I always wanted to attend a murder mystery party but unfortunately the opportunity never presented itself. On my 26th birthday I decided that if I ever wanted to go to a murder mystery party, I had to make it happen. I had tremendous fun searching for the party I wanted to host from among the hundreds, even thousands, of the party packs that are available. Party packs can be bought at toy, game, and party shops. You can also usually find them in second hand charity shops or being sold second hand on the internet. You can buy them on eBay and there are many e-commerce stores dedicated strictly to murder mystery games. You select whatever interests you. Games can be for four up to forty players. However, I recommended keeping it simple by limiting it to 8 to 12 participants. You need to invite a good group of people that are willing to dress up and get into character. I am fortunate enough to have several exciting family members and friends who are willing to get into the game wholeheartedly.
Once you have the game selected and a bunch of people in mind it is time to get creative. The first priority is to check to see if everyone is free and set the party date. Next you need to assign characters to each party member and send them an information pack regarding their game role. The game instructions will tell you exactly what you need to do and in what order. What you send out or give to each person will just be an invitation and a character description which tells them a characters background and offers costume suggestions. I remember when I hosted my first party my guests got so excited when they received their party invitation. Most people have never attended a party like that before and are keen to try something new.
The next part is to plan, plan, plan. I happen to like organising and love cooking so I thoroughly enjoy hosting parties and put on grand events each time. My first party was a Titanic theme and I served a twelve course meal! I did some research and found an actual menu from the Titanic and based my menu around it. I researched etiquette from that time and wrote a list of rules to give to each passenger. I also found some music from that era and played it in the background. It is the little details that make the experience more authentic and enjoyable. To save some on the party expenses, I asked each guest to bring red wine, champagne, or port. For my second party, the theme was Alice in Wonderland. Instead of serving a meal, I opted to serve theme appropriate fairy bread, sandwiches, tarts, cakes, cookies, and pies. For my party, I made everything from scratch, but you don’t have to go to that much trouble unless you just feel like it. One option that works well is to ask each guest to bring a dish or dessert. Just use whatever system works best for you. Hiring a costume for the event can be costly, so to help with a tight budget guests can borrow a costume, shop at a charity store, or create something from clothing they already own.
Game instructions are usually very detailed, and they will even show you how to create dialogue pamphlets for each character. There are also clues and evidence for the party and the solution (which should be put in a sealed envelope and hidden). All you need to do is follow the party pack instructions and enjoy yourself at the event. Make sure the game that you have selected is age appropriate. If kids or teenagers are coming then you might need to choose a younger game. For my parties, I chose games for adult age members and they were a lot of fun but also scandalous!
There are numerous reasons why murder mystery parties are so much fun. It is nice to dress up in costume. It is exciting to play the role of someone else. It is great to be surrounded by fun and interesting people. It is also really enjoyable to drink great wine and eat delicious food. It is fun to put your brain to work to analyze the clues and solve the murder mystery. Your guests will walk away from the party raving about what a good time they had and you will probably feel a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you made it happen!