Get your magnifying glasses ready because Clue: Hasbro’s Mystery Game Plus, based on the classic board game, arrived on Apple Arcade Friday. If you subscribe to Apple Arcade ($5, 5 or AU$8 a month), you can play this game free of cost, ads or in-app purchases.
Marmalade Game Studios is responsible for bringing the board game to your screen, and this isn’t the first time the studio has brought a board game to digital devices, either. The studio has digitized other classic games, like Monopoly and Battleship, too.
If you’ve played the board game before, then you already know the rules for the Apple Arcade version of Clue. If you haven’t played before, the goal of the game is to be the first person to solve the murder mystery represented by the three cards in the secret envelope. These three cards show who committed a murder, with what weapon and in what location on the board.
Each player gets four cards that show either a person, weapon or place, and because these cards aren’t in the secret envelope they can’t be part of the solution. Players take turns moving around the board and making guesses about the crime. If someone guesses, «It was Colonel Mustard with the rope in the library,» and you have the library card, you have to show the guesser to disprove their guess. When someone has enough evidence, they can make a final accusation about the mystery. But be careful, your final accusation is your last act in the game, whether you’re right or wrong.
You can play online against friends or other people or you can play against the computer in single-player mode. There are also some fun new characters in this version of Clue, including Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, and more locations. The original game board was a mansion, and this version contains other maps, including boards that resemble Egypt and a train so you can become the hero in your own Agatha Christie story.
If you’re interested in this game or others, you can get a free month of Apple Arcade for signing up the first time, or you can get a three-month free trial with the purchase of a new Apple device. Apple Arcade adds new games and updates every week. To access Apple Arcade, open the App Store and tap the joystick icon along the bottom of your screen.
CNET’s Shelby Brown contributed to this report.
