Poor Toby Flenderson never quite got a break. Loathed by his boss, and doomed to share a desk space with chatterbox Kelly, the human resources representative was a bag of regrets and quiet frustration.
After The Office US wrapped up in 2013, I would have liked to think Toby ended up living out his days in Costa Rica, where he would marry a Pam doppelganger and live in a house with functioning air conditioning.
Sadly, this dream was not to be, as a new board game has revealed Toby actually ended up being murdered by a colleague in the very same office where he endured verbal abuse on a daily basis.
It’s a sorry fate indeed for a character who appeared quietly – mournfully – resigned to a life of disappointments and bad luck. But the following three questions remain: Who did it? With what weapon? And where?
Based on the classic board game Clue, Hot Topic’s new version, called Clue: The Office Edition, invites you to solve the callous murder of Toby Flenderson, with six Dunder Mifflin employees marked out as suspects.
Now, given Michael Scott once vowed that if he ‘had a gun with two bullets and was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden and Toby, [he] would shoot Toby twice’, you would assume this was an open and shut case.
However, Michael isn’t the only potential culprit, despite having previously referred to the deceased HR professional as ‘Satan’ and ‘the Antichrist’. The cloud of suspicion is also hanging over the heads of Jim Halpert, Stanley Hudson, Dwight Schrute, Angela Martin, Andy Bernard, and Pam Beesly.
Players must also work out what weapon was used to shove Toby off this mortal coil, choosing from the Dundie Trophy, Mr. A Knife, a ream of Dunder Mifflin paper, a bacon grill, a poisoned pretzel, a rabid bat, a World’s Best Boss coffee mug, nun-chucks, and a bike chain.
I am personally a little disappointed the inventory of murderous objects does not include a rock bearing the message ‘suck on this’, which would narrow the investigation down considerably.
As discussed, the dastardly crime was committed within the walls of Dunder Mifflin itself, and it is up to the players to determine the exact room where Toby breathed his last.
The nine potential crime locations include reception, the conference room, break room, annex, accounting, parking lot, warehouse, kitchen, and Michael’s office.
You can purchase your own copy of Clue: The Office Edition from the Hot Topic website, priced at $48.90.
The ideal game to play while you await a festive visit from Belsnickel…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.