A Will to Murder

Cover to A Will to Murder.
(13 customer reviews)

£26.99

A Will to Murder is a downloadable 1930s murder mystery game for 6 to 9 guests and a host. Set in an English country house, the patriarch of a wealthy family is dead – who murdered him? And who will inherit his fortune? Written by Mo Holkar. Recommended for ages 18+.

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A Will to Murder is a murder mystery game for 6 to 9 guests and a host. It is set in an English country house, in the 1930s. Download the free introductory pdf file.

A Will to Murder is an upper-crust evening of mistrust, family feuding, betrayal, and murder! Your guests will be in the middle of the action, and it will be up to them to wheel and deal to get what they want. Will they achieve their goals, keep their secrets hidden, and survive A Will to Murder?

"A Will to Murder, like all the games I've hosted, was wonderfully put together and everyone vastly enjoyed the different plots and twists that occurred throughout the game."
Terence Smith, Australia

See stories and pictures from A Will to Murder

Read the Highthorpe Herald

A Will to Murder is set in the 1930s in Albion House, a stately dwelling in the small English village of Highthorpe. Albion House belonged to Roy O'Leary – who was murdered yesterday afternoon.

Roy O'Leary was an elderly and wealthy man, and there are several family members who may benefit from his last will and testament. O'Leary's lawyer has asked the family to gather together at Albion House, the day after the murder, to hear the reading of the will. The police are also present – because the O'Leary family are the prime suspects in the murder case.

Everyone listens respectfully, as the Lawyer reads out the will. The main clause is very simple, as O'Leary must have had a premonition or warning of his dreadful end. The whole of Roy O'Leary's splendid fortune is left to whoever identifies his murderer!

A Will to Murder lasts for about four hours and is suited to an evening. It is often played over a meal – a finger buffet if possible, to allow guests to circulate and talk in private.

"A Will to Murder is different than the other murder mysteries. I don't like it to be ALL scripted… this game added more fun when people were able to kill other players or have certain powers."
Mia Nowlin

 

Beginner-friendly
One of our more straightforward murder mystery games, suitable for beginner hosts.

Includes rules for the use of poison.
Includes rules for the use of poison.

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Highthorpe Herald.

Cast of characters

  • Janis O’Leary: Roy O’Leary’s widow, his second marriage – formerly a model and actress
  • Gillian Trode: Roy’s oldest child, she is a professional sculptor
  • Alan Trode: Gillian’s husband, who owns a motorcycle sales and repair business
  • Regina Khan: Roy’s middle child, a well-known writer of detective novels
  • Cornelius Khan: Regina’s husband, an accountant
  • Corey O’Leary: Roy’s youngest child, an amateur naturalist, who still lives at home
  • Atkins: the O’Leary family’s old retainer
  • Dr Barker: the local physician and an old family friend
  • Inspector Harris: the police detective investigating the case

A Will to Murder is for 6 to 9 guests:

  • 6 guests (2 male, 3 female, 1 any)
  • 7 guests (2 male, 3 female, 2 any)
  • 8 guests (2 male, 3 female, 3 any)
  • 9 guests (2 male, 3 female, 4 any)

You also need a host – someone to organize the party and ensure everything runs smoothly.

How Freeform Games murder mysteries work

A Will to Murder is unlike other murder mystery games. Although the game starts with a murder, each character has several goals they must try to accomplish. While they may want to solve the murder, A Will to Murder contains plenty of other plots and secrets to keep everyone busy. A Will to Murder isn't scripted, and lets the players decide how to achieve their goals and thwart their enemies.

"A Will to Murder was a really good game. It turned out better than I expected. Everyone who came had an excellent time!"
Bethany Holmes, United States

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Lawyer, and welcomed to Albion House.

They then receive their detailed backgrounds – including dark secrets, objectives, and items. The fun then begins as they form alliances, blackmail each other, steal items and maybe even try to murder one another!

Finally, the game concludes and everyone finds out how they did, and what secrets everyone else was concealing.

Recommended for ages 18+

We recommend A Will to Murder for those aged 18+, as it includes plotlines around extra-marital affairs.

Extra characters

Sometimes you have too many guests and need more characters. So most games have free extra characters (written by us or previous hosts) included in the download when you purchase the game.

  • 'Ginger' Roberts – freelance reporter in search of the Big Story. (Any)
    (by Freeform Games)
  • K.C. Warburton – internationally acclaimed artist. (Any)
    (by Freeform Games, based on Steph Mann's original)

Please note that we haven't always tested these – and they may not tie in exactly with our games.

