Well not much news today so I thought I’d give you guys a better visual of what Girlfest was like:

Here’s some of the lovely volunteers of the HI team that spent their Saturday spreading the Nancy Drew word to thousands of young girls. Aren’t the matching shirts super spiffy? This morning I got to randomly pick a winner to receive a full set of all the games which is a pretty big prize! I’m super excited to email her later this week but I’m also excited for all the other girls who were interested to start playing the games.

Otherwise, today has been pretty average. It’s raining in Seattle (boo) and this is my last week here at HI, so I’m starting to wrap things up. But later this week I’m going to be working on a cool project that hopefully you guys will get to see soon!

-Summer

Over the Weekend

Well it was definitely an exciting weekend for HI! Once a year, here in Seattle, there’s an event called Girlfest where thousands of Girl Scouts are invited to come participate in activities that range from henna tattoos to rock climbing to playing Nancy Drew games! About a dozen HI employees headed to downtown Seattle for the occasion to assist girls with contests and help girls play the games.

We had two contests set up, one was a free raffle to win Secrets Can Kill Remastered which we did drawings for three times throughout the day. The other was a questionnaire about Nancy Drew games, all based on information that could be found on the boxes which were lying out. By answering all the questions right, each contestant was entered into a drawing for an entire set of all the ND games! A pretty good prize I would say.

While we were busy at Girlfest I hope you guys were busy working on the weekend puzzle. But since no one on the message board has solved it yet, here’s a hint:

- Puzzle 69 Hint -
“To solve this tricky puzzle, you’ll need to use the shapes on a special grid”

This one is extra hard, gooood luck!

Weekend Puzzle

Aaaaaand here it is! The next big puzzle. Loaded with extra trickiness. Enjoy.

- Weekend Puzzle -

This puzzle is coming to you 5/5. So buckle down with your pens and papers, you won't be catching any Zzzz's for a long while.

--

Good luck and we'll see you next week.

- Novel -

Sick News

Well today I was back to compiling reviews for all the past games. Gathered from all over the web. Other than that I didn’t really do much…except blow my nose one thousand times. That’s right, I’m sick. But hopefully a good night sleep tonight and a lot of Vitamin C will have me in tip top shape in no time.

Otherwise, I spent some time today trying to brainstorm for ideas for both an upcoming contest and for a bigger, creative project I’ll be working on next week. However, we’ve had so many contests already it’s hard to think of brand new ideas! Hopefully something will come to me soon though…

You guys should also get excited for the September newsletter (I know it’s kinda early to say) but I began writing the draft yesterday. It contains some new details about SAW which I’m sure you’ll love because so far not much has been revealed.

Plus, SCK2 launched this week and I’ve been reading a bunch of reviews on the message boards. So I just wanted to say thanks for all the extremely helpful feedback. Without reviews, we wouldn’t know what you guys like/don’t like about the games, and that’s the most important thing.

Novel will be giving you guys your puzzle tomorrow, so have a good weekend and make sure you go enjoy the last few days of summer!

-Summer

Mid-Week Photo

Okay, I admit it, I was wrong. The puzzle was solved on Monday and I just somehow missed the answer on the message boards. Sorry for any confusion, but good job figuring it out so quickly!

Now on to important Wednesday business...



...do pictures count as important? Well regardless, this is the other intern's cubicle and some really great drawings she did. My favorite is the man running from the tornado (TOT inspired perhaps?). And you can't quite make out the writing but the candy bar in the bottom left says "Koala Kringles" (I’m sure Sunny would be proud).

Well, at least one of the interns here is artistic...
-Summer

The Secret is Out!

It's official, Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED was released today. Have you gotten your copy already? We've already heard some fan-tabulous raves and reviews from sleuths who have solved the case. I knew it would be a hit! It must be the love of nostalgia. The thrill of that first case... with out knowing the resolution. What could be more enticing? (a trip to Japan does sound pretty good though ^.~)

On the puzzle-side of things, it appears as though a bit of misinformation has been spilled. My dear associate posted yesterday that the puzzle had yet to be solved. This was in fact incorrect. I have seen the answer on the boards! Perhaps I'll let Ms. Summer sort out this little mishap. ^.~

- Novel -

Happy Monday!

