Most girls who read Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew mysteries as children remember being thrilled and entranced by the adventures of Nancy and her chums Bess and George. New Nancy Drew mysteries continue to be published today with the technological advances the current generation grew up with. Some of us remember the Nancy Drew board game from the 1960s. With a little imagination, you can create your own Nancy Drew game. Instructions are included here for two games to get you started. The trivia game can be played with two or more players, while the mystery making game requires three.
Instructions
Nancy Drew Trivia Game
1. Have a group of girls choose two Nancy Drew books to read. The more people who play, the fewer books each will have to read. Each girl must read a different story. After telling other players the book(s) she's chosen, each girl is responsible for coming up with trivia questions from the books she reads. Girls should have a background reading Nancy Drew or make the effort to read as many of the books chosen by the other girls as possible.
2. Set a time limit for reading. Each book should be read, for instance, within a week, easy enough to do in summertime. As you read, be thinking of trivia questions that might stump other players.
3. Allow a week or so to prepare trivia questions once the books have been read. Write down questions along with answers. Questions can include settings where stories took place, villains' names, or key points or clues from the story. Write down the rules as questions are being developed so all players know what to expect.
4. Set a time when everyone can get together for the Nancy Drew Trivia Game. Set rules for how it will work. Each reader asks questions about the books she read. The first person to raise a hand guesses the answer. If she gets it correct, she earns a point. If she gets it wrong, the next person has a chance to guess. Assign someone to keep score on paper.
5. The winner is the person with the most correct answers. Her prize might be a copy of the newest Nancy Drew mystery. The winner also gets to be Player #4 in the Nancy Drew Mystery Making Game.
Nancy Drew Mystery-Making Game
6. All players but one designated player make up a victim, crime and motive, and suspect for this mystery writing game. With four players, for instance, there will be three victims, three crimes with motives, and three suspects. All four players get to review what's written on paper. Put victims, crimes and motives, and suspects' names and descriptions in three separate cups. Set these aside.
7. For a four-player game, write numbers 1 through 3 on slips of paper and put them in another cup. Have each player except the designated Player #4 draw from the number cup only. Each player's number represents the order in which she'll play.
8. Player #1 draws one slip of paper each from the cups containing victims, crimes and motives, and suspects. She will write the first chapter of the mystery, using only the victim, crime and motive, and suspect she drew. The goal is to have fun, so you can keep it simple or make it complicated.
9. Player #2 takes her turn doing the same once Player #1 is finished. Players cannot read what the previous player wrote and must work only with the victim, crime and motive, and suspect she's drawn. Player #3 then takes her turn, doing the same as the other two.
10. Designated Player #4 gets to read the three chapters written by the others and write the ending. She chooses the ultimate victim, crime and motive, and suspect. Other players have to guess the victim, crime and motive, and suspect based on clues from Player #4. They must also guess which player chose which victim, crime and motive, and suspect. The winner gets to be Player #4 in the next round.
Tags: Nancy Drew, crime motive, crime motive suspect, motive suspect, victim crime, victim crime motive, trivia questions