A Hitch in the Game

Good Evening....this week we have a board game that deals in the wholesome American values of murder, ghosts, and mayhem. Yes, I'm speaking of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents 'WHY?'."

You see, for 10 years- between 1955 and 1965, the famed director, Alfred Hitchcock brought (somewhat good naturedly) these types of things into American living rooms. The rattling death bone music and his droll introductions are the stuff of legend. 

In 1958 our good friends at Milton Bradley (I actually hadn't noticed that all these games came from them) came out with WHY?. The idea was simple- some folks wandered into Alfred's old house whilst going home from a costume party...and were brutally murdered. Now, you have to become one of four "famous" detectives and find out...well, why?

It's interesting that Who? isn't the goal here, but as the introduction to the game states, Hitchcock is hiring you to find out why they were murdered so their souls can go on their way and stop haunting him. Who killed them? Well, maybe it's best to not delve too deeply into that...

Anyway, let's get a closer look here, shall we?

Here is the game box. This is the 1961 version. Out of the three versions (1958, 1961, 1965) I like this one the best. I like that it has the old house on it, and the spooky sky. 

The first thing you have to read is on the inside of the box lid. This spells out the overall theme of the game and the goal. Plus, Alfred Hitchcock is speaking directly to you, so you know this part HAS to be important!

The meat of the directions are on the insert in the box. These are a little tough to read, so I took a few closeups...

As you can see, unlike other games I've featured here, there is skill a-plenty here! There seem to be a lot of rules but I've played this game, and I'm happy to report that it is, in fact, fun. 

I love the graphics on the game board!

Here we have our detectives! Dick Crazy (Dick Tracy), Charlie Clam (Charlie Chan), Sgt. Monday (Sgt. Friday), Shylock Bones (Sherlock Holmes)

Here are our ghosts...

...and Alfred Hitchcock, himself!

Here are the weapons, "No Clue" cards and "It's a Mystery to Me" card.

And here are the "Why?" cards. All good reasons, I guess. You know, if you're into that "murder" stuff. I'm not. Just in case anyone asks... Not that they would...

And some detail from the game board. As I said before, I really like this artwork.

This game was actually pretty popular when it was produced. After all, three editions ain't hay. The reviews I read from modern players seem to think it's too complicated. People gripe about having to move around the board and some even devised a version where you just use the cards. To these people I say, "Blech, whatta buncha wimps!"

The board is the fun part in my mind and since this is my blog that's all that matters. 

Get off my lawn!

Well that wraps it up for this week. We only have two more to go until Halloween! 

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!