Hey guys,
Well there’s not much today. After being out of town all last week, I was happy to return and finally finish SAW. And though I’m not at liberty to reveal…well anything about the game, I can say that it is DEFINITELY something to look forward to. There was several times during the game where I literally screamed out loud (kind of embarrassing in an office building). I wish I could tell you more but you’ll just have to check it out for yourself.

Also, I hope you’re all gearing up to buy and re-solve SCK tomorrow…if you haven’t already received your pre-ordered copy that is! To pass the time, you can spend your afternoon solving the weekend puzzle! I’ve yet to see an answer up on the message boards, so keep working. And if you’re still baffled tomorrow, I’ll toss a hearty clue your way.

-Summer

Weekend Puzzle

It sure was a nice week. Join us again, when we'll be celebrating the launch of Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED. Be sure to stop by for more fun, and possibly more of Summer!

- Weekend Puzzle 68 -

--

Good luck!

- Novel -

And the Kitchen Sink

I can't even begin to talk about all the cool content you'll have at your fingertips today. In fact... I think I'll just hand you the concise synopsis and let you link your way towards digital amusement. ^.~

There's a spiffy newsletter on its way this afternoon. You should totally read it.

Marketing did a video interview(s) (as mentioned previously) and they've posted it today. I recommend watching it. Plus I hear it's got some nifty hints hidden inside.

Either way, you should be pleased as punch. And I'll be sure to include a dandy Friday puzzle just to round out the week. Catch you on delivery!

- Novel -

Camera Lends

I expect tomorrow to be pretty shiny. The team sat down with some members of the original SCK crew and did a slick interview. It's being spliced together by our editing wizards as we speak. It looks to be quite an interesting movie, we'll at least based on the question list I saw "Mrs. Interviewer" leave on her desk. (Snooping points +5) Plus I got this sweet still -

- Pic of the Week -

The Line-up
--

In other news... newsletter! That's right tomorrow's got a new bit of HI press coming your way. This one has a little Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED, a little Shadow at the Water's Edge and a lot of awesome! Be sure to sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.

See you sleuths later~

- Novel (0909) -

Solv-a-bees

Today has been a rather comedic day. I've been looking over the shoulder of our production team as they put the finishing touches on SAW. Our ultra-talented writer, Nik, has been diligently scripting the Second Chance text for the game. As always, he's been cracking some truly side-splitting puns! (My favorite kind of joke.) Not all of them will make it in the final version, but if they're even half as funny, I'll be spending a lot of time "making fatal errors" during my SAW play-through.

A couple of the other programmers were working on the outtakes for SAW at the same time. Let me tell ya, the best kind of office meeting is the "Outtake brain-storming session." It's not a real meeting, more of an informal hallway-pow-wow. But still, it was fantastically hilarious. It got me thinking; A good way to beat the summer heat wave... lots of laughter.

I've got to post the Weekend Puzzle Answer, cause you all solved it in record time! Congrats to those that reached the final solution.

- Puzzle 67 Answer -

12151511
914
2085
12921811825

To solve this one it might take a little [ guess and check ]. The numbers relate to [ letters ] based on [ A = 1, B = 2, etc. ] You need to [ separate ] them in order to create each set of [ words ]. It should look like this
-
12 - 15 - 15 - 11
9 - 14
20 - 8 - 5
12 - 9 - 2 - 18 - 1 - 18 - 25
-
[ Substitute ] for each number and you get:
[ Look in the Library ]

--

Definitely a Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED reference. But maybe it can be taken at more than face value. Specials await!

- Novel -

Now and Later

Hey-O

It looks like I'm back in the saddle again, Summer is out having some fun this week. There's definitely too much to be done here in her absence. (Come back soon, Summer!) We've got more Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED goodies on the way, even though it would seem some of you lucky sleuths have already gotten your hands on a copy! If you have, I'd love to hear what you thought. If not, well, its just about a week away, so stay vigilant! ^.~

Plus there's the Shadow at the Water's Edge Beta happening right now. Right Now! It is way too exciting around here. I've even heard a few shrieks and squeals from the Test Lab, and I'm not sure if it's from the "thrills," or the "chills." Either way it sounds like we've got an excellent mystery on hand. Of course when the time is right, we'll drop the veil on ND23. For now, I wish you visions of sugarplums and SCK, dancing merrily around in your head. I'm certain you'll enjoy it. :)

- Novel -

Weekend Puzzle

Hey all,

I hope you've had an awesome week hanging out with Summer. She'll be back soon, but first... I wrangled up a brand new puzzle for you. Have fun!

- Puzzle 67 -

12151511
914
2085
12921811825

--

Good luck sleuthers!

- Novel -

Average Morning, Above Average Afternoon

Well guys, not too much has happened today, but that’s all going to change soon.

I started the morning with more fairy tales and typed up some awesome bios of characters that you may or may not get to see soon…Then I moved on to working on the next newsletter to come out which will definitely contain some important details about upcoming releases and all the fall happenings for you to get excited about!

And then around mid-day I received an email announcing that the beta for SAW was ready for me to play! And thus I say that not much has happened today…yet. Because I’m about to jump into what looks like the scariest game yet (!!!!) and as any Nancy fanatic knows, everything pales in comparison to playing a new game.

So I apologize for not posting a longer blog with trivia or weird holidays…but I just have to go play!!

-Summer

Puzzle #66 Answer

Alright folks, here is your well deserved puzzle answer:

[Alphabet is arranged on 3 tic-tac-toe boards. First number in each set refers to the board order, second number refers to the square on the board. So A is 11, B is 12, J is 21, etc. ]

That was a tricky one and I’m super impressed with the thought processes that went into figuring it out (well…I guess they’re all hard and I’m always impressed but that goes especially for this week too).

I spent the morning gathering reviews from Amazon, reading through literally thousands of people’s opinions on all of the games. It’s crazy how one review will say “this was by far the most disappointing game” and then the next will say “easily the best yet, keep up the good work!” It just shows how everyone looks for different things from the games. But it’s a mystery to me how the designers can keep almost everybody satisfied with every game!

And after lunch I got to work reading through some well-known myths, fables, and fairy tales (Aesop, anyone?) to prepare for an upcoming special event! So be sure to check that out in the next couple of days. Reading stories all day? That’s my kind of job.

And in the words of our favorite sleuth, that’s it for now!

A Day Like No Other...

You may think that today is just any ordinary Tuesday…think again.

Today is S’mores day! …or according to my favorite source for bizarre holidays, at least. And since it’s summer, any night is the perfect night to have a campfire with some friends. Just make sure you don’t forget the grams, chocolate, and ‘mallows. (has anyone seen the Sandlot?)

As for my day, I spent all morning compiling feedback about TOT from the message boards, and now I’m working on making an easy to read chart with reviews of all the games as well as overall ratings from all our favorite review sites (including, you guessed it, the message boards!)

I can’t tell you how helpful it is to have so much input from our most devoted followers. I love that at HeR everyone recognizes how important our user’s thoughts are because they’re the ones who are actually playing the games. And I doubt that we would have created some of the amazing products we have without hearing what you guys like and don’t like. So…thanks!!

Also, great job on solving the puzzle!! Keep trying if you haven't figured it out yet and the answer will be up tomorrow.

Now back to work!

A Helpful Hint

With two upcoming releases, things are bustling. And while I’ve only been here for a couple of days, I’ve definitely already gotten in the groove of things here at HI. It probably helps that the marketing team sure has a lot of work on their plates right now and so there’s always something for me to help out with.

But I’m probably just as excited for the new games as you guys are. SCK came out when I was only six years old and to this day remains the only game I was never able to finish. And the thought of having to switch between disks mid-game has kept me from completing the set. However, I’m happy to return to the delightful combination of high school and murder…okay, so maybe “delightful” isn’t exactly the right word…

In other news, I checked in on the message boards and noticed that you guys needed a little help with last weekend’s puzzle. So here is a clue to get you on your way:

- Puzzle 66 Hint -
“Although tic-tac-toe is usually a game between X’s and O’s, maybe you can introduce some new letters into the mix.”

Hope that helps!

-Summer

Weekend Puzzle

There has been a lot of cool treats this week. (did ya see the trailer?) Next week looks promising as well. :) Until then, enjoy this wonderful puzzle!

- Puzzle 66 -

32 18 15 31 15 13 29 15 32 26 16 31 18 11 14 26 35 29 11 25 13 18

Clue: Solve this like you would play tic-tac-toe.

--

Have fun and see ya next week.

- Novel -

Be Nancy Drew Contest Winners

Hey again everyone,
It's the moment you've all been waiting for, the contest winners! I can't tell you how many great entries we recieved so don't be discouraged if your story wasn't chosen, they were all amazing and it was a very close call.

Hope you enjoy reading these!

WINNER #1: Sarah
"I first became utterly hooked on Nancy Drew when I read The Quest of the Missing Map in third grade.
Nancy was everything I wanted to be. She was brave, she was confident, and she was clever. She was beautiful, and had loyal friends and a handsome boyfriend who would rescue her from whatever perilous situation she found herself in.
But most of all, she was smart. She was incredibly smart. Nancy could pick any lock, follow any clues, and catch any crook. I read her books religiously, storing away information from her various escapades. I learned how to pick a lock with a bobby pin, how to lift fingerprints, and how to keep a criminal talking to bide more time.
I learned life lessons too, about honesty and integrity, about curiosity and wit. But the lessons I learned most from Nancy, and the ones that I use every day, are the importance of quick thinking and the power of observation.
I was eleven, and home alone with my two year old sister when these skills became especially important. We were walking down the stairs, her hand in mine, when I stopped short.
There was a man standing in our doorway, a seedy, unfamiliar man. But he was holding something very familiar: my mother’s wallet.
“Hi!” my sister said, and I quickly hushed her, never taking my eyes off the stranger as we slowly descended the steps.
He looked around nervously. “Is your mother home?” he asked. He didn’t give me a chance to answer, however. He dropped the wallet on the carpet and ran out the door. I stood by the window and watched as he crossed the street and disappeared behind a house.
Almost automatically, I picked up the phone and dialed those three numbers everyone knows, but hopes they never have to use.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
It felt like a movie. It couldn’t be real, there couldn’t have been a stranger standing in my door just five minutes before.
I told the dispatcher what had happened, giving her a full description of the burglar.
“Dark hair,” I told her, looking back in my memory at the brief moments I had seen him. “A long nose, and eyes that are too close together. He was wearing white tennis shoes, jeans, and a black jacket with writing on the back.”
She stayed on the phone with me until my mom came home. Then the real circus began.
The police arrived. I answered all their questions as best as I could, repeating my description and showing them where he had run off. I watched in fascination as they fingerprinted the doorknob, and as they took the canine around the yard to get a scent.
About an hour later they called to tell me they thought they had him. My mom and I followed an officer to a spot a few miles away, where they had the man in handcuffs.
It was him alright, just as I remembered.
In the end he confessed to over a dozen break-ins in the neighborhood. It felt good to know that my thinking skills and quick reaction helped bring answers to others, too.
And when I was interviewed for the news that night, who did I credit with giving me those quick thinking and observational skills?
Why, Nancy Drew of course!"

WINNER #2: Leah
"Curiosity is a very important skill that every detective should have, without curiosity a mystery could never be solved. As for me, I’m a very curious person, and had gotten a bright idea one day! I had heard several stories in my lifetime about treasure hunters and how they have found wonders right in their own back yards. I couldn’t stand it no longer so I had to go and find me some treasure! I wanted to know what kind of mysteries were beneath my feet, but I couldn’t do it alone. I felt like I needed an assistant. I went and asked my six year old little brother if he wanted to join me on my hunt and to be my side-kick. Of course his answer to my question was YES! We marched out to the chicken shed and I grabbed my shovel and he grabbed his plastic shovel and we both walked to a place that looked right for digging. After digging for a bit we both heard something that sounded like we had hit something big! Our eyes met and we both looked at each other in silence for a moment and then our eyes went back to the ground to where we heard that sound. It was a false alarm, and what we really hit was a rock! This didn’t stop us from digging and continuing our search in finding treasure. While digging awhile longer I wasn’t aware that I’d had dug something up in the mean time, but my little brother was aware of it though. He said with excitement in his voice “I found something”! Sure enough he’d found some kind of object. I was speechless and it took me a moment before I could tell him what a good job he did on finding it. When I finally got my words out his response was “I’m a genius”! He was so proud of himself and I was too!
This reminds me of Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships, when Nancy went to Shark Cove to go dig in the sand to try to find some kind of treasure. It took her many attempts of digging and in those attempts she found items that weren’t worth a buck, but finally she found what she was searching for.
After me and my little brother dug up this unknown mystery item we went to our dad to see what he thought it could be. He told us it was a part of a piece of an old pipe. It was so disappointing to us both thinking that our treasure would be valuable! Now everyday my little brother asks me if I want to go digging with him. Even though we haven’t so far found any valuable treasures, I will always treasure this memory in my heart!"

