Clue Rules in Plain Words

What the game is

Clue is a detective game. A man named Mr. Boddy has been murdered in his own mansion. Three cards are hidden away — one suspect, one room, and one weapon — and they hold the answer. You move around the mansion, gather clues, and cross off what cannot be true. The first player to name all three hidden cards correctly wins.

Players: 3 to 6. Ages: 8 and up.

What is in the box: a game board showing 9 rooms of the mansion, 6 colored suspect tokens (Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mr. Green, Mrs. White, and Mrs. Peacock), 6 small weapons (rope, lead pipe, knife, wrench, candlestick, and revolver), a pack of 21 cards — one for each suspect, weapon, and room — a pad of detective notebook sheets, a "Case File" envelope, and 1 die.

Setting up

1. Put every suspect token on its named start space on the board — all 6 tokens, even the ones nobody is playing. An unplayed suspect can still be the murderer.
2. Put the 6 weapons in 6 different rooms, one per room.
3. Put the empty Case File envelope on the X in the center of the board.
4. Sort the cards into 3 piles: suspects, weapons, and rooms. Shuffle each pile on its own.
5. Without anyone seeing, take the top card from each pile and slide all 3 into the envelope. Those 3 cards are the answer: who did it, where, and with what.
6. Shuffle all the remaining cards together and deal them out face down, one at a time, around the table. It is fine if some players get one more card than others.
7. Look at your own cards in secret. Any card in your hand cannot be in the envelope, so it cannot be part of the answer.
8. Each player takes a detective notebook sheet, folds it so nobody can see it, and ticks off the cards they are holding.
9. Miss Scarlet always takes the first turn. Play passes to the left.

How a turn works

1. Start your turn by moving. Either roll the die and move your token that many squares, or — if you start the turn in a corner room — use the secret passage instead (see below).
2. You may move up, down, left, or right — never diagonally. You may change direction as you go, but you cannot step on the same square twice in one turn, and you cannot stop on or pass through a square where another token stands.
3. Entering a room ends your move, even if you rolled more than you needed. Walk in through a door; the doorway itself does not count as a square.
4. If you entered a room, make a suggestion (see below). That ends your turn.
5. If you did not reach a room, your turn simply ends.

Suggestions — how you gather clues

1. When you enter a room, name a suspect and a weapon, and move that suspect's token and that weapon into the room with you. The room in your suggestion is always the room you are standing in — you cannot suggest a different room.
2. Say it plainly, for example: "I suggest it was Mr. Green, in the Lounge, with the Wrench."
3. Starting with the player on your left, each player in turn checks their cards. The first player who holds any one of the 3 cards you named must show you that one card — in secret, so only you see it. If they hold more than one of the named cards, they choose which single card to show.
4. If that player has none of the 3 cards, the chance passes to the next player on the left, and so on around the table.
5. When someone shows you a card, tick it off on your notebook sheet — it cannot be in the envelope. Your turn ends.
6. If nobody can show you a card, either the answer is in the envelope, or the only named cards are in your own hand. You may then make an accusation on this same turn, or simply end your turn.

Secret passages and blocked doors

• The rooms in opposite corners of the mansion are joined by secret passages. If you start your turn in a corner room, you may skip the dice roll and move straight to the room in the opposite corner, then make a suggestion there.
• A door blocked by another player's token cannot be used. If every door of your room is blocked, you are stuck and must wait until someone moves.
• When a suggestion moves your token into a room, then on your next turn you may either move out in the normal way, or stay and make a suggestion for that room without rolling at all.

Accusations — how you win or fall out

1. When you believe you know all 3 hidden cards, wait for your turn and say you are making an accusation. Name one suspect, one room, and one weapon. Unlike a suggestion, an accusation may name any room — you do not have to be standing in it.
2. Secretly look at the 3 cards in the envelope. Do not let anyone else see them.
3. If all 3 cards match your accusation, lay them out for everyone to see. You win, and the game is over.
4. If even one card does not match, put the cards back in the envelope in secret. You are out of the race: you take no more turns and can never win. But you stay at the table — you must still show cards when other players' suggestions call for it, and other players may still move your token around for their suggestions.
5. Each player gets only one accusation per game. Use it when you are sure.

How you win / how the game ends

The first player to make a completely correct accusation wins at once. A wrong accusation does not end the game — it only puts that one player out. Play continues until somebody gets all three cards right.

Common questions

Can I name cards from my own hand in a suggestion?

Yes, and it is a smart move. Naming one or two of your own cards lets you test the other named card, and it can mislead watchful opponents.

Do I have to show a card if I have one?

Yes. If you hold any of the 3 named cards, you must show one of them to the player who suggested — only one, and only to that player. If you hold more than one, you pick which.

Can two tokens be in the same room?

Yes. There is no limit on how many suspects and weapons can pile into one room. The blocking rule is only about squares in the halls and doors.

Can I make a suggestion and an accusation on the same turn?

Yes. If your suggestion goes unanswered, or even if it is answered, you may still accuse on that same turn — but remember, you only ever get one accusation.

What if nobody can disprove my suggestion and I still am not sure?

Then just end your turn. An unanswered suggestion is a strong hint, not proof — the named cards might be in your own hand rather than in the envelope.

Source: Hasbro, Clue classic detective game rules (U.S. edition, rules © 1986 Hasbro, the classic rules sheet shipped with U.S. Clue sets for decades). Read in full and rewritten in our own plain words. Newer sets add an extra card deck; the core game taught here is unchanged.