Computerised Cluedo, with Atari-style console full of “suspect data”

This early ’80s effort from Ideal is getting lumped in with the lesser-known (and earlier) Parker Bros “Stop Thief”, even though they’re not even superficially the same game, on the basis that nobody ever asked Father Christmas for two electronic crime-solving games in one lifetime.

Starting with the premise that a single police computer could hold all the details of “over 130,000” committed murders (presumably with the institutionalised racism programmed out), each player takes it in turns to “ask” questions of the Electronic Detective. Roughly translated, that means keying in stuff like 1,3,A,1,0,1,6 (“I was on the West Side, Uptown, at an Art Show with two suspects called Jeremy and Sadie”), and the computer responds in typical-for-the-time LED display fashion. One of twenty suspects (cards) would be selected for you to interrogate by the computer. Make an incorrect accusation based on your deductions (kept on “data sheets”) and you yourself would be “shot” (with accompanying electronic farty noise). Which seems a little harsh. A demotion back to uniform might be thought of as a more appropriate punishment.

“Stop Thief”, on the other hand, loses points on account of veering slightly too much towards the frighteningly realistic in its presentation. Like a sinister treasure hunt, it was a case of finding the correct square on a board that contained the thief. The thief is out there! Can you stop him? Use the handheld scanner to collect clues! Buy tips from the squealing slags on the streets! Break down doors and burst into tenement flats! Nail the little toe-rag! Kick him whilst he’s down! Kick him! Go on, kick him in the head!