Customer Reviews

CLUE JR. The Case of the Missing Cake

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this when my older daughter was 4, and she immediately loved it. At age 8, she still enjoys playing it with her 4 year old sister. No reading skills are needed, so IMO the age ranges can be lowered.

HOWEVER: the adults in the house got really, REALLY bored with the game. Our children weren't able to play it without an adult also taking part in the game until the older one was perhaps 7, so if you want to buy games that you won't mind playing, you may want to give this one a pass.

We have a slightly older version, where clues were hid beneath cardboard cutouts of trees and mailboxes and such; these eventually lost their stiffness.

This was a gift for my 5 year old son. It was his first "real" board game beyond Candyland, etc. He loves it!!. It's realistic enough that it can be related to everyday happenings, yet the intrigue of solving the puzzle is like being a crime solver. I highly recommend it for this age group.

We just played this game with our 5-year-old daughter. Though we had fun it was impossible to keep the pieces in the right place. The individual character pieces as well as the furniture pieces are all very large. Since the goal of the came is accomplished by occupying the same tiny space as another player or piece of furniture, ultimately the pieces get jumbled. It becomes very difficult to see where you are and how to get where you want to go. Only 2 elements to guess makes the game easy enough for a five-year-old. Cute pictures make it fun. Process of elimination is a worthwhile learning concept but only goes so far. We probably won't play this game too often though because of the hassle.

My daugther just received this game for her 4th birthday. She played it once at a friend's house and had been talking about it ever since. She was SO excited when she opened this present. The game is so much fun. It is a kids game that I actually like playing. (nice to get a break from Candyland and Chute and Ladders) It is easy to figure out how to play -- just a matter of reading the directions, which are simply written and easy to understand. The object of the game is to find out who ate the cake, what time they ate it and what they had to drink with it. The figures slide into the disc shaped stands and which ever figure has the picture of cake crumbs is the one who ate it. The stands slide off so the person who ate the cake is never the same. It is similar to the original clue game in that you go to the different rooms etc. It is just simplified. The game is designed for 5-8 year olds but my daugther just turned 4 and loves playing it! I do have to help her out a little but eventually she'll be able to play it with out my help. When we're not playing the game, she loves to play "house" with the figures. I'd recommend this for any young dectective or any parent who is looking for a break from other child games!

I am a huge Clue fan. Played it as a kid and as an adult. I was very hesitant to purchase a kids game. I find them rather boring when you child says "mom play this game with me." But I got it anyway. We played it tonight. It is so cute and fun. You have to go around and find out who, what time, and with what beverage someone ate the cake. There are no cards. All are on the plastic bases of the pawns. I think it is very educational. Teaches number recogintion, process of elimiation, matching skills, logic, time, counting. Just plan thinking. My 5 1/2 year old playing with Hubby and me. Cant wait to have his friends over to play. I only give durablity 2 stars because the pawns are colored cardboard of people, and I can see my 2 year old chewing on these people and disintigrate them. This is a keeper.

Clue Jr. is just like clue but it is easier. There are only 4 people,5 or 6 places, and pets. You have to find out, who stole the pet, what pet, and where did he/she put the pet. This game is great for my sister. (She is nine.) She hates clue because it is too hard and too long. She loves this game. If someone thinks clue is too hard or too long, buy this game for them.

~ * * * * ~
~I adore the adult version of Clue, but it was a little too tricky for the girls at ages 8-9. Clue Jr. was a perfect substitute, and now at ages 10-12, they are moving on to the adult version.
~ - ~ The idea is the same as adult Clue. Each player races to "solve" the "Mysteries" (no-murders here!). This game's goal is to find the location of missing pets and toys. The game pieces and arrangement of the board are helpful for the young players.
~ - ~ The only drawback is that pieces can fall over easily, and inadvertently cause a "clue" to be revealed.
~ - ~ There is a definite element of luck, more than in Adult "Clue" so the kids have a chance when competing with grownups.
~ - ~ This game was very popular with the 7-9 group. Although sturdier pieces would be nice, it's great as an introduction to adult "Clue" and is a nice challenge and logic builder for the kids.
~ - ~
I do recommend this for kids age 7-9 that like puzzles, mysteries, or board games. Adults can play without being bored silly. :-)

I'm more or less fine that they changed a murder with an object in a room to who ate the cake at what time with what beverage. Buying this for kids and all that. Its not as intuitive or intrinsicly interesting, at least to me, but hopefully it is to kids. However, they also changed the mechanics of the game from adult Clue, and not in a good way. The "room" variable for example, drops out. Its not relevant. Its who ait the cake at what time with what drink. It just feels silly to set up the room pieces and move from room to room if the room is irrelevant.

The idea is probably to change the mechanics to make the game simpler. Well, the problem with that is it was pretty simple in the first place. And the change sort of makes it more complex in a way. You need to remember the rooms where you already checked tokens. Now the sheet does list the rooms, you could use that to check off the rooms where you checked tokens. But since the rooms are not otherwise relevant, its not intuitive to track the rooms where you checked tokens.

The game is also incredibly cheaply constructed. For example, the "die" does not have numbers on it, you have to put number stickers on it. And the board isn't flimsy -- flimsy would be an improvement.

Anyway, not recommended.

This is literally a dumbed-down version of the standard Clue game. Basically, one needs to determine which animal has taken which toy to the dog house (which stands next to the board.) Players take turns to toss the die, which determines how many steps to take. The characters in the game are the younger versions of the same characters in the regular Clue game: Mr.Green is Johnny Green (a cheerful kid). And these characters are cardboard cutouts that fit onto white plastic pieces (people movers). The bottom of the white pieces have different pictures on them (clues). But the characters themselves actually play no part in the game. There are several pieces of furniture (also cardboard cutouts) that fit onto white plastic pieces. Under these pieces are other clues. During the game, one must travel across the board (which does not take many steps) to check under each clue piece in order to determine which two pieces are missing.

The good part is that one does not need to be able to read in order to play this game: the detective's note pad uses pictures instead. So if you know the dog is not missing, you can place a mark next to the picture of the dog.

The bad parts, and there are many, include: the pieces are made top heavy, and they have to, due to the nature of the game, often occupy the same spot. But, there is little space on the board for pieces to occupy the same spot. As a result, they fall easily and reveal the hidden clues. This happens very often with young players (and this game IS made for the very young ones). The way this game is designed makes process of deduction appear rather haphazard.

If you have a kid that can read--even if s/he is only a beginning reader, even if your kid can spell enough to figure out a word, I suggest you move right onto the standard Clue game. Yes, at the beginning, the standard game may be a bit hard to master. But it offers enough intrigue that most kids will grow to enjoy it.

I bought this game for my seven-year-old daughter who saw the stage version of "Clue" and I wasn't sure if she was quite ready for the regular version.

She enjoys the game thoroughly, especially the familiar characters (you know them, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, etc) though instead of murder and mayhem, they are eating cake.... Yes, it is scaled down AND in "bite sized pieces" (sorry for the pun that was `dying' to be written).

I could easily see my daughter playing this for a couple months and then graduating to the adult version. It is simple to follow, engaging and does necessitate some logical thinking for the younger set. My older daughter played along and wasn't bored like she is by some other "little kid" board games.