Customer Reviews

Clue at Sea

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In the card game Clue at Sea, a variant of the original Clue board game, players try to discover which of 6 suspects committed the murder, which of 6 weapons was used, and which of 6 rooms aborad a ship (instead of 9 in the original board game) was the room in which the murder was committed. Instead of rolling dice and visiting rooms, players receive 2 action cards and must play one. The action cards allow a player to make a suggestion (in any room), snoop into someone else's hand, or ask other players for certain cards (such as "all male suspects"). A player can make an accusation before or after playing an action card in his or her turn. There seems to be a little more luck involved than in the board game in that some action cards are more useful than others and the information obtained may or may not be useful depending on the situation.

Overall,the game seems well-designed and is fun to play. I especially like not having to depend on good dice rolls to enter rooms. The score sheets are small and the chits representing the seven suspects need to be placed in a small envelope to keep them from getting lost. (Mr. Boddy is a suspect in this variant, although only six of seven are used.) The small score sheets are probably necessary so they can fit into the card box, but may require reading glasses to use. However, the cards are relatively easy to read, and the game is fun.

If you have ever played Clue the Card Game, this is almost exactly the same game. It just happens to now take place on a boat. I didn't care for the original card game. Everything that I dislike about that game, I dislike about this game. I have been fooled again. It must be awesome working as a game designer for Winning Moves, if you can just repackage the same game every five years and pretend it's something new.

In Clue at Sea, much like most variants of Clue, players are trying to determine which suspect, weapon, and room card have been set aside at the start of the game. The rest of the cards are distributed among the players. In order to help you determine what cards everyone else has, you are also given action cards. On your turn, you play one action card, do what it says, mark down any findings, and if you wish, make a final accusation. Sometimes these action cards are crazily powerful (you can make one person of your choice show all of his or her suspect cards, for instance) and sometimes they are almost worthless (you can draw a card at random from the player on your left). This wouldn't be a big deal, except you only have two action cards at any time, so there is always a chance that you have two useless or near-useless cards and your turn is a waste of time for everyone. As in many poorly-designed card games, luck drives this one, not skill.

The game is small and portable, but there are little cardboard squares that can get lost, and the "Detective Notesheets" are very small - smaller than a playing card - yet the rules insist they can be used six times each.

All in all, while there are cosmetic differences between this and the original card game by the same company, it's almost exactly the same subpar game. If you have the other card game and love it but wish it took place on a boat instead, then this game is perfect for you! Otherwise, don't bother. If you want a "light" version of Clue, consider Clue Express if it's still out there for a reasonable price.