Who Done It? How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner Party
Looking for a fun theme for your next dinner party or a cool reason to get friends together? Host a unique, interactive murder mystery dinner party, inspired by the game Clue. Enlist guests to find out who killed Mr. Body -- was it Mr. Green in the study with the candlestick or Ms. Scarlett in the lounge with the gun? There’s only one way to find out!
Send out online invitations to let guests know that the game will be played during the party. You can also send a personal message to each guest with their invitation giving them a detailed description of the character they will be playing. Tell guests that they should plan to dress up in character. All of the guests (players) will be suspects of the murder of Mr. Body (a fictional character) and everyone will use clues to try and solve the crime.
It is important to keep in mind that the more guests that you have for your dinner party, the longer it will take to solve the mystery. Usually 6-10 people is an appropriate number of players for this type of game. For the number of guests that you invite to your party, there should be the same number of rooms, weapons, and characters that you include in your game. For example, if there are eight people playing the game, there should be eight rooms, eight weapons, and eight characters. Also, try to assign a character to your guests that they will feel at ease with. You want this to be a fun-filled evening where everyone feels comfortable.
The mystery is divided into rounds. During each round, the guests will receive clues that will unfold the mystery. Before guests arrive, print out clues and organize them by round and by character. It is also usually a good idea to put the clues into envelopes.
As guests begin to arrive, hand out the first round of clues as they enjoy appetizers. Each clue will contain one clue to reveal and one to conceal. The clue to reveal, they can tell to the other guests at their leisure or to whomever they choose. The clue to conceal, they should keep to themselves. If asked about this clue they should try to change the subject, but they cannot lie. Hand out the next round of clues to the guests before or during dinner.
After dinner, have all of the guests gather for the final solution round. Ask everyone who they think committed the murder, with what weapon, and in which room. Have a Top Secret envelope prepared with the solution to the murder mystery and after everyone has made their guesses, open the folder.
Enjoy Planning.
Penelope