Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch Critic Reviews

The best in children's games always tries to meld education with fun, and this game does that superbly, with a smooth integration of factoids about various things coupled with critical thinking activities and a fun adventure.

It's hard to envision a better first adventure game for a preteen person—girl or boy. The story is "safe," interesting, and in a wide-open western setting replete with legends, romance and novel characters.

It's a game that's particularly good for pre-teen adventurers as the story is simple but entertaining, and the dialogue is well written, very clear and easy to follow.

It lacks a certain surprise factor that have pulled off so well and despite having an interesting premise for a plot, at times it comes off as flat and doesn’t live up to the potential that such an intriguing plot could have had.

This time around, however, the puzzles are a little too organic. Or, rather, a little too literal. Mostly based on farm chores, they quickly become ... well, chores for the player as well.