Our murder mystery games were originally written to be played with all the players meeting in person. However during Covid-19 and lockdown, more and more people are playing our games via Zoom. Three of our party games, “Bumped off at the BBQ”, “Bet on Your Life?”, “Serving up a Murder” and “Murder at Ewe Tree Hall”, all have Zoom versions which can be purchased in the online shop. For all our other games, simply change the “Order of Party” in the Hosts information pack with this:
When everyone has arrived on the Zoom call, randomly pick one of the “Murder Scenario” slips. Read it out so the people with the corresponding secret numbers know if they are the murderer or victim. The players must not reveal or indicate in any way if they have the matching secret numbers.
Introduce yourself as the host then have the players introduce themselves and read out their “character introductions” over the main Zoom call.
Split the players between three Zoom Breakout Rooms and allow them about ten minutes to mingle and discuss events using the “Conversation Starters” in their character pack. The murder victim is still alive at this point and talking with the guests. After about ten minutes, swap everyone around so that they interact with different characters. Repeat again after ten minutes and continue until all players have had a chance to interact.
At your discretion, when you feel all conversation starters have been said bring everyone back to the main Zoom room and call out for the victim to die! They should drop dead. Tell the other players that a death has occurred and reintroduce the guest that was playing the victim and any additional players as police detectives.
Read out the Preliminary Statement. Which statements you read out will depend on which numbers have been called out as the murderer. E.g. If secret number 8 is the murderer, read out the Preliminary Statement for “If 8 is the murderer”
Rotate guests back through the Zoom Breakout Rooms again as they mingle and make their own enquiries into the murder.
At your discretion, bring everyone back together and read out the Additional information statements
Guests must then make an accusation on who they think the murderer is. These accusations may be intentionally false to throw others off the scent and can be changed later.
Extra character statements are read out for any missing guests.
Rotate the guests back through the Zoom Breakout Rooms again where they mingle and make their own enquiries into the murder.
At your discretion, when you feel that the game is drawing to a close, you must call everyone back to the main Zoom room.
All players must stand up one at a time and reveal what their secret task was and how they got on. They should also say who they accused and why.
You can now reveal what happened in the murder.
Call out for the guilty party to step forward.
Email the confession to the guilty party to read out to the other guests or you can read it out yourself to save time.
The game comes to an end
For the Characters, this information replaces their “Playing the Game” Introduction:
Welcome and thank you for taking part in what is sure to be an exciting and memorable party, a Murder Mystery Party! This introduction will help explain the way the game will work. If you have any questions, please ask whoever is hosting your party. The game relies on how much you get involved, improvise and play your character. Each character has a different personality so do not be embarrassed to act out your character, the more you do, the more fun you will have.
As you arrive on the Zoom call, you can get into character at this point but do not reveal anything from this character pack. Once everyone has arrived, the host will call everyone together on the main Zoom screen. They will then randomly select a piece of folded paper which will have “? Murders ?” (The ? will be replaced by numbers which correspond to the “Secret Number” found on the next page of your character pack). So if the slip of paper says “5 Murders 7”, it means whoever has secret number 5 will be the murderer and whoever has secret number 7 will be the victim. If your number is not on the slip of paper selected, you are innocent of the crime. If you are the Victim you still get a chance to solve the murder, you just switch characters and come back as a police detective! It is important that you keep your Secret Number hidden from other players and do not reveal if the numbers selected correspond to your secret number.
To start the main part of the game, the host will ask each guest to introduce themselves over the main Zoom room to the rest of the group, using your “Character Introduction”. After everyone has been introduced, the host will then put you in one of three breakout rooms where you will then mingle with other characters and read out your conversation starters. You should treat the conversation starters as their name suggests and use them to start a conversation with other guests. After about ten minutes, the host will rotate round who is in which breakout room so that you get a chance to read out all your conversation starters to every guest and for you to hear theirs too. Remember that your characters personality should be adhered to at all times and act appropriately to whatever may happen. Above all, remember, no murder has been committed yet.
At the host’s discretion, they will call everyone back to the main Zoom room and call for the victim to drop dead. If your secret number was selected as the victim, you should now scream and fall to the floor in a dramatic fashion! The remaining characters will then be informed that a murder has taken place. You will be given details of who, when, where and how. It is then your job to work out who did it and why. The guest who was playing the victim will now return as a police detective to help solve the case. To add a bit more fun to the night, everyone also has a secret task to carry out, which is detailed later in this character pack. These tasks are not essential to solving the murder but they can and probably will confuse others and will add extra fun to the party.
After the revelation of the murder, you will mingle for a second time in the break out rooms and be rotated again as you were with your conversation starters. This time however you can ask questions of each other relating to the murder. If you are asked a question and know the answer from your own characters secret information, you must reveal it. If you know the answer from what someone else has told you, then it is your choice as to whether you want to reveal the answer or not. You need to consider your characters personality, how well you get on with the person asking the question and anything you may want from them in return. You cannot lie unless it says so in your characters personality profile, however you do not have to tell people the whole truth unless they specifically ask! You should make others work hard for the information, after all, you can guarantee that they are doing the same to you! If your character personality allows, feel free to get into arguments and start shouting with other guests during this time. Arguments are recommended as it adds more realism to the game. Remember, always stick to your personality profile and don’t do anything out of character!
After a while the host will call everyone together in the main Zoom room and reveal more information surrounding the murder. They will also ask everyone to call out the name of who they think the murderer is but not to give a reason. If you wish, you can make a false accusation to throw others of the scent. You may not want to give too much away just yet! Going by your characters personality, if you are accused, you may get angry, happy, sad, etc. You also need to be careful as other guests may end up being very uncooperative if you accuse them of murder! After that, mingling again takes place in the breakout rooms for a while longer and more questions can be asked.
When the host feels like the party is starting to come to an end, they will call everyone together for the last time. The host will ask everyone to stand up in turn and read out their secret task and how they got on with it before making their final accusations along with why they believe that person is the killer. At this point, remember to stay in character and act shocked, surprised or angry, etc. if your name is read out. The host will now reveal what conclusion the Police came to and ask the Murderer to reveal themselves! To end the game, the host will email a confession to the murderer to read out or read it out themselves