Every year a new batch of intellectual property, including beloved book and film characters, enters the realm of the Public Domain, and 2026 is the year Nancy Drew joins the ranks of Popeye, Steamboat Willie, and Winnie the Pooh.

But rather than think up a slasher movie featuring girl detective Drew, creator Thomas Eliot of Sixpence Games has launched a Kickstarter campaign to finish his role-playing game dedicated to the star of mysteries like The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, and The Mystery at Lilac Inn.

Eliot’s Kickstarter promotes the game, saying, “Nancy Drew – the world’s favorite girl detective – is now in her own roleplaying game, from the designer of The Hardy Boys RPG! Now you too can uncover mysteries, help your friends, and catch criminals in this cozy solo mystery/puzzle RPG.

Play as Nancy Drew. Explore River Heights and its surroundings in this action-packed game inspired by the classic 1930s novels. Follow the trail of clues, meet her father Carson Drew, her friend Helen Corning, and make new friends, solve their problems, and rescue them from nefarious villains – and collect souvenirs for your mantle after each of your mysteries.”

There are 175 novels and 34 revised stories published between 1930 and 2003 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Writer Mildred Wirt Benson is credited with writing 23 of the first 30 novels in the series, which was later rewritten by Harriet Adams, daughter of the book series publisher Edward Stratemeyer. It’s those early novels that the game revolves around. It may surprise some readers of the rewritten books in the series to know that in the early books, Nancy is armed and ready for action.

“This game is inspired by the original four Nancy Drew stories from 1930. This Nancy Drew might be a bit different from how you remember – she’s blonde, carries a gun, and isn’t afraid to throw herself into danger. As a bonus and to really get you in the mood to play, this book also includes the complete text of The Bungalow Mystery, the most exciting and best of the original four Nancy Drew books,” writes Eliot on the Kickstarter site.

The game will use a domino-based system to represent following a chain of clues. Eliot says the mysteries aren’t “whodunit” stories, like in his Hardy Boys RPG. Instead, they are “howdunits” where players start out knowing the name of the villain. The object of the game is to “figure out what exactly the villain did, prove it, catch them, and solve the problems they caused,” says Eliot.

The Kickstarter, which launched on January 6th, has already raised more than triple Eliot’s goal of $500. The funds will be used to fund more art from Josh Wright, whose sketches are seen below.

The Kickstarter is still active, and the projected launch date is in October of this year.