Square Enix, Tactics Studios, and TBS Games have revealed Killer Inn at Summer Game Fest 2025, a brand new multiplayer murder mystery game that invites players into a mysterious world of death and mayhem. As revealed, this game is set in an ancient white castle ‘deep in the mountains, lost to time and legend.’ In the lore, players make their way to the castle at the behest of a mysterious organisation, which holds special games to test mental fortitude, strategy, and cleverness.
Rounds in Killer Inn are all about surviving through a night, finding clues to figure out the true identity of the killer, and then using your knowledge to kill, in turn. Per round, 24 players flood into the game’s castle, with some being given the innocent ‘Lamb’ role, and others being given the killer ‘Wolf’ role. Notably, there are more Lambs than Wolves, so players may be more willing to trust their companions – but they should always keep an eye out for betrayal.
Every time a Wolf is able to kill a Lamb, by sneaking away, lying, or catching them unaware, a clue will be generated, relating directly to that player. That could be a lock of hair, or a scrap of clothing, or skin. Whatever results from a kill will whittle down the list of suspects for that particular murder, eventually allowing the Lambs to identify the Wolves.
The real twist is that once Wolves are identified (or even before, if you’re keen to kick off the drama), Lambs and Wolves are able to fight each other, wielding guns, grenades, and other items for killing. So while you’re hunting the killers, you can also become a killer yourself.
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The caveat is that if one Lamb kills another Lamb, they immediately lose the game. You need to be very careful with your choices, or you could end up attacking someone who’s actually innocent, dooming your own soul in the process.
If you want to survive and win your round, you’ll need to root out all of the Wolves (if you’re a Lamb), or all of the Lambs (if you’re a Wolf), and that takes careful planning and – most importantly – a degree of reservation. Stay quiet, observe your clues well, and eventually you’ll be able to accuse your killers, and then dispatch them as they deserve. While there is real irony in hunting killers by becoming one, Killer Inn makes clear that it’s all light-hearted fun.
Whether you’re a Lamb or a Wolf, it’s all about the thrill of the chase. Or if you’re more of a coward, it could also be about the thrill of escape. As revealed, there’s multiple ways to win a round of Killer Inn, and one of those is escaping by taking a long route to a waiting boat which promises freedom. This is reportedly the harder way to win, as escapees will be hounded by Wolves and face all sorts of obstacles, but it does add some neat options for players to experiment with.
Based on our first look at Killer Inn, this game has plenty of novel flavour. There’s touches of Benoit Blanc here, with a murder mystery enthralling all players, and allowing a degree of detective work. If you want to win the game, you’ll need to stay patient and analyse your clues well, using social deduction where physical evidence may not suffice. And where chaos reigns, rounds may also devolve into all-out skirmishes, which could be just as fun.
Stay tuned for more on Killer Inn as Square Enix, TBS Games, and Tactics Studios open up beta testing for keen players. The game does not currently have a firm release date, but we’ll hear much more in future.
