Curse of Blackmoor Manor

PC
DVD

Basic Information

Series

Adventure Series #11

Release date

October 5, 2004

Platform(s)

PC
DVD

ESRB rating

E for Everyone

Play-through Information

Crime

Odd Behavior
Treasure

Production Information

Book Basis

Nancy Drew #77: The Bluebeard Room

Directed by

Max Holechek

Written by

Anne Collins-Ludwick

Produced by

Anne Collins-Ludwick

Chronology

The game has become one of the most popular games in the series. It was included in Her Interactive's "Fan Favorites" collection in 2010 and has been named by the company and fans as one of its scariest and best titles. This is notably the first game to be set outside of the United States. It is also the first game where Bess Marvin and George Fayne are absent and is Frank and Joe Hardy's first absence since their introduction in Secret of the Scarlet Hand. This is also Ned's first appearance since The Final Scene which had been released three years earlier.

Synopsis[]

Delve into dark legends lurking in the shadow of an old English mansion!

All is not well in Blackmoor Manor, a fourteenth-century English mansion haunted by a tragic past. You, as Nancy Drew, embark on your first international adventure to England to visit Linda Penvellyn, your neighbor's daughter and newlywed wife of a British diplomat. A mysterious malady keeps Linda hidden behind thick bed curtains and Linda refuses to let anyone see her. Is she hiding from something or someone, or is a more menacing threat stalking her? Face your fears to find out the truth!

Solve puzzles based on heraldry, astronomy, and alchemy
Explore an enormous English mansion with hidden passages and mazes
Play fun mini games such as Bul, Skull and Bones and jigsaw puzzles

Characters[]

Linda Penvellyn[]

Linda is a mysterious figure, hiding behind her canopy bed's curtains in her bedroom. She's moody and often unfriendly toward Nancy, telling her firmly that she should leave the manor. She frequently refuses to speak to Nancy any further if the detective presses too hard.

Mrs. Leticia Drake[]

Mrs. Drake is Hugh's aunt, a brusque and efficient woman. She acts as the head housekeeper of Blackmoor Manor and is devoted to keeping it in good order. She adores plants and is reliably found in the Manor's conservatory.

Jane Penvellyn[]

Jane is Hugh's twelve-year-old daughter from a former marriage. She feels a little frightened by Blackmoor Manor, and also claims to have seen mysterious things.

Nigel Mookerjee[]

Nigel is a historian and author, visiting the manor in order to research the Penvellyns for his newest book. He sets up shop in the Manor library to help his research.

Ethel Bossiny[]

Ethel is Jane's tutor, teaching her subjects such as mathematics, Latin, and history. The Bossiny family has acted as the Penvellyns' tutors for generations and she is no different. She was hired by Mrs. Drake. Nancy occasionally bumps into her.

Loulou[]

Loulou is the Penvellyn family parrot who can speak and will give Nancy clues depending on whether or not the player is in Junior or Senior Detective mode.

Main article: The Penvellyn Family

Phone Friends[]

Nancy uses a cell phone which can be accessed by an icon at the bottom of the screen.

Ned Nickerson[]

Ned is Nancy's boyfriend. He can be called for hints.

Hugh Penvellyn[]

Hugh is Linda's husband and Mrs. Drake's nephew, who is away on diplomatic business. Nancy can speak to him about Linda to find out more regarding the situation.

Mrs. Petrov[]

Mrs. Petrov is Nancy's neighbor, who wants her to find out why her daughter Linda is acting strangely.

Paliki Vadas[]

Paliki is a lycanthropy expert, whom Nancy gets in contact with when she is investigating Linda's strange behavior.

