MYSTERY PARTY GAMES
My murder mystery party games generally take one of two forms: one where the players sit in a circle and interrogate each other, and another where they search an area for clues and assemble later to accuse one another. I started designing these games in high school and college. Most of the ones listed below were created on request after I finished graduate school. I'm currently in the process of designing new versions of these games so that they can be used for mystery weekend events, but I'm always available to design new murder mystery games and events for anyone who is interested.
OVERKILL
Game Type: Sit-down Interrogation
8+ Players
A blackmailer is shot, strangled, skewered, bludgeoned, and has his throat slit. Why kill him so many times?
Note: This game was custom-designed for a client in Boston, MA.
MYSTERY AT BLACK SQUIRREL MANOR
Game Type: Sit-down Interrogation
8+ Players
Wealthy people come from all over the world to bid on the priceless Golden Sphinx—but before the auction, the treasure is stolen, a corpse left behind in its place.
Note: This game was custom-made for a client in Washington Court House, OH, who requested a mystery with this specific title, and also that all the characters be of different nationalities. I researched dozens of countries, languages, and traditions during the creation of this game.
TONE DEATH
Game Type: Sit-down Interrogation
8+ Players
Several musicians come to audition for a high-profile gig, and one of them is crushed by a falling piano.
Note: This game was custom-made for a client in Los Alamos, NM, a retired music professor, who requested that the mystery be music-themed. I researched a great deal of music theory and history so that I could incorporate as many musical elements as possible—including a coded message based on chromatic solfege.
WHO KILLED MR. WHITE?
Game Type: Sit-down Interrogation
6+ Players
At a gathering of fans of a famous series of spy novels, one of the fans is found bludgeoned to death. As an homage to the board game Clue, the characters in the spy novels all have color-based names, and most of the suspects in the murder mystery are cosplaying as those characters.
Note: In 2012 I was hired to run this game at a bachelorette party in Los Angeles, CA.
THE SPHINX KILLER
Game Type: Wide-area Investigation
6+ Players
Several unlucky guests at a remote bed-and-breakfast find themselves trapped by a storm with the notorious Sphinx Killer, who forces potential victims to play games and solve puzzles. Anyone who plays poorly could end up as the next victim...
Note: This game was custom-designed for a client in Woodland Hills, CA, with the idea that it be done in the style of the 1993 computer game The 7th Guest. Each room had a puzzle that, if solved, could reveal information about the killer.
THE FORGETFUL KILLER
Game Type: Wide-area Investigation
7+ Players
Several people wake up to find their memories blank, their identities a mystery. The contents of their pockets don't reveal much. They're in a remote mansion, and eventually they come across a dead body. One of them must be a murderer, but with all their memories erased, not even the killer can remember committing the crime...
Note: This game has the option of placing various "weapons" around the play area, which any player can pick up. It is also possible for players to "regain" their memories; if one of those players is the murderer, the murderer is permitted to commit more "murders" with those weapons (though this is risky, as subsequent murders could be witnessed by other players...).
