Cluedo: Vandalism on the High Seas

Hasbro Gaming is trying to catch the train with three crime games escape room games jump high All strictly on topic Cluedo Installation. But they still differ significantly from the original.

The Cluedo publication: Sabotage on the High Seas reviewed here is perhaps the easiest of the three cases. the others Cluedo: Burglar at the Museum And Cluedo: Betrayal in the Palace. The difficulty level of Cluedo: Sabotage on the High Seas is listed on the box as 2/5. Classic game for beginners?

What Cluedo’s About: Sabotage at Sea

As in the original, players slide into the roles of the six famous people: Colonel von Gatto, Pastor Grune (former Principal Grune), Baroness von Porz, Fraulein Gloria (formerly Frau Weiß), Professor Blum and Dr. Orchid (formerly Miss Ming). Here, however, not everyone is competing against each other, but the issue must be solved cooperatively.

Story: Something happens on the yacht…

In the beginning, all six characters (regardless of group size) are on a yacht. Then, for reasons unknown, the captain goes overboard. The group now has two problems. On the one hand, the boat is heading across the sea without a guide – and the weather is getting worse. On the other hand, the captain did not appear to have jumped voluntarily. The first signs point to this. Everyone is already in the middle of a crime game where the mystery about the captain must be solved.

Cluedo Mechanism: Sabotage at Sea

The question now: How does the selection work? Because in the end, everyone must find out together why the captain had to go into the water and who is to blame – in each case in detail.

It starts at the Starlight Lounge. If it’s your turn, you place your character on an empty space. The fields show a number. The number represents a card. So this is drawn and read. Sometimes the deck finds relics or clues, activates data on other cards, or finds objects. Sometimes card texts advance the story.

There are often small tasks on the cards. These contain the typical puzzle element known from escape room games. However, a solid butt is rare. Cluedo – Vandalism on the High Seas is more of a crime game than an escape room scenario.

The tasks are relatively easy

Tasks can usually be solved very quickly. However, additional cards are usually required for this, so that the deck must have visited the correct fields. Only then are all the details of the task available and a solution is possible.

Sometimes it is necessary to combine two cards. This results in an icon on the edges of the card. If this refers to a card number, it may be a solution. This must be verified with the relevant card.

The ship’s controls are the highlight

The control of the ship is particularly successful. Do not forget that at first the yacht steers without steering over the waves. So someone has to take the wheel. In order to achieve this, many small tasks must be solved with the controls. The small box is in the form of thick cardboard with adjustable wheels. This construct is part of the solution, but first the group must figure out how to operate the part.

find the solution

Evidence and circumstantial evidence intensify the clues. Certain: one of the group must be the perpetrator. But. This is the exact question that needs to be answered. And with an explanation. Only then can the round finally triumph. The decision is made via an envelope with a detailed explanation. But before that there was a small confrontation.

Criticism of uncomplicatedness

Crime games thrive on following clues, gathering clues, and crafting hypotheses. All of this is completely missing from Cluedo: Sabotage on the High Seas. There is certainly weighing and guessing involved. However, most of the time, the mechanism takes the group out of the hand more than necessary.

Investigations into the leash

The problem here is the cards have a double meaning. On the one hand, these reveal a lot, but on the other hand they leave no wiggle room. On the contrary: some fields must be viewed in the intended order in order to obtain exactly the information that is currently needed. It’s hard to collect a lot first or develop your own ideas. The process greatly determines the progression and puzzles. This is unfortunate and kills the fun in places.

Inconsistencies in the solution are possible

However, there is something else that springs from the overly “written” story. At one time or another the solution was difficult because not all the details were known. However, a solution must be found to move forward. This may be a bug in the game, but I think the process wasn’t quite right here.

The best crime game is alone or in pairs

Cluedo: Sabotage on the High Seas is a typical crime game. If you want to solve the problem peacefully, you must tackle the task alone or in pairs. More people bring more ideas. However, because the procedure is so rigorous, there is a risk that as the group gets larger, it will lose its attractiveness to individuals. Simply put, there is very little to do in parallel.

Conclusion on Cluedo: Sabotage on the High Seas? It can be done better!

The puzzles are pretty easy for the most part. So this case is a good start for the series. I would like to do some difficult tasks. Compared to the game series like SherlockAnd Unlock or Exit – the gameCluedo cases lack one particular thing, which is the aha effect when resolved. On the one hand, the background story, which crystallizes well during the game, is successful. All in all, it’s a great introduction to crime games, but unfortunately nothing more than that.