Clue Strategy: Part 2

Today I played Clue for the first time after my first attempt at developing a better notation system. My take-aways from the last attempt were:

  • Focus on who doesn’t have which cards
  • Pay attention to the progression of guesses

The results were pretty good. The systematic nature of my notation was generally thought to be superior to the lackadaisical strategy of my friends (note: playing games lackadaisically is great; it’s just not how I roll). Here’s the basic layout of what I wrote down:

Billiard Hall Kitchen Rope (these are the cards I had)
—————————–
DR – MrsW – Candle | F->A->D
Ball – MrsP – Candle | D->L
etc.

Then, in addition to keeping these notes on a blank piece of paper, I filled in the normal grid with the initials of who didn’t have which card. Let me explain the above, though. I made an entry for each guess, listing each card guessed as well as the progression of who guessed it to who eventually showed a card. Later on, when I had more information, I went back and determined which cards could not have been the ones shown, and ultimately which cards had been shown.

Thoughts on this method:

  • It was great, though the transcription was still a little slow.
  • The arrows on the right-hand part are unnecessary. I should just write the initials in order.
  • I should not note when a suggestion is “helped”, but rather when it goes unhelped. This cuts down on the writing.
  • Most importantly, I should use the second sheet (the normal sheet) from the very beginning, because trying to transcribe that information on the primary sheet slowed me down at the beginning.
  • Also, it was a little overwhelming because I was making it up as I went along. Now that I have specific ideas about how I should do it, the method should be smoother.

Ultimately, it would be nice to sort the list by guesser, so that it’s possible to see the progression of someone’s guesses. That would enable easier speculation about what cards they were shown.

Some statistics from this game:

  • 4 players (including me)
  • 35 suggestions
  • 9 of those suggestions skipped one person before being helped
  • 8 of those suggestions skipped two people
  • The correct suspect was first guessed on the 10th suggestion, and quickly adopted widely. It was suggested approximately half of the time after it was first guessed.
  • The correct weapon was guessed on the first suggestion, and was used sporadically throughout. It was suggested about a third of the time.
  • The correct room was only suggested twice.
  • I had zero suspect cards, but figured that out first
  • I had three room cards, but was still less than 100% certain about that when I finally accused

Anyway, it’s a fun game. We should play sometime.

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