Clue / Cluedo

Identify this edition first

This guide covers Hasbro product 38712. Alongside the 21 black CLUE cards it has 13 red Bonus cards, and White is one of the six suspects.

Build the case and set up

1. 1Put all six character tokens and all six weapon tokens in the centre, even with fewer than six players. Take the character token matching your chosen colour.
2. 2Separate the black cards into suspect, weapon and room piles. Shuffle each and put its top card into the murder envelope without looking.
3. 3Shuffle all remaining black cards together and deal as evenly as possible. Put any leftovers face up beside the board.
4. 4Mark your own cards and the face-up leftovers on your detective sheet. Mark every card you are shown later.
5. 5For the Bonus-card game, shuffle the 13 red cards and place them on the red question-mark space. Leave them out for classic play.

Your turn: move, enter, suggest

• Everyone rolls both dice; the highest roll starts, then play goes clockwise.
• Move horizontally or vertically through corridors, forwards or backwards, but never diagonally. You do not need an exact roll to enter a room; discard extra movement.
• If you stop on a red question-mark space, draw the top Bonus card, follow it and discard it. You may pass the space and keep moving towards a room instead.
• If another player's suggestion moved your token into a room, you may make a suggestion there on your next turn without rolling.

How a suggestion is disproved

1. 1The player on the suggester's left checks whether they hold any of the named suspect, weapon or room cards.
2. 2If they hold one or more, they choose exactly one and show it only to the suggester.
3. 3If they hold none, they say they cannot disprove it and the next player checks.
4. 4The process ends when one card is shown or everyone fails to disprove it. Record what you learned.

Secret passages and rooms

• At the start of your next turn in a room with a secret passage, you may move directly to its connected room without rolling.
• Stop and make a suggestion in the destination room. You cannot continue into a corridor or another room in the same turn.
• As with entering by dice, any unused movement ends when you reach a room.

Final accusation and elimination

• When you have a final suspect, weapon and room, reach the centre and announce the accusation before checking the envelope privately.
• If all three cards match, reveal them and win immediately.
• If any card differs, return all three without revealing which part was wrong. Keep your hand secret.
• An eliminated player no longer moves, suggests or accuses, but must still show one matching card when able to disprove another player's suggestion.
• If every player makes a wrong final accusation, the case is unsolved; reveal the envelope.

Two-player or team gameNo Bonus cards

1. 1Complete normal setup steps 1 and 2. Shuffle the remaining black cards, then place the top four face down in a row beside the board.
2. 2Deal the rest between the two players or teams. Do not use the red Bonus cards.
3. 3Whenever the opponent or opposing team cannot disprove your suggestion, secretly inspect one side card you have not seen and return it face down to the same position.
4. 4Inspect a different side card each time; remember their positions to avoid looking at the same card again.
5. 5All other movement, suggestion and accusation rules are unchanged.

Frequently asked questions