What’s Cluedo?
Cluedo is a popular murder mystery themed deduction board game originally published by Waddingtons in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1949. The object of the basic game is for players to strategically move around the game board, (a mansion) in the guise of one of the game's six characters, collecting clues from which to deduce which suspect murdered the game's perpetual victim: Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North American versions), and with which weapon, in what room.
Cluedo is a popular murder mystery themed deduction board game originally published by Waddingtons in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1949. The object of the basic game is for players to strategically move around the game board, (a mansion) in the guise of one of the game's six characters, collecting clues from which to deduce which suspect murdered the game's perpetual victim: Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North American versions), and with which weapon, in what room.
In 1944, Anthony E. Pratt, an English solicitor's clerk from Birmingham, filed for a patent of his invention of a murder/mystery-themed game, originally named "Murder!" The game was originally invented as a new game to play while waiting out air raid drills in underground bunkers during World War 2. Shortly thereafter, Pratt and his wife presented the game to Waddingtons' executive, Norman Watson, who immediately purchased the game and provided its trademark name of "Cluedo" (a play on "clue" and "Ludo", which is Latin for I play.). Though the patent was granted in 1947, due to post-war shortages the game was not officially launched until 1949, at which time the game was simultaneously licensed to Parker Brothers in the United States for publication, where it was re-named "Clue" along with other minor changes.
However, there were several differences between the original game concept and that initially published in 1949 (which also remains the most enduring version of the game). In particular, Pratt's original design calls for ten characters, one of whom was to be designated the victim by random drawing prior to the start of the game. These ten included the eliminated Mr. Brown, Mr. Gold, Miss Grey, and Mrs. Silver, with Nurse White, and Colonel Yellow. The game allowed for play of up to eight remaining characters, providing for nine suspects in total. Originally there were eleven rooms, including the eliminated "gun room" and cellar. In addition there were nine weapons including the unused axe, bomb, syringe, poison, shillelagh (walking stick), and fireplace poker. Some of these unused weapons and characters would appear in later spinoff versions of the game.
Some gameplay aspects were different as well. Notably, the remaining playing cards were distributed into the rooms to be retrieved, rather than dealt directly to the players. Players also had to land on another player in order to make suggestions about that player's character through the use of special counter-tokens, and once exhausted, a player could no longer make suggestions. There were other minor differences, all of which would be updated by the game's initial release and remain essentially unchanged in the standard classic editions of the game.
It is now published by Hasbro, (yes them again) and Cluedo is the only board game to have continued beyond the edges of the board game – seen the film CLUE anyone? This Hollywood film was released with 3 different endings, depending on where you saw it (although if you buy the DVD you can watch all three). There have been books, TV shows and even a Broadway musical, no other board game has achieved as many spin offs.
Characters
The iconic characters of Cluedo have been one of the, if not the reason for why Cluedo is so successful. Here's a little bit of history for each of the characters...Miss Scarlett is the resident femme fatale in Cluedo. She is typically portrayed as young, cunning, and highly attractive. Originally spelled Scarlett in both the US & UK Games, the US versions changed to the alternate spelling Scarlet with the 1963 version. She rolls first in the game.
Colonel Mustard is the stock character of a great white hunter and colonial imperialist. He is usually a military man both dignified and dangerous. Originally patented as Colonel Yellow, his name was changed prior to the first edition of the game. He rolls second in the game.
Mrs. White is usually the stock portrayal of frazzled cook, but has also had a couple of divergent characterizations; the movie portrays Mrs. White as a fellow resident guest. Originally patented as Nurse Whiteand changed prior to publication of the first edition. She rolls third in the game.
Rev Green Ah....the character of Green has been given two different personas in the Cluedo world. Originally patented as Mr. Green, in Britain, he is Reverend Green, a hypocritical vicar who erm, lets say weakens when it comes to the Sixth commandment, murder. In North America, he is Mr. Green, who has taken many money-oriented roles from mobster to businessman. Parker Brothers insisted on the name change as they thought the American public would object to a parson being a murder suspect. He rolls fourth in the game.
Mrs. Peacock is the stock character of a grande dame, an elderly yet still attractive woman who maintains her dignity in almost all cases in most versions. She is the only original character to debut with the game who was created after the original patent was filed by the inventor. She rolls fifth in the game.
Professor Plum is the stock character of an absent-minded professor. Often depicted as either a young or middle aged fellow with a bow tie and glasses, he is widely seen as the intellectual. He rolls last in the game.
