What host doesn’t dream of throwing a party that stays on everyone’s lips long after the night is done? Hosting a murder mystery party is a thrilling and immersive experience that will transport you and your guests to a different time and place.

In this article, I’ll go over some of the hits and misses from a recent murder mystery party I threw using a Night of Mystery party kit.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

Host a Murder Mystery Party to Remember

A murder mystery party is a type of interactive game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional story, and work together to solve a murder or other mysterious crime. If you have a group of friends who love to play board games, tabletop RPGs, or are just very social by nature, they are going to have a great time with this type of event.

Your Role as the Host

As the host of a murder mystery party, you have the opportunity to create a unique and engaging experience for your guests. You will play the role of the game master, providing clues, managing the flow of the game, and keeping everyone engaged and entertained.

The success of the party will depend on your ability to create a rich and immersive world, as well as your skills as a storyteller and facilitator. I can tell you from my experience running “Trailer Park Tragedy” by Night of Mystery that hosting a game is surprisingly easy.

I am not sponsored by Night of Mystery in any way. I had a genuinely good time using their product, and I want to share my experience!

Update: Since writing this, I’ve hosted another murder mystery party. This one was for a multi-generational group ranging in age from 9 to 72. Check out the additional considerations and adjustments I made in the article here.

First, a Primer: Common Features of a Murder Mystery Party Kit

If you’re looking for a murder mystery party kit, the search can be a little overwhelming at first. There are so many available! This is definitely a good thing, but it can be hard to know where to start. Below are some of the similarities and major differences I found amongst the most popular and highly advertised kits.

Similarities: Most Party Kits Offer Foundational Information and Printables

Most kits have the following on offer, in some form:

Player & Mystery Information

• Game Rules: These rules outline the basic structure of the game, including how to solve the mystery and what actions are allowed during the game.
• Character Overview: These printable pages contain detailed descriptions of the characters, including their background, motivations, and relationships to other characters.
• Clues or Evidence: Printable documents that contain clues. They are handed out throughout the game, providing important information for solving the mystery.
• Audio or Video Recordings: Some kits may include audio or video recordings that provide additional clues or background information.
• Solution Pages: This printable document contains the solution to the mystery and should be opened at the end of the game.

Party Setup Help

• Host Guide: This guide contains detailed instructions for hosting the game, including suggestions for decorating, menu ideas, and tips for keeping the game on track.
• Invitations: Themed invitations set the tone for the party and provide information about the game and the characters.
• Costume Suggestions: Ideas (and sometimes fun images from other parties) for creating costumes that match the provided characters.
• Prop Suggestions: Ideas for creating props and decorations that will help set the scene for the game.
• Awards: Many kits include printable awards or ideas for prizes for the best costume, best acting, or best detective work.

Differences: Major Gameplay Variances in Party Kit Offerings

The gameplay execution is where the major differences come into play. This isn’t an article that details every module available, but here’s a summary of what I found amongst different offerings, and my opinion as either a positive (+) or a negative (-) on each gameplay mechanic.

Random Victim or Murderer (-)

A few of the modules include a random component. I do not like this, because while it does allow for replay, it means the included clues are too general. It’s true that every player character should have a motive. That’s part of what makes the mystery challenging!

While this challenging mechanic is included in a randomly selected murderer, I wanted my players to be able to truly deduce the guilty character based on clues that were baked into the prewritten mystery.

Players Use Fake Money as Part of Gameplay (+)

I love this. I did not use the premade printable money that came with the module, though that would work just fine. I bought movie money from Amazon, and it looks so real! It was really fun to play with, and my players had a blast slinging it around all night.

Grab your own set of this realistic looking money (pictured below) by clicking here.

Objectives Included for Each Character (+)

This is a great addition, and most modules do have some version of this. Objectives helpf guide players throughout the night so they feel like they know what they’re doing. It keeps them from getting bored or feeling awkward.

I like that Night of Mystery has a list of objectives for before and after the murder, helping to break up the roleplaying into more structured sections for my players. The objectives also remind players of details their character knows after the murder takes place. They were specific and tailored to each character’s backstory.

