Cluedo Rules

Cluedo is a game that puts you in the shoes of a detective who has to solve an investigation. 

Content and aim of the game

You are a group of guests in a mansion. During the evening, one of the guests dies: Dr. Boddy. The suspect can only be one of the other guests. It’s up to you to investigate and find the culprit!

A game of Cluedo consists of using your intelligence to find the how of the murder. 

A Cluedo game consists of : 

• 6 pieces: each piece represents one of the characters in the game. You can therefore play as Colonel MOUTARDE (Yellow), Doctor OLIVE (Green), Professor VIOLET (Purple), Madame PERVENCHE (Blue), Mademoiselle ROSE (Red), Madame LEBLANC (White)
• 6 weapons: the dagger, the candlestick, the truncheon, the revolver, the rope, and the spanner
• 21 cards: 6 cards representing the suspects (players), 6 cards representing weapons, and 9 cards representing the rooms of the Manor
• 1 Enigma case where the results of the investigation will be hidden
• 1 notebook. You can use blank paper if necessary. 
• 1 game mat
• 2 dice.

However, depending on the version of the game, the number of pieces and cards may vary.

Before starting the game

Here are the preparatory steps before you start your game of Cluedo: 

• Start by putting all the character pieces on their corresponding starting square. It doesn’t matter if you have fewer players than there are counters, just put them all there. 
• Next, take the sets of weapons, room, and player cards. Shuffle them individually, then place the first card of each set in the puzzling case, face down. These are the cards that the players will have to guess (the result of the investigation).
• Each player then chooses a counter, regardless of the cards they have in their hand. This counter represents his character throughout the game. 
• Finally, take turns rolling the dice. The player with the highest score shares the remaining cards from each set of cards, one by one, with each player. Don’t worry if some have fewer cards than others. 

How to move into Cluedo

The answer is simple: use the dice. Each player in turn rolls the dice and can move as many spaces as the result of his role. 

• He can move forward and enter a room in the manor if his role allows it. But once he enters a room, he can only leave it on his next turn. 
• You cannot stop on a square already occupied by an opponent. However, more than one player can be in the same room.
• You may not move over another player’s piece; you must go around it.
• You may not move diagonally (cheaters)
• To enter a room, you can only use either the door (logical) or the secret passages. 

The course of the game

You have started your game, you arrive in a room. The serious stuff can start!
In the corridor, you can only move around. But once you’re in a room, you can start to play Cluedo: get clues! How do you do it? It’s simple: make assumptions!
Do you remember the aim of the game? To find the hidden cards in the puzzling case. Your hypotheses are used to proceed by elimination to find the 3 hidden cards. 

The hypotheses:

• You can only make the hypotheses when you are in a room. 
• Each hypothesis designates a character, a weapon, and a place. 
• Once you have formulated your hypothesis, you must ask each player, one by one, if they can refute your hypothesis. To do this, they must show you a card of your hypothesis, if they have one.
• If you name a card (e.g. the weapon “revolver”) in your hypothesis, and it is held by a player, that player must show it to you, but secretly. 
• If a player has several cards mentioned in a hypothesis, he is not obliged to show ALL of them to the player who formulated the hypothesis.

However, he must show at least one of them.

• There is nothing to prevent you from making false or tricky hypotheses  
• Once you have made your hypothesis and the cards have been revealed, you can make a note in your notebook and make your deduction. 
• Your turn is over once you have made your hypothesis. You are only allowed one hypothesis per round. 

The accusation

Apart from the hypotheses, your turn also gives you the right, if you want, to make an accusation. Do you think you know the truth of the matter? Make an accusation.
In this case, you should know that to make an accusation : 

• You must first be in the room where you think the murder took place.
• You have to read your accusation out loud by saying “I accuse” and then naming the cards you think are guilty of the crime (for example, I accuse Mr. Violet of committing the crime in the Bathroom with the Revolver!).
• You can verify your accusation by looking discreetly into the puzzling case.

There are two cases if you make an accusation:

• If your accusation is correct: the cards you have announced match exactly the cards in the puzzling case. You can reveal them and show the others that you have solved the puzzle! Congratulations, you have won the game!
• If your accusation is wrong: the cards you announced do not entirely match the cards in the case. In this case, discreetly put the cards back in the case and put them back in their place. You are then eliminated from the game: you can no longer make assumptions or accusations (well, that’s normal, since you’ve just seen the answers). However, you do not leave the game, as the other players will need you to disprove their assumptions with the cards in your hand… Nice try though. 

End of the game

The game ends when a player solves the riddle by guessing the hidden cards in the riddle case.

Official rule in PDF

Discover the official Cluedo rules in PDF.