Clue – Still a winner!
Clue is still a fantastic family board game!
With hundreds (if not thousands) of new board games and card games being published every year, it’s refreshing to pull out a classic family board game and still have a fantastic time together. Since we review so many new games, it’s easy to get caught up in all the hype and allure of new board games.
But lately our kids have started to burn out on always learning new rules to games. They don’t want to learn new rules every time we sit down to play. Instead, many times they’d rather simply play games that they’re already well familiar with. There’s something comforting about playing games you know well. Many times, it’s not until you’ve become well familiar with a game that you can let the rules fall into the background and just enjoy the experience.
Such it is with Clue.
In the designer board game industry, Clue often gets dismissed for a number of reasons. The biggest gripe folks have with it is the element of luck in the die rolls. For a game of deduction, many people don’t like the roll of the dice ruining their chance of winning.
They also don’t like being pulled away to another side of the board when they’re close to their destination to solve their next piece of the puzzle. Or some lucky guesses at the start of the game can tip the table.
And yes, those elements can cause some frustration during the game. But we think it’s precisely those mixes of luck (or rotten luck) in the game that makes it fun. It’s the balance of strategy, deduction, and luck of the initial card deal and dice rolls that create the fun experience.
But what we really like the most is that Clue brings out the sleuth in all of us. The feeling of being able to solve a puzzle keeps us coming back to Clue. Add to that the fact that all 6 of us can play this fun family game at the same time and we’re hooked. And with Caleb’s deduction skills improving over the years, it’s now a good challenge for all.
Clue is also a board game that brings everyone together. When it’s first suggested to play, it’s not always greeted with oohs and aahs and welcome arms. Some will choose to sit it out. But before long, the allure of solving the mystery pulls the others to the table. And before you know it, everyone’s got their detective hats on for the next game.
So even if Clue sits on our board game shelf for a long time between plays, it’s always welcome at the table and will remain one of our all-time favorite board games.
I agree with you about new games — I’d rather have fun at fewer games and play them more often than always having new games with new rules to teach and learn.
I’ve never been a Clue fan (even when I was a kid) but my daughter’s favorite is Monopoly. In her mind, we can’t play that enough. So we play it.
Games are supposed to be fun, above all. If people don’t have fun playing, then you are missing the point.
A variant for Clue (or Cluedo in the UK) that deals with the chance from die-rolling is to allow players to move one room around the board on their turn instead of requiring a roll to move.