My in-laws joined us for dinner on NYE 2023-24 and to spice things up I hosted a Murder Mystery game. I’ve never done this before so it was a leap of faith and everyone brought a generous spirit to it knowing it was the first time. There were 4 adults and 4 kids ranging from 7 to 13 years old.
I followed the instructions from Dennis Spielman’s Movie Murder Mystery Party.
It was a huge hit and made for a NYE we won’t forget!
After some customization this is my concise set of instructions and suggestions…
The Premise
In this murder mystery game, guests take the roles of various cast and crew members celebrating the completion of filming of their movie when the Director suddenly dies at the party. However, the paranoid Director hid magical clues. These clues reveal hints as to who committed the crime. The scavenger hunt brings a unique aspect to the classic murder mystery game. The party’s story, the movie itself, and the characters are improvised, making this game different each time it’s played with between 5 and 10 people.
Before everyone arrives on the night of the party
- Send invitees a random character (pages 6-10). Ask them to invent a name for their character
- Send them these instructions:
On your character cards there are conversation topics that you can and should insert in the evening’s discussion about the movie’s story and your characters.
But this game is all about improv and making stuff up as we go along!
Your tasks during the game:
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- Learn what you can about the other players while revealing all of the facts about yourself from your character and personality cards. If your character requires props take a few moments to gather what you need.
- Note that many of you have a motive for murdering the director.
On the night of the party
- Hide the clues (pages 12-19)[Recommendation after having played this: Do not let guests share the clues they find with others]
- The host (“The Director”) reviews all the character cards. The director will use judgement and acting to naturally prompt guests to reveal details of their character. Useful in case they forget. The director is facilitating the game as well as playing in it.
Arrival
(This is a customized narrative)
The party is in the Hollywood Hills. My kids are huge NBA fans so I weaved in the fact that Lebron James was our neighbor. Once everyone has arrived, you the Director, enters and recites this script (pompous Hollywood attitude):
“Welcome movie cast. We are all gathered here to celebrate the completion of my magnum opus, [insert movie title], directed by yours truly. As you recall we filmed the scenes in isolated bits and I stitched them together personally because as you know I’m a very avant-garde director with supernatural powers.
We finally got the marketing blurb that will tease the film
In [insert your town/neighborhood], a seemingly tranquil suburban town in California, the [insert name] family harbors a deep, dark secret. The husband and wife owners of a local pet store known for its exotic animals, are regarded as ordinary townsfolk. Their children, Alex and Lily, are typical high school students, or so it seems.
Before celebrating I want to address the morose event we all witnessed last week with our esteemed falconer on assignment from [local ranch]. I know our colleague would be satisfied in knowing his last day would be spent doing what he loved…even if it meant being impaled by his best friend’s beak in pursuit of an errant lure.
A moment of silence for our fallen friend Cliff Wingspan.
Perhaps later you can decide who amongst you with like to adopt our sharp-beaked co-star.
For now, if you could each re-introduce yourself for acknowledgment amongst your peers.
Let us now celebrate with food and drink as the details of the film’s plot will become more apparent as you mingle amongst yourselves.
At some point (after dinner is a fine time) the director suddenly falls to the floor and drops a death note.
In our game, I hand-wrote the following death note:
“I know many of you dismiss my claims of supernatural powers, but I knew that I would die tonight. However, I will not let the murderer go free, so earlier, I hid paper with my psychic impressions throughout [insert room] that will give clues as to who did or didn’t kill me. In time, my spirit will return and demand that each guest point to whom they believe murdered me in hopes the real murderer will confess. Those that guess correctly will be greatly rewarded.”
Prizes
- The Oscar for Best Actor/Actress
- Bloodhound Award: Found the most clues
- Detective Award(s) for whomever identified the murderer
- An Award For the Whoever Cooked
- The Most Confused
- Best Costume
Tips
- Do not let guests share the clues they find with others
- Our 7-year-old played and hours before the game started I pulled him aside for a “very important meeting” where I went through the character card with him and offered suggestions on how to reveal his character traits and information by giving specific suggestions. I also made sure to give him a card that did not make him the murderer. He loved the sense of spycraft and getting a private meeting beforehand. It was so cute and one of the rewarding aspects of including him even though there was a risk of him “not getting it”. It actually all worked great!
- Remind everyone to stay in character. The game is a bit like hypnosis or tarot card sessions – you need to let yourself enjoy it by keeping your overly serious, rational self at home. If you’re an unrepentant pragmatist frame this be an opportunity to work your creative, on-the-fly muscles. Surely you can see the value in that.