Clue Board Game: Solve a Mystery

Everyone loves a mystery!  That is probably one of the reasons why the board game Clue has become a classic game to play yet today.  Published in both England (under the name Cluedo) and the United States in 1949, Clue quickly became a favorite and popular board game.

The object of the clue board game is to solve the murder of Mr. Boddy. In order to win a player must correctly answer three questions.

• Who did it?
• How?
• Where?

By a process of elimination a player can discover the answer to these questions.  The Detective Note pad will help a player keep track of their investigation and clues during game play.

First  ‘Who did it?’  There are 6 possible suspects or characters in the game.  They are as follows:

Colonel Mustard (yellow piece), Miss Scarlet (red piece), Professor Plum (purple piece)
Mr. Green (green piece), Mrs. White (white piece), Mrs. Peacock (blue piece)

Then ‘How did they do it?’  Which of the following 6 weapons were used by the murderer?

The Knife?  The Candlestick?  The Revolver?  The Rope?  The Lead Pipe?  or The Wrench?

And finally, ‘Where did this murder take place?’  Which room?  Was it the…

Hall?  Lounge?   Dining Room?   Kitchen?  Ball Room?   Conservatory?  Billiard Room?  Library?  or Study?

After searching through the rooms (moving on the game board and making suggestions) a player will be able to conclude which of the 3 cards are hidden in the secret envelope.   This slip case identifies and confirms the person, weapon, and room.

Preparation for the game is simple.  There are cards for each of the characters, weapons, and rooms.  Shuffle each of these separately, pick the top card (without looking) and place one of each in the ‘secret envelope’.  The remaining cards are then shuffled all together and dealt to the players.

The players each choose a character and place it on their position of the board.  The weapons are placed in any of the rooms.  The weapons are there so when a player during the game makes a ‘suggestion’, they gather the weapon suggested (and the player suggested) and place it in the room suggested.

Deduction is made by your suggestions being proved false or true by the cards in your own hand and/or the cards in the other players hands.  Once in a room, a player can offer a suggestion of who, how, and where Mr. Boddy was murdered.  If the player to the left of the person making the suggestion can prove their suggestion false by secretly showing a card to them (proving it is not in the secret envelope but in their hand), they do so.  If they can’t the next player tries to.

If no one is able to prove the suggestion wrong and the player making the suggestion does not hold any of the cards suggested in their own hand, they can make an accusation and solve the case!

The Clue board game is recommended for ages 8 and up and it is for 3 to 6 players. Playing Clue helps children with making deductions and acquiring logical thinking skills. It certainly is an entertaining game to play; family game night or anytime!