Clue Harry Potter (Cluedo): Rules and How to Play

Clue: Wizarding World Harry Potter Edition, sold as Cluedo in the UK and Germany, is Hasbro's Harry Potter version of the classic mystery game. A student has vanished from Hogwarts. Playing as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna or Neville, you find out who attacked them, with which spell or item, and where. Unlike classic Clue, the board changes while you play, and the Dark Mark costs you house points.

Clue: Wizarding World Harry Potter EditionHasbro, called Cluedo in the UK and Germany

3 to 5 players
Ages 8+
Mystery

3 to 5Players

8+Age

6Suspects

9Rooms

The mystery

At the start, one suspect, one item or spell and one room go secretly into the envelope. Whoever names all three first wins.

Who

Draco Malfoy
Crabbe and Goyle
Lucius Malfoy
Dolores Umbridge
Peter Pettigrew
Bellatrix Lestrange

With what

Sleeping Draught
Vanishing Cabinet
Portkey
Impedimenta
Petrificus Totalus
Mandrake

Where

Great Hall
Hospital Wing
Room of Requirement
Potions Classroom
Trophy Room
Divination Classroom
Owlery
Library
Defence Against the Dark Arts

Dumbledore's Office sits in the middle of the board. It is where you accuse, but it is never part of the solution.

What is in the box

Board with 4 house wheelsThe wheels in the corners turn during the game and change doors and secret passages.

6 movers, 6 Student cardsHarry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville.

21 Mystery cards6 suspects, 6 items and spells, 9 rooms.

33 Help cardsAllies, items and spells that protect you.

33 Dark Deck cardsEvents that cost house points.

2 dice and the Hogwarts diePlus 40 house point tokens, suspect and item tokens, the envelope and a notepad.

Setup

Before the first game, fix the four wheels to the board with the plastic rivets and put the stickers on the Hogwarts die.
Turn every wheel so it shows START. Shuffle the Dark Deck and the Help cards into two face-down piles.
Everyone takes a notepad sheet, one Help card face up, and house points: 60 each with 3 players, 70 with 4, 80 with 5.
Draw one Student card at random. That student has vanished. The others choose from the remaining characters and put their movers on their start spaces.
Sort the Mystery cards into suspects, items and rooms. Put one of each, unseen, into the envelope.
Shuffle the rest and deal them evenly. Leftover cards go face down into Dumbledore's Office.
Tick off your own cards on your notepad. The player with the next birthday starts.

Players	House points each	Mystery cards each	Cards in Dumbledore's Office
3	60	6	0
4	70	4	2
5	80	3	3

Your turn

1 Roll

Roll all three dice at once.

2 Hogwarts die

Resolve the symbol first: Help card, wheel or Dark Mark.

3 Move

Move with the two normal dice, or take an open secret passage.

4 Suggest

In a room, make a suggestion. Or take a Help card, or end your turn.

The Hogwarts die

StarTake a Help card and put it face up in front of you.

House crest (4 faces)Turn that house's wheel one notch clockwise. Doors open or close and secret passages change. If the wheel now shows the Dark Mark, draw a Dark card.

Dark MarkDraw the top Dark Deck card, read it out and resolve it.

Dark Mark cards and Help cards

Every Dark card says who is affected (everyone, a room, the corridors or just you), how many house points they lose, and which Help cards protect against it. A mountain troll in the castle, for example, costs everyone 15 points unless they hold Wingardium Leviosa, the Marauder's Map, a Broom or Petrificus Totalus.

If you hold a listed Help card, show it and keep it. You lose nothing.
If not, pay the house points into the pile. A few cards make you discard a Help card instead.
At zero house points you are out. Lay your Mystery cards face up for everyone.
If every player runs out before the mystery is solved, the Dark Forces win and nobody wins.

Help cards come from the starting deal, a star on the Hogwarts die and the star spaces in the corridors. Two kinds help with movement: Alohomora lets you walk through a closed door, and Felix Felicis sets your move to 12 instead of rolling. Both are discarded after use.

