The Spy Who Killed Me

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

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 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, contact us with the name of the game and the email address you used to purchase it, and we'll resend it.