Penelope Pendrick and the Art of Deceit

It contains everything we love about Nancy Drew game series + its own unique features. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to the new mysteries!

Very similar to old Nancy Drew and has a nice, long story. Very excited to see what games they make next! (Personally I would rather upgrade some of the old annoying parts of Nancy Drew like the scroll-y inventory and some basic UI, but fantastic game for someone who has missed the amazing Her Interactive Nancy Drew games!!)

Игра очень похожа на старую Нэнси Дрю. Очень атмосферно, загадки и головоломки не слишком сложные и не слишком простые. Есть неочевидные механики, но в целом игра оставляет очень положительное впечатление. Очень хочу поддержать студию и с нетерпением жду следующую часть!

Amazing game. Very similar vibe to the nancy drew games of old, but better! More locations and characters. Puzzles galore, easter eggs, snooping, twists and turns, perhaps a secret location... SO FUN. Looking forward to the next one!!

This game was very, very good. A challenge and a little scary at times! It reminded me a lot of the Nancy Drew games I played as a young kid. Very nostalgic and such a good time. Can't wait for the next one. I would recommend this to anyone who likes puzzle games!

First of all, I have to preface this by saying the "time played" for me is inaccurate. I left the game paused a couple of times and forgot it was up. While it is longer than the average Nancy Drew game, Art of Deceit is not quite THAT long. Playing this game felt so nostalgic. I'm a lifelong fan of the classic Nancy Drew games, and I actually played one of them directly before booting up Penelope Pendrick for the first time. I opted to skip the tutorial and found myself right at home. I literally could not tell a difference in feel of the UI. One of my favorite aspects of the Nancy Drew series, aside from the amazing locations and memorable characters, is how good the soundtracks are. Penelope Pendrick delivers here as well! The soundtrack reminded me a lot of Nancy Drew Midnight in Salem, which for all its MANY flaws, actually does have a good soundtrack. Props to the music department for putting together solid background tunes that don't get old after the 10th time. The mystery is engaging right from the start. There's no obvious solution to why three completely unrelated people have vanished in this small town. I found myself getting immersed and invested. The writing is top notch. All four suspects are well written and believable. As the game progresses and more and more secrets are unearthed, I found myself shocked by how REAL these people's issues felt. The story dives into some surprisingly mature themes. No lines are crossed that would necessarily push it out of the "family friendly" territory that the Nancy Drew series is known to stick to, but there are multiple instances where damaged mental health and disturbing coping mechanisms are put on display in a very real way. That said, the game manages to navigate all of this without any foul language or lewd references. The only noteworthy things I can recall that came close are an instance where one suspect states that he and one of the missing persons were, "As close as two heterosexual men can get." and another conversation where your neighbor across the hall warns that sometimes "methheads" wander into the apartment complex because it's so run down that they think it's abandoned. While neither of these lines would have appeared in the game series this one is clearly inspired by, I still stand by my statement that the game manages to remain in family friendly territory. It should also be noted that Penelope does NOT have Nancy's scruples. Throughout the course of this mystery, you will commit multiple (albeit, minor) crimes of your own. Need some nickels? I'm sure the missing bookstore owner won't mind if you just TAKE some from his cash register. Need to get into a place of business after hours but hate the owner's guts? Maybe it's time to hack his alarm system... in broad daylight! Oh and that one suspect who randomly told you how any "competent" burglar SHOULD have broken into their house? That wasn't them giving you permission to- Oh forget it, we're in too deep already... As is often the case with point-and-click adventure games, you will most likely find yourself stuck. Penelope Pendrick's puzzles are no joke. Some make you feel smart. Some make you feel... not. Unfortunately, you won't be able to call Bess and George, or The Hardy Boys to bail you out. There is NO in-game hint system. However, there is an in-game link to join the game's Discord server and the hint forums there will be invaluable to you. While I think the next game absolutely should include a hint system, it has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with the game's developer, and also to meet other passionate Nancy Drew fans. I highly recommend consulting this for hints before using a flat out walkthrough. I will be honest, after surviving an absolute gauntlet of puzzles and getting to the final reveal, I found the game's culprit twist to be... awkward and a bit unbelievable. It's hard to say more without going into spoilers, but I cannot stress enough that the game, as a whole, is still an absolute joy to play. It isn't perfect, but it is very good. Bear in mind that this game was developed SOLO INDIE by someone with ZERO prior experience and this is her FIRST published game. That speaks volumes. This is part ONE. It only gets better from here if the developer builds on what she's learned from this one, and what she's already done is massively impressive. If HeR Interactive and Penelope Pendrick both dropped a new game out of nowhere tomorrow, I'd pick up the new Penelope Pendrick. For those still on the fence about this game, or maybe just its price tag, I promise you it's worth it. In terms of length, it is much longer than the average Nancy Drew game. You'll get your money's worth. This isn't some copycat or cheap knockoff of Nancy Drew. This is a LOVE LETTER to a franchise that forgot how to make its own game.

My daughter and I loved this game. Very similar to the classic Nancy Drewm series. great puzzles and story too. Keep up the great work. looking forward to the next installment.