Dr. David Black (UK)/Mr. John Boddy (US) is the owner of Tudor Close (later Tudor Manor and Tudor Hall), who takes the stock character of a generic 'victim'. In Cluedo, he is the unseen host who is murdered or injured, which inspires the premise to discover who murdered him, with what implement, and where the crime scene took place in his mansion. Dr. Black was listed in the original patent filing as one of the 10 characters created for the game, in which one character was randomly drawn from the suspect cards to serve as the new victim prior to the start of each game. Therefore, the victim was never intended to be the same character each game, nor were the player assignments. However, prior to the publication of the first edition, Dr. Black was relegated to the role of permanent victim in the UK, and Mr. Boddy in North America.
How To Play
Setup
Setup
At the beginning of play, three cards — one suspect, one weapon, and one room card — are chosen at random and put into a special envelope, so that no one can see them. These cards represent the facts of the case. The remainder of the cards are distributed among the players, although if there are four or five players, some players will end up with more cards. I know some people roll the dice, highest roles get the extra cards, or you can place the extra cards down so everyone can although this changes tactics a little, as I will explain later.
Players are instructed to assume the token/suspect nearest them, although most people just ‘dibs’ a character. Play begins with Miss Scarlet and proceeds clockwise. Players roll the dice and move along the board spaces accordingly, and entering rooms in order to make suggestions from that room.
The Aim
The aim is to deduce the details of the murder; that is, the cards in the envelope. There are six different characters, six possible murder weapons and nine different rooms, which, I might add, leaves the players with 324 distinct possibilities! In the course of determining the details of the murder, players announce suggestions to the other players, for example, "I suggest it was Professor Plum, in the Library, with the candlestick." All elements contained in the suggestion are moved into the room in the suggestion. It is possible for a player to be using the piece representing the murderer. This does not affect the game play; the object of the game is still to be the first to make the correct accusation
Suggestions
The other players must then disprove the suggestion, if they can. This is done in clockwise order around the board. A suggestion is disproved by showing a card containing one of the suggestion components (for example, Professor Plum) to the player making the suggestion, as this proves that the card cannot be in the envelope. Showing the card to the suggesting player is done in secret so the other players may not see which card is being used to disprove the suggestion. Once a suggestion has been disproved, the player's turn ends and moves on to the next player.
The aim is to deduce the details of the murder; that is, the cards in the envelope. There are six different characters, six possible murder weapons and nine different rooms, which, I might add, leaves the players with 324 distinct possibilities! In the course of determining the details of the murder, players announce suggestions to the other players, for example, "I suggest it was Professor Plum, in the Library, with the candlestick." All elements contained in the suggestion are moved into the room in the suggestion. It is possible for a player to be using the piece representing the murderer. This does not affect the game play; the object of the game is still to be the first to make the correct accusation
Suggestions
The other players must then disprove the suggestion, if they can. This is done in clockwise order around the board. A suggestion is disproved by showing a card containing one of the suggestion components (for example, Professor Plum) to the player making the suggestion, as this proves that the card cannot be in the envelope. Showing the card to the suggesting player is done in secret so the other players may not see which card is being used to disprove the suggestion. Once a suggestion has been disproved, the player's turn ends and moves on to the next player.
Accusation
Once a player has sufficiently narrowed the solution, that player can make an accusation. According to the rules, "When you think you have worked out which three cards are in the envelope, you may, on your turn, make an Accusation and name any three elements you want." Players may name any room (unlike a Suggestion, where a player's character pawn must be in the room the player suggests).
3-6 Players
If the game is played with two people, the process of elimination diffuses the same information to both players. Such a game tends to pass quickly making the game pointless in my opinion. All editions of the current version of the game are advertised as a three-six player game only unlike the first editions that advertised as 2-6 players.
House Rules
It’s quite popular for people to assume they know the rules, thus not reading the rule book. This has led to the Cluedo being played, and generally preferably, slightly differently rules:
Ladies First? Sod That
Rather than Miss Scarlett going first, the youngest/highest dice roll goes first. This stops everyone arguing over Miss Scarlett (although you will find it is in fact the pawn Mrs Peacock that should be argued over)
Cherry Picking Players
Instead of working clockwise in accusations, and thus always asking the same person first, the accuser can pick any player to accuse. However, even if that player does not have a card to show, it is the end of their turn, they do not continue to question the other players. I actually prefer this way, although it changes tactics drastically, but I like the personal charm it adds to the game by cherry picking someone to interrogate.
