Way Out West: A Murder Mystery Party Review

The setting for the game is the Wild West, the Spring of 1884. The town of Cactus Gulch is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a celebration at the town saloon.

Everyone who is anyone in town and out of town is there for the party. Little do they know, as they gather for the festivities, that one of their number lies dead in the adjoining stables.

You take on the role of one of the main characters in this story. You can attempt to solve the murder, or just achieve your own goals.

Way Out West has a basic game and an expansion that adds more characters to the mix. I'll cover the characters from the basic game here.

Zeke Calhoun is an old time prospector who made it big, and is now a wealthy landowner in town.

Lucy Calhoun is Zeke's tomboy daughter.

Able Blane is the town sheriff, and generally considered to be reliable.

Dan Fairweather is Blane's deputy. He's seen as honest, if a bit slow at times.

Elijah Entwhistle is a fire and brimstone traveling preacher.

Blaise Sadler is the saloon's madame. She makes certain that the saloon girls are taken care of and that the cowboys (mostly) behave themselves.

Kalamata Kate is a young " good="good" girl="girl" at="at" the="the" her="her" job="job" is="is" to="to" make="make" sure="sure" cowboys="cowboys" drink="drink" and="and" have="have" a="a">Mel Easton is a representative of South West Rail. Mel hails from back east.

Slick O'Hare is a scruffy ranch hand.

Clem Parham is another Easterner, a representative for Mid West Rail.

Doc Faraday is the town's doctor, but spends most of his time gambling with cowboys.

Three Feathers an Indian shaman much respected by the townspeople after saving many of them from an outbreak of fever years ago.

Runs Like A Deer is an Indian woman who helped to raise Lucy Calhoun.

John Paulson is the town judge, universally revered by the townspeople.

Christy Martin is a prosperous storekeeper from San Franscisco.

Keep in mind that each of these characters has hidden depths no apparent from the public description. Each has their own part to play in the unfolding story.

If you have more than 14 people who want to come to the party, you can purchase the expanded version of Way Out West. The expanded version has all the characters from the basic version, plus these additional 10.

Etta Johnson is the local schoolteacher and primary source of gossip for the town newspaper.

Widder James was the prime mover behind the town's anniversary celebration. The other ladies in town do little without her approval.

Ol' Barr is a crazy old trapper who normally stays in the hills, but has come to town for the celebration.

Maxwell Jebediah Adams is a local sheep rancher, and a nasty drunk.

Minnie May Adams is Maxwell's sweet natured wife.

Frederick Lloyd is a wealthy British investor.

Ruby Sapphire is a popular singer from out of town, here to perform for the celebration.

Robert Barnaby is Judge Paulson's legal clerk. Painfully honest and shy, Robert is often seen at the courthouse.

Soon Li is a Chinese immigrant.

Marco the Mesmerizing is a traveling magician here to entertain for the celebration.

The basic game works for anywhere from 10 to 14 players. The expanded version increases that to up to 24 players.

The optional characters from the basic game are Christy Martin, Three Feathers, Able Blane, and Kalamata Kate.

If you're lucky enough to have more than 14 but not quite 24, the characters from the expansion are added in a specific order, in order to preserve their subplots. Rest assured that you can run the game for any number from 14 to 24 without a problem.

And as always, if you have more than 24, you can download the extra character of Ginger Roberts, a reporter, from the Freeform Games website.

In fact, if you only had 15 people coming, you'd be better off using just the basic game and then adding on Ginger Roberts rather than going with the expansion characters.

Assuming you can get at least 10 people to come, the next tricky part is making sure you have enough men and women. There's nothing saying that a man can't play a female character, or vice versa, but I've found that most people are more comfortable playing a character of their own gender.

In the Way Out West basic game, the following characters are male: Able Blane, Dan Fairweather, Doc Faraday, Elijah Entwhistle, John Paulson, and Slick O'Hare. The following characters must be female: Blaise Sadler, Kalamata Kate, Lucy Calhoun, and Runs Like a Deer.

Everyone else could be either gender.

In the Way Out West expansion, the male characters are: Maxwell Jebediah Adams, Frederick Lloyd, Robert Barnaby, and Marco the Mesmerizing. The female characters are: Etta Johnson, Widder James, Minnie May Adams, and Ruby Sapphire.

The rest could be either gender.

Way Out West has a higher number of required genders than most other Freeform Games mysteries, so be sure you have the right mix of players coming to your party.

Or make sure that someone doesn't mind playing a character of a different gender than themselves.

As the host of the game, you have a lot of work to do!

Before the game starts, you have to recruit players, and print out the contents of the game from the PDF you'll download. You'll need to cut up item and ability cards, and put everything into envelopes for each character. Allow several days for this, unless you're like me and like to do it all at once (in which case, allocate a four hours or so).

If you're using the expanded game, pay attention to the order in which the extra characters are to be added (there will be a chart in the instructions). This is important to maintain plot lines between characters.

During the game, you handle rules questions and moderate any unusual actions people want to take. Mostly, though, you enjoy watching the scheming going on around you!

I've run the Way Out West basic game once.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the setting quite a bit, getting into Hollywood-esque western accents. I'd supplied tin stars for the sheriff and deputy.

Prop guns can be used if your party is being held in a private home. If you're in a public place, such as a park shelter or hotel, I'd recommend against using prop guns. A cocked thumb and extended index finger works just as well to show that you're holding a gun.

Way Out West works similar to Curse of the Pharaoh, in that nobody can die in the first part of the evening. After a certain point, though, that restriction is removed.

And by that point, people are going to be ready to knock someone off to achieve their goals.

Each character's goals tie in nicely with other characters' goals, creating tension between characters with opposing goals.

The "show a card" mechanic is a great one for people new to these sorts of games. If your character is good at getting secrets out of people, you don't have to be. Instead, you'll have a card that says something like, "Talk to another character for three minutes, then show them this card and they must show you their top goal."

This makes it very easy for anyone to participate and have fun. I've found this to be the case in all the Freeform Games games.

You can get more information about the game by downloading the introductory PDF, or by going to the Freeform Games discussion forum dedicated to the game.

Or, if you just want to buy it, click one of these according to your payment preferences. You'll be able to download the PDF files for the game in a short time.

Enjoy!





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