dragonfire88's Full Review: The Simpsons Clue Game by Parker Brothers
When I was growing up, I enjoyed playing different board games. One of my favorite games was Clue, which involved solving a murder mystery. I probably enjoyed the game so much because I got hooked on mysteries through Nancy Drew when I was fairly young. I have played a few different versions of the game, including on the computer. I have also seen the movie based on the game many times. Several years ago, a friend gave me The Simpsons Clue for Christmas which combined my love of the classic Clue game with The Simpsons.
In the original version, people play as one of six characters who have to figure out who killed Mr. Body with what weapon and in which room. I will explain more about how to play the game later. The Simpsons Clue only has a few minor differences from the classic version of the game. Different Simpsons characters take the place of the original characters with Mr. Burns being the victim. Various locations from around Springfield - the town where The Simpsons is set - replace the rooms from the original game. The six potential murder weapons are also pulled from the world of The Simpsons.
What's In the Box
The Simpsons Clue comes with a board, six game tokens that represent the suspects, six zinc weapon tokens, six suspect cards, six weapon cards, nine location cards, a pad of detective notebook sheets, a "Case File" envelope, and two dice. The cards have pictures of the different suspects, potential weapons, and potential locations. The game directions are printed on a piece of cardboard in the box.
Game Pieces
The game tokens are made of plastic and made to look like the six suspects down to the colorful outfits they are wearing. The tokens are very detailed and really look like the various Simpsons characters. The tokens have a flat base so there won't be any problems getting the tokens to stand up on the board. They do vary in height depending on the token with Marge's being the tallest thanks to her tall hairstyle and Lisa's being the shortest. The Marge token is probably just over an inch tall and I believe that Lisa is less than an inch tall. The Simpsons characters are supposed to represent the characters from the classic version of Clue.
Marge Simpson as Mrs. Peacock Homer Simpsons as Mr. Green Krusty the Clown as Colonel Mustard Waylon Smithers as Mrs. White - yes he is wearing a dress like a maid Bart Simpson as Professor Plum Lisa Simpsons as Miss Scarlet
The weapon tokens are made of zinc according to the instructions and are silver or grey in color. There is one token to represent each of the potential weapons. It is clear which token in which even though they are all the same color and not as detailed.
Extend-O-Glove Necklace Plutonium Rod Poisoned Donut Saxophone Slingshot
All of the tokens are very small, though the weapon tokens are smaller than the suspect tokens. It would be easy to lose any of them. There is no secure spot in the box to store the tokens, so they can slide all over the place when the box is moved. I have stored them in a small plastic baggie to hopefully prevent me losing any of the tokens. All of the tokens could also pose a potential choking hazard for small children, so they should be kept away from younger children. The tokens could also be appealing to a cat to bat around, so I wouldn't leave them sitting around on the floor if you have a playful cat. I could see any one of my cats deciding that one of the suspect tokens was a new cat toy to bat around.
Game Board
Instead of just folding in half like the board did for my original version, the board for The Simpsons Clue folds down into a square. It can be difficult to get the suspect tokens to sit on a space along one of the creases. Each token starts on their own space which are spread out around the edge of the board. There are little boxes for the spaces that the tokens move along between the different locations. Each one of the locations represents a different location that has turned up in The Simpsons instead of them being different rooms in one house. The locations on the corners do have the secret passageways to one of the other corner locations. The artwork for each location was very well done, with each one looking like the actual spot has been shown on the televison show.
Barney's Bowl-A-Rama Krustylu Studios Nuclear Power Plant The Simpson House The Frying Dutchman Kwik-E-Mart Burns Manor Springfield Retirement Castle The Android's Dungeon
The Detective Notebook
The detective notebook is all in one pad that has several sheets. Each sheet lists the suspects, weapons, and locations and has four boxes after each item. Both sides of every sheet have the lists. While playing the game, people need to mark off items as they eliminate things while trying to solve the mystery. Since there is a limited number of these sheets, you will run out at some point. I can remember making up my own detective notebook when I ran out of these sheets as a child. I prefer to use pencils when marking on these sheets. When I play, I tend to make one mark for the cards I have and a different mark for the items I eliminate while playing. I also will make a different mark, usually a star, once I think I have figured out that an item was used for the murder. According to the instructions, you can send away to get more pads of the notebook. I will probably just make some copies with my Lexmark X5150 once I am close to running out of sheets.
Playing the Game
The instructions say that the game is intended for three to six players, but I have played it with two. The game will be more challenging and take longer with more players. It is intended for ages eight to adult. All the suspect tokens should be placed on their specific starting spots. The weapon tokens should be placed on the board in different rooms. The cards should be sorted into three different piles, one each for the suspects, weapons, and locations. Each pile should be shuffled, and then one card taken from each pile and placed inside the case file envelope, being careful to make sure that no one sees any of the cards. The cards in the envelope represent who committed the murder, with what weapon, and in which location. The envelope should be placed in the center of the board.
The remaining cards are shuffled together and dealt to the players. Some people may end up with more cards than others. Each player looks at their cards and marks off the ones they have on their detective notebook, being careful to make sure that no one accidently sees. Lisa as Miss Scarlet always goes first and then proceeds to the left around the board based on the different starting locations. If no one is playing as Lisa, then the first character to the left that is being played goes first.
When the dice are rolled, the token is moved that number of spaces. Tokens can move forward, backward, or to the side but can't move diagonally. Tokens can not enter the same space twice on the same turn or enter or go over a space where another token is. Tokens can enter the different locations by going through the door openings or using a secret passage from one of the other locations. It doesn't matter if a player rolls a higher number than they need to enter a location. If another token is blocking the door, a player can't enter or leave that location until the door is no longer blocked.
Once in a location, a player makes a suggestion. To do that, they suggest that a character committed the murder with a certain weapon in that specific location and move the corresponding tokens into that location. For example, a suggestion could be that Bart did it with the slingshot in the Kwik-E-Mart. Players can use cards that they received as part of their suggestion if they want to try to eliminate something else. After a suggestion is made, the other players look through their cards to see if they have one mentioned in the suggestion. If they do, they must show the card to the person who made the suggestion, who will then mark that item off in their notebook. If none of the other players can prove the suggestion false, the player can choose to end their turn or make an accusation. On their next turn, they must roll or use a secret passage if available to leave the room before they can make another suggestion. Players can not exit and reenter the same location on the same turn. If a player's token is moved to a location, they can choose to make a suggestion in that location or roll the dice and move out of the location on their next turn.
Making an accusation is almost like making a suggestion. Players can only make one accusation per game, so they should wait until they are sure they have figured out which cards are in the envelope before making one. The player does not have to be in the location they are including in their accusation. Once the accusation is made, the player who made it looks at the cards in the envelope, making sure that no one else sees the cards. If the accusation is correct, the player shows the cards and wins the game. If the accusation is false, the player returns the cards to the envelope and can't make any more moves and has no chance of winning the game. All they can do is show cards to other players to disprove suggestions.
The Simpsons Clue gives a fun twist to the classic game of Clue. The game is played the same way as the original version with some Simpsons things added in. I love how the Simpsons characters serve as the classic Clue characters. The various locations should be recognizable to anyone who has seen the show and the weapons are also somehow connected to the show. I think the game is very fun, but I also have enjoyed the classic version of Clue for years. Fans of The Simpsons may enjoy the game as well. People that don't care for the classic version of Clue probably won't like this version either since the gameplay is the same.
Ages 8+, 3-6 Players Includes game board, 6 Pewter suspect tokens, 6 Pewter Weapons, Confidential Case File, Deck of Suspect, Weapon and Location Card...More at Amazon Marketplace
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