Alex Hill and Whispers at White Oak Inn: Can She Rub Elbows with HeR's Nancy Drew?

 

Screenshot of digital game cover from Alex Hill Mystery

As a seasoned Nancy Drew gamer, I was excited to hear that various people were making games based on HeR Interactive's Nancy Drew mystery series. Already, we had Miss Clue, but that series had its bugs and other issues that made gameplay unpleasant and/or impossible. Alex Hill: Whispers at White Oak Inn by hannahontrek is a slower, low-pressure mystery rife with Nancy Drew references and high stakes. 

The Concilio Detective Agency is asked by Ronnie Bahir, a 25-year-old concierge at White Oak Inn, to investigate the threats he's been receiving and if the inn's hauntings are connected since they started up only a few months ago. The case is given to Alex Hill who is back from suspension. On the car ride there, she witnesses a ghostly, glowing figure walking across the lake near the inn, so already, the game is a foot! When Alex checks in with Ronnie, she learns that a girl named Audrey died in a boating accident years ago and is only recently haunting the property. A closer look at Ronnie's threats reveals that the sender seems to know about something Ronnie did, but he claims to not know what that is.

-- Spoilers for both the Nancy Drew game series and Alex Hill --

Alex's ID card in her suitcase

Characters

Alexandra "Alex" Hill: Private investigator for the Concilio Detective Agency in New York; has brown eyes and is 5 foot 8 inches, has dark hair and olive(?) skin; is or plans to be an organ donor; isn't afraid to break the rules and does it whenever she can; is determined to solve her cases no matter the circumstances; has found dead bodies on previous cases; has a close(?) relationship with her mother; her best(?) friend is Cassandra.

Cassandra: Works as the receptionist at the Concilio Detective Agency in New York; is best(?) friends with Alex probably through working with the agency; loves researching.

Concilio: Is in charge of his detective agency and likes Alex despite having suspended her from the agency; likes being kept in the loop of Alex's cases; is concerned for Alex's safety while on a case and isn't afraid to pull her from a case if there's danger.

Ronnie Bahir: 25 years old; is the ex-boyfriend to Audrey; works as the concierge at the inn; is receiving threatening letters and hired the Concilio Detective Agency to figure out the sender's identity; developed a drinking problem while dating Audrey and can't remember the night she died.

Lisa: Audrey's mother; considered Ronnie a son; didn't see eye-to-eye with Lauren; married to Tom (Audrey's father); romantically involved with Henry; previous owner of the inn and sold it to Dennis a few months ago just before the hauntings began.

Audrey: Friends with Lauren and Ronnie; daughter to Lisa and Tom; was dating Ronnie, but broke up with him; had an argument with Ronnie and went boating at night later fatally crashing into the boathouse about two years ago.

Lauren: Owner of the Grand Air Rentals & Repair shop within walking distance to the inn; was friends with Audrey and Ronnie; went to Henry's shop growing up while hanging out with Audrey and Ronnie; works at the inn preparing breakfast/lunch.

Henry: Owner of the Anew View Curiosity Shop in town; was romantically involved with Lisa years ago; spent time with Audrey, Lauren, and Ronnie when they were kids and they hung out at his shop; found snooping around the inn and threatened by Dennis that he'll press charges if he continues.

Dennis: New owner of the inn as of three months ago; his great-grandmother, Eliza Meyers, used to own it, and he'd been hounding Lisa to sell it; is very business-minded and thinks Audrey's ghost is beneficial for business but believes the ghost is only in people's heads; has a temper; loves ships and the sea; accepts things at face value.

Shirley Himmerman: has a Southern accent and is from Kentucky; professional blogger and investigator of international hauntings; was one of the first to see Audrey's ghost three months ago; working on a book; has a licence to carry a weapon.

Top is Cassandra from my playthrough; Bottom is the screenshot from the Steam store page, which may be from the demo.

