Clue

Section 1: Introduction

Clue is a hidden-information deduction game in which players investigate a mystery by identifying three concealed facts: the suspect, the weapon, and the room. One card from each category forms the confidential solution. Every other mystery card is distributed among the players, who gradually eliminate possibilities by making suggestions and observing which cards opponents can disprove.

The familiar setting is a mansion divided into named rooms and connected by corridors, with secret passages linking certain corner rooms. The names and artwork vary among editions, but the central question remains the same: who committed the crime, with which weapon, and in which room?

Objective

Be the first player to make a correct accusation naming all three cards in the confidential solution. Careful note-taking matters more than lucky movement: a card seen in another player’s hand cannot be part of the solution, while repeated failures to disprove a suggestion can reveal just as much.

Players and Playing Time

Most classic sets support three to six players and take roughly 30 to 60 minutes. Before setup, check the component names and player range printed for the edition being used. When an edition-specific instruction conflicts with this recreational rulebook, agree before play which version will control.

Fair Play

• Keep cards hidden from every opponent.
• Record information privately and do not inspect another player’s score sheet.
• Show only the single card required when disproving a suggestion.
• Do not communicate hidden information through hints, facial signals, or selective card handling.

Section 2: Components

A complete game requires the following equipment. Component appearance and terminology may differ between editions, but each item serves the same basic function.

• Game board: A mansion map containing named rooms, corridor spaces, doorways, starting spaces, and usually secret passages between corner rooms.
• Playing pieces: One suspect token for each character and a separate piece representing each weapon. Suspect pieces track investigators on the board; weapon pieces are moved into rooms when named in suggestions.
• Cards: Mystery cards divided into three categories—suspects, weapons, and rooms. Each card corresponds to a named possibility shown by the game.
• Deck: The complete collection of suspect, weapon, and room cards used to create the solution and deal evidence to the players.
• Dice: One or two dice, depending on the edition, determine ordinary corridor movement. Each die is rolled together when more than one is supplied.
• Score sheets: Private detective notes listing every suspect, weapon, and room. Players mark eliminated possibilities and may add deductions about opponents’ hands.

The game also needs an opaque solution envelope or equivalent concealed holder for the three solution cards. Because “envelope” is not part of the controlled equipment vocabulary, it is described here but not included in the metadata equipment array.

Component Check

Before playing, confirm that every named mystery card is present exactly once and that the three categories can be distinguished. Missing or duplicated cards can make the mystery impossible to solve fairly. Place all weapon pieces beside the board if the edition does not specify initial rooms.

Section 3: Setup

1. Prepare the board: Place the game board where every player can reach it. Put each suspect piece on its matching starting space. Unchosen suspects remain in play because a suggestion may move any suspect.
2. Place the weapons: Put the weapon pieces in different rooms. If the edition gives designated starting rooms, use them; otherwise distribute the weapons among rooms by any agreed random method.
3. Separate the cards: Divide the deck into suspect, weapon, and room piles. Shuffle each pile separately without revealing its faces.
4. Create the solution: Randomly take one card from each category and place those three cards face down in the solution envelope. No player may look at them.
5. Deal the evidence: Combine all remaining cards, shuffle them together, and deal them face down clockwise, one at a time, until none remain. Some players may receive one more card than others.
6. Record starting information: Each player secretly examines their hand and marks those cards on a score sheet. A card in your own hand cannot be in the solution.
7. Choose the first player: Use the starting-player method supplied with the edition. For a neutral recreational method, every player rolls and the highest total begins; reroll ties.

Players normally use the suspect piece associated with their chosen character. When fewer than the maximum number participate, leave the unused suspect pieces on their starting spaces so they remain available for suggestions.

Information Boundaries

Players may count how many cards each opponent holds, but may not view their faces. Keep the solution envelope in a central location where it cannot be disturbed or confused with dealt cards.

Section 4: Gameplay

Play proceeds clockwise. On a turn, a player moves through the mansion and may make a suggestion after entering or beginning the turn in a room. A player who has made a failed accusation no longer takes ordinary turns, although their cards must remain available to disprove suggestions.

Movement

• Roll the supplied die or dice and move up to the rolled number of corridor spaces, following the movement convention used by the board. Classic play normally uses orthogonal movement rather than diagonal movement.
• A doorway connects a corridor to a room. Entering a room ends movement immediately, even if part of the roll remains unused.
• A player may leave a room through any unblocked doorway and continue moving with the roll.
• Players may not pass through or finish on an occupied corridor space. Multiple suspect and weapon pieces may occupy the same room.
• A corner room with a secret passage may allow travel directly to the diagonally opposite corner room instead of rolling. Using the passage ends movement for that turn.

If another player’s suggestion moved your suspect into a room, you begin your next turn there. You may make a suggestion in that room before moving, or you may move normally. A player may not repeatedly remain in the same room solely to make new suggestions unless the group has adopted that house rule; under the common classic procedure, leave and re-enter before suggesting there again.

