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.