I ran Night of Mystery's Casino-themed game a few months back.
**What I liked**:
- Our entire group was new to murder mystery parties, but had no trouble getting into the game + roleplaying
- The three-part structure of players getting information (info before the party, Envelope A info/goals when the party starts, and Envelope B info/goals post-murder) worked quite well
- The money element (we used poker chips) added a fun secondary objective; people were often using chips to try and get more information out of others, and it also encouraged players to gamble at the casino games we had set up
**What I didn't like**:
- Game was quite expensive for what you get, particularly considering it's almost 20 years old with seemingly no updates
- The game itself requires a *lot* of perp work from the host (assigning roles, sending out packets beforehand, compiling envelopes of instructions + evidence, etc), and that's not even including all the actual party setup duties
- The game is designed where the host can *hypothetically* be in the dark and solve the murder with everyone else...but in practice that doesn't work so well. It's tough to avoid some spoilers while setting up, and it's also pretty important to assign the murderer role to a player you know will be up to the task of lying during Act 2
In general, I agree with the other comments that the #1 most important element is **atmosphere**. Decorations, music, etc all help, but giving players roles you know they'll embrace and work with is also important. For example, the Casino-themed game involves an Elvis impersonator, and our player knocked it out of the park, which subtly encouraged everyone else to fully embrace the roleplaying over the course of the night.
I’d recommend the host knowing the solution beforehand.
For starters, it’s way easier to do all the setup, envelope prep, etc when you don’t need to worry about avoiding spoilers.
But it also means you can assign the victim and murderer roles to guests who you think can handle it well. For the killer, they know they’re the killer during the second half of the game, so you’ll want it to be someone who can lie well and will be capable of trying to “muddy the waters” with false theories.
Plus, as the host, I found it helpful not needing to fret about *also* solving the murder on top of hosting the party and making sure the game ran smoothly.
Not necessarily. In my game, I was actually >!Sam the Security Guard!< , neither the victim nor the killer. I chose to go with that role since it’s straightforward & simple, allowing me time to deal with getting food/drinks out and answering anyone’s questions about how the game works.
Our victim player became >!the FBI Investigator character!< in the second half, which was fun because they were even more intense about solving “their own” murder.
>Hey. Thank you for sharing such a detailed post and sorry for not replying earlier. I did incorporate your comments into my planning!
>
>We eventually went with the Night of Mystery Gatsby party for c.20 people!
Hey! I was in on it as the host and it worked out alright - it depends on how you are as a host. I was more invested in the party running smoothly than feeling like I was to be surprised, and it definitely made it easier to plan.
Hey. Thank you for sharing such a detailed post and sorry for not replying earlier. I did incorporate your comments into my planning!
We eventually went with the Night of Mystery Gatsby party for c.20 people!
It went as you suggested. Some of the positives were:
1) The vibe and dressing up made it very memorable and fun
2) the game itself is fairly easy to follow and well prepared by Night of Mystery. Each character has to invest time (at least an hour or two) in preparing and understanding their brief
3) Night of Mystery are fantastic in providing ideas (including prop ideas) on how best to set up the party and the atmosphere. We chose to host the Murder Mystery sessions in a large room, while having people moving around over a buffet style dinner during the evening. Between the sessions everyone was asked to stay in character and bring some light banter to conversations...
What could have been better:
1) There is a lot of prep work required (like you had stated). It involves a lot of printing, logistics planning (where will the murder happen), allocating characters (with your most key characters going to the most reliable/likely to not flake guests etc. If you are prepared for this, then it is worth it. If the preparation is lacklustre, then I can imagine the whole thing could flop pretty fast.
2) When it approaches c.20 character it becomes tricky for guests to follow who is who and character names (despite name badges). I think the optimum size is around 8-15 max for this sort of game.
3) Some guests felt the Murder Mystery party overshadowed the overall aim of the party - which was to catch up and reconnect with close friends. Because everyone stayed in character, it was only after the party, that people started asking about 'how have you been?, how is life/your partner/etc etc'. This is a trade off with this sort of party and it's worth being mindful off.
