Murder Mystery Party Kit Details
Background
Your guests are going to be playing the roles of the largely dysfunctional members of the Stout family, who have gathered at their ancestral home for a family reunion, hosted by the elderly Malachai Stout. None of the Stouts have ever gotten along particularly well with each other, but the promise of a substantial inheritance has encouraged them to at least put on their friendly faces and attend Malachai Stout's occasional gatherings.
Murder!
Now, however, something awful has happened. This morning, when you came downstairs for breakfast, the door to Malachai's bedroom was ajar, and Malachai's lifeless body was crumpled upon the bed, his contorted purple features a mute testament to the fact that he had been smothered in his sleep. Further, the wall safe in Malachai's study has been opened, and the precious Stout family jewels are missing!
Solving the Mystery
The obvious course of action would be to phone the police or travel to the nearest town, but last night's storm has knocked out the phone lines, and the tremendous rain has washed out the mountain road to town. It appears that it will be up to the guests to solve the mystery of Malachai Stout's murder!
There are 8 primary characters in this game. Read the "How to Play" section for instructions on how to play this game with more than 8 people.
* = Optional character
- Grandma Winifred Stout: Stately and stern, Winifred Stout, Malachai's wife, isn't the sort of grandmother who bakes cookies for the little ones; she's more the sort to scream at them to stay off the furniture.
- Penelope Clarington: Icy cold and snobbish, Penelope Clarington, Malachai's daughter, is far more concerned with maintaining proper appearances than anything else.
- Harrison Clarington: Penelope's husband Harrison is a drunkard and a cad. He never got along with either Malachai or Winifred, and he's only here because Penelope insisted.
- Mortimer Stout: Malachai's son and eldest child, Mortimer is stuffy, conservative, and driven primarily by his own financial interests.
- Monica Stout: Mortimer's trophy wife, Monica is a bubbly, talkative, sweet-as-saccharine woman who has always done her best to stay on good terms with all of her in-laws.
- Sabrina Stout: Mortimer and Monica's only daughter, Sabrina is a spoiled-rotten college student who is more interested in partying than in anything to do with her father's side of the family.
- Uncle Edwin Stout: Malachai's brother and the black sheep of the family, Crazy Uncle Eddie was never quite right after the war. He has lived on the Stout estate with Malachai and Winifred for years, keeping almost entirely to himself.
- Sebastian Seward: Malachai's long-suffering and much-maligned butler, Mr. Seward is responsible for keeping the Stout household running smoothly and putting up with nearly endless mistreatment from Malachai and Winifred.
Extra Players
- *Investigator: If you have more than 8 players, additional players have the option of playing the role of "Investigators". In this role the players are not suspects and do not have character backgrounds but can question the suspects and try to solve the mystery along with the other players.
Our line of 30 Minute Mysteries is specially designed for fast setup and easy play, whether your playing in-person or virtually over video chat.
All you need to do is:
- Gather a group of players
- Distribute character sheets
- Follow the party guide instructions
If you're playing in person, you have the option of printing out the hosting script and character sheets, or you and your guests may view them on your electronic devices.
Best of all, the party facilitator can choose whether they join in the game and solve the mystery along with the other guests!
Playing the Game
While this mystery has 8 primary characters, it is designed to accommodate any number of additional players. See the "Expanded Game for Large Groups" section below if you have more than 8 players.
Each of the players will be assigned a character and given a character sheet that explains who or what their character is, what information their character knows, and how their character should respond to events that occur during the game.
The game will progress in rounds.
Round One will start with the party's host or hostess reading a script that explains the nature of the mystery that is afoot. After the introduction is read, each player at the table will share a piece of information from their character sheet, which will often be met by a response from another player.
Round Two begins with the host sharing a clue that should shed further light on the mystery. After the clue is revealed, the players will once again go around, providing another piece of information.
Round Three, the final round, begins with the host sharing the last clue. The players then go around the table a final time, sharing their last piece of information.
By this point, the players should have enough information to piece together a theory about who was responsible for the crime. Everyone will vote for the culprit, which the host will then reveal. Any player or couple who correctly guessed the identity of the killer is declared a winner.
From start to finish, the game typically requires half an hour to complete.
What Do I Need in Order to Play?
Our 30 Minute Mysteries are specifically designed to not require very much in the way of supplies. All you need is:
- Playing area
- In-person - Table to sit around or large playing area where the guests can sit in a circle
- Virtual - Video chat room (links to 3rd-party providers like Zoom included in game)
- A group of players (minimum 8 people)
- Access to a printer or electronic device (so you can distribute game materials)
Expanded Game For Large Groups
If you have more than 8 players, there are three ways that you can accommodate everyone:
- Investigator Role - Using this method, eight guests play the primary characters while the remainder of the guests each play the Investigator role. Players in this role are not suspects and do not have character backgrounds but can question the suspects and try to solve the mystery along with the other players.
