In Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave, Nancy finds herself in Hawaii on an internship to aid an entomologist in her studies. As you may have already guessed, Nancy soon finds herself embroiled in a mystery with bugs the last thing on her mind. It seems that the Hilihili Research Center may have other plans in mind besides plant research and it's up to Nancy to find out just what those are. Things are further complicated by the apparent return of an ancient Hawaiian creature with a penchant for wrecking havoc. You must help Nancy put her detective skills to use to get to the bottom of all this and restore the island back to an idyllic paradise.

At its core The Creature of Kapu Cave is an adventure game in the traditional mold. You visit a number of locations looking for items to add to your inventory or interviewing people. However the game adds other elements that make the game more than your traditional point and click adventure. For example, at certain times you'll need money to purchase some key items in the game in order to move forward in the story. This means you need to earn your money through activities such as finding shells on the beach to use to make necklaces that you can sell.

The game brings in a couple of guest stars in the form of the Hardy Boys, and as an added bonus you'll spend some time playing as Frank and Joe as well as Nancy. The game does a good job of requiring you to switch between the characters in order to solve puzzles so that if you find yourself stuck with Nancy you may just need to call in Frank to get passed the puzzle. Switching between characters is a simple matter of pulling up your cell phone and giving another character a call.

The game does a good job of putting together a good story and populating it with interesting characters. None of the puzzles that you face will be too difficult, but you'll get most of your enjoyment from the game from being a part of the story and solving the mystery.

The game uses a pretty simple interface to manage your movement, conversations, and inventory, but it would be nice if the game allowed you to skip through conversations and gave you a way to quickly travel to locations that you've previously visited. Still things are pretty easily navigated by the game's target audience of preteen girls.

The Creature of Kapu Cave may not appeal to veteran adventure gamers who do not already have a soft spot for all things Nancy Drew, but it's a nice diversion for preteen gamers. A good wholesome storyline with the added bonus of some mental exercise make it a game that parents can approve of.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 74%. Nancy Drew fans will enjoy helping Nancy solve this mystery in the tropical paradise of Hawaii.