The main Nancy Drew PC series made by Her Interactive uses five distinct user interfaces. The Dossier spinoff series also uses a distinct user interface. Here is a description of them.
Starter UI (1998-2003)[]
The Starter UI lasted the first nine games. This is the same user interface HeR Interactive used for their previous non-Nancy Drew game called "The Vampire Diaries" made in 1996, only with a more cleaner and teal theme.
The main menu for games 1-6 was a stack of books with the different player options and Nancy's silhouette on the spines of each book. This is updated in game 7 with a new section called "More Nancy Drew" which takes the player to the advertisements for other Nancy Drew games also shown when installing the game.
Upon playing the game, the "Menu" button at the top left corner can take the player to the main menu. The "?" button at the top right corner takes the player to the help screen to give tips on how to play the game, which is also available on the main menu.
In the bottom left corner of game 1, there is a compass that takes the player to the game's map if they are outside. In games 2, 3, 4, and 6, there is instead a pocket watch that tracks the current time in the game. In game 5, there is a counter that tracks the current day of the game. In games 7, 8 and 9, there is nothing in this corner.In the bottom left part of the screen, there is a large black box that shows the current conversation.
In the lower right part of the screen, there is a smaller box that contains the player's current inventory. It is initially closed if the player has no items but opens once the player collects one. Both the conversation and inventory box can be scrolled through with the right bars.
In games 6, 8, and 9, Nancy has a journal on her laptop that has to be accessed in the game itself, with games 8 and 9 also having a task list in Nancy's laptop. Nancy carries a PDA in her inventory for game 7 before carrying a cell phone for games 8 and 9.
Games Used[]
- Secrets Can Kill
- Stay Tuned for Danger
- Message in a Haunted Mansion
- Treasure in the Royal Tower
- The Final Scene
- Secret of the Scarlet Hand
- Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake
- The Haunted Carousel
- Danger on Deception Island
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Short UI (2004-2006)[]
The Short UI lasted only from game 10 to game 15. The style of the main menu is the same as the previous UI.
When playing the actual game, the gameplay takes up a much larger part of the screen with the user interface being limited to the bottom. The main reason for this change was a number of complaints that the gameplay screen was too small. The "Menu" button is moved to the bottom left corner of the screen and the "Help" button (no longer a "?") is moved to the bottom right corner of the screen.
The hammer and wrench icon opens up the inventory box, being divided into the "All" section (including all inventory items), the "Eye" section (including non-interactable items), and the "Hand" section (including interactable items). The notebook icon opens up Nancy's integrated journal and task list. The phone icon opens up Nancy's integrated cell phone. The wallet icon indicates how much money the player currently owns.
The cell phone icon is available for games 10, 11, 13, and 15. The cell phone icon may not be completely accessible when too close to another character or at a location without Wi-Fi. The wallet icon is only available for games 12, 14, and 15. The cell phone and wallet are only accessible together when playing as one of the Hardy Boys in game 15. The icons will light up with an exclamation point whenever there was something new about them in-game. However, they may end up stuck with the exclamation point even if the player sees the new addition to these icons. When having conversations, the entire bottom interface became into the conversation box that can be scrolled through with the left bar.
In game 15 exclusively, the interface when playing as Nancy could be changed into different styles in the Game Setup menu. When playing as one of the Hardy Boys, the interface also changes.
Games Used[]
- The Secret of Shadow Ranch
- Curse of Blackmoor Manor
- Secret of the Old Clock
- Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon
- Danger by Design
- The Creature of Kapu Cave
Gallery[]
Exploration UI (2007-2011)[]
The Exploration UI (named this way because Nancy goes to more foreign places such as Canada, Venice, Ireland, Bahamas, Japan and Germany) spanned the most games, going from game 16 to game 25, including game 1's remastered version. The goal of it was to remove the Main Menu and integrate it into the interface. A new game would be started upon opening the game, but an old game could be loaded.
At the bottom left corner of the screen, the backpack icon opens the inventory, the notebook icon opens Nancy's journal, and the clipboard icon opens Nancy's task list. When toggled, the inventory, journal, and task lisk box shows up within the game window at the upper right part of the screen. Only with game 25 does the journal icon open Nancy's cell phone at her journal app. The phone icon is available in games 17 and 21-25, which opens Nancy's cell phone. A similar PDA icon is available in game 18 for Nancy to use her GdiF PDA. A similar walkie talkie icon is also available in game 20 for the player to switch between Nancy and George.
