Looking to throw a Halloween party that's out of the ordinary? Or do you simply want to spend some creative and hands-on time with your loved ones? I had an idea to embark on a creative adventure: create your own Cluedo with Foglietto , to create an exceptional Murder Party evening without too many tools and resources, apart from paper and imagination.

The history of Cluedo: an intriguing genesis

Murder Party on a board: the ideal game for all ages!

Before seeing what Cluedo consists of, and how it came to be, we must take an interest in its ancestor: the Murder Party. This English term echoes life-size role-playing evenings, where everyone plays a character and evolves in a world of police investigation, with the aim of solving a murder. The Murder Party is therefore a mix between a puzzle game, improvisation theater and adventure : there was a victim, it's up to you to find the culprit!

It was in England, around the 1930s, that the first Murder Parties were born. So imagine: an evening in a large hall, feathers and sequins in every direction, where wealthy people played detective for a few hours. A police investigation, clues, suspects: everything is fictitious. But to succeed in your Murder Party, you must discover the murderer, the murder weapon, the motive: everything to make you believe that this is a real mystery to be solved.

The main inspirations for these types of evenings and games are in fact writers from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. On the one hand, the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the one who created one of the most famous detective novel characters until then: Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand and a few years later, Agatha Christie and her numerous detective novels, including the very famous series of works carried by the detective Hercule Poirot. Their legacy is still felt today, with many adaptations and homages. Cluedo is one of them!

🗝️ Do you want to organize your own Murder Party, but you're not a great screenwriter? The murder2000 site offers you a wide variety of ready-to-use scenarios, free of charge. In addition, you will find good advice for preparing your game, without forgetting anything!

Cluedo: the history of this cult board game

Cluedo took root during the Second World War, just like Scrabble, in England (more precisely, in Birmingham). Its creator, Anthony Pratt, is a pianist. He then very often played for wealthy clients who organized Murder Parties in luxurious castles. By providing the music for these game evenings, Anthony Pratt had an idea: what if everyone could play this type of investigation? Not with a theatrical mechanism in a beautiful mansion, but around a table?

Then comes the war. Anthony Pratt and Elva Rosalie Pratt, his wife, decided to look at a first version of the game that the pianist had in mind. Because his idea draws its inspiration from these big parties, the first name of the game is called “ Murder! ” . The creator makes no secret of borrowing some references from Agatha Christie, such as Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile, in order to imagine characters and atmospheres for his game.

It was only at the end of the war that the Pratts were able to market their board game. The patent for creation was filed in 1947 (after approximately 4 years of reflection). And subsequently, the game was sold to the publisher Waddington, then to Parker Brothers in the United States. This publisher was very well known at the time, because it was the same one that marketed Monopoly!

Two years of discussions and negotiations passed, and the Pratts finally saw their game available for sale. It is therefore released under the name “Cluedo”, a play on words which refers to the English term “clue”, which means “clue”, and to the Latin term “ludo”, which we can translate as “I play” .

The development of Cluedo: the original game and its adaptations

The Cluedo we know today has undergone many modifications over the years. The weapons have changed, the rooms too, as well as the names of the suspects. The rules of the game have not changed: it still involves moving from one room to another, making hypotheses about the weapon used, and deducing who murdered Dr. Lenoir (or of the billionaire Samuel Lenoir). Be the first to solve this mystery!

We can see many adaptations of this game, just like Monopoly. This is why you can play Cluedo Harry Potter, Ghostbusters or One Piece. Versions adapted for a younger audience are also created, with less violent investigations , such as “Who ate the last slice of cake?” or “Who broke Mr. Potato Head?”

🗝️ Cluedo is one of the most iconic games and sells hundreds of millions of copies, giving it a throne among the most famous board games, alongside Monopoly and Scrabble. It is so emblematic that we find it in various worlds of pop culture. For example, in the movie Jumanji, the character Alan (played by Robin Williams) exclaims “ I found Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with the candlestick! ”. You don't even need to mention the name of the game to know where this reference comes from!

Create your own game: a homemade Cluedo is possible!

Since the mechanics of Cluedo are rather simple, with game elements that are easy to obtain, it is easy to start creating your own Cluedo. Here, I will suggest you create your own board game with Foglietto tools, based on the rules and elements of Cluedo!

🗝️ Creating a board game allows you to give free rein to your creativity, but also offers a moment of sharing with your loved ones, your children. In the same wave as art therapy , manufacturing your Cluedo from A to Z allows you to create for therapeutic purposes. In addition, you can see an educational dimension , beyond the playful perspective: learning English with a homemade Cluedo can be relevant.

📝 Let's team up! Card deck, board and content: everything is possible with Foglietto (and a little imagination)

To create the basis of your Cluedo, nothing could be simpler: foglietti, different colors, various patterns, and two formats . No need for more! Indeed, with just foglietti, you can make: a board, a deck of cards, investigation sheets, and even pawns.

1. Let's start with the board . It will be the basis of your game, on which you will place the solution, the rooms and the pawns during the game.
• To give you an example, I used 11 beige checkered A6 index cards. Using Masking Tape , I assembled each card so that I had a relatively square shaped board.
• Then, you can set up your rooms: I was inspired by the original Cluedo board, with the nine rooms of the base game. Once again, the Masking Tape allows me to attach them to the board.
• Then comes the most difficult step: squaring your board so that the pawns can move with each die roll. Don't forget the starting squares between rooms!

