Mayhem in the Mansion
There’s been a murder! Put your sleuthing skills to the test in Hasbro’s popular board game Clue: The Classic Mystery Game+ from developer Marmalade Game Studio. Examine the evidence and cross suspects, weapons and locations off your list to determine the murderous scenario. Find out if you have what it takes to foil the villain before your fellow players and prove that you’re the best amateur detective.
Choose Carefully
You’ll start Clue by choosing one of the three modes from the main menu—single-player, online or play with friends. Each of these modes plays the same way since the only major change is who you‘ll play against. Once you’ve selected a mode, a list of locations appears for you to choose from.
The game offers 11 themed stages, including Masquerade, Sherlock, Murder Express and, of course, the Classic Mansion. Players can toggle on hints to receive three hints as an advantage during the game. However, employing these hints will disqualify you from ranking on the leaderboard.
After selecting your location, you’ll choose from the plethora of characters available. Select one of your favorites from the board game or play as one of the characters from the Sherlock stories.
Most characters offer a nice variety of cosmetic variants based on each setting’s theme. However, newer characters in the series (Rose, Azure, Gray, etc) yield far fewer options. Once you’ve selected your character, you’ll have the opportunity to change your fellow suspects by deselecting undesirables and tapping your favorites. Tap ‘start game’ to begin.
Anatomy of a Crime Scene
Beyond this point, players familiar with the classic board game will feel right at home. A sweeping animation of the location’s exterior precedes the introduction of the Clue’s 3D board. After your arrival, the computer shuffles the cards containing the rooms, weapons and suspects, selects one of each and places those in an envelope. Next, the AI distributes the remaining cards amongst the players and spins a dial to determine which player goes first.
One at a time, each player rolls the dice and selects a room within their reach based on their roll. Their game piece travels to the room, and the player will submit their guess of the murder weapon and culprit. Each participant searches their hands for evidence that exonerates one of the choices. If someone finds a component of the guess in their possession, they will offer up that single piece of evidence.
Keep track of the mountain of accusations by taking notes on your clipboard. While in single-player mode, the AI will keep up with the disproven evidence by automatically updating your clipboard. However, in the online multiplayer, you’ll need to keep tabs by tapping grid squares and placing the corresponding marks.
If a player holds one of the cards in question, the evidence get’s a check mark under the holder’s color on the grid. All other players receive an ‘X’ for that row. To suss out the murderous situation, look for weapons/rooms/people with all ‘X’s.’ Circle your suspected culprits by tapping their names on your clipboard so that it’s easier to keep track. At the end of each of your turns, you can present your accusation. But beware; should you guess wrong, it’s game over.
A Disappointing Discovery
While Clue: The Classic Mystery Game+ offers players a large pool of cosmetic choices, the game itself feels a tad shallow. Make no mistake, Clue operates solidly as players know it. However, the game lacks innovation beyond its well-worn play style and fresh new skin. This is especially upsetting, as its inclusion Apple Arcade’s premium game library should warrant more innovative gameplay value than cosmetics.
While I did have plenty of fun at first, over time I grew bored with the status quo. Hasbro and Marmalade did a solid job reliving the glory of the original, but without the introduction of an innovative mode or two, the trail runs cold. While there are only so many ways to solve a mystery, Clue seems stuck examining the same old evidence. It’s a real shame, too, given how much potential rests just below Clue’s marbled surface.