Production[]

With the exception of Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, the previous games had been developed from books with little differences (besides cutting more mature content featured in games based on the Files series). However, development on Curse of Blackmoor Manor was different due to two factors:

1. Her Interactive underwent a creative management shake-up in early development of the game. President Megan Gaiser and designer Robert Riedl redeveloped the company's creative structure to have employees focus more on specific areas, with less mass-collaboration as seen in previous production cycles.^{^[1]} Shortly after the game's production, creative director Max Holechek left Her Interactive.^{^[2]}

2. Lead designer Robert Riedl said The Bluebeard Room was "a weird book" and recalled there was much debate over how to handle the topics found in the book.^{^[1]} Some of the mature themes and series continuity changes that were featured in the book included: Nancy pursuing romantic interests aside from Ned including a rock star; references to drugs (with drugs being planted in Nancy's purse at one point); and a drug-smuggling ring taking advantage of a graphic legend surrounding the Penvellyn family to cover their activities.

DVD version[]

In 2007 a version of this game that could be played on your TV screen with a DVD player was released. It came with a PC version of The Haunted Carousel. It is stylized similarly to the original interface of the games. There is the small blue border around the game window like in the PC version of this game, but there is a text box below it, and to the right, where the inventory would be in the old interface, is the inventory icon with the hammer and wrench surrounded by four directional arrows. The cursor (which is moved with the directional keys on the remote or keyboard) starts out in the game window if there is something to interact with (a white hand, a detailed yellow magnifying glass or a red speech bubble with a question mark). Otherwise, it is on the inventory icon, which is where it goes if it is moved below the game window in a scene where interaction is possible. From there, the directional keys can be pressed to move to another scene. Using the inventory button will open up the inventory like in the PC version, but on the tabs where there would be all, viewable, or portable items, Nancy can access the inventory, her journal, her task list, her cell phone and the menu. Like the Message in a Haunted Mansion Gameboy Advance game, this game is in chapters (10) and gives a password at the end of each chapter. It cannot be saved in the middle of one.

Trivia[]

This is the first game to be set outside of the United States.

Continuity[]

Jane mentions one relative joined the gang of El Diablo. (Message in a Haunted Mansion)
Jane mentions Eustacia Andropov is a Penvellyn in-law. (The Final Scene and Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake)
Jane has a crush on Brady Armstrong and has a poster in her room featuring him. (The Final Scene)
Bul was previously featured in Secret of the Scarlet Hand and Petroglyph Punch is a reference to The Secret of Shadow Ranch.
There is a Koko Kringle bar in LouLou's snack making station.
Nigel's desktop is a picture of himself standing in a hallway of Wickford Castle, from Treasure in the Royal Tower.
Betty the automaton's ring, is similar to the one Dave Gregory received from Ellie in The Secret of Shadow Ranch.
Mrs. Drake has a Mayan pot from the Beech Hill Museum (Secret of the Scarlet Hand) behind her.

Foreshadowing[]

Jane mentions one of her relatives was a member of the French resistance (Danger by Design).

Main/recurring character revelations[]

Bess and George go to sailing camp every year.

Easter Eggs[]

Click on the chattering teeth with eyes in Jane's room around 10 times & you'll get an egg! Click on the teeth again and they will make an interesting sound. Now, with the egg as your cursor, go to Nancy's room and click on the last button on the phone to hear a familiar voice singing (Shorty from Secret of Shadow Ranch).
With the egg as your cursor, set your alarm clock to 6:00 AM to have an interesting dream about a certain frog.
Open the well door in the tunnels before filling them to receive an interesting note from Jane's uncle.

Allusions[]

Many aspects of the game were inspired by the 1965 film Die, Monster, Die!.^{^[3]}
Jane mentions a relative named Marianne "got shipwrecked on a deserted island with a whole bunch of yahoos." This is a reference to the television series Gilligan's Island.
Four Petunia Highway is a parody of the American teen drama tv show One Tree Hill.
The quotes that Loulou randomly says throughout the game are quotes from famous media. For example, when she says "You're gonna need a bigger boat!", she is referencing Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

Tips and Tricks[]

If you restart the puzzle above Jane's door ten times, the tiles move so only the jester and compass are out of place, making the puzzle much easier to solve.

Goofs[]

Jane says that Nicholina (1448-1501) died as a baby. However, according to the chart, she would have been 53 years old.
As only heretics were burned at the stake, Elinor should have been hanged.