2. The deck of cards : this time it's about making your cards, which are the pieces of evidence allowing you to solve the mystery. I advise starting with a uniform deck, of the same color and the same pattern, so that no cheating is allowed.
• For example, I used yellow foglietti with lines, inA7 format (a format which is close to the dimensions of a deck of cards). The “Titolo” allows me to differentiate the type of evidence, namely the weapons on the one hand, the rooms on the other hand, and finally the suspects.

🗝️ Have fun with the backs of your game cards: why not create your own logo? Our fun tip: put ink on the tip of your finger, then stamp the back of the card to leave your fingerprint . Nothing better to stay in the Murder Party theme while remaining in the unique (literally!) and authentic dimension of homemade Cluedo.

3. The investigation sheets : each player has their own sheet, each presenting all the clues, which you check off as you progress in the investigation.
• I advise you to go with the A6 format , with the To-do list pattern: in doing so, you have everything on the front, avoiding any curious glances, and you can check off the clues that you have found.

4. The storage box : and yes, once the game is over, you need a place to put your board and your cards.
• It is our Archivio which perfectly meets the role of board game box. With its vintage appearance, you will have the impression of filing a case, like a real police investigation.

🗝️ For the pawns, you can cut out foglietti to have silhouettes, everyday objects (a bit like Monopoly) or even animals. Or, with the fogliettis, print or paste a photo of the players! Another tip: use objects that are in your pencil case , such as an eraser, a pencil sharpener, a paper clip! This will bring a playful side that is out of the ordinary.

You are now equipped for your future game of homemade Cluedo! The detail that you can also create from scratch is the six-sided die . With cards already used, you can recycle them by transforming them into dice for your game. Generally speaking, you can create your entire game from cards already used !

🤔 We can imagine! Characters, locations, weapons, crime: no limits

Now we move on to the most fun part: creating a story, a mystery and a whole universe!

You can obviously stay with the content of the base game: you will have the same board and the same clues and suspects. But since you've started making things at home, why not spice things up? Members of your family become the suspects, the rooms of your house are transformed into a potential murder scene, your kitchen accessories are in reality deadly weapons, etc. Nothing obliges you to stay within the basic content: create a original and unique content!

I challenged myself to imagine a mystery around Foglietto , which allows me to give you a slightly funny example of what it can be like to let your imagination run wild. A crime has been committed at the Palazzo de Nantes: someone has used all the to-do lists ! My colleagues became the main suspects in this story, the weapons were selected from our stationery items, and the rooms correspond to the different worlds of Foglietto and the Palazzo (the Bottega, the printing house, the bulk room, the storage room). workshop, etc…).

🗝️ You can create a Cluedo for the youngest, for a birthday or even a wedding, for a business seminar: everything is possible! Creating such a game with several people allows you to strengthen the bonds between the participants and to have a good time with family, friends and colleagues.

When you have decided on a plot, take your tools and put together the elements of the game. Once everything is done and ready: it's time to solve the investigation!

🎲 Let's play! Reminder of the progress of a game of Cluedo

Before we get started, let's remember the rules of the game. The game takes place in several stages:

• Before starting the game, you must randomly draw three cards : a weapon, a location and a suspect. These three cards will be the solution to the puzzle . They must be placed face down, or in a sealed envelope, in the middle of the board.
• Each participant draws from the remaining clue cards (which were shuffled after the solution was drawn). Everyone takes their investigation sheet and checks off the clues they received from their cards: they are proof that they have nothing to do with the crime.
• Taking turns and after rolling a die (six-sided), the players are free to explore the board in order to enter the different available locations. Once a location has been reached, it is time to propose a reconstruction of the crime : by making hypotheses and asking for confirmation from the other participants, it is possible to fill out your investigation sheet a little more, and therefore to win. For example, if I offer Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the kitchen (because I was unable to validate any of these clues) and a person opposite presents me with the “Kitchen” card, my hypothesis is wrong but I progress in my investigation. It's really about reflection and deduction, with a large element of chance .
• The first person who thinks they have found the three correct elements of the murder must accuse the character, the weapon and the scene of the crime. They discreetly and alone check if it is the correct answer (all three correct answers are absolutely necessary). If they are right, the game ends! If they are wrong, they stop playing and let the others continue (without saying on which clue they were wrong).

You can also add game elements, include new rules, again there is no limit. The goal is to have a good time solving a fictional mystery!

🗝️ Once the game is over, it would be a shame not to keep your creations: here we suggest you keep all the elements of your game. As we presented above, it is the Archivio which will allow you to store your Cluedo among your other board games. As soon as you feel like it, all you have to do is reinstall the board and start a new game! You can also store different mysteries in the Archivio, in order to have several investigations .

Homemade Murder Party: short summary of tips for creating a unique Cluedo of its kind

If there was only one thing to take away from the different ideas for creating an original Cluedo, it's that the more surprising and personal your mystery is, the more fun you'll have, both creating and playing !

We give you a summary of the steps to follow to create an original Cluedo, a unique Murder Party:

1. Equip yourself with your favorite foglietti : decide on the colors and patterns you want to use to create an atmosphere that matches your ideas. Little tip: vary the foglietti so that you can easily distinguish the deck, the board and the locations on the board.
2. Imagine a plot , a mystery to solve, depending on the event for which you are making it, or even depending on the age of the participants. A little inspiration for a Cluedo Mariage: who stole the bride and groom’s wedding rings?
3. Prepare the elements of the game according to your investigation: who the suspects will be, what weapons you want to include, and above all in which universe you want to evolve. Everything is possible: a haunted mansion, your childhood home, a fantasy world, your offices, etc… The possibilities are endless!
4. When I leave, 3, 2, 1… Play !
5. The game is over, it's time to put your game away : take your Archivio and slide all the elements inside. Your Cluedo is ready for your next games!