Murder mystery game

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Murder mystery game
Murder mystery merriment at RAF Mildenhall 131025-F-DL987-126.jpg
A character in costume revealing a clue, at a live action murder mystery game
Genres Social game, Party game
Related games
Social deduction game

Murder mystery games are a genre of party games. [1] One of the players secretly plays a murderer, while other players must determine who among them is the criminal. Murder mystery games often involve actual 'murders' of guests throughout the game, or open with a 'death' and have the rest of the time devoted to investigation.

Contents

Average murder mystery games are generally played in a group, e.g. 6–20 people.

Origin

The murder mystery fiction genre began in the first half of the nineteenth century. The party game, wink murder, dates back to at least the early twentieth century and sees one player secretly selected as a murderer, being able to "kill" other players by winking at them. A killed player must count to five before "dying", and the murderer tries to avoid detection.

1937 saw the release of the first murder mystery game known as Jury Box . [2] [3] In this game, the players or jurors are given the scenario of the murder, the evidence presented by the district attorney [2] and defendant, two photographs of the crime scene, and ballot papers. After the players have made their decision as to who is guilty, the real solution is read out.

Cluedo , or Clue in North America, was the first murder mystery board game, [2] where players race to identify a killer. It was released sometime later in 1948 and has continued to be popular.

The earliest form of role-playing murder mystery games in a "How To Host" boxed format was in the 1980s. The scenarios were typically simpler than modern games, with the acting directions minimal and the games relying on the guests being comfortable ad-libbing responses to each other's questions.

In 1986, Dimitry Davidoff created the party game Mafia , where players sit in a room and a number of secret mafia members conspire to "murder" innocent players during eyes-closed night phases. This led to a genre of social deduction games where players attempt to uncover a secret subgroup.

Gameplay

Dinner party games

Modern murder mystery games for dinner parties are often structured so that each guest is equally involved. Murder Mystery Dinner Party Game Kits can take the form of scripted games or interactive games. [4] A player's preference will be driven by how they want their party to progress. Scripted Games are where a small group of people sit around a table and play a planned out Murder Mystery; whereas Interactive games are set up similar to parties, with the players having to find clues to figure out who the murderer is instead of scripts.

A newspaper article prop for a live-action murder mystery game Art Imitates Death Murder Mystery (4303238869).jpg
A newspaper article prop for a live-action murder mystery game

In scripted murder mystery games, the participants are told exactly what to say and when. They are often provided with introductory statements, questions to ask, answers to give, and occasionally some shared dialogue to break the ice. Character information often comes in booklets which are read from throughout the course of the evening, usually around a table in rounds with the sole purpose being to solve the murder. These were popular in the 1990s with the How To Host Box Games. There is no room for ad-libbing in scripted games; players may act out their character, but interactions are restricted to the information provided in the game.

In interactive murder mystery games the guests are provided with character backgrounds and confidential information. Unlike scripted games, there are many sub-plots and the goal isn't just to solve the murder. A dinner normally takes place during the party, but the guests are not restricted to sitting around a table and can move around, talking to whoever they want, when they want. They are given a license to interrogate, perform actions, or partake in activities with the other guests which will help them solve the case or accomplish their own characters' goals. Interactive games do allow for ad-libbing and allow a player to take their character in an original direction. Some games will allow the murderer to know upfront that they are the killer, and others will keep it a secret until the rest of the group is told during a solution round.

The games for 6 to 20+ players usually takes over 2–3 hours and the players use their character booklets and clues (i.e., the game contents) to delve into the background of the murder using the questions, answers, hints, evidence, and clues provided. These are all designed to elicit more and more information about the murder until the players are in a good position to suggest who they believe the guilty party is.

More often than not, hosts invite players to attend the party dressed as, and ready to play the part of, one of the suspects listed in the game scenario. The scripted game is usually played over a three-course dinner party, whereas an interactive game can be played in a mix-and-mingle style format with finger foods, a buffet, or a sit-down dinner.

Interactive games are also used in team-building environments. Companies and church groups have found them to be a good resource for fostering good communication skills and building closer relationships among individuals. Organizers of the mystery can assign roles and characters based on their knowledge of the guests.

Large group murder mystery game

An actor playing dead at a live action murder mystery game Murder-mystery-game-victim.jpg
An actor playing dead at a live action murder mystery game

Because not everyone can take a role in a large group game, the role of "suspect" is usually given to actors, who learn scripts or ad lib a performance which will gradually reveal who the murderer is to the other guests. The actors are fully "in the know" about all aspects of the case.

The remaining guests will take on the role of detective and it will be their "job" to actively solve the case by examining evidence, finding clues, following and questioning suspects.

Large group events can be run in several ways including:

Costumed players in a murder mystery Art Imitates Death Murder Mystery (4303985250).jpg
Costumed players in a murder mystery

Large group games are often played in a hired venue, a restaurant, a hotel, or at a workplace. They are often used for fundraisers, team building, and corporate events.

Live versions of murder mystery shows, in which guests attend commercial venues such as hotels as paying viewers, are sometimes classified as dinner theater or mystery dinners, rather than murder mystery games.

