The Clue!
Encyclopedia
The Clue! is a remake of the 1986 game They Stole a Million
. It would form a two game series, with a sequel following in 2001, under the guise of The Sting! or Der Clou 2!.
A unique adventure game, assuming the identity of Matt Stuvysant, a burglar who is looking beyond just the clothes on his back and a hotel room on Holland Street, the player is tasked with finding accomplices, scouting potential targets, and plotting plans of burglary, down to the finest detail. Featuring the archetypal point-and-click
interface during investigations, engaging in planning a job would alter the controls to include keyboard, using it to control the planned movements of the personnel.
The Clue! is mixture of many video game genres. It can be described as role-playing
adventure game
with tactical/strategy
elements and puzzles in the form of burglaries. The gameplay is composed of two different modes - most of the time, the player is travelling around the city of London and talking with people using point-and-click
interface like in classical adventure games, while more strategy-like top-down perspective is used for the actual planning of the heists.
The adventure mode features static graphics depicting various places with menu interface to control Matt's actions. It is in this mode, where the player buys and sells cars, tools and other equipment needed for thievery, recruits accomplices and scouts for possible target buildings. Every important information as an amount of money, description of tools, cars, loot, etc. can be accessed anytime through the Think menu. Before committing a burglary, the player must collect all the necessary information by investigation of the site. A car and at least one associate with driving skills is also obligatory.
After these conditions have been fulfilled, the player can switch the game into the planning mode by selecting the option Planning in the hotel room. There he chooses the escape car, accomplices and the driver. In the final stage of planning, the player controls movement of the thieves by the keyboard and works out the details of the plan in real-time like simulation.
The loot
from successful coup must be sold to one of the three available dealers in order to earn money. Each dealer is specialized in different commodities and will not accept or will pay less for other types of merchandise.
Essential part of the gameplay are skills such as driving, lockpicking or electronics, which affects the time needed to complete specific tasks. Some actions and tools depend on particular skill level of person doing it (for example using stethoscope
for opening a safe
lock requies higher skill level than using a welding torch for the same job). Participants of a successful burglary also improve their skills. In addition to skills, each character has various personal traits as dexterity, loyalty, greed or nerves. These traits affect things like proportion of share from the loot, how many trails the person leaves on the crime scene or if he/she betrays his/her associates when captured by the police.
The Clue! is set in 1953, shortly after the World War II
, and takes place in the streets of London
and its countryside. The game's list of locations includes many of actual historical places and buildings such as Victoria station or Karl Marx's Tomb at Highgate Cemetery
along with some fictional ones.
The player character
is Matt Stuvysant, a young criminal wanna-be getting immersed into the gloomy world of London underground. He can make social contacts with other characters in various pubs and bars. Most of the NPCs
can be hired to assist in burglary.
They Stole A Million
They Stole a Million is a strategy computer game released by Ariolasoft in 1986. The objective of the game is to plan robberies and execute the crime.The player first purchases blueprints of the house where the soon-to-be-stolen object is kept...
. It would form a two game series, with a sequel following in 2001, under the guise of The Sting! or Der Clou 2!.
A unique adventure game, assuming the identity of Matt Stuvysant, a burglar who is looking beyond just the clothes on his back and a hotel room on Holland Street, the player is tasked with finding accomplices, scouting potential targets, and plotting plans of burglary, down to the finest detail. Featuring the archetypal point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface during investigations, engaging in planning a job would alter the controls to include keyboard, using it to control the planned movements of the personnel.
Gameplay
Role-playing
Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role...
adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
with tactical/strategy
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
elements and puzzles in the form of burglaries. The gameplay is composed of two different modes - most of the time, the player is travelling around the city of London and talking with people using point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface like in classical adventure games, while more strategy-like top-down perspective is used for the actual planning of the heists.
The adventure mode features static graphics depicting various places with menu interface to control Matt's actions. It is in this mode, where the player buys and sells cars, tools and other equipment needed for thievery, recruits accomplices and scouts for possible target buildings. Every important information as an amount of money, description of tools, cars, loot, etc. can be accessed anytime through the Think menu. Before committing a burglary, the player must collect all the necessary information by investigation of the site. A car and at least one associate with driving skills is also obligatory.
After these conditions have been fulfilled, the player can switch the game into the planning mode by selecting the option Planning in the hotel room. There he chooses the escape car, accomplices and the driver. In the final stage of planning, the player controls movement of the thieves by the keyboard and works out the details of the plan in real-time like simulation.
The loot
Looting (gaming)
Looting in a gaming context, specifically in massively multiplayer online games and MUDs, is the process by which a player character obtains items such as in-game currency, spells, equipment, or weapons, often from the corpse of a creature or possibly the corpse of another player in a PVP situation...
from successful coup must be sold to one of the three available dealers in order to earn money. Each dealer is specialized in different commodities and will not accept or will pay less for other types of merchandise.
Essential part of the gameplay are skills such as driving, lockpicking or electronics, which affects the time needed to complete specific tasks. Some actions and tools depend on particular skill level of person doing it (for example using stethoscope
Stethoscope
The stethoscope is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, or listening to the internal sounds of an animal body. It is often used to listen to lung and heart sounds. It is also used to listen to intestines and blood flow in arteries and veins...
for opening a safe
Safe
A safe is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding...
lock requies higher skill level than using a welding torch for the same job). Participants of a successful burglary also improve their skills. In addition to skills, each character has various personal traits as dexterity, loyalty, greed or nerves. These traits affect things like proportion of share from the loot, how many trails the person leaves on the crime scene or if he/she betrays his/her associates when captured by the police.
Setting and characters
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and takes place in the streets of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and its countryside. The game's list of locations includes many of actual historical places and buildings such as Victoria station or Karl Marx's Tomb at Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
along with some fictional ones.
The player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
is Matt Stuvysant, a young criminal wanna-be getting immersed into the gloomy world of London underground. He can make social contacts with other characters in various pubs and bars. Most of the NPCs
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
can be hired to assist in burglary.