Solve Those Cluedo Mysteries (Hasbro Cluedo Mysteries)

Member Name: keeperofthematri

Product:	Hasbro Cluedo Mysteries
Date:	02/06/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick & Easy To Play

Disadvantages: Possible problems for the colour blind or those with poor eyesight

This is another option in the Cluedo "family" of games & revolves around crime rather than murder. The game is for 2 to 6 players & is aimed at people aged 8 & upwards. The box contains:

+ 1 game board
+ 1 deck of cards
+ 6 Detective folders
+ 6 playing pieces
+ 1 pad of notebook sheets
+ 4 scene tokens
+ 8 character folders & wheels with plastic buttons & stands
+ 1 spyglass
+ 1 secret mirror
+ 1 location key
+ 1 die
+ 1 sheet of labels

During assembley the 8 character wheels:- Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Reverend Green, Mrs White, Mrs Peacock, Miss Scarlett, Inspector Black & Dr. Brown are placed in their respective folders. You will notice that these wheels have numbers around the edge.

On starting a game the background to the mystery is read out from the instruction booklet. The booklet will also tell you what number each of the character wheels should be set to for the mystery under investigation. There are 50 mysteries for players to solve. The objective of the game is to identify which suspect committed the crime & where the suspect can be found.

There are 12 suspects who may have committed the crime in question & the six standard Cluedo characters will provide you with clues to the identity of the culprit. A visit to Inspector Brown will tell you who (if any) of the suspects are lying whilst Dr. Black will tell you where the suspect is hiding.

The board layout is a little different to the usual Cluedo board with building spaces rather than rooms. When you land on a building space you can see what information Dr. Black, Inspector Brown & the six traditional Cludeo characters have to give about the crime. This is done by using the spyglass, secret mirror or location key, depending on which character's evidence you are looking at.

Each building space is connected by two or three paths & players sometimes have the opportunity to block a route to these building spaces by moving the scene tokens which you are not allowed to land on unless you're making your final accusation.

The cards from the card deck are taken when you land on any open road space (a segment of path between the building spaces). These may send you to a new location or back to a location that you've already visited. They may tell you to miss a go or they may give you the opportunity to move one or more scene tokens & thus block an opposing player's progress around the board etc.

Players move around the board collecting evidence until they are certain who committed the crime. To make your final accusation you must reach the scene token where you think the suspect is hiding, although this can sometimes be tricky if an opponent picks up a card which allows them to move the scene token you're trying to reach!

In essence then this is one of the easier Cluedo games to play by virtue of the fact that you are only looking for two pieces of information:- who committed the crime & where are they hiding. The only potential problems are for people who have poor eyesight or are colour blind as they may find the clues hard to read when using the spyglass or secret mirror.

Gameplay lasts around 20 - 30 minutes making this an ideal game for those who have short attention spans or for those who find other versions of Cluedo slightly tricky.

Summary: Suitable for all the family