A murder most horrid has been committed. Mr Black the owner of a stately home has been found dead but the body has been moved from the room where he was killed. If you are any age above the age of eight then you are invited to become a detective. Your mission is to solve the murder. There are many lines of enquiry to be made and you'll have to prowl around the house to establish all the facts.

However, you are not a lone detective. It makes good sense for your career to be the detective who finds out what happened to the poor victim before the other detectives/players determine inconclusively the events on that murderous day.

Detectives must gather evidence to procure the following vital information to solve this case:

1. WHO murdered Mr Black?
2. WHERE In the house was Mr Black murdered?
3. WHAT/HOW - deduce the weapon used to kill the victim?


Three to six detectives/players can compete in each game which is made by Hasbro and brought many years of family fun to homes since the late 1940s. The one strange point is that the detectives are actually the suspects too so you could be the murderer without even realising it for a long time. Well, at least you've got the excuse of amnesia!

Step One:

Open the game board in front of you to see the floor plan of a house with squares dividing the rooms from corridors. It's a good sturdy board and nicely decorated. Place the six weapon pieces, on this board, into any of the nine rooms. No more than one weapon is to put into one room.

Step two:

There are cards which are divided into evidence for the WHO, WHERE and WHAT/HOW questions. Each of the three card piles are shuffled separately.

A Note on Cheating:

Step two is a point when cheating is easy if everyone isn't alert to the possibility. I know because when I was little...ahem...anyway, cheating spoils the game. Cheating involves glancing at the three WHO, WHERE, WHAT cards before inserting them into a special envelope provided for them. These three cards represent, the murderer, the weapon and the room in which the murder took place. The whole aim of the game is for the winning detective to discover these three elements correctly to win the game.

Another quick reference to cheating, don't leave anyone alone with the cards, during gameplay as this also gives players the chance to peek in the envelope or at your own detective notes!

Step Three:

Shuffle the three small stacks of evidence cards altogether, creating one pile rather than three. The cards are all, as equally as possible, distributed to all the players. Cheats might try and look over shoulders so be careful; hide your cards from the sight of others.

Step Four:

Each player has a specially made check sheet, in their detective notepad, listing ever single piece of evidence available. Tick or cross off each evidence card held in your hand on your personal sheet whilst ensuring no one else can see your evidence cards and check sheet.

Evidence Cards:

WHO - six character suspects on the cards and on the playing board.
WHERE - Nine roomcards representing each of the nine rooms in the house.
WHAT/HOW - six weapon cards and model weapons.

Step Five:

Each player picks out their playing piece and the first person rolls the die. There are two that must be rolled at the same time. When the player can move over enough squares in the passages/corridors to get into a room they then guess and voice their suspicions. For example;

'I suspect the murder was committed by Miss Scarlet in the lounge and the weapon used was the dagger.'

Note the room announced has to be the room the player has landed in.

Annoyingly, if you happen to be the Miss Scarlett playing piece, and you had high hopes of getting to a room at the other end of the board, you are forced to come into the lounge. Not only that but if you hold any of these corresponding evidence cards in your hands then you have to choose one to show the player who dragged you into the lounge. Players can learn to be clever in what they show and if other players are taking careful note they can narrow down the suspects through a process of deduction and elimination. Watch a player being forced to show a piece of evidence and you can be aided too in this process of elimination. You have just discovered that Miss Scarlet (the player) is holding at least one of the three suspected by the player who's turn it is and therefor one of those three are not in the envelope and are not involved with the murder. This is a good clue for everyone.

With over three hundred solutions repeated game play is not boring. Players may have an inkling as to the three cards in the envelope and may choose to take a risk and announce them to prevent another detective player from beating them to it.

There's more logic than luck involved in Cluedo.

My thoughts:

Two players don't make the game exciting enough. It's more challenging to play with about four players upwards.

Despite the theme of murder this is a very safe and tame game Only those with the wildest imaginations can add any sense of horror to this. When children play I sense they are more taken by being able to explore from room to room, gathering evidence, and winning then any finer descriptive details that imaginations could form. Mr Black is not described and the pieces are only little models of people. It's a very tame sort of game of deduction.

Cluedo is appealing to lovers of simple detective novels and films, justice seekers and lovers of fun with friends and family. I give Cluedo five stars because it is a great and classic game. The only downside is that boxed games are quite expensive. It currently costs, from various suppliers, around £25 or more. However, the longevity of this game and the suitability for a large range of ages makes it more worthwhile than video games or battery sourced toys.

I say, 'Buy it!'