Tabletop games
Cluedo
HasbroAnthony E. Pratt1949
- players
- 2–6
- minutes
- 45
- years
- 8+
In the box
1 board · 6 suspect pawns · 6 miniature weapons · 21 cards (suspects, weapons, rooms) · 1 case file envelope · 1 notepad and 1 or 2 dice
Official rules (publisher's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Anthony E. Pratt
- Artwork
- Peter Dobbin, René Goscinny, Matt Groening, Anders Jeppsson
- Publisher
- Hasbro
- Mechanics
- DeductionGrid MovementMemoryRoll and MoveSquare Grid
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
The aim is to find out, before the others, who killed Dr Black, with which weapon and in which room. On your turn, roll the dice and move; once inside a room, make a suggestion (a suspect, a weapon and this room), and the first player to your left holding one of the cards named secretly shows you one. Only once in the game, you may make an accusation and check the envelope: right, you win; wrong, you take no more turns.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
6 pawns on start spaces, 1 weapon per room, 3 cards in the envelope
- The six pawns are placed on their starting spaces, even with fewer than six players; the weapons are spread out at random, one per room.
- Sort the cards into three piles (6 suspects, 6 weapons, 9 rooms), shuffle each and slip the top card of each into the confidential envelope, without looking.
- The remaining cards are shuffled and dealt out to everyone; it does not matter if some players get one more. What you hold in your hand is not the solution.
- The 29 Clue cards form a separate pile (remove them for a classic game).
- Everyone takes a detective notes sheet and ticks off their own cards.
How to play
Roll 2 dice, Enter a room, Make a suggestion
- Miss Scarlett starts the game (or, if nobody plays her, the next character clockwise), then play passes clockwise.
- On your turn, roll both dice. Each magnifying glass rolled makes you draw a Clue card, read aloud and applied; the magnifying glass then counts as 1.
- Move space by space, never diagonally, never crossing the same space twice and never passing through a pawn; you stop as soon as you enter a room.
- Instead, you may take a secret passage (between rooms in opposite corners) or stay in the room you are in.
- In a room, make a suggestion: a suspect, a weapon and this room. The suspect and weapon named are moved there and stay there.
- Starting from your left, the first player holding one of the cards named shows you one, and you alone; if they hold several, they choose. If nobody can, you have learnt something too.
Scoring
Nothing to count, Detective notes sheet
- Nothing to count during the game: it is played on a detective notes sheet.
- The counter records the cases solved when you play several games in a row.
End of the game
1 accusation per player, Right, you win, Wrong, you're out
- During your turn, for example right after a suggestion, you may make an accusation, only once in the game, while in a room (any room), then check the envelope in secret.
- Right accusation: show the three cards and you win.
- Wrong accusation: put the cards back without showing them; you take no more turns but you keep showing your cards in answer to the others' suggestions, and your pawn can still be moved.
- If nobody solves it, nobody wins.
House rules and pitfalls
With two players or in teams: after filling the envelope, place four of the remaining cards face down in four…
- With two players or in teams: after filling the envelope, place four of the remaining cards face down in four rooms; whoever enters one of them looks at the card, then plays normally.
- A suggestion moves the named suspect and weapon into the room: you can use it to hinder an opponent.
- Naming a card you hold yourself is a classic: it forces the others to show their hand without revealing anything.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Can you make more than one accusation in Cluedo?
No, only once per player, and it is final. If the accusation is wrong, you keep showing your cards to the others but you can no longer win: that is what makes rushing costly.