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June 2003, Issue #8

Table of Contents

1 News

2 Murder Mystery Game Tips: Characters in Advance

3 Featured Murder Mystery Game Review: Class of '57

4 Your Questions

1 - News

Forthcoming Games

Four games I'm aware of that are due to be released in the next few weeks:

• Happy Birthday R.J. is an interactive Dallas/Dynasty murder mystery set in the world of 1980's Texas oil barons. Happy Birthday R.J. is written by Freeform Games.
• Way out West is an interactive Wild West murder mystery written by Freeform Games.
• Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games will have a kids spy game due out shortly, and are also starting on a huge game with vampires and sorcerers for Halloween.

I'll bring you more news when I learn more.

Birthday Parties for Kids

The Birthday Party Games Lady is a site that provides downloadable mystery parties for kids of varying ages. The games include Medieval Madness, Search and Riddle and Harry Potter.

Click here to go to The Birthday Party Lady's site.

2 Murder Mystery Game Tips: Characters in Advance

In their instructions, Freeform Games (Death on the Gambia, All at Sea) recommend that the detailed character backgrounds and goals aren't handed out to your guests until they arrive that evening.

The problem with this advice is that with some games, there is actually rather alot of information to absorb. The start of the evening can therefore be fairly subdued as everyone tries to remember what they have just read.

Therefore you might wonder why Freeform Games doesn't recommend that character packets are sent out a few days in advance so that everyone can prepare for the evening. Well, there are several reasons:

• Your guests may start playing the game before the party. They may also inadvertently reveal secret information and accidentally spoil the game for the others. (If you do send out the information in advance you should make clear that they are not to talk about it before the night of your party.)
• You may find re-casting difficult if someone drops out. Say, at the last moment, a person playing the murderer drops out – you can’t just give th murderer’s character to the person playing another character – because then that person knows everything that character knows. (You might therefore want to hold back a few characters just in case there are last-minute cancellations.)
• You will have to print everything out twice as there’s a high risk of your guests forgetting their character packets.

However, it's certainly true that the game will get off to a quicker start if everyone is familiar with their characters. If you're going to do this, I would add a really strong warning, and ask everyone not to start playing until the appointed hour, as this will spoil their enjoyment and they may give away crucial secrets. I would also hold a couple of characters back (the optional ones) so that you have some flexibility should someone cancel at the last minute.

3 Featured Murder Mystery Game Review: Class of '57

Class of '57 A Killer Reunion is a murder mystery party game for 12 to 32 people. It is published by Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games, the people behind Murder at the Four Deuces.

Set at the All Saints College reunion, Class of '57 takes everyone back to a time when Elvis was King and hula-hoops were all the rage.

Class of '57 is a "freeform" or "interactive" murder mystery. Everyone has a complete character with background. It's then up to him or her how they decide to investigate the murder (or in the murderer's case, cover their tracks - yes, the murderer knows that they "dunnit" from the start).

Like most interactive murder mystery games, Class of '57 suits a buffet meal or finger food so that everyone can mingle.

At the heart of Class of '57 are six couples:

• Jenny and Johnny: Prom King and Queen - now Johnny is Mayor.
• Mary and Michael: Jenny and Johnny's best friends.
• Maria and Mark: Mark is now a successful horror author.
• Susan and Steven: voted the couple most likely to succeed.
• Linda and Lenny: rock and roll stars
• Carol and Charles: both detectives.

The other 20 characters are all optional and are taken from the two Extra Character Packets by Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games. (You can also use the optional characters with Murder at the Four Deuces.) Click here if you wish to find out more about the Extra Character Packets.

Unlike many other murder mystery games, most of the characters in Class of '57 are clean cut. This makes the game ideal for church groups and other occasions when you are wary of offending someone. Obviously there is some dubious activity - it is a murder mystery after all!

Like other Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games mysteries, Class of '57 has several suggested prizes. Some are votes on (best costume, best actor) and others are for best sleuth and most money made in the evening (all of the characters start with money that may be used for blackmail and bribery).

Class of '57 needs a host, someone to organise the game. They can play any of the characters, but it might be best if they play Mary - the character detailed in the free introductory pdf file. Alternatively, the host might choose not to play a character and just make sure that everything goes like clockwork.

Like most murder mystery games, Class of '57 can be played out over a single evening. The game itself should take no more than two or three hours, but you will need time at the beginning (for everyone to settle down) and the end (for solving the murder and prizes).

Class of '57 is available from Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games and costs $49.

Click here to discover more about Class of '57.

4 Your Questions

Some of your recent questions:

I am looking for a themed murder-mystery night. I plan to have around 50 guests and approximately 10 actors. Is there a suitable game for me?

I think you'll find that Death in them that hills, a western murder mystery set in 1880 should be what you're looking for. It comes in two versions - you'll probably want the larger version. You can find out more here: Mysteries on the Net.

I am very interested in using The Last Gasp to use as a church fundraiser. I was worried about buying the game without the consent of Murder Mystery Games Ltd. Before planning to follow through with that idea, can you please let us know if it would be all right to use The Last Gasp to raise funds?

Yes, you can use The Last Gasp to raise funds for charity or similar - as long as you explicity acknowledge Murder Mystery Games Ltd (the authors and publishers) in the publicity and any posters you use.

Can I use PayPal to buy the murder mystery games?

In general, no. A couple of the publishers accept Paypal, but most don't. They do all accept credit cards, however.

I can't open the free promo file for Class of '57. What should I do?

I've just downloaded it successfully, so the download works. However, it took a short while, so you might have to wait. (Of course, it might have been a server error when you first tried.) The other problem might be that you have an old version of Acrobat Reader - have you tried updating it?

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!