Graphics

Unfortunately, I do not own a gaming computer, so the graphics aren't the best in my playthroughs and no matter how I change the game's graphics' levels, it doesn't look like the screenshots on the game's Steam store page. I also tried the option of "Auto Detect Best Graphic Settings" which made it look even worse. After seeing Gooba and Jetpack play the demo, it seems that the demo had the better graphics, so it's not my computer that's the problem.

I found the only thing in this game that needs additional work are the character models. From a distance, they look really good but close up, it's a bit scary, as if they need to bake a little while longer.

Shirley in her room at a distance (top) and close up (bottom)

Another aspect that makes the characters somewhat unsettling is that some of them don't move very much, whether it's their face or their body. Ronnie's model moves naturally, but Shirley's face reminds me of the Quebecois animation of Têtes à Claques where only part of her face moves. It's as if her face is made of rubber and stretches whenever she moves her mouth or eyebrows.

Some characters have interesting looped movements when you watch them at a distance. You might remember Joy from The Haunted Carousel who would put a pencil in her mouth and then remove it when you moused over her (Thanks, Jetpack! (1:40:09)). The characters in this game don't move when the cursor is on them, but they still seem realistic. Ronnie types and uses one hand to scratch the back of his head. Dennis doesn't type nearly as well as Nigel, but it's interesting to see him look at the screen and down at the keyboard and back again. He occasionally leans back in his chair a little and moves forward to continue typing. Shirley reads her book on one page and moves her head to read the other page and then turns the page. Henry's is pretty dull with him half hunched over the counter to read a magazine or something and he occasionally looks up, but the lighting makes him a little freaky. Lauren's is the most boring since her back is to us and I can't tell what she's meant to be repairing even if I click on her to talk and look at the table behind her.

The White Oak Inn website
on Alex's phone

Setting

I like the layout of the inn. Its unusual shape and three stories give it a lot of character, though it does take a little time to get the hang of navigating. A lot of the walls are sparse and a lot of the downstairs' windows don't have curtains, giving it an unfinished look. 

Having the noire detective comics show up throughout the game was a nice touch! I thought initially that the content may be relevant to the case, but they seem to just have the theme of crime and punishment and are for fun, like the newspaper crossword and word scrambler.

I thought the food delivery was good, but I would have preferred to have the choice of multiple options or at least one option for main and one option for dessert like we have for the breakfast and lunch menus.

The beautiful cabinet at the far end of the dining room is so detailed yet underused. We're given one drawer to interact with, but it's only to get an achievement by squeaking a duck many times. At the very least, I was hoping to acquire a tool from the drawer at some point or to look at something temporarily displayed there.

The kitchen needs some work. It shares the same hardwood flooring as the dining room (usually kitchens are tiled); there's only a minifridge (that's not enough for an inn with 8 rooms for guests and at least three staff members); and if there's eggs, bacon, and pancakes being made for breakfast and lunch then, where is the oven and stovetop? And there's also a sink missing. There's no other door that could lead to a possible Staff Only room that might house the plumbing and prep area, so the kitchen is not realistic.

Second floor of the inn

The second floor is one of my favorite areas due to the layout, color scheme, and décor. It's almost completely balanced in terms of space versus decorations/furniture because when you turn around from the image above to face the stairs, there are two blank walls there and its emptiness just smacks you in the face after having seen the beauty of the rest of the area.

Nancy has had a variety of hotel rooms/bedrooms during her mystery series that vary from decent to gorgeous. I love Alex's room! The color palette and the tower shape really makes it stand out and reminds players of Treasure in the Royal Tower. The texture on the curtains gives them a sense of softness. It's cozy and doesn't come with a noisy radiator! I just wish we could have witnessed something out of our room's window. I mean, we have enough of them.

Alex's Room

The garden is a lovely area with the patio, the lights at night, the gazebo, and the stone paths. I was hoping Shirley would be sitting outside sometimes. I also found the gazebo could have used a seat or two since it's summertime. Every instance I went out in the garden, I was checking the ground for any clues. I also appreciated when we finally got to bike; it's a good fast travel method. Like in the early Nancy Drew games, I forgot about our phone, so I solved the bike stuff by trial and error, except when it came to the air. That's when I realized the answers were on the phone.

