Her Interactive’s 25th Nancy Drew video game, Alibi in Ashes (2011), is a first-person perspective point-and-click adventure and puzzle game. Although the general structure of the game is reminiscent of its predecessors, longtime fans of the franchise are likely to be disappointed with this installment. The puzzles are noticeably easier than in other games, and some of the unique Alibi in Ashes mechanisms read initially as frustrating. However, the aspects that seem unnecessary upon first glance allow the game to convey a message of women empowerment stronger than any other in the franchise.
The plot follows Nancy, a beloved teenage detective in her hometown of River Heights who has solved countless mysteries. Like the earlier Nancy Drew games, the player has to search areas for clues, choose what to say when talking to suspects, and solve puzzles to advance the game. However, Alibi in Ashes flips the standard narrative of Nancy investigating others and turns Nancy herself into a suspect: she is arrested as the prime suspect for arson at the old town hall after being framed by an unknown culprit. Although you play primarily as Nancy, you spend a large majority of the game in prison and unable to travel River Heights looking for evidence. This is where the mechanic that stands out from the rest of the franchise comes into play: as Nancy, you have to call your friends and transfer control to them. Bess, George, and Ned (Nancy’s two best friends and boyfriend, respectively) take on the gameplay roles of that are typically performed by Nancy, and each have different advantages that require you to switch between characters. The minor characters remain playable for almost three-quarters of the game, until Nancy is finally released from jail and proceeds to identify and confront the culprit on her own.
Alibi in Ashes’ first-person perspective intends to foster player identification with Nancy, but the game’s tactics to encourage identification go beyond the POV alone. Despite Nancy being the primary playable character and the narrative focal point of the game, her physical appearance is a mystery. Even though there are photos of Nancy’s friends in her house and on her phone, Nancy’s face is always inexplicably missing or covered. In this way, Nancy feels almost disembodied. However, the immaterial aspects of Nancy are more than a side-effect of a point-and-click format. The anonymity of Nancy’s appearance positively serves identification and allows players to project themselves onto the concept of Nancy. This is especially important in the game’s larger function of empowering young women. Alibi in Ashes has a target audience of middle school girls, and this image of Nancy as an undefined slate encourages girls to view themselves in the role of a strong-willed, successful, female detective. In this way, the first-person perspective is more than just a convenience – it goes further to prime the game’s audience to view themselves as a respected woman.
The mechanic of switching between characters while Nancy is in jail is an incredibly frustrating component of the game. Nancy has to manually call each of her friends, delegate tasks to them over the phone, and choose to hand over control. Control and information also cannot be transferred amongst the three minor characters without Nancy’s intervention. For example, if Bess is the active character but the narrative needs to switch to George, Nancy has to personally take control from Bess, relay information to George, and give control to George. Even exchanging items between the minor characters requires drop off and pick up at the police station where Nancy is based. This mechanic becomes increasingly irritating as the game progresses and requires more character swapping. However, especially since this mechanic is unique to this installment of the franchise, it seems intentional. Nancy’s complete mechanistic control over the game and her friends’ activities lies in stark contrast to her helpless role in the narrative. The narrative suggests that her friends become active characters because Nancy is trapped in jail, but the swapping mechanic suggests that Nancy remains in organizational and informational control despite her physical limitations. This goes further to foster a message of women empowerment by building a female character who, despite all obstacles, is respected by her friends and advocates for her innocence by whatever means necessary.
The most striking aspect of the character swapping mechanism is the extent to which the player identifies with Nancy even throughout character shifts. While playing the game, I never lost the feeling of identifying with Nancy, even when technically playing as her friends. This is partially due to the Othering of the friends in contrast with the anonymity of Nancy as the only character interacted with exclusively in the first person. However, this is also a consequence of the space Nancy occupies as the information and item bridge between all the playable characters. Nancy becomes like a disembodied, abstract puppeteer who is always the active character, and who effectively embodies her friends to control their actions. In this way, the character swap mechanism goes beyond being a formality of the game to fit the narrative of the game; it functions to place Nancy at the center of all actions and decisions despite her narrative helplessness. Even when she is not in sole control, Nancy remains the protagonist and hero of her own story. The game both starts and ends with you walking free and playing as Nancy despite her being in jail for almost all of the game. The fact that Nancy is not only the narrative focus of the game but also the active character even when other characters are technically in control is the biggest statement the game makes for empowering women. It is unusual to see video games that feature a female main character who is given almost godlike control over her surroundings instead of being painted as helpless. In particular, the idea of playing as Nancy and having power over Ned, a male character, stuck with me. Images of powerful women who have men rely on them (instead of the other way around) are rare, and especially in a game targeted at young girls, particularly important.
Alibi in Ashes was potentially my least favorite game in the Nancy Drew franchise when I initially played it, with its lack of attention to mystery tropes and difficult puzzles. However, once I began looking at its unique mechanics as intentional and meaningful instead of simply frustrating, I saw the powerful message of empowerment embedded in it. The game becomes even more interesting when you consider that it is the only game in the franchise to not focus in on an educational topic of cultures, mythology, history, or science. I propose that Alibi in Ashes’ educational focus is demonstrating the strength and capacity that women have to be leaders and decision-makers. I would recommend it to anyone interested in appreciating that mechanics are just as intentional and meaningful in mainstream children’s games as they are in indie and art games.
Comments