Murder is a funny skill game where you begin as an adviser secretly trying to assassinate the king and take his crown. Success requires patience because attacking at the wrong moment can expose your plan and send you straight to the dungeon.
You can play Murder online directly in your browser on Classroom 6x. The game uses only one main control, but observation and timing are important because the king can suddenly turn around while you are preparing your attack.
Once you successfully take the throne, the situation changes completely. Other characters begin approaching from behind and trying to remove you in the same way, turning you from the assassin into the target. Murder was created by Studio Seufz and combines simple controls with observation and reaction-based gameplay.
Murder is a humorous adventure and skill game where the main objective revolves around taking control of the throne and then protecting it.
At the beginning, you play as an adviser walking directly behind the king. Your task is to charge an attack while the king is facing forward and complete it before he notices what you are doing.
The danger is that the king occasionally turns around. If he catches you holding the weapon or preparing the attack, your attempt immediately fails and you are taken to the dungeon.
Successfully completing the assassination makes you the new king. However, gaining the crown does not end the game. Another adviser begins following behind you and may attempt exactly the same strategy.
This role reversal is the main idea behind Murder. First you learn how to attack without being noticed, and then you use that experience to recognize when someone else may be preparing an attack against you.
Start behind the king and wait for a safe opportunity.
Watch the king carefully before preparing your attack.
Hold the Spacebar to begin charging.
Stop immediately if the king starts turning around.
Wait until he faces forward again.
Continue charging until the attack is ready.
Complete the assassination to take the crown.
Become the new king and watch the character behind you.
Turn around when you suspect an assassination attempt.
Catch attackers before they complete their attack.
Continue protecting the throne for as long as possible.
The main challenge is deciding when to act. Holding the attack for too long when the king is about to look behind can immediately end your attempt.
Murder has a one-button control system, but the function of that button changes depending on your current role.
Hold Spacebar: Charge your attack.
Release Spacebar: Stop preparing the attack when necessary.
Complete the charge: Assassinate the king when you have enough time.
Spacebar: Look behind you and check the adviser.
Using the Spacebar at the correct moment is more important than pressing it repeatedly. As the assassin, you need patience. As the king, you need to recognize when someone behind you is behaving suspiciously.
The easiest mistake is trying to complete the attack as quickly as possible. Instead, watch the king's behavior before committing to a long charge.
Begin charging when the king has just turned forward and appears unlikely to immediately check behind him again.
If the king suddenly looks back, cancel the attempt. Poki specifically recommends being willing to drop the attack when the king turns around instead of risking being caught.
You can then wait for another opportunity and continue when the situation becomes safer.
Patience is especially useful because being caught does not simply reduce your score. It ends your attempt to claim the throne.
Successfully attacking the king gives you the crown, but the game does not become easier.
You now walk in front while another character follows behind. Just as you previously searched for the perfect moment to attack, the new adviser may be waiting for a chance to do the same thing to you.
Your objective therefore changes from attacking to observation.
Turn around at the right moment and you can catch an assassin preparing an attack. Look back too frequently or at the wrong time, however, and you may miss the moment when the real danger begins.
The longer you remain king, the more important it becomes to stay focused on what is happening behind you.
Your experience as the assassin provides an important advantage once you control the throne. Think about the moments when you previously wanted the king to keep walking forward, then use that knowledge to decide when an adviser might attack.
Avoid looking backward without a reason. Instead, watch for suspicious movement and choose moments when an attacker is likely to be preparing something.
Players who enjoy games built around avoiding detection and predicting another player's movements can also try Hide and Smash. Instead of protecting a throne, Hide and Smash turns observation into a hide-and-seek-style challenge where players must either stay hidden or locate opponents.
Poki also recommends using what you learned while playing as the adviser to recognize assassination attempts once you become king.
The role reversal makes every earlier failure useful. After being caught several times as an assassin, you begin to understand which moments make an attacker vulnerable.
Murder takes a very simple control system and builds an entertaining cycle around it. There are no complicated movement combinations, equipment systems, or large levels to learn.
Instead, almost everything depends on timing.
As the assassin, the tension comes from watching the attack meter increase while wondering whether the king will suddenly turn around.
After becoming king, that tension reverses. Now you know that someone behind you may be preparing an attack, but looking back at exactly the right moment becomes the challenge.
The exaggerated animations and humorous presentation also give Murder a lighter style despite its assassination theme.
Another appealing feature is how quickly a new attempt begins. Getting caught does not require learning a completely different system, so you can immediately try again and adjust your timing.
The two roles require opposite approaches.
As the assassin, patience is usually more useful than aggression. You need to wait until you have enough uninterrupted time to complete the attack without being detected.
As the king, waiting too long can be dangerous. You need to become suspicious before the attacker finishes preparing the strike.
This creates an interesting rhythm:
The assassin waits for the king to become careless.
The king waits for the adviser to become suspicious.
Both roles depend on predicting what will happen next.
One badly timed action can immediately change the situation.
Learning both sides of the interaction is what makes repeated attempts increasingly manageable.
One common mistake is continuing to charge an attack even after the king begins turning around.
Canceling the attempt may feel like losing progress, but it is better than being caught and sent to the dungeon.
Another mistake is becoming careless immediately after taking the throne. Winning the crown only changes your role; it does not remove the danger.
As king, repeatedly looking backward can also make your timing less effective. Try to anticipate when an attacker is likely to act rather than checking constantly.
Finally, do not assume every attempt will follow exactly the same timing. Stay focused on the character animations instead of relying only on a memorized rhythm.
Watch the king before beginning a long attack charge.
Start attacking when the king has recently faced forward.
Cancel the attack immediately when you notice him turning.
Do not risk completing an attack when you are likely to be caught.
Use several safe attempts instead of forcing one dangerous attack.
Pay attention to character animations.
Stay focused after successfully becoming king.
Remember how you behaved when you were the assassin.
Turn around when the adviser appears likely to attack.
Avoid checking behind you randomly without a reason.
Learn from every failed assassination attempt.
Use patience instead of repeatedly holding the Spacebar.
React quickly when the king suddenly turns around.
Do not assume taking the crown means the danger is over.
Watch the character behind you carefully when defending the throne.
Improve your timing through repeated attempts.
Focus on observation because the game gives you very few other controls.
Use your experience in both roles to predict what the opponent is likely to do next.