Murder Mystery Party Games

You have decided to host a murder mystery party. The invitations have been sent out, the refreshments chosen, and the decorations are prepared to be displayed. Now you need to come up with ideas to entertain the guests.

Games are a good option for most group activities. Following are some game ideas you might want to use for your murder mystery party.

The Game of Clue

Why not bring out a board game at a party? Most guests tend to get into groups anyway; so, let them form their group while playing a game.

The game is best played with at least three players and it can accommodate up to six. Each player chooses a character. There are cards representing each suspect, all of the characters whether there is a player for them or not, a weapon, and a location within the mansion.

The game set up requires that one character, one weapon, and one location be chosen at random and without being disclosed to anyone, including the person choosing the cards. These cards are then placed in an envelope and the game proceeds by moving each pawn, representing a character, based on the number rolled with the die.

With each roll, players try to enter a room so that accusations will be made. Scorecards are used to keep track of characters accused of the murder, the weapon used, and the room in which the murder took place. According to the rules, the room has to be the one the accusing party has entered.

The game continues until a player has come up with the correct suspect, weapon, and room.

If you have more than six people at the party, you may want to form teams. Team members may consult during the game, but they need to be careful not to let their accusations heard by the other players.

Murder a'la Agatha Christie

Three titles come to mind: Ten Little Indians, Murder on the Nile, and Murder on the Orient Express. All three novels were adapted for the screen. All three don't reveal the murderer, motive, and mechanics until the very end.

Provide pen and paper for all guests. Decide if each guest will work independently or if you are going to form teams. Then, show the movie allowing everyone to make notes and, if working in teams, consult with one another.

Right after the murder takes place, pause the movie and let the guests come up with their accusations and the mechanics of the murder. Who is the killer? How did he/she commit the murder? Why was the murder committed?

After all had the chance to reveal their thoughts and make their accusations, continue with the movie. You might like to have a copy of the movie or book to give to the winner, if your guests have worked independently. If it was a team effort, you may change your plan to giving homemade cookies or a small box of chocolates or other candy to the winners.

Naturally, you don't have to use these movies. Agatha Christie wrote many more novels and several have transitioned to screen. If you feel that the suggested movies have already been seen, you can choose others or you may choose a complete different author as well.

You may want to have selected titles ready and inquire of your guests on the one(s) they have yet to see.

Pieced Together Murder

This game takes the base idea from the game many of us learned when young: the first person writes the first two or three lines in a story, then folds the paper over leaving only the last line visible. The next person writes two or three more lines based only on the visible line. The game keeps going until all had the chance to write part of the story. At the end, the story is read. This could possibly be the most fun game ever invented.

For our purpose though, you will use several slips of paper. In one basket you will have the parts your guests will elaborate. You can be as specific or as vague about these parts as you choose. For example, you can have slips of paper asking for the character description of the victim; another one asking for the physical description; another one asking about what the victim was doing when he/she was murdered. Or you can just ask for a comprehensive description of the victim (who, what, where, when, and why).

At this point, depending on the numbers of guests, each person will choose, at random, just one slip of paper or several. He/she will then proceed to write that part of the story. When finished, this piece of paper will be placed in an empty container labeled accordingly.

You will need to have the same number of victim description as you have of the mechanics of the murder, of the killer, and any other part making up the story. This way you are assured complete murder mystery stories.

The containers will be labeled either by comprehensive description or by detailed description, so that the pieces of paper will be placed in the correct bin. When everyone is done with their slip(s) of paper, story time will begin.

Have one guest at the time choose one slip of paper per bin and, when all the parts to the story have been picked, he/she will begin reading this pieced together murder.

You will need at least five categories:
1. victim
2. setting
3. murder
4. killer
5. motive

The game will end when all the mystery murder stories have been read.

These are just basic ideas for a couple of games you can play and enjoy at your murder mystery party. Modifications to these games can be made based on the number of guests, age, and interests. The most important part of the party is for all to have fun.