This board game features iconic Clue characters and gameplay. Most of us can recall accusing them like, “Colonel Mustard did it in the Conservatory with a revolver!
It seems everyone remembers their favorite board games when they were kids. Classics like Monopoly, Scrabble, The Game of Life, Candyland, and others stand out for their popularity across generations.
Let’s dive deeper into a game that is still a top ten bestseller today: Clue.
Clue Game
The game of Clue is a famous murder mystery game that families have played since its introduction in 1949. No player enjoys the thrill of figuring out who the perpetrator of a mysterious murder is.
Clue captured the attention of game players everywhere on both sides of the Atlantic. The game had suspense and intrigue, encouraging players to solve a crime logically. It has all the elements of a great game, and with colorful characters (literally), it is a bona fide hit.
Nothing caught players’ imaginations like the character names. The names were designed to mimic the colors of the gameplay tokens. The original colors were white, blue, yellow, green, red, and purple. Below, you will find the original six characters, along with many more that have graced the game over the years.
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Clue Characters
The Clue game characters are a colorful bunch. And while they are all characters, they are also all suspects in the game.
Here’s the overview of the CLUE characters (most of which are also on the suspects’ list):
1.) Mrs. White,
2.) Mrs. Peacock,
3.) Professor Plum,
4.) Colonel Mustard,
5.) Miss Scarlett
6.) Reverend Green
7.) Mr. Boddy
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Here are some more details on each, plus some other characters:
Mrs. White and Dr. Orchid
Originally named Nurse White, her character was changed from a nurse to a cook. She toiled away in the mansion’s kitchen. One of the rooms where the murder could have taken place. She was shown as middle-aged in this version of the character. But in the 1980s, her character was changed to a young maid.
In 2016, the creators of Clue opted to update Mrs. White’s role, a domestic worker and cook. In her place: Dr. Orchid, a biologist with a Ph.D. The backstory: she is the adopted daughter of Samuel Black, the owner of the mansion.
Mrs. Peacock
She is a very dignified, elegant character who commands the room with her presence. In the original version, she even wore a tiara to further enforce her royal-like appearance.
Professor Plum
He is often portrayed as a youngish or middle-aged intellectual who uses his wits and knowledge to solve crimes. Usually shown wearing a bow tie and glasses, he changed his occupation to Archeologist in the 1990s.
Colonel Mustard
His original name was Colonel Yellow; it was changed to make a military figure not look like a coward. He is portrayed as the “great white hunter,” very dangerous and cunning, relying on his military training. In later versions of the game, he is depicted as a bit of a bumbler in a more cartoonish vein.
Miss Scarlet
A more recent backstory casts Miss Scarlet as Mrs. Peacock’s daughter. Originally, she was an attractive blond Caucasian but was redesigned as an Asian Femme Fatal in the 1970s. She was a little too stereotypical, wearing a black dress and smoking a cigarette with a cigarette holder. She was finally recast as a brunette in the U.S. version and a famous actress in the UK version.
Reverend Green
The last of the original six characters in the English version of the game. The good Reverend was the vicar of a village near Tudor Close. A plump middle-aged man of the cloth who wore the white color of a vicar. In the United States, his name was changed to Mr. Green. Parker Brothers didn’t think it would be appropriate to have a reverend involved as a possible murderer.
Doctor Black
This was the name of the hapless victim in every murder mystery in the English version of Clue. This game took place in a mansion named Tudor Close, which Doctor Black owned.
Mr. Boddy
This was the name of the hapless victim in every murder mystery in the United States version. Mr. Boddy was a play on words since it was his body that was always found murdered. He is also the owner of Boddy Mansion (also known as Tudor Mansion), where the American version takes place.
The names listed above are the original Clue game characters.
Mrs. Silver, Mr. Brown, Miss Grey, and Mr. Gold
All were proposed as original characters but rejected from the original version of the game.
Doctor Orchid
Mrs. White, now elevated to the position of housekeeper, has been replaced by a new character, Doctor Orchid. She is a female scientist who becomes the first female Clue Character with an outside occupation. (Mrs. White worked for Doctor Black within Tudor Mansion). Doctor Orchid is the adopted daughter of Doctor Black and heir to the Black fortune.
History of the Clue Board Game – Origin
The 1930s and 1940s were known as the golden age for British crime novels. Often, over 10% of all new books published during this period were murder mysteries. The immense popularity of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and other Agatha Christie novels fueled the public’s appetite.
Clue Game Inventor
A gentleman named Anthony E. Pratt took notice of this and decided to create a board game. Pratt, a musician by trade, lived in Birmingham, England.
Of course, the game would be a murder mystery game. This was the end of World War II, and Britain had been devastated by the German bombing. But before the war, Pratt and his friends would play a murder mystery game at cocktail parties. Pratt enlisted the help of his wife Elva, and they dove into a game they would name Murder!
