Turning a clue based murder mystery game into a large group (scripted) murder mystery
game is done commonly and is pretty straight forward. There are a few
things to do. But before I get into this, it is probably important to
understand the difference.
We have 2 kinds of murder mystery game formats: clue based and scripted. Clue
based games are designed for small parties where everyone is a suspect.
In a clue based games each guests is given clues to reveal or conceal
from the rest. In the end, everyone guesses who-dun-it. Unfortunately
this format does not work well for large group games, because it becomes
quite difficult to track all of the various clues among all of the
different characters.
CLUE BASED MURDER MYSTERY GAMES
These murder mystery
parties are generally designed for smaller, more intimate parties (12 or
less). They are ideal for dinner parties, family gatherings, birthday
parties, anniversaries and special occasions.
At the event, your
guests will come in character, as will you. The party is broken up into
round and during each round the host will casually deliver clues. Each
guest will receive a clue(s) and they will read to themselves. Most
guest will receive a clue to reveal and one to conceal. The guests
should then share their revealing clues at their leisure with whomever
they choose. At the same time, they try to conceal their secret clue.
Conceal means they try to avoid the subject or spin the topic - they CAN
NOT LIE. This process is repeated for each round. The timing is up to
you, but usually allow an hour per round.
LARGE GROUP (SCRIPTED) MYSTERIES
Our
large group game format is designed to support large parties, generally
between 15-150 guests. These games have a base cast who is fully aware
of the plot and outcome. This cast will act out the mystery providing
hints and clues to be discovered by the guests. All other guests are
detectives working to crack the case. Often the murder will occur
during the party.
These games are lightly scripted designed to
guide the cast but encourage improvisation. The cast will interact with
all guests making it fun for all.
HOW TO ADAPT A CLUE BASED MYSTERY TO A LARGE GROUP SETTING.
A
large group game requires a little more coordination, to ensure that
all guests are included and they all become aware of the key clues. So
when you convert a clue based game to a large group game you should
assemble a cast and share with them the entire print kit, then you will
need to stage out the night to ensure that the key clues are revealed to
most of the guests. Once you got the details worked out, you might want
to do a rehearsal to make sure the mystery unfolds correctly. You can
add or change character clues as you need to fit your party.
Great.
So now you have the mystery covered, now what about the other guests.
The simplest solution is just invite the rest of the guests to come as
th character of their choosing based on the theme of the party. Or you
could create a character for them. (Warning: with a lot of guests this
could be a lot of work).
Adding custom characters to your game is pretty easy. In fact often
you can do it without knowing the mystery. Here are characters you add
without knowing anything about the mystery:
An assistant character:
You could create an assistant,twin, spouse or colleague for one of the characters. If
you do this you are, in effect, turning one role into two. (You will
need to make sure that the two people like working together). Just
print two sets of clues for any character whom they are assisting and
tell the two guests to work together.
Staff
: Depending
on the setting for the murder mystery, you might be able to add an
extra character who is a servant, or a member of the staff or crew. You
could give them some simple duties such as being in charge of serving
the food and drinks. You should make sure that they have some clues,
which will require a little creativity on your part.
Creating a Custom Murder Mystery Character:
You can easily add characters to any Host-Party mystery party (On the
'Assign Guest/Cast Characters' pages click the 'Add a Custom Character'
in the
bottom row of the character list). By doing this through our site your
guest and their character will automatically be included in all mystery
party game materials and throughout the website. Your guests will not
be able to tell which characters are the base characters and which are
custom. Of course, you will likely want to add a few clues to keep this
character "in the game". It is fairly simple to come up with some clues
that relate the custom character to the murder scene. This can also be
accommodated through our site (On the 'Assign Guest/Cast Characters'
page click 'Clues' in the right column. Then click 'Add New' in the
header of the Custom Clues box
or use the 'Copy' button to copy an existing clue).
So now, you have the Mystery and Characters. There is one last thing,
The instructions. Your print kit will have instructions for a clue
based game. Not a large group party. So you will need to disregard some
of these. Just don't sweat it. The party will likely evolve in
different ways but they almost always work out in the end. Especially
when you have a cast there to help you.
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Watch a real mystery unfold as the Host-Party.com team fields their first ever Kinetics craft in the 2007 KBCO Miller Lite Kinetic Sculpture Challenge. This challenge will require each team to zigzag through a water, land and mud course while performing outlandish stunts and thwarting all forms of competition. The contest is as much about the pomp, spirit and pageantry of the contestants as it is about the winning the race... A perfect forum for our cast. Host-Party has assembled a motley crew of weekend warriors (
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