Clue FX

Front box cover

**Overview** • Rules • Gallery

## Source

***Clue FX*** (also known as ***Cluedo SFX*** outside North America) is an electronic-talking board game developed and published by Hasbro under Parker Brothers in 2003. *Clue FX* features new characters, weapons, and locations as well different gameplay mechanics.

## Overview

Like other editions of *Clue*, the object of the game is to solve a murder. *Clue FX* centers around the murder of Mr. Miles Meadow-Brook, Mr. Boddy's lawyer. According to the rule book, Mr. Meadow-Brook and others were at a garden party at Dr. Black's estate, Tudor Mansion. Some while later, Mr. Meadow-Brook was found murdered. His body had been moved from elsewhere on the grounds. Players take the role of four amateur detectives (not the suspects, as in other editions) to solve the crime before presenting their solution to Inspector Brown. If they are right, they win.

Clue FX keeps the same three questions:

* Whodunnit?
* Where did the murder take place?
* What was the murder weapon?

Throughout the game, players make suggestions and are proved either right or wrong in an attempt to limit down the possibilities in the three categories (suspect, weapon, location).

Unlike in previous editions, in Clue FX, eight of the clue cards are held by non-player character suspects, kept in separate envelopes. The suspects move around randomly and in secret. When a player is in the same room as one of the suspects, the electronic talking board says (for example) "You see Mrs. White at the Swimming Pool," and the player may then read the card in the "Mrs. White" envelope. Thus, to win, players must locate suspects and interrogate them in addition to making suggestions.

## Introduction

According to *Clue Mysteries*, the prequel game to Clue FX, the date of the game is August 8th, 1925, making it a prequel to the 2002 edition of Clue.

 — Instruction manual

## Characters

### Victim

The victim of *Clue FX* is Miles Meadow-Brook, the family solicitor of Mr. John Boddy (a.k.a. Dr. Black). During the party, Meadow-Brook pulled Boddy aside to discuss certain details about his late uncle's will.

### Suspects

The following were guests of Mr. Boddy, some of whom were associates of his late uncle, Sir Hugh Black. Unlike the 2002 edition of Clue, no biographies or explicit motives were given to any of the characters. However, Mr. Meadow-Brook was last seen alive leaving Tudor Mansion after talking with Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black over his uncle's will, and since the original six suspects are also involved with the will, this does provide a possible motives for them. The board game Clue Mysteries also hinted at possible motives for the new two suspects.

The suspects are as follows:

* Miss Scarlet, an aspiring (yet woefully untalented) actress and the wayward daughter of Mrs. Peacock.

* Colonel Mustard, an old acquaintance of Sir Hugh Black from the Army.

* Mrs. White, the cook and housekeeper of Tudor Mansion.

* Mr. Green (a.k.a. Reverend Green), a "clergyman" with a criminal past back in the United States.

* Mrs. Peacock, a social butterfly and mother of Miss Scarlet. She was the only woman Sir Hugh had any romantic relationship with during his life.

* Professor Plum, an Egyptologist who expeditions were once funded by Sir Hugh.

* Mrs. Meadow-Brook, the gossipy, busybody wife of the victim. In *Clue Mysteries*, it is stated that Miles asked for a divorce.

* Rusty, the head groundskeeper of Tudor Mansion. In *Clue Mysteries*, Rusty was trying to blackmail some of his employer's associates.

### Detectives

The following four characters were also guests of Boddy, but all of them were all found to be innocent of the crime. They act as playable characters for players to choose.

* Lord Gray, a charming bachelor and landscape architect.

* Lady Lavender, a widowed Chinese-born noblewoman who runs her own herbal business.

* Miss Peach, a young woman from the United States and relative newcomer.

* Prince Azure, a self-styled French aristocrat who deals with antiques and art.

### Other characters

The following assists you within the game:

* Mr. Ashe (later spelled as Ash), the butler and house steward of Tudor Mansion, who acts as the narrator of the game.

* Inspector Brown, the head of the Meadow-Brook murder investigation. He arrives later in the game after a certain amount of time and wanders throughout the grounds.

## Weapons

Since Clue FX is set outside Tudor Mansion on the grounds, the weapons are not the same. Also, unlike the past versions of *Clue*, there are no weapon tokens included in the game. During an extensive search of the grounds, the following six are believed to be possible weapons:

* Tennis Racquet
* Horseshoe
* Lawn Gnome
* Water Bucket
* Hammer
* Garden Shears

## Locations

The possible crime scenes of Clue FX are located outside the mansion, being the south gardens of the Black family estate and none of the original rooms are suspected. Tudor Mansion as a whole, however, is a possibility. Also, there are no secret passages, but movement around the board is much easier than the boards of other editions. The locations are:

* Tudor Mansion
* Swimming Pool
* Gate House
* Stables
* Gazebo
* Garage
* Tennis Courts
* Boat House
* Garden

### Set-up

* Sort the cards into three decks: Suspects, Weapons, and Locations. Shuffle them and then place them facedown. Then select one card from each (without looking) pile and place them in the Confidential Case File envelope. The three cards in there are the answer to the Meadow-Brook Mystery/Murder.
* Shuffle the remaining cards into one deck.
* Place one card in each of the eight suspect envelopes without looking at them. Set them off aside the board.
* Deal the remaining cards to the players.
* Each player then takes their cards and marks them off on their Detective Notepad.
* Each player chooses a Guest (Miss Peach, Lord Gray, Lady Lavender, or Prince Azure) to play as.

