clue

Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion
Boxart
Developer(s)	Engineering Animation, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Hasbro Interactive
Distributor(s)	Hasbro Interactive
Designer(s)	Rick Raymer
Engine	Custom
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	1998
Genre(s)	Strategy/Board game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen)
Media/distribution	CD-ROM

Clue (known as Cluedo outside of North America) is a video game based on the board game of the same name. Its formal name is Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion or Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange. It 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.

Overview

Clue is a direct conversion of the original game as a video game. As such, it takes place in the same mansion and features the same goal of the board game.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 (which garnered the game's T (Teen) rating)
• Online play via the Internet

In the game, if one wishes to play online, he or she is linked to a now invalid URL address. The game was originally connected to the MSN Gaming Zone; however, MSN stopped hosting the game.

Clue had enjoyed an unusually long shelf life for a video game. It went on sale late in 1998 and, as of 2007 was still for sale, available at many retail stores and via the Internet. The original game came in a box with holographic images. Now the game comes in a less expensive jewel case, or as part of a collection, the Classic Game Collection (also including computer versions of Monopoly, The Game of Life, and Scrabble). At one point the game was offered free inside boxes of cereal alongside other Hasbro video games such as Operation.

Development

Clue was developed by a branch of Engineering Animation, Inc. called EAI Interactive. The development team was divided between EAI's interactive division in Salt Lake City, Utah and its main office in Ames, Iowa. Most of the programming and game design took place in Salt Lake, while most of the art and animations were developed in the Ames office. Development of the mansion, constructed piece by piece, began in Ames, but moved to Salt Lake City about halfway through the project.

Development of Clue took approximately one year. Hasbro Interactive, the game's publisher, funded the project.

The game does not include credits, however dozens of people were involved in Clue's development. Some of the more notable contributors:^[1]

• Michael S. Glosecki, Executive Producer, Hasbro Interactive
• Bryan Brandenburg, Executive Producer, EAI Interactive
• Tom Zahorik, Producer, Hasbro Interactive
• Virginia McArthur, Producer, EAI Interactive
• Rick Raymer, Game Designer
• Tim Zwica, Art Lead
• Chris Nash, Lead Programmer
• Joshua Jensen, Lead EAGLE Programmer
• Mike Reed, AI Programmer
• Greg Thoenen, Programmer
• Darren Eggett, Programmer
• Steve Barkdull, Programmer
• Emily Modde, Level Designer
• Greg German, 3D Modeller
• Jonathan Herrmann, Cinematic Lighting
• Jason Wintersteller, Graphic Designer
• Cole Harris, Lead Tester

See also

• Cluedo characters
• Clue, the movie
• Clue (board game)
• Clue (1992 video game)

References

1. ^ Clue credits from MobyGames

External links

• Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion at MobyGames