The decision was made to place the game in a mansion and create characters for the guest list. There would most certainly be a murder to solve, and it would occur in one of the rooms. By 1944, the Pratts had a working prototype and applied for a patent. The patent was granted in 1947.
Publisher Found
A good friend named Geoffrey Bull had created a pirate-themed game called Buccaneer and had licensed it to Waddingtons. Waddingtons had introduced England to Monopoly. Bull arranged a meeting between the Pratts and Waddingtons. Managing Director of Waddingtons, Mr. Norman Watson, liked the game and agreed to publish it.
Watson wanted to make a few changes, though. First, the name Murder: Watson thought it was too off-putting and suggested Cluedo. It combined the words Clue and “ludo,” Latin for “I play.” The original mansion had a gun room, and that was axed. In addition, secret passageways were added to allow quicker travel between rooms in the mansion.
Cluedo
Material shortages and wartime difficulties delayed the sale of the first edition of Cluedo in England until 1949. By this time, the game (now called Clue, with the tagline “The Great New Detective Game”) had already debuted in North America in 1949, courtesy of Parker Brothers.
However, it wasn’t an easy sell. One of the founders, George Parker, had a hard-and-fast rule against publishing any games about murder. But the game was so engaging that Parker Brothers’ president, Robert Barton, convinced Parker to produce the game. The rest is history; Clue has been on the Parker Brothers bestseller list since 1949.
The Object of the Game
The objective of the Clue board game is deceptively simple. Players knew that Doctor Black or Mr. Boddy was the murder victim in each edition of the game. But they needed to solve where the murder was committed (which room), the murderer, and the weapon.
Weapons in Clue Game
In Clue, the original weapons include:
1.) A knife,
2.) revolver,
3.) rope,
4.) wrench,
5.) candlestick,
6.) and lead pipe.
These game pieces in Clue evolved, with the lead pipe, revolver, and wrench later replaced by a dumbbell, a trophy, and poison.
In Cluedo, the original weapons were a dagger, a revolver, a rope, a spanner, a candlestick, and a lead pipe.
Rooms in Clue Game
The rooms in the traditional CLUE game are:
1.) Ballroom,
2.) Billiard Room,
3.) Conservatory,
4.) Dining Room,
5.) Hall,
6.) Kitchen,
7.) Lounge,
8.) Library, and
9.) Study.
Each of the four corner rooms has a secret passageway. These passageways connect the Kitchen to the Study and the Lounge to the Conservatory diagonally.
Rooms in Cluedo
1.) Ballroom,
2.) Billiard Room,
3.) Conservatory,
4.) Kitchen,
5.) Hall,
6.) Cellar,
7.) Lounge,
8.) Library, and
9.) Study.
The center room, where the solution is stored during gameplay, is inactive during gameplay.
Game Rules
Players first choose one of the six new characters: Doctor Orchid, Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, and Mr. Green. Then, they select the corresponding colored gameplay piece (red, blue, purple, yellow, green, and white). Then they place it on the start square nearest to them.
How to Play Clue
Each player takes a turn placing only one of the murder weapons in each room. The envelope labeled “Case File Confidential” is placed on the X in the center of the game board.
Three card decks, Weapons, Rooms, and Suspects, are shuffled and placed face down on the table. One card from each deck is placed in the envelope. The remaining cards are shuffled together and distributed to all of the players.
The players are given a sheet from the detective’s notepad and a pencil. This will allow players to keep track of clues and suspects. Miss Scarlet always starts the game by rolling the die and moving that number on the game board. You want to travel from room to room to gather information.
The flow of the game
Play continues clockwise, with players rolling the die and moving from room to room. If you happen to be in a room with a secret passage, you must notify everyone that you will use it instead of rolling the die.
When you are in a room, you can make a suggestion or accusation involving suspects, rooms, and weapons. You can only suggest the room you are currently in.
Once a suggestion has been made, other players will try to prove your suggestion false. The player to your left is the first to try to disprove the suggestion. If that player has any of the three suggested cards, they can lay it down face up, and the turn ends.
Play continues with players making suggestions and crossing off items on their detective’s notepad. A player tries to determine the room, weapon, and suspect. The player can then make an accusation. If the accusation is correct, the player who made it wins the game. If they are incorrect, they are out of the game, except to try to disprove suggestions.
The first player to make the correct accusation wins the game of Clue!
Legacy of the Game Clue
The game of Clue is far more than a classic board game. It is a worldwide brand that has spawned a Movie, TV show, and Musical.
In 1985, a dark comedy, Clue, was produced that followed the same formula as the board game, with a murder plot and clues pointing to the culprit throughout the film. One interesting feature of the film is that there are three different endings, and the audience chooses which one to use.
Stage Version
The stage version, Clue: The Musical, opened in 1995 in Baltimore. Again, Mr. Boddy was murdered every night after the game, but the audience members were integral to the plot.
Players explore the relationships between the characters.
