Play The Colonel’s Bequest Online

I first played The Colonel’s Bequest back in 1989, when Sierra On-Line was putting out some of the most memorable adventure games for MS-DOS. It was part of their Laura Bow mystery series, and it stood out for its focus on atmosphere and observation rather than puzzles or combat. You don’t see many games from that era trying to pull off a real-time, character-driven whodunit.

You play as Laura Bow, a college student invited to a remote Louisiana island for a family reunion that quickly turns sinister. Your goal is to uncover the truth behind a series of murders happening over one night. The game plays out screen by screen; you explore the mansion and grounds, eavesdrop on conversations, and collect evidence. Time passes whether you act or not, and characters follow their own schedules, so missing a clue or arriving late can change what you discover. It’s not an easy game—you have to pay close attention, take notes, and sometimes replay sections to catch everything. Playing it feels like being inside an Agatha Christie novel where your curiosity decides how much of the story you get to see.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".