Murder mystery party tips for experienced hosts

By Steve Hatherley

Have you hosted interactive murder mystery parties before and are looking for a challenge? You've come to the right place!

These articles are aimed at more experienced hosts. If this is your first game, I suggest you save this page until later.

Or if you're feeling brave, go ahead!

Tips for experienced hosts

Playing and hosting a murder mystery game: Freeform Games have designed their games to have a separate host. But what do you do if you want to play and host your party? These are my suggestions.

Combining two characters: Playing two characters can be a lot of fun for experienced players.

Surprise parties: Tips for hosting a surprise murder mystery party. (This is tricky because interactive murder mystery games often assume that you've cast everyone in advance. But how do you do that when it's a surprise?)

I’m Steve Hatherley, an experienced designer of interactive murder mystery games, creating and hosting them since the 1990s. I co-founded Freeform Games and Great Murder Mystery Games to bring this distinctive, character-driven style of game to a wider audience. My work—including Death on the Gambia, Hollywood Lies, and The Roswell Incident—has been enjoyed by thousands of players worldwide. I’ve also written a book sharing my approach to creating immersive, freeform mystery experiences.