Rules for Clue

The rules for playing Clue are very straight forward. Once you begin to play, you may want to play several games in a row – such is the nature of Clue. The directions are as follows: (These are not a direct copy of the rules due to copyright considerations, but they are accurate, just in different wording)

1. The game is designed for three to six players, but I have played many times with just two players.
2. Start the game by placing the six colored pawns (or miniature statues of the players in some versions) on the starting places marked with the appropriate suspect's name or color. For example, the white pawn belongs on the Mrs. White square. The red one on Miss Scarlet’s square etc.
3. Place the replica miniature weapons randomly in the rooms. Only place one weapon per room at the start of the game.
4. Put the 21 cards into three piles, one pile of weapons, one of the rooms and one for the suspects.
5. Next, Shuffle each of the three piles separately and cut one card from each pile, placing the three cards into the solution cards envelope. Make sure no one sees these three cards. The envelope is then placed in the center of the game board. These cards represent the Case File – the Who? What? and Where? of the case.
6. Divide up, or deal, the rest of the cards among all of the players facedown. Players should not let the other players see their cards.
7. Each player needs a detective notepad to record their clues and a pencil. The first thing each player needs to do is check off, or cross off, the cards they are holding in their hand as these cards are not involved in the crime.
8. Every player chooses a pawn, or miniature player statue. The player who has Miss Scarlet always goes first. We always let the youngest member of the game use Miss Scarlet, but it doesn't really matter.
9. Each player when it is their turn rolls the die and advances their character that number of spaces, forward or backward. Characters may never move diagonally.
10. Players advance around the board exploring the various rooms.
11. Players enter and exit rooms by moving through one of the doorways or using one of the secret passage ways found in the corner rooms of the game map. A players turn ends as far as moving their character is concerned when they enter a room, no matter what number was rolled on the die.
12. Once a player enters a room, they make a suggestion by moving the weapon and suspect they are asking about into the room. For example, if you are in the library, you can move Col. Mustard and the revolver into the room with you and say, "I suggest that the crime was committed in the Library by Col. Mustard with the revolver."
13. Then is the time to prove whether the suggestion is true or false. Once a suggestion has been made by a player, the player to that persons left checks his or her cards to see if they have any of the three. If he or she holds any of the three cards (in this case the library, Col. Mustard or the revolver), he or she shows only ONE to the person who made the suggestion. It is important that they only show the card to the person who made the suggestion though, so the other players may not see which card is being used to disprove the suggestion. Once a suggestion has been disproved, the player's turn ends and moves onto the next player to the left. If the first player to the left does not hold any of the cards used in the suggestion, the next player to the left checks his or her cards and this continues around the table until either the suggestion is proved wrong or there are no remaining players. The player's suggestion only gets disproved once, so even if several players hold cards disproving the suggestion, only the first one will show the suggesting player his or her card.
14. A player may only make a suggestion when his or her character or pawn is in a room and the suggestion can only use that room, not any other rooms.
15. Players can make an accusation on any of their turns, but usually make one when no player can disprove their suggestion. When a player thinks they have figured out which three cards are in the envelope, they announce that they are making an accusation and identify which cards they believe are associated with the murder. The player who made the accusation carefully looks at the cards in the envelope making sure no other players can see them. The players character or pawn does not need to be in the room to make an accusation.
16. A player wins the game if their accusation is proven correct. They lay the cards on the table face up if they were right. If they are wrong, however, they return the cards to the envelope without revealing them to the other players. Once a player makes an accusation and they were not correct, their game is finished except they still are required to disprove suggestions with the cards in their hand.

Variations to the Rules of Clue

There are always variations to every game. Although most people stick with the traditional rules for Clue, variations do exist.

For example, one variation revolves around the use/or non-use of dice. In this instance, play the game without rolling the dice. In the alternative, each player has nine "moves" to use on a turn with each move onto another space counting as one move and an accusation, use of a secret passage, or guess, costing three moves adding more strategy into the game.

Other variations to the rules involve locking and unlocking rooms with a skeleton key that can be found in the center with the Clue logo.