Game Classification

CLUE: Accusations and Alibis is a "hidden object" adaptation of the classic board game. The objective remains the same as in the original: to find the murderer, crime weapon and room where the crime took place before time runs out. Each of the mansion rooms is a separate hidden object location, where the player must find all the items from a list at the bottom of the screen. The flashlight button highlights the position of one of the required items, but removes some minutes from the timer as a penalty. Any type of clock can be collected for 15 minutes of extra time.

After clearing one of the rooms, a gossip screen appears to start a rumor about one of the suspects, weapons and rooms. The suspects drop clues about the case based on this rumor, and these hints are automatically stored in a log. Four tabs are available at the top of the screen: game map, checklist, evidence and hint log. The game map shows an overhead view of the mansion with all the rooms visible, where the player can choose where to go next after finishing with one of them. In the checklist, the player can mark the suspects, weapons and rooms to keep track of case developments. When a suspect reveals some crucial information ("the axe was not the murder weapon"), the game automatically crosses the item with a red X. The player can review the items found on each room in the evidence tab, including the coat check tickets showing what kind of clothing the suspects wear at the time of the murder. The last tab is the hint log, listing all the clues received so far in the game.

The accusation screen comes up after investigating all the rooms, where the player has to make a final statement about who the murderer was, what weapon was used, and in which room the crime took place. The game can be replayed with new items on each room, with some of them showing other viewing angles. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : Macintosh - PC (Windows)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/clue-accusations-and-alibis/