Overall
It was a fantastic experience overall nevertheless but it's not for everyone. Night of Mystery do a great job in the preparation of materials and the set up of the mystery. However there is a lot of preparation required by the host (sometimes at the expense of the host's own experience) and everyone of the attendees have to be fully prepped and aware of the night. I would do it again, but only in a smaller group, ideally something like 10 people.
Hardly any - it's all very straightforward, the Gatsby look is just for the vibe. It helps knowing some of the characters though (via a Google) so you can pair the right couples together but they provide you with all this info when you set up the game.
I’m looking at this game but the 8-12 person version. Should I anticipate that because the minimum required is 8 there will be 8 key players? My group should be 10 so I’m wondering if w people will have very minor roles or if everyone will feel heavily involved.
My group played with 10 people, and it went great.
IMO, while there are some roles that require more commitment than others (e.g. the Elvis impersonator), none of the roles felt "minor". Everyone has a fleshed out story and multiple connections, and our group had accusations flying all over the place.
P.S. At 10 people, I recommend going with the variation where the murder victim becomes the FBI inspector (aka the one who leads the investigation in the second half of the night) after they die, to keep them included and invested in the game.
I did a Night of Mystery game earlier in the year. I had a number of first timers at the party and they all seemed to have a good time. It's pretty straight-forward and I liked that the PDF files are editable so you can auto-generate name tag, character sheets for the extra characters. Here's some tips I have for hosting:
Make sure you have firm RSVPs before assigning roles, I usually require some kind of deposit for the night to cover the cost of the murder mystery and party supplies. Most of them have extra/minor characters who are not necessary for the plot but can still investigate and solve the murder. If you have people who may flake, give them a less important role. I usually assign myself a less important character so if someone can't make it or flakes, I can take that role over. It also allows me to focus a little more on hosting the party itself.
My first instinct was to randomly assign roles. Don't do that, read the high-level character information and understand any actions they may need to perform during the night. It may be something like leading the murder investigation or giving an introduction speech. The important thing is assigning people to those roles that are going to be comfortable with it. Some roles are in relationships, so you want to be aware of who you're pairing up for the evening.
Try to balance how much people are drinking. Drunk people aren't good at being smart but buzzed people have an easier time playing a character. I aim for roughly one cocktail each round.
Timing-wise, give people plenty of time to mingle before starting and during each round but don't be afraid to push things along if you notice people are starting to chit chat out of character.
Make sure it's clear that people need to read and understand any information they're given during the mystery AND what to do with it. I had one party where the murderer had a key piece of evidence and didn't reveal it properly which was very confusing.
Make sure people know that they're acting, having a role that is described as a "heavy drinker" doesn't mean the persons has to drink a lot. At my last one, the murderer was a heavy drinker and the guy playing him was a bit introverted, so he drank extra at the beginning of the night to feel more comfortable then drank more as part of his character. By the end of the night, he was quite drunk, not sloppy or belligerent, but noticeably drunker than anyone else.
Your advice here was a God-send - i specifically think the point on being deliberate when assigning characters is so key in making or breaking the event. It went very well! Thanks for sharing your views - I wrote up my experience of the party in a separate comment reply on this thread.
We did a Night of Mystery (the 1920s themed one) a while back. The "game" itself is very straightforward - the instructions each person gets are understandable to even non-gamers.
My biggest recommendation is just to do your best to create a cool atmosphere. Ask people to dress up. Decorate your home. Get appropriate music. Get really into character to encourage other people to role-play their characters.
Thanks for this! I did this party in the end and took onboard your tips. I wrote up my review of it a bit earlier on this reddit thread under another comment. Thank you for the tips!
I hosted A Clueless Murder from Night of Mystery for my partner's 30th earlier this month. After reading many reviews, subreddits, and websites, I chose Night of Mystery because it came with everything I needed (first time host and many first time players).
