Description
Curse of the Pharaoh is a murder mystery game for 6 to 19 guests and one or two hosts. It is set at an archaeological dig in Egypt in the 1890s. Download the free introductory pdf file.
Curse of the Pharaoh is a thrilling evening of mystery and murder in 1894 Egypt, which will determine the fate of the British Empire! 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 Curse of the Pharaoh?
The Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt. 23 April 1894. The excavation season will soon be over, as the baking sun makes digging unbearable, but the Oxford University archaeologists lead by Sir William Saville have made a startling discovery. Tonight, the team and their guests prepare to enjoy a slap-up dinner to celebrate the uncovering of the tomb of a previously unknown XVIth Dynasty pharaoh. But while the archaeologists make merry, dark clouds gather, internal tensions among the group burst to the surface and one of the local diggers is brutally murdered.
Curse of the Pharaoh 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 Curse of the Pharaoh 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.
The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Cairo Gazette.
Cast of characters
- Sir William Saville: renowned archaeologist and leader of the dig
- Ariadne Price-Evans: veteran translator of Egyptian inscriptions
- Hugh Carlaw: enthusiastic young student
- Helen Mackinnon: the belle of Oxford
- Shahfeez Merouf: mysterious Arab, the Curator of the Luxor Museum
- Alvy Spanheim: Cultural Attaché at the German Consulate
- Eva de Chalons: dilettante and art connoisseur
- Lindsay Wilde: also wild by nature, a brooding misfit on the archaeological scene
- Pol Tregarne: Detective Sergeant in the Colonial Police
- Alex McQueen: Detective Constable in the Colonial Police
- Armand Lenoir: leader of a French excavation nearby
- Marie-Claire Guiscard: hard-working assistant to Lenoir
- Tariq al-Mansoor: wealthy collector of Egyptian antiquities
- Fatima al-Mansoor: wealthy collector of Egyptian antiquities
- Professor Reginald Mathers: respected archaeologist from Cambridge
- Lady Jane Fortescue: noble widow and archaeological dilettante
- Chris Kovacs: young Hungarian student
- Reverend Godfrey Fox: Cambridge-based church minister
- Angela Fox: Mathers’ administrative assistant
Curse of the Pharaoh is for 6 to 19 guests:
- 6 guests (2 male, 2 female, 2 any)
- 7 guests (2 male, 2 female, 3 any)
- 8 guests (2 male, 3 female, 3 any)
- 9 guests (3 male, 3 female, 3 any)
- 10 guests (3 male, 3 female, 4 any)
- 11 guests (4 male, 4 female, 3 any)
- 12 guests (4 male, 4 female, 4 any)
- 13 guests (5 male, 5 female, 3 any)
- 14 guests (5 male, 5 female, 4 any)
- 15 guests (5 male, 5 female, 5 any)
- 16 guests (6 male, 6 female, 4 any)
- 17 guests (6 male, 6 female, 5 any)
- 18 guests (7 male, 7 female, 4 any)
- 19 guests (7 male, 7 female, 5 any)
You also need one or two hosts, to organize the party and ensure everything runs smoothly. (We recommend two hosts with more than 12 guests, particularly if this is your first Freeform Games murder mystery party.)
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Players: 6 – 19
Price: US$44.99 – Immediate Download