At the bottom right corner of the screen, the gear icon opens up the options menu, the file icon allows a game to be loaded, the disk icon allows a game to be saved, and the power button quits the game. A conversation box is made within the game window in the lower right part of the screen when talking to someone.
The icons displayed at the very top of the screen heavily depend on the game being played:
- Game 16: At the upper left corner, the clothing icons show what Nancy is currently wearing, based on whether she is outside or not and has the snow shoes. At the middle top, when Nancy is outside, the Outside Condition Warning meter timer shows how much time Nancy has left outside before freezing to death. At the top right corner, the current time is displayed.
- Game 17: When playing as Bess and after getting the Jolly Roger Krewe costume, the upper left corner shows an icon with that costume, indicating Bess is wearing it.
- Game 18: At the upper left corner, the silhouette icon, when clicked, shows what Nancy is currently wearing and the wallet icon shows how much Euros Nancy has.
- Game 19: At the upper left corner, the wallet icon shows how much arcade tokens Nancy has and, after winning the whistle from the arcade, the whistle icon plays the whistle when clicked at any time. This becomes useful when Nancy to use the whistle to guide the sheep the paddock.
- Game 20: At the upper left corner, the guava icon shows how much guavas does Nancy have and the oxygen tank icon shows how much oxygen does Nancy have left in her tank. At the middle top, an oxygen tank timer before Nancy drowns is shown when she dives, a metal detector meter is shown when Nancy dives near the sunken ship and changes based on how close she is to a metal piece, a pressure meter is shown when Nancy dives near the jellyfish area and changes based on how fast Nancy is diving as she moves up and down (this kills Nancy if the meter goes all the way up), and a health bar for both Nancy when she is climbing and the sailboat when it is being used is shown.
- Game 22: At the upper left corner, the penny icon shows how much Pa Pennies does Nancy own. At the middle top when Nancy is driving, the health bar for Nancy's vehicle is shown.
- Game 1 Remastered: At the upper left corner, the quarter icon shows how much quarters does Nancy own.
- Game 24: At the upper left corner, the Euro icon shows how much Euros has Nancy collected.
- Game 25: At the upper left corner, the current character the player is currently controlling besides Nancy is shown. During the endgame puzzle, a satellite timer is shown in the middle top to indicate how much time Nancy has left to beat the game.
Starting with game 20, a question mark icon is shown at the top right corner to tell the player tips on how to complete the current puzzle.
The entire UI can be changed between black and blue with the options menu. The icons' backgrounds stay blue, but when playing as George in game 20, they change to green.
Games Used[]
- The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
- Legend of the Crystal Skull
- The Phantom of Venice
- The Haunting of Castle Malloy
- Ransom of the Seven Ships
- Warnings at Waverly Academy
- Trail of the Twister
- Secrets Can Kill Remastered
- Shadow at the Water's Edge
- The Captive Curse
- Alibi in Ashes
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Dossier UI (2008-2009)[]
A unique Dossier UI was used for the Dossier series. Because the games were intended to be for a more casual audience, a new UI was made to fit the style of these games.
In the main menu, Nancy's desk with documents based on the game is shown with the logo at the top. At the bottom left, there is the Play button to play the current save file, the Options button to change the settings, the Arcade button to replay the game's minigames once initially played, the Help button to see the help screen, and the Quit button to quit the game. At the bottom right, there is a box welcoming the current profile user with the option to change to a different user, add a new user, and rename the current user.
In the actual game, at the bottom left corner, the score counter indicating the number of points the player currently has and the menu button can be seen. The journal icon takes the player to Nancy's journal.
At the bottom middle, there are several action icons the player uses on the selected items in order to progress through the game. For the first Dossier game, Nancy can specifically use her eyes, her flashlight, and her hand. A lockpick and Digital Decrypter icon also shows up once Nancy finds these items, which allows Nancy to do their respective minigames when it is time to do so. For the second Dossier game, Nancy can press, pull, lift, shake, turn, scratch, and flip. Only four of these action icons show up depending on the current chapter of the game. Nancy also can add items to her inventory to use on other items in the game or interact with them more.
At the bottom right corner, the current goal is shown, which can be clicked on for more specific details. A hint button is also shown to guide the player to something they need to click on.
