How to Host a Murder

People new to hosting a murder mystery game, often ask how to host a murder mystery.

The following are general flow instructions for most Host-Party.com murder mystery games. The actual flow may vary slightly from mystery game to mystery game. Please consult the Host Instructions and Game Materials Print Kit for specifics on your game.

Before the game, print out the clues and organize them by round and character (for a touch of class you can cut place each clue into an envelope).

Your guests should come in character, as should you. They will socialize during ice breaker games or appetizers. During this time you will casually deliver the first round of clues. Each guest will receive a clue and they will read this to themselves. Most guest will receive a clue to reveal and one to conceal for each round. 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 - but they CAN NOT LIE. This process is repeated for each round. The timing is up to you, but usually allow 30 minutes to an hour per round.

Breaking out of character to spend a few minutes to review these ground rules is not a bad idea for people new to murder mysteries, but be sure that it is brief and at the beginning. After that don't look back and stay in character, even when tempted to break out to clear up some confusion. The confusion will pass and it is better to keep the fluidity of the event then to clarify every point. Most of our murder mystery games are built more for entertainment, than for serious gumshoe work. Having a good setting and a charismatic group is all you need.

Solution Round: After dinner, you will want to invite everyone to gather around to reveal the solution. First ask everyone who they think did it, how and why. Then have each guest read their clue out loud in order of clue number. This approach varies slightly from game to game, so be sure to read the solution instructions.