How to Play Clue Card Game (2018) (Rules and Instructions)

The original Clue is probably the most popular deduction board game ever released. The simple premise of figuring out the culprit, weapon, and location has stood the test of time. Over the years there have been a number of different card games created based on the original game. The most recent version is the Clue Card Game which was first released back in 2018. In essence the game is what you would get if you eliminated the gameboard while streamlining a few other elements of the game.

Year: 2018 | Publisher: Hasbro | Designer: NA | Artist: NA

Genres: Card, Family

Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 3-4 | Length of Game: 10-20 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate

Components: 1 Crime card, 15 Evidence cards, 4 sets of Case File cards, 2 Reminder cards, 6 Character Profile Cards

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Objective of Clue Card Game

The objective of the Clue Card Game is to figure out the crime before the other players. This entails figuring out who did it, with what, and where they did it.

Setup for Clue Card Game

The players need to decide whether they want to play the advanced game or the normal game. If the players choose to play the normal game, find all of the cards with a + symbol in the top left corner. You will remove these cards from the game.
Each player chooses a Character Profile card. This will be the character that you will play as during the game. (This doesn’t have any impact on the gameplay.)The unused Character Profile cards are returned to the box.
Sort the Case File cards by the symbol along the left side of the card near the bottom. After sorting the cards, each player will take one set of Case File cards.
Sort the Evidence cards by their type (suspects, weapons, locations). Shuffle each group separately. After shuffling, randomly choose one card from each group. Without looking at the cards, place the chosen cards under the Crime card. These are the cards that players are trying to figure out in the game.

Crime Card in Clue Card Game — The players randomly selected one person, weapon and location card. They placed them underneath the Crime card. The players are trying to figure out what cards are underneath this card.

Shuffle the rest of the Evidence cards together. Deal the cards out to the players face down. Each player should receive the same number of cards. If there are extra cards that couldn’t be evenly divided, they will be placed face up on the table.
Each player will look at their own Evidence cards as well as any face up Evidence cards on the table. They should place any Case File cards that match these cards face down in a discard pile. If you can see an Evidence card, it can’t be underneath the Crime card. By discarding the associated Case File cards, you will know they can’t be the solution to the crime.

Remove Case File Cards in Clue Card Game — This player was given the knife and Professor Plum Evidence cards. The billiard room card was placed face up on the table for all of the players to see. This player will remove the Professor Plum, knife, and billiard room Case File cards from their hand.

The player that looks the most suspicious will get to take the first turn.

Taking Your Turn

On your turn you will get to ask a question to the other players to try and figure out what cards are underneath the Crime card. You will get to choose two pieces of evidence to ask about. You can ask about a person, weapon, or location. For your two choices you can either choose two different types of evidence or two of the same.

You will first ask the player to your left. They will look at the Evidence cards in their hand to see if they see either of the cards that you asked about. If they have one of the cards you asked about, they must show it to you.

Ask A Question in Clue Card Game — This player was asked if they have Colonel Mustard or Professor Plum. As they have Professor Plum they will show it to the player that asked.

They should show the card to you in a way that the other players don’t see what card was shown. You should discard the corresponding Case File card from your hand since it can’t be underneath the Crime card. You will then give the Evidence card back to the player.

Receive Evidence Card in Clue Card Game — One of the things that this player asked for was the rope. Another player gave them this card. This player now knows that rope card can’t be underneath the Crime card.

If the player has both of the cards that you asked about, they can choose which of the two cards to show you. They shouldn’t reveal in any way that they have both cards.

If the player to your left doesn’t have either card that you asked about, they have to tell you. You will then move onto the next player to the left. You will ask them about the same two pieces of evidence. They will follow the same process for showing you a card if they have one of them. If they don’t have either card, they will say so.

This continues until you are either shown a card, or all of the players say they don’t have either card. Play then passes to the next player in clockwise (left) order.

Making An Accusation

Players will keep taking turns until someone thinks they have solved the crime.

On your turn you can choose to make an accusation. The other players can also choose to make an accusation at the same time if they want.

Only You Accusing

You will find the three Case File cards in your hand that correspond to the suspect, weapon and location that you think are below the Crime card. Place your chosen cards face down in front of you.

Make Accusation in Clue Card Game — This player has decided to make an accusation. They think Mr. Green committed the crime with the candlestick in the dining room.

You will then look at the cards under the Crime card without letting the other players see them.

If your accusation matches the cards under the Crime card, you have won the game. Reveal both sets of cards to let the other players verify that you were correct.

Correct Accusation — This player made a correct accusation as the cards they set aside match those from underneath the Crime card. This player has won the game.

If one or more of the cards don’t match, you lose. The rest of the players will get to keep playing. You will no longer take your turn, but you still must truthfully answer questions from the other players.

Incorrect Accusation — This player correctly guessed the person and weapon. They chose the wrong location though. This player has lost.

Two or More Players Accusing

Players will choose who gets to accuse first, second, etc.

All of the players that want to make an accusation will place their chosen Case File cards face down in front of themselves.

When everyone is ready, each player will reveal their chosen Case File cards at the same time.

The player who is chosen to make the first accusation will turn over the cards underneath the Crime card. If the cards match this player’s accusation, they will win the game. If not the next player will compare their cards. The first player to be correct on all three cards will win the game. If all of the players are wrong, all of the players will lose the game.

Advanced Clue Card Game

If you choose to play the advanced version of the Clue Card Game, you will add in the cards (Evidence and Case File) that have the + symbol in the corner. These cards will add one additional weapon and two new locations.

Advanced Game in Clue Card Game — If the players decide to play the advanced game they will add the top three cards to the group of Evidence cards at the beginning of the game. Each player will also add to their hand the Case File cards that match the additional Evidence cards.

Otherwise the game is played the same as the normal game. The only difference is that there are more cards in the game.