Play the Game!

This game is unlike any other. All of the characters are fictitious, even the “victim’ is imagined. 

It’s just like a movie.

The game opens in Colonel Mayonnaise’s palatial studio. Colonel Mayonnaise, owner of Verona Brands is the victim of foul play and is discovered in the new OHD Studios location, in Louisville, Kentucky, during the filming of one of his notoriously lavish commercials.

The object of the game is to discover, through the process of deduction, or just plain common sense, the answer to these three questions:

WHO?(we are)

WHAT?(we do)

WHERE?(we’re at)

Players accomplish this by moving through the Rooms and making Suggestions. A suggestion includes the Room the player is in, the Suspect and the Weapon in question. This is done for the purpose of gaining information. This information may reveal which cards are in other players hands, which cards are missing, and therefore, what cards are face down in the center of the game board. Accusing a Suspect is one of the most exciting features of this game.

EQUIPMENT

• Clou Game Board
• Suspect Cards
• Weapon Cards
• Room Cards
• 6 Weapon Tokens

You will need to provide the following:

• Writing pad for notes
• Pair of Dice
• Player Tokens
  • Coins, buttons, candies, anything will work. Be Creative!

Just Print, Cut, and Play.

Once printed, assemble the cards into a deck. There are eight cards to represent each of the Rooms at OHD Studios, fourteen cards representing our Suspects and six cards displaying the murder Weapons.

The Suspects

The Murder Weapons

The Rooms

PREPARATION

Place the game token for each Player at the entrance to a Room. No two players can begin in front of the same room. 

Then place the Weapon Tokens into rooms of your choosing.

Arranging The Cards

Sort the cards into 3 separate decks: 

• Room cards
• Weapon cards
• Suspect cards 
  

Shuffle each deck separately.

Take the top cards from each deck and place them face down in the center of the board. This should be done carefully so that no player knows any of the 3 cards face down on the board. These cards hold the solution to the murder, and are to remain hidden until an Accusation is made.

Dealing The Cards

The remaining cards in the 3 piles are then thoroughly mixed together and shuffled Then dealt clockwise around the table, one at a time, to all the Players. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT NO PLAYER SHALL SEE THE CARDS WHILE THEY ARE BEING SHUFFLED AND DEALT.  Some players may receive more cards than others.

START

Each Player chooses a game piece to represent their character throughout the duration of the game, whichever player most recently had a birthday goes first. After the first Player has moved, the next Player to the left rolls the dice and moves. Each of the other players follows in turn. In succeeding games players should take turns dealing and starting.

MOVEMENT OF PIECES

Players who reach a room may move their game pieces within the squares on the Game Board according to the throw of the dice. All the squares on the board are for the movement of game pieces.

Pieces can move forward, backward, or crosswise, but never diagonally. A piece may be moved forward and crosswise in a single turn, but it cannot move to a particular space twice in the same turn. NO TWO PIECES MAY OCCUPY ANY ONE SQUARE, NOR MAY A PLAYER MOVE THEIR PIECE THROUGH A SQUARE OCCUPIED BY ANOTHER TOKEN. A Room, however, may be occupied by any number of players or Weapons.

MOVING INTO A ROOM

There are three ways of entering a Room. (1) By throwing the dice and moving your piece along the squares and entering through a doorway, (2) via the secret passages by leaping across the board, corner to corner, without using the dice (Green Room, Studio A, Kitchen A, and Virtual Offices), and (3) a Player’s piece may be moved to a Room by another Player in a feature of play known as ‘The Suggestion.’ If the space at an entrance to a Room is occupied by the piece of one player, no other player may move into that Room, through that door.

GETTING OUT OF A ROOM

There are three ways of leaving a Room: (1) By throwing the dice and moving out through a doorway onto the squares, heading to another Room of your choice, (2) by using Secret Passages, and finally, (3) by being transferred to a new Room by some other player by means of a Suggestion.

On the throw of the dice, players may enter Rooms by doors only, but cannot leave a Room on the same turn; Entering a Room ends the move. It is not necessary to throw the exact number to enter a Room. That is, if a player needs four to bring them into a room and throws six, they ignore the last two units after entering the Room.

Players already in a Room may leave it by any door – using the dice as usual and moving toward another Room. Or they may use a Secret Passage if in a corner Room (Green Room, Studio A, Kitchen A, and Virtual Offices). The doors of each Room are not counted as a square.

THE “SUGGESTION”

Whenever a Player moves into a Room they should make a Suggestion. A Suggestion consists of naming a Suspect, a Weapon, and the Room into which the player has moved. AS SOON AS A PLAYER MAKES A SUGGESTION THE PIECE OF THE SUSPECT NAMED AND WEAPON NAMED ARE BROUGHT INTO THE ROOM. No Player may forfeit a turn to remain in a particular Room. Players must move by a throw of the dice or by the secret passages on each turn.

An Example

The Player representing Otto Iris may, in two moves, reach Studio A. Otto Iris may then call a Suspect into the Studio (for example Hal F. Apple) and move their game piece into Studio A. They will also call into Studio A some Weapon (for example the Clap) and will say, “I suggest the murder was committed by Hal F. Apple in Studio A with the Clap!”

Note – All game pieces, spare ones, as well as player’s own fall under equal suspicion and should be considered by players making suggestions.

PROVING THE SUGGESTION TRUE OR FALSE

When a Suggestion has been made the first player to the left of the one making the Suggestion examines their cards to see if they’re able to prove the Suggestion false. To disprove the Suggestion they must hold one or more of the cards named. (In our example above the cards named are Hal F. Apple, Studio A, and the Clap) If they hold one or more of these cards they must show one only to the Player making the Suggestion. This must be done without the other Players seeing the card shown.

(If Otto Iris has in their own hand one or more of these cards, say Studio A and Hal F. Apple, they may soon discover that some other player has the Clap, or that it is hidden face down in the center of the Game Board. A smart Player will often deliberately make a Suggestion naming one or two cards that they hold in their own hand just to gain information or mislead other players.)

If the first Player to the left does not have any of the three cards then the next Player to the left examines their cards and must show one of the three if they have it. A Player having more than one of the called cards may show whichever one they wish, but reveal only one.

Obviously, if a Player holds in their hand one or more of the three cards named in the Suggestion, it is proof that those particular cards are not face down in the center of the Game Board. Therefore, when a card is shown to a Player who made the Suggestion their Suggestion has thus been proven to be false and they may wish to make a note of this on their notepad.

The opportunity to prove the Suggestion false passes to the left until some Player has shown one card to the suggesting Player, The Player’s turn then ends, and play passes on to the next Player.

 If no one disproves the Suggestion the Player may then either pass the turn or make an Accusation.

ACCUSATION

When a Player is satisfied that they know the three cards hidden face down on the board they can, on their turn, make an Accusation. They state that they are making an Accusation and name the three cards they believe to be face down on the board. Then, carefully so that the other players do not see, they look at the three hidden cards. Contrary to the rules when making a Suggestion a Player may make an Accusation whether or not their piece is in the room they mention.

WINNING THE GAME

IF THE ACCUSATION IS CORRECT, THAT IS, IF THE PLAYER FINDS FACE DOWN ON THE BOARD THE CARDS THEY NAMED, THEY REVEAL THE CARDS AND THEY WIN THE GAME!

If the Accusation is incorrect, the Player returns the cards face down, unseen by any other player. Having made a false Accusation they may make no further moves in the game, and cannot win, but remain in the game to contradict Suggestions using the cards they hold in their hand.

A Player can make only one Accusation during any one game.

 Any questions about the rules of this game will be answered gladly with the enclosure of a 4 cent stamp.