Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion

Overview

Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion, known in Europe as Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange, and known in-game simply as either Clue or Cluedo, is a virtual board game developed by EAI Interactive and published by Hasbro Interactive (later Infogrames) for Windows PCs on September 30, 1998.

A late-'90s computer game adaptation of the board game of the same name, Clue (or "Cluedo") features pre-rendered 3D graphics (with an art deco aesthetic), an isometric viewpoint, fully-animated cutscenes (including scenes of various murder suggestions, shown from the victim's perspective), and networked multiplayer support (both LAN and Online).

Like the board game, up to six players take part in moving around Boddy Manor (Blackwell Grange in the European version), deducing which one of them killed Mr. Boddy (Dr. Black in the European version), at where, with what weapon. This adaptation features an alternate "No Die Roll" variant where random dice rolls are replaced by a more strategic limited-move system.

EAI later made a point-and-click adventure game based on the adaptation, known as Clue Chronicles: Fatal Illusion (or Cluedo Chronicles: Fatal Illusion), that uses the same early 20th century art deco aesthetic and several of the same character models.

The game was one of several Hasbro Interactive games (including Ultimate Yahtzee, Monopoly Junior, Operation, Scrabble, and Boggle) to be included as cereal box prizes in marked General Mills cereals in the summer of 2000.

Gameplay

Being a direct adaptation, Murder at Boddy Mansion plays out nearly identically to its board game counterpart. As the player, you assume the role of one of the six playable characters - Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. White, Colonel Mustard, or Professor Plum - and attempt to successfully accuse the true murderer, whose identity, weapon of choice, and murder location are hidden away. Randomly distributed to the rest of the players are cards depicting suspects, weapons, and locations around the mansion.

After navigating to one of the rooms in the mansion players may make suggestions as to who they believe is the murderer, which weapon was used, and where it took place. The suggestion may be disproved if any of the other players are holding cards that depict one of the three aspects of the accusation. The game continues and, through analyzation and process of elimination, is won by the player who makes a suggestion that cannot be refuted.

Murder at Boddy Mansion also features local multiplayer as well as online multiplayer hosted through MSN Gaming Zone, however the latter is no longer operational.

No Die Roll

New to the series is the "No Die Roll", an alternate strategic variant of "Classic" mode which removes dice-rolling. Each player starts their turn with nine "moves", which they can spend on walking around the game board (at one move per square), then performing one of three actions (for three moves): taking a secret passage, making a suggestion, and making an accusation.