Back to Black
When a player think’s they’ve worked it out, they must go to the stair case in the middle (where Mr Black/Mr Boddy was found) by landing on a space touching the bottom of the staircase before making their accusation. This adds more tension to the game as people will start accusing characters just to bring them into a distant room if they fear that particular player knows the truth. This can be a headache or added humour – just note if this rule is in play then make sure you have your poker face on when you’ve worked out who dunnit!
Changing Rooms
Many players keep coming out of their room, only to re-enter it, or using the secret passage to keep bouncing between two rooms to continue making accusations. To stop this some players enforce a rule whereby you cannot make another accusation in the same room as your previous turn. This excludes the secret passages of course, because a player isn’t staying in the same one BUT some dastardly players then enforce you cannot use the secret passage more than twice in a row. This drastically changes my game plan, so I tend not to play by this rule!
Two Die For
The following rules will help you become the super sleuth detective. I’ve added in alternatives to the house rules, so make sure you know your game plan depending on the rules! I would also like to mention that if every player plays takes great notes (see note taking tactic below) then the game will become tiresome, as everyone will know who the murderer is at exactly the same time...yet another family board game ruined by perfect strategy.
Continue to do this. In my example left, we see Terri was asked about Prof. Plum the Dagger and the Hall. Obviously she does not have Prof. Plum, so again cross that off. It happens to now be my go.
I decide to ask Willie if he has Col. Mustard, Dagger and Study. You do not need to note down the different items you asked him, just mark them all off if he does not have them or, tick the one he does. He shows me the Dagger. I tick this one off and also cross it off on my column, as this can’t possibly be the murder weapon. It also means, that if Willie has the Dagger, Lenny, Carl and Terri possibly hold the Dagger. So I put a cross in their circles.
Now I can deduct that if Terri doesn’t have the Dagger OR Prof. Plum, she must have shown someone (whoever it was, not important) the Hall. Therefore I tick the Hall off and cross it off again under my column.
Willie then happens to be asked if he has Pro. Plum, Lead Piping or the Billiard Room. I can once again work out that Willie must own the Billiard Room, since I own the other two cards.
If I happened to find all three cards of a player, for example say Lenny then showed me his Lounge card, I can cross off all the other ones in his column, as obviously he can’t own any other card then the three he has.
The deduction strategy here is to not lose a single piece of information exchanged during an accusation done by any other player. You want to be able to work out who-dunnit, with what and where before anybody else, thus the person who deduces the most information will work it out first.
Dirty Rotten Cheat
Lastly, now I do not condone this, but as I’m revealing all the tactics, and if you’re a complete scoundrel, and not the best at taking notes (why are you playing cluedo?) you can cheat. Depending where your opponent marked their paper (top, middle, or bottom) you can tell which card they just saw (person, weapon, or room)…of course if I noticed you were doing this to me I might be inclined to pretend I was crossing off in a different section, ruining this cheating strategy all together...
Many players keep coming out of their room, only to re-enter it, or using the secret passage to keep bouncing between two rooms to continue making accusations. To stop this some players enforce a rule whereby you cannot make another accusation in the same room as your previous turn. This excludes the secret passages of course, because a player isn’t staying in the same one BUT some dastardly players then enforce you cannot use the secret passage more than twice in a row. This drastically changes my game plan, so I tend not to play by this rule!
Two Die For
Depending on the game, some are played with one die, others with two dice! This can speed up/slow down the game, it's just a matter of preference. I generally like two dice because, despite knowing the odds of rolling any number are equal, I will, unfavourably, roll a one or two every go, which gets me nowhere!
Tactics
Tactics
The following rules will help you become the super sleuth detective. I’ve added in alternatives to the house rules, so make sure you know your game plan depending on the rules! I would also like to mention that if every player plays takes great notes (see note taking tactic below) then the game will become tiresome, as everyone will know who the murderer is at exactly the same time...yet another family board game ruined by perfect strategy.
Be Picky About Peacock
Whether this was intentional or not, due to the layout of the board and the playing pieces, Mrs Peacock is the best piece to play with. Why? Because she is only 6 spaces away from a door, whilst all the rest of the characters are 7 spaces away. It may not seem like much, but if you are playing a version with one die then you are the only character who could get into a room on the first go. Even with two dice, you are 14% more likely to get into the nearest room. HOWEVER, there is a perfectly good reason why I'm Miss Scar...Stevens. And that's because she goes first which will give a head start over Peacock is your using two dice and *know* how to roll high ;)
Whether this was intentional or not, due to the layout of the board and the playing pieces, Mrs Peacock is the best piece to play with. Why? Because she is only 6 spaces away from a door, whilst all the rest of the characters are 7 spaces away. It may not seem like much, but if you are playing a version with one die then you are the only character who could get into a room on the first go. Even with two dice, you are 14% more likely to get into the nearest room. HOWEVER, there is a perfectly good reason why I'm Miss Scar...Stevens. And that's because she goes first which will give a head start over Peacock is your using two dice and *know* how to roll high ;)
The Righteous Path
So you’ve snagged Mrs Peacock and have happily popped to the Conservatory to water some plants/interrogate suspects. Now where? The image left shows the quickest route to every room starting from Mrs Peacock’s space. When you get to the study, use the secret passage to access the kitchen, and then return back to the study. Ideally, you want to make sure to end up in a different room every time you roll the dice, to do that, try to move along the route in the picture. Don’t skip any except if you’ve crossed off the Ball Room, Kitchen or Lounge, because those three rooms make you go out of your way and/or won’t affect the statistics of the main route.