Heavily Scripted Responses (-)

About half of the more popular offerings give characters exact phrases to read. This might help more novice or self-conscious roleplayers, but for my purposes it seemed very limiting. I wanted my guests to enjoy roleplaying and be creative with the character framework they were given. An exact script isn’t what I was looking for.

Night of Mystery does have a couple of pre-scripted events for the host and investigator to read to the whole group, but they are not required for the game to go smoothly. The performer can just as easily summarize the included information if needed.

Pictured above is my best friend as Bobby Rae and yours truly as the hostess. If you like these wigs, you can find Bobby Rae’s wig here, and my really excellent mullet wig here.

Advanced Game Mechanics (-)

While my group is composed of Dungeons & Dragons players who would have no problem with advanced mechanics, that’s not the kind of event I wanted to host. I didn’t want my guests to need a pencil and a clipboard, or to keep track of skills. I wanted it to be extremely rules-lite so that everyone could just relax.

The Killer is a Secret to EVERYONE (+)

Some of the party kits reveal the murderer to the guilty player at the very beginning. I don’t like this, because that player is spending the entire night on the defense, and they don’t get to participate in solving the mystery. I much prefer when both the killer and the victim are a secret to start.

In Night of Mystery, the killer knows their identity after the murder takes place. I think this is personal preference, but I removed that information because I knew that particular player would have a lot more fun trying to solve the crime than playing defense the rest of the evening. YMMV.

Why I Chose Night of Mystery

I went with Night of Mystery after about 20 hours of research on product sites, viewing demo products, and reading through party experiences on Reddit. Night of Mystery was the Goldilocks of all the available offerings. It included all the thumbs up items listed above, and none of the thumbs down options. The only thing that I can ding them for as a company, is I do wish they had more themes available. They currently have about 40 or so. Some of their competitors have almost twice as many to pick from.

I went with Night of Mystery after about 20 hours of research on product sites, viewing competitor demo products, and reading through party experiences on Reddit.

Night of Mystery Features Rundown

Night of Mystery has a pre-determined victim and killer, but they are not revealed immediately. There are clear objectives for each player during each “phase” of the evening, but not a required script.

The host guide is incredibly detailed and thorough. It includes both long- and short-form versions for pre-party prep and quick during-party reminders, respectively. It comes with a variety of printables, including fake money and decorations.

Get the Party Started

Setting Up the Murder Mystery Party Materials

The host guide included gives a very thorough walkthrough of what needs to be prepared in order to host a successful night. This includes what printed papers to stuff in which envelopes, how to label them (it includes printable labels), and how to organize them for simple execution during the party itself.

I have a lot of experience facilitating events for groups, so this part wasn’t of particular concern to me, but if you’re new to organizing an event or pacing a group through prearranged content, this guide is a great way to make sure you are successful. I found it to be very thorough and easy to follow.

Night of Mystery includes a checklist of what to prepare, as well as a bulleted list of what order to hand things out in once the party starts. This is handy to have on a clipboard as the host, just to make sure you don’t forget anything.

Give Yourself Enough Time

I foolishly believed stuffing envelopes would take, at most, an hour. Reading through and organizing the materials for the party (not including what I made separately) took about two hours. Plan accordingly.

Consider Making Your Own Prizes

Night of Mystery comes with themed, printable awards. This is a great option because if more than one person gets the correct solution to the mystery, you will have more than one smoking gun winner. I decided to assume that I even if more than one player got the answer right, PROBABLY one person would have a better explanation. I figured if it was a real tie I could always make another prize later. (Only one of my players was correct, so it worked out.)

I wanted to give my guests something tangible as winners, so we hit up the thrift store. I found a few fun-shaped glasses and put my Cricut to work, making one glass for each of the four prizes in this module. I stuffed them with candy and tissue paper and it made for a fun take home prize that cost less than $10 for all four of them.

I didn’t want any of my players to leave empty-handed, so for my guests that didn’t receive an award, I made a commemorative paper trophy out of a fun patterned cardstock. I realize it says badge; I was going to make badges and changed my mind at the last minute to make a trophy. They didn’t mind.

How are Awards… awarded?

At the end of the party, players all receive a handout to write their guess as to who the murderer is. They also include a vote for each of the available awards for that module. For the one we played, there were awards based on the best costume, best acting, and who had the most money at the end of the night. When the host goes through the answers to see who got the mystery correct, they also tally up votes for each of the prizes and compare everyone’s wealth.

Night of Mystery includes printable documents for each of these moments. The included solution sheet for the players’ guesses and votes is divided into quadrants, which I felt was too small, so I made it a full size page to give my players enough room to write comfortably.

What Went Well

The Guests Were Awesome

My players were enthusiastic, dedicated to their roles, and excited to play. We even had an “impromptu” and very dramatic marriage proposal!

The Food was Great

We planned food ahead of time. Pretty much everyone brought something, and we themed it to match the party. We ate during the first “phase” of the evening, when everyone was getting comfortable playing their character and learning how to approach their objectives.

The Mystery was Challenging, but Logical

I was surprised that only one of my players got the answer correct. The “clincher” clue was a little difficult to figure out, but one of my players nailed it.

I Modified a Mechanic: Marked Money Communicated it Well

As an additional mechanic to the game, I colored the corner of a few fake $1 bills and gave one to each player. This money did not count towards their final total, and just needed to be handed to me when they completed their objectives. They could give it to me for a fake reason (i.e. several pretended to pay rent since I was the park owner). They could also bury it inside other money when buying information from me.

In the original rules, only the victim needs to communicate to the host when they have finished their first objectives. I didn’t want that player to be suspicious of anything, so I had everyone tell me when they were done.

I think this also helped with structuring the evening, because the players knew they had to complete their objectives before we could move on.

What I’ll Do Differently the Next Time I Host a Murder Mystery Party

Clearer Expectations Up Front

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of setting expectations with a gaming group. My players handled my novice oversight here quite well, but the next time I run a party, I will be clearer on a few things up front so my guests can feel more confident and enjoy themselves more.

During the intro scene, in addition to the scripted overview included, I will explain:

• Examples of how to use the fake money in conversations
• Reiterate that the players’ secret information is just that: SECRET. Other players should be paying up to learn these things.
• An estimate of how long it will be until the next “phase” of the game. That is to say, I will give them a rough time limit to complete their first objectives. It will help keep them focused on what they need to do.

Including just a few moments of explanation would have made my players more confident in how they played throughout the night, and would have made it run just a bit more smoothly.

My Main Advice: Just Do It

If you’re excited to host a murder mystery party, you should just do it. You can read all the confidence-building prep you want, but that really only helps you to a point. Once you know all the things, and have read all the tips, it’s time to dive in! It is a lot of fun. Give it a shot! I know you can do it!

Things I Bought That Helped

Here are a few links to things I purchased or already owned which I found helpful or fun for running the game. None of these are necessary, though. You can have a great time just using the kit as-is.

Fake Money (pictured above)

Costume wigs: Bobby Rae and Lou DeVille

A Cricut for making prizes

Bright yellow “Crime Scene” tape roll

Mug Shot Photo Op Wall Hanging

Closing Thoughts

The mark of a truly great party (and host!) is one that leaves people buzzing about it for years to come. Whether you’re holding a small gathering or a large event, a murder mystery party scales well and is sure to be a hit with your guests. It’s a great way to get a group together to socialize in a low-stress setting, or build rapport within a group quickly. This makes it great for family or business gatherings!

Update: Since writing this, I’ve hosted another murder mystery party. This one was for a multi-generational group ranging in age from 9 to 72. Check out the additional considerations and adjustments I made in the article here.

Putting aside enough time to properly prepare is key. So dust off your detective hat, gather your friends, and get ready for an unforgettable night of mystery and suspense!

Have you hosted a murder mystery party, or used a different party