Can Hollywood Lies be played in 90 minutes?
I'm interested in using Hollywood Lies for one of my middle school language arts classes. I see that the game takes approximately 3 hours, but we'll have about an hour and 20 minutes.
At most, we could do it in the evening in 90 minutes. Is it possible to speed up the game that much? We'll have around 32 kids playing.
My response:
I honestly don't know if you can play Hollywood Lies in only 90 minutes. That means cutting quite a bit out of the playing time, and doesn't allow for any introductions or wind-down (which can take some time).
Also these freeform games tend to take a bit longer with more players, so that's another reason why it might be difficult.
But that's not to say that it can't be done. If you do decide to try it, do let me know how it works either way.
Click here to learn more about Hollywood Lies.
Help - website shut down after purchasing Hollywood Lies!
by Jody
(Gold Coast, Australia)
I paid for Hollywood Lies today (Fri 27th Aug 2010) via freeformgames.com and as soon as I clicked on "get password" to download the game the website shut down.
I'm throwing a surprise 30th for my friend on Monday Night (30th Aug)and running out of time to prepare. So far I have no password and no game!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!
My response:
I've checked with Freeform Games and they tell me that they spotted that you didn't get the password email and sent it out the following morning. (So you should have it by now!)
They're looking into the problem - you should have received the email automatically.
I hope you have a great party!
Click here to learn more about Hollywood Lies.
PS - an update - it turns out that Freeform Games did get back to Jody in good time and the party was a success.
Does Hollywood Lies work with only women?
by Michelle
(Texas)
Today I purchased and am planning to do the Hollywood Lies mystery with 28 women so I have a few questions. I have read thru all of the documentation and still a little confused.
1) Do some of the characters have to be male in this mystery? If not, how do I change them? I know I can change the add on characters but it doesn't say anything about the main list.
2) I'm not sure I'm interested in having them do the movie portion - mainly because I'm not sure I'm understanding what the purpose of that is or how it plays into the main plot. Do the producers solicit people for their movies? Is that their goal per say? I am really not understanding this portion of the mystery so any help you can provide would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help and I'm really excited about doing this with the ladies.
My response:
#1 As written, four of the Hollywood Lies characters are male. The full list is on page nine of the instructions file. If you have a female-only group of players then the best thing you can do is find four of your group who are happy to cross-dress for the party. (Click here for tips on playing the opposite sex.)
Now, you could rewrite those characters to be female characters, but that affects quite a few plots that would also have to be amended - and unpicking it is likely to be quite a bit of work. But if you feel up to it, Freeform Games will let you have the MS Word files if you drop them an email. (Do that via their website!)
2 As for the movies, they're simply a lot of fun. To be honest, the solving-the-murder aspect of the game is not the main thrust of the Hollywood Lies, and I've found that a lot of people enjoy the movie-making bit just as much fun.
In terms of the producers, not only are they soliciting for their movies, but a lot of the other characters are looking to get their script made, or be signed up as actors, and so on. So it's very two-sided as the actors/writers need to decide which movie they want to be a part of and the producers need to make sure they have the right people for their movie.
Because producing movies takes up quite a bit of time, the producers don't have many other goals.
If you're not sure about the movies, you can tone them down - you certainly don't have to "act out" the movies if you don't want to.
What I suggest you do is print out the movie-making rules and show them to one of the people you're planning to invite. (Or a close friend - or a co-host if you're using one.) See what they think - and if they think it sounds like fun, then go for it!
If you have any other questions, please use the comments form below!
Click here to learn more about Hollywood Lies.
Could Hollywood Lies be played with less people?
by Lynn
(Sebring, FL,, USA)
I have the Christian group (e-mailed before about Lei'd to Rest) coming but not quite 16 people. Could I eliminate a few characters from Hollywood Lies? Or could I clean up the mistress part (would it make a big difference if they were just dating?) in Lei'd to Rest?
My response:
Hollywood Lies unfortunately has the same issue as Lei'd to Rest - one of infidelity. (It's a popular theme in murder mystery games because of the motives it can generate.)
The kid's version of Hollywood Lies calls infidelity "secretly seeing", but in any instance the theme of infidelity and adultery is no worse than you find on much prime time television. (And probably a lot tamer.)
(It's also not really possible to reduce the numbers of players in Hollywood Lies without a lot of work.)
I think you've got two options.
I suggest you have a look at my "good clean fun" murder mystery games and pick one of those.
Or, try to establish if, in your group, there are a couple of people who don't mind being cast as characters involved in a plot involving infidelity.
Click here to learn more about good glean fun murder mystery party games
All girls, no guys - Hollywood Lies
I'm doing Hollywood Lies for 18 people with all girls, three of them (including me) have offered to be guys but no one else is up to it. Can we change it to a girl part or would that just be awkward?
Also, my Dad was reading through it, he said to me "are you sure you want to do this? It seems complicated and stressful! What if nobody feels like acting like someone else?" Is putting together a murder mystery party hard?
My response:
Hi - I'm afraid some of the plots in Hollywood Lies require a mix of genders of male and female characters. With 18 people you only need 4 male characters, so you either need to persuade another girl to play a male role, or find a boy you can invite!
As for whether the game is hard or not, it's no more difficult than playing "let's pretend", and almost anyone can do that. Preparing and hosting the part does require a bit of work on the part of the host (presumably that's going to be your Dad, yes?), but my experience is that once everyone gets their costume on and into character then they'll be so busy wheeling and dealing and solving the murder that they'll have a great time.
I hope you do stick with it - it's worth it!
I hope that helps - do let me know if you've got more questions.
Click here to learn more about Hollywood Lies.