Death on the Gambia
Death on the Gambia is an interactive murder mystery party for 8 to 11 guests (plus one host) published by Freeform Games.
Set in 1939, Death on the Gambia follows a tramp riverboat as it sails along the River Gambia in Africa. Aboard are a curious mixture of passengers - a big game hunter, a missionary, a doctor, a journalist, an archaeologist and more. All of the passengers have secrets, and the journey will be one to remember...
Click here to download the introductory pdf file and learn more about Death on the Gambia.
Death on the Gambia is an interactive murder mystery game - much like Freeform Games' other games All at Sea and Curse of the Pharaoh.
Death on the Gambia also shares many of the same features - it has the item cards and the ability cards that those games have. (Item cards are used to represent all sorts of things - from a mysterious bone idol to handcuffs or a codebook. Ability cards, on the other hand, provide rules for things like pickpocketing and detecting secrets.)
| I hosted Death On the Gambia this weekend and it came off wonderfully! Thank you so much for recommending it. It was my first mystery party, but it won't be my last. - April McCauley |
Rather unusually, Death on the Gambia doesn't start with a murder - and a murder might not actually take place during the evening. That depends entirely on the players - the characters have reasons to attempt murder. And of course there's a detective to keep an eye on everyone.
Death on the Gambia has a number of different plots to keep everyone busy. For example, there's a stolen artefact, ruby smugglers and German and British spies. Plus an assassin, secret jungle experiments - and more.
The cast of Death on the Gambia includes:
- Jane Carter: an American journalist working for the Gambia Tribune.
- Dexter Fairchild: an intrepid big game hunter from England.
- Captain Sam Ironheart: Captain of the Christabel.
- Katanga: a native of Gambia and First Mate aboard the Christabel.
- Joey Keene: one of Gambia’s finest detectives.
- Connor McDouglas: a rugged Scottish archaeologist, adventurer and finder of antiquities.
- Marie Renard: a famous French artist.
- Gabe Schwartz: a brilliant German doctor bringing aid to the peoples of the jungle.
- Caroline Tanner: an English widow seeing the world.
- Alex Thomas: chief buyer for the Happy Peanut Spread Company.
- Vic Townhill: an English missionary bringing the word of God to the peoples of the jungle.
Death on the Gambia needs a dedicated host, someone to organise the game. They play the Captain of the riverboat the Christabel. (Of course, the Captain doesn't know who the murderer is - because that's up to the players.) I really enjoy being the host - you know what's going on and can watch your friends scheme and plot and be devious to one another.
In July 2003 I ran Death on the Gambia for my friends - and I wrote about it in the Guilty Parties newsletter. Click here to read my tips for hosting Death on the Gambia.
Death on the Gambia is available from Freeform Games and costs £20. To see how much Death on the Gambia costs in other currencies, use the converter. (It's pre-set to show how much £20 costs in US dollars - however please note that the exact amount will depend on the exact exchange rate at the time you buy and also the commission charged by your credit card.)
![]() |
To purchase Death on the Gambia from Freeform Games LLP right now click on either logo below: |
You will be taken to the Freeform Games LLP website - just follow the instructions to purchase Death on the Gambia. You will then be emailed the location of the main Death on the Gambia pdf files and password (to unlock it) almost immediately. Just download the game, print it out and have a great murder mystery!
By the way, if you don't want to buy the game over the Internet, the introductory pdf file provides details of paying by post.
Death on the Gambia is published in pdf format. Pdf stands for "portable data format" and allows any computer (PC, Apple, etc) to read it providing they have the right software such as Adobe Acrobat or Foxit PDF Reader. Both of these are free.