Guess Who's Back!

Hey guys, you’re favorite summer marketing intern here. That’s right, I—Summer Sleuth—have returned!

I really hope you guys have had a fantastic year and have continued to use you’re impressive puzzle solving skills for the good of mankind. I’d love to hear what you guys have been up to, any good stories? As for me, I’m just happy that summer is here again and I’m not stuck in a classroom anymore.

My first task as an intern this year was to help read through all of y’all contest entries! There is such a broad range of ideas and I love reading all of your tales of sleuthing at home. I have to say, it hasn’t been easy determining the winners…but have no fear, the results will be posted by the end of today.

I’m excited to get back into the groove of things here at HeR, which includes writing the blog several times a week among various other important tasks. As an intern, I pretty much do whatever is asked of me/whatever needs to get done. Similar, you may notice, to Nancy’s role when she’s helping out as part of a team. Yet another way playing Nancy Drew since I was a toddler has prepared me for the real world.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy hearing my narrative of intern life!
Summer Sleuth

The Next Best Thing

Two things! New voice on the 'morrow. (Yeah, contemplate that one for a minute ^.^) Aaaaaaaand awesome trailer action on the way (also tomorrow's news, today.)

Such has been my day. Blissful times with the Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED crew.

Plus there was this:

Pic of the Week

- The "Other" Conference Room -

Yessssss that is a super-secret ND24 meeting. In the sun no-less. I might or might not have been invited. But hey what do you expect from a Nancy Drew fan... at least a little snooping, right? (yes, they did absolutely see me.  And yes, I did get soooo busted.)

I'm out for the count, see ya soon!

- Novel -

Aha!

Yup, we're really jumpin' and jivin' on this whole Secrets Can Kill thing. There's been press releases, blog posts, and the whole-nine-yards. 'Course I'm hearing that a launch like this one is hard. It does happen to fall between two rather exciting and new cases (i.e. ND22 and ND23). So I've been checking the reception on the message boards... pretty decent I'd say. Just wait till you see what else is heading this way. ^.~

Also, we got a lot of good entries for the contest, I can't wait to start the reveal... though I don't know the winner just yet. I believe Thursday is going to be the day with all the fireworks. ^.^

This weekend's puzzle wasn't too tricky to solve.  So lets see how it is done.

- Puzzle 65 Answer -

This puzzle is actually a [ rebus ].  To solve it you need to discover what
[ each picture means ]. 
The first clue can be deciphered as [ Brand ]. 
For the second, you have to know what [ the image is (Gnu) ] and also how it is [ pronounced ("new") ]. 
The last clue is the trickiest.  The image [ -ing ] may seem like a [ directive ] but is actually an [ example of a suffix ].  Another word for this is an [ ending ]. 
Put it all together and you get:[ Brand New Ending ]

--

Now that's a worthy answer!  Definitely one of the more anticipated features available in Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED.

Adios amigos!

- Novel -

Up-Start

It's going to be a short one. The most important news to lay down is the beginning of Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED pre-orders! So get in on that if you can. There's some awesome footage on its way from the Marketing Team that should help to "seal the deal." I've seen it, and I approve.

From what I've heard they've got a few surprises left to deliver before the launch.   It is an awfully content-heavy summer, though "awfully" is probably the most inaccurate phrasing I could have used.  I must be a tad worn thin, mayhaps we'll get another hand about the office...

If the above verbiage tells you nothing else, at least know this: we're staring at a week that is as jammed packed as we can conceivably make it.  Contest winners, puzzle answers, and anything else we can cram in.  Is there more we could give you? Only at the cost of precious, precious sleep...

Promises will be kept, expectations met! ^.^

- Novel -