Murder Reinvented & Updated (Hasbro Cluedo Reinvention)

Member Name: keeperofthematri

Product:	Hasbro Cluedo Reinvention
Date:	06/06/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good board design

Disadvantages: None

Cluedo Reinvention was launched in 2008 & is an updated version of the classic Cluedo game. As with the original game the object is to find out who the murderer is, where the murder was committed & what weapon was used.

For the purpose of this review it's probably easier to tell you what's been updated & what's new. The suspects, rooms & weapon have been updated & are listed below.

The Suspects are:-

+ Jacob Green: A Mr. Fixit who can help you achieve your dreams, but his favours come at a price.

+ Jack Mustard: Former football player, now a sports pundit.

+ Eleanor Peacock: From a wealthy political family, she likes to fundraise, but only as long as she's in the spotlight.

+ Victor Plum: A self-made video game design billionaire.

+ Kasandra Scarlet: The hottest star on the movie scene, she's at the centre of every social event & has the attention of all the celeb magazines.

+ Diane White: Former child actress who has found it difficult to adjust to the fact she's no longer as famous as she used to be.


The Rooms are:-

+ Dining Room
+ Guest House
+ Hall
+ Kitchen
+ Living Room
+ Observatory
+ Patio
+ Spa
+ Theatre


The Weapons are:-

+ Axe
+ Bat
+ Candlestick
+ Dumbbell
+ Knife
+ Pistol
+ Poison
+ Rope
+ Trophy

Making a suggestion is now called "starting a rumour". Once you've started a rumour by announcing a suspect, room & weapon your opponents act in exactly the same way that they do in classic Cluedo.

The game also comprises a number of new elements. Firstly each of the six Cluedo suspects now has a special "power". This can only be used once during the game but players are free to use it whenever they like. The "powers" are:

+ Jacob Green: Guess for a room he's not currently in.
+ Jack Mustard: Have an extra roll.
+ Victor Plum: Two guesses on one turn.
+ Eleanor Peacock: Randomly pick a card to look at from someone you've just shown a card to.
+ Kasandra Scarlet: Look at a card that one player has just shown another.
+ Diana White: Move to any room that does not have a secret passage in it.

Once you've set the board up you will notice that there are a number of squares on the board which contain question marks. You will also notice that one of the dice has a question mark on it as well.

If the question mark appears on your roll or you land on a square with a question mark you must draw an Intrigue card. These cards can help your progress throughout the game, for example, allowing you to add 6 onto your dice score, giving you en axtra roll, allowing you to see a card that an opponent has just shown somebody else etc. They can also be used to impede the progress of your opponents eg: by sending them back to their start square or by allowing you to leave a rumour unanswered.

There are also 8 clock cards in the Intrigue deck. The first seven are left face up at the side of the board to show how many have been drawn. Should you draw the eighth clock card then you are killed & can no longer start rumours or make an accusation. You also have to place all of your cards face up so that the other player's can see them.
The 8th clock card is then returned to the Intrigue deck (leaving the first seven still showing face up at the side of the board) & another player is killed if it is drawn again.
In theory then it's possible for all the players to end up dead & the mystery to remain unsolved but I've never experienced this happening in a game.

If you like Cluedo & are perhaps looking for a bit more of a challenge then I recommend this game. The Intrigue cards are particularly useful & you need to think about when the best time to play them is.

To make the game slightly more complex you can always place a number of Rumour (suspect, weapon, room) cards in the rooms around the board rather than dealing them all out, or you could leave some by the side of the board & allow anyone who draws a clock from the Intrigue deck to take a card.

If, however, you struggle with classic Cluedo then this is perhaps not the game for you.

Summary: Similar to classic cluedo although slightly more difficult