Other players may suspect your character in an accusation thus dragging your playing piece to another room. As Douglas Adams would say, Don’t Panic! This is where you should make use of the route when possible, and work out the shortest route to the other rooms. Just be sure to find the shortest route possible to cover all the rooms, and don’t let on to the other players that you mind being pulled to the dining room for the fourth turn.
No Room At The Inn
It’s all well and good memorising the route and knowing where to head next, but I wouldn’t leave until you have uncovered who holds the room (if any do at all). There are 9 rooms and only 6 suspects and 6 weapons. Also as you have to be in the room to use it in your accusation, it obviously makes finding the room the trickiest bit. Therefore, unless you are rudely taken to another room you’ve already crossed off, you should stay put till you figure out if any of the other players have that room in their hands. By focusing on the rooms, the murder weapon and suspect should become clear on their own through your own accusations and through the deductions.
Chaaaaaange Places!
A player may lure you into moving their piece into a room, deleting the need to roll the die and move their pawn into that particular room. Instead be aware of what other players are doing in order to avoid falling for these tricks and instead sabotage that player’s efforts by pulling their character to other rooms, preferably far, far away from where they are trying to go. (And I said this game didn’t cause arguments) To conclude, never move a character into your room unless you know
a) It will not give another player an advantage
b) It’s necessary as you have all the rooms, and still don’t know the suspect
c) It'll stop them from moving to a room you know they need to enter.
Note taking
This is the most important tactic to the game. You must take notes, and play a different sort of clue game. It’s not enough to be shown a card and cross it off your list. You must work out what all the other players are showing each other…without resorting to peeking!
So you’ve snagged Mrs Peacock and have happily popped to the Conservatory to water some plants/interrogate suspects. Now where? The image left shows the quickest route to every room starting from Mrs Peacock’s space. When you get to the study, use the secret passage to access the kitchen, and then return back to the study. Ideally, you want to make sure to end up in a different room every time you roll the dice, to do that, try to move along the route in the picture. Don’t skip any except if you’ve crossed off the Ball Room, Kitchen or Lounge, because those three rooms make you go out of your way and/or won’t affect the statistics of the main route.
Other players may suspect your character in an accusation thus dragging your playing piece to another room. As Douglas Adams would say, Don’t Panic! This is where you should make use of the route when possible, and work out the shortest route to the other rooms. Just be sure to find the shortest route possible to cover all the rooms, and don’t let on to the other players that you mind being pulled to the dining room for the fourth turn.
No Room At The Inn
It’s all well and good memorising the route and knowing where to head next, but I wouldn’t leave until you have uncovered who holds the room (if any do at all). There are 9 rooms and only 6 suspects and 6 weapons. Also as you have to be in the room to use it in your accusation, it obviously makes finding the room the trickiest bit. Therefore, unless you are rudely taken to another room you’ve already crossed off, you should stay put till you figure out if any of the other players have that room in their hands. By focusing on the rooms, the murder weapon and suspect should become clear on their own through your own accusations and through the deductions.
Chaaaaaange Places!
A player may lure you into moving their piece into a room, deleting the need to roll the die and move their pawn into that particular room. Instead be aware of what other players are doing in order to avoid falling for these tricks and instead sabotage that player’s efforts by pulling their character to other rooms, preferably far, far away from where they are trying to go. (And I said this game didn’t cause arguments) To conclude, never move a character into your room unless you know
a) It will not give another player an advantage
b) It’s necessary as you have all the rooms, and still don’t know the suspect
c) It'll stop them from moving to a room you know they need to enter.
Note taking
This is the most important tactic to the game. You must take notes, and play a different sort of clue game. It’s not enough to be shown a card and cross it off your list. You must work out what all the other players are showing each other…without resorting to peeking!
