Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys

About

In "Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys" , players assume the role of the famous detective and navigate through the historic city of Prague. They must uncover the truth behind a stolen heirloom necklace, unravel a sinister web of cybercrime, and outwit devious suspects to save the city's Bohemian heritage. Challenging puzzles, riddles, and medieval lore await as players investigate the mysterious old-world environments.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys screenshot

61%

Audience ScoreBased on 296 reviews

story58 positive mentions

stability30 negative mentions

The game features a compelling story with interesting twists that keep players engaged.
The graphics and environments are visually appealing, showcasing detailed locations and a beautiful setting in Prague.
The puzzles are challenging and varied, providing a satisfying experience for players who enjoy problem-solving.

The navigation controls can be clunky and unintuitive, leading to frustration during gameplay.
Many puzzles lack clear instructions, making them feel overly complicated and difficult to solve without external hints.
The voice acting, particularly for Nancy, has been criticized for sounding robotic and lacking emotional depth.

story
174 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
62%
5%
The story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it engaging and well-integrated with the puzzles, while others criticize it for being predictable, disjointed, or overly complex. Many appreciate the nostalgic elements and character development, but note that the pacing can be slow and the plot lacks clarity compared to earlier titles in the series. Overall, while some players enjoyed the narrative twists and modern themes, others felt it fell short of expectations, particularly in terms of cohesion and depth.
- “Overall, the story is captivating and makes you want to see it through to the end.”
- “The story’s different threads could have left the game feeling jumbled and incohesive, but I think overall it successfully wove the threads together and offered a satisfying conclusion.”
- “The story and twists are good and genuinely caught me off guard, and her attempt to modernize the Nancy Drew games is working well.”
- “The story didn't hold together well and at some points the graphics and lighting made it difficult to see important details in puzzles.”
- “My two biggest critiques would be that a) the story is wildly and needlessly complex, with no clear through-line.”
- “The dialogue was rough and the story felt weird and disjointed.”
graphics
132 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
67%
9%
The graphics of the game received mixed reviews, with some praising the visual quality and improvements in character animations, while others criticized the overall design as uninspired and reminiscent of outdated technology. Many players felt that the graphics lacked detail and polish, particularly for a 2024 release, leading to frustration with gameplay elements like puzzles that were difficult to navigate due to visual issues. Overall, while there are beautiful visuals present, the consensus suggests that the graphics could have benefitted from more attention and optimization.
- “Have played Nancy Drew games since I was in middle school and the graphics are awesome in this one!”
- “The graphics in the game were fantastic.”
- “The good parts of this game possibly lie only in the graphics, which are really quite beautiful.”
- “My biggest gripe is on the technical side; for a 2024 game, the graphics and NPCs were a bit uninspiring, and it seemed rather unoptimized and unpolished - especially when you see how many people are listed in the credits as developers and engineers.”
- “For a 2024 release, the graphics are on par with the PS2 era.”
- “The graphics resemble the outdated visuals of 'Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper' from 2009, which today seem both archaic and unimpressive.”
music
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
66%
13%
The music in the game is generally described as beautiful but overly repetitive, lacking the memorable quality of soundtracks from previous titles in the series. Many reviewers noted that the constant looping of tracks detracted from the overall experience, with a desire for more variety and complexity in the music to enhance the atmosphere. While some appreciated the soundtrack's melodic elements, the rigid association of music with specific locations felt jarring and contributed to a sense of lifelessness in the game's environment.
- “Loved exploring the Prague setting, and the soundtrack was so lovely.”
- “For example, the music from The Deadly Device or Shadow at the Water's Edge has some of the best soundtracks of any PC games in my opinion.”
- “While I’m encouraged that most of Key’s tracks had more melodic development than Mid’s, I would love more musical complexity and less looping and repetition of certain measures, motifs, etc.”
- “The music in the game is decent but overly repetitive.”
- “The repeated soundtracks were nothing like the iconic originals and were quite distracting during extended puzzle sequences.”
- “The soundtrack can become tedious both because of the music itself and how it’s used in the game.”
gameplay
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
81%
10%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it clunky and frustrating due to poor hitboxes, unintuitive mechanics, and difficult puzzles that often require external guides. While some appreciate the modernized movement options and flexibility in controls, the overall pacing and flow of gameplay have been criticized for being disjointed and confusing. Longtime fans of the series express disappointment in the changes, feeling that the core experience has been negatively impacted.
- “The games have changed a lot over the years but have always retained the same core mechanics: they are point-and-click adventure games built around investigating a crime, questioning suspects, and solving puzzles.”
- “Gameplay: the gameplay was great, and I can't wait to see the improvements in the next one.”
- “It offers flexible controls with the option to move via point-and-click or WASD, which you can switch between anytime during gameplay.”
- “The gameplay and the design are bad - we had to look up hints and cheats so much just because we weren't clicking on exactly the right spot.”
- “The mechanics made the gameplay more difficult and less intuitive, and made even easy things frustratingly difficult to do.”
- “The mechanics of this game are clunky and awkward at best; navigating the map and interacting with items can be immensely frustrating.”
stability
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
