Clue: The Classic Detective Game

In 1943, Anthony E. Pratt of Britain developed the murder-mystery game Clue (called Cluedo in Britain); commercial production began in 1949. Clue has been one of the most popular board games ever produced.

The game of Clue may have been partially developed from an older American card game called “The King of Hearts Has Five Sons.” In that game, two cards are set aside and the object of the game is to be the first to identify them. A player asks another player if he holds certain cards. If that player has any of those cards, he secretly shows one of those cards to the player who asked the question. Players could keep track of the card requests on paper. These are major aspects of playing Clue.

See this interesting article on Clue and other “deduction” games.

Originally produced by Waddingtons in the UK and Parker Brothers in the U.S. and Canada, both were bought by Hasbro. There is also a smaller card-based version than is good as a travel version of the game.