Clue rules: how to play and how to win
Reviewed on 20 October 2026 against the publisher’s rulebook. How we check
Clue plays 2 to 6 players: a murder has been committed at Tudor Mansion, and each player investigates to find the culprit, the weapon and the room. Here are the essential rules, setup and how to win, based on Hasbro’s official rules for the current edition.
- Players
- 2 to 6
- Play time
- About 45 minutes
- Winner
- The first correct accusation: culprit, weapon and room
Clue quick rules
- The goal
- Three cards hidden in the solve envelope hold the answer: the culprit, the weapon and the room of the crime. The other cards are dealt out among the players. By ruling out the cards you are shown, you try to make the first correct accusation.
- Moving
- Roll both dice and move up to that many squares; the magnifying glass counts as one. No diagonals, no occupied squares, never the same square twice. You enter a room through an unblocked doorway, without the exact roll, and secret passages link some corner rooms.
- Making a suggestion
- In a room, name a character, a weapon and that room, and bring the suspect and the weapon there. The first player on your left who holds one of those cards secretly shows you one. Mark it off: it is not in the envelope.
- Clue cards
- If a die shows the magnifying glass, draw a Clue card after your suggestion, read it and follow it. Even with two magnifying glasses, only one card.
- Accusing
- One accusation per game, on your turn, from any room. Secretly check the envelope: all three right cards, and you win. If not, you take no more turns, but you still show your cards to the others.
- End of the game
- The first correct accusation ends the game. If everyone is wrong, the murderer gets away and nobody wins. In a two-player or team game, four cards are hidden in four rooms, and you look at your room’s card before your suggestion.
- Beginner pitfalls
- Note who showed you which card, listen to the others’ suggestions, sometimes name your own cards to probe, and don’t rush your accusation: one mistake, and you are out of the investigation.
How to win Clue
- No points
- Clue has no points: the first correct accusation wins. The others aren’t ranked.
- Nobody wins
- If every accusation is wrong, the murderer gets away: the game ends without a winner.
- Character and ending
- For the record, optional: the suspect each player played, and how the game ended.
Example ending
Jake accuses Colonel Mustard with the rope in the library, but the envelope holds the dagger: he takes no more turns, but still shows his cards. Two turns later, Emma accuses Miss Scarlett with the dagger in the kitchen, and she is right: Emma wins.
Common mistakes
- Removing a player who made a wrong accusation: they take no more turns, but still show their cards.
- Naming a winner when everyone was wrong: nobody wins.
- Accusing from outside a room: you must be in a room, any room.
How to set up Clue
Follow the three parts in order; with two players, there is one more step. Roll a die to decide who goes first.
The mansion
- Place the gameboard in the middle of the table.
- Place all six character tokens on their colored starting spaces.All six tokens go on the board, even with fewer than six players: they are all suspects.
- Each player chooses a character.
- Place each weapon at random in a different room.
The mystery
- Separate the 29 Clue cards from the others, shuffle them and place them facedown by the board.
- Make three decks of the other cards: characters, weapons, rooms. Shuffle each deck, facedown.
- Slide the top card of each deck into the solve envelope, without anyone seeing it.The envelope holds the answer: who killed Boddy Black, with what weapon, and where.
- With two players or teams, place 4 of the remaining cards facedown in any 4 rooms.For a speedier game, choose the four corner rooms.
- Deal all the remaining cards out among the players, even if some get one more.
Each player
- Each player takes a sheet from the detective notebook and a pen.This sheet is for the investigation, not for keeping score.
- Secretly look at your cards and mark them off on your sheet: none of them is in the envelope.
- Each player rolls a die to decide who goes first; play then passes to the left.The rules don’t say whether the highest or lowest roll goes first: agree before rolling.
Frequently asked questions
How do you win Clue?
By making the first correct accusation: the culprit, the weapon and the room hidden in the solve envelope.
How many accusations do you get in Clue?
Only one per game. If it is wrong, you take no more turns, but you keep showing your cards.
How do you play Clue with two players?
Before dealing, place four cards facedown in four rooms; when you enter one of them, look at its card before your suggestion.
Ludingo’s Clue sheet was last reviewed on 20 October 2026, based on: hasbro.com 1, hasbro.com 2, BoardGameGeek.