Moving and making suggestions

Move up and down or sideways, never diagonally. You don't have to use the full roll.
A star space in a corridor stops you at once, and you take a Help card.
You may pass other movers but not end on their space.
Entering a room through an open door ends your move. Closed doors need an Alohomora card.
If you end a turn in a room, you must leave it on your next turn and may not come back that turn.
A secret passage replaces your dice move, but only if you start in a room whose passage is open.

In any room except Dumbledore's Office you may suggest a suspect, an item and the room you are in. Move both tokens into the room. Starting on your left, each player either shows you one matching card in secret or passes. As soon as one card is shown, your turn ends.

Dumbledore's Office and the accusation

In Dumbledore's Office you do one of two things. Either look at all the leftover cards lying there and tick them off, which ends your turn, or make your accusation: name a suspect, an item and a room, then look secretly into the envelope.

Right

Show the three cards. You win.

Wrong

Put the cards back unseen. You can't move or win any more, but you still show cards when others make suggestions.

What is different from classic Clue

	Classic Clue	Harry Potter edition
Players	2 to 6	3 to 5
Your pawn	You play a suspect	You play a student; suspects are separate tokens
Board	Fixed doors and passages	Wheels open and close doors and change passages
Extra die	None	Hogwarts die: Help cards, wheels, Dark Mark
Resources	None	House points; at zero you are out
Staying in a room	Allowed	You must leave on your next turn
Accusing	From a room, after a suggestion	Only in Dumbledore's Office

Tips and house rules

Visit Dumbledore's Office early with 4 or 5 players. The 2 or 3 cards lying there are free information.
Collect Help cards on star spaces when no room is in reach. Madam Pomfrey, the Invisibility Cloak, the Portkey and Albus Dumbledore protect against the most Dark cards.
Don't dawdle. House points never come back, so a slow detective gets knocked out.
Write down who showed you what, as in any Clue game.

Losing points too fast?

The most common complaint is that house points drain quickly and knock players out early, which children hate. A popular family rule: halve every loss, rounding up. Others give 5 points back whenever a Help card blocks a Dark card.

Which Harry Potter Clue is this?

There are two different Harry Potter Clue games, and the boxes are easy to mix up.

Edition	Publisher	How to recognise it
Clue Harry Potter, 2008	Parker Brothers / Hasbro	The original of this game, ages 9+, same rules
Clue Harry Potter, 2016	USAopoly (The Op)	Reprint of the 2008 game
Clue: Wizarding World Harry Potter Edition	Hasbro Gaming, 2020	The current one: Wizarding World logo, 8+, 3 to 5 players, Hogwarts board with wheels
Cluedo: World of Harry Potter	Hasbro 2011, later Winning Moves	A different game: set across the wizarding world, Floo powder travel, accusations at The Burrow

Rules questions

In Dumbledore's Office, do I look at one leftover card or all of them?

All of them. The game's designer, Rob Daviau, confirmed this, and it ends your turn.

Can I walk over a star space without stopping?

No. Landing on a star in a corridor stops your move, and you take a Help card.

A Dark card hits everyone. Does one Help card protect the whole table?

No. Each affected player checks their own Help cards.

I have to discard a Spell card but I have none. What happens?

Nothing. You simply have nothing to discard.

Can I win house points back?

Not by the rules. Points only go down, which is why many families add a house rule.

When can I use a secret passage?

Only if you start your turn in a room whose passage is open. It replaces your dice move.

With Felix Felicis, do I still roll the Hogwarts die?

Yes. The card only replaces the two normal dice, which count as 12.

How many cards do I see after a suggestion?

One. The first player on your left who can disprove you shows you one card, and your turn ends.

Can 2 or 6 people play?

The box says 3 to 5, and the designer has said the game needs at least three. Six can work if no student goes missing, but house points may run short.

Is it worth buying?

It is more than classic Clue with new names. The turning wheels, the Dark Mark and the Help cards add tension, and Dumbledore's Office in the centre is a good twist. Families with children from 8 who like Clue will enjoy it. The weak spot is the house points: without a house rule, someone may be out after a few turns.

Good

The changing board keeps every game different
Dark Mark events and Help cards add tension
Theme everywhere, from the crests to the rooms
Children love the Hogwarts die

Not so good

House points run out fast, players get knocked out
The wheels can feel fiddly
Plain pawns that don't match the theme
Still roll and move