How to Play Clue
Overview
Clue (Cluedo outside North America) is a murder-mystery deduction game for 2 to 6 players (the traditional game is best with 3-6). A murder has occurred in a mansion. Each player takes the role of one of the six suspects and tries to be the first to deduce who did it, with what weapon, and in which room — the three cards hidden in the solution envelope.
Components (what matters for play)
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Game board: a mansion with nine rooms (Kitchen, Ballroom, Conservatory, Dining Room, Billiard Room, Library, Lounge, Hall, Study) connected by corridors. The four corner rooms are linked in diagonal pairs by secret passages.
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6 character/suspect tokens: Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White (Dr. Orchid in some modern editions), Mr./Reverend Green, Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum.
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6 weapon tokens: Candlestick, Dagger (Knife), Lead Pipe, Revolver, Rope, Wrench (Spanner).
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21 cards: 6 suspect cards, 6 weapon cards, 9 room cards.
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1 solution envelope, a detective notepad per player, and two dice.
Setup
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Place the board out and put each weapon token in a room (distribution does not matter).
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Place all six suspect tokens on their named starting spaces around the board (even unused suspects stay on the board as possible murderers).
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Separate the 21 cards into three decks: suspects, weapons, rooms. Shuffle each deck separately.
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Build the solution: without looking, take the top card of each deck (1 suspect + 1 weapon + 1 room) and seal all three in the solution envelope. These are the murderer, weapon, and room.
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Shuffle the remaining 18 cards together and deal them all out to the players. It is fine if some players end up with one more card than others.
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Each player takes a detective notepad and crosses off the cards in their own hand (those cannot be the solution).
Turn Structure
On your turn:
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Move. Roll both dice and move that many spaces horizontally or vertically (not diagonally) through the corridors, or use a secret passage if you begin your turn in a corner room. You enter a room by reaching one of its doorways; you do not need an exact roll, and excess movement is forfeited.
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Make a suggestion (only when you are in a room). Name a suspect, a weapon, and the room you are currently in, e.g. "I suggest it was Professor Plum, with the Rope, in the Library." Move the named suspect token and weapon token into that room.
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Disprove. Starting with the player to your left and going clockwise, each player checks whether they hold any one of the three named cards. The first player who can must privately show you one of those cards (their choice if they hold more than one). As soon as one card is shown, disproving stops. If no one can disprove your suggestion, that is strong information.
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Record what you learned on your notepad.
Accusation (how you win)
When you believe you know all three solution cards, you may — on your turn, in any room — make an accusation: name a suspect, weapon, and room. Privately look at the three cards in the solution envelope.
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Correct: Reveal the cards to everyone — you win and the game ends.
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Wrong: You are out of the running. You can no longer move or make suggestions/accusations, but you stay in the game and must still show cards to disprove other players' suggestions.
You may make only one accusation per game (a wrong one removes you), so accuse only when you are certain.
End of Game
The game ends the moment a player makes a correct accusation and wins. If every player but one has made a wrong accusation, the last remaining player wins by default (the murderer would otherwise have "escaped").
Notes on Editions
Modern Hasbro editions support 2 players using a variant where extra cards are dealt to a face-up or non-player area so deduction still works; the traditional 1949 game is for 3 to 6 players. Suspect and weapon names and the exact room list vary slightly between editions (e.g. Mrs. White replaced by Dr. Orchid; Dagger/Knife and Wrench/Spanner naming).
