- This page is for the video game. For the book of the same name, see The Message in the Haunted Mansion.
Message in a Haunted Mansion is the third game in the Nancy Drew PC Adventure Series. Released on November 23, 2000, it is based on Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #122: The Message in the Haunted Mansion.
Synopsis[]
Discover who - or what - is behind the mysterious accidents in a house full of secrets!
Nancy Drew's housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, asks Nancy to help assist her friend, Rose Green, in the renovation of a Victorian mansion in San Francisco. Rose is trying to turn it into a bed and breakfast but mysterious accidents keep delaying the project. There may be other uninvited guests, visitors from the past - spirits who want the place all to themselves. Nancy suspects that there is another force at work: greed. In a house full of trap doors and secret tunnels, breaking glass and suspicious fires, one misstep and Nancy won't stand a ghost of a chance!
- Learn to identify Chinese characters known as 'hanzi'
- Discover the source and motivations behind the ghostly hauntings
- Help renovate a historic Victorian mansion
Characters[]
Rose Green[]
Rose is the owner of the house. She's worried that her project may never finish and that she might even have to sell the house eventually.
Abby Sideris[]
Abby is Rose's friend and business partner. She's also staying in the house and helping with the renovation. As a firm believer in the supernatural, she thinks a ghost is causing all the accidents.
Charlie Murphy[]
Charlie is the handyman, currently working in the basement saloon. He apparently has little experience but is willing to learn; however, his youth, plus his tendency to appear last at the scene of an accident, makes some people believe he's behind them.
Louis Chandler[]
Louis is an antique dealer who's helping make the house look historically accurate. The library is his center of operations. He thinks the house has quite a history and wants to know more about it.
Phone Friends[]
The phone is located in the parlor.
Hannah Gruen[]
Hannah is Nancy's housekeeper, who asked Nancy to help Rose.
Bess Marvin and George Fayne[]
Bess and George are Nancy's best friends, and also cousins. They can offer her advice and hints.
Emily Foxworth[]
Emily is Nancy's friend, a journalist who's knowledgeable about various things. Nancy figures she might be helpful while staying in such a historical house.
Gameboy Advance version[]
The gameplay of the Gameboy Advance port is the same as the PC game. The only differences are that Nancy uses a PDA instead of the journal in her suitcase, and she has a cell phone (the first time Nancy uses a cell phone in any of the games); both are accessed by icons on the interface or in-game menu.
The Gameboy Advance version of the game plays in seven chapters. At the end of a chapter, you get a password you can enter to skip straight to the next chapter; you cannot save where you are while playing the chapter.
Each chapter has one song playing throughout the whole chapter, and there is a different song for each chapter. Each song is unique to this version; the soundtrack is different from the PC version.
Trivia[]
- The game was originally set to be released in September 2000, but was delayed.[1]
- This is the first game where Ned is absent. It is also the first one to have Bess and George on the same phone line.
Continuity[]
- Abby has The Publicity Stunts CD also featured in Rick Arlen's dressing room. (Stay Tuned for Danger)
- Abby is reading the same magazine with Linda Penvellyn on the cover that has an interview with Mattie Jensen. (Stay Tuned for Danger)
- Abby has similar maracas to the ones Lillian Weiss has in her office. (Stay Tuned for Danger)
- Louis' s briefcase contains a newspaper article mentioning the events of Stay Tuned for Danger.
Foreshadowing[]
Main/recurring character revelations[]
- Hannah is friends with Rose Green and Emily Foxworth.
Allusions[]
- Real-life actress Lotta Crabtree is mentioned as a friend of Lizzie Applegate.
Goofs[]
- When seeing the fire in the parlor, Nancy is not able to back up to get the fire extinguisher. You have to get the fire extinguisher from the cabinet before going near the fire.
- We do not learn if Charlie told Rose and Abby about living in the basement.
References and notes[]
- ↑ Jong, Philip (June 12, 2000) Megan Gaiser, Carolyn Bickford, Sheri Hargus - Her Interactive. Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved July 1, 2023.