Surprise party

by Ian Burton
(HM Prison Service)

I am thinking of using murder mystery as a team building exercise. Is there any scenario that would involve a random number of people arriving with no clue as to what is going to happen? I would play a part and introduce it as they arrive. Something where they do not neccassarily have roles but work together to find an answer? Not even neccassarily a murder? Its all a bit vague, sorry, any ideas??

My response:

While I think that a murder mystery game would make a great team-building exercise, I can't think of any that fit your bill exactly. Certainly it's normal for the participants to know that they're attending a murder mystery party (so that they can costume accordingly).

I'm sure it would be possible to adapt one of the games (or simply don't tell the participants what your plans are), but the real problem is the "random" nature of your guests.

All of the games have a minimum and maximum number of guests - and it's really difficult to buy the right game if you don't know who's going to turn up. (You also have to cast the essential characters to those who turn up first - I guess that's a reward for being prompt!)

If you're still interested, I suggest you look at something like The Auction or All at Sea. But remember that the games won't work exactly as you describe without a bit of tweaking.

Click here to learn more about The Auction.

Click here to learn more about All at Sea.