Inventor of Clue
by Bruce Whitehill
Waddington’s classic game Cluedo (from England) turns 65 in 2013, but it’s not about to retire. (Its Parker Bros. U.S. equivalent is a bit younger). Invented by Anthony Pratt in 1943 — and produced by Waddingtons in 1948 — the idea stemmed from the “live-action” parlor game of “Murder” he played in people’s homes on weekends. Three million copies of Clue sell each year in 73 countries. Pratt died of “old age” in 1994 (it was not Miss Scarlet with a wrench in the study), and the inscription on his tombstone bears his achievement.
In April, I’ll be giving a talk on the history of Cluedo and Clue at the international Board Game Studies symposium in Munich-Haar, Germany. [Click on the link to learn about the BGS.] After that, I will publish my report here, along with additional photographs of more games from my collection. If you know of an international edition of Clue or Cluedo (or a knockoff) that is graphically different from the standard ones in the UK, US and central Europe, please contact me.
Come back soon for a complete history of Clue.
To get information (including the year) of any game shown below, hover your cursor over the image.
To see the full image of any thumbnail below, click on the image.
There are a few websites devoted to Clue.
One was started by Clue fan Kenneth Hand:
“I started the Complete Clue Guide in 1999, when I was 15 years old (how the time flies!). I had always enjoyed playing Clue and particularly enjoyed the 1985 movie. To this day, Clue is my favourite board game, and Clue is my favourite comedy movie. The difference between Clue and other comparable board games, such as Monopoly and Risk, is that there is an actual story behind the game, a story that is so open-ended and engaging that it has provided for a multitude of variations of the game, the movie, countless books, a TV show, and even a musical. The timeless appeal of the story has also provided for an irrefutably indefinite lifespan, meaning that generations of game-players to come will enjoy the drama and mystery that is Clue.” — Kenneth Hand
Visit Kenneth Hand’s Clue website.
