Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion

Developer(s)| Her Interactive
Handheld Games (GBA)
Publisher(s)| DreamCatcher Interactive
Producer(s)| Denise Roberts McKee
Janet Sairs
Designer(s)| Wayne Sikes
Artist(s)| Laura Henion
Rick Eshbaugh
Writer(s)| Robert Riedl
Cate Riedl
Composer(s)| Kevin Manthei
Platform(s)| Windows, Game Boy Advance
Release|

* NA: November 24, 2000 (PC)
* NA: November 15, 2001 (GBA)

Genre(s)| Adventure
Mode(s)| Single player

Message in a Haunted Mansion is the third installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive.[1][2][3] The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms as well as Game Boy Advance. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay: Junior and Senior detective modes. Each mode offers a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, but none of these changes affect the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on a book entitled The Message in the Haunted Mansion (1995).[4][5]

Message in a Haunted Mansion was a commercial success, with sales of 300,000 units and revenues of $5.5 million in the United States alone by August 2006. At the time, Edge named it the country's 64th-best-selling computer game of the 21st Century.

## Contents

* 1 Plot
* 2 Characters
* 2.1 Characters
* 2.2 Cast
* 3 Reception
* 3.1 Sales
* 3.2 Reviews
* 4 References
* 5 External links
* 6 Features
* 7 History
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 External links

## Plot

Nancy Drew is helping Rose Green, a friend of Nancy's housekeeper Hannah Gruen, with some renovation work in an old Victorian mansion in San Francisco that she is converting into a bed and breakfast. But, there are other uninvited guests, visitors from the past—spirits who want the place all to themselves. Strange accidents are slowing down the renovation, and Nancy is trying to figure out who, or what, is trying to scare everyone away. Nancy suspects that there is another force at work: greed.

Nancy is threatened and nearly scared out of the mansion, but that doesn't stop her! She eventually discovers that treasure is hidden in the mansion. After solving puzzles and finding clues to help her find the treasure, she is blindsided by the culprit! Louis turns out to be the culprit and starts pocketing the treasure. Nancy very carefully works her way up the staircase and drops the chandelier right on Louis. Louis is arrested for his crimes, and Rose starts getting numerous reservations for her bed and breakfast.

## Characters

### Characters

* Nancy Drew \- Nancy is an 18-year-old amateur detective from the fictional town of River Heights in the United States. She is the only playable character in the game, which means the player must solve the mystery from her perspective.
* Rose Green \- Rose is a friend of Hannah Gruen's who invited Nancy out to San Francisco to help her with some renovation work on her Victorian mansion. She plans to open a bed and breakfast with her friend Abby. However, several accidents have caused her to worry about being able to open on time. She's invested her entire life savings into the mansion, but is she reconsidering this venture? If so, how far will she go to regain her money?
* Abby Sideris \- Abby is a close friend of Rose and co-owner of the mansion. When Rose's bid on the mansion was too low, Abby pitched in her savings to help her purchase it. Abby has a fascination with the supernatural. She believes that the mansion is truly haunted and that the accidents are being caused by restless spirits. She thinks advertising the mansion as haunted and holding traditional séances for the guests staying at the mansion will bring in much business. Could she be faking these hauntings to bring in guests? Is she also somehow involved in these so-called accidents?
* Charlie Murphy \- Charlie is a young man who is helping Rose with renovations on the mansion. He recently moved to San Francisco from Iowa and studies history at the local community college. Charlie is inexperienced as a handyman and gets very uncomfortable when the accidents are brought up in conversation. He seems friendly and sincerely nice, but could it all be an act?
* Louis Chandler \- Louis is a suave, middle-aged antique dealer who owns Chandler Interiors and specializes in antiques of the Victorian Period. Rose lets Louis use the library for research in exchange for his services as a consultant on choosing authentic décor for the mansion. He claims to not know anything about the mansion, but is he lying? Could he be the one causing these accidents so he can have Rose sell the mansion to someone else?

