Casino Fatale

by Steve (GMMG)
(Yorkshire)

Freeform Games recently ran Casino Fatale in the College Arms in London, and as one of the partners I helped. The game was organised by Mo (my business partner in Freeform Games) as he’s giving the game a bit of a refresh (and putting it into the modern Freeform Games format). My job was to help - either by making up the numbers if a player dropped out or by helping as an assistant host.

I nearly ended up playing as one of our guests dropped out at the last minute (and that would have meant that we would have had to run it below the minimum number), but we luckily found a last minute replacement. (One of the advantages of hosting the game in London is that we know lots of potential players.)

If I had been playing, I probably would have followed this tip (for both playing and hosting a murder mystery party) and played relatively passively, as I wouldn’t want to take advantage of the fact that I knew the game better than any of the other players.

As assistant host my main job was helping with any pickpocketing that took place, and also to keep a note of any issues or errors that we would correct as part of the refresh. I also took the photos - see above for some of them.

As our friends have played quite a few of our games in the past, they really steamed through the plots and we ended up finishing about 30 minutes earlier than timetabled in the instructions. The other reason the game was quicker was that we had only the minimum number of players - if we had the full amount and more “newcomers” then I would expect the game to take the full amount of time.

The game went every well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There was lots of blackmail and even a shootout towards the end. After the game we retired to the bar to swap stories and find out what really went on.

Freeform Games are planning to run further games in London (and maybe elsewhere in the UK). To learn more sign up to their newsletter and keep an eye on their Facebook page.