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
- Beginning with the opponent immediately to the suggester’s left, each player checks whether they hold at least one of the three named cards.
- 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.
- Once a card is shown, questioning stops. Later players do not reveal whether they could also have disproved the suggestion.
- 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.