There’s something about the world of detectives and murder that appeals to us at any age. The game’s dark subject matter is deftly handled so that both children and adults can enjoy it and solve the mystery. Cluedo – or Clue, where I’m from – is a rare game that is so flexible that it can adapt to any audience.
First, there’s how the game plays. It’s only now as someone who spends time dissecting a game’s mechanics that I truly appreciate what Cluedo has achieved. The three components feel like you’re investigating a crime, and the overall design is immediately comprehendible by the players. All you need to do is explain that a murder has happened and the murderer, weapon, and location are in this envelope and all the questions spring from there. How do you find out what’s in the envelope? How do you make an accusation? The premise is simple enough that the compounding complexity of the game never feels overwhelming. I just love the simplicity of the cards in the envelope. It feels like a magic trick and the players are magicians as much as they are detectives. Where I sometimes feel uncertain at the end of a murder mystery night, Cluedo’s use of cards give the players the ability to deduce and accuse as confidently as Holmes or Poirot. The game’s clear objective (solve the murder by giving the right answers) and simple structure (whatever is not in the envelope is a wrong answer) can grow with its players. As a kid, I could only cross off suspects, rooms, and weapons that I saw with my own eyes. As I got older and learned deductive reasoning, I started taking notes and scribbling extra info in the margins. I could sort out what one player was showing another without ever seeing the exchange. I was becoming even more of a detective. Cluedo gets deeper (mechanically and thematically) as a player matures and I find that simply incredible.