If this inn really existed, I would want to spend a week or two there (minus the hauntings and death)!

Walking to the boathouse and repair shop has some stunning graphics with the dazzling starry night (perhaps too dazzling for realism's sake, haha) with the moonlight guiding the way. I appreciate that our bike jumps to each location for us, so we're not stranded or have to go looking for the bike if we forgot where we initially put it.

Lauren's repair shop is realistic in its layout and inventory. I wish the information displays we could read were relevant to the case. It seemed like a lot to create for nothing to be used. Alex never wears a helmet when biking. There's a life jacket in the boat we fix, which is odd: who's is it? I don't think we have a sound effect to put it on and we can't add it to our inventory; we just click the boat and go.

In the same vain, the dock area near the repair shop doesn't have a purpose. You can stand on it and look at the boats where Alex has one line about the glowing figure she saw, but we never get to take one of those boats or do or see anything more. I don't know why the area was created. The dialogue line Alex has could have been said when she's at the boathouse since that's the boat she takes to go exploring on the lake.

Henry's shop is all right. It's not as cluttered as Zeke's or Wardencliff Antiques, and we could interact and see things up close much more than in either of those Nancy Drew shops. It's more like the Prop Room in Stay Tuned for Danger. It's much more focused on function than aesthetic, too. I was bummed that we couldn't investigate behind his counter when we break in. His backroom is excellent since it provides a good amount of clues and context for Henry's situation. I wish I knew what the crash is when we pick up the blueprints. 

Music

The tone of this game is sombre and, as I mentioned above, low-pressure. The tracks are mainly composed of slow and light piano. Even the final track titled "The Culprit" continues to focus on the piano, though it has a deeper tone at times. The soundtrack highlights the sadness and grief most of the characters have for Audrey's death.  

Personally, I don't find any of the tracks memorable because there is a lack of variety in mood, tone, pacing, and instruments. Take Secret of the Old Clock. That game has "Drive" with its hectic and panic-stricken pacing and tone as well as the slower and lamenting track called "Gloom." It uses various brass instruments with certain tracks including drums or piano. Additionally, it has tracks like "Humble" and "Mystery" that are more in the middle-ground where you're neutrally walking around or looking at your task list but they still provide atmosphere. 

In re-listening to the Whispers at White Oak Inn playlist, I can understand both "The Inn at Night" and "The Inn at Night 2" are more mournful since Audrey's ghost shows up more then and nighttime just makes emotions and fears worse, but I would have thought the daytime tracks would be a little more upbeat. When I listen to "Daytime at the Inn" and "Daytime at the Inn 2," I get rainy day vibes from the soundtrack, so again, more of a reflective and sloth-like atmosphere, which I don't find fits. Also, there isn't any rain in this game to support those feelings. I guess I was hoping for a bit more of a notable contrast like in Ghost Dogs at Moon Lake where the "Day" track is happier than the "Night" track. 

"The Garden" track reminds me of "Aunt Eloise's House" in the original Secrets Can Kill and I'd say that's the "happiest" song you'll find in the game.

Puzzles

The "What Time is it?" clock puzzle

I think I'm usually pretty good with puzzles. But some of these were a miss for me. The clock puzzle box threw me off with the dials all going up to twelve. I knew the grandfather clock was the key to this, but it just didn't occur to me that I'd have to input the time one number per dial since the dials are clock faces. I had to look this one up since I was overcomplicating it.

The bike fixing was simple since you can do trial and error for most of it, so it was easier to do since I don't know bike stuff.

