Game play is very simple. The game has seven suspects – Humpty Bumpty, Loose-Eye Lenny, Jonny Cortex, Kid Cassidy, Louie St. Louis, Pencil Top, and No Neck Nick. Thirty-five cards, showing every combination of three of these suspects is shuffled, and one player is chosen to go first.

This player takes one of the cards and secretly looks at it; this player is the “eyewitness” of that round. Starting with the next player (detective), each player takes the top card from the deck and displays it face up on the table. The eyewitness then takes a cardboard token numbered “0”, “1”, or “2” and places it next to the card, denoting how many of the suspects on the card match the one hidden by the eyewitness. This continues, with the next player placing a card, etc.

At any point, any player may shout out Accusation!, pausing the game. They then indicate the three suspects they believe are on the eyewitness’ card. If they are incorrect, the guessing player is out of that round, and play continues. If everyone has guessed incorrectly, the eyewitness wins the card. However, if the player has guessed correctly, they win the suspect card. The player to the left of the eyewitness becomes the new eyewitness, and another round begins. This continues until one player wins three suspect cards – at which point they are declared the winner!