Game of Thrones Cluedo Review - Murder, mystery and Westeros

Toy giant Hasbro likes to constantly revamp his board games. With the abundance of source material that can be retrieved from modern media, they pull out of a bottomless vessel. Popular video games and TV series are an excellent basis to give a new look to familiar classics such as Monopoly or Cluedo. Game of Thrones is packed with murder and intrigue, so a Cluedo version of this hit series could hardly be missed.

As with classic Cluedo, this version is about solving a murder, where every player may be the perpetrator, but nobody knows exactly who. The aim is to be the first by means of deduction to know both the perpetrator, the murder weapon and the murder location. By asking smart questions you can exclude more and more possibilities, until you end up with only one or a few combinations and you can win the game.

In this variation, the drama plays out in the gray world of Westeros. And that means that you previously accused Professor Plum. Black in the study with the lead pipe, you now put the blame in the shoes of Tyrion Lannister. In King Tommen's bedroom, with the crossbow. Or was it Daenerys with the poison?

Sharp pays are in Cluedo

Game of Thrones Cluedo is a game where you have to be sharp. It requires everyone to pay attention and try to get as much information as possible from everything that happens around them. As a result, the turns of other players are also extremely important. The information that a player collects during his or her turn often influences the knowledge that other players have. It is like a mental puzzle that is completed step by step, but one in which players can seriously bother each other. Cluedo is at its best when players force each other to certain locations or put their opponents on the wrong track with their rumors.

The rules are simple and easy to explain, so that everyone can play with it. However, if you play the game smartly, it does go beyond simply gambling. For fanatical players, this variant of Cluedo is also a game full of wiles and tactics; for players who play purely for fun, it is a low-threshold game that offers the possibility to accuse that nasty Littlefinger of a murder plot.

Suitable theme

Hasbro has ensured that all facets of the game are provided with a matching lick of Westeros paint when designing Game of Thrones Cluedo. As suspects, some of the most famous characters from Game of Thrones play the leading role, including Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark and Daenerys Targaryen. The locations on the game board come directly from the source material and the murder weapons are also references to recognizable weaponry from the TV series. In addition, the designers have obtained permission from HBO to use the similarities of actors from the series, so that famous faces like Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey show off on the playing spies.

This theme is well conceived and often makes good use of the possibilities offered by the Game of Thrones franchise. The board also contains a different playing field on both sides, with one based on the Red Keep in King's Landing and the other on Meereen. Depending on the version, the different game elements have also been adjusted, with corresponding locations and characters chosen for each setting. Especially for fans of the series, these adaptations offer a feast of recognition. Anyway, it is something different than that old familiar Cluedo board that was dusting in the attic.

Painful lack of innovation

Unfortunately, it is mainly in that themation. However, Intrigue cards have been added. These cards can collect players during the game to, for example, obtain additional promotions or view one of the cards of other players. In addition, each character has a unique skill that can influence the game in his or her favor. At first these additions seem to be a cautious attempt to add some innovation, but even this is not original. They all come from the modern versions of Cluedo (for example Cluedo: Discover the Secrets) and have also hardly been adapted to the source material.

Offering two different playing fields could be a good way to bring variety to the game, but unfortunately that does not work out at all. There are more secret corridors in the Red Keep, while Meereen is similar to the traditional game board of Cluedo. But whatever side of the board you use, the course of the game is exactly the same. Of course the murder locations and characters are different, but that is mainly cosmetic and has hardly any influence on the game. The only advantage that Meereen offers is that the boxes on the board are much clearer than the alternative, but that says more about the moderate design of the Red Keep playing field.

The game board is not the only part that lets it know in terms of production value: many of the game elements are provided with simple images of Game of Thrones related to the theme of the game. With the exception of miniature weapons, this is not all that special. It is a pity that no more effort has been put into the texts and images on, for example, the Intrigue cards. In that respect, a theme such as Game of Thrones had a lot more to it.

Conclusion

A fan of George RR Martin's fantasy series may appreciate this new design, but for most board game enthusiasts, Game of Thrones Cluedo is nothing new under the sun. It is entertaining, but in no way does the game try to do something innovative or unexpected, and that is a huge sin. A murder mystery with Game of Thrones has a lot of potential, but unfortunately creativity is lacking in the end result. Many variants of classic Hasbro games suffer from this, whether it concerns Cluedo, Risk or Monopoly. The company is holding just too many fixed formulas and is of the opinion that nothing can be adjusted to the original games. The end result is that many of these thematizations add very little. Game of Thrones Cluedo is no exception.

The plus and minus points

✔ Game of Thrones theme
✔ Two different playing fields
✔ Easy to set up
✖ No innovative elements
✖ Cheap production quality
✖ Themization is only cosmetic

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