If you liked this e-zine, please to pass it on to a friend. If a friend did this, and you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting Great Murder Mystery Games.

Click here for back issues of Guilty Parties.

May 2003, Issue #7

Table of Contents

1 News

3 Your Questions

1 - News

Win a free game!

Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games have started a new competition. Send them a photo of you and your friends enjoying one of their murder mystery games, and you may win their montly photo competition. The winner gets a game of their choice! So practice your photography skills and win a free game! Click here to find out more.

Mysteries on the Net

Mysteries on the Net are a new murder mystery provider, specialising in murder mysteries for "serious sleuths". I really don't know much about them yet, but I hope to bring a review of one of their games soon. But if you can't wait for that click here to find out more.

2 Your Questions

Some of your recent questions:

We would like to hold a murder mystery teambuilding exercise - do you know of anyone who will hold one for us? (We're in Atlanta, Georgia.)

This site lists various murder mystery providers in the US and Europe: http://www.mysteryinternational.co.uk/

Failing that, you could always host your own murder mystery party...

I belong to a fundraising group for a local charity and have suggested a murder mystery evening as a fundraiser for our group. Everyone loves the idea, but while I initially thought that All at Sea would be suitable, we are expecting 60 to 80 guests. Also, some of our supporters are a bit older and while I am quite sure that some guests will participate enthusiastically, others may have more trouble with all the bits of paper.

Great idea for a fundraiser!

While All at Sea is for 33 guests, you can also use the extra character packets created by Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games. (See the reviw in Guilty Parties #004.) Other characters can just be extra passengers on the ship - you might want to write out a brief character sheet for them. They can help with solving the murder. (I have heard of one group who added a retired detective to the cast list - his entire role was to solve the murder!)

If you have guests who don't want to be heavily involved, they should play the extra passengers and just enjoy the atmosphere and solving the murder.

Thanks for your great murder mystery site. I will be hosting a 40th birthday soon and hope to throw a murder mystery party for about 18 people, most of whom will be female. I originally thought that The Last Gasp would be best, but now wonder if The Auction would be better as it runs with as few as 12 people and if I have lots of females there will be less of a demand for men. Also, some people will be in their late seventies - will they be okay? We plan on having a sit-down dinner. What do you recommend?

I would have thought that The Auction is better than The Last Gasp for the group that you mention, although you may still find that some of the women will be playing men (but I've found that for most people that doesn't matter). That's the problem with having so many women present...

The Auction is easier to costume as it is all modern day. If you prefer lots of Victorian costumes, The Last Gasp is better.

I can't really comment on the four people in their late seventies - if they're like my father (spry and quick-witted) then they should have a great time with the game.

You may find that the sit-down dinner causes some confusion, as in both games people will need to mingle and talk quietly. It shouldn't be a problem if you allow plenty of time for schemeing and plotting, but if you need everyone to be sitting throughout the evening neither game will work very well. (You can always schedule breaks between courses.)

We are holding Murder at the Four Deuces in a couple of weeks - but we need more characters. Do you have them?

You can buy additional character packets for Murder at the Four Deuces - only $10 for 10 characters. Click here for more details.

I am thinking of buying The Auction. Do they send you all the props and money - and how long does that take?

Everything for The Auction is downloaded - the game contains pictures of the props that you can stick onto card. You can, however, provide some appropriate props which will improve the atmosphere of the game.

I am looking for a murder mystery game that doesn't require much preparation - I don't have much time available to me. What games do you suggest?

None of the murder mystery games require significant preparation - you can do as much (or as little) preparation as you like. However, I have found that the more preparation I put into the game in advance (in terms of reading everything, arranging the playing area, sorting out a costume), the more memorable the party.

I am trying to find a "clean" murder game for adults: no drinking, drugs or swearing. Which game do you recommend?

While most of the games contain lots of disreputable characters with various vices, if you're looking for a "clean" game you should take a look at Class of '57 by Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games. While some of the characters are slightly shady (it is a murder mystery after all!) in general Class of '57 is the "cleanest" of all the games. I will be writing a review next issue but until then click here to go to the Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games site.

Can you sell my murder mystery games for me? I've written a couple, and I think it would be great to be able to sell them over the Internet.

All of the games on Great Murder Mystery Games are actually published by someone else - so I'm afraid I can't sell your game for you. However, you can always do it yourself.

If you want to sell your own game (or a similar product, such as an e-book), you have a couple of choices. You can either do it yourself - and there are a number of easy ways of self-publishing on the Internet, using Paypal, Clickbank or even Site Build It! (the software I use for Great Murder Mystery Games - see the link below).

Alternatively, you can try and get one of the existing publishers to accept your game for them to publish. If you're taking this route, I suggest that you research the company first. For example, Freeform Games only publish interactive style murder mystery games.

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!