Nancy Drew: Danger By Design is the 14th title in the software series featuring the ever-popular sleuth. One of its most welcome features is the ability to explore multiple environments. You're not stuck on an island or worse, on a train, as in some previous stories.

Danger By Design features a new twist: a chance to poke around Nancy Drew's bedroom and desk. If you're new to solving mysteries, you can browse the "How To Be A Detective" book on her desk. For information about the current case, you can browse the Case File. When you're ready, clicking the plane ticket on the desk will drop you into the adventure.

The central character in this mystery is Minette, an up-and-coming fashion designer based in Paris. Minette has been behaving strangely lately (and she must be behaving very strangely indeed, to stand out in the fashion world), wearing a full facemask, throwing temper tantrums, and firing people left and right. And perhaps worst of all for a fashion designer, she is way behind schedule. Your client, Minette's largest financial backer, wants to know what's going on. Has the pressure sent Minette 'round the bend, or is there a more sinister reason for her strange behavior? Is it time to back a different fashion horse? It's up to you to find out, but remember: If Minette learns that you're there to check up on her, you'll be out on your ear.

Less than two minutes into the game, we were already tired of listening to Minette scream, rage, cry, or laugh in the background, even though her tantrums never lasted long (they just seemed that way). We were also irritated by other annoying background sound effects; using the game controls to turn down the sound level didn't help much.

Nancy Drew: Danger By Design isn't quite as good or as satisfying as other titles in the Nancy Drew software series, but diehard fans will want to add it to their collection.


Pros: Multiple environments to explore, both indoors and out of doors, two levels of difficulty (Junior Detective, Senior Detective) add replay value, includes some historical information about the occupation of France during World War II
Cons: Navigation is sometimes difficult, uneven mix of puzzles, annoying and often irrelevant background sound effects, background sound effects are too loud, even when set as low as possible with the game controls