Cluedo Master Detective

Cluedo /ˈkluːdoʊ/ Master Detective (Clue Master Detective in North America) or Super Cluedo is a crime fiction board game. It was originally published in 1988 and is based on the original Cluedo board game (Clue in North America).

Overview

As with the original board game, Cluedo Master Detective is set in a fictitious mansion, with the board divided into 13 different rooms. The players play one of ten suspects, currently visiting the now dead Mr. Boddy. The concept remains true to the original with some variations on gameplay. All the original characters and murder implements from the original Cluedo were brought into this game and expanded to provide (along with the increased number of rooms) more combinations. The original edition was released as Super Cluedo (not to be confused with Super Cluedo Challenge) in France and Germany, and later a revised edition featuring new artwork and room names was again released in France and Germany, along with the United Kingdom.

Contents

• Instructions
• A game board, representing the location of the murder
• Ten colored game pawns, representing the suspects
• Eight weapon tokens, representing possible weapons used
• Cards, containing depictions of game elements (weapons, suspects or rooms)
• A parchment manilla envelope labeled, "Case File: Confidential", to hold the solution in each game
• Two green dice

Suspects

The first six suspects are from the original Cluedo. The remaining four were introduced for this game.

• Miss Sakura Scarlet—A sultry Asian gold digger who will stop at nothing to gain a profit. She referred to as the "Mercenary of Macau"

• Colonel Algernon Mustard—An elderly and retired, yet highly distinguished military man who has traveled halfway around the world to see Mr. Boddy on a grave matter.

• Mrs. Blanche White—The long-time only servant of Boddy Manor, who is rumored to spy on guests using keyholes.

• Mr. Thallo Green—A mathematical genius who is reputed kingpin in the "family" business and is short on cash at the moment.

• Mrs. Henrietta Peacock—An elderly ornithologist (president and sole member of the Peacock Salvation Society) who will stop at nothing to protect her rare bird friends.

• Professor Edgar Plum—An archeologist who claims to have found a discovery of a skeleton that will rival the Piltdown Man.

• Miss Georgia Peach—A beautiful young southern belle who claims to be Boddy's long-lost-great-step-niece.

• Monsieur Alphonse Brunette (Mr. De'Ath in European versions)—A shady French con artist who has made sloppy business deals with the artwork he sells.

• Madame Rhoda Rose (Madame Mystique in European versions)—A Hungarian psychic who used to be Mr. Boddy's secretary. She arrived with a foretold grave message she received to warn her ex-employer. But the question is: Will she predict it, or cause it?

• Sergeant Marshall Grey (Inspector Grey in European versions)—The police officer who arrived at the mansion to collect funds for the Police Blackmail Awareness Program.

Weapons

All but the Poison and Horseshoe were weapons in the original Cluedo.

• The Rope, depicted as a slender noose.
• The Lead Pipe, a bent water pipe.
• The Knife, a long dagger.
• The Wrench, depicted as a pipe wrench.
• The Candlestick, a slender, heavy candlestick.
• The Revolver, depicted as a pepperbox.
• The Poison, a bottle of poison.
• The Horseshoe, a blunt, heavy, metal horseshoe.

Rooms

• The Courtyard, the front lawn that contains the fountain, gazeebo, driveway among other things.
• The Gazebo, located in the courtyard.
• The Drawing room
• The Dining room
• The Kitchen
• The Carriage house (Stables in later European editions), a garage that houses animals and tools.
• The Trophy room (Lounge in later European editions), houses medals, trophys, guns and hunting racks.
• The Conservatory, a sunroom which is used to grow plants.
• The Studio (Study in later European editions), an art studio used for painting.
• The Billiard Room, a room with a billiard table and other games.
• The Library, a room with many memoirs of famous spies
• The Fountain, an outdoor fountain in the courtyard.
• The Cloak Room (not used as a murder location and labeled as the cellar or hall in European versions—used as the starting space for all players and must be returned to in order to make a final accusation).

Secret passages

• The Drawing room links to the Conservatory
• The Library links to the Kitchen
• The Courtyard has a private walk that links to the Cloak room (Hall in later editions).

Gameplay

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, murder weapon and location, the cards in the envelope. This is done by announcing suggestions to other players. Two examples of a suggestion are,

• "I suggest it was Miss Scarlet, in the Gazebo, with the Poison."
• "I suggest it was Miss Peach, in the Carriage House, with the Horseshoe."

All elements contained in the suggestion are moved into the room in the suggestion (so either Miss Scarlet or Miss Peach and either the Poison or the Horseshoe would be moved to the either the Gazebo or the Carriage House).

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 to the player making the suggestion (for example, the Poison and the Horseshoe), 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. There is a new rule here, though, in which all cards relating to the situation must be viewed if held by three different players, so it might become instantly obvious to everyone that Miss Scarlet, the Poison, and the Gazebo were all innocent of charge. The only way this process may be prevented is if one person is holding both cards, such as Madame Rose and the Conservatory, in which they must choose only one. Even so, you are still permitted only to make a suggestion when your piece is in a room, and the suggestion can only be for that room.

Once a player thinks he or she knows the solution, the player can make an accusation. The player checks the validity of the accusation by checking the cards in the envelope. If the player made an incorrect accusation, that player is out of the game (since the player now knows the correct solution) and the game continues with the remaining players. If the player made a correct accusation, the solution cards are shown to the other players and the game ends.

Changes from the original

• The game is played by two dice instead of one, making movement along the board much faster
• Added characters, weapons and rooms.
• The Lounge, Study, Hall and Ballroom are replaced with other rooms in the original edition. The Lounge, Study and Hall are returned in the later editions.
• The rooms are much closer to each other
• All characters now start in the Cloak room (Hall in later editions), and must return to the Cloak Room to make accusations.
• Snoop spaces allow you to read one card of your choice from any other player's hand
• When making a suggestion, ALL players in order must show a card if they have one or more of the cards mentioned. In the original, as soon as a single player showed a card, the turn was over.

References