Welcome To Boddy Mansion!

August 23, 2011 3:58 PM

In 1985, just a few months before its lamentedly-unsuccessful-yet-enduringly-wonderful big screen cousin was released, the Clue VCR Mystery Game was released on an unsuspecting (and largely unwilling [some might say clueless]) public. The hugely-quotable and charmingly goofy VHS film included as part of the game is viewable in its entirety online in seven parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. (If you must see the butler, Didit, explaining the rules, please use these links in place of 1 and 2 above.) [Total video time: under one hour] Before you view [more inside] play a round of personal facts, followed by a round of cards.

Two years later, the same cast reunited for (arguably not as good, certainly less respectful of the 4th wall) Clue II: Murder In Disguise, also available online: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. (Again, if you must see the rules explanation, this time by Inspector Pry, use these links in place of 1 and 2 above.)

posted by hippybear (22 comments total)

Wow, thanks for this!

Damn, Clue was a good movie. How the hell did that happen?
posted by dismas at 4:00 PM on August 23, 2011

I can't believe I remember this.
posted by Avenger at 4:03 PM on August 23, 2011

I still have this on Beta. Had to special order it from a local game shop (who only had the VHS version) and promptly forgot all about it until about 7 months later, when I got a call informing me it had arrived.
posted by ShutterBun at 4:07 PM on August 23, 2011

Yep, we got this for Christmas one year. That and the Alfred E. Neuman board game.
posted by klausman at 4:10 PM on August 23, 2011

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod THIS EXISTS! I played it once at a sleepover in like fourth grade (it was already like 8-10 years old by then), and then I was never able to find it again, and nobody would believe that something so deliciously awful actually existed.

You are my hero.
posted by specialagentwebb at 4:13 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

I used to have a girlfriend with a huge collection of VCR games. Horror, sports, all kinds of crap. You used to see them at thrift stores a lot, but not much these days.
posted by box at 4:38 PM on August 23, 2011

For sale now at Snips in Mt. Shasta, CA
posted by pianomover at 4:40 PM on August 23, 2011

Oh, man. Christmas 1986.

We were at my Grandma's house out in the country for the big family dinner and gift exchange. My sister asked for, and got, a copy of this. But since we were a Beta house, she was massively disappointed that my Aunt gave her the VHS copy. This was not the first VHS/Beta disappointment of our childhood, either.

Little did we know that our house was being concurrently burgled, extricating that damn Betamax from our lives forever. While having your house broken into shortly before Christmas can be very traumatic for a 6- and 10- year old, at least we got to play Clue with our shiny new VHS VCR.

I'd like to think that our robbers had a Snake moment as they were leaving the house. "Oh no. Beta!"
posted by hwyengr at 4:47 PM on August 23, 2011 [4 favorites]

I still have this on Beta. Had to special order it from a local game shop (who only had the VHS version) and promptly forgot all about it until about 7 months later, when I got a call informing me it had arrived.

Forget the Beloit list -- right here are about 4 examples of things that the class of 2015 have not experienced.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 5:28 PM on August 23, 2011 [4 favorites]

I know the guy who shot this- he said it was loads of goofy fun.
posted by Mister_A at 5:38 PM on August 23, 2011

Does anyone know if there exists a copy of the Case Book online anywhere? My searches have been fruitless thus far.
posted by Artaud at 7:33 PM on August 23, 2011

Did you know there was a series of YA mystery books written about clue?

I do. Cause I read all of them. For some reason they all lived at Mr. Body's house and solved crimes.

I loved them a lot.
posted by The Whelk at 7:35 PM on August 23, 2011 [3 favorites]

Was it a thing to get this AND the Mad board game as well for Christmas? Because that happened to us, too, klausman.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:08 PM on August 23, 2011

I received this game the year it came out for Christmas. At the time I lived in a communal house with about ten other people, and I could never get any of them interested in playing the damn game with me. I remember watching the tape just to get the feel of it, but it seemed fairly hard to stay with it as there were a lot of edits to give you time to draw the cards, I think.

Years later, I was divorcing one of the women from that house and she kept a bunch of my stuff in the contentious separation, including the Clue VCR game. I hadn't thought about that in years, until I read this post.
posted by birdhaus at 8:51 PM on August 23, 2011

I got this for two dollars at a thrift store last month!
posted by codswallop at 9:42 PM on August 23, 2011

Damn, Clue was a good movie. How the hell did that happen?

""Yes I did it, I killed Yvette. I hated her, SO MUCH, that it flames. Flames, on the side of my face...."
posted by zardoz at 5:33 AM on August 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

""Yes I did it, I killed Yvette. I hated her, SO MUCH, that it flames. Flames, on the side of my face...." breathing-breathl- heaving breaths. Heaving breaths... Heathing...
posted by cottoncandybeard at 6:26 AM on August 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

"I'm a plant"

"I thought men like you were called fruits"
posted by The Whelk at 7:18 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

The game was hard to play, but we LOVED it.

Anyone else remember a game with a VHS tape that you like.... watched for photos on the screen and if you had the card that looked like the picture and grabbed it, you won?
posted by k8t at 8:08 AM on August 24, 2011

I never played the Clue VCR game, but we used to play Nightmare quite frequently.

Here's a giant list of VCR board games.
posted by robstercraw at 8:18 AM on August 24, 2011

Yes Gamemaster
posted by The Whelk at 8:31 AM on August 24, 2011

holy fuck I can't wait to get home now
posted by desjardins at 12:36 PM on August 24, 2011