Papal Clue
Thursday, June 14th, 2007
This project was done in conjunction with the Pope Scopes. Yes, I did two projects for one assignment. Yes, I’m an overachiever. Leave me alone.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how much you like my writing), I’ve used up most of my words on the subject of Pope John Paul II’s death in that post, so you should go read it if you’re looking for a more thorough explanation of these works.
As a further response to the media madness surrounding the event, I decided the Pope needed his very own board game—and to commemorate someone’s death what better board game is there than Clue?
With a Pope John Paul II themed version of Clue (“Papal Clue” from now on), the late Pope would join the ranks of Alfred Hitchcock, The Simpsons, Disney’s Haunted Mansion, Scooby-Doo, and others who have their very own themed Clue game.
For those who aren’t familiar with the game, here is the basic premise (from Wikipedia):
The game is set in a mansion, with the board divided into different rooms. The players each represent a character who is a guest staying at this house, whose owner, Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the North American version), has been found murdered. Players attempt to solve the murder. The solution to the murder requires the three components of Suspect, Weapon, and Room.
…
At the beginning of play, three cards – one Suspect, one Weapon, and one Room card – are chosen at random and put into a special envelope, so that no one can see them. These cards represent the true facts of the case. The remainder of the cards are distributed among the players.
The aim is to deduce the details of the murder; that is, the cards in the envelope.
Here’s what I came up with:
I ran out of time before I could finish the game. The different rooms on the game board have no entrances and none of the starting positions and secret pathways are marked. Also the playing cards were never finished—none of the rooms have cards and I ran out of ideas for weapons and characters.
And the whole project was made rather crudely with bad laserjet prints which don’t rephotograph well, especially at the small sized images I posted here. So, if you can’t make out what’s what, I’ve listed them out for you.
The locations, from left to right, top to bottom:
- Washington D.C. (the Conservatory in the original version)
- Warsaw, Poland (originally the Billiard Room)
- Umayyad Mosque, Damascus (originally the Library)
- The Internet (originally the Study)
- Abu Ghraib, Iraq (originally the Ballroom)
- Clue (center of board)
- Wailing Wall, Israel (originally the Hall)
- Papal Palace (originally the Kitchen)
- Abortion Clinic (originally the Dining Room)
- St. Peter’s Basilica (originally the Lounge)
The cards (from left to right, top to bottom):
- The Dalai Lama (suspect)
- Mehmet Ali Agca (suspect)
- Stem Cells (weapon)
- President Bush (suspect)
- Gorbachev (suspect)
- Woman Priest (not sure which)
- Mother Theresa (suspect)
- Pedophilic Priest (not sure which)
- Schaivo’s Feeding Tube (weapon)
- Condom (weapon)
- Gay Marriage (weapon)
- Communism (unlabeled) (weapon)