### Cast

* Nancy Drew — Lani Minella
* Rose Green — Janis Page
* Abby Sideris — Valerie Mosley
* Charlie Murphy — Scott Carty
* Louis Chandler — Brian Hargus
* Hannah Gruen — Maia McCarthy
* Emily Foxworth — Shannon Kipp
* Bess Marvin — Katie Denny
* George Fayne — Lindsey Newman [6]

## Reception

### Sales

According to PC Data, Message in a Haunted Mansion sold 97,257 units in North America during 2001,[7] and another 20,717 units in the first three months of 2002.[8] Its sales in the region for the year 2003 totaled 44,826 units.[9] The series as a whole sold 1.5 million units by 2004.[10] By August 2006, Message in a Haunted Mansion's PC version had sold 300,000 copies and earned $5.5 million in the United States alone. This led Edge to rank it as the country's 64th-best-selling computer game of the 21st Century in August 2006. During the same timeframe, Nancy Drew computer games as a whole totaled sales of 2.1 million units in the United States. Remarking upon this success, Edge declared Nancy Drew a "powerful franchise".[11]

### Reviews

Reception

| Review scores

Publication| Score
GBA| PC
Adventure Gamers| [1]| N/A
AllGame| N/A| [12]
GameZone| 8/10[13]| N/A
Nintendo Power| 3.6/5[14]| N/A
The Electric Playground| N/A| 7.5/10[15]
Aggregate score
GameRankings| 64%[16]| 78%[17]

The PC version received "favorable" reviews, while the Game Boy Advance version received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[16][17] In The New York Times , writer Charles Herold praised the PC version and noted that "the puzzle design is as good or better than most adult-oriented adventure games."[3]

Message in a Haunted Mansion received a "Gold" Parents' Choice Award in fall 2000.[18] It was also a finalist for The Electric Playground's 2001 "Best Adventure Game for PC" award, but lost this prize to Myst III.[19]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wild, Kim (March 7, 2008). "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (GBA) Review". https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18146.
2. ↑ Behr, Mary E. (February 6, 2001). "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion". Ziff Davis. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,33832,00.asp.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Herold, Charles (November 23, 2000). "GAME THEORY; Prowling And Spying With Nancy Drew, The Un-Barbie". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/23/technology/game-theory-prowling-and-spying-with-nancy-drew-the-un-barbie.html.
4. ↑ Nancy Drew (June 18, 2009). "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion Official Trailer - Nancy Drew Mystery Games". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2mbCQzYiBQ.
5. ↑ "Nancy Drew Message in a Haunted Mansion | Girl Games Online". http://www.herinteractive.com/Mystery_Games/Nancy_Drew/Message_in_a_Haunted_Mansion/pc.
6. ↑ "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (Video Game 2000)". Amazon. November 2000. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0791187/.
7. ↑ Sluganski, Randy (March 2002). "2001 Sales Table". http://www.justadventure.com/articles/State_of_Adventure_Gaming/Mar-02/sales2001.shtm.
8. ↑ Sluganski, Randy (May 2002). "March 2002 Sales Table". http://www.justadventure.com/articles/State_of_Adventure_Gaming/May2002/SalesMarch2002.shtm.
9. ↑ Sluganski, Randy (March 2004). "Sales December 2003". http://www.justadventure.com/articles/State_of_Adventure_Gaming/March2004/Dec03ret_gam.shtm.
10. ↑ "Nancy Drew: A Retrospective - Article - Just Adventure - Reviews PC and PS2 Walkthroughs - Previews and Adventure News!". http://www.justadventure.com/articles/NancyDrewRetrospective/NDRetrospective13.shtm.
11. ↑ Edge staff (August 25, 2006). "The Top 100 PC Games of the 21st Century (Page 4)". Edge (Future plc). http://www.edge-online.com/features/top-100-pc-games-21st-century/4/. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
12. ↑ Sutyak, Jonathan. "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (PC) - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=28780&tab=review.
13. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (December 6, 2001). "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (GBA)". http://gameboy.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r15729_GBA.htm.
14. ↑ "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 152. January 2002.
15. ↑ MacIsaac, Jason (February 21, 2001). "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (PC)". Greedy Productions. http://www.elecplay.com/review.html?article=5222&full=1#mr_toppy.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion for Game Boy Advance". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/gba/565794-nancy-drew-message-in-a-haunted-mansion/index.html.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion for PC". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/581205-nancy-drew-message-in-a-haunted-mansion/index.html.
18. ↑ Oldenburg, Don (Fall 2000). "Parents' Choice Gold Award: Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion". http://parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=1708&award=xx.
19. ↑ Staff (January 25, 2002). "Blister Awards 2001". The Electric Playground. http://www.elecplay.com/feature.html?article=8152&page=1.

## External links

* New Straits Times
* Pittsburgh Post Gazette
* MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

## Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

## History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

## See also

* IGDB - game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/.
2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/.
3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1.
4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521.
8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media.
9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned.
10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner.
11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames.
12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games.
13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/.
14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/.
15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/.
16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/.
17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames.

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