Spellbound

Spellbound is a murder mystery game for 13 to 17 guests and one or two hosts. It is set at a magical school, with students, professors, and visiting detectives as characters. Download the free introductory pdf file.

Note that Spellbound starts with a crime that is not a murder, but a theft of memory – so as to make it more appropriate for younger people.

Spellbound is an enchanted evening of magic, mayhem, and mystery! 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 Spellbound?

Spellbound 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.

Note that Spellbound is a bit more complex than some of our other games. If you've not hosted one of our games before, you might want to allocate a bit longer to prepare for it and to read through how it's going to work.

"Spellbound was an amazing game and led to a magical evening full of intrigue and betrayal and enough stories to last the rest of the weekend. Thank you so much."
Daniel Langley, United Kingdom

See stories and pictures from Spellbound

Read the Sorcerer's Scoop

Welcome to the Tremaine School of Magic, which is located within an ancient British castle. The castle is built at the top of a cliff and is miles from the nearest town or city. Students and Professors live in the castle during the school year, but today is the last day of school before summer break.

Last night, someone painted a red X on the Headmaster's door. This morning Professor Bennet, the Headmaster, woke up unable to remember anything. Not even his own name! Parents are convinced that the school is under some sort of magical attack, and the professors have announced that if the culprit is not caught, the school will close and will not reopen next year. Professor Riley Karlsen, the most senior teacher, is overseeing investigations. No-one may leave the school grounds before the end of the school day. Anyone caught doing so will be presumed guilty and detained for questioning.

Even with all of that going on, today is still the dreaded day of finals. Each professor will give an exam and grade the students' performance, and a full scholarship will be awarded to the student with the highest grades.

Let's hope the students' memories are working better than the unfortunate Professor Bennet's!

 

Suitable for expert hosts.

Includes rules for the use of poison.

Includes rules for combat.

Does not start with a murder that needs solving.

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Sorcerer's Scoop.

Cast of characters

Professors

• Professor Lee Roderick: Professor of Alchemy
• Professor Riley Karlsen: Professor of Transformation
• Professor Skyler Patterson: Professor of Foretelling

Students

• Angela McIntosh: A smart, studious girl
• Blair Jones: A fun-loving, friendly student; the class clown
• Casey Lansing: A rebellious rule-breaker
• Dave White: A smart, studious boy
• Erick Bennet: The son of Professor Bennet
• Jason Edwards: The most popular boy in school, dating Shantell Andersen
• Julie Andersen: The smartest girl in school, Shantell’s sister
• Nina Brown: A socially awkward, quiet student
• Ryan O’Callaghan: A good-looking, arrogant student
• Shantell Andersen: The most popular girl in school, Julie’s sister, dating Jason Edwards
• Taylor Martin: A rich and popular student
• Veronica Olsen: A rich and popular student, best friends with Shantell

Detectives

• • Detective Kerry Stephens: The head detective investigating the case
  • Detective Alex Rogers: Detective Stephens’s partner, also investigating the case

Spellbound is for 13 to 17 guests:

• 13 guests (4 male, 5 female, 4 any)
• 14 guests (4 male, 5 female, 5 any)
• 15 guests (4 male, 5 female, 6 any)
• 16 guests (4 male, 5 female, 7 any)
• 17 guests (4 male, 5 female, 8 any)

You also need one or two hosts, to organize the party and ensure everything runs smoothly. (We recommend two hosts, particularly if this is your first Freeform Games murder mystery party.)

How Freeform Games murder mysteries work

Spellbound is unlike other murder mystery games – it doesn't start with a murder to solve (although one is likely to be committed during the game). Instead, plenty of other plots and secrets will keep everyone busy, as each character has several objectives they must try to accomplish. Spellbound isn't scripted, and lets the players decide how to achieve their goals and thwart their enemies.

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Librarian, and welcomed to the Tremaine School of Magic.

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 attack one another!

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

Recommended for ages 12+

We recommend Spellbound for those aged 12+, as it is family-friendly and contains no adult themes.

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)
• Harley Garrick – school groundskeeper. (Any)
  (by Nathanial McConnell)
• Patrick O'Grady – the new kid (M)
  (by Andreah Mathews)
• Sally May – the school nurse (F)
  (by Andreah Mathews)

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 Spellbound 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.