Weekend Puzzle #230

Howdy all! I have a few things to point out today, and some are just reminders.
First, we have a sale going on for The Deadly Device this weekend!

Also, we will still be posting more game duels for Nancy Drew Madness on our Facebook page over the weekend, so check back every day to participate.

And of course, there is still the Kindle HDX promotion going on. You can enter via Facebook page or our home site! Remember, you can enter as many times as you'd like!

Lastly, here is your weekend puzzle:

Use this: SOHTG

To transpose this: YAGWM - DLUAO - AGBYH - BDFAE - LUYLY

Have a fantastic weekend!
~Little Jackalope~

Gummy Bear Craze

Have you played The Deadly Device? (Excellent game because it's entirely indoors and there is snow outside, so it's a wintry type of game). One of our fans, Rozanna also created these for the cookie contest.

Of course I had to share it with you! Gummy bears are awesome!
It reminded me of this bag in our merchandise store:

We have a Facebook fan birthday!

~Little Jackalope~

Going Through the Trash

Can any of you identify with this Nancy Drew Moment?

How excited we get when playing a Nancy Drew game when the opportunity arises to rifle through a character's trash! There is often something of interest in there, and it is an excellent skill to be observant in every area of an environment. Thankfully most of the trash Nancy goes through is paper, and nothing gross, like leftover frog legs from Danger by Design or something.

Still working on the cover art. The date we release the art will be a surprise date, so stay tuned to our web site or social media sites (web links are to the right of this blog) for when we roll out the red carpet (so to speak) for it's grand view!

Behind the scenes notes: I'm listening to static, literally, for the best sound effect to use.
The Silent Spy quote is going into the merchandise store today...

Oh! And if you want to enter a contest for a chance to win a black mug of The Silent Spy, head over to our Facebook page to post your most creative caption to our Caption Contest! You have until Monday to participate. Come up with something creative!

~Little Jackalope~

Schrödinger's Birthday

Wow, late posting today could mean only one thing at this time: I am working on something very important today.

Did you know that today was Erwin Schrödinger's birthday? I bet some of you have blank or curious looks on your face right now. Schrödinger was a physicist best known for his interpretation of quantum mechanics. Anyways, his cat and box theory was sketched on the whiteboard in The Deadly Device in the security booth.

In honor of this, we have a great sale going on today only. Visit our Facebook page to find the secret code to get The Deadly Device for 50% off (digital or physical). That's a $10 game.

Be free, Schrödinger's cat, be free! Live your life!

Oh! The weekend puzzle was displayed as maritime flags. Decode the flags correctly and you get ["Not who they seem"] referring to something about The Silent Spy.

~Little Jackalope~

Sonny Does His Research

In Ransom of the Seven Ships, Sonny's notebook becomes very helpful to Nancy. His research notes from being out in the field, studying the terribly clever Vervet monkeys, helps you understand how to play their games, and ultimately get you rewards that you will need later. Wow, Sonny has been to this remote island in the Caribbean, too! Where has he not been?

The doodle of himself on this notebook cover is what's in the Where's Sonny? contest we currently have going on.

His doodles in this book are among his best work, I think. Also, a combination of his doodles can be found on an image in our merchandise store in the Ransom of the Seven Ships category when you go to design your product. This is my choice item: the mouse pad, which many of you know can also be seen in The Deadly Device on Mason's desk.

I love Sonny's notebooks!

~Little Jackalope~

Girls and Technology

Not too long ago I posted about how Nancy Drew games are made for everyone: girls, boys, and adults, young and old. Now I would like to point out why we focus on and continue to encourage girls. Yes, you may see that our company name is "Her", and our web site is now pink, and we often try to show our games to girls first. There are reasons for this. (Guys are still welcome, of course!)

 

First, we want girls to see that games are fun for them, too. The thing is, girls have it made tough. Being a girl myself, I can see from this perspective. Typically, video games are made attractive to guys, made by guys, and made for guys. Guys are encouraged to pursue business, math, science and technology in training and in school for those real-world job skills as well.

I remember starting a high school class called "Information Technology" because I was interested in a computer job. In a class of 25, there were only two girls. Me and Desiree. Where were the other girls? Later I took web design class and a computer animation class. In both classes there were only about 4 girls in each one. Why? I found these classes to be so informative and fun (hey! We were making things!)

Her Interactive strives to break the walls down of girl isolation in technology, math and science and inspire, interest, and encourage young girls and ladies to learn those "guy" skills...which are skills anybody can have. Us girls simply need to be shown these things and then be encouraged to give it a try! Actually, I think every young student, guys and girls alike, should be encouraged to try pursuing these skills. Why? Because in the very office I'm writing from are a bunch of skilled, talented men and women designing, programming, marketing and creating some really fun games! And we LOVE doing it! But we can only do it with the knowledge, education, and years of practice that it takes to do what we do.

If you are a guy or a girl still in school, think about what interests you, and if you don't know, take a look at some of the Nancy Drew games. Did you like the puzzle in Pa's general store (Trail of the Twister) that taught you about the tornadoes? What about typing in the correct code in the back of the arcade game in The Haunted Carousel? What about mixing chemicals in The Deadly Device?

There are soo many different things to learn or interest you in the Nancy Drew games. Perhaps something will catch your eye! Follow that trail to find out more about these things! I sure did, and now I work at the greatest company ever doing what I love to do!

~Little Jackalope~

Father's Day Weekend!

Happy early Father's day to all the dads out there! We love our dads, and I find it really awesome when dads (and moms) get to sit next to you when playing a Nancy Drew game. Two heads are always better than one, so solving a mystery the first time with a partner-in-crime makes the mystery-solving business easier, and often more enjoyable!

Do either of your parents play Nancy Drew games with you? If you haven't played Nancy Drew #27: The Deadly Device, this weekend would be a good time to try it out with your Mom or Dad. (Or replay it again!)

- Order The Deadly Device here! -

Hope everyone enjoys your Father's Day weekend!
Stay sleuthy!
. /_._ _ /.  // ... /._ _. / _._ _ / ._ // _ _ . / .... / _ _ _ / ... / _
~Little Jackalope~

Art from the Games

If I may say so, I personally really like the cover art for Ghost of Thornton Hall. :) So much so that I bought a kindle case from our own merchandise store with this art on it:

And while I was there I also had to get the Sonny Joon notebook design (from Ransom of the Seven Ships) placed on a mouse pad. This same mouse pad can be found on Mason's desk in The Deadly Device.

I'd thought I'd share these because I'm really excited about adding to my own fan collection. XD

While the poem, logo, and cover art are already available in our merchandise store, behind the scenes we are about to begin work on more art that can be found in Ghost of Thornton Hall. It should all be up in time for the official launch date of the game. *Insider secret: we are super close to really, truly running out of the physical copies of the BONUS EDITION. I overheard the team already discussing the announcement of this for later...I hope you pre-ordered your preferred game version already!

Side note: Has anybody already begun playing Legend of the Crystal Skull this week?

~Little Jackalope~

The Music of Egypt and Science

Nobody panic! If you've checked out our web site or have noticed the conversation on the Message Boards... we are not retiring Warnings at Waverly Academy, in fact we updated our site today to better clarify. Once the physical box copies of WAC are sold out, we will not be re-stocking them. The digital download, however, will still be available for purchase if you do not have it yet.

Last week we launched some new soundtracks! While we are still considering the release of Music for Mysteries #5 (games 20-25), we have made Tomb of the Lost Queen and The Deadly Device soundtracks available! Want to travel to Egypt while in your car? Or pretend you are the smartest scientist in the world by listening to the music played in the lab? I'm super excited for these... in fact, I've already started using the music from these games as my alarm clock music. XD That's a bit nerdy...

Since these soundtracks are individual games, you can download them for only $4.99 on our web site here. Stay tuned! Perhaps someday in the near future we will release the Ghost of Thornton Hall music!

Head's up! New poll to your right!
~Little Jackalope~

Gummy Bear Theatre

Number 3 clue in the post 13 Hints for 2013 has been revealed! Gummy referred to Gummy Bear Theatre, which can be found in the BONUS EDITION of The Deadly Device, in the end game outtakes. (Those who pre-ordered the game during pre-order period received this edition).

