Nancy Drew: The Haunted Carousel

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Loads of fun to play.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this tween software is void of violence and sexual overtones, and yet is challenging, exciting, and compelling to play for both boys and girls


What's it about?

In NANCY DREW: THE HAUNTED CAROUSEL, the eighth in the Nancy Drew CD-ROM series, Nancy is investigating mysterious happenings at a Jersey Shore amusement park. The theft of a historic carousel horse, followed by the loss of power during a roller coaster ride, has forced the closing of the amusement park until the insurance company can investigate. But the carousel ride has mysteriously started operating on its own, leading people to speculate that the park is "haunted." Nancy has been hired by the owner of the park to help resolve these baffling happenings.

As Nancy, players interview suspects; explore the layout of a haunted house attraction; learn how to change the tracks for the rollercoaster ride; and fix an old carousel band organ. The game offers over 20 hours of play on two difficulty levels. Embedded in the mystery are several real-life puzzles, including one in which players use a virtual lathe.


Is it any good?

 

This game is more accessible than the previous Nancy Drew interactive games. Enhancements in this game include the addition of Nancy's laptop and her cell phone. With the laptop, she can get e-mail help from friends, keep a journal of her discoveries (so the player doesn't have to take notes), and list things that still need to be done (a way to keep the player on task.) With a cell phone, players can call Nancy's friends for help.

Compared with previous titles in this series, this game is easier to navigate; the puzzles combine real-life problems with fun arcade games; and the story is complicated and never too scary. The "Junior Detective" level is a little easier to play than in the previous titles so it will appeal to kids as young as age 10; the "Senior Detective" level offers plenty of challenge for teens. And parents, this software has no violence or sexual overtones.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the long-term popularity of Nancy Drew. Why is she still a recognizable name?


This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen
Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Lots of Fun!!
This game allows you to act as Nancy Drew. Your job is to find out why rides are breaking down, and why a carousel is moving all by itself at night. You can talk to employees of the park, an artist, and the park mechanic to gather clues and ask questions. You can also pick up objects to help you throughout the game. This fun game provided me at least 15 hours of gameplay. I recommend it to boys and girls of all ages.

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Kid, 13 years old
May 25, 2010
 
great game
awesome game

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Kid, 13 years old
January 7, 2010
 

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Teen, 17 years old
April 7, 2009
 
Ok Sashasimba123
This is my 4th favorite and is good from 7-14 years old

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Teen, 15 years old
February 27, 2011
 
Really Fun but a little Violent
I LOVE Nancy Drew games! They are easy to learn to play-but they aren't so easy that you get through it really quickly. There are puzzles you have to figure out-sometimes they stump me, and I am really good at stuff like that! Nancy's friends can help her if she calls them, and Nancy almost always tries to see the good side of people. The game can be a little violent sometimes-SPOILER-Someone tries to run over Nancy with a rollar coaster, tries to kill her by dropping something heavy from above her, and, at the end, if you don't figure out something, the bad guy reaches toward you are it goes black, implying that you were killed. However, it that happens, there is a "Second Chance" button that you can use to try that part again. You also have to use it if you don't complete some puzzles. I had to use it almost 12 times! It is a great game though, with lots of brainteasers. I love it!

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Teen, 14 years old
June 29, 2009
 
A great starting game
this is a very easy game and my brothers -who's younger than me- first game. They're thoughroughly enjoyable and a good starting game. I've seen better, but it's a great first game.

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
FUN-NESS!
teaches kids how to solve puzzles and is easy enough for kids ages 7 to figure out but not too challenging.

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Teen, 14 years old
July 26, 2011
 
May be scary for sensitive viewers, so better for 11 year-olds
I don't think you took a good look at this game. Sometimes Nancy can be injured. One thing that may be upsetting or even scary for sensitive kids is the part where you have to free Nancy's foot, if you don't finnish in time it shows the illusion of the coaster running over her foot but her foot is never actually shown being run over but it's really no less dramatic and still a little frightening because it almost looks like she got hit in the head with the roller coaster.One of the worst ones is when you use Elliot's lathe, if you don't put on safety goggles Nancy gets wood in her eye! now that's just terrible!She can also get electrocuted in two ways, 1. If you try and fix something without turning the power off, 2. When you try and reconnect the wires to free Nancy's foot and youu don't turn the power off. Also, *spoiler alert* in the end she can get attacked by the culprit and it's really scary!, trust me the first time I saw it I got really scared, especially because it's shown through a 1st person perspective so it look like you're getting attacked. Another concern is that paula isn't a good role model because she shows no empathy for Nancy if Nancy hurts herself. But Nancy Drew is a strong role model because she's persistent and basically anything good you can think of. But you may also struggle with the puzzles a bit because there is no skip option and they are pretty challenging. But one thing that's good is that one character named Ingrid Corey mentions vitamin B3, Niacin and it may encourage you to do more research, like what happened with me. Overall this is a good game, it may have some concerns but nobody's perfect and they're just trying to stay true to the origonal series, so you have to understand that these things would most likely happen to Nancy. Think of all of the times she got hit over the head or had something else happen to her.

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Kid, 13 years old
April 23, 2010
 
My Rating: A+
This was my first Nancy Drew game and I have loved it since I got it on my 8th christmas!

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Teen, 15 years old
March 22, 2012
 
wrong rating
Nancy can die in this game. She can get killed by a villan and get crushed by a pole. This game is a little chalinging.

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This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen
Platforms:Windows
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Role Playing
Developer:Her Interactive
Release date:April 1, 2004
Price:$20
ESRB rating:E

This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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