Murder mystery game

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Murder mystery games are generally party games wherein one of the partygoers is secretly playing a murderer, and the other attendees must determine who among them is the criminal. This may involve the actual 'murders' of guests throughout the game, or may open with a 'death' and have the rest of the time devoted to investigation.

[edit] Gameplay

The setup can be simple or extremely elaborate. The Village Murder Mystery, for example, requires no setup beyond a way to randomly select the roles; however, if a party is to be built entirely around the mystery, a more elaborate setup is common.

Often a theme for the party, based around a historical era or fictional context, is used to tie things together. If the organizer of the mystery is up to the challenge, they can select roles and characters based on their knowledge of the guests; however, commercial products are available to provide the setting and roles, such as How to Host a Murder and Murder In A Box. Such commercial products are normally set up for narrow range of player numbers. A large forum of online, downloadable games are also commercially available, most of which offer some if not all games for a number of guests, ranging from 6 to 50 and 100.

[edit] Versions

Murder mystery games come in several different versions:

  • Turn-based games work by releasing information over the course of the game. As the game progresses, each character learns something new about the plot and their involvement. Each turn players are prompted to ask specific questions, or perhaps read from a script. These are popularly played around table at a dinner party.
  • Interactive murder mystery games provide players with details of their character from the start, but it is up to the character to determine how they solve the murder. Often players have other objectives – such as to be the richest player at the end of the game. Most people will have their own secrets that have nothing to do with the murder. This provides even more reasons for players to interact with each other. These games are better suited to buffets or finger food as generally everyone needs to be able to mingle and also to talk to others without being overheard. Some are done during a sit down dinner as long as time is provided afterwards for guests to move about and mingle.
  • Another variant has 8 to 10 detailed characters as suspects, each with a detailed background and story. Everyone else plays detectives trying to solve the murder. These games require the detectives to interrogate the suspects to determine the holes in their story, and are clearly focused on solving the murder.
  • Yet another implementation of the game concept is Murder Mystery Theatre, where guests pay to attend a type of live show with active audience participation; the actors play a cast of characters, one of whom is the murderer, and the audience must collaborate to work out clues from the performance, props and setting to solve the crime.

Variants may involve changing the nature of the crime (especially if younger players are involved), allowing some participants to know certain facts in advance (even the identity of the murderer), or having 'plot twists' of unexpected events to occur, to help or hinder the investigation, as needed. Games aimed at younger children may contain puzzles and problems to solve or scripts.

[edit] External links

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