Danger on Deception Island

Danger on Deception Island is the ninth installment in the Nancy Drew computer game series (made solely by Her Interactive). It is based on the Nancy Drew book Whispers in the Fog. The game takes place on a real-life location, Deception Island.

Outline of the game

When Katie Firestone, a friend of George Fayne, invites Nancy to Deception Island for a whale-watching excursion, the sleuth arrives to find Katie's tour boat heavily vandalized.^[1] A threatening note was left behind that warns Katie to "stop meddling". Katie requests that Nancy not contact the sheriff. Nancy then begins to investigate, and, after hearing many opinions from the three other characters in the game, learns about the orca that has recently shown up in the channel on the island. The townspeople are have constantly been in argument with each other since the orphaned orca showed up as to what to do about it, or if to do anything at all. Nancy has the opportunity to visit a local cafe and try the clam chowder, visit the whale museum and play for a chance at a free whale watch, investigate an abandoned lighthouse, explore sea caves, and in her free time, build sand castles on the beach. She also discovers something sinister that has been plaguing Deception Island for generations...and will require the help of one of its most legendary and eccentric past citizens to solve the mystery.

Characters

Katie Firestone

Katie is a marine biologist, and owns a whale watching tour. She is a friend of George Fayne. Katie likes to talk when she has time, and admits that she and Holt are not exactly friends. She is passionate about the resident orca and believes it should be taken to a facility to be researched.

Holt Scotto

Holt is an influential community member and veteran fisherman who will not take nonsense from anybody. He is running for public office as harbormaster. He believes that the whale is a nuisance, and is making it harder for the fisherman of Deception Island to do their job. Holt usually hangs at Jenna's cafe, The Hot Kettle.

Andy Jason

Andy is the owner of Whale World, which rivals Katie's whale-watching tour. He is well-mannered, but an aggressive businessman. A stickler for rules, he has offered to hire Katie and buy her boat so he can own a larger tour chain on the coast, which she has refused several times.

Jenna Deblin

Jenna is the owner of a local coffee shop. She is usually very friendly, but when it comes to Katie and her research she gets pretty nasty due to their conflicting viewpoints about the orphaned whale.

Hilda Swenson

An unseen character that Nancy talks to on the phone. She is generally assumed to be crazy by the residents of Deception Island, as no one has seen her face-to-face in years. When she retired to a neighboring island, she left behind bizarre coded messages and strangely decorated gifts for Holt, Andy, and Jenna. She is only spoken to a few times towards the end of the game.

Accidents

As with all Nancy Drew games, in Danger on Deception Island, there are many fatal accidents, such as:

• Failing to put on a safety helmet when biking
• Giving Katie a rotten sandwich
• Eating a rotten sandwich
• Giving Holt a female Dungeness crab twice
• Slipping on rocks at Sandcastle Beach
• Failing to dodge falling lighthouse pieces
• Failing to wear life jacket
• Paddling past the buoys
• Crashing the kayak
• Failing to hide when the culprit is coming
• Not throwing the scuba tank at the whale so he can hit the culprit in the end
• Not running from your hiding place in the ending
• Getting caught by the culprit's henchmen
• Not running as fast as you can from the culprit.

However, if the player makes a mistake, they may click on "Second Chance" at the main menu and it will take them back to the place before they made that mistake.

Cast

• Nancy Drew -- Lani Minella
• Bess Marvin -- Alisa Murray
• George Fayne -- Jena Cane
• Frank Hardy -- Wayne Rawley
• Joe Hardy -- Rob Jones
• Katie Firestone -- Shelley McIntyre
• Jenna Deblin -- Amy Augustine
• Andy Jason/Casey Porterfield -- Jonah von Spreecken
• Holt Scotto -- Richard Stein
• Wood Expert -- Julie Rawley
• Hilda Swenson -- Shannon Kipp

Trivia

• Deception Island is a real place, found among the other South Shetland Islands. Oddly enough, information about the game often lists the location of the game as an island part of the San Juan Islands. Either this is a geographical mistake, or the game does not refer to the actual Deception Island, and perhaps another in the San Juan's, such as Orcas Island.
• Snake Horse Harbor, the setting for this game may have to do with the Chinese symbols and animals on Message in a Haunted Mansion. The animals in that game (in order) had the snake followed by the horse.
• Clicking on the fish from the beach 30 times will result in a surprise.
• When the player is exploring the tunnels, they can open and close the hardware store door seven times to see something.
• In Nancy's suitcase, there are tokens from The Haunted Carousel.
• On the lighthouse, there is a sign that says "No Trespassing" with a red hand print, a reference to Secret of the Scarlet Hand.
• Nancy has a brochure of Beech Hill Museum in her suitcase, which is the museum from Secret of the Scarlet Hand.
• The calendar has a picture of two dogs from Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake.
• When you're clamming, Nancy finds a dog bone that says "Malone's Bones", a reference to Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake.
• When you get in an accident, like when you ride your bike without putting the helmet on or going past the channel markers while kayaking, the newspaper appears, saying "Deception Siland" instead of "Deception Island."
• Sometimes when you put a crab back, after putting it in your basket (when you are collecting a male crab for Holt near the beginning), Nancy will say "Allez bye-bye!" Jacques Brunais from Treasure in the Royal Tower as well as LouLou, the pet bird in Curse of Blackmoor Manor have been known to use this phrase. It is also said by Heather McKay in the later game, Danger By Design.
• The magazine in Nancy's suitcase can also be found in Secret of the Scarlet Hand and Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake.
• Sometimes when there is a crab in your basket and you click it Nancy will say "Fight the Power, little one". "Fight the power" was the catchphrase of Nicholas Falcone in The Final Scene.

References

1. ^ "Kidzworld :: Nancy Drew Game". Kidzworld. http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4312-nancy-drew-danger-on-deception-island. Retrieved 2009-04-04. 

External links

• Danger on Deception Island by Her Interactive.