We posted the video below to our YouTube channel last Friday (be sure to subscribe to us!), and now I'm cluing you in to a little behind the scenes content: these audio files did not make it into the final game (except for a part of "The Tragic End of Two Gummy Bears"). And so we put together newly-animated scenes of these files for your enjoyment. Ryan has a little fun playing with gummy bears...if you haven't noticed... XD

Enjoy!

Looks like you all solved the weekend puzzle! Congrats! Here is the solution:

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct words
2. Find these words in the crossword puzzle
3. Identify the remaining letters in the puzzle
4. type out the complete web URL address to find your prize.

 
The prize will be re-posted on Valentine's Day (Thursday), so that will give you extra time to find this for yourself if you have yet to complete the search.
~Little Jackalope~

Awards, Trophies and Badges

We have gone through many end-game awards over the years. At first, we were left to feel proud of ourselves over the accomplished game, which, after the closing letter, would drop us into the end credits. But when we made The Haunted Carousel, we added something a little extra to say "Well done!"

Game awards!

Because of Nancy's subscription to "Sassy Detective" magazine, we tied in the "Sassy Detective Awards" that awarded you a digital certificate named after what you were best at or did the most of when solving the case, like solving puzzles, calling friends, finding Easter Eggs, etc.

Later, in Legend of the Crystal Skull, we changed it up to a list, so that you can read all of the awards you can possibly get. The ones you earn would be checked off. Also, in the end credits would appear a detective's badge (either Junior or Senior) with as many stars as awards you earned.

And now, we have reached my favorite award: In The Deadly Device, at the end of the game you get special trophies that light up when you achieve it. I find this the most beautiful display of awards we've had yet, but that's just my opinion. XD

Are you good at remembering character's quotes from the games? Try identifying this week's Twitter Quote in today's contest!
~Little Jackalope~

Koko Mallos Krazy

I was looking through our merchandise store and realized that I had not discussed my absolute favorite image in there.

Koko Mallos!! Oh how I wish they were real...I already love marshmallows and these became a natural favorite when Ryan had me fetch some from the candy case in The Deadly Device. I just had to make sure that everyone else who was a fan could at least get these images on the products in the merchandise store.

Here are a few examples:

~The iPad design, T-shirt design and the mugs~

It especially looks great on the pillowcase; it's so very colorful!
...and since I was in the sugar type of mood, that's what this week's poll is about...Nancy Drew treats. (~.^) (See poll to the right of this page).
~Little Jackalope~

Secret Behind the Clock's Secret

Sounds like a few of you (especially many of those on the Message Boards) have been pondering the secret behind the cracked clock face on the cover of Secret of the Old Clock. If you have never noticed until now: the Roman Numerals skip the number 9 and add on the number 13. Very peculiar since there is no 13th hour on a standard analog clocks...

The reason behind this? It was just for fun. We play with cover art and make it artistically beautiful and intriguing, and there is no real reasoning behind the 13th number. It's only mysterious. :)

Hey howdy hey!! We have another Facebook Caption Contest! This picture features Mason and Ryan from The Deadly Device. Head over to post your funny or creative caption of what they are saying to each other (yes, you have to have a Facebook account to do this, but you do not need an account to simply view all of the great entries so far.)

Extra behind-the-scenes secret: today our Writer and Designer went to record some phone characters for Ghost of Thornton Hall.
~Little Jackalope~

Tesla is Everywhere!

I'm not sure how I lived my life never knowing who Nikola Tesla was until our designer started researching him for The Deadly Device a while back. Yes, I admit I had never heard of him before then. >.< Now he just seems to be everywhere! Our Director of Marketing was recently on a trip and snapped this photo:

Voila! Nikola Tesla is mentioned here! It's like a scavenger hunt success! Also, not too long ago I came by a car named after him. It looked pretty cool!

Where have you found a Tesla reference?
~Little Jackalope~

Blowing Stuff Up

Ok, how many of us can admit that we often need those "Second Chances" during a mystery? The particular Second Chances I want to mention are those moments when our life is on the line...unless we simply avoid these dangerous circumstances, we we can't since we are drawn to danger...and if Nancy doesn't solve the puzzle correctly...KUHBLAM! Time for a Second Chance. >.<

Some examples include organizing the elements in the underground secret location of The Haunting of Castle Malloy. You know, the one where you maneuver the mechanical arm/grip and drop the elements into the appropriate places? Also, in Curse of Blackmoor Manor, where down in the tunnels you need to enter the correct alchemy recipe/combination...and you enter incorrectly? Kaboom. Enough said.

We have a newer "kaboom" moment in The Deadly Device, when you mix the wrong amount of chemicals together, the glass bottle explodes. (I don't know about you, but I find this destructively fun!) We have a Nancy Drew Moment graphic for these moments and memories....

Yeah. Exactly. XD
~Little Jackalope~

Thanksgiving and Posters!

Today at the Her Interactive office, we had a company potluck for Thanksgiving. Everyone brought some wonderful food (I made sure to try every single dish) and it was all amazing! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and has lots of fun going shopping in those crazy stores super early in the morning. (~.^)

Some of the food we shared:

Hey! We have new merchandise in our store! (And I do believe I mentioned this already..) But I wanted to point one particular item out to you:

See this poster in The Deadly Device from in the lounge?

Well, it's now available for purchase! (And since I'm such a nerd, I went ahead and ordered one for myself... >.<) I will have to show you when it gets here!

~Little Jackalope~

Programmer Navigation

Here's something you don't see everyday! I was fortunate enough to hover over the desk of our Lead Tester back in May this year to get a look at what she was up to. This, my friends, is a map. (^_^) She was checking to see if all of the scene views (as listed by numbers) matched up in the right locations. Each arrow represents a viewpoint for the player, not necessarily the ability to move forward, but the different angles you get to look (perspectives) at with each step you take in The Deadly Device.

 

Behind the scenes here, we have "scene numbers" for us to refer to and especially for connecting the dots, so to speak. You don't want to click to go forward towards the elevator and suddenly show up in Niko's office! So our Lead Tester checks to make sure our game navigation is correctly matching up with the logic. Can you identify these areas based on the shape and navigation view? Answer is at the bottom of this post, below my name.

Head's up! New poll on the right -- >

Also,

~Little Jackalope~
Map answer: [downstairs halls, the K on the left leads to the lab, the K on the bottom right is right before Niko's Office.]

Weekend Puzzle #174

Hey howdy hey! Happy Friday! It's starting to get chilly here in Washington, we had frost this morning leading up to a bright sunny, fall day. It's really pretty, perhaps I'll take some pictures to share.

I found some old pictures (from May of this year) that I took specifically for a time like this: sharing behind-the-scenes information and pictures on the making of The Deadly Device! For those of you who have played the game, can you tell what puzzle I got to try out in its early concept stage? (Yes, we use actual toys such as legos in the design process...) XD

Weekend puzzle! We have some announcements for next week, but here you get an early peek at what this will be:

Keyword: Clue, and no Q about it!
Puzzle: mayjusabhtbjyg

Stay sleuthy!
~Little Jackalope~

Modeling an Environement

Today we posted an interview with one of our fantastic 3D artists, Lyndon, on the Dare to Play blog. Check it out here!

It's really fun to put a name to a specific part of a game and get to know more about who helped make the environments in each mystery. Lyndon helped create the main lab and the photolithography lab in The Deadly Device. Check out the early modeling phase compared to the end result where it is textured. (Another artist creates the textures to wrap the models).

~The etcher in the photolithography lab: early art and finished art~

I promise to continue interviewing the rest of the team here, (yes, this means everyone!) In fact, I just filmed an interview today with another worker. ;) Stay tuned!

~Little Jackalope~

Candy Bears, Ryan and Mason

I had to eat some fruity gummy treats today because my mind was on The Deadly Device...particularly last week's puzzle answer and how I get to explain it today.

To solve the weekend puzzle, you will need to watch the official trailer here. Pause at each of the times listed in the puzzle, and count the number of letters you see on the screen from left to right, top to bottom. If you collect all of the correct letters, you'll get [I less than three them] which is a quote said by Ryan Kilpatrick concerning her colorful candy gummy bears.

We have this image in our Merchandise Store for you to put on a t-shirt, or pillowcase, or mouse pad or whatever you choose! Or if you don't like the quote, there is also the candy bear group. :)

New wallpaper available! You can put Mason Quinto on your desktop as the wallpaper if you so choose. Or you can put Ryan up as your background since she is really fun...and loves gummy bears!
~Little Jackalope~