I found the repair shop schedule puzzle confusing for two reasons:

• The first instruction says that Bailey and Karren hate each other, so they must be separated by several time slots. Then, the second instruction says that Karren hates being first. So, I thought it meant that Karren had to come in after Bailey, not that she hates being the first one to go to the shop, i.e., 9 am. 
• The other issue I had was knowing what one hour meant because I thought the person had to have three slots to cover the hour, rather than two slots. This may just be my brain, though. Time and time travel are hard to conceptualize.

I like Lauren's pricing puzzle since it spells everything out for you and you just need to read the instructions carefully.

I enjoyed the puzzles I recognized from other Nancy Drew games, such as the lockpicking and the fireplace key puzzle, although the latter was tricky since you could interpret the diary's design more than one way. 

Dennis's compass puzzle was easy and quick to do. Regarding Dennis's laptop password, however, I was kicking myself since the ferry book didn't look suspicious to me; the corner looked like texture, so I paid it no mind. I mean, all the other books aren't relevant aside from telling ghost stories and Alex telling the player that "hoaxes" are important to think about. Also, Stay Tuned for Danger was a million years ago for me when I found Millie's "on the glue" password myself.

The first part of the bunker door puzzle reminded me of the train seat puzzle in The Silent Spy since the main goal was to spin the circles to get the colors in the right places, but this puzzle was so much harder! I eventually gave up and used a guide. Guess what? I still got confused and had to redo it three times! The second part to the puzzle that uses the gazebo's poem was easier on my brain to do.

When trapped in the bunker, I couldn't figure out what to do with the metal piece I found under the bed. That's because I could not see the small square that could be opened on the side of the door where you press the button. Again, I had to look at a walkthrough. It wasn't as bad at the invisible pen (see the Theory section), but close to it.

Left to right: Symbol instructions, main menu, task list, phone, and (expandable) inventory

Solving the Case

The UI is minimalistic, allowing players to see as much of the game environment as possible, such as in the Nancy Drew games that use the Unity engine. We get a task list and phone to help us along the way. The inventory is visible, but has a scroll feature that blocks out the first row of inventory, allowing you to still have optimal game environment visibility. During my first few playthroughs, I didn't notice the question mark in the left-hand corner since it's quite small. But having it there is good since it provides players who haven't played Nancy Drew instructions on what the various cursor types do and what the symbols in the game mean, including the fast-forward/skip button during dialogues. I would prefer having the question mark bigger or in the menu instead.

The task list is designed nicely with Current and Finished tasks sections and a section to describe what needs to be done for each task. Some tasks are described in a minimalist way where they simply restate self-explanatory tasks, such as "Fix the boat" while others are more detailed where they tell the player to call someone in addition to the task at hand.

The phone is also simplified with only pre-programmed phone numbers, text chats we can only read, and the internet search that lists pre-determined subjects based on what we interacted with in the game. It's very easy to use and I thought that knowing when to call people or do a search was mostly intuitive. I did forget to use the phone when trying to fix the bike, so it was all trial and error for me until I got to the PSI, then I remembered my phone. The only complaint I have is why didn't we have a search for making a tea latté? Personally, I knew it had to be tea bag, water and milk (didn't know about the cream, but that was simple to figure out), but I noticed in Arglefumph's playthrough that he seemed to have zero idea about how tea and coffee are made since he kept intentionally adding coffee and tea to the mug. For me, this confirmed that an article on the phone would have been beneficial.

Game Issues

An error I noticed was that the room numbers are off. There are two Room 4s: one of the first floor and one on the second. There's also an unmarked door at the end of the second-floor hallway, but it's never mentioned if that's meant to be Dennis's or Ronnie's.

Glitch after snooping in Dennis's office

I encountered some glitches when loading. I loaded a file around the time I was snooping through Dennis's office and all of my tasks were gone. I also went to the front desk where Ronnie was meant to be absent at that time, but he was suddenly there and his dialogue was off as well. He went through the entire beginning conversations as if Alex had just arrived at the inn. Thankfully, older saves were fine and I just had to redo a little bit of gameplay. 

Later in the game, I loaded again and all my tasks were there, but the obviously closed repair shop was suddenly open and Lauren was there with no dialogue options. I went back to an autosave and that worked fine.

