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Questions about Murder/Mystery Games

22 years ago

Please tell me more about Murder/Mystery Games (apparently they haven't hit our area yet). I assume you may have people over for dinner, assign roles and then what?

Do you need costumes, lots of space, props? Would non-outgoing people enjoy it, or would they feel put on the spot? Where do you get the games? Are there any that teens or young adults would enjoy...for perhaps a family get to gether?

Thanks for the info.

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Comments (9)

lindac
22 years ago
The ones I have seen come in a "kit"....a box with the tape, the number and names of guests, suggested meny and sometimes "clues" to be found.
You invite people to fill the "cast list"...it's more fun if they come in costume, then play the tape....which is the scenario set up....it tells when to break for cocktails etc ( it definitly goes better with a little alcoholic beverage!)...The hostess may plant a clue or 2 ( like a handkerchief and the guests must find out who's it is)....periodically the tape stops so the guests can question each other as to where they were when the murder happened or what their relationship is with the deceased......
And eventually someone realizes "whodonnit"....
It's fun....but you need guests who will be with the program....or it'll fall flat.
Linda C
kelo
22 years ago
My parents did two "How to Host a Murder" games when I was a teenager. They seemed like soooo much fun. Everyone came all dressed in character and some people used the appropriate accents throughout. They really got into it. There were about 12 people total. Dinner was all part of the game. One of the games was an 'Arabian Nights' theme. I remember my parents pitched a mock 'tent' over the dining room table made of sheets. For the other murder mystery night which took place in England, I got to be the 'hostess'. I think I was 14 or 15 at the time. I wore the classic british-maid outfit, served the food, and spoke in a british accent. I think everyone had a blast. I can't wait to throw my own now that I'm getting married and have my own place!
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Maggie, There are several companies that make the murder mystery parties. I like Murders by Vincent, BePuzzeled, or a la carte. They seem to be the easiest to use. They come with complete instructions on what and when to do things. The last one I did was called Chinese Takeout(I got it on ebay) and I did just like it said. I got chinese takeout. I sent a menu from the local chinese restaraunt and everyone told me what they wanted. I got lunch portions because they are large enough for dinner. I prepared the appetizers except for the egg rolls they were included in lunch. For desert I served bananas and strawberries with strawberry gel on top and brownies just like at our local chinese buffet. Once I decided what game I wanted to play I looked over the suspects and assigned charactures from there. When you send out the invitations you let each person know who they are and the invitations have a brief descritption of each character and what they would dress like, along with a story line giving city, year that kind of stuff. Your guests do not HAVE to dress in character but it does make it more fun. My husband was the chef, so we borrowed a chefs jacket and I was the long lost daughter of the woman who was murdered. My character was very excentric and didnt like things that matched...how easy was that. When the guests arrived as appitizers are being served with coctails everyone is given a script ( almost like a little brouchure). It tells you more about your character and tells you how to play the game. Normally in part 1 that is done over appetizers and it will tell you what to disclose and what not to tell, it will also guide you to ask questions of other people there. If everyone is new and has never played this before it does not hurt to ask if everyone has told everything they need to before you go to the next part ( or Act) and course throughout dinner. I normally try to do appitizer, dinner, dessert & coffee. Just remember that if you do one of these, that if everyone you invited does not show up ...you cant play unless they are a non suspect. The game we are doing on newyears eve I have one guest that is very very shy and wants to come but is not real sure how much they will participate so I am making him a non suspect that way he will participate as much as he wants. The best part of these parties is the party favors......I love that part. I found some small wedding photo albums at the $ store and bubbles, and with elvis being there I also had to get the new reese cups that have peanut butter and banana and a picture of Elvis on the front...I hope I didnt go on to long and I hope this was not too confusing...its been a long day and if I didnt answer all you questions let me know. Oh one thing I forgot you can buy these games at target they are about 25.00 but if you "WIN" (that makes me crazy) one ebay they are usually pretty reasonable. Donna
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kelo
22 years ago
p.s. Bizzybee, I'm not sure where you are from, but in our area, Barnes and Noble carries "How to Host a Murder" games. I'm sure there are other kinds out there. Perhaps you live by a Barnes and Noble?
SamsGramm
22 years ago
I have hosted a couple of these parties (kits in a box) and had a great time. We also adapted one to a dinner theater setting and did it for our church's couples group. The actors semi-memorized their parts and an MC asked them questions regarding the night of the murder. The guests were served dinner, and then after mingling with the "suspects" voted on who they thought was the murderer. It went over very well, and the actors all had a ball. Some people love to have a chance to be in front of a crowd.
klmansur
22 years ago
I got mine from Tailor Made Mysteries which has an amazing selection of adult or family mysteries, not all "murders". They'll even write one for you. They have all different themes for all ages and group sizes.

I did one last year for my dad's 60th, "Cocktails at Graveside" it was called. Everyone came in costume and really had a great time. I didn't go crazy decoarting, but you can - the more you get into though, the more fun you have!

Try it.
coolbaby
21 years ago
I have done many of these interactive murder mystery games. Some are very good and some can ruin a party. There are a few things to look for...
Â Scripts to read are a party staller
Â Murder that takes place at party is more fun
Â Games that come with money and secrets are always great as they allow for blackmailing, extortion etc... by the guests.
Â Games where your only agenda is to solve the murder are pretty boring. You need sub plots going on to make them fun.
Â Well crafted characters are important. If a games character is listed in a few lines then it is a bad game.

With a good game your party will be talked about for months to come and everyone will want to know when you will be having another one!

the boxed sets can be fun, but there are others out there that are 10 times the fun of those. We played a Tailormademysteries game once and it was not fun at all. I would not recommend them. Here are the 2 game suppliers I would recommend that were a success at our parties. Both suppliers games are downloaded from the internet after purchase.

Murder Mystery Games - http://www.murdermysterygames.co.uk/
Games for up to 200 players. These were a lot of fun to play, but the 2 we played both had drug themes which we did not care for, but they were still very well written and everyone had a good time in spite of that.

The newest we found that was a whole lot of fun was from Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games - http://www.dinnerandamurder.com/scripts/
The game was a 1920's gangster game for 12-20 people. It really was a blast. They say they will be adding new games every month and plan on doing some kids and teen games in the near future, so if anyone enjoys these I would keep my eye on them.

Both sites have a newsletter you can sign up for to be notified of new games when they come out.

Hope this helps!
mysterymaiden
17 years ago
If you want to get murder mystery games online, check out Shot In The Dark Mystery Games - they also have Host Help articles and quizzes. www.shotinthedarkmysteries.com
cuffs054
17 years ago
This sounds like fun! Google has lots of sites but some of it is confusing. Can anyone offer some "real death" suggetions?
Joanne Smedley
9 years ago
There are absolutely LOADS of murder mystery games out there on the internet these days. Some are easier to host than others. You need to decide if you want "easy hosting" or "hard hosting" and if you're looking for something where the guests get everything given to them so they don't have to think on their feet, or just a back story and leave them to be complete sleuths. The latter works better for people who love ad libbing and have an Am Dram flair, but certainly aren't for the faint hearted. Freeform games are one of the firms who specialize in the back story only plots. I've never hosted one of theirs - took a look and decided most of my friends wouldn't cope with something so free flowing. Most of my friends like something more scripted. I'd suggest shopping around to see what you like the look of best. There's a complete listing of firms on a number of websites dmoz being one, and EntsWeb another - I use Red Herring Games myself. You can either download them instantly or have them printed and sent to you.
http://www.red-herring-games.com

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