In the darkness, I glance through a window and see a dead woman in one of the locked hotel bedrooms. I use my crowbar to break the glass door open and retrieve a clue from the body: a green piece of cloth.
The bell rings, notifying the other players of the body I've discovered. As an innocent lamb, I feel compelled to tell someone about the clue I've acquired.
I turn to head toward the hotel lobby, only to encounter a man dressed in green strolling down the hallway. A quick glance tells me no one else is in the corridor. My heart beats fast as he pivots his body toward me.
Is he a friend who also happens to be wearing green, or is he the murderer? My eyes flick to his hands. No apparent weapon is grasped there, but that doesn't mean anything.
Suddenly, a woman holding a handgun emerges from behind him. She takes aim at me while he equips a club and runs my way.
I throw a smoke grenade, bolt outside, dive around the corner, and crouch into some bushes, hoping they rush past me. My crowbar isn't very powerful against two assailants, but it could still be the difference between life and death.
I hold my breath and listen as the two discuss strategy while looking for me. Eventually, their footsteps and voices fade, and I'm alone again.
But then the bell rings, and I know that yet another of my fellow lambs has fallen.
I carefully make my way to the new crime scene and collect a clue from the fallen body. Blonde hair, likely from the woman I just saw.
To my relief, I loot the body and find a handgun, but then I realize there is hardly any ammo. Others appear at the scene, and I'm not sure who to trust. They all look suspicious.
I try to convince my fellow lambs that I know of two wolves, but someone contradicts me and tells the others that I'm the suspicious one. After all, I was the first one they saw at the scene, and I'm holding a gun.
My word has been questioned, and no one believes me. I'm starting to develop trust issues.
It's up to me, then, to defeat the wolves I've detected. But first, I need to purchase bullets.
However, as I'm carefully making my way to a vendor, I'm shot by the man in green I originally encountered.
As one of the dead, I'm brought into a spectating room where the other murdered figures and I can watch and discuss any of those still in play without the players hearing us. But now, we know who the wolves are and who the lambs are.
A sense of dramatic irony boils up within me as I see who the effective liars and manipulators are within the group, while the unsuspecting lambs try their best to weed out the wolves. As the dead, we laugh and comment on people's effective movements or bad decisions.
Eventually, it's down to two lambs and one wolf. The wolf is clever and doesn't attack outright. He attempts to trick the lambs into killing each other, and he almost succeeds. Last minute, the lambs grow suspicious of the wolf and defeat him.
A screen appears proclaiming the lambs the winners and showing our stats. We all laugh and discuss how the round went, but then all I can think is, I want to play again.
In the next round, I'm told I'm a wolf, and this completely changes my tactics. Each wolf has a Sacrifice somewhere on the grounds, and if I take time to conceal mine, it's harder for lambs to discover me.
After a while, I acquired both a knife and a sniper rifle. I take out lambs by hiding in bushes or climbing up to the second floor of the building and waiting for lone figures to pass by.
A lamb stumbles onto my hiding place, so I stab them with my knife, but now I'm all bloody. Listening to make sure no one is nearby, I make my way to the kitchen and clean the blood off using the sink.
I look innocent enough and won't leave as many clues behind. Now there are only three lambs left with us, four wolves among them.
A solitary lamb runs past the open window toward the gardens. I smile, equip my knife, and the hunt continues.
An addictive social deduction murder game with puzzles that I can't stop thinking about
NOTE: Killer Inn doesn't have a release date yet. The preview I played is not the final product, and it's possible that some game mechanics could change before launch.
That's what Tactic Studios and Square Enix's heart-pounding Killer Inn feels like. It's a social murder mystery game heading to PC that requires some cleverness and keeps you coming back for more.
I was lucky enough to attend a preview of Killer Inn, and I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed the 1.5 hours I spent playing it. In fact, I can't stop thinking about this game, so I'm going to tell you all about it.
Players start by choosing one of the 25 characters they will play as, each with their own stats and abilities. If a character levels up, they can unlock new abilities.
Then players are dropped into their room at the titular inn, and the announcer tells players whether they are a lamb or a wolf.
The game ends when either only lambs remain, only wolves remain, or the lambs get four keys from battling guardians (gold devices hovering over the grounds) to unlock the gate to the harbor and work together to escape on a large boat.
Wolves can tell what side people are on, while lambs have no idea who is friend or foe. If a lamb attacks another lamb, they are taken out of the game, so players have to be careful about who they fight.
Of course, wolves can use that information to their advantage.
I appreciate how effectively Killer Inn uses proximity voice chat. It allows me to naturally communicate with others nearby or strategically eavesdrop on those walking past, but prevents me from hearing anything if someone gets too far.
If you're not interested in talking to random players, you can use emotes and pins to communicate with others.
Tactic Studios and Square Enix also did a fantastic job of making sure players don't just nest somewhere and prevent the game from moving forward.
If the wolves fail to murder anyone after a while, players can go talk to NPCs and get clues, so the hunted can become the hunters. Meanwhile, the game encourages lambs to go exploring by telling them to hunt down harbor keys.
There are various weapons, healing items, and armor scattered throughout the nearby buildings and grounds, but the best ones are locked within special chests.
Saferooms with NPCs in them are scattered throughout the inn, and no one is allowed to attack anyone in these spaces, which prevents wolves from camping and easily picking off lambs while they're vulnerable as they buy things.
In addition to providing armor, healing items, and weapons, these non-playable characters offer quests.
In a somewhat Among Us-like fashion, quests require players to go to a specific location and solve a puzzle or fulfill a task in order to be rewarded with money and treasure chest keys. But being distracted by a puzzle leaves you unaware of what's happening around you, so you have to be careful.
All in all, Killer Inn feels like a well-balanced super-sized game of Mafia or Werewolf for large groups to enjoy. There are plenty of mechanics to keep you moving and working toward a win, whether you're a wolf or a lamb.
I can't wait to jump back into this game when it launches, even if it has made me develop some trust issues.
Killer Inn is an upcoming murder social deduction multiplayer coming to PC via Steam, but it doesn't have a release date yet. If you're interested, you can sign up to join the Killer Inn Beta on Steam.
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