Dark Subject Matter and Language

The Nancy Drew mystery series has some dark subject matter, but it's often unclear or glossed over. There have been only two mysteries out of the current thirty-four that have dealt with a murder and the second game had players partially witness his death. Whispers at White Oak Inn feels more realistic with complex human beings and sad circumstances.

We learn from Ronnie himself that he used to have a drinking problem and that he decided to stay sober after Audrey's death because he can't remember what happened the night she died. This immediately leads sharp detectives to suspect he had something to do with her death, so our victim turns into a suspect.

Second-floor bookcase

Having been trained by Nancy Drew games that people survive things like getting hit on the head and having a ton of boulders collapse onto them, Alex finding what ends up being a dead body is shocking and sad. Not only is her client dead, but we learn that she has found bodies before during past cases who were not her client. Also, we find out after the credits that the next game deals with similar subject matter since it's titled The Body at Clearwater Bay. (Note: A book on the second floor in the hallway bookcase has a very similar title of The Body by the Bay.)

Language in the Nancy Drew games does not have any swearing, which I always appreciated. I noticed in The White Wolf of Icicle Lake that characters started using the word "screwed" like when Nikki on the phone complains about someone stealing her geophones and how she can't do her work. In The Silent Spy, Moira goes on and on when Nancy is surprised that someone of her advanced years is a DJ and listens to house music. Moira makes a veiled comment about saying something problematic, which is meant to mean she'd say a racist comment. In this Alex Hill game, there are four instances of swearing that I noticed:

• Alex says, "You scared the crap out of me" when she meets Shirley.
• Ronnie describes Audrey's ghost when it first showed up, adding, "It's creepy as hell."
• Dennis tells Alex, "Get the hell out of my office" when she makes tactless accusations.
• Alex bangs on the door of the bunker after Lauren locks her in and yells, "Lauren, what the hell!?"

Theory

Sometimes, mystery games are designed to be played linearly, meaning that the player can't move on to Point B unless they completed Point A, whereas some games can have Points A-E available but they all must be completed however you like before reaching the end. With that in mind, I think Shirley's photo of Henry in the gazebo after Ronnie's death is meant to point players to investigate it so that they find the poem and pen. But the pen can be found on the first morning, so I'm not sure what the point of the pen being there is. Is it Henry who lost it since he snoops around the place and is writing down the gazebo poem in Shirley's photo or did Lauren plant it since Henry said people walk off with his store's pens? The evidence I have for Lauren planting the pen consists of three things:

1. The muddy boots she has in her car that were used to plant Henry's shop keys near the boat house to implicate him in Ronnie's death, but Henry admits to being there since he saw Alex there. But he says he doesn't know what Alex was doing, so he was there but didn't stay to see what was happening? 
2. Henry's hat in the bunker, which is confusing since we don't know how Lauren managed to get a second one from him. What was Lauren going to do with that hat? Where was she going to put it?
3. A typewriter in the bunker, which may have already been in there given when it was built so it'd be an interesting coincidence that Shirley has one as well and has remained at the inn for so long. Regardless, it makes me wonder if Lauren was also trying to implicate Shirley as well by typing up those letters to Ronnie since she could have used a laptop or computer just as easily.

Perhaps the game devs wanted to make the pen be plausible for both cases since it makes Henry, Lauren (who spent time there growing up), and Shirley suspicious since we're told by both Henry and Shirley that she visited his shop and asked questions, so she could have stolen a pen, too.

Side note: I have one complaint about the pen. I didn't find it during my first playthrough because I was using my eyes to investigate. I saw Calina from StoryRetold find it in her Playthrough 02, so I went to look for it. I'm sorry, but how is anyone supposed to find the pen!? It's invisible!!!

Invisible pen from Henry's Curiosity Shop found in the gazebo

Miscellaneous References

Alex says, "Javajavajavajava..." when you click on her coffee card in her wallet. This is a reference to George of the Jungle when he's living in the city for the first time and eats coffee beans, if memory serves.