"Thank you for a great site, fantastic games, good service and very quick reply. Keep up the good work." Ole Martin Brodwall, Norway

Cast Iron Guarantee

We offer a Cast Iron Guarantee on all our murder mystery games. If you're not completely satisfied with A Will to Murder then please let us know within 30 days and we will refund you. See our full terms and conditions, and our refund policy.

Trouble downloading? If you have trouble downloading the game files, please first check your spam folder. If you still can't find the download email, contact us with the name of the game and the email address you used to purchase it, and we'll resend it.

13 reviews for A Will to Murder

  1. Susan (verified owner) –

    As a group of newbies we really enjoyed this game. I especially liked the option to add or subtract characters based on who shows up. One tip for hosts: explain to the characters about any objects in the game. It’s not obvious and my players didn’t know what to do with them. We’re planning another game soon.

  2. Dominiks M. (verified owner) –

    That was so imersive, I have never had this much drama in one night. This was… something else, what an experience. 10/10 would recommend.

  3. Molly (verified owner) –

    This is my third Freeform game and each is better than the last!

  4. Alex –

    Our first time running one of these games and everyone had a blast! So well written, everyone was plotting for a full three hours and everyone was invested until the very end!

  5. Szymon Kubala –

    We weren’t happy with this one, mayby next time will be better…

  6. Morgan Epperson –

    So much fun! Plan on buying another

  7. Robert Lamm –

    This isn’t about just one game. I’ve been running your games at three different gaming conventions for several years now. I have to adapt them a bit to work as a 4-hour slot at a convention with people that have never met before, but no-one has ever gone away unhappy. I started with Way Out West just to see if the concept worked and it was a huge hit. Since then each year I run a different game. I’ve run A Will to Murder, Curse of the Pharaoh, and Spellbound, which just had its final game this past weekend, and I just downloaded A Dead Man’s Chest to prepare it for the next circuit. I just had to let you guys know that you are doing a spectacular job at crafting well written stories that not only work at home, but can turn strangers into friends at public events! Ok, I do have one story that stands out. During one play through of A Will to Murder, the entire game stopped to watch when [redacted] discovered their [redacted]. Their fight (in character) was phenomenally outrageous and I am dead sure that if someone had been walking by outside, they would have called the police to report it! Ok, that’s all. Keep doing what you do!

  8. Dee Plante –

    We all had a blast with A Will to Murder! The price, the comprehensive package and the flow all worked so well together.

  9. Anna Levina –

    A Will to Murder was the first game I ever hosted, and it was great. The game is written easily. People did get poisoned, but everyone had a great time and really got into their characters.

  10. Denise Knebel –

    A Will to Murder was the first murder mystery game I’ve hosted and the first one that my group of friends have ever played so not only did we not know what to expect but it was also a learning experience. Despite that, it was a GREAT night of fun!! The night wasn’t even over and some of us were talking about doing another one. There was lots of scheming and plotting going on… two people got poisoned and one actually died at the end of the game. As the host, it was entertaining to watch people get into character! I did add and tweak some stuff to the game. Later, when we were all swapping stories and I told what I added and tweaked, they were glad I did. All in all, this was great fun and I think you’ve got another group of people addicted to these murder mysteries!!

  11. Jennifer Woerner –

    We had such a great time playing A Will to Murder this past Saturday! The flexibility for characters to make their own decisions (as opposed to just reading a script) is something that the guests really enjoyed. They also agreed that giving the characters certain goals, items, and abilities really helps them get into character, and involved in the game a lot quicker. This has been my third experience hosting a Freeform Game, and it will certainly not be my last (at least not according to all of my friends who said they cant wait for the next one)! I know it is a difficult proposition, but I encourage you to create more games for smaller groups of people – not only because I’ve almost run out of games to pick(!!!), but because I know the idea of hosting a game can be a daunting task, and doing so for less people just makes it seem a little more manageable!

  12. Elvira Blythe –

    I LOVED hosting A Will to Murder. It is my first freeform game, but that is only because I didn’t know they existed. I have been looking for something like this for a LONG time! If you want more information on how the game went or tips on hosting it look at this blog post. Hope you love your game as much as I did! I intend to play many more of these in the future 🙂

  13. A Customer –

    A Will to Murder was my first time hosting and I liked the plot. I loved how new plots unfolded throughout the evening.

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Q & A

Ask a question
What is the approximate duration of this game? Can it be played virtually with 6-7 people in about an hour? Jeff DeBoer asked on 1 October 2024

Hi Jeff,

While you can definitely play A Will to Murder by 6-7 people virtually (and see our tips for doing that), it typically takes around three hours. I don't know how I would compress it down to just an hour.

 Steve Hatherley answered on 2 October 2024 store manager
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