Official Rules Guide for Clue (Cluedo)

This article was co-authored by Ashton Wu and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.

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Do you want to know which one of your friends is the better detective? If you love a good whodunnit, Clue (or Cluedo) is the perfect game to try the next time you hang out. Anybody could be a suspect, so it’s your job to figure out who committed the crime, where it happened, and what weapon they used. Whether you’ve played the game before or are learning for the first time, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for everything you’ll need to know to set up your game and start the investigation!

• Number of Players: 3–6
• Required Materials:Clue board game, note sheets, pencils
• Objective: Correctly guess the hidden Suspect, Weapon, and Room cards by deducing what cards other players have.

Player Setup

• Play Clue with 3–6 players that are 8 or older.

• Even if you don’t have 6 players, use all 6 pawns since any of them could still be suspects in the game.

• If you don’t have any more detective note sheets, list all the Suspects, Rooms, and Weapons on sheets of notebook paper to give to each player. Alternatively, buy more note sheets if you want official copies.

Card Setup

Shuffle the Suspect, Room, and Weapon cards into separate decks. Separate the Clue cards into piles of Suspects, Rooms, and Weapons. Keep these card types in separate stacks and shuffle each one. Then, place the 3 stacks face down on the board. [4] X Research source

• These cards represent the person who committed the crime, what weapon they used, and where it happened. Whoever can guess the 3 hidden cards correctly wins the game.

• It’s okay if players don’t have the same number of cards.
• You may look at your cards, but do not show them to any of the other players. Revealing your cards gives other players more information and will help them deduce the hidden cards faster.

• For example, if you have the Suspect Mrs. Peacock, the candlestick Weapon, and the kitchen Room in their hand, then these cannot be in the envelope.

Gameplay

• On later turns, if you’re in a Room that has the words “Secret Passage” in it, you can move to the listed room instead of rolling the dice.
• If another player is on a space in front of a Room’s door, you must wait for them to move before you’re able to enter the Room. If you get blocked in a room, then you have to wait until your next turn to see if the pawn moved out of your way. [9] X Research source

Board Game Expert

Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.

Don't underestimate the suspects. In Clue, even with fewer players, use all six suspect pawns on the board. Leaving out pawns can lead to confusion and make it harder to deduce the killer. Remember that every character is a potential culprit, so keep your mind sharp and place all six suspects on the board – the killer could be anyone!

• Example: After moving into the Study, you might say, “I suggest that it was Colonel Mustard with the Lead Pipe in the Study.” Move the yellow Colonel Mustard pawn and the Lead Pipe token into the study.
• There are no limits on the number of suspects or weapons that you may have in one room at one time.
• Making Suggestions helps you find out what information other players have, so choose Suspects, Weapons, or Rooms that you don’t have in your hand.

• When someone shows you a card that you suggested, you know it can’t be hidden in the envelope. If no one has the card, then you know for a fact it’s one that was hidden.

• One way to win at Clue is suggesting cards you already have in your hand. If you suggest Professor Plum used the Rope in the Ballroom, and you have the Rope and Ballroom in your hand, then Professor Plum is in the envelope if no one else reveals the card.

• Keep in mind that you may only make 1 Accusation per game. If you get the Accusation wrong, then you’re out of the game and not allowed to make any other guesses. Return the cards to the envelope and continue revealing your cards to other players when they ask.

Community Q&A

This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Clue is a game that needs at least 3 players. If it is played by 2 players, you both have access to half a pack each, apart from the 3 cards placed aside that solve the mystery. This means that together you can both deduce what’s missing all too quickly and it becomes more of a roll of the dice game rather than a strategy and deduction game. If that’s what you want, then yes you can play with 2 people but it’s likely to be a bit dull.

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Cluedo is a game of strategy and skill. You could look at the cards that reveal the solution but then there would be no point playing the game at all. It’s a game that encourages you to be smart about your choices, to maintain a good record or memory of the clues already revealed and to use any room cards you get quickly to gather more information. Cheating would spoil all the fun of playing and is pointless.

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The time taken depends on the skill level of the players and the amount of people playing. However, expect an average time of about 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete a simple game. A game can be really fast or really long though, depending on how well the players are familiar with the game or how long the players would like the game to go for. Experienced players who want the game to go longer can utilize different ways to stretch the game out for hours!

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If you want to play with 2 players, deal 4 cards face-down and set them next to the board. Any time you make a Suggestion and the other player doesn’t have one of the cards, secretly look at one of the face-down cards to learn what it is. [14] X Research source

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1. ↑http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/clue_(2002).pdf
2. ↑https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/Clue.pdf
3. ↑https://youtu.be/TrQ4312-8w4?t=113
4. ↑https://youtu.be/sg_57S4l5Ng?t=20
5. ↑http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/clue_(2002).pdf
6. ↑https://youtu.be/TrQ4312-8w4?t=100
7. ↑https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/Clue.pdf
8. ↑https://youtu.be/sg_57S4l5Ng?t=52
9. ↑https://winning-moves.com/images/ClueClassicRules_2020.pdf

1. ↑http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/clue_(2002).pdf
2. ↑https://winning-moves.com/images/ClueClassicRules_2020.pdf
3. ↑https://winning-moves.com/images/ClueClassicRules_2020.pdf
4. ↑https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/Clue.pdf
5. ↑https://youtu.be/Q7Yc-WqwnSg?t=661

About This Article

This article was co-authored by Ashton Wu and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. This article has been viewed 587,773 times.

Clue, also known as Cluedo, is a popular 3-6 player board game where players collect clues and try to solve a murder. To set the game up, place each colored pawn on its corresponding color space on the board. Place the weapon pieces randomly in the rooms so there's no more than one weapon in each room. The deck of Clue cards features room cards, suspect cards, and weapon cards. Divide these cards into 3 separate piles, and shuffle each pile. Then remove 1 card from each pile without looking and place the 3 cards in the case file envelope. Now set the envelope in the middle of the board. Shuffle the 3 piles of cards back together and deal them all to the players one by one face-down. Give each player a pencil and a sheet from the detective notebook. Players use their detective sheet to track their guesses and eliminate suspects during the game. The detective sheet should always be kept private from other players. Next, each player picks a character to play with. To start the game, Ms. Scarlet always goes first, then play goes clockwise. On a player's turn, they start by rolling 2 dice and moving that number of spaces in any direction. If they enter a room on their turn, they can guess who they think the murderer is, what the murder weapon was, and where the murder took place. Players must guess the room that they're currently located in. For example, the player might say out loud, "I think it was Mr. Green in the study with the candlestick." Whenever a player makes a guess, they move the character and weapon they guessed into the room with them. Then the player on their left must show them one card from their hand if they have a card that matches one of the things the player guessed. Once the guessing player is shown a card, they check that card off of their detective sheet and then the player to their left goes next. Players continue to make guesses and narrow down the possibilities until they've solved the murder. Once a player feels confident they've solved it, they can enter the room where they think the murder took place and make an official accusation by saying the name of the murderer, the murder weapon, and the room out loud. Then that player opens the envelope and checks the 3 cards inside without the other players seeing. If their accusation was right, they win the game! If they're not right, they lose the game and play continues with the other players. To learn how to win the game, keep reading!

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