Game Show in England
The Cluedo Game Show was a hit in England starting in 1990. Two teams of celebrities watched as actors portrayed the classic Cluedo characters and related clues to the celebrities in character. The celebrities would then try to solve the murder mystery and be the winner of the game. The show lasted for four seasons.
An electronic Clue FX Board Game featured sound effects and characters talking. It added more suspects, more mysteries, and promised more fun. It was not a huge hit.
Clue Video Game
A Microsoft Windows video game version was released in 1998 titled Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion or Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange. The gameplay was very similar to the board game, although players could electronically track clues on suspects, weapons, and locations.
Over 17 Special Editions of Clue have been introduced over the years. These editions include Game of Thrones, The Office, Harry Potter, Disney World, The Haunted Mansion, The Legend of Zelda, Scooby-Doo, and more. Clue Junior for children was a version that appealed to the younger set, and Clue Master Detective by Winning Moves promises more of everything.
A Classic Boardgame
Over the years, the Clue (and Cluedo) publishers, Hasbro Games/Parker Brothers, and Waddingtons have tried to improve upon the original game. Waddingtons tried Super Cluedo without much success because it changed how the game was played, and purists didn’t enjoy that.
As noted earlier, when Parker Brothers introduced Clue in 1949, they created the tagline “The Great New Detective Game.” In 1950, after just one year of sales, Parker Brothers decided to pay Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate. This rather large sum of money was paid to use the phrase “The Great New Sherlock Holmes Game.” Needless to say, this tagline didn’t last long.
Clue Game Extensions
But Hasbro Games/Parker Brothers wasn’t finished with toying around with Clue (pun intended). In 2008, they introduced Clue: Discover the Secrets Game. This was an attempt to update the game while also changing the characters, surroundings, and weapons.
Clue: Discover the Secrets
Clue: Discover the Secrets got rid of Mr. Boddy’s staid mansion and replaced it with a hip pad in the Hollywood Hills. This set included a Spa, Swimming Pool, Movie Theater, Observatory, and more. The murder scene was a glitzy party attended by the paparazzi.
Guests included Victor Plum, a millionaire from the video game industry. Jack Mustard is a retired professional football player. Jacob Green, a Hollywood agent. Kasandra Scarlet, of course, is a rising starlet. Diane White, a former child star trying to make a comeback. And Eleanor Peacock, a “Miss Manners” type of character.
Grizzly crimes were perpetrated by a character (more than one murder could happen per game). Murders were committed with a baseball bat, ax, trophy, knife, pistol, poison, rope, candlestick, or dumbbell.
The game received an extremely cool reception from Clue and Cluedo aficionados worldwide. It was simply too slick, too Hollywood, and too contrived. Sometimes, when you have a good thing like Clue and Cluedo, you don’t mess with it.
Clue Online
The murder mystery game CLUE can be played online at KB Games. This version was released in 1992.
Clue: The Office Edition Board
In this version of the game, Dunder Mifflin’s Michael Scott calls for a mandatory team-building exercise. Six employees must work independently to determine who killed Toby Flenderson, what office weapon, and where.
I don’t know about you, but doesn’t Toby strike you as the perfect victim? And is it possible to accuse Michael Scott at every turn?
The Game Clue FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about the game of Clue.
What are the nine rooms in the game Clue?
The nine rooms in the game Clue are:
1.) Ballroom,
2.) Billiard Room,
3.) Conservatory,
4.) Dining Room,
5.) Hall,
6.) Kitchen,
7.) Lounge,
8.) Library, and
9.) Study.
How many characters are in the game Clue?
There are seven primary characters in the game Clue. They are as follows.
1.) Mrs. White,
2.) Mrs. Peacock,
3.) Professor Plum,
4.) Colonel Mustard,
5.) Miss Scarlett
6.) Reverend Green
7.) Mr. Boddy
In the movie Clue, who committed the murders?
The butler, Wadsworth, committed all the murders in the movie.
By Tim Moodie and Mike O’Halloran
Tim Moodie is a writer, product designer, and inventor who has been in the toy and game licensing business for over 30 years. He has worked on the Wayne’s World Game for Mattel, The Hallmark Cards Game for Hasbro, The Chicken Soup for the Soul Games, The Mental Floss Game, the Top Ten Game, and more.
By Mike O’Halloran
Founder and Editor, Sports Feel Good Stories
Mike O’Halloran founded Sports Feel Good Stories in 2009. He has authored three books on sports jokes, co-authored four trivia books, and authored three books on basketball coaching. Mike has also written a book on sports slogans and captions. He coached youth basketball for 15 seasons, taught tennis, and was a contributing writer for USA Football, the youth arm of the NFL.
Mike is the publisher of the Well-Prepared Coach line of coaches’ practice plans and editable award certificates. He is the founder of the Fantasy Football Team Names Hall of Fame. Mike is married with four children.
You’re on the Clue Characters, Rooms, Rules page.
Originally Published: December 26, 2023.
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