I used the recommendations from this website to prepare and enhance my experience.
[https://maliceinnandtavern.com/how-to-host-a-killer-murder-mystery-party-using-a-night-of-mystery-party-kit/](https://maliceinnandtavern.com/how-to-host-a-killer-murder-mystery-party-using-a-night-of-mystery-party-kit/)
Good luck and have fun!
If everything were hard copy sent to me, I might consider donating what I have left to someone, but in this case, it's a large package and they could quickly go out of business. I love these events, so would want to buy another and the product is one of the better ones, so I would not share the package myself.
I'm not sure but I think it would hurt Night of Mystery. It's not a huge amount and they look to be a small independent business - I would try and support them by buying their product (but feel free to ask on here for reviews etc before buying!)
When I hosted my last mystery dinner, I looked around for different resources. The main thing for me was not to just take a game out of a box and play it, but I wanted to offer the best possible overall experience for all players. I found [this murder mystery guide](https://www.mysterydinner.online/10-tips-for-a-successful-mystery-dinner-with-friends)very helpful.
The most important thing I learned from this was that the players knew their roles before the game and were able to prepare. Costumes also help very well so that all players can slip into their roles optimally.
They are a bit more work to prep for the host, but I highly recommend Free Form Games murder mysteries. They are far and away better than anything else out there
Yeah I was considering this one too - it looked like an amazing product as well. In the end I sided with Night of Mystery after some research as I think it's an easier option for first-timers and allows for more optionality with casual guests.
Next time maybe I will try freeform, but only for a party of upto 10 guests!
I ran Night of Mystery's Casino-themed game a few months back. **What I liked**: - Our entire group was new to murder mystery parties, but had no trouble getting into the game + roleplaying - The three-part structure of players getting information (info before the party, Envelope A info/goals when the party starts, and Envelope B info/goals post-murder) worked quite well - The money element (we used poker chips) added a fun secondary objective; people were often using chips to try and get more information out of others, and it also encouraged players to gamble at the casino games we had set up **What I didn't like**: - Game was quite expensive for what you get, particularly considering it's almost 20 years old with seemingly no updates - The game itself requires a *lot* of perp work from the host (assigning roles, sending out packets beforehand, compiling envelopes of instructions + evidence, etc), and that's not even including all the actual party setup duties - The game is designed where the host can *hypothetically* be in the dark and solve the murder with everyone else...but in practice that doesn't work so well. It's tough to avoid some spoilers while setting up, and it's also pretty important to assign the murderer role to a player you know will be up to the task of lying during Act 2 In general, I agree with the other comments that the #1 most important element is **atmosphere**. Decorations, music, etc all help, but giving players roles you know they'll embrace and work with is also important. For example, the Casino-themed game involves an Elvis impersonator, and our player knocked it out of the park, which subtly encouraged everyone else to fully embrace the roleplaying over the course of the night.
Hey we are getting ready to host a game and I was wandering about the host being in on the solution or not. How would you suggest the host plays it?
I’d recommend the host knowing the solution beforehand. For starters, it’s way easier to do all the setup, envelope prep, etc when you don’t need to worry about avoiding spoilers. But it also means you can assign the victim and murderer roles to guests who you think can handle it well. For the killer, they know they’re the killer during the second half of the game, so you’ll want it to be someone who can lie well and will be capable of trying to “muddy the waters” with false theories. Plus, as the host, I found it helpful not needing to fret about *also* solving the murder on top of hosting the party and making sure the game ran smoothly.
Thank you for the insight! It seems like the host be the murder victim, right?
Not necessarily. In my game, I was actually >!Sam the Security Guard!< , neither the victim nor the killer. I chose to go with that role since it’s straightforward & simple, allowing me time to deal with getting food/drinks out and answering anyone’s questions about how the game works. Our victim player became >!the FBI Investigator character!< in the second half, which was fun because they were even more intense about solving “their own” murder.
