It’s official! HerInteractive has announced that they are working on game 34 for Nancy Drew!
For those of you not following all the gossip and twisting changes in the HerInteractive world right now, the last few days have carried lots of, dare I say, mystery.
HerInteractive released their April 1st newsletter and the fans absolutely went wild with excitement when they saw several clues, hints, and nods to there being a big announcement in the next few days or weeks.
Some were of course skeptical because this release came on the illustrious April Fool’s Day, but others continued to be hopeful. With a barrage of puzzles to solve and hidden clues to their announcement, theories flew through the eagerly awaiting fans, excited for tangible news.
On April 4th, HerInteractive released official news on their Instagram stating, “We are excited to announce #ND34!”
Here is a breakdown of what you may have missed:
Hidden Messages
Within the newsletter released on April 1st, there were several hidden messages that clued us into a big announcement. The first being hidden within the trivia questions. A few detectives noticed the slight color differences in a few of the letters.
When isolated and lined up, they spell out:
“THIRTY FOUR”
As you continue down the page, Nancy has written the fans a letter and again, some of the letters are a slightly reddish color. Doing the same, you get:
“YOUVE BEEN HACKED”
We also see an open book with a message on it. You may notice the video doodle and when clicked on, it will bring you to the HerInteractive Instagram.
The book also has a doodle of a sun and a cup of steaming tea. The sun has nine rays and the tea has three whisps of steam. Some have formulated that this means there would be an announcement at 9:30 because 3+tea sounds like 30. Though this may be the case, it could just be that it is the 93rd anniversary of Nancy Drew.
If you go to the HerInteractive Instagram page, you will see that all previous posts are no longer available. There was, on April 1st, only one post, a video of Nancy writing the letter from the newsletter with the clue to hacking mentioned above.
On April 4th, HerInteractive posted another video making their announcement that they were “officially working on a new game.” The style of the video and the clue in the newsletter to hacking, makes it seem as through the game will be themed around computers and hacking, a fact that a few fans have already discussed in the years previous to this announcement.
Trivia
Along with the hidden message in the trivia questions, at the bottom of the newsletter where the answers would normally be, there is another secret message that can only be viewed by highlighting with your cursor.
After reviewing the trivia questions, you will notice that there are SEVEN questions. Using this with the highlighted clue and some clever digging on the part of a few dedicated fans, you will recognize the reference to the possible name of the new game.
MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN KEYS
A few years back, a fan dug up some information and found that HerInteractive had registered this name and now it is finally coming to light. Though the name was speculation and never official, these clues may hint to it being fact.
Backgrounds
Some may also have noticed the backgrounds of the newletter sections as well. Some were just tile floors and wall trimming. This seems fairly odd, but thinking about all the other clues leading to Game 34 throughout the newsletter, it’s likely that these are screenshots from the actual game.
After clever detective work by Calina from StoryRetold, one of the backgrounds stands out in its simplicity. She noticed a hazy image of a cathedral in the corner and after an image search and remembering the reference to Austria at the end of Midnight in Salem (MID), she believes that it could be the location to our next adventure.
Case File
In the letter written by Nancy about her gift to us, she mentions that we should, “be on the lookout for our case file.” Can we expect to see an Instagram post with the new mystery’s case file? Maybe on April 28th, Nancy’s 93rd anniversary?
What to Expect
An official announcement of an actual game! Though any Sassy Detective would be thrilled with this news, as they should be, some more wary individuals may be wondering when the actual game will be available. As seen with Midnight in Salem, even official news of release can change as time rolls on. MID came four and a half years after the release of the previous game and after several delays only to be met with disappointment from the fan base.
Even before news of release for MID, we already knew the name and what the general premise of the game was. With this new game, the title and the gameplay are pure speculation with very little being said by HerInteractive themselves and more from previous employees or cunning detectives diving in with no help from HI at all.
It is likely the name of the new adventure will be ‘Mystery of the Seven Keys’ and may focus around computers or hacking and likely based in Austria, but there is very little currently known about the game.
Should we expect a game soon or are we destined to wait another four and half years before our favorite detective can grace our screens in a new adventure?
I guess all we can do is keep searching the newsletters, message boards, and social media for pieces to the puzzle.
But, for now, don’t let the turkeys get you down!
