Cluedo - Master Detective

Title           Cluedo - Master Detective
Publisher       Leisure Genius/Virgin (1989)
                ['Board Genius' Compilation, Beau Jolly (1991)]
Game Type       Strategy (Board Game)
Players         1-10
HD Installable  No
Compatibility   All Amigas (disable caches)
Submission      Dennis Smith Profiled Reviewer

Review
Cluedo is a typical example of a board-game converted to a computer game.
The essence of the board game is all there, and there are computer
opponents to defeat - this being of course the only good reason for porting
a board-game to a computer, the ability to play on one's own. There's little
else: apart from a couple of title screens the graphics are simple (but not
in a good way); the sound effects few and pointless. But that's not
important - what you want to know is how does it play? Well, if you're
playing against friends, it's a fairly faithful rendition of the board game
- the enhanced version of Cluedo with more suspects, rooms and weapons. But
you'll have difficulty concealing your 'cards' from your fellow players, as
they appear on the screen for you...

Against a computer, the game ought to come into its own - but it doesn't.
You are provided with the ability to make notes on the information you find
- but you can only do this in your turn, and you can't make notes on who
revealed what information to whom; as a consequence, if you're playing
anything more than a three-player game then you'll need some paper to
assist your memory, which seems to be against the point of the thing.
Additionally, the computer automatically chooses which cards you must
reveal to your opponent, leaving you no choice in situations where you have
a couple of options - and this would seem to me to be a major flaw, this
being one of the most important tactics used in games with fewer players.
All in all a frustrating version of a game which could have been much
better with more thoughtful implementation.

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