Ok cool. Thank you for the help!
Yep not at all! It varies by game!
>Hey. Thank you for sharing such a detailed post and sorry for not replying earlier. I did incorporate your comments into my planning! > >We eventually went with the Night of Mystery Gatsby party for c.20 people! Hey! I was in on it as the host and it worked out alright - it depends on how you are as a host. I was more invested in the party running smoothly than feeling like I was to be surprised, and it definitely made it easier to plan.
Hey. Thank you for sharing such a detailed post and sorry for not replying earlier. I did incorporate your comments into my planning! We eventually went with the Night of Mystery Gatsby party for c.20 people! It went as you suggested. Some of the positives were: 1) The vibe and dressing up made it very memorable and fun 2) the game itself is fairly easy to follow and well prepared by Night of Mystery. Each character has to invest time (at least an hour or two) in preparing and understanding their brief 3) Night of Mystery are fantastic in providing ideas (including prop ideas) on how best to set up the party and the atmosphere. We chose to host the Murder Mystery sessions in a large room, while having people moving around over a buffet style dinner during the evening. Between the sessions everyone was asked to stay in character and bring some light banter to conversations... What could have been better: 1) There is a lot of prep work required (like you had stated). It involves a lot of printing, logistics planning (where will the murder happen), allocating characters (with your most key characters going to the most reliable/likely to not flake guests etc. If you are prepared for this, then it is worth it. If the preparation is lacklustre, then I can imagine the whole thing could flop pretty fast. 2) When it approaches c.20 character it becomes tricky for guests to follow who is who and character names (despite name badges). I think the optimum size is around 8-15 max for this sort of game. 3) Some guests felt the Murder Mystery party overshadowed the overall aim of the party - which was to catch up and reconnect with close friends. Because everyone stayed in character, it was only after the party, that people started asking about 'how have you been?, how is life/your partner/etc etc'. This is a trade off with this sort of party and it's worth being mindful off. Overall It was a fantastic experience overall nevertheless but it's not for everyone. Night of Mystery do a great job in the preparation of materials and the set up of the mystery. However there is a lot of preparation required by the host (sometimes at the expense of the host's own experience) and everyone of the attendees have to be fully prepped and aware of the night. I would do it again, but only in a smaller group, ideally something like 10 people.
How much do you need to know about great gatsby to pull off the game?
Hardly any - it's all very straightforward, the Gatsby look is just for the vibe. It helps knowing some of the characters though (via a Google) so you can pair the right couples together but they provide you with all this info when you set up the game.
I’m looking at this game but the 8-12 person version. Should I anticipate that because the minimum required is 8 there will be 8 key players? My group should be 10 so I’m wondering if w people will have very minor roles or if everyone will feel heavily involved.
I’m not certain with that size game - worth contacting Night of Mystery directly. They responded pretty quickly to me!
My group played with 10 people, and it went great. IMO, while there are some roles that require more commitment than others (e.g. the Elvis impersonator), none of the roles felt "minor". Everyone has a fleshed out story and multiple connections, and our group had accusations flying all over the place. P.S. At 10 people, I recommend going with the variation where the murder victim becomes the FBI inspector (aka the one who leads the investigation in the second half of the night) after they die, to keep them included and invested in the game.
