Family movie night? There's an app for that
Download our new mobile app on iOS and Android.
Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues - Mystery Coding Game
By Amanda Bindel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Girl-targeted STEM ambitious but somewhat shallow.
Add your rating
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues - Mystery Coding Game
Community Reviews
Based on 2 parent reviews
Fun, valuable tool to inspire and encourage coding!
Hidden Object/Dress Up Game
What’s It About?
In NANCY DREW: CODES AND CLUES Nancy and her friends have created a robot puppy for their school's tech fair, but the neighboring exhibit has gone missing. The girls set out to collect clues, try on disguises to fit each scene, and program their puppy robot to help along the way. The story plays out in six chapters, with each including a hidden-pictures puzzle, analysis of the clues, dressing up for the scene, and programming the puppy. Players collect charms as they complete different objectives to fill up a charm bracelet at the end of the adventure.
Is It Any Good?
While players will practice different skills on this adventure, they won't find much depth or challenge. It has a lot of appealing elements, such as a narrative, relatively diverse characters, and a girl-power focus. Another strength is that the coding element is useful within the story instead of being an isolated skill out of context. However, the overall simplicity and repetition might not be enough to entice kids to play through to the end. Targeted for younger players, the mystery is tame and peril-free, which may work well for the target audience but disappoint true Nancy Drew fans. While the puppy robot can be programmed in a variety of ways, most kids aren't going to be challenged. Also, the dress-up activity only features a few ready-made outfits, which hampers creativity a bit. It would also be nice to be able to toggle the reading on and off but leave sound effects on and have a broader range of clue-finding beyond hidden pictures. Overall, the concept and approach are admirable and fun, and with more depth and opportunities for kids to contribute to solving the mystery, it'll be a rich experience for budding tech-loving detectives.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the logic involved in programming and solving mysteries. What skills did Nancy and her friends use to find clues? What about to program the robot?
Talk to kids about the different parts of the game. What appealed to them most? Did they enjoy something new they hadn't tried before?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Subjects: Science : engineering
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning : analyzing evidence, asking questions, investigation, problem solving, thinking critically, Responsibility & Ethics : following codes of conduct, Tech Skills : coding, using and applying technology
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: October 26, 2016
- Category: Education
- Topics: Adventures , Book Characters , Great Girl Role Models , Robots
- Publisher: Her Interactive
- Version: 1.0.5
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0 or later; Android 4.1 and up
- Last updated: October 18, 2019
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Download
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate