The Murder Mystery Dinner Party is sometimes referred to as an Interactive Murder Mystery. In some circles, it is known as a form of Live-Action Role Playing (LARP). We will stick with the full Murder Mystery Dinner Party expression here.

The most common form of Murder Mystery Dinner Party is the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater or Weekend Gathering. These events are generally put off by a professional production company and held a resort, restaurant or theater. Generally, guests arrive and meet several “key” guests in the crowd. These special guests are usually professional actors or comedians rehearsed in the mystery being presented. By listening and asking questions of the actors the players learn the information related to the plot.

There may be some initial action to get things rolling along. For example, after the introduction we might get an initial attempt on a suspects life. This attempt could fail but it would set the tone for who the final victim will be. If is a dinner theater style of Murder Mystery (a single evening), then a main course meal is usually served around this time. Some events may occur during the meal, but typically after the meal is finished a murder occurs. Following dinner, refreshments are served for the rest of the evening, and more of the motives and methods of the suspects are revealed. Finally, each table present at the dinner is asked to offer a solution to the murder and then the solution is explained and optionally, prizes awarded to the team with the correct solution.

NOTE: Some production companies organize the meals, location and everything, while most will accommodate you by simply showing up at a function arranged by your group. You should really contact each troupe for details on what they can provide.

The weekend Murder Mystery Dinner Party is very much the same as the dinner theater type but over a longer time span. One that I had the pleasure of watching started on a Friday evening (Halloween) with the guests gathering for drinks and being introduced to the characters. This was followed by the meal and murder. The following day introduced some new suspects and had a funeral service for the deceased. Sunday had the detective drill everyone for solutions and then the proper answer was revealed. It was really a lot of fun and a good troop of actors really made it quite enjoyable.

One nice touch for these types of Murder Mystery Dinner Parties is to have a very obnoxious detective arrive to drill the guests and really throw them into the action. I found this really cuts through any shyness which may be felt initially by some players.

One of the major benefits of these events is that it does not take a lot of planning for the guests. The only difficulty is locating an event and getting reservations.

Good for not out-going types that would rather sit back and be entertained rather than get involved in the action. This really depends on the personality of the participants. With sufficient notice the guests may dress up in a theme related to the story. While it is not possible for these guests to become killers or suspects, it is possible for them to outshine the actors in scope and quality of appearance.

Can be an economical for very small groups. A dinner evening may cost from $35 to $60 per person including the meal. A weekend may range from $100 to $500 per person (depending on the location) including food and board (some are held on trains, boats, ski lodges, etc).

The players cannot get absorbed into the action; There is no real escape. There are no opportunities to be “someone else” for an evening and act out a fantasy. The exception to this rule, of course, is the mystery with sufficient setup time. This may allow the guests to dress-up and set the mood themselves (as mentioned in Pro’s).

There is no chance of trying to fool your friends.

Very expensive for custom events (typically from $600-$4000) depending on the level of customization and the size of group. Ten to twenty dollars per player (usually > 30 players minimum) is a good costing metric.

This second type is usually for small groups that wish to host their own invitation-only party. These are generally organized by one or two people and can cater for 6 or 8 guests total. Additional guests are welcome to question the players but generally do not participate (that is, their presence is not relevant to the plot).

To start the host of the event will purchase a prepackaged Murder Mystery game from a department/hobby store. Some popular names are “Murder a la Carte” by bePuzzled and “How to Host a Murder” by Decipher Inc (in Canada sold marketed by Canada Games). Average price $40 (Canadian). Some details for US readers: Murder a la Carte is generally found in department or specialty stores, retail price $19.95. How To Host A Murder retails for $28-30, but can generally be found at Toys ‘R Us or Child World for about $22 or so.

These packages generally include the following items:

Game rules and ideas for the host (recipe ideas, ways to decorate the house on game night, etc.). This is read and implemented by the host before the party. These suggestions really should be done to create the proper atmosphere for the evening. Some hosts will skip the dinner, costumes and the invitations out of convenience (read: Lazy), but this can ruin the overall fun of the game and the temptation should be avoided.

Invitations (with envelopes) to send to the guests. The invitations usually have costume suggestions and a one or two line summary of all of the characters involved in the murder. There is also usually a summary of the setting of the story.

A CD to play on game night (to set the mood). This CD may introduce each of the characters or talk a little about the deceased.

A character script to be given to each player on game night. This booklet contains information about your character that only you know. It also has questions about other characters for you to ask. There are usually 3-4 male characters and 3-4 female characters.

Optionally, additional information like floorplans of the location of the murder, extra clues, name tags for the players, etc.

The invitations are usually mailed out in advance to inform each guest of when and where the party will take place.

On game night the guests arrive and the rules are explained by the host. The character booklets are handed out and the cassette is played. The game is usually played in a series of “scenes”. At the start of each scene each players reads a section of his/her booklet which describes information that only they know. This is followed by a collection of facts that they can pose to the other suspects. This is repeated for three to four scenes. There is usually a break after each scene, and after the second scene players may break for dinner. A game may run from an hour and a half to four hours depending on the interaction between players and the number/length of breaks between scenes.

All players must tell the truth, only the murderer can lie. The key is to be able to successfully identify the murderer, his/her motive and method and not to get accused yourself. You have to give a valid reason why you didn’t do it.

These games are really a lot of fun (with a good group of people), quick and easy to purchase and prepare, and very inexpensive.

Play it once and throw it away. You could give it away to a friend

Hard coded to six or eight players. Always three guys/three girls (or 4/4 in the eight player versions). This can make it a little difficult to customize to different groups, or to gather a group which fits the configuration. You can generally get more "versatile" mysteries from the on-line mystery vendors.

No telling what the skill level required is of the players or how much “additional” information they may be required to add impromptu.

Not much fun for non-player guests.

I only know of one of this style: Jeff Diewald's Live Action Mysteries. Jeff’s games are organized by a host (usually Jeff) and held at someone’s house, or at an appropriate location. Everyone in the scenario has a full-fledged role to play. Detailed biographies are given out at a kit party two to three weeks advance, so you have time to study your part. Everyone comes together, in costume and in character to the event. Sometime during the evening, someone murders someone else. The victim comes back as a new character, often the detective. In the remainder of the game, people will try to investigate, others will try to cover-up, and still others will continue with their business as if nothing had happened!

This sounds like an amazing system. I have not participated in any of these games, so I can’t comment on their playability. However, looking at the information available, I know I hope to try one soon. Jeff has a mini-faq available for interested persons, which can be obtained contacting him directly (see below).

The following is an extraction of some of the key points from that list:

You play a role, like the Russian ambassador or the drummer from Toxic Waste. For the duration, you dress, speak, act and live the part. You’ve got an agenda for the evening of things that you must accomplish. Some tasks are easy, some things are hard; others may be working against you. You may discover that something has completely changed your priorities.

A game may run from six to eight hours. You will be kept plenty busy during that time!

Each scenario comes with detailed packets for each character. These packets contain detailed (6-10 page) biographies for each character, a list of what the character must accomplish (or try to accomplish) at the party, a list of needed props, and general background material. In addition, there are detailed instructions on how to set up, cast, and run the party for the hosts.

There is usually a kit party two to three weeks before the actual running of the scenario. We hand out the character information then. That gives people plenty of time to learn their parts, to gather any needed costumes and props, and to resolve any questions that might come up.

These games are far more involved and richer in detail than the other games I’ve played. You really get to role play. There’s a lot of spontaneity and deviousness that is encouraged. You’ll have tales to tell for years to come.

There are stronger and weaker roles designed into the game, allowing a range of participants.

A player can also set his or her own goals; you can choose to try and solve the murder, you can choose how to accomplish that long list of difficult tasks you’ve been given.

There are always surprises, planned and unplanned.

This relies on getting a good group of players, including some strong role-players and some real hams. You need a good mix and right people for the right parts. So far, that hasn’t been a problem for us. (The material for the organizer discusses this.)

This takes a significant amount of preparation time in advance, for the organizer and the players. This takes a commitment from all involved.

You can’t do these kinds of games just anywhere. You need a place where people can mingle and where people can go to talk in private. Setting up the murder may place other demands on the location. We’ve done SDaR&R in a small apartment - but we couldn’t do TIHoD there. (Of course, a good location can add wonders to the scenario.)

The Interactive Literature Foundation is an organization dedicated to spread the gospel of live action gaming. As one of its services, the ILF maintains a Gamebank of LARPs that are free to ILF members. Two ILF Gamebank games are now available via Internet. There are some Murder Mystery type games available through the ILF.

I’ve played a fair number of the “How To Host A Murder” and “Murder a la Carte” games (can’t really remember which titles) and found them to be of a reasonably high quality. The writing is good and the production quality is excellent (especially with “a la Carte”). This section will give you a really good overview of what a standard store-bought Murder Mystery has to offer. Most of these games you can purchase from your local large-box game vendor. The premise and contents of these packages also closely mirror what you can get from most home-grown on-line Murder Mystery Game vendors/authors. (more on these later).

The majority of the following reviews are by Gail Peck for the Suspicious Characters.

How To Host A Murder ('HTHAM' from Decipher Inc.) is an 8-player game. Its outstanding feature is humor: characters’ names are puns (actually, look for lots of puns throughout), and some of the murder attempts and plots are wild and unrealistic, but pretty humorous. (Means of death can be pretty inventive but generally logical within the twisted framework of the game, i.e., no vampires.) Because of the humor, groups that aren’t necessarily trying to imitate Sherlock Holmes can still have lots of fun with one of these.

You and seven other upper-crust-types have been invited to a gathering. However, your host turns out to have been killed before the party got going, and the official-personage who told you of his death expects you to hang around and dump on each other for the rest of the evening. Guess what? no-one’s the upstanding citizen they pretend to be ... (And the host/victim is quite the dirt-bag.)

At the start of the game, players learn about themselves from the Personal Dossiers in their manuals, which includes the Facade they wish to project and the Sordid Facts they want to conceal. They then introduce themselves in character. The cassette tape is played: someone official announces the victim’s death and outlines the circumstances and details of how the body was found. The salient facts are also listed in one of the Secret Clues—the Report of Investigation. The tape generally is five to seven minutes long. (In one or two games, the tape also includes a segment played as a clue during the game, or for an epilogue, but for most games it’s only used at the start.)

There are 4 Rounds, and each works the same way: read facts about yourself and the other characters in your manual, and then in discussion reveal everything you know about the other characters and conceal as much about yourself as possible. Each player has an average of 3 clues about the others to reveal each Round. The murderer does not know that they are the guilty party until the 4th Round--*if then*. In some episodes they’re told, in others they’re not (and we’ve seen one or two games where the murderer was surprised to learn of their guilt when the solution was read).

During the Rounds, players will be directed to reveal the contents of specific Secret Clues—copies of purloined letters or important documents. There are between 6 and 9 Secret Clues per episode, so each character usually has one to reveal. After the 4th Round, everyone makes accusations, and then the Solution is read. Each manual contains part of the story, so players turn to the last page of their manuals and see which number they are. The player numbered 1 reads first, and then 2, etc. Number 8 is the guilty party. (Often, 7 and 8 will give a little impromptu “What’s My Line” “it’s-me”-“no-it’s-me” routine here.) The Solutions really fill in the details of each character’s motives and actions, so your group can see what they figured out, and what they missed.

The invitations are just black-and-white, but graphically very nice. The front has the “period invitation” your character’s received from the host/soon-to-be-victim, with a section underneath that says “You’re really invited to..” with room for place and date, etc. Inside, there’s more detail on your host, or the circumstances of the gathering, etc. There is also a paragraph about each of the characters. The costume suggestions are not in the invitation, but in the Host Guide, for the host to include or not, at their discretion. The Host Guide (in the more recent printings?) also includes a few, very minor, suggestions for scenery and atmosphere. There is a large 12”x24” or so map or floorplan of the house and/or general setting (boat, train, whatever).

Some of the menu suggestions are more complete than others, but there is typically only one recipe or two included (i.e., the main dish and perhaps a side dish). The recipes are generally pretty good—but the best feature for neophyte hosts is the timetable. This tells you when to start the entree and any mentioned side dishes, and gives you some idea of how long it’s going to take you to finish the game. Although I must say, I’ve seen more than 30 How To Host A Murder parties, and I’ve never seen a game-with-dinner take only 3 and a half hours, as their timetable suggests.

Every game contains a reference to at least one other HTHAM episode—sometimes it’s a person or a name, sometimes it’s a place. Sometimes (such as China, Rome, or Star Trek) the connections can be rather contrived. After you’ve played a few, though, it adds some fun to see someone turn up from another episode.