Playing the Game of Clue as a Deckbuilder

In TTRPGs like Dread and video games like Balatro, we can see how a simple and familiar game concept serves as a "chassis" for a more complex or customized game. When you start thinking about games like this, it can be hard to turn those thoughts off. Consequently an offhand comment about what the game of Clue (aka Cluedo) would be like as a deckbuilder turned into the following.

Assume “standard deckbuilder” rules, wherever a rule is not otherwise stated. Dominion is a good baseline, since the turn procedure is straightforward. This version of Clue would require making a new deck of cards, for various reasons that will be obvious. But it could use the existing Clue board.

First you would need multiple copies of each suspect, weapon, and room card (collectively, clue cards). The specific amount would be determined after playtesting. Shuffle the clue cards and then distribute them evenly in piles between the nine rooms, face down.

Each player starts with some mix of Shoe cards and Magnifying Glass cards (10 total, proportion would depend on playtesting). They draw a five-card hand per turn, ala Dominion. Playing a Shoe allows you to roll the dice to move. Playing a Magnifying Glass lets you search the room you’re in. You can’t search the same room two turns in a row (place a token at the end of your turn to mark your last-searched room). There is also an investigation deck that is available from all rooms.

Searching a room allows you to draft a card from either the clue deck in that room, or the universal investigation deck. Cards acquired this way go in your discard pile, and then you later draw them as you would in any other deckbuilder. The clue cards don’t typically do anything until the “solving the mystery” phase (see below), although some investigation cards might care about them and leverage them as resources before that time. 

The investigation deck includes cards that do typical deckbuilder-type things (see below). Three to five cards (again, determined via playtest) are always available face up in a “market” next to the investigation deck; searching allows you to take one of these and replace it with a new card from the deck.

Solving the mystery: On any turn in which you have each of a suspect, weapon, and room card in your hand; and you are in the room in question; and no other player has a card in their discard pile that matches any of those three cards: you may play those three cards and declare the combination to be the answer to the mystery. Do this in the typical Clue style (e.g., "Professor Plum, with the Wrench, in the Ballroom"). At this point, any player may reveal and discard one of these three cards from their hand to “disqualify” your solution. If they cannot, you win the game.

Most of the investigation cards would be familiar to deckbuilder afficionados (improved movement, more searching, card draw, trashing unwanted cards, etc.) A few ideas for special cards particular to Clue:

• Snoop: Privately look at one other player's hand. Then draw a card.
• Clever Reveal: When a player proposes a solution, you may reveal and trash this card to search any one room’s clue deck; if you find a clue that matches any part of their proposed solution, you can add it to your discard pile (thus invalidating their solution).
• Rule Out: Choose an opponent; they trash a clue card of their choice from their discard pile.
• You’ll Never Catch Me: When a player proposes a solution that names your character as the suspect, you may reveal and trash this card. If you do, they do not immediately win. Instead, you win if you can reach the “x” spot on the staircase on the Clue map. The accusing player can stop you by reaching that spot first. Play continues as normal for other players. During your turn, you may discard this card to draw a card.

Possible issues:

• It may be too easy to reach a fail state where no one can win? Possibly clue cards need to be retrievable in some way, even after they have been trashed. A straightforward solution would be for trashed clues to go to the bottom of the deck.
• Movement around the board may not be incentivized enough?
• Optimal play may obligate competitive players to try to track too much of what they see in their opponents discard piles, particularly clue cards.
• The “you’ll never catch me” minigame may be too cute by half.
• Random card acquisition versus more filtering (e.g., "look at the top three cards of the clue deck, choose one, then shuffle") may need to be evaluated.
• Getting lucky (e.g., finding a room card in the clue deck for the matching room) might allow a player to win too quickly.