How To Play Giant Cluedo

This week's post ought to explain the lack of last week's. This is what I was doing.

I am just home from a frankly amazing weekend, amongst very good company, out at Burgie House in the northern wilds of Moray. I've pretty much gone back to work to give my liver a break.

See that far-left first-floor window. That's my bedroom. Ne-ne-ne-ne-ne. 

This has been an annual weekend away with our dancing group for a while now, this being our third visit to this place. We show up on the Friday and run around like excited children reminding ourselves of what the place looks like, and it's like we'd just stepped right back in to where we left off the last time. This is one of those special places in the world where I just feel immediately at home. There are others, maybe I'll list them all out for you some time - I do enjoy a good list - but this is up there with the best of them.

So 24 of us tramped up here for a weekend of food, alcohol, fun and games; L and I being primarily responsible for the latter. Yes, the Entertainment. We are the lucky sods who got out of most washing up duties by landing the jammy job of "Entertainment". Last year we had them all running around attempting to assassinate each other.

Last year's Invitation to Assassinate

This year we thought we'd tone down the murderous nature of the event, leaving just the one, and a fictional one at that.

Cluedo. A theme that this place just lends itself to, and that we weren't quite brave enough to attempt last time round. Try everything once, they said. So we did, and this is how.

#1 Get your hands on a set of the game

Beg, borrow, steal, scour the charity shops, just get yourself something to work off. Get a classy old copy if you can, none of this Sherlock nonsense. And get a copy of the English version, the American one is crap.

Once you have your game, play it a few times. Until we tried this, I'd only played Cluedo once before, and I only won by cheating.

And them we set about scaling it up. In essence the game has:

• 6 Characters
• 6 Weapons
• 9 Rooms
• 1 board
• 1 Dice
• Far too many rules

#2 Characters

Identify 6 people and let them in on the Master Plan. "Do you think you could dress in X colour and be X character?" Thankfully this lot went to town. All we asked for was the colour, and we were totally blown away by the effort that went in. They even got in to character. Colonel Mustard went all out for the military desert look with the sun hat and the cargo trousers. Reverend Green showed up with a big ol' cross made from a packet of oatcakes and even said grace at the dinner table. Miss Scarlet did her hair in blonde ringlets and made everyone cocktails. Mrs White got hold of a set of chef's whites and banned everyone else from the kitchen. Professor Plum even showed up in academic robes. Mrs Peacock wore actual peacock feathers, as did Mr Peacock even if he did fall asleep in the corner and miss most of the game.

Left to right: Prof Plum, Miss Scarlett, Mrs Peacock, Rev Green, Mrs White and Colonel Mustard

#3 Playing Cards

Replicate all of them. But big. 3.6x bigger if you're being precise, believe me. If you're feeling savvy take out shares in tipp-ex beforehand.

Character cards not pictured here because they all wanted to keep them.

I am particularly proud of that candlestick.

#4 Weapons

Because by this point we are really going to town.

We fell short of the mark when it came to reproducing rope in the medium of papier mache.

#5 The Playing Board

Remember we're playing the long con here. Schedule your Cluedo for at least the second night in your grand country abode. On the first night, wait till everyone is in bed, or too drunk to notice and sneak off to set the scene.
You will need: 3 entire rolls of masking tape and a tape measure.

The carpet measured a very convenient 5m by 4m, which we did our best to match to the 50cm by 50cm board. There's the odd wonky line, but we were pretty chuffed nonetheless. 

#6 Get everyone drunk, and ask them to reconvene in the Ballroom at 9

This step is important. On a belly full of lasagne and a head full of cocktails, most people are up for most things. Everyone had been invited to dress, if they wished, as if it was 1926 - the time in which our fictional murder is set.

Ultraviolet cocktails. I am very very happy with this photograph wot I took. Ain't she pretty. 

And Dinner doesn't look like this every day. 

#7 Play the damn game

Each character was furnished with two buddies - their team. Tasked with the important jobs of strategy and holding the cards. Each team was then furnished with a clue sheet and a set of the (slightly amended) rules.

Team Plum in action

In place of rules we introduced a few wee point-winning challenges, interspersed with asking the characters to cut a deck of cards. The idea being that we squeeze in a few silly games, and keep things moving a bit faster than a boring old dice.

To be honest at this point I was a little beyond the point of making sense, so all of the kudos for making the whole caboodle come off goes to L. I just wandered around taking pictures and giggling.

For the record - it was Mrs White, in the Lounge, with the Rope. And Team Mustard were the ones to get it.

And I shall leave you with a few more examples of my drunken photography. Till next week!