While talking to Cassandra on the phone about Audrey's ghost asking Alex for help, Cass says that Scooby-Doo taught her about monsters/ghosts usually being around to scare people away, not ask them for help.

Alex sees the cat photo on the second floor and comments, "You're not a rat, you're a cat" which seems to be a reference to the 1986 movie An American Tail.

While browsing Henry's shop, Alex makes several references that players may not recognize (me included!):

• Doctor Who:

1. The 3D glasses in the display case next to Henry is a reference to the 10th Doctor and Alex says, "Allons-y."
2. The gas mask on the mannequin on the left side of the shop is a reference to the 9th Doctor since Alex says, "Are you my mummy?". The 10th Doctor also referenced that during his run when he had to wear a gas mask.

• "Go for the eyes, Boo" is a Baldur's Gate reference.
• "Why so serious?" is a The Dark Knight reference.

After pulling the lever in the tunnels and clicking on the closed gate, Alex says, "You shall not pass" which is a Lord of the Rings reference.

Photo by Laurin Steffens on Unsplash

Lingering Questions

Most of the characters in this game don't give their last name. We know only the surnames of Alex, Ronnie, Shirley, and Eliza. What about the others?

I find it confusing that Lauren is a shop owner, yet she also works at the inn to do the breakfast/lunch. Is she making the food somewhere else and bringing it to the inn since there's no oven or sink in the inn's kitchen, or does she order it? And why have her do it when she runs a rental and repair shop? If she ran a bakery or restaurant, then I'd understand her working at the inn.

Ronnie tells us that Dennis "leaves at 6 pm" every day so we know when to snoop through his office. But if Dennis is the inn's owner, why doesn't he live at the inn? If Ronnie is the concierge, does he stay at the inn overnight? If neither of them stay overnight, what are guests supposed to do if there's an issue? Shirley has an accident and Ronnie finds out about it the next day when Alex tells him. There is also no schedule telling guests when the concierge desk is closed, like in Shadow at the Water's Edge.

Audrey died about two years ago, but the ghost shows up three months ago when the inn was sold to Dennis. Lisa had already given Ronnie a job at the inn (not sure when). So, why did Lauren start these hauntings only three months ago? And why is she still sending Ronnie letters to talk with him about Audrey? If she wants to talk to him so badly and believes he's responsible for her death, why not confront him and let him know how she feels since they used to be friends? If Ronnie really doesn't remember what happened the night Audrey died, Lauren can share with him what she saw and try to work things out from there. Why try to scare him and make him feel guilty when there's a good chance he's unaware of his possible part in Audrey's death? It's like she's not even considering that he doesn't remember or she doesn't care.

If the ghost was a projection, how did Alex hear the ghost speak the two times she encountered it? What caused the eerie sound she hears when walking to the door of the inn that first night? Was it actually her subconscious as Dennis thinks?

When Alex sees the ghost outside the shed, why doesn't she investigate the surrounding area for a projector or any other clues, even after Shirley has returned to her room due to her injury? Alex goes out to the lake, sees the ghost again, and investigates that haunting right away.

What is the point of knowing that Shirley has a deadly weapons licence? It's never talked about and we never find any sort of weapon in her room.

If Lauren had the boots that made the footprints at the boat house and the prints lead to Henry's keys, how did she get his keys in the first place?

Audrey's diary says she and Lauren were investigating the puzzles around the inn and, in Lauren's truck, she has a route through the tunnels written down, but how did she discover the tunnels if the boat house one is stuck when Alex tries it and no one had all three keys to open the fireplace? How did Lauren get in (maybe the gazebo one was not stuck?), and how did she know about them? 

Where are Ronnie's parents? Ronnie dies, but we never have to talk to his parents for more information about him.

What actually happened the night Audrey died? What made her (or her and Ronnie if he was in the boat) crash? If Audrey told Lauren she wasn't going to talk to Ronnie and went boating to think more clearly, why did Lauren see him leaving the lake soaking wet?

Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash

Nancy Drew References

I've tried to compile a comprehensive list of all the Nancy Drew game references:

• Much like Nancy in Secrets Can Kill, we're told Alex has had cases before our first one with her. She has returned from suspension after somehow breaking the rules on the "Milliken case," which is the last name of the now retired CEO of HeR Interactive, Penny Milliken.
• We start the case by reading the file on Alex's desk and can click a button to go to White Oak Inn.
• Alex's phone has texts you can read like in Midnight in Salem, but you never send any and you never get any notifications, so there were times when I'd forget about them since it's a feature that's not used very much.
• We have a task list and it removes finished tasks. 
• We have similar mouse functions as in the Nancy Drew games: a universal back arrow, a hand icon for interactability, and a red curser for close-ups.
• We have a skip convo function that was in only a handful of Nancy Drew games.
• The driver who drops Alex off is like the ferryman in Ghost of Thorton Hall since they both ask the detective if they're sure they want to be there.
• The arrival cutscene at the inn is similar to that of Curse of Blackmoor Manor when Nancy arrives at the manor gate. Both of our detectives walk down a lantern-lit path to the door and hear a mysterious sound. 
• The haunted inn concept is a lot like in Shadow at the Water's Edge since a ghost who had a water-related accident haunts it and leaves watery footprints. However, Dennis thinks the ghost is a good thing and attracting guests instead of scaring them away since most of the accidents to date are not ghost-related, Dennis believes, but due to guests' carelessness. One accident stands out: a broken mirror after a guest saw the ghost in it. I was very happy we didn't have to go through that again!
• In the living room, the broken grandfather clock reminded me of Stay Tuned for Danger when Nancy says, "I should set the clock."
• The living room seating arrangement and fireplace are reminiscent of Wickford Castle's sitting room off the lobby where we meet Lisa.
• One of the brochures in the living room mentions the name of the lake as "Emerson," which is Ned's college.
• The Nancy Drew series has its fair share of teases, and one I noticed in this game is that we're allowed to look through a window at the end of the second-floor hallway and in our room, but I haven't seen anything happen during the day or night.

Alex's suitcase

• Though we don't get to see much of Alex's fashion sense when checking out her suitcase, we pick up our handy lockpicking kit much like when we can pick up handy tools in games when Nancy is staying in a room. For example, you can pick up a dictionary and metro card in in Shadow at the Water's Edge.
• Alex lives on Benson Lane, which is a reference to Mildred W. Benson.
• Like Nancy, we never get to see what Alex looks like, but all we find out from her ID is her eye color and height. As mentioned in the Characters section, I'm not sure if the image is meant as a placeholder or not.
• Alex lacks tact, especially with Dennis. The same can be said for Nancy in many of her cases, most notably when she's insensitive about other people's dead mothers (e.g., Shadow at the Water's Edge).
• For those fortunate enough to play the original Secrets Can Kill and Stay Tuned for Danger, these two games bragged about all the different close-ups players could look at and this game has a bit of that where we can view bookshelf contents up close and there's nothing with which we can interact. You're left wondering if you're missing something or if something will change later on.
• We meet Shirley in an Ethel-like jump scare outside our room, although the location is like when we meet Izzie outside "Becca's" room. I was actually unfazed by meeting Shirley and it gave me a good laugh!
• Shirley Himmerman is a mix of Savannah Woodham and Prof. Hotchkiss. She has red hair and a Southern accent. She's writing a book on hauntings she's investigated and owns a typewriter (which we never get to hear, sadly). Alex has to go to Shirley's room in order to speak with her and even has to make and deliver a tea latté at one point.
• The book is Shirley's room talks about Houdini (The Final Scene reference) and séances (Message in a Haunted Mansion reference).
• The statue in the garden opens its eyes sometimes at night, which is the kind of thing Nancy has encountered in Message in a Haunted Mansion, Curse of Blackmoor Manor, and Ghost of Thorton Hall.
• This is probably a stretch: maybe the bike is blue as a reference to Nancy's blue roadster?
• Both times when Audrey's ghost appears in front of Alex, it's like Charlotte's first appearance in the hallway.
• In the shed, there's a dead cockroach on one of the shelves, which I believe is a reference to the spider under the oil can in the Stay Tuned for Danger Prop room. 
• Audrey's diary states that she and Lauren feel like Nancy Drew as they investigate the puzzles around the inn.
• The transition period to evening shows the outside of the inn, like in Shadow at the Water's Edge.
• Alex has a lockpicking kit (which Nancy has in Alibi in Ashes) and the lockpicking puzzle to get into Dennis's office is similar design-wise to Midnight in Salem's puzzle to get into the Judge's office. While we do pick locks in The Phantom of Venice, the puzzle's design is different and we use a bobby pin.

