Imagine, you are a child living in 1950 and it is nearly Christmas. You can't help but hope Santa will bring you a special game, one which is all the rage at the moment, Cluedo. Everybody wants to play the game, but there are still only a few sets around, and you really want one of your own. You know you probably won't get one, because they are pretty expensive, so imagine your joy on waking up Christmas morning and finding a beautifully wrapped set, all of your own.
When I took this old Cluedo game to show the children, they were absolutely delighted. Cluedo is one of their favourite games and to see such an old one was a real pleasure. They remarked on both the similarities and the differences in the game, particularly commenting on how small the box was compared to modern sets - they thought it would be much easier to store on a shelf than the huge box Cluedo comes in today. They were also impressed that the game is mainly intact with only the board missing. They were intrigued to discover that often old games are very well looked after, as buying a replacement was often not an option because they were expensive and money was tight.
Playing games is part of human nature, and has been for thousands of years. We can guess that play was probably part of even the Cavemens lives, but board games themselves are a later development. We know that they also date back thousands of years, with the Royal Game of Ur dating back to about 2500BC (over 4000 years ago) Another style of game, called Mancala games, dates back at least 3000 years, though there might have been even earlier versions made with holes in the dirt. If you would like to learn more about Mancala games, come back on Friday when Roy will show you how to make your own version!
Cluedo is a much more modern board game, being created in 1946. It is an English game, created by Anthony Pratt, a solicitors clerk, and his wife in Leeds. Pratt first thought of the game in 1944 and after many hours of experiments, designing and brainstorming, he, his wife and a couple of neighbours visited Waddington's Games, also in Leeds, to discuss the game. They visited the offices of the managing director, Norman Watson, and the 'first' game of Cluedo was played between the Pratts, their neighbours and fellow game inventors, the Bulls and Waddington Games employees as Watson looked on. He obviously liked what he saw because the game went into production but there were some delays with the game launch because of post World War Two shortages. The game was launched in 1949 and has become a world wide success, being sold in over 40 countries, though in Brazil it is sold under the name Detective, and in America it is known simply as Clue.