- Teams - Each primary character can be played by 2 or more people that work together as a team. This works well if you've invited several couples to your event, but also works if you break up your guests into eight larger teams of 3 or more guests.
- Multiple Groups - If you have 16 or more guests, you can break them up into groups of 8 players and run multiple instances of the game on their own. This method is best for large events (e.g. fundraisers) where each table of people can play through the game independently. This method goes well with the Investigator method, which allows you the flexibility to add more than 8 people to any group.
Both the standard and expanded games are included with the purchase of any game kit.
This game kit includes:
- Hosting guide - Guidebook that takes you through all the steps for running the game
- Character sheets - Information sheets for eight unique characters and one generic "Investigator" character
- Name cards - Printable name cards that can be placed in front of players for in-person games (optional)
- Introductory Handout - A brief description of the game that can be sent to your guests ahead of the event (optional)
- Invitation template - Printable template that can be used to send paper invitations to your guests (optional)
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- Ownership
- more than 1 year(s)
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- more than 3 year(s)
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We also changed the 'scene of crime' from Malachai's house to an hotel and added the following extra characters:
Sarah Snatchet: Lawyer; partner in legal firm Squeezum and Snatchet, invited by Malachai to witness his new will. (She takes charge of the investigations)
Denzil Dalty: owner of the Snowdrift Mountain Hotel
Molly: Chambermaid at the hotel. (she finds the body)
Colonel Bullstrode: Guest at the hotel
Murial Bullstrode: The colonel’s downtrodden wife
Mr & Mrs ‘Smith:’ Adulterous couple having a ‘dirty weekend’ at the hotel.
Lance Fink: obnoxious ‘in-your-face’ journalist with the Daily Tabloid (invited by Malachai with the promise of a scoop)
Roxy Devenish: photographer with same paper.
Lola La Roche: Malachai’s secret mistress
Unnamed tramp: who has wandered in off the street in the hopes of scrounging a meal.
We wrote a short script for each of these characters and incorporated them into the game.
The night was a huge success. the extra characters blended in really well and as my family are all blessed with a great sense of humour some of the ad libs were hilarious.
The dining room staff were really impressed and are even considering running similar events themselves.
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ErinW 276 10 2023 04 10 2023 09:11 PM@OctogenarianD Hello Deb' your additional characters seem to be a lot of fun, I'm looking to add a few myself to accommodate my party. Would you be open to share the scripts you prepared?Best,SophieReply
- more than 2 year(s)
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- more than 2 year(s)
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We will be doing the canine follicle debacle at work. He had to be kid friendly no murder.
- Everyone brought either a bottle of wine and an appetizer to share or both. We had snacks and drank wine while we tried to determine who killed Malachai Stout.
- We had crime scene tape up with evidence markers.
- more than 2 year(s)
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- more than 2 year(s)
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- The dress-up box is a great start
- more than 2 year(s)
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Word of warning though, be cautious when setting up the packets if you don't want to know who the murderer is. I accidentally got a peak of the culprit :(
- more than 2 year(s)
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- I made Creme Brulee. Sugar, eggs, cream, vanilla. It needs to sit overnight, so it won't take up time the day of the party.
- Everyone has so much fun. It was hilarious seeing everyone take in the characters personalities
- more than 2 year(s)
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The game is very simple to play. It is only a 30 min game, but when you add your silliness, laughing, and improvise, it takes longer (so really, the longer it takes, the more fun you are having).
- Creme Brulee
- Didn't do much to set the mood. We just sat around the table, but that was enough. The game is fun in and of itself.
- more than 2 year(s)
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- more than 2 year(s)
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- more than 3 year(s)
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- more than 3 year(s)
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- Thanksgiving Dinner
- It is an annual tradition to have a game for the kids, this was the first year we had a game for the adults, so next year I will make it even bigger!
- more than 3 year(s)
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- more than 4 year(s)
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- The entire team dressed up like they were going to a very wealthy reunion. They had backdrops and props.
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Party Sound Effects
Each of our full length Mystery Party Kits* comes with its own music and sound effects to help bring the game's story to life.
Example Sound File
Download the music (included in kit) and play it as MP3's or burn it to a CD to play in your home audio system when you host the murder mystery dinner party.
*Audio not included with 30 Minute Mystery games
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