Cluedo has been a family favourite board game for many years. My family have an annual Christmas Day cluedo competition every year. After yet another devastating loss (yes we are a very competitive family) my son and I decided we needed some much needed practice, but then the question dawned on us..
Can you play cluedo with two players?
Yes it is possible to play cluedo with two players. Instead of placing 3 cards in the case file envelope and dealing the rest to all players as you would do usually, you need to place three cards in the case file envelope then place 6 of the cards face down on the board, each in random rooms. Then deal the remaining 12 cards to the two players.
Table of Contents
What is included in the Cluedo Box
So now we know that it is possible to play cluedo with two players let’s look at what is included in the box.
- 1 Gameboard
- 6 Character Tokens
- 6 Weapon Tokens
- 6 Character Cards, 6 Weapon Cards and 9 Room cards
- 1 Case file envelope
- 1 Pad of Detective Notes
- 2 Dice
Setting up Cluedo for Two Players
To set the game up you will need to unfold the gameboard and place each coloured counter piece on their respective starting position on the board.
Randomly place the weapon counters in different rooms across the board and organise the cards into three piles. One for characters, one for weapons and one for rooms. Whilst each pile of cards is faced down, shuffle them and place one card from each pile into the case file envelope without anyone seeing the card (that’s including yourself 😉)
Once the three cards have been placed in the case file envelope the three piles of cards can now be combined together and shuffled well.
Now because we are playing a two player game, take the top six cards from the deck and place them face down each in a separate room.
The remaining 12 cards are now dealt to the two players. Lastly give each player a detective note sheet and pen or pencil.
The Aim of the Game Cluedo
The aim of the game is to correctly guess the character, weapon and room card that has been placed in the case file envelope before your opponent does. We do this by process of elimination and making suggestions throughout the game
How to Play Cluedo with Two Players
Once you are all set up the first thing that you need to do is look at the cards that you have been dealt and Mark these off on your detective notepad.
Pro Tip* Instead of ticking them off, Mark them with your initials so you know that you hold those cards. And when another player shows you one of their cards do the same so you remember which player holds which cards.
Each player rolls the dice and the highest number goes first. Move your character token the number of spaces shown on the dice.
If you manage to land in a room you are able to make a suggestion to try eliminate possibilities of cards in the case file envelope.
**Don’t forget if there is a card lying face down in the room you have landed in you can now look at this and mark it off your detective notepad.
You must only suggest the room you are currently in but you can choose any person or weapon. When making a suggestion you need to place the weapon and person you are suggesting in the room with you too.
Once the suggestion is made the other person must reveal one of their cards if they hold one that you are suggesting. If they don’t have any of these cards then they must tell you.
If you are playing with more than two players, the suggestion should go to the player on your left first and if they do not hold any of the cards being suggested then this is passed onto the next person and so on.
Each Player takes it in turns to roll the dice and move from room to room making suggestions and eliminating possibilities until they are confident they have cracked the case and know which three cards are in the case file envelope.
Once you know which three cards are in the case file envelope you must make your way by rolling the dice to the middle of the board. When you have reached the middle of the board you can make an accusation. Make sure you are certain of this as you only get to make one accusation in a game.
Say your accusation out loud and have a look at the cards in the case file envelope, if they match you accusation then you win! If they don’t match your accusation then the other player wins.
If playing with more than two players and a player gets their accusation wrong then they are out of the game and the other players continue to play.
Rules for Playing Cluedo with Two Players