Ludography
Killed Until Dead cover

1986 · Adventure · Puzzle

Killed Until Dead

Killed Until Dead is a murder mystery game developed by Artech Studios and published by Accolade, originally released in 1986. The gameplay is a spin on the classic board game, Cluedo.

Released
1986
Platforms
Amstrad CPCApple IICommodore C64/128/MAXZX Spectrum
Genres
AdventurePuzzle
Developers
—
Publishers
—
Perspective
First person
Themes
ThrillerMystery
Country
Canada

About

Killed Until Dead is a 1986 adventure game developed by Artech and published by Accolade for the Apple II, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

Keywords

  • detective
  • murder
  • time limit
  • murder mystery
  • crime
  • camera

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The game seems to be inspired by Cluedo, where the player must eliminate clues as they get closer to stopping the crime, the objective being to prevent a murder before it happens. Gameplay mainly revolves around interrogating key suspects and interviewing them about other people, places, and objects. False accusations can result in the player getting killed, lending to the game's humorous ironic sentiments.

Story

Five mystery writers have gathered at a mansion and one of them plans to murder another. The player takes the role of Hercule Holmes, who must piece together all aspects of the crime in order to solve the case. The player can search suspect's rooms, confront them with evidence, and order cameras to record secret meetings.

Reception

The game was well-received, garnering positive to average reviews.

Crash magazine deemed Killed Until Dead both involved and highly entertaining. Aktueller Software Markt gave the game a score of 9.6 out of 12, while Happy Computer offered a rating of 76%.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Commodore C64/128/MAX31 December 1986North America · Europe 31 December 1987
ZX Spectrum31 December 1987Europe
Amstrad CPC31 December 1987Europe
Apple II31 December 1987North America

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.