94%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including issues with dialogue, puzzles, and controls. While some users experienced significant problems requiring restarts, others reported a smoother experience, suggesting that performance may vary based on hardware. Overall, the game's stability is seen as a major concern, detracting from the overall enjoyment despite its appealing visuals.
- “I encountered no glitches.”
- “I encountered no glitches.”
- “It’s sad when a franchise loses its heart and soul in pursuit of maximizing profitability, and in this case, it has resulted in a game that is buggy, janky, and low-budget, without any sense of charm to help you ignore these problems.”
- “I also encountered glitches (several in the [spoiler] alchemy room [/spoiler]) that forced me to restart the game from the last save mode - unacceptable for a game that's $32 and has been out for a few months.”
- “I played 95% of the game in 'classic' mode, and it was an incredibly frustrating and buggy experience.”
atmosphere
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The atmosphere of the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising the solid story and character integration, while others criticize the loss of the cherished ambiance from previous titles. Many users noted that the music and environmental design fell short, detracting from the overall experience and failing to immerse players in the intended setting, particularly in Prague. Overall, the game's atmosphere is seen as a significant downgrade compared to earlier installments.
- “In previous games, the music was more varied and changed randomly, sometimes even falling silent, which added to the atmosphere.”
- “From story to characters to puzzles to atmosphere - it's a solid addition to her interactive's catalog of amazing games.”
- “Overall, the magnificent atmosphere that we cherished in Nancy Drew has been lost.”
- “The atmosphere of the plaza is...terrible.”
- “The atmosphere of the area is terrible.”
- “This game had poor design and you could tell the minimal effort they put into making the atmosphere and player feel like they were in Prague.”
optimization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with players noting that the graphics and NPCs feel uninspired and unpolished for a 2024 release. While some users report no performance issues on high-end systems, many believe the game requires patches to improve its overall smoothness and polish, particularly in voice acting and interaction quality. The dual-play feature is appreciated, but the overall technical execution is seen as disappointing given the developer's extensive experience.
- “No performance issues running on: amd ryzen 9 5900x, 16 gb ram, nvidia geforce 3070.”
- “The game is hefty in size and performance for the average adventure player, but it pays off with the ability to dual-play between modern movement using WASD and point-and-click with cursors.”
- “It hasn't happened again, but this game probably needs a couple patches for it to run smoothly.”
- “My biggest gripe is on the technical side. For a 2024 game, the graphics and NPCs were a bit uninspiring, and it seemed rather unoptimized and unpolished - especially when you see how many people are listed in the credits as developers and engineers.”
- “The game's performance is very embarrassing given they have published over 30 of these games.”
- “I feel like I’m just listening to Brittany read off of a script; there’s no life to her performance at all.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players frequently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious, particularly criticizing the repetitive nature of puzzles that often involve simple mechanics like spinning objects or solving wall locks. Many express a desire for more engaging, scavenger hunt-style challenges instead of the monotonous iterations currently present, which contribute to a sense of isolation and boredom. Despite these frustrations, some players still find enjoyment in the overall experience.
- “In one word: tedious.”
- “I would have loved to see puzzles that required more of a scavenger hunt to solve, rather than tedious iterations of wall puzzles and door locks.”
- “If I had to bring back one aspect of the old school games it would be the puzzles, doing one at a time and having mainly 'spin object certain way' puzzles become boring and tedious.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate a desire for a return to the humor and quirky writing style of earlier games in the series, as current dialogue often feels unnatural and lacks emotional depth. While some find humor in the static NPCs and the overall absurdity, many players feel the game falls short of delivering the delightful and hilarious experiences they once enjoyed. Overall, the humor is seen as inconsistent and not as engaging as in previous installments.
- “We want the old style back and the funny, delightful, hilariously weird writing that these games were great at.”
- “Laughing and crying the whole time, this was 3% better than Salem but still so..... wow.”
- “The NPCs placed around don't really move, but, personally, I find it funny more than anything.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game offers significant replayability, primarily due to the potential to discover missed content during the initial playthrough. However, some players feel that the series declined after the original voice actor's departure, with later installments being more playable but primarily appealing for achievement hunting.
- “There's a great amount of replayability here because you can miss so much in your first playthrough.”
- “The game offers significant replayability due to its multiple story paths and choices.”
- “Each playthrough reveals new secrets and achievements, making you want to dive back in.”
- “Replayability value: for achievements only.”
- “Replayability value: for achievements only.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Character development in the game is visually appealing, with beautiful character designs; however, there is a noticeable lack of variety, as many characters appear to be repetitively copied and pasted in the environment.
- “The character design was beautiful!”
- “The character development really adds depth to the story.”
- “I love how each character has a unique backstory that influences their actions.”
- “You walk outside of the main shop and there are like 6 character designs just copied and pasted throughout an open area.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, feeling giddy and excited, particularly when encountering nostalgic references. This sense of joy enhances their overall enjoyment and engagement with the experience.
- “Seeing it made me feel giddy and excited inside, and I just loved every moment that I saw references.”