Nancy's journal is separated into different tabs, which includes a tab on the player's current Detective Ranking based on how many points they have, a tab on the different notes and documents Nancy finds in each chapter, and a tab on help tips for the player. Only for the first Dossier game is there another tab on the map for the game and another tab to exit out of the journal (despite there already being a "Back To Game" button at the bottom of the screen). The help tab in this game is also more specific and brings up tips on the minigames after they are played.
Games Used[]
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Updated UI (2012-2015)[]
The Updated UI was an attempt to get back to the ease of the first interface with an easily-accessible inventory and the return of a main menu.
On the main menu, the game's logo and a location in the game is primarily shown, with the different options being shown at the bottom. The Extras option allows the players to view the credits, outtakes (for games 26-29) or bonus art (for the Bonus Editions of games 30-32 and after all achievements are completed in one save file for the Standard Edition of game 32) after completing the game, and trailer for the next game after completing the current game. Starting with game 28, the player can also view the awards they achieved in Extras. The More ND button also advertises all previous Nancy Drew games, including the Dossier games, except for the original version of game 1. The Help option becomes available in game 27 to show the Help screen already accessible through the in-game menu. This gets replaced with the Tutorial option in game 32 to see an exclusive basic tutorial, although the Help screen remains available through the in-game menu.
When playing the actual game, the gameplay again takes up most of the screen with the UI being relegated to the bottom. At the bottom left corner, the magnifying glass icon labeled "Menu" opens up an in-game menu to go to the main menu, save or load a file, change the current options, see a Help screen, or resume the game. Nancy's cell phone also appears in the bottom left corner. A horizontal inventory box takes up much of the UI, which can be scrolled through with the top bar. The tasklist as "Tasks" and journal as "Journal" (for games 26-29) or "Notes" (for games 30-32) can be read and expanded on the bottom right of the screen. Nancy's journal gets moved to her phone starting with game 30 as her diary.
Starting with game 28, a trophy icon is also added to the in-game item, showing the awards the players can or have already earned. Upon earning a award, a trophy icon would flash where the word "Menu" is in the magnifying glass and then the trophy icon would also be lit up in the in-game menu. The descriptions of each award are initially not shown until they are individually earned, but the descriptions are all shown upon beating the game for the very first time regardless if the players have not won every award. The awards are permanently obtained regardless of the player's save files.
Conversations take place in the game window, towards the bottom center. Starting with game 28, the option to skip dialogue is available as an arrow icon.
Games Used[]
- Tomb of the Lost Queen
- The Deadly Device
- Ghost of Thornton Hall
- The Silent Spy
- The Shattered Medallion
- Labyrinth of Lies
- Sea of Darkness
Gallery[]
Tablet Interface[]
The tablet version of game 28 uses the Updated UI with a compass between the inventory bar and the task list. Pressing it will make directional arrows appear on the screen, telling the player which ways they can go. On the iPad and Kindle versions, the interface is on the bottom of the screen like in the PC and Mac versions, but on the Android versions, it is on the left side of the screen.
Games Used[]
- Ghost of Thornton Hall (Tablet Version)
Gallery[]
Rebooted UI (2019-present)[]
With most of the production behind the Nancy Drew PC game series now being outsourced to other companies, a completely new UI was made for the series. Starting with game 33, the UI is significantly more minimalistic.
On the main menu, a location from the game takes up the entire screen with the game's logo and options appearing on the left side of the screen. The Continue option loads the most recently played save file. The New Game option starts a new game. The Load Game option loads a save file. The Settings option allows the player to change their game settings. The Extras option allows the player to view the game's achievements and whether they are earned or not, the game's credits, and the trailer to the Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase film.
In the actual game, the list icon at the top left corner can access the in-game menu, which allows the player to resume the game, save or load a file, change their options, or go back to the main menu. During a cutscene, the player skip that cutscene using the in-game menu. At the bottom middle is the inventory bar with white icons indicating the inventory items. The items can be right clicked on to examine them in 3D. To the left of the inventory bar is Nancy's phone, which includes her current task list. An orange bubble shows up on this phone icon when a new task is added to the task bar and a green bubble shows up when someone is currently texting Nancy.
When talking with someone, their dialogue shows up as captions at the bottom middle of the screen with the rest of the UI gone. When talking with someone on the phone, their avatar will appear on the left of the screen with their name.
Games Used[]
Gallery[]
