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Clue
Cluedo (pronounced /?klu?do?/; Clue in
North America) is a deduction board game originally published by
Waddingtons in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1949. It was devised by
Anthony E. Pratt, a solicitor's clerk and part-time clown from
Birmingham, England. It is now published by the United States game
and toy company Hasbro, which acquired its U.S. publisher Parker
Brothers as well as Waddingtons.
More games, books, and a film have been
released as part of the Cluedo franchise. The board games form an
overall story whose complete chronology can be found at Cluedo
chronology.
In 2008, Cluedo Reinvention was created
(with changes to board, gameplay and characters) as a modern
spin-off. The original game is now out of print.
Gameplay
The game's equipment consists of a
board which shows the rooms of an English country house and the
corridors and passages linking them, several coloured playing
pieces (character pawns), some props representing murder weapons
(dagger, rope, etc), a six-sided die and three sets of cards
describing the suspects (corresponding to the playing pieces),
rooms (scene of crime) and weapon.
Suspects
Main article: Cluedo
characters
Miss Scarlett (Miss Scarlet in North
American versions) (a red piece)
Colonel Mustard (a yellow
piece)
Mrs. White (a white
piece)
Reverend Green (Mr. Green in pre-2002
North American versions) (a green piece)
Mrs. Peacock (a blue
piece)
Professor Plum (a purple
piece)
Possible murder
weapons
The miniature weapons, U.S. editionDagger
(also called "Knife")
Candlestick
Revolver (also called "Firearm or
gun")
Rope
Lead Piping
Spanner (called "The Wrench" in Canadian
and U.S. version)
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 true facts of the case. The
remainder of the cards are distributed among the
players.
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,
leaving 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
Mrs. White, in the Library, with the rope." All elements contained
in the suggestion are moved into the room in the
suggestion.
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, the rope) 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 onto the next
player.
The player's suggestion only gets
disproved once. So, though several players may hold cards
disproving the suggestion, only the first one will show the
suggesting player his or her card. A player may only make a
suggestion when his or her piece is in a room and the suggestion
can only be for that room.
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." You may name any room (unlike a
Suggestion, where your character pawn must be in the room you
suggest).[2]
The accusing player checks the validity
of the accusation by checking the cards, keeping them concealed
from other players. If he has made an incorrect accusation, he
plays no further part in the game except to reveal cards secretly
to one of the remaining players when required to do so in order to
disprove suggestions. Also, according to the rules, "If, after
making a false Accusation, your character pawn is blocking a door,
[you must] move it into that room so that other players may enter."
Since a character pawn can only block a door by being outside of a
room, this clearly demonstrates that the character pawn need not be
in any room to make an Accusation. If the player made a correct
accusation, the solution cards are shown to the other players and
the game ends.
It is possible for a player to be using
the piece representing the murderer. This doesn't affect the game
play; the object of the game is still to be the first to make the
correct accusation. 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. The Hasbro version of
the game is not advertised as a two-player game.
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