Cluedo
Cluedo is a deduction-based murder mystery board game for 2 to 6 players, in which participants use process of elimination to identify the culprit, weapon, and location among predefined suspects, implements, and rooms within a fictional mansion.[1] Devised by British musician Anthony E. Pratt and his wife Elva during World War II air-raid blackouts, inspired by prewar murder-mystery parlor games at country house parties, the prototype was originally titled Murder!.[2] Pratt patented the game in 1944 but, due to postwar material shortages, it was not commercially released until 1949 by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom as Cluedo—a portmanteau of "Clue" and "Ludo," reflecting the publisher's popular line of the latter—and simultaneously by Parker Brothers in the United States as Clue.[2][3] Players represent one of six characters—such as Miss Scarlett or Professor Plum—who traverse a board depicting nine rooms connected by corridors and secret passages, rolling dice to move and making accusations or suggestions to probe others' knowledge of hidden cards representing the solution.[4] The first to correctly deduce the murderer (e.g., Colonel Mustard), weapon (e.g., candlestick), and room (e.g., library) wins, emphasizing logical deduction over chance beyond initial movement.[5] Regional variants exist, notably the replacement of the United Kingdom's Reverend Green with Mr. Green in North American editions to avoid religious connotations.[6] Since its debut, Cluedo/Clue has seen numerous expansions, thematic re-releases, and digital adaptations, including video games and a 1985 feature film, while Hasbro's 1990s acquisition of Waddingtons and Parker Brothers consolidated global production.[7] Pratt received royalties until his death in 1994 but largely withdrew from the industry after initial development, leaving the game's enduring success—marked by its status as a staple of family gaming—to corporate evolution rather than ongoing personal involvement.[7]History
Invention and wartime origins
Anthony E. Pratt, a Birmingham-based musician and pianist who performed on cruise ships and at country hotels before the war, conceived the game during World War II while sheltering at home amid frequent air-raid blackouts in 1943–1945.[2] These restrictions, imposed due to German bombing campaigns targeting industrial cities like Birmingham, limited social outings and inspired Pratt to adapt elements of the popular 1930s–1940s British parlor game Murder—a live-action mystery where participants deduced a killer, victim, and method—into a structured board game format.[2] [8] With help from his wife, Elva, Pratt designed the prototype, featuring a mansion layout, suspect tokens, weapon pieces, and deductive suggestion mechanics to simulate solving a murder among six characters in nine rooms using one of six weapons.[2] [3] Initially titled Murder!, the game emphasized whodunit intrigue without theatrical performance, reflecting wartime boredom and isolation rather than direct military themes.[8] Pratt filed a provisional patent specification on 28 November 1944 and a formal application on 1 December 1944, with the complete specification submitted on 21 November 1945 amid ongoing hostilities.[9] The patent was not granted until 1947 due to bureaucratic delays and resource shortages, preventing immediate commercialization as paper and manufacturing were rationed for the war effort.[1] Pratt pitched handmade prototypes to Leeds-based publisher Waddingtons in 1945, securing interest but no production until post-war recovery allowed release in 1949 as Cluedo.[10] This wartime genesis underscores the game's roots in civilian resilience and escapism, with no evidence of official military involvement despite the era's espionage context.[2]Commercial development and 1949 launch
Following the wartime prototyping of Murder!, Anthony E. Pratt sought commercial publication by approaching Waddingtons, a Leeds-based board game manufacturer, in 1945 with a handmade prototype.[10] Waddingtons' designers, including Norman Watson, tested and refined the game, suggesting modifications such as reducing the number of rooms from eleven to nine for playability and renaming it Cluedo—a portmanteau of "clue" and "ludo"—to evoke mystery and board game tradition while avoiding direct association with violence.[10] [1] Pratt had filed a provisional patent application for the game mechanics in December 1944 under the title Murder!, with full patent GB591,869 granted on August 27, 1947, covering the deduction-based murder mystery format.[8] Post-war material shortages in Britain delayed production, but Waddingtons proceeded with manufacturing once resources stabilized, licensing the rights from Pratt for a modest royalty arrangement reported as £28 per major order plus a small percentage of sales.[1] [10] The first commercial edition of Cluedo was published by John Waddington Limited in the United Kingdom in November 1949, featuring the finalized components: six suspect pawns, six weapons, a nine-room board, and detective notepads for tracking clues.[10] Simultaneously, Waddingtons licensed the game to Parker Brothers in the United States, where it launched as Clue in the same year, marking the beginning of transatlantic distribution and establishing the game's core mechanics that have endured with minimal alteration.[10] Initial sales were strong, capitalizing on post-war demand for family entertainment, though exact figures from 1949 remain undocumented in primary records.[1]Ownership changes and post-war evolutions
Following the 1949 launch amid resolved post-war material shortages, Cluedo was published by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom, which produced multiple editions featuring refinements to artwork, board design, and component quality through the 1950s and 1960s, while maintaining core gameplay elements.[2][8] In 1953, inventor Anthony E. Pratt sold Waddingtons the overseas rights to the game for £5,000 (equivalent to approximately $14,000 at the time), granting the company full control beyond the initial licensing agreement.[8] Waddingtons continued as the primary publisher, issuing periodic updates such as expanded character backstories in the 1970s and variant editions with alternative suspects or weapons to refresh interest, though these did not alter fundamental rules.[11] The company's ownership of Cluedo persisted until 1994, when U.S.-based toy manufacturer Hasbro acquired Waddingtons for £50 million, integrating it into a portfolio that already included Parker Brothers (purchased by Hasbro in 1991), the longtime U.S. licensee for Clue.[7][11] Under Hasbro's ownership, Cluedo evolved into a global brand with standardized production across regions, leading to new themed editions (e.g., historical or fictional variants) and multimedia extensions like licensed video games starting in the late 1990s, while preserving the original murder-mystery deduction format amid over 75 years of iterations.[11] Hasbro's consolidation enabled cross-promotions and broader distribution, boosting sales without fundamentally redesigning the game's deductive mechanics, which had remained consistent since Pratt's patent.[2]Game Components
Suspect characters
Cluedo includes six suspect characters, from which players select one to embody during gameplay, each distinguished by a colored plastic token and a designated starting position on the game board. These suspects represent potential murderers in the mystery, with players using their token's movement to propose and refute suggestions involving other characters, weapons, and rooms. The core lineup, fixed since the 1949 commercial launch by Waddingtons, comprises Miss Scarlet (red token), Colonel Mustard (yellow token), Professor Plum (purple token), Mrs. Peacock (blue token), Mr. Green (green token), and Mrs. White (white token).[12][13]| Character | Color | Token Shape (Approximate) |
|---|---|---|
| Miss Scarlet | Red | Pawn-like figure |
| Colonel Mustard | Yellow | Pawn-like figure |
| Professor Plum | Purple | Pawn-like figure |
| Mrs. Peacock | Blue | Pawn-like figure |
| Mr. Green | Green | Pawn-like figure |
| Mrs. White | White | Pawn-like figure |