Left is an example of my sheet. As I’m playing with 5 other players it means we each get 3 cards equally. I have noted down the three I own, and written out the names (initials would do really) of the other players.
The Game starts and one of the players (doesn’t matter whom) asks Lenny if he holds Col. Mustard, Lead Piping or the Billiard Room. Put a circle quickly under each card, under their name (as shown left) Now as you own the Lead piping, you know he cannot possibly show this card so mark an ‘X’ on that square. Lenny happens to show the player a card. This means he definitely has either Rev Green or the Ball Room, if not both.
Keep marking down circles for every accusation. If you noticed, I put a little ‘1’ in the corner of the first round of accusations for Lenny, it turns out he was asked again (funnily enough) thus I put a little 2 in each corner, so not to confuse with the first ‘set’. The Billiard Room was used twice, so I simply marked a ‘1’ and a ‘2’. This ensures you don’t mess up later!
Continue to do this. In my example left, we see Terri was asked about Prof. Plum the Dagger and the Hall. Obviously she does not have Prof. Plum, so again cross that off. It happens to now be my go.
I decide to ask Willie if he has Col. Mustard, Dagger and Study. You do not need to note down the different items you asked him, just mark them all off if he does not have them or, tick the one he does. He shows me the Dagger. I tick this one off and also cross it off on my column, as this can’t possibly be the murder weapon. It also means, that if Willie has the Dagger, Lenny, Carl and Terri possibly hold the Dagger. So I put a cross in their circles.
Now I can deduct that if Terri doesn’t have the Dagger OR Prof. Plum, she must have shown someone (whoever it was, not important) the Hall. Therefore I tick the Hall off and cross it off again under my column.
Willie then happens to be asked if he has Pro. Plum, Lead Piping or the Billiard Room. I can once again work out that Willie must own the Billiard Room, since I own the other two cards.
Now I can deduct once again, that if Willie owns the Billiard Room, Lenny can’t, thus Lenny must own both Rev. Green AND Col. Mustard as the Billiard Card was used in both set (1) and (2).
If I happened to find all three cards of a player, for example say Lenny then showed me his Lounge card, I can cross off all the other ones in his column, as obviously he can’t own any other card then the three he has.
The deduction strategy here is to not lose a single piece of information exchanged during an accusation done by any other player. You want to be able to work out who-dunnit, with what and where before anybody else, thus the person who deduces the most information will work it out first.
Playing the fool
Most players like to narrow down a particular weapon or suspect by using the cards they already have in their hand, thus finding out from their opponents a definite yes or no answer. This can work well when used properly but be wary of using this aid too much because if you make it too obvious that you’re eliminating rooms/weapons/suspects by repeating two of the same each time and just inserting a new weapon for example.
The other players may be able to determine what cards you own, especially if you later have to show one of the cards in question later, and consequently they may therefore be able to figure out all the cards you have crossed off.
It’s actually quite a slow way of finding out things. Unless you need to narrow it down to a couple of items I’d keep the search wide open.
Also note, if no one has a card to disprove a suggestion that can mean that either that particular player guessed one, two or three cards correctly, or wants to confuse his or her opponents by suggesting one/two/three of their own cards. Always be careful of putting too much weight on what other players guess. This is one of the easiest ways to confuse an opponent.
Most players like to narrow down a particular weapon or suspect by using the cards they already have in their hand, thus finding out from their opponents a definite yes or no answer. This can work well when used properly but be wary of using this aid too much because if you make it too obvious that you’re eliminating rooms/weapons/suspects by repeating two of the same each time and just inserting a new weapon for example.
The other players may be able to determine what cards you own, especially if you later have to show one of the cards in question later, and consequently they may therefore be able to figure out all the cards you have crossed off.
It’s actually quite a slow way of finding out things. Unless you need to narrow it down to a couple of items I’d keep the search wide open.
Also note, if no one has a card to disprove a suggestion that can mean that either that particular player guessed one, two or three cards correctly, or wants to confuse his or her opponents by suggesting one/two/three of their own cards. Always be careful of putting too much weight on what other players guess. This is one of the easiest ways to confuse an opponent.
Dirty Rotten Cheat
Lastly, now I do not condone this, but as I’m revealing all the tactics, and if you’re a complete scoundrel, and not the best at taking notes (why are you playing cluedo?) you can cheat. Depending where your opponent marked their paper (top, middle, or bottom) you can tell which card they just saw (person, weapon, or room)…of course if I noticed you were doing this to me I might be inclined to pretend I was crossing off in a different section, ruining this cheating strategy all together...
Sources
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