Spellbound (13–17) 12+

Spellbound – a present-day murder mystery party game with a magical setting for 13 to 17 guests.

"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

Recommended for ages 12+
Costs US$29.99
Written by Lisa Perez

Spellbound is a dinner party murder mystery game for 13 to 17 guests and one or two hosts – download the free introductory pdf file.

Join us in an enchanted evening of magic, mayhem, and mystery! 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 Spellbound? It's up to you.

Spellbound

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!

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.

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 – plus details of how to buy the game.

These are the characters in Spellbound:

• • 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
  • Detective Alex Rogers – Detective Stephens's partner, also investigating the case
  • Detective Kerry Stephens – The head detective investigating the case
  • 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
  • Professor Lee Roderick – Professor of Alchemy
  • Professor Riley Karlsen – Professor of Transformation
  • Professor Skyler Patterson – Professor of Foretelling
  • 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

How Freeform Games Murder Mysteries Work

Spellbound is unlike many murder mystery games. Although the game starts with the attack on Professor Bennet, most of the characters have more important things to do than to investigate it. And the attacks may not be over – no-one is safe!

Spellbound 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, Spellbound lets you decide how to achieve your goals and thwart your 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! 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.

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.

• • '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.