The American Ferries book in Dennis's office

• Dennis's office has three references:

1. His laptop password is hidden in the corner of his American Ferries book like Millie's password in Stay Tuned for Danger.
2. One of the diary entries mentions Mickey Malone.
3. His To Do list is like Dexter Egan's but less cryptic.

• Lauren asks Alex if she regularly goes through people's trash, which is something Teagan asks Nancy.
• Lauren is a shop owner just like Midnight in Salem's Lauren.
• When helping Lauren with organizing the repair schedule, two of the clients are named Bess and George. I'm not sure if any other names are coincidental or were intentional put in, such as Lauren, Lisa, Alex, and Henry since the Nancy Drew games also have those.
• Alex gets to explore an underground network of tunnels like Nancy has done many times.
• There are second chances and achievements in this game in the same style as the Nancy Drew games, including:

1. Alex can overindulge on coffee at the detective agency.
2. Alex can overeat at the inn.
3. You can squeak the duck many times in the dining room cabinet drawer.
4. You can blow up a bike tire by putting too much air.
5. You can put too much air in a bike tire and fall over while riding it. Oddly enough, we don't need a helmet this time. Not safe, Alex!

• During our snooping in Henry's back room, there are strange sounds when you look at the blue print of the inn. I think this is a reference to Secrets Can Kill Remastered when: 

1. Nancy is in the Teacher's Lounge and someone pounds on the door while she's on the computer (there's no one there when you go to look).
2. Nancy is on the second-floor of the library and someone leaves, setting off the alarm which immediately switches off.

• Henry's anger management disc reminds me of various things we find in Lillian's office in Stay Tuned for Danger.
• There are a lot of instruments we can "play" in Henry's shop and it reminds me of Josiah Crowley's house and the Mysti Skip.
• The bunker has a record player that we can listen to like at Moira's house and in Emily's room.
• Pulling the lever to catch Lauren and trap her is reminiscent of Nancy trapping Lisa.
• Lauren's excuse for accidentally killing Ronnie is that she just wanted to scare him. It reminds me of Clara's excuse that she lit the match but hadn't meant to start a fire. It was just to scare Charlotte.

If you think I missed any references, feel free to leave a comment!

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Conclusion

Much like the early Nancy Drew games, there is definitely room for improvement in this game, but it's still very enjoyable and helps if you have that insider Nancy knowledge to understand how the game works. The game goes a little farther with some swearing, darker (adult) themes, and a few nice additions that make the game stand apart from the Nancy Drew series. Thus far, Alex Hill is worth her salt and could match wits and skill with Nancy any day, though, they're a little too similar when it comes to being insensitive, but perhaps that's all part of being a detective? Since Alex is a detective who deals with darker subject matter, including dead bodies, I think she'd make for a good older sister figure to Nancy.

I can't wait to play Alex Hill: The Body at Clearwater Bay. 

Check out my posts on various types of genres, how to write, posts on Nancy Drew (book, movie and game versions), and another game I reviewed called Endless Monday.

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Happy reading, writing, and gaming!