A Will to Murder – a 1930s murder mystery party game with a family-feuding setting for 6 to 9 guests

"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

Recommended for ages 18+
Costs US$29.99
Written by Mo Holkar

Click here to buy the game

A Will to Murder is a murder mystery party game for 6 to 9 guests and a host – download the free introductory pdf file.

Join us in an upper-crust evening of mistrust, family feuding, betrayal, and murder. You will be in the middle of the action and it will be up to you to wheel and deal with the other guests. Can you achieve your goals, keep your secrets hidden and survive A Will to Murder? It's up to you.

A Will to Murder

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!

See stories and pictures
from A Will to Murder Read the
Highthorpe Herald

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,

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 – plus details of how to buy the game.

Includes rules for the use of poison.

These are the characters in A Will to Murder:

• 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

Number of guests	Male characters	Female characters	Ungendered characters
6	2	3	1
7	2	3	2
8	2	3	3
9	2	3	4

How Freeform Games Murder Mysteries Work

A Will to Murder is unlike many murder mystery games. Although the game starts with a murder, some of the characters have more important things to do than to investigate it. And the killing may not be over – it's not certain that everyone will survive the remainder of the evening!

A Will to Murder is played just like a murder mystery game. You may be trying to solve the murder, but primarily you are (initially at least) concentrating on your own goals and objectives. Unlike most boxed murder mystery games, A Will to Murder lets you decide how to achieve your goals and thwart your 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! Depending on what the players choose to do, there are several different possible endings, but finally 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 contains the following themes: extra-marital affairs.

Extra characters

Sometimes you have too many guests and you need more characters. So we've written a free extra character for each of our games that you can add in, and some of our customers have created their own characters for their parties and are kindly willing to share them. They are included in your 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.

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