Nancy Drew - Treasure in the Royal Tower

                   Played by Peter Clark

This game is one of a series of four games all involving Nancy
Drew, an American detective. In this game Nancy is off on holiday
to Wickford Castle Ski resort but a violent snowstorm puts paid to
immediate skiing and exploration of the castle is the order of the
day.

You soon discover that the castle tower once held prisoner Marie
Antoinette and that her treasure is rumoured to be hidden
somewhere nearby. The Receptionist, a Mr Dexter Egan, tells you
that there has been a break-in at the Castle Library and that the
room has been vandalised. Also staying at the castle are a
Professor Hotchkiss, a lady researcher, and a woman by the name of
Lisa who tells you that she is a journalist. The only other
character in the hotel is Jacques, the French ski instructor.

Somebody has already taken a dislike to you as quite early in the
game, the lift is sabotaged and you are trapped. Having escaped
from the lift you discover that the combination that you were
given for your ski locker is incorrect. Jacques investigates and
tells you that the combination is the one for Lisa's locker. Being
nosey, you decide to open her locker.  What you find throws some
doubt on her original story. Dexter, the man on reception duty, is
quite fond of giving you jobs to do including finding a way to
reset the lift after you were trapped and going to ask the
Professor what she wants for lunch! He does not seem so keen to
repair the leaky radiator in your bedroom. You need to keep on at
him about this as, when it is finally repaired, an item is left
behind that you will need later in the game. What you really need
to do is to find a way into the locked Library. Even when you
manage to get in there is the alarm system to deal with. Many of
the clues that help you solve the game and find the treasure are
to be found in the Library so it is an important feature of the
game.

Whoever tried to dispose of you in the lift does not give up.  You
find yourself trapped outside in the freezing snow and in danger
of being frozen to death unless you can attract Dexter's
attention. If the ski lift were suddenly to start running, that
might do it but it is not as easy at it first seems. Professor
Hotchkiss has become a great friend and, if treated correctly,
will help you with many clues. Lastly, you will have to find your
way into the Royal Tower. The way is guarded by a number of quite
difficult puzzles one of which involves setting six bar locks
correctly before a door opens. Unfortunately, you need to use this
door several times and each time the combination changes. Having
reached your goal, if you have found all the clues and picked up
the appropriate objects, the treasure will become available but
even then your adversary catches up with you and takes the
treasure. Can you snatch it back? If you manage to do this then
you finish the game successfully.

Within the game there are many puzzles that are quite various in
construction and difficult to solve. I have not made mention of
many of these above as I feel that it is best for you to find them
as you progress through the game. There are several ways that help
can be obtained during play. The telephone in your bedroom can be
used to contact several of your friends and they will sometimes be
able to suggest where you should be concentrating your efforts and
why. The game can be played as either a novice or experienced
detective and playing as a novice will get you more help on the
phone than if you were playing as an experienced detective. The
game is played to a time so that night follows day etc. but
setting the alarm clock in your room will enable you move forwards
or backwards through time. This is the second Nancy Drew game that
I have played and the format seems very similar to the first. The
phone help and the alarm clock were also used in the other game.
It is very obvious that the game is American in origin but this
does not really detract from the play. I enjoyed this game as much
as "Haunted Mansion" which is the other Nancy Drew game I have
played. When I get the chance, I will be happy to play the others
in the series. I can recommend this game as a good bit of
adventuring.

I played the game on a Pentium 3 700Mhz computer under Windows Me
and had no problems with it at all. Also installation and removal
went perfectly. The game is available on the Dream Catcher label
and should be available from computer shops and off the Web.


















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