### Turns

* Turn the ON/OFF switch ON. The switch is on the back of Tudor Mansion.
* Guests tell the Narrator (Mr. Ashe, butler) who is playing
* Players set their pawns on their starting spaces.

A player's turn consists of three possibilities:

#### Move

Unlike in the previous editions and spin-off games, a player can go to any location he or she wishes. They simply choose one of the nine locations, place their pawn on the log-in space. The electronic aspect of the game (thus the name Clue SFX, loosely Clue Effects) comes into play here. It registers where a player is moving and who is moving. This helps preventing cheating. When a suspect arrives at a location, they are met with one of two announcements:

* "There are no suspects at the ...."
* "You see .... at the ...."

When you go to a location and meet a suspect (they move randomly about the board during play) Mr. Ashe announces them. It may be one or more. They will greet you (with a greeting line such as Mrs. Meadow-Brook's, 'I've been dying to meet you'). You may then take the suspect envelopes of the suspects present and look at the card in them. You then mark off the card in that envelope. If there are no suspects, you cannot look in any envelopes. Later in the game, Inspector Brown will arrive and begin to move around the estate. If you find him, you can give him your accusation (it is required to win, actually) for the win. If you meet him any other time during the game, he will ask if you want to. You decline by selecting 'No' on the panel. A major change to the game is the fact that there are no hallways or spaces or dice to roll. Movement for each player can be random. The order in which the players are allowed to move is chosen - at random - by Mr. Ashe. Only when a player is announced can they move.

#### Searching and suggesting

Once you have looked at all the cards of the suspect present you may then hit the 'Search' button on the panel. You may or may not find another suspect at the location you are at. You are allowed to look at their cards, too. There is the possibility that there are no hidden suspects, in which case you cannot look in any envelopes.

It is recommended that you do not make suggestions until you look inside all eight of the suspect envelopes. When you have, you may then make a suggestion (or accusation in some cases) during your turn. You name your suspected murderer, weapon, and crime scene - just like in regular Clue.

The other players will then look through their cards to try to find ones that will disprove you. In which case, the first player to your left shows you a card in their hand that you suggested. For each suggestion only one person can show the suggester only one card. They then mark that card off.

#### Final accusation

When you think that you know who killed Mr. Meadow-Brook, where, and with what you are ready to make your final accusation. Before you can do so, you must find Inspector Brown. Once you are at the same location that he is at you. To tell him that you are going to make your accusation you hit the 'Final' button on the panel. You then announce your accusation. After you make it, take the Case File and look inside. If even one card is wrong, you tell Inspector Brown 'No.' You are not able to play anymore. Mr. Ashe will no longer call you guest to move, but you are still able to show other players cards to disprove their suggestions. If all three of the cards you suggested are in, you tell Inspector Brown 'Yes.' The game then ends and you are declared the winner.

## Sound effects

The game is powered electronically. Mr. Ashe dictates movement. The suspects move according to the computer to an adjacent location. Though there are no corridors as in regular Clue, the instruction booklet shows that movement passes in this order: Tudor Mansion to the Garden to the Boat House to the Tennis Courts to the Garage to the Gazebo to the Stable to the Gate House to the Swimming Pool and back to Tudor Mansion. Inspector Brown and the suspects move to adjacent locations between turns.

When you encounter a suspect, they will greet you with a comment. When they leave, it will be announced, followed by the suspect making another comment. Each suspect has their own. Mrs. Peacock will greet the men players with a 'Hello, handsome,' and Mrs. White might say, 'Oh! Don't go sneaking up on people!' Character is certainly given to the suspects this way.

Also, whenever you go to a location a sound effect will sound. When you enter the Boat House, a boat idles. When you enter the Tennis Courts, you hear some one playing. When you enter Tudor Mansion, you hear a gong being sounded.

## Gallery

Due to the amount of images relating to this article, ***Clue FX*** now has its own gallery.
## Points of Interests

* On the box cover, a newspaper is visible. The heading gives the date to be June 7, 1926 and is an article about the murder of Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black, not Mr. Meadow-Brook. The newspaper was recycled from the 2002 edition.

* The suspects are wearing the same thing they were the day Dr. Black was murdered - almost a year later. They did not even change for a garden party.

* In early release pictures of Clue FX, only the classic six suspects were featured in the game. This means that both Mrs. Meadow-Brook and Rusty were later add-ons and were most likely not included in the original concept of the game. In fact, the original six weapons (token and all) were included and the four Guests appeared differently, as did the board.

* If Mr. Meadow-Brook's murderer was arrested, it would have had to be Mrs. Meadow-Brook or Rusty, as the remaining six were suspects of the murder of Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black just ten months later. However, in *Cluedo DVD Game* (which takes place after Clue FX), both Mrs. Meadow-Brook and Rusty are featured as suspects of thefts. Prince Azure and Lady Lavender are also suspected, but Lord Gray and Miss Peach are not. Lord Gray and Lavender would appear again as murder suspects in Cluedo Party: Tudor Mansion Edition, a boxed murder mystery party game that is set after the murder of Dr. Black, but Miss Peach is never featured nor mentioned again.

* In the North American version of the game, Mr. Green speaks in a Southern accent, as part of his American origins according to his biography. However in the British version, Green is given a British accent. Rusty's voice is also different between the two English versions.