In Clue Quest players have hands of nine letter cards with which they form words. This is done one at a time; the active player plays cards face-down to form a word and then gives a crossword-style clue to it. The other players then have to guess the word. When someone thinks they know the answer they announce this and then the other players have a short amount of time to also get it. (Guesses are written down.) All players with the correct answer score. The active player scores points based on the number of letters in the word, with a bonus if only one player gets the right answer. However, they are penalized if no one gets it. The guessing players may ask for cards to be turned face-up, but the score for a correct answer is based on the number of remaining face-down cards.