Cluedo, The Game for Amateur Sleuths

Ms. Scarlet, in the Ballroom, with the candlestick.

Anyone who doesn't know where the line above came from either resides in a cave or has a no sense of fun. Cluedo (Clue in North America) is a crime fiction board game originally published by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom in 1948.

It was devised by Anthony E. Pratt, a solicitor's clerk from Birmingham, England. It is now published by the United States game and toy company Hasbro, which acquired its U.S. publisher Parker Brothers as well as Waddingtons.

The game is unusual in that it requires at least three players, as opposed to a minimum of two for most board games.

At the beginning of play, three cards—one Suspect, one Weapon, and one Room card—are chosen at random and put into a special envelope, so that no one can see them. These cards represent the true facts of the case. The remainder of the cards are distributed among the players.

The aim is to deduce the details of the murder—that is, the cards in the envelope. This is done by announcing suggestions to other players. An example of a suggestion is, "I suggest it was Mrs. White, in the Library, with the Rope." All elements contained in the suggestion are moved into the room in the suggestion (so Mrs. White and the Rope would be moved to the Library). The other players must then disprove the suggestion, if they can. This is done in clockwise order around the board.

A suggestion is disproved by showing a card containing one of the suggestion components to the player making the suggestion (for example, the Rope), as this proves that the card cannot be in the envelope. Showing the card to the suggesting player is done in secret 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.

The player's suggestion only gets disproved once. So, though several players may hold cards disproving the suggestion, only the first one will show the suggesting player his or her card. A player may only make a suggestion when his or her piece is in a room and the suggestion can only be for that room.

Once a player thinks they know the solution, they can make an accusation. The accusing player checks the validity of the accusation by checking the cards, keeping them concealed from other players. If they made an incorrect accusation, that player is ejected from the game because they now know the correct solution, and the game continues with the remaining players.

However, the player(s) making wrong accusation(s) must still reveal cards secretly to remaining players during the game. If the player made a correct accusation, the solution cards are shown to the other players and the game ends.

An interesting feature of Cluedo's design is that it is possible for a player to be using the piece representing the murderer. This doesn't affect the gameplay; the object of the game is still to be the first to make the correct accusation. It does suggest an unusual case of amnesia by the killer.

The game cannot be played with two people, because the process of elimination diffuses the same information to both players. Such a game passes quickly and ends with a race to the room where the murder occurred.