The Spy Who Killed Me

$39.99

The Spy Who Killed Me is a murder mystery game for 14 to 18 guests and a host. It is set at an ivy-clad Maudlin College in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. Written by Anastasia Kulpa. Recommended for ages 15+.

Description

The Spy Who Killed Me is a murder mystery game for 14 to 18 guests and a host. It is set at an elite college in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. Download the free introductory pdf file.

The Spy Who Killed Me is a civilized evening of espionage, code-breaking, backstabbing, and graduating with honours! 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 The Spy Who Killed Me?

“The Spy Who Killed Me was very enjoyable and intricate enough to keep everyone involved.”
Mary Narcum, United States

SWKM-01-the-spy-who-killed-me
SWKM-02-the-spy-who-killed-me
SWKM-03-the-spy-who-killed-me
SWKM-04-the-spy-who-killed-me
See stories and pictures
from The Spy Who Killed Me
Read the
Oxbridge Oracle

Welcome to Maudlin College, an institution with prestigious roots and an even more promising future. As we are nearing the end of the last term of the year, it is time to celebrate a hard year’s work – in the lab, the library, and on the water – at the glorious Summer Ball. Maudlin College’s best and brightest have gathered for a evening of celebration recognizing the recipients of prestigious research grants, and academic as well as athletic scholarships, which will be renewed – or not – this evening.

It should be cause for celebration – but the evening is more sedate than planned; as the musicians arrived this evening, the Head Porter announced that Beth Garnet, one of this evening’s student honorees, was found dead in her room. There are whispers about that Beth lost her life because of her involvement in espionage – if that is true, she cannot be the only secret agent in the college.

The Spy Who Killed Me 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.

“We loved The Spy Who Killed Me. It was much better than other, more scripted games.”
Caleb MacDonald, Canada

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

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

Cast of characters

Professors

  • Professor Rosenthorn: a slightly reclusive economics professor
  • Doctor Barnes: an abrasive physics professor
  • Doctor Aberhart: a dramatic music professor
  • Professor Thompson: an eccentric mathematics professor

Administrators

  • Master Harris: the Master of Maudlin College
  • Jamie Carthart: an academic scholarship administrator
  • Chris Morrison: an athletic scholarship administrator
  • Jan von Capp: a research grant administrator
  • Alex Tanner: Jan’s assistant

Postgraduate Students

  • Margaret Ravenscroft: a postgraduate student in mathematics and academic scholarship recipient
  • Jennifer Sable: a postgraduate student in physics

Undergraduates

  • Alicia Schleitwiler: an undergraduate academic scholarship recipient
  • Daniel Mason: an undergraduate
  • Genevieve Lyle: an undergraduate, coxswain of the rowing team
  • Jonathan Calder: an undergraduate and athletic scholarship recipient, captain of the rowing team
  • Nathan Saunders: an undergraduate
  • Sam Davidson: an undergraduate
  • Simon Feverfew: an undergraduate and athletic scholarship recipient, star of the rowing team

The Spy Who Killed Me is for 14 to 18 guests:

  • 14 guests (2 male, 3 female, 9 any)
  • 15 guests (2 male, 4 female, 9 any)
  • 16 guests (3 male, 4 female, 9 any)
  • 17 guests (3 male, 4 female, 10 any)
  • 18 guests (4 male, 4 female, 10 any)

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

How Freeform Games murder mystery games work

The Spy Who Killed Me 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, The Spy Who Killed Me contains plenty of other plots and secrets to keep everyone busy. The Spy Who Killed Me isn’t scripted, and lets the players decide how to achieve their goals and thwart their enemies.

“I had a great time playing The Spy Who Killed Me!
Brian (a playtester), Arizona, United States

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Head Porter, and welcomed to Maudlin College.

They then receive their detailed backgrounds – including dark secrets, objectives and money. The fun then begins as they form alliances, blackmail each other, steal items and maybe even try to murder one another! Along the way they may uncover some of the mysteries of The Spy Who Killed Me. Who is a double agent? Who leads the secretive Holly and Oak Society? Who is a professional assassin, and who is the mysterious ‘Elsie’? What is the secret of the cryptogram?

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

Recommended for ages 15+

We recommend The Spy Who Killed Me for those aged 15+, as it includes romance themes: two of the characters are rival suitors for the hand of another.

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)
  • Jordan Campbell – postgraduate music student. (Any)
    (by Aaron McKendry)
  • Lee Hatfield – tennis-playing undergraduate student (Any)
    (by Kathi Bonallo)
  • Perry Skeeter – reporter for The Times (Any)
    (by Kathi Bonallo)
  • Quinn Wells – tennis-playing undergraduate student (Any)
    (by Kathi Bonallo)
  • Riley Burke – postgraduate economics student (Any)
    (by Aaron McKendry)

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

IMPORTANT – you shouldn’t add too many of these characters in to your game as they haven’t been designed to work together (unlike the main game characters). If you add in several, they may make your game chaotic and incoherent. You should probably instead choose a larger game. If you still want to add several extra characters (four or more), we recommend having an extra host to help.

“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 The Spy Who Killed Me 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, drop us a line at info@freeformgames.com with the name of the game and the email address you used to purchase it, and we’ll resend it.

7 reviews for The Spy Who Killed Me

  1. A Customer (store manager)

    The Spy Who Killed Me is the third Freeform Game I’ve run, and I think everyone agrees – it was fantastic! The characters were interesting but simple enough to play, the plots were complex but not confusing, and the writing in general was outstanding. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that out of the three games I’ve run, this was the best one yet! Heartily recommend!

  2. Aaron McKendry (store manager)

    The Spy Who Killed Me went really well! We used it as a reason to bring people back into town for a weekend that had moved. Everyone really enjoyed the evening, and were really getting into their characters, including some spouses that I never would have expected to get so engaged. One of my friends who really doesn’t do anything like this know the answer to every mystery in the game by the end of the evening.
    Everyone told me how much fun that they had and how much that they wanted to play the game again.
    Thank you guys again for everything that you do!

  3. Charin Singh (store manager)

    We had a lot of fun playing The Spy Who Killed Me a couple of months ago. I’ve neither played nor hosted a murder mystery night, so I must admit it was all a bit of a steep learning curve! I look forward to playing some of your other games in the near future.

  4. A Customer (store manager)

    14 of us played The Spy Who Killed Me last night, and it was amazing! Everybody was in character, and each person had so many secret objectives to complete throughout. A few times, we had people running through the house shouting at each other for lying, poisoning, harming or killing each other! The most unlikely alliances were formed, and some characters were very good at keeping their secrets hidden, and diverting the blame to others! Thank you for such a fun night, the conclusion at the end was complex, but believable! At the end, everyone went round and talk to others revealing their info and secrets to others, and others were shocked at some of the characters secrets; things they had never even thought of! People are already asking for more!

  5. George Cumberland (store manager)

    Eight of us have played 5 or 6 murder mysteries before, the scripted versions around the dinner table, and I wanted something suitable for an evening with friends from church.
    We were about 15 originally, but I couldn’t find a boxed version for that many… and thank goodness I didn’t!!
    While it’s true to say that just about everyone was somewhat daunted about the information given them (myself included as the host!) our The Spy Who Killed Me evening was an absolute success!
    That finding the murder(er’s) was one aim, the fact that everyone had different goals to achieve was brilliant… and I doubt very much that I will look for a scripted version again.
    Indeed… already people are asking about the next one ( nine hours after hosting it!) – so I’ll be back here to download that… thank you for a marvellous evening!!!!!!!!! from 19 of us…

  6. A Customer (store manager)

    The Spy Who Killed Me was very enjoyable. Very good setup and plot. It was less of following the script, and more of a game of trying to figure out who was killing who. Which if anything made it more fun – 10/10!

  7. Fhiona Alsop (store manager)

    We’ve already played most of the games you have in the ‘suitable for kids’ section, and my daughters wanted to do The Spy Who Killed Me next. We really enjoy your games.
    Kids really get into it, their bloodthirsty streak comes out early, and all sorts of unusual alliances are made! It rarely turns out according to logic, but they love it.

Add a review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Q & A

How soon will I get my game? asked on 21 November 2020

You can download your game immediately after making your purchase. We will also send you an email message containing a download link and password so you can download your game later.

answered on 20 November 2020 store manager
(0) (0)
Where's my password? asked on 19 November 2020

Please check your email (including your junk folder). If you're sure you haven't received it, then please get in touch. It helps us if you tell us when you purchased the game and what email address you used.

answered on 18 November 2020 store manager
(0) (0)
How do freeform murder mystery games work? asked on 17 November 2020

Most of our games have an impartial host who organizes the party. Hosts don't solve the murder with everyone else – they have already read the game and instead watch the game unfolding.

Guests use their wits and negotiate, scheme, and plot with other guests to get what they want. Nobody needs to learn complicated backgrounds or memorize lines – character backgrounds are little more than a side or two of paper – which can be kept to hand for reference during the game.

answered on 16 November 2020 store manager
(0) (0)
Have you got any games for beginners? asked on 15 November 2020

Yes! If this is your first time hosting a Freeform Games murder mystery, we suggest choosing one of our more straightforward games. Click here for our 'games for beginners' page.

answered on 14 November 2020 store manager
(0) (0)
Do you have any games suitable for all-male or all-female groups? asked on 13 November 2020

Yes! We have several games where all the characters are ungendered and can be played by anyone. Click here to see our ungendered games.

answered on 12 November 2020 store manager
(0) (0)

Ask a question

Your question will be answered by a store representative or other customers.

Thank you for the question!

Your question has been received and will be answered soon. Please do not submit the same question again.

Error

Warning

An error occurred when saving your question. Please report it to the website administrator. Additional information:

Add an answer

Thank you for the answer!

Your answer has been received and will be published soon. Please do not submit the same answer again.

Error

Warning

An error occurred when saving your answer. Please report it to the website administrator. Additional information: