So, it turns out not everyone knows what a murder mystery
party even is. This came as a surprise to me because it feels like I've always
known about them. But after some thinking, I realized that might just be
because when I was a kid I found a catalogue with listings for fifteen
different themed murder mystery parties. I was the kind of kid who would read
the descriptions and try to imagine the plots from that alone. So, I guess I
have an unusually long familiarity with the concept.
Anyway, for the benefit of those who have never attended
such an event, let me give a little explanation. If you are already familiar
with these parties, feel free to come back next time when I start sharing the
story of how I come to be writing one.
A murder mystery party is partway between a party, a LARP
session, a game of Clue, and community theater. (Don't let that scare you off)
There are a few ways to do them, but typically the guests at the party are assigned
to the roles of the different characters in the story. At some point a mystery
occurs (almost always murder) and the players have to work together to find out
who committed the crime. Pretty straightforward, though the plots themselves
are often anything but.
I've been to several of these games over the years (I
didn't just figure this out by looking at advertising) and
there are some variations. For example, some games have dedicated actors as the
suspects: players interview the actors to solve the mystery without assuming
any roles of their own. Another variation can be to have multiple crimes
occurring over the course of the game. Some games will do a theft as their
main crime, rather than a murder—especially if the game is made for younger
audiences. Some games lean less into the social interaction side of gameplay
and focus more on solving puzzles with physical clues or even bring in escape
room elements. Sometimes the host is able to play, sometimes the host is just
facilitating, and I’ve even seen a game where the host plays as the ghost of
the murder victim.
A lot of fun with these events comes from theme. The
mysteries are usually set in a particular time period or other themed setting.
Prohibition-era 1920s speakeasies seem to be a particularly popular theme, but
you also see themes like the Medieval Era, the 1980s, a Victorian manor house, Ancient
Greece, etc. Players will typically come in costume. So, in addition to
the mystery solving aspect of the game, a big part is getting to pay dress up
and pretend to be a larger-than-life character living in a different place and
time. Of course, the costumes and décor run the gamut from minimalism (no one
dresses up or decorates), to scrappy (everyone comes up with costumes with what
they already have in their closets and the decorations are all homemade) to perfectionism
(Historically accurate costumes are made or bought or rented, the party is
hosted in a space that already matches the theme).
The games tend to last between 2-4 hours, depending on how twisty
the plot is and how many players there are. These tend to be fun weekend
events. Because so much of the game is based on social interaction, it can also
be a great way for friends and family to get to know each other better (even if
they’re spending the event pretending to be someone else). And it’s always very
satisfying when you manage to correctly solve the mystery; you get to feel a real-life
Poirot or Nancy Drew (or whichever fictional sleuth you prefer).
The best way to understand a murder mystery party is to play
one, but I hope this explanation is helpful. Next time I want to talk about why
I started writing one myself—and, what the process is to make a murder mystery
party looks like. But that’s a story for another time.
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