Original Cluedo - Rules (1996 Version)

Detective Notes

Dr. Black - found dead on Saturday evening at approximately 8.45pm. The body was found at the foot of the stairs leading to the cellars, on a spot marked "X". Miss Scarlett found the body. Apparently, her screams were heard in the village nearby! Does Miss Scarlett protest too much?

Cause of death has yet to be determined, but there are several likely objects around the house that could have been used:

Dagger - found in the lounge
Candlestick - found in the dining room
Revolver - found in the study
Rope - found in the ballroom
Lead Pining - found in the conservatory
Spanner - found in the kitchen

Chief suspects have to be the guests who are here for the weekend. They are:

Col. Mustard (Yellow)
Prof. Plum (Purple)
Rev. Green (Green)
Mrs. Peacock (Blue)
Miss Scarlett (Red)
Mrs. White (White)

All seem anxious to talk!

The Game

HOW TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY

At the beginning of the game, a character, weapon and room card will be placed secretly into the murder envelope.

To solve the mystery you must find out…

Who committed the crime;

What was the weapon used; and

In which room the crime was committed.

(The three cards in the envelope will reveal the answers.)

You will be dealt some card. (Don't let the other players see these cards!) You can immediately eliminate these characters, rooms and weapons from your investigation.

During the game, move from room to room to make your enquiries. Once inside a room, make a "suggestion" on your turn by calling a character and a weapon into the room. You can then question your fellow players as, one by one, you ask them to reveal if they have a card that matches the room you're in or the character and weapon you've named in your suggestion. Your turn ends when one of these is matched by another player's card. Keep note of your findings and carry on playing.

By clever deduction, you'll eventually be ready to make an accusation. Will you be first to reveal the answer to the mystery?

The Investigation

SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE INVESTIGATION

Carefully remove the character playing pieces from their plastic frames. If you have difficulty use safety scissors. Fix each character into its corresponding coloured base. Follow the numbers shown in the Detective Notes to match the right base with the right character. [M&M: In previous versions of the game, characters are represented by pieces of the correct colour - you do not have to fit things together.] Place all six playing pieces on their corresponding START spaces around the board. NOTE: Spare playing pieces fall under suspicion just the same as the pieces in play, and can therefore be called into rooms by players making suggestions.
Place the weapons in the rooms where they were found at the beginning of the investigation. See Detective Notes.
Shuffle the six character cards then take the top card and secretly place it in the "Murder Envelope". Do the same with the room cards and weapon cards. You should end up with three random cards in the murder envelope: one character card, one weapon card and one room card.
Shuffle the remaining cards together, making sure none of the cards are seen by any of the players. Deal all the cards to all the players. Some players may receive more cards than others according to the number of players in the game. These players will start the game with a slight advantage.
Each player takes a sheet from the Detective Notebook. You will use this to eliminate characters, weapons and rooms. Keep it covered throughout the game. Don't let the other players see who or what you have eliminated from your enquiries.

PLAYING DETECTIVES

Choose the playing piece which is closest to you on the board to be your character. You will move this character around the board.
Each player rolls one die. The highest number goes first [M&M: In previous versions of the game, Miss. Scarlett moves first - as she discovered the body.] Play then continues clockwise.
On your turn - roll both dice and move that number of spaces around the board.

Entering a room

When you enter a room, you can immediately make a suggestion. You do this by calling into the room any character or weapon involved in you deduction.

For example, you enter the conservatory and call in Professor Plum and the spanner. (Place the Professor Plum playing piece and the spanner in the conservatory.) Now make you suggestion - "I suggest it was Professor Plum, in the conservatory, with the spanner".

Hint: A player's piece may remain in the same room for as many turns as it takes to eliminate that room from the investigation.

Answering a suggestion

If the player to your right makes a suggestion, and you have at least one of the cards mentioned, you must show one of these cards secretly to this player.

If you don't have any, the enquiry passes to the next player and so on, until one of the cards has been shown to the player making the suggestion.

At certain times in the game, particularly near the end, it is possible that none of the players will have any of the cards mentioned in the suggestion.

Making your deductions

Before you make a suggestion you must be clear about what information you want to obtain. Are you trying to find the culprit? Do you want to eliminate a room or are you searching to find the murder weapons?

If you search for general clues you may want to mention those characters, rooms and weapons that you don't hold in you hand!

If on the other hand, you are trying to eliminate a specific character, you could include in you suggestion a weapon card and a room card that you hold in your hand. If nobody has the character you name, you can safely assume that this is in the murder envelope and the character in your suggestion is therefore the murderer. If another player shows you the character card, eliminate this character from you investigation by crossing the name from your list of suspects in your Detective Notebook.

The Accusation

MEANS, MOTIVE, OPPORTUNITY!

Keep moving you playing piece around the board, making suggestions when you enter rooms, until you think you know the answer to the three questions:

Who committed the crime?

What was the weapon used? and

In which room the crime was committed?

Having made a suggestion, you can in the same turn, make an accusation.

To make an accusation, write down the answer to the three questions in your Detective Notebook. You must be sure, as you can only make one accusation in the game.

Once you have written down the answers, look in the envelope to confirm you suspicions.

If you are correct

Reveal the three cards to the other players and declare yourself "Super Slueth".

If you make a wrong accusation

Replace the three cards in the envelope, making sure none of the other players sees the murder cards. You must remain in the game to answer the other players' suggestions. You can't make another suggestion or accusation.

The Facts

GATHERING THE FACTS

Players must enter the rooms by the doors only. The doorways do not count as a space. Once you have entered a room, this is the end of your turn. On you next turn you can move onto a secret passage and gain entry to another room without throwing the dice. This constitutes you move.

The secret passages are from the lounge to the conservatory, and the kitchen to the study.

Playing pieces must not move diagonally. No two pieces can occupy the same square, and you can't move you piece through the square on which another piece stands. A room, however, may be occupied by any number of pieces and weapons.

Playing pieces called to different locations on the board are not returned to their original place. If you find that your piece has been moved to a room you wanted to visit, you can automatically make a suggestion involving that room on you next turn.

The art of conspiracy - you can make suggestions involving cards you hold to confuse other players.

False witness - if it is discovered that you accidentally failed to show a card in you hand that was involved in a suggestion, you can no longer take part in the investigation. You must, however, remain in the game to answer suggestions.

Cluedo & Waddingtons are © Hasbro International Inc. Distributed in the UK. by Waddintons Games, Castle Gate, Oulton, Leeds LS26 8HG

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