As families across the UK gather for the festive season, a classic board game is set to make its annual comeback. Cluedo, the murder-mystery favourite, is a staple of Christmas entertainment, offering a screen-free alternative to unite generations. However, this year could see the emergence of unbeatable champions, thanks to a clever strategy shared online that promises to secure victory every time.
The Secret to Solving the Mystery First
According to TikTok user and strategy expert Nick Metzler, winning Cluedo consistently isn't about luck—it's about a calculated shift in approach. The core of his method revolves around a fundamental reordering of priorities. Instead of randomly eliminating suspects and weapons, your primary focus must be on identifying the correct room.
"There are more rooms than anything else," Metzler explained in his viral video, shared on December 20, 2025. "Your first goal needs to be figuring out that room." The challenge is that to suggest a room, you must be physically inside it on the board. Therefore, efficient movement is key.
Mastering Movement and Misdirection
Metzler's tactical advice is two-fold. First, he recommends positioning your playing piece near the secret passages in the board's corners. This allows you to flip between distant rooms with minimal dice rolls, maximising the number of rooms you can suggest each turn. Crucially, you should avoid suggesting rooms you already hold in your hand, as they cannot be the solution.
The second part of the strategy involves cunning card management. When another player asks you a question and you hold more than one of the cards they named, you have a choice of which to reveal. Never show them the room card if you can avoid it. By withholding the room, you severely limit their deductions.
"If you have shown a card to somebody, you want to show that same card to other people," Metzler added. This tactic keeps more information secret. By forcing an opponent to waste turns moving away from and then back to a room to confirm it, you gain a significant time advantage.
The Final Gambit and Family Fallout
For the final stages, Metzler suggests a bold move. You do not need to be in the correct room to make your final accusation to win. So, if the game narrows down to a 50/50 guess between two possibilities, it can be worth taking the risk before another player reaches the right room through conventional deduction.
His most advanced tip involves keen observation: noting when other players show cards to each other, even if you can't see the card itself. Tracking these interactions can provide crucial extra clues, shaving vital turns off your own solving time.
While the advice is undoubtedly effective, commenters on the video warned of potential social consequences. One person joked that after using such tactics, their prize was that their family now refuses to play with them. Another confirmed the risk, stating: "My wife won't play Cluedo with me anymore because of these same things."
So, as the board games emerge from the attic this Christmas, aspiring detectives have a choice: play for fun, or deploy these strategic hacks for guaranteed victory—potentially at the cost of being banned from future family game nights.
