's culture and historical marionette arts. His charismatic disposition makes him popular with kids and tourists.
• Leo Sokol (Beau Marie) - Leo of St. Vitus Cathedral is well respected by both government officials and locals. He cares deeply about Prague, its people, and its history. He is an avid player of the card game Mariáš.
• Zane Garrett (Rhett George) - Zane is an international cybersecurity agent based in Africa working for the ICA specializing in gems. He is authoritative and formal while working, but he is an easygoing man with a lighthearted sense of humor in his personal life.

Reception

Christina Rohlf from Room Escape Artist mentions "The graphics and new movement style are excellent, the dialogue enhanced the story, and the game was lengthy and filled with puzzles of a wide variety of types. However, the inclusion of illogical or unclear puzzles makes it clear that the Nancy Drew franchise still has room to improve to get back to the quality of Sea of Darkness ". ^[4] Hoover Richard from Adventure Game Hotspot rates the game 70% mentioning that "The pendulum has swung back from the greater focus on story and character interaction in the previous installment, but fans of the classic series will doubtless welcome the renewed emphasis on puzzle solving this time around". ^[5]

Preceded by Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem	Nancy Drew video games	Succeeded by Unknown

References

1. "Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys". ESRB . Retrieved March 1, 2025.
2. Her Interactive. Leave no stone unturned in #Game34. At time 1:15 – via YouTube. If you put them together, that makes ... number 83, which correlates to one of the books we took a little bit of inspiration [from] in making game 34.
3. "Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys". HeR Interactive . Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
4. Rohlf, Christina (June 21, 2024). "Her Interactive – Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys [Review]". Room Escape Artist. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
5. Hoover, Richard (2024). "Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys". Adventure Game Hotspot. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-03.