Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Why?

One stormy night, long ago, six people, dressed in masquerade costumes were coming home from a party. They took shelter in an old house and haven't been heard from since. Unfortunately, their ghosts are still haunting the place! Once upon a moonlight night Alfred Hitchcock saw the six Ghosts, still in costume, and some Weapons that probably were used to eliminate them.



This "Why" game by Milton Bradley ("Key to Fun") dates from 1958 and ties into the popularity of the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV show that ran from 1954 to 1965.

The game itself is very similar to Parker Bros.' "Clue" with a bit of "Go Fish" thrown in.


The board itself is similar to "Clue" with separate rooms of the house playing host to murder.


Players choose 1 of 4 pieces, each a parody of a popular literary,  movie, comic strip or radio/television show detective.


Players are dealt 7 cards each with the remaining cards divided equally among the rooms on the playing board.

By roll of the dice, players move among the rooms and pick up 1 "evidence" card, discarding either it or another from their hand so that they maintain no more than 7 cards at any time.  Discarded cards can be picked up in lieu of a room's evidence card. If on your roll you land by exact count on another player, you can ask for an evidence card from them a la "go fish".

When a match of four cards is made (ghost or weapon), the player lays the cards down for all to see.
   









Players win by completing a ghost, a weapon and having 1 "motive" card.  



Additionally, players can win by the wildcard(s) of completing Alfred Hitchcock's famous profile.


8 comments:

  1. What a cool game! When I was young I had a 3d mystery game and I sure wish I had it now.

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  2. Wow - what a great game. I have never seen it before. I want to play right now.

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    Replies
    1. I think there's enough information presented here so you can make your own copy and have a go at it!

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  3. Like above, I had never heard about this. Pretty cool!

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  4. I've never seen this Game before! I wonder how many still exist?

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    1. There's quite a few for sale on eBay, so not terribly rare, but I've never seen it.

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