Clue Mysteries/Rules

## Objective

Be the first detective to solve the mystery by discovering 1) which suspect committed the crime, and 2) where he or she can be found.

## The First Time You Play

Carefully detach the game parts from their cardboard sheets, and discard the waste.

## Set Up

1. The pawns: After laying out the gameboard, all players choose a pawn and place it in the Town Center (the round space in the center of the gameboard). Place any extra pawns out of the game.
2. The scene tokens: There are four of these tokens: the Parade, the Fair, the Cart and the Bus. In each mystery, the culprit is located at one of these scenes. Place one scene token in each gameboard corner, on the space just in front of a building space. It doesn't matter which token goes in which corner.
3. The CLUE cards: Shuffle the cards, and place the deck near the gameboard.
4. The secret decoders: Place the spyglass, the secret mirror, and the location key near the gameboard.
5. The detective notebooks: Take a detective notebook and slide a CLUE sheer under the flap.
6. The mystery: Choose the mystery that you'll try to solve in this game, and read it aloud. (Any player can do this.)

## How to Play

Each player in turn rolls the die. The highest roller goes first, then play continues clockwise.

### On your turn

On each of your turn, roll the die, then move your pawn space by space along the gameboard. After moving and following any directions for the space you land on, your turn is over.

### Pawn Movement

* You *must* move the full count of the die, with these two exceptions: 1) you may stop short to land on a building space; and 2) to make an accustion, you may stop short to land on a scene token.

* You may move your pawn in any direction, as long as you don't move onto the same space twice in one turn.

* Your pawn may pass other pawns, and may share spaces with other pawns.

* Path-blocking scene tokens: Your pawn may not pass or land on a scene token; in a token is in your way, you must find a way around it. *Exception:* See *MAKING AN ACCUSTION*.

### Gameboard Spaces

**The Town Center space:** Players start the game on this space, and may land on it or pass it as they play. If you end your move here, your turn ends.

**Building spaces:** These are eight of these spaces along the outside of the gameboard path. When you end your move on a building space (not necessarily by exact count), you may "question" the character who is located there by decoding the statement on that character's wheel (see *QUESTIONING A CHARACTER*). You may pass a building space without stopping there.

**Open Road spaces:** If you land on one of these spaces, draw the top CLUE card from the deck, read it aloud, then immediately follow the directions on it. If the card directs you to another space, follow the directions for that space. When you're done, place the card faceup beside the deck in a draw pile. Your turn is over. *Note:* If you run out of cards, just shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile.

**Vehicle spaces:** These four spaces are shortcuts. If you land by exact count on a vehicle space, you may immediately "hop in," move your pawn to any other space, and follow the directions. *Note:* You may not land on a scene token unless you're ready to make an accusation.

**Scene spaces:** These are spaces with scene tokens on them. They will shift constantly as players draw cards directing them to move the tokens to other spaces.

Because scene tokens are path-blockers, move them strategically, either to black the path. *Important:* Never place a scene token where it would completely black off a player or a space.

### Questioning A Character

Any time your pawn is on a building space, you may question the character who is there. To do this, take the matching character wheel to the back, decode the clue and record it on your CLUE sheet (see MARKING YOUR CLUE SHEET).

After decoding and marking the clue, replace the character wheel where it was, with the front facing the players. Here's how to use each decoder:

**The Spyglass:** Use this to decode statements of the six witnesses. Just hold the spyglass above the statement, and the words will suddenly be clear!

**The Secret Mirror:** Use this to decode Inspector Brown's statement, and you'll discover if any of the witnesses' statements are false. To use the mirror, just hold it at an angle above the message. Brown's message will suddenly and magically appear in the mirror!

**The Location Key:** Use this to decode Mr. Boddy's very important (and always truthful) message: where the culprit is hiding! Just fit the key into slot in Mr. Boddy's wheel, and the letters (FAIR, PARADE, CART or BUS) will show through the holes! (You may need to adjust the wheel a little, so the letters will show clearly through the keyholes.)

### Marking your CLUE sheet

After you question a character, secretly record your findings next to that character's name on your CLUE sheet. But remember, until you visit Inspector Brown, you can't trust what any of the witnesses say, so you can't yet eliminate any suspects!

Visiting Inspector Brown: It's good strategy to visit the Police Station to question Inspector Brown early in the game. He will either tell you that all of the witnesses are being truthful, or he will mention that one of the witnesses are being truthful, or he will mention that one of the witnesses is a liar. If a witness is lying, make a note of it next to that character's name on your CLUE sheet.

Even if a witness is lying, make sure that you question him or her; you may still get a valuable clue, because a lying character's statement is actually the opposite of what he or she tells you! For example, if Inspector Brown says, "It always surprises me that Mrs. White tells so many lies," and Mrs. White's clue is "The suspect did not have gray hair," you can be sure that the suspect does have gray hair!

### Making An Accusation

Once you know (or, if you're daring, think you know) which character is the guilty party and where he or she is located, you may make an accusation at any time on your turn.

When you make an accusation, your pawn must be on the scene token in Mr. Boddy's clue: for example, if Mr. Boddy says that the culprit is at the parade, your pawn must be on the parade token. You do not have to land on the token by exact count. This is the only time that a pawn is allowed on a scene token.

Once you've moved your pawn to the scene token, make your accusation by saying, for example, "Reverend Green did it, and he's at the parade." Then open the casebook to the page with that mystery's solution, and read it to yourself.

* If you're correct, congratulations, detective! You win the game! Read the solution aloud. Now all players will know how and why the crime was committed -- and what secrets, if any, are revealed!

* If you're not correct, sorry -- you're out of the game. Don't reveal the solution, because your fellow detectives will continue playing until someone else males a correct accsation.

## How to Win

The first detective to make a correct accusation wins the game, and reads the solution aloud to the other players.