Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill

2 years after The Vampire Diaries released, HeR Interactive released the first game of many in the Nancy Drew Adventure series. At this point in time, American Laser Games was no more as HeR broke off and bought out its parent company. Little did the few employees of HeR Interactive know, they were about to embark on one of the longest video game journeys they could ever imagine.

Available on: Windows 95/98/ME/2000 Professional/XP
ESRB: E for Everyone
PC Release Date: November 23, 1998
Release MSRP: $24.95 USD
Current MSRP: N/A
Discontinued: August 1, 2010
Number of Discs: 2
Game Abbreviation: SCK
Game Color Code: 005d69
Inspired by/Based on: The Nancy Drew Files #1: Secrets Can Kill

Game Description: Read Between the Lines to Expose a Killer!
A family visit throws you, as Nancy Drew, into the scene of a crime that happened only last night! Jake Rogers is dead, and a secret died with him–or did it? Roll up your sleeves and dig into an engrossing mystery that is full of places to explore, puzzles to solve, suspects to question, danger to evade and evidence to evaluate. A wily killer may still be on the loose…so keep your wits about you in Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill!
PC System Requirements: 166 MHz Pentium Processor. 16 MB RAM. 42 MB available hard disk space. 16-bit color graphics card. 8x CD-ROM Drive. 16-bit Windows-compatible stereo sound card. Mouse and Speakers.

Fun Facts:

This game featured the same visual menu and UI layout as The Vampire Diaries, but it sported a teal color palette and was Nancy Drew-themed instead of Vampire Diaries-themed.
Unlike HeR Interactive’s past games, the characters in this game were fully animated instead of using live actors. The characters in Secrets Can Kill were 2D hand-drawn characters.
This game had three different cover art variants. The first one was created when the game initially released in 1998 and had a style similar to the UI in the game. The first version of the cover art was designed by the lead artist, Laura Henion. The second version released when Stay Tuned for Danger launched in 1999. It was the same style but featured artwork from Secrets Can Kill. The third and final cover art was created by Mark Tolleshaug in 2000 when Message in a Haunted Mansion released. He has been creating the cover art for the Nancy Drew games since then.
This game marked the first in a very long series of games based on the teen detective that has been around since the 1930s. The Nancy Drew series has proved to be very prolific for HeR Interactive in the past 20 years as it has collectively sold over 9 million copies since 2011 and has outsold major series such as Tomb Raider, Myst, and Harry Potter.
Secrets Can Kill required 2 game discs to play the game.
This was the only Nancy Drew game to be played and reviewed by the original ghost writer for the Nancy Drew book series, Mildred Benson.
This game was supposed to be ported to Game Boy Advance like Message in a Haunted Mansion, but for some reason it never happened.
The DVD case insert for this version had two different HeR Interactive logos in its time: the original logo (games 1-7) and the gold and silver flag logo (games 8-19).
HeR Interactive never wrote a strategy guide for this game. However, their publisher in 2001, Dreamcatcher Interactive, wrote a guide for it.
There was an unreleased ad blurb for the game hidden in the sound files of children chorusing, “Play Secrets Can Kill today!” along with the lost rap song written by a friend of the game's music composer.
The game color for Secrets Can Kill on the second edition of the cover art was dark purple, then it was changed to turquoise in 2000.
The first edition of this game released with a small ad for the Secrets Can Kill Case Files book. It also shipped with a ‘From the Desk of Nancy Drew’ blank journal for the player to jot down notes into. The discs and manual were also exclusive to the first edition.
This game was one of the few games made by HeR Interactive to not receive a Parent's Choice Gold Award.
According to past HeR Interactive executive producer Robert Riedl, HeR didn't have the correct recorded lines from Daryl's voice actor so Lani Minella redid his lines for the end of this game because the original audio had Daryl calling Mitch "Jake".
All the 'students of the month' in the student union (the room Connie is in) are pictures of the game developers.
Gaiser Gym was named after the creative lead at the time, Megan Gaiser.
The cutscene at the end of the game hints at the next game in the series, Stay Tuned for Danger, but doesn't actually include a devoted teaser trailer for the game. It also mentioned Detective Beach, which is the name of a character in the remastered version of this game. However, they changed the name to "Detective Beech" instead of "Detective Beach".
The cover art for McKenzie & Co. and The Vampire Diaries is hidden around Paseo Del Mar High on bulletin boards and in the library.
Some of the songs in the jukebox in Maxine's Diner are from The Vampire Diaries.
In one of the older HeR Interactive websites, the Secrets Can Kill logo color appeared to be more green than turquoise.
Back in one of the very first renditions of the HeR Interactive website, there was a mini look into the game where you could read about the characters, hear their voices, and have a glimpse into some of the locations.

Concept Video

Before Secrets Can Kill had finished developing, HeR created a camera fly-through of a concept of what Paseo Del Mar could have looked like. It shows off rooms that aren't accessible in the official game, and it shows initial designs of rooms already in the full game such as the boiler room and the student union.

Image Gallery
Characters
Walkthrough
Soundtrack
Extra

Image Gallery

Characters

Connie Watson

Connie is a tough girl who is into judo. She spends most of her time hanging out in the student lounge. Connie is a pretty normal girl, with a dark secret.

Daryl Gray

A young man who has just recently arrived in Fells Church. He is spending his summer working as a physician's assistant at the local hospital. He is darkly handsome, quiet and polite.

Hal Tanaka

Hal is a foreign exchange student from Japan. He is trying to get a scholarship so he can go to college. He admits to making mistakes, but he won’t talk about them.

Hector Sanchez

“Hulk” is a stereotypical jock who may even play professional sports one day. Hector does pretty well in school, the girls all love him, and he SEEMS to have a great life.

Walkthrough

You can watch the full video walkthrough for Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill (1998) on YouTube!

Episode 1 - Aunt Eloise and Daryl Gray

Episode 2 - Talking to Students, Bolt Cutters

Episode 3 - The Library and Jake's Locker

Episode 4 - Teacher's Lounge and Maintenance Room

Episode 5 - Blackmail, Daryl, and Boiler Room

Episode 6 - Confrontations and Confessions

Episode 7 - The End

Soundtrack

Awards

Good Housekeeping, 1999 Top 10 CD-ROM, August 1999
Superkids Software Awards, The Best of 1999
Coalition for Quality Children’s Media – Best Software for Girls
Kids First® All Star Rating, 1999
Mothering Magazine, “Top Notch Pre-teen Media” July/August 1999
Parents’ Choice Honors 1999
Teen People Online, Editor’s Choice, Best Mystery Game for Girls