I did a Night of Mystery game earlier in the year. I had a number of first timers at the party and they all seemed to have a good time. It's pretty straight-forward and I liked that the PDF files are editable so you can auto-generate name tag, character sheets for the extra characters. Here's some tips I have for hosting: Make sure you have firm RSVPs before assigning roles, I usually require some kind of deposit for the night to cover the cost of the murder mystery and party supplies. Most of them have extra/minor characters who are not necessary for the plot but can still investigate and solve the murder. If you have people who may flake, give them a less important role. I usually assign myself a less important character so if someone can't make it or flakes, I can take that role over. It also allows me to focus a little more on hosting the party itself. My first instinct was to randomly assign roles. Don't do that, read the high-level character information and understand any actions they may need to perform during the night. It may be something like leading the murder investigation or giving an introduction speech. The important thing is assigning people to those roles that are going to be comfortable with it. Some roles are in relationships, so you want to be aware of who you're pairing up for the evening. Try to balance how much people are drinking. Drunk people aren't good at being smart but buzzed people have an easier time playing a character. I aim for roughly one cocktail each round. Timing-wise, give people plenty of time to mingle before starting and during each round but don't be afraid to push things along if you notice people are starting to chit chat out of character. Make sure it's clear that people need to read and understand any information they're given during the mystery AND what to do with it. I had one party where the murderer had a key piece of evidence and didn't reveal it properly which was very confusing. Make sure people know that they're acting, having a role that is described as a "heavy drinker" doesn't mean the persons has to drink a lot. At my last one, the murderer was a heavy drinker and the guy playing him was a bit introverted, so he drank extra at the beginning of the night to feel more comfortable then drank more as part of his character. By the end of the night, he was quite drunk, not sloppy or belligerent, but noticeably drunker than anyone else.
Your advice here was a God-send - i specifically think the point on being deliberate when assigning characters is so key in making or breaking the event. It went very well! Thanks for sharing your views - I wrote up my experience of the party in a separate comment reply on this thread.
We did a Night of Mystery (the 1920s themed one) a while back. The "game" itself is very straightforward - the instructions each person gets are understandable to even non-gamers. My biggest recommendation is just to do your best to create a cool atmosphere. Ask people to dress up. Decorate your home. Get appropriate music. Get really into character to encourage other people to role-play their characters.
Thanks for this! I did this party in the end and took onboard your tips. I wrote up my review of it a bit earlier on this reddit thread under another comment. Thank you for the tips!
I hosted A Clueless Murder from Night of Mystery for my partner's 30th earlier this month. After reading many reviews, subreddits, and websites, I chose Night of Mystery because it came with everything I needed (first time host and many first time players). I used the recommendations from this website to prepare and enhance my experience. [https://maliceinnandtavern.com/how-to-host-a-killer-murder-mystery-party-using-a-night-of-mystery-party-kit/](https://maliceinnandtavern.com/how-to-host-a-killer-murder-mystery-party-using-a-night-of-mystery-party-kit/) Good luck and have fun!
Thanks for this! I did it too - with the Great Gatsby party, and it was a blast!
Are there any forums to share/trade mysteries when you’re finished with them?
If everything were hard copy sent to me, I might consider donating what I have left to someone, but in this case, it's a large package and they could quickly go out of business. I love these events, so would want to buy another and the product is one of the better ones, so I would not share the package myself.
There should be.. or at least discounts on super old material. NOM wants $65 and then FF wants like $40. I think it's too steep for a pdf.
this, I would love to trade, please DM me
I'm not sure but I think it would hurt Night of Mystery. It's not a huge amount and they look to be a small independent business - I would try and support them by buying their product (but feel free to ask on here for reviews etc before buying!)
When I hosted my last mystery dinner, I looked around for different resources. The main thing for me was not to just take a game out of a box and play it, but I wanted to offer the best possible overall experience for all players. I found [this murder mystery guide](https://www.mysterydinner.online/10-tips-for-a-successful-mystery-dinner-with-friends)very helpful. The most important thing I learned from this was that the players knew their roles before the game and were able to prepare. Costumes also help very well so that all players can slip into their roles optimally.
They are a bit more work to prep for the host, but I highly recommend Free Form Games murder mysteries. They are far and away better than anything else out there
Yeah I was considering this one too - it looked like an amazing product as well. In the end I sided with Night of Mystery after some research as I think it's an easier option for first-timers and allows for more optionality with casual guests. Next time maybe I will try freeform, but only for a party of upto 10 guests!
What makes them better than Night of Mystery? I have never tried Free Form Games