Making a Suggestion

When in a room, name exactly one suspect, one weapon, and the room currently occupied. For example: “I suggest Green, with the Rope, in the Library.” The room is not freely chosen—it must be the room containing the suggesting player.

Move the named suspect piece and weapon piece into that room. This movement occurs even if the suspect belongs to another player, and the pieces remain there after the suggestion is resolved.

Disproving a Suggestion

1. Beginning with the opponent immediately to the suggester’s left, each player checks whether they hold at least one of the three named cards.
2. The first player able to disprove must privately show the suggester exactly one matching card. If that player holds several matching cards, they choose which one to reveal.
3. Once a card is shown, questioning stops. Later players do not reveal whether they could also have disproved the suggestion.
4. If a player has none of the named cards, play passes to the next opponent. If nobody can disprove, the suggester receives no card but should record the important result.

Only the suggester may see the disproving card. A suggestion is an investigative test, not an attempt to win, and may deliberately include a card from the suggester’s own hand.

Making an Accusation

On your turn, when you believe you know the solution, announce an accusation naming one suspect, one weapon, and one room. Unless the group adopts a stricter house rule, the accusing player need not stand in the named room. An accusation does not move pieces.

Secretly inspect the three solution cards without showing them to anyone. If all three match, reveal them and win. If any card differs, return all three to the envelope without revealing them. The failed accuser is eliminated from movement, suggestions, and further accusations but must continue privately showing cards when required to disprove another player’s suggestion.

Section 5: Scoring & Winning

Standard Clue uses no running point total. The first player to make an accusation matching all three solution cards wins immediately. A correct answer must identify the exact suspect, weapon, and room; two correct elements are not enough.

Elimination and End Conditions

• A correct accusation ends the game, and the winner reveals the solution to verify it.
• A wrong accusation eliminates only the accuser from active investigation. Their hand remains concealed and continues to participate in the disproof sequence.
• If every player but one has made a wrong accusation, the remaining active player wins only by making a correct accusation. For a friendlier casual ending, the group may instead reveal the solution and declare the last active player the winner.
• If an impossible state is discovered—such as a missing card, an exposed solution, or an incorrectly prepared envelope—stop and restart unless every player agrees the error can be repaired without giving anyone an advantage.

Optional Match Scoring

For a multi-game match, award 3 points for a win and 1 bonus point for winning without making a suggestion that nobody could disprove. Alternatively, award 1 point per game won and play until someone reaches an agreed target. These systems are recreational additions and do not change how an individual mystery is solved.

Tiebreakers

An individual game cannot normally tie because accusations occur one at a time. If a match ends level, play one additional game. Rotate or randomly select the first player so the same participant does not always receive the opening turn.

Section 6: Variants & House Rules

Clue has appeared in many editions with different boards, card names, special spaces, and extra mechanics. Use the instructions packaged with a specialized edition for its unique components. The following optional rules work well with a classic-style set when everyone agrees to them before setup.

Common House Rules

• Stay and investigate: A player who starts a turn in a room may make a suggestion there without first leaving and re-entering. Afterward, the turn ends.
• Exact-roll optional: Players may stop before using the full roll. This keeps doorways accessible and reduces disputes over excess movement.
• Accuse from the room: An accusation may name a room only when the accusing player is inside it. This adds movement risk and slows the final deduction.
• One final guess: When only one active investigator remains, allow a single accusation. If it is wrong, reveal the solution and record the mystery as unsolved.
• Open doorway etiquette: A player may not deliberately stop on a doorway or corridor space solely to trap another player when another legal stopping space is available.

Two-Player Deduction Variant

For two players, prepare the solution normally. After shuffling the remaining deck, place four cards face down beside the board as neutral evidence, then deal the rest evenly. Whenever a suggestion goes completely undisproved, privately reveal one neutral card to both players, if any remain. Return it face down after both have recorded it. This preserves uncertainty while giving undisproved suggestions useful consequences.

Team Play

Divide players into two teams and alternate individual turns. Teammates may share one score sheet and quietly discuss deductions, but they may not show cards to each other unless those cards are revealed through the normal disproof process. A team makes only one accusation for the entire game; a wrong accusation eliminates that team from active play.

Fast Game

Before dealing, remove one additional random card from each category and place those three cards face up for everyone to eliminate. Then create the hidden solution from the remaining category piles and continue normally. With fewer live possibilities, the mystery resolves more quickly without changing the basic deduction process.

Advanced Notes

Players seeking a deeper puzzle may track not only cards they have seen but also groups of possibilities. If an opponent disproves “Scarlet, Candlestick, Kitchen” without revealing the card to you, note that the opponent owns at least one of those three cards. Later evidence may reduce that group to a single certain card.

Agree in advance whether players may take written notes about who answered each suggestion, whether suggestions may be repeated word for word, and whether accidental public revelations remain public information. Consistent decisions keep the mystery competitive and friendly.