Deconstruction of Clue!

Goal of the game-

The goal of the game is to find out the who did it, where and with what weapon. Basically the goal of the game is to figure out what cards are in the envelope that is hidden to all players.

Using strategy to figure out who, where, and what. The envelope has the three hidden cards, which you are trying to figure out. Each of the three cards reveals who, what and where that reveals who was the murderer, with what weapon they used and in what room.

Core Mechanic-

One of the core mechanics of this game is managing cards. Using cards to your advantage knowing which cards you can mark off your list of your detective notes. By managing what cards you show to the other players to keep them from finding out who, what and where by process of elimination.

Another core mechanic of the game is Process of Elimination by marking off what cards you know are not in the “Solution pile” which is the cards in the envelope. By using strategy and remembering what has been asked previously you can use this to your advantage to eliminate more boxes of the choices.

Deduction- Using the cards you have and by making a suggestion about who, what and where it happened you are eliminating choices and making it easier to figure out each answer. Using deduction also helps the player to find out the answers faster because of the strategy used to eliminate choices by memorizing and using an educated guess.

 

Space of the game-

The space of the game is a one-dimensional space and the rooms around the board go in a loop. There are nine rooms inside the Mansion:

Library

Hall

Study

Billiard Room

Conservatory

Kitchen

Lounge

Ballroom

Dining Room

Four rooms on corner of board have a secret passage, which allows you to go to another room on opposite corners. You may choose to roll or take a secret passage if you are in the room with a secret passage. The four rooms that have a secret passage are Kitchen, Conservatory, Lounge, and the Study room.

Around the board there are multiple start points for each character in the game. These are specific points that have the name of what character should be placed there. All characters are put into the game even if you have less than six players because one of the players is going to be part of the solution envelope.

In the middle of the board there is a black X.  Inside this box it says “Clue.” This spot is for the solution cards, which are hidden inside the envelope.

Objects, Attributes, States

Characters (Six Suspects):

Colonel Mustard

Miss Scarlet

Professor Plum

Mrs. Peacock

Mr. Green

Mrs. White

These are the six wooden tokens used to move around the board game spaces.

Props:

Weapons: Lead pipe, Knife, Wrench, Candlestick, Rope, Revolver

Detective Notepad-

This aids your investigation and helps you get closer to solving the mystery by using process of elimination.

Twenty-one Cards:

One of each of the six Suspects

Six Weapons

Nine Rooms

Also in the game there is a Die, which determines how many spaces you can move.

Attributes:

Colonel Mustard- Yellow

Miss Scarlet- Red

Professor Plum- Purple

Mrs. Peacock- Blue

Mr. Green- Green

Mrs. White- White

Six kinds of weapons:

Lead pipe- Metal

Knife- Metal

Wrench- Metal

Candlestick- Metal

Rope- Plastic (White)

Revolver- Metal

Different types of rooms:

Library

Hall

Study

Billiard Room

Conservatory

Kitchen

Lounge

Ballroom

Dining Room

Colors of Rooms:

Blue, yellow, orange, brown, grey, and green

State-

Going into a room you are able make a suggestion meaning your guessing who, with what and where it happened.

Using a Secret passage instead of rolling the die.

Blocking opponents from entering a room.

Actions-

Blocking an opponent from entering a room that you are currently in.

Choosing to go through a secret passage or roll the die.

Move up to 6 spaces depending on what number you roll.

Trying to reach a different room in the mansion.

Checking off what you know in the Detective notepad.

Entering and leaving a room.

Making a Suggestion.

Proving a Suggestion is True or False.

Making an Accusation- Guessing which cards are in the solution envelope.

Rules-

First you must divide the twenty-one cards into three groups, which are Suspects, Rooms and Weapons.

Choose one from each of those piles to put in the Solution envelope. Solution envelope then gets placed in the middle of the board on the X spot.

Then place each of the six weapons in any of the nine rooms as long as it is only one weapon in each room. The remaining deck of cards needs to be shuffled and then passed out in a clockwise rotation. Each player must have a detective notepad sheet to use process of elimination to figure out who, what, and where.

Start at the name on the board closest to you. Miss Scarlet the player with the red token always plays first. Then the game continues in a clockwise rotation. You roll the die to figure out how many spaces you can move. You can move horizontally, vertically, forward, or backward but not diagonally. You can also change directions as many times as your roll will allow but don’t enter the same square twice on the same turn.

When you are in a room that has a secret passage on your turn you can choose to roll the die or take the secret passage. The door of each room is counted as one space even though there is a square on the board that says door and then a illustration of a door. You cannot enter a room that's blocked by an opponent’s piece. You also cannot enter a room that you have already entered on that turn. You can also block people from entering a room with your piece.

When you enter a room you must make a Suggestion of who, what and where. The where must be the room that you entered. You must also put the weapon in the room that you suspect.

Once you make your suggestion the player to the left will show you a card if they have one of your suspects. If they have two cards they are only allowed to show you one. Then it continues to the next person left of them.

When making an Accusation you must say out loud who, what and where you suspect. Then you can look at the solution cards but if you are wrong you must place them back and continue to play the game by showing your cards to players that suggest. You cannot win once you make the wrong accusation.

Through the game there is no limit to how many suspects or weapons are in each room.

To win the game you must make the correct accusation unless the other players made the wrong accusation and you are the last player.

Skills players learn:

Process of elimination

Memorizing

Taking notes

Marking off the cards that you have in your hand on your detective pad.

Using other player’s initials to take notes on their suggestions.

If you have two cards and someone gives the player another card you will know what that third card was and mark it off your detective notepad.