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April 2003, Issue #6

Table of Contents

1 News

2 Murder Mystery Game Tips: Extra Guests

3 Featured Murder Mystery Game Reviews: The Final Curtain

4 Your Questions

1 - News

Death on the Gambia - in German

Death on the Gambia has just been translated into German - and the other murder mystery games from Freeform Games won't be long in following!

You can find out more at www.krimispiel.net.

Extra Character Packets

In issue four of Guilty Parties I wrote a review of Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games' Extra Character Packets. I mentioned that the characters weren't tied into each game very well as they were stand-alone and designed to fit any of the games. However, someone at Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games must have been listening because the kits now include a page of secrets that can be distributed to the additional characters, making them even better value.

2 - Murder Mystery Game Tips

Extra Guests

By Mary Lee, Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games

So what do you do if you have more people attending your party then you have characters for?

At Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games we have 3 solutions to that problem.

#1: If you only need up to 20 extra characters you can buy our very affordable character supplements. We have multiple packets of 10 characters which can be used to supplement any game. They sell for $10 per packet of 10 characters. These will not be suspects as the characters are in our full games. They do not get a second sheet with secrets and so forth as these are very colorful generic characters created to allow people to still be a part of the game.

New: Our packets now come with a link to download game specific secrets that you can give to the extra characters. This will allow them even more interaction in the game then before!

We will be adding extra packets on a regular basis. Click the links below to see our current packages with a short description of the characters in it.

Character Packet #1 - Many quirky characters that will bring an element of comedy to your evening.

Character Packet #2 - These are more serious secondary characters that could be most helpful to participants of the game.

(NB - The characters packets were reviewed in issue #4 of Guilty Parties.)

#2: A second option is to have guests split into groups that play out the same game independent of each other. You would have several games going on at the same time. This actually makes for a very exciting evening. Some people have played it where they assign the same character to a table of several people. This can be okay for those games that go in rounds, but our individual group method works much better for the games that aren't scripted or done in rounds. People will still be interacting outside their group. Most especially the guests who are portraying the same character. They love to get together ask questions and come up with ideas for the character. Expect a lot of murder, mayhem & laughter at one of these.

#3: The following is written for our murder mystery games, but can most likely be adjusted to work with other games.

We have found a great way to throw a large murder mystery party that allows everyone to participate to a certain extent. You can assign the characters that come with your game to the most outgoing people in your group. These will be your suspects and the ones that will be interacting with each other the most. Everyone else can still participate though.

Give all the guests game money. They will watch, eavesdrop, question suspects and look at evidence. They can use the money to try to buy information or sell any they come across to other guests. This helps get everyone into the spirit of the game. At the end of the evening they will fill out their Guess Solution Sheets naming the person they think committed the dastardly crime. If they have been really sneaky they might also end up as the wealthiest player!

It is the little things like this that make everyone feel involved in the evening. This method also gives guests the opportunity to get as involved as their personality allows. Some like to just sit back and watch the action. Others really get into the wheeling and dealing. Some will leave no stone unturned to find out who the culprit is.

For larger groups I would suggest offering prizes or certificates to the top 5 or 10 Wealthiest Players at the end of the evening. I would also suggest the same amount of awards for the Best Costume, if you are having a theme party.

There is no reason that you should not have a great murder mystery party, just because you don't have enough characters to go around.

3 - Featured Murder Mystery Game Review

The Final Curtain

The Final Curtain is an interactive murder mystery game for 6 to 13 guests from Murder Mystery Games Ltd. (This is something of a departure for Murder Mystery Games as their other interactive games are for 14 to 40. It's a pleasant change - finding 6-13 other people is usually much easier than 14-40!)

The Final Curtain is set in 1926 and takes place in the normally sleepy world of the Littledean Theatre Company. During a performance of "The Final Curtain" Vincent Royle, the leading man is murdered in front of a horrified audience. The following night the cast and crew assemble to toast Vincent's memory - and also to answer the questions posed by Inspector Blewitt.

Unlike The Auction and The Last Gasp, during this game everyone has two character envelopes to open - one at the start of the game, and then part way through, shortly after someone else is murdered. (But don't worry - the person playing that character then plays another character.)

The Final Curtain does have some nice moments - as mentioned above one of the characters is murdered (and they can make that as dramatic as they like!), plus a scene from the play can be acted out.

As with Cudham Riding Club, the person hosting The Final Curtain has to organise the game. They also have a role to play - the manager and owner of the Littledown Theatre. Again, the name of the murderer is mentioned only on the murderer's character sheet and in the solution, so the host can still join in the fun as long as they don't read the character sheets. (A warning though: it's quite tricky when you're putting everything in the envelopes not to accidentally find out - so be careful!)

As with other freeform murder mystery games, The Final Curtain suits a buffet meal or finger food (rather than a sit-down meal) so that everyone can talk quietly with each other. (The timetable for the game assumes that you're having three courses, but you can amend that to suit your party.)

The Final Curtain is available from Murder Mystery Games and costs £24.99.

For more information, click here to download the free introductory pdf file which includes more details - including background, a full cast list, costume guide, invitations and how to pay. (The file is 1.2MB, so it may take a few moments to download.)

4 Your Questions

Some of your recent questions:

Is Murder at the Four Deuces suitable for 11 people? Also, is it suitable for a team-based event?

Murder at the Four Deuces needs 12 people, minimum. As you've only got 11, I would pick The Final Curtain or Death on the Gambia.

I wouldn't say that murder mystery games are particularly suitable as team-based events, as they are filled with conniving, self-centred characters ready to backstab their way to success. But they should make great team-bonding exercises!

I'm looking for a murder mystery game which is for four or five people - and preferably set in the 1920's.

Sorry, the smallest game I'm aware of is Farthingay Manor, which is for 6 people. If you have fewer than that there aren't enough suspects to make it interesting!

That's it for this time. Have a great party - and tell me all about it!

--steve

Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this zine and tell me what you think!