Who dunnit? (Cluedo)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Cluedo
Date:	12/09/08 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gets people together

Disadvantages: can be over quickly

Cluedo is a board game that has been around in the UK since 1949. It's made by Waddingtons originally, however is now produced through Hasbro the toy company.

I would imagine there is a copy of Cluedo in some way shape or form in most houses in the UK. Based on the murder mystery aspect, this game requires logic and forward thinking and strategy to be able to win the game.

Much more than throwing a dice and trying to be the first to get round the board, Cluedo's board is set out as a layout of a house, with rooms and secret passages. Each player takes on the role of a house member in the form of Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Mrs White, Rev Green, Miss Scarlet, and Colonel Mustard.

The game play is as such that a murder has happened in the house. It's the job of each player to find out who the murderer is, what weapon was used to commit the murder, and in which room the murder happened.
At the beginning of the game, a set of cards are sectioned off into the three above categories, shuffled and one person puts one from each pile into a sealed wallet without looking. These cards determine who, where and what. The remainder of the cards are shuffled together and dealt out to the player equally.

Due to this the game cannot be played with two players as each would be able to guess too easily the end result.

Once each player has their cards, they are also given a tick list which contains each weapon, room and person. They can use this sheet to tick off secretly the cards they have, and this can be their reference for later in the game.

Game play happens with each player rolling the dice and moving from room to room. It generally starts with Miss Scarlet. As soon as a player reaches a room on the board, they then have power over the game to ask to see a card of the person on their left. To do this they must move the character, weapon of their choice into the room they're in. If this means another player gets moved around the board then so be it.

Example: Player A reached the Dining Room; they move the dagger and Colonel Mustard into this room.
The player on their left must show (only to the player asking) one of the cards relating to the above if they have it. If they don't have any then they must say so. This gives the asking player a lot of information and can remember this for next time and possibly keep items, rooms, characters in mind for being the murder weapon.

The game must be played strategically, and for this reason it's not suitable for children under eight years old as it can be too complicated.
My daughter has tried to play this many times with us, and she will guess at every stage. It doesn't work bless her and she is always left thinking it's something that it isn't.

As the game progresses and the players move the right characters and weapons etc to eliminate them from the end result, it gets quite exciting if you're playing competitively. I always watch and try to work out why other players are asking what questions, and I find myself consulting my own tick list to mark against it which helps me throughout the game.

When a player thinks they know who the murder was and which room it was in, with which weapon, they must make their way to the relevant room to be able to declare their three cards.
If it turns out they are right on all three accounts the game is over and they have won. However if they are wrong on even one account, the game can carry on with who is left as the player will lose. When this happens the player who is out can continue to hold their own cards and act as a dummy player.

I like this game when there are four or five players as it makes for a more interesting and challenging game. When three people are playing it can be over a bit quick. It's a staple family board game that will probably be played more when family are round or at Christmas etc. I think it's a good way of getting people together round a table to spend an hour together.

Cluedo retails for approximately £15 - £20. There are many versions available now as well as the traditional version I have described. You can get a Simpson's version as well as many others.

Summary: A good family strategy game