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I Spy With My Little Eye…
In the 90s when I was growing up there were two types of board game origin stories. You were either a Monopoly family or a Cluedo one. Both games have dice based movement and random drawing of cards but one sees you move around a board to collect points (money) whilst the other is a race to deduct some hidden information. I was very much in the deduction camp. There was something about the drama of discovering a murderer that played directly into my overly imaginative brain. The uncontrollable luck of the dice always frustrated me in Monopoly, landing on the worst possible space at the worst possible time but in Cluedo there was a skill to moving around the board to give you the best chances of being able to enter a room on your next turn. Not to mention the buzz of sitting with your little notebook with tiny pencil in hand scribbling down important information like an eager Poirot. And today, amongst a world of modern board games, Cluedo still seems to hold a similar love to when I was young.
Professor Plum, In The Living Room With The Lead Piping
For those brought up in the other camp, let’s take a moment to explain how it plays. Mr Black has been found murdered and there are three iconic things that you need to uncover. Who did it? Where? And with what? At the beginning of each game you will shuffle each deck of cards, placing one from each deck into an envelope which sits in the middle of the board for the rest of the game. The rest of the cards are shuffled and distributed evenly to all the players. Then comes the most important element of the game. The notebook! Each player receives note paper with every possible card written on it. You now begin by marking off every card you have, after all, you are a brilliant detective so come loaded with information! You then spend the game moving around the board, making suggestions as to what you think happened in order to find out what cards everyone else has. You do this by rolling dice and moving around the board, representing Black’s famous mansion. Once you move into a room, you can tell the person to your left your suggestion and if they have a matching card they have to show you one of them. If they don’t then make a note and then the next person has the opportunity to show you one. You keep going until either someone has shown you a clue or it gets back around you and you have all the information you need. Once you think you know what cards are in the middle you make the announcement “I accuse Professor Plum, in the Library with the wrench!”. Then comes the daunting moment of checking the envelope. Secretly the accuser takes a peep and if they win, huzzah, if not the cards are returned and the player is no longer allowed to make an accusation!
Solicitor Peacock In The Library With The Dagger!
What is really refreshing in this new edition is the diversity shown in the characters in the Cluedo Classic. Not only is there now a mix of age and ethnicity but the characters are given job titles, specifically the women. Miss Peacock is now Solicitor Peacock and Miss White is now Chef White. They have also updated Reverend Green to a Mayor Green. Also, along with these name updates the designs of the character just feel a lot more modern. There is also another deck of cards which help to speed up the game. If you ever roll the magnifying symbol on the dice, you draw an event card. These all give a little flavour text and force people to reveal certain cards if they have them. These are clearly added to make the game more accessible for a younger generation who maybe haven’t got the attention span that we had when I was playing as a child. It’s a shame that this feels needed as it takes away the want to investigate. You can just wait for these cards to come up, making it much easier to get to that end game. But it’s the uncertainty in this game that makes it exciting. Opening that envelope, hoping you have written the correct information, is the most fun part of the gameplay. Despite not being an option in the rule book, there is nothing stopping you removing that deck if you want a taste of classic experience but I guess if introducing young players to the murder party, then that deck could help make it a little easier for them.
Chef White, In The Study With The Candlestick
Cluedo is still a fun introduction to the deduction genre of board games and is such a great family experience. I have very fond memories of figuring out who did what and where and the sense of achievement was fantastic. Is it the most interesting gameplay? No. In a world of deduction games there are much more interesting things to play but for a standard family games shelf this is a great starting point. Just be careful who you trust!
