Cluedo

This fits in to the same bracket as Monopoly – a ‘classic’ that almost everyone will have played at some point in their lives, but one that really has very little to offer that isn’t vastly improved upon by a swathe of more recent games. As such, an overview seems redundant; but in a nutshell, players attempt to discover whodunnit, to whom, where and with what. Beyond the deduction element, as with Monopoly the gameplay revolves around rolling a dice and moving as many spaces as there are pips on the die – which immediately becomes exasperating and tedious as you try to walk-crawl-plod from room to room. As with Monopoly, Cluedo’s inclusion here is to help suggest other games that use deduction and sleuthing to far more enjoyable end.

Sam says

The deduction aspect of Cluedo is fun. However, it's hobbled by the dice-rolling element of trying to get around the board - the first person to figure out Colonel Mustard committed the murder with a candlestick in the conservatory can spend the rest of the game struggling to get across the board, rolling ones and twos and ending up a mere spectator. I think Mystery of the Abbey is neat updating that dispenses with dice altogether, although admittedly it's a slightly more complex game and as a result, less kid-friendly. For two players, Joe's recommendation of Mr Jack is a good one.

Joe says

For my money, Mr Jack does a brilliant job of making Cluedo obsolete (although it does only play two). Mysterium plays with lots of people is a far better game too, and less likely to end in actual tears.