Girls Tech: CD-ROM Games for Girls

Both CD-ROM makers HerInteractive† and New York Times reviewer Charles Herold‡ suggest that the new CD-ROM game Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (HerInteractive, 2000, for ages 10 and up) will appeal to girls and women of all ages. The company web site claims that, "HerInteractive relied upon the feedback of girls in the design and development of the game to ensure that the content and the game play matched girls’ interests." Herold concludes that "Soon Nancy Drew will solve the mystery of sex differences [in computer use], and girls will be as at home in cyberspace as they are at the Olympics."

But how does Message in a Haunted Mansion measure up to the eight gender-based criteria for web site and CD-ROM evaluation?

The answer to this question is: surprisingly well. The game is fairly strong in all eight of the gender-based evaluation criteria.

First, there is confidence. The entire game hinges on the idea that Super-Sleuth Nancy Drew can use her powers of investigation to solve the mystery and save the day. At the beginning of the game, Nancy is called to San Francisco to investigate spooky occurrences at a Victorian mansion. The mansion owner wants to renovate it and turn it into a bed and breakfast, but all sorts of unexplained problems, from collapsing scaffolding to mysterious noises, are obstructing her plans. It’s up to Nancy to determine just who (Perhaps someone after the treasure supposedly hidden in the old house? Or maybe the owner herself, hoping to collect insurance money?) or what (Perhaps a ghost?) is causing the obstructions. The premise that only the game player can solve the mystery sends a message of confidence and empowerment.

Next, collaboration is not supported in a traditional sense; the game does not easily lend itself to simultaneous use by multiple players. But users can make their way into the mansion parlor and use the house phone to call Nancy’s friends for game clues, an electronic form of collaboration.

Message in a Haunted Mansion scores especially high in the area of personal identification. Role playing is at the heart of the game. The user becomes Nancy, becomes an amateur sleuth, becomes the person peeking into suitcases and musty drawers.

The game also scores high on contextuality. The story that frames it has all the elements of a penny dreadful: unexplained accidents, a cast of possible villains, and a rambling old house. The game does include some more educative elements, such as brief explanations of architectural history, but above all it is a story.

The game also solidly supports flexibility/motility. There is no set path that the user must follow. She can wander from mansion room to room in any order she chooses. And she must move the mouse to make Nancy move through the house, giving her physical control over Nancy’s movements. There are wrong answers to puzzles and riddles, but if the player makes a fatal mistake, she can revive the game with a "second chance" option, rather than facing sudden death.

When it comes to social connectivity, again Message in a Haunted Mansion receives high marks. In addition to querying game characters for assistance, users can log onto the HerInteractive web site chat rooms to ask for clues and to discuss the game with other real life players. The game’s story enables the player to examine personal relations among the story characters, serving as additional method of social connectivity.

However, Message in a Haunted Mansion does not fare quite as well in terms of inclusion. Nancy is female of course, and one of the characters is African American, but a little more racial and ethnic diversity would have been preferable. Still, most of the characters are strong females in charge of their lives.

Finally, Message in a Haunted Mansion has commendable graphic/multimedia concentration. The graphic quality of the mansion is excellent, down to tiny architectural and interior details. (The graphic quality of the human figures is not as high, however. The people appear to be about as stiff as electronic mannequins.) Also of note are the music and sound effects. Spooky theme music gives the game a Hitchcock-ian air, and breaking glass, creaking doors, and other sound effects heighten the mystery. In fact, the game is almost incomprehensible without sound, making speakers an absolute system support requirement. Minimum additional system requirements for running the game include: Windows 95/98; 166 MHz Pentium processor, 16 MB RAM, 130 MB; available hard disc space; 16-bit color graphics video card; 8x CD-ROM drive; 16-bit Windows-compatible stereo sound card; and a mouse.

Although this game compares favorably to the gender-based evaluation criteria and is therefore likely to appeal to a wide range of young female users, it is more appropriate for home use than for school use. Users can save partially completed games, but solving the mystery requires extended play probably beyond the time constraints of most school computer use situations.

† Company information is available at: http://herinteractive.com/.

‡ "Prowling and Spying with Nancy Drew, The Un-Barbie," New York Times; November 23, 2000, section G, page 8.


	A Review of a CD-ROM Game Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion By Denise E. Agosto Ph.D. Both CD-ROM makers HerInteractive† and New York Times reviewer Charles Herold‡ suggest that the new CD-ROM game Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion (HerInteractive, 2000, for ages 10 and up) will appeal to girls and women of all ages. The company web site claims that, "HerInteractive relied upon the feedback of girls in the design and development of the game to ensure that the content and the game play matched girls’ interests." Herold concludes that "Soon Nancy Drew will solve the mystery of sex differences [in computer use], and girls will be as at home in cyberspace as they are at the Olympics." But how does Message in a Haunted Mansion measure up to the eight gender-based criteria for web site and CD-ROM evaluation? The answer to this question is: surprisingly well. The game is fairly strong in all eight of the gender-based evaluation criteria. First, there is confidence. The entire game hinges on the idea that Super-Sleuth Nancy Drew can use her powers of investigation to solve the mystery and save the day. At the beginning of the game, Nancy is called to San Francisco to investigate spooky occurrences at a Victorian mansion. The mansion owner wants to renovate it and turn it into a bed and breakfast, but all sorts of unexplained problems, from collapsing scaffolding to mysterious noises, are obstructing her plans. It’s up to Nancy to determine just who (Perhaps someone after the treasure supposedly hidden in the old house? Or maybe the owner herself, hoping to collect insurance money?) or what (Perhaps a ghost?) is causing the obstructions. The premise that only the game player can solve the mystery sends a message of confidence and empowerment. Next, collaboration is not supported in a traditional sense; the game does not easily lend itself to simultaneous use by multiple players. But users can make their way into the mansion parlor and use the house phone to call Nancy’s friends for game clues, an electronic form of collaboration. Message in a Haunted Mansion scores especially high in the area of personal identification. Role playing is at the heart of the game. The user becomes Nancy, becomes an amateur sleuth, becomes the person peeking into suitcases and musty drawers. The game also scores high on contextuality. The story that frames it has all the elements of a penny dreadful: unexplained accidents, a cast of possible villains, and a rambling old house. The game does include some more educative elements, such as brief explanations of architectural history, but above all it is a story. The game also solidly supports flexibility/motility. There is no set path that the user must follow. She can wander from mansion room to room in any order she chooses. And she must move the mouse to make Nancy move through the house, giving her physical control over Nancy’s movements. There are wrong answers to puzzles and riddles, but if the player makes a fatal mistake, she can revive the game with a "second chance" option, rather than facing sudden death. When it comes to social connectivity, again Message in a Haunted Mansion receives high marks. In addition to querying game characters for assistance, users can log onto the HerInteractive web site chat rooms to ask for clues and to discuss the game with other real life players. The game’s story enables the player to examine personal relations among the story characters, serving as additional method of social connectivity. However, Message in a Haunted Mansion does not fare quite as well in terms of inclusion. Nancy is female of course, and one of the characters is African American, but a little more racial and ethnic diversity would have been preferable. Still, most of the characters are strong females in charge of their lives. Finally, Message in a Haunted Mansion has commendable graphic/multimedia concentration. The graphic quality of the mansion is excellent, down to tiny architectural and interior details. (The graphic quality of the human figures is not as high, however. The people appear to be about as stiff as electronic mannequins.) Also of note are the music and sound effects. Spooky theme music gives the game a Hitchcock-ian air, and breaking glass, creaking doors, and other sound effects heighten the mystery. In fact, the game is almost incomprehensible without sound, making speakers an absolute system support requirement. Minimum additional system requirements for running the game include: Windows 95/98; 166 MHz Pentium processor, 16 MB RAM, 130 MB; available hard disc space; 16-bit color graphics video card; 8x CD-ROM drive; 16-bit Windows-compatible stereo sound card; and a mouse. Although this game compares favorably to the gender-based evaluation criteria and is therefore likely to appeal to a wide range of young female users, it is more appropriate for home use than for school use. Users can save partially completed games, but solving the mystery requires extended play probably beyond the time constraints of most school computer use situations. BACK TO TOP † Company information is available at: http://herinteractive.com/. ‡ "Prowling and Spying with Nancy Drew, The Un-Barbie," New York Times; November 23, 2000, section G, page 8.