Death in Venice

Death in Venice is a murder mystery game for 5 to 9 people where the host can play too. It is set on a luxury yacht at the Venice Film Festival, in the present day. Download the free introductory pdf file.

Death in Venice is an evening of film-festival fury, movie-making misbehavior, 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 Death in Venice?

See stories and pictures from Death in Venice

Read Celebrity Online

Last night at the glamorous Venice Film Festival, controversial director Clay McFarland picked up the prestigious Golden Lion award for this season's hit movie Never Look Back. But this morning, he was found lying in front of St Mark's Cathedral – hacked to death with a meat cleaver.

The stars of the movie and some of their guests supposedly spent the night sleeping off the effects of the post-awards party, on the Casanova, their luxury yacht moored in the marina – but it seems that someone was up to no good. Traces of McFarland's blood found on the Casanova's dinghy mean that police are confident that the culprit is one of those who are now confined aboard the yacht.

As cathedral bells toll out across the ancient city, on board the Casanova a frothy ferment of vineyards, memoirs, gossip, jealousy, and movie-set punch-ups will come to the boil.

Charge your glasses, put on your designer sunglasses, and join the cast and crew of Never Look Back as they try to solve the mystery of Death in Venice!

Death in Venice 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.

 

No combat, no poison.

The host can either play one of the characters or can just be the host, as they prefer.

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

Cast of characters

From Never Look Back

• Daniel Setters: The star of Never Look Back—a strong and soulful leading man who mingles tough with tender.
• JJ Kowalski: Expert film editor, responsible for the narrative thrust of Never Look Back.
• Mary-Lou Sinclair: The other star of Never Look Back, a skilled and versatile leading lady renowned for her ability to express subdued emotion.
• Tindall Nobbs: Supporting actor in Never Look Back, famous for a friendly and approachable demeanor.

Visitors and guests

• Célestine de Vincennes: Decadent French minor aristocrat, reputed to be fabulously wealthy.
• Courtney Keller: Personal assistant to Landor Hammond. Always seems to be rather busy.
• Cruz Vicente: Journalist covering celebrity material for the Celebrity Online website.
• Landor Hammond: Tech mogul responsible for a string of online businesses, and owner of the Casanova.
• Lyra Spark: Hugely successful pop star, currently thought to be trying to develop a side career as an actor.

Death in Venice is for 5 to 9 players:

• 5 players (2 male, 2 female, 1 any)
• 6 players (2 male, 2 female, 2 any)
• 7 players (2 male, 2 female, 3 any)
• 8 players (2 male, 2 female, 4 any)
• 9 players (2 male, 2 female, 5 any)

You also need a host – someone to organize the party and ensure everything runs smoothly. That can be a separate person – or the host can also play one of the characters in the game. It's up to you.

How Freeform Games murder mystery games work

Death in Venice 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, Death in Venice contains plenty of other plots and secrets to keep everyone busy. Death in Venice  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 Chief Steward, and welcomed to the Casanova.

They each have their detailed backgrounds – including dark secrets and personal objectives. The fun then begins as they form alliances, blackmail each other, lie, cheat, and deceive! Along the way they may uncover some of the mysteries of Death in Venice. Who punched who on the set of Never Look Back, and why? Who is The Child in the Sailor Suit, and who will play their parents? And, of course, who is the murderer of Clay McFarland?

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

And the host can play too! Unlike most of our other games, the host can also play a character in Death in Venice. Just be careful not to read the file that's marked as secret, if you plan to do that. (Or if you want to just host the game, without playing a character, you can do that as well.)

Recommended for ages 15+

We recommend Death in Venice for those aged 15+, as it includes romance and dating as themes in play.

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.

• Alessi Enorme – Venetian celebrity chef (Any)
  (by John Mulheren)

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

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Cast Iron Guarantee

We offer a Cast Iron Guarantee on all our murder mystery games. If you're not completely satisfied with Death in Venice 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.