Software:Clue (1998 video game)

Clue
Boxart
Developer(s)	Engineering Animation, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Hasbro Interactive
Designer(s)	Rick Raymer
Engine	Custom
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	1998
Genre(s)	Strategy, board game
Mode(s)	Single Player, Multiplayer

Clue (known as Cluedo outside of North America) is a 1998 video game based on the board game of the same name. It is also known as Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion or Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange, depending on whether the country of release used American or British English.

Clue runs on Microsoft Windows. It was developed in 1998 for Hasbro Interactive by EAI. Infogrames (now Atari) took over publishing rights for the game in 2000 when Hasbro Interactive went out of business. The game, just like the board game, is meant for 3-6 players due to the six suspects. The game garnered generally positive reviews upon release.

Engineering Animation released a spin-off named Clue Chronicles in 1999.

Development

Clue was developed by a branch of Engineering Animation, Inc. known as EAI Interactive. The development process was divided between EAI's interactive division located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and its main office in Ames, Iowa. While the majority of the programming and game design activities were conducted in Salt Lake, the Ames office focused on art and animations. The creation of the in-game mansion, built piece by piece, initially began in Ames but shifted to Salt Lake City midway through the project.

The primary motivation for developing the game was to enhance and rectify the shortcomings of the previous 1992 version, which was criticized for subpar AI, board presentations, and game mechanics. The new iteration of Clue sought to rectify these issues, with a particular emphasis on improving the artificial intelligence of computer players within the game.

The development of Clue spanned approximately one year, with funding provided by the game's publisher, Hasbro Interactive. Chris Nash, Lead Programmer on the project, described the experience as both enjoyable and challenging, especially during crunch times near the project's conclusion.

Nash explained the design process, highlighting the collaboration between the development team and Hasbro, the publisher. He acknowledged that Hasbro had the final say on graphical treatments, with one notable flaw being the lack of visual representation for suggestions made within the game. Nash discussed the challenge of aligning the UI design with both the Game Designer's vision and Hasbro's preferences. Despite some design conflicts, Nash emphasized that Hasbro's involvement generally did not involve excessive micromanagement. The characters' designs, particularly that of Miss Scarlet, underwent iterations before finalization. Nash also addressed an unconfirmed rumor that Miss Scarlet's appearance was modeled after the game's producer, Virginia.

The development team for Clue included numerous individuals who contributed to various aspects of the game, such as programming, art, design, and testing. Notable contributors included Michael S. Glosecki, Bryan Brandenburg, Tom Zahorik, Virginia McArthur, Rick Raymer, Tim Zwica, Joshua Jensen, and others.

Clue enjoyed a longer shelf life than typical for video games. It remained available for purchase years after its 1998 release, either as a standalone product or part of collections such as the Classic Game Collection. The game's availability was also promoted through tie-ins, including distribution with breakfast cereal and other Hasbro video games. The longevity of Clue was in part attributed to its association with the 50th anniversary of the original Clue board game.

Artificial Intelligence

The artificial intelligence (AI) implemented in Clue for computer-controlled opponents was considered advanced for a digital board game conversion. The AI's ability to deduce solutions led to customer complaints of cheating, although the AI simply outperformed the average human player. The AI recorded players' suggestions and tracked information often overlooked by human players. This allowed the AI to deduce which cards players possessed without explicitly asking about them.

Three difficulty levels for the AI were provided, with the hardest level utilizing the entire game history for decision-making. The AI's development was led by Mike Reed, based on a design by Bob Pennington. Independent studies demonstrated the AI's effectiveness in making deductions about the game's case file contents.

The success of Clue led to the reuse of its 3D characterizations in the Cluedo-inspired title Fatal Illusion.

Gameplay

The game has the same objective as the board game it is based on: to find the murderer, the room which housed Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black's demise, and the weapon used.

In addition to play by the original rules, Clue has an additional mode that allows movement via "points". Each turn begins with nine points and every action the player takes costs points. The player can only do as many things as he has points. For example, moving from square to square costs one point, making a suggestion costs three points. Many players prefer this mode of play as it makes the game more balanced since each player gets the same number of "moves" each turn.

A few features of Clue:

• Detailed depictions of the characters made famous by the board game.
• A 3D isometric view.
• A top down view reminiscent of the board game.
• Video clips of the characters carrying out the crime.
• Online play via the Internet.

The Providence Journal described the game as having a "film-noir environment (like a murder-mystery movie of the 1940s)". Christian Spotlight explains that these can be switched off if one so chooses.

AllGame explains that "each room is richly created in loving detail, complete with exotic period furniture and secret passages. Both the mood and gameplay is enhanced by the deep, sonorous voice of the Butler as he announces events as they occur". Spong says: "Cluedo takes place mostly in the house where the murder was committed, creating a chilling atmosphere. Environments are beautifully rendered, featuring all characters from the original board game in full 3D".

Cnet explains, "Clue offers full animations of the characters walking from room to room. While this is interesting for a while, you'll probably want to play with the standard overhead view of the board. Along with the animations is a really good soundtrack that includes sounds of the storm outside the mansion and a forbidding butler who calls out each suggestion as it is played". It adds, "the "autonotes" feature that takes notes as to what cards you've seen doesn't record what suggestions have already been made, so making educated guesses as to which cards people don't have by their suggestions becomes a pen and paper experience".

The background music is inspired by genres such as jazz and film noir. Christian Spotlight said that "the music is a bit annoying, simply replaying the same bars over and over and over again. Thankfully, the music is quiet and not much of a distraction". It also added: "Click on some of the objects in each area and be surprised by the many short animations that unfold".

Spong says: "A multi-player option over LAN offers something new to Cluedo that only a video game can accomplish. Whether your playing head to head or co-operatively, the experience makes the game much more sociable and enjoyable. And it’s quite possible that this gameplay addition alone makes Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange a thoroughly playable experience". The game was originally connected to the MSN Gaming Zone, but MSN stopped hosting the game. In-game links to online play now go to an invalid URL address. Christian Spotlight says: "The Internet play is absolutely flawless, even over a slow Internet connection. The game is stable and is supported quite well. Play with a few friends or family members around the computer or across the Internet. But for large groups in a single location, the original board game is much more easier than cramping around the computer keyboard and mouse".

The game uses an algorithm that allows it to be reusable, so that multiple levels are not needed. In Clue, "the idea is that of starting a new game each time. This particular game places a new puzzle to the player every new game so that the game is new to him/her every time" - having a different 3-card solution - despite using exactly the same game mechanics.

Cutscenes

Opening

The video opens on a view outside Blackwell Grange/Boddy Manor. The view cuts to the inside hall with the game's murderer, holding a lit candlestick, walking down the hall and entering one of the rooms. The candle is extinguished and silhouetted via a lightning flash, an indeterminate human figure prepares to strike the victim when the video cuts to the game's title.

Deal

Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black's spirit has returned to shuffle the cards and hand them out the players, in order for them to discover how he was murdered then puts the three cards representing the game's murderer, room and weapon in a briefcase. Clue is a direct conversion of the original game as a video game.

Murder

Every possible suspect and method of killing the victim is represented via a custom cutscene when a suggestion is made. These cutscenes are played through Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black's perspective. For example:

• The suspect stabbing with or throwing a knife at him
• Hanging, hitting, or strangling him with the rope
• Hitting him with the candlestick, wrench, or lead pipe
• Shooting him with a revolver

Jail

When the game is solved, the game's true killer walks into a jail cell and the door closes. The character's actions in the scene are as follows:

• Either Miss Scarlet (who poses), Colonel Mustard (who stands to attention), or Mrs. White (who dusts the wall) entering the jail cell
• Mr. Green lying on the bed
• Mrs. Peacock sitting on the bed
• A sad Professor Plum sitting on a toilet

Reception

AllGame gave the game 3 out of 5, commenting that "the game's graphics and sound are excellent and add to the escalating feel of suspense", while adding that "so much is happening in the visually stunning backgrounds, or the deep, sinister soundtrack" that the sometimes-slow pace of the board game is unnoticeable. In a 1999 MABM review, Helen Ubinas said: "Whoever thought of moving this classic to disc had a clue". Computer Gaming World thought the game was "stunning", and thought the "sexy...mysterious" soundtrack could have been made for a feature film.

GameSpot gave it a rating of 7.6, saying: "Basically, if you love the board game, you're going to want this version. And if you haven't played the board game, buy this instead". CNET gave the game a 3.5-star rating, writing "this is probably more fun than playing the board game", while concluding that "overall, this is one of the best translations to the PC that Hasbro has ever done. Beyond the simple fault of some extra features that weren't implemented to their best effect, there aren't really many faults with the game". Christian Spotlight gave the game a rating of 4.5 out 5 stars, while Gamezebo gave the game a 4 out of 5 star rating.

The game was named "Video Game of the Week" on 1999-02-06 in the Fresno Bee.

See also

• Cluedo characters
• Clue, the movie
• Clue (board game)

External links

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

External links

• EAI Develops "Clue Murder at Boddy Mansion" CD-ROM for Hasbro Interactive