Nancy Drew Clue Bender Society is one of those games that at first appears to have a lot going for it, but unfortunately, ultimately fails to deliver. The story is promising, the visuals look good, there are mini-games that can be played over again, and there are even snowmobiles to ride, but the total package is less than its parts.

In the beginning of the game, it all looks great. We actually get to see Nancy this time, and she looks really cute. She has been invited to join a puzzle society, and has to prove herself worthy of the invitation. Cool, solve puzzles and beat out the other invitees! And, of course, there is a mystery to solve. It seems that the cornerstone of the ultimate puzzle is missing, and the society needs Nancy’s help to find it.

It is after this promising beginning that the game begins to fall flat. The main problem is that the entire game plays like a tutorial. Nancy will spend the entire game walking from one location to another via handy arrows that show where to go, and examining hotspots that are conveniently marked with exclamation points. In case Nancy missed these exclamation points, an X will pop up signifying that players should press the X button on the DS. This type of hand-holding is fine for the first few levels of a game, but rather boring to endure for the entire game.

There are mini-games that pop-up from time to time, and which usually involve colors or shapes that need to be rearranged in order to open something. These games are mostly too simple to be very interesting, although one of them is pretty good, the Drop game. This Drop game has players changing the colors of baskets to catch matching falling marbles. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the marbles bounce around on the pegs while they are falling, and it’s a little difficult to predict exactly which direction they will take. Several of these mini-games can be played separately, but there’s not much incentive for most of these games.

The snowmobile race could have been cool, but it’s too easy and simple to be very entertaining.

Nancy and friends all look pretty decent, and the inside of the mansion is very well-done. However, the outside environments aren’t as well-drawn, and sometimes the characters don’t look very good when they are walking around.

There is nothing wrong with having an easy game experience for young players. However, easy doesn’t have to be boring. The amount of walking around from one location to another is inordinate and not much fun. There is no detective work, as the game does all the solving for players. Most of the in-game puzzles have the answers right in front of the players in the form of obvious clues. The mini-games aren’t very engaging, either. Several years ago there was a Barbie game that was mainly a collection of mini-games, it was much more fun and the racing games in it were exceptionally good. The games weren’t overly difficult, but challenging enough to be interesting. That is not the case with The Clue Bender Society.

It’s hard to recommend this game for even die-hard Nancy Drew fans. Kids are much better off getting the latest Nancy Drew PC game, The Phantom of Venice.

Gameplay: 6.0
The gameplay is boring. While the initial setup and story is fine, the game is downhill from there. The main problem is there is too much walking around, and the mini-games are not very fun.

Graphics: 7.0
The graphics are on the whole are fairly well drawn. There are problems at time, but not very often.

Sound: 6.0
The music is forgettable, but not annoying.

Difficulty: Easy
It is really easy, due to the lack of any thought required for most of the game’s puzzles.

Concept: 5.0
This game doesn’t have anything new or fresh, and isn’t very well-executed.

Overall: 6.0
This game is not the worst game that I have every played. However, it’s a pretty average type of game and is very short, too. For the price, it isn’t a good choice for kids, as there isn’t much replay value despite the mini-games.