Why a *Steampunk* Murder Mystery party?

The Steampunk subculture has intrigued me since college; like a lot of people, I was first introduced to the idea by the long running Girl Genius comic. It's an idea that appeals to me: a mix of history, fantasy, science, and fashion. Steampunk is all about anachronisms: about putting old things together in new ways. I love that. 

Do I still need to explain what Steampunk is? I feel like it's much more familiar than it used to be, but the short version is creations (stories, art, fashion, contraptions) that play with the  culture and scientific understanding of the Victorian era—or really anything from the 1800s. The rules aren't terribly strict, and there is plenty of overlap with other genres. But you tend to see a lot of steam powered devices, corsets and top hats, airships and automatons. And it's really, really fun. Maybe sometime I'll write some more about it; there's a lot that can be said just exploring and explaining the genre. 

During 2020 I, like most humans, found myself with a lot less social interaction than I wanted. In the middle of doom scrolling on Facebook I stumbled across an interesting group; The Utah Steampunk Society. That alone piqued my interest, but then I saw they were currently doing a card exchange. Steampunk vibes and human interaction? I signed up immediately. 

And I am so glad I did! After a few mailed interactions I was finally able to meet the other society members in person, and I've found them a welcoming group of friends who are all as weird as I am. Besides the others being wonderful people, it's also a fun club to be in. We race RC cars with teapots, discuss Jules Verne, make crafts, and wear costumes in public. It's a blast.

Now, because of the Society, I learned of and attended a steampunk themed event a couple of years ago. Kind of an interactive theatre event, where you could pay extra to have your character included in the story. I was quite excited and put a lot of time and effort into my costume:

Meet my fairy engineer character

I will say this: I had a great time. Also, I won a tiny skull in a jar in the costume contest. What night isn't improved by something like that?

However, the event had some significant flaws. Which is why I'm not giving any identifying information about it. I was one of the people who paid extra to have my character "written into the story"; but that didn't actually happen. The world-building information we were given in advance was largely ignored at the actual event. The story itself had some plot holes; they were intended, I think, to sew seeds for a sequel event but they mostly just left guests confused. The actors all did an amazing job; they had great costumes and played their roles well. But the guests did not get the promised power to change the outcome of the events. And marketing failed to make it clear that this event was adult rated, something I only learned when the burlesque dancer came out. I'm not the only guest who got really uncomfortable really fast.

Later on I had a good chat with the other Society members who had attended the event, dissecting what had gone right or wrong and why. This got me thinking—what if I'd been the one running the event? What would I have done differently? 

For that matter, what could I still do differently?

An interactive experience where the guest characters all mattered, where the story was self contained but hinted at a larger world, and where the information about that world was relevant and useful.

Well, obviously it had to be a murder mystery party. 

The Steampunk Society was very supportive when I asked if I could try writing and hosting such an event. I spent a few months on the project; it was my first time writing one of these and I had a lot to figure out. But I had one goal in particular: I wanted every character to be fun to play. After all, the guests were going to be my friends, and I didn't want any of them to feel left out or let down. 

I hosted the event last September. I certainly made mistakes. There were clues that didn't make it to the right people, a bunch of the character packets were incomplete, and I had some issues with the audio. But in spite of this, the event was a huge success! Everyone had a great time, and they successfully solved the mystery. Watching the players interact in character was a delight, and I loved seeing everyone discover the twists and turns of the story. Several people said they would have been willing to pay to attend a party like it.

Which got me thinking again.

So that brings me to the present. I'm planning another murder mystery party for the society this fall--going for more of an American vibe but taking place in the same world--but I also want to see if people really will pay for this game I wrote. So I'm currently in the process of editing my murder mystery party—"Death in the Skies!"—fixing the problems and writing instructions that someone else could use. I've been making good progress; I'm actually hosting a beta test next week, to make sure all of my updates and changes work. This process keeps taking longer than I think it will, but the hope is that soon (in a few weeks or in a few months) I'll be able to open an Etsy shop and try to sell the game. If I actually pull this off, I'd like to try writing and selling other murder mystery parties. There are a few very successful online shops doing just that, so it seems possible. Even if I only sell two copies, though, it'd still be more money than I've ever made from writing before. 

But even if I don't make any sales, I'm having a good time. The story is fun, the characters are fun, and creating this world is fun. I'm enjoying the graphic design parts of the process, and all the problem solving that is part of making a complicated project like this. I've definitely been learning a lot! It's not quite the direction I would have expected to go to try to start a writing career: but I'm excited to see where this path will lead me.