However, there are interactive games that were created for large groups of over 200 guests. Typically, these events are hosted like the other format of interactive games, but some characters in the game are expanded into teams to allow for everyone in the group to have a role.

Jubensha

Murder-mystery games known as jubensha (lit.'scripted murder') became popular in China in the late 2010s, where players meet around a table and read through a script to deduce who among them is the murderer. Some venues offer "immersive jubensha" games where players dress in costume, and venue staff perform the roles of non-player characters. [5] The games draw inspiration from Western murder mystery evenings. [6]

By early 2022, there were more than 30,000 jubensha venues in China. [7]

Versions

Murder mystery games come in several different versions:

Ngaio Marsh’s 1934 murder mystery A Man Lay Dead is set during a murder-mystery party in an English country house in which one of the guest is actually murdered with a dagger. [8]

In the 1973 mystery film The Last of Sheila , characters play a game where they are assigned secret roles, and which leads to a possible murder. The script was based on a murder mystery game its writer Stephen Sondheim had created for friends after college, where he "told each person to think of a way to kill one of the others over the weekend we would be spending together in the country". [9]

The 1985 comedy mystery film Clue is based on the board game of the same name. The movie follows six guests who are invited to a mansion, where they become suspects in a murder investigation. The film was released with multiple endings, offering different solutions to the crime.

The 2022 film Glass Onion opens with a technology billionaire inviting friends and influencers to a remote island to play a murder mystery game.

See also

Related Research Articles

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A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.

<i>Cluedo</i> Board game

Cluedo, known as Clue in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players that was devised in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The game was first manufactured by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom in 1949. Since then, it has been relaunched and updated several times, and it is currently owned and published by the American game and toy company Hasbro.

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Cluedo DVD Game is a deduction/murder-mystery interactive DVD movie game based on the Cluedo franchise. It was published by Hasbro and Parker Brothers in the US in 2006, and designed by Rob Daviau. Previously, the Cluedo DVD Game had been released in the UK in October 2005, shortly followed by a French edition. It supports 3-5 players, and each case runs about 60 minutes.

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Cluedo is an Australian whodunnit game show based on the British series of the same name and inspired by the 1949 board game Cluedo. It was produced by Crawford Action Time in conjunction with Nine Network. The show saw a studio audience view a dramatised scenario, then complete rounds of interrogating the six suspects on stage in character and viewing further evidence through a pre-recorded criminal investigation. Players then deduced the solution to the murder case using a trio of computer-linked electronic dials, and after the solution was revealed the first person who had locked-in this combination won a prize.

Sleuth 101 was an Australian comedy "improvisatory whodunit game show" television series, broadcast on ABC1 in 2010. The series revolves around a murder-mystery that must be solved by a celebrity guest detective. Each episode features a guest detective, four suspects, a crime scene, evidence and witness accounts - just like real detective work. The show is hosted by comedian Cal Wilson, who occasionally gives subtle hints towards the crime. Each week, the guest detective must solve the murder using his or her evidence. There are some similarities to the 1970s British series Whodunnit!, the 1990s Australian television game show Cluedo, and the 2010s British series Armchair Detectives. A second series was originally being negotiated by the ABC, but later cancelled.

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There have been two distinct mobile adaptations of the Hasbro board game Clue.

<i>Mysterium</i> (board game) 2015 board game

Mysterium is a cooperative board game designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko. It blends aspects of murder mystery games and card-based guessing games. One person plays the ghost of a murdered individual who can communicate with the other players only through a series of visions in the form of illustrated cards. The other players, who take the role of psychic mediums, must interpret these cards to identify a suspect, location, and murder weapon. Following its release, Mysterium received positive reviews. It has since received two expansions Mysterium: Hidden Signs and Mysterium: Secrets and Lies, which introduces a new card type to identify: the story.

Cluedo, known as Clue in North America, is a murder mystery-themed multimedia franchise started in 1949 with the manufacture of the Cluedo board game. The franchise has since expanded to film, television game shows, book series, computer games, board game spinoffs, a comic, a play, a musical, jigsaws, card games, and other media.

<i>The Watersdown Affair</i>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jubensha</span> Live action mystery game

Jubensha , also known as script murder games, are a Chinese genre of live action role-playing (LARP) murder mystery game. This genre became popular in China in the late 2010s and has been described as a "mix of Cluedo, Werewolf and LARP".

References

  1. Hall, Vanessa (December 15, 2022). "Host the Ultimate Whodunit With 15 Murder Mystery Games to Liven up Your Dinner Party". Parade . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Villagomez, Carissa (December 24, 2019). "The Game is Afoot: A History of Murder Mystery Games". Court Theatre . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  3. "Steamfunk Detectives: Origin of the Murder Mystery Game". 18 November 2012.
  4. "How to make your own Murder Mystery Party".
  5. Lam, Donican (25 December 2021). "Murder mystery games a hit in China but Japan missing the fun". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  6. "Chinese Gen Z's new obsession: Murder mystery games". Vogue Business. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  7. "'Too stimulating': China begins crackdown on murder mystery role-play games". South China Morning Post. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  8. "A Man Lay Dead: The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books". Time. 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  9. "... skillfully steered by Sondheim". Chicago Tribune. July 13, 1973. p. B3.