Clue: Master Detective

The Good
The best part about a board game being put into software form is that there's no need to find a playmate, dig out the board, and divvy up all the little pieces (provided you haven't lost them yet!). Games in computer format were especially fun when they were new, back in the day, when this was a novel concept. This game is still fun, after all, it's CLUE!

One aspect that's different than the traditional board game is that there are more characters, weapons, and rooms - extra players like Mme. Rose and Sgt. Gray, extra weapons like Poison and Horseshoe, and extra rooms like Carriage House and Fountain... just to name a few. This makes for longer games, but in this case it's a positive, because of the extra possibilities.

You can control how many opponents you have, so the game can move at whatever pace you like. There are nice options like "Fast Game", where the boring animations are cut out and the CPU gets to the point when it's their turn. All the information you'd have in a normal game of CLUE (access to your cards, notes, etc) are a click away during your turn - you can even print out your note sheet and keep track for real (but I'm guessing newer computers/printers can't handle this).

One innovation new to this computer version is "Snoop spaces", which are scattered around the board. When you're moving your piece, cross over one of the Snoop spaces and you'll be given an opportunity to choose one card to peek at from one of your opponents! Kind of cool.

The Bad
The slow and pointless character animations were driving me nuts, until I figured out that you could select "Fast Game" and turn them off!

The AI seems to be fine, although there are times when every CPU character makes it clear that a certain room is in the answer by congregating there turn after turn until the solution is reached. This could happen in a real game I suppose, but it occurred in both games I played before sitting down to write this review.

The Bottom Line
A fun way to play CLUE without needing a human opponent and the old-fashioned game board! The buttons and settings are pretty intuitive, you can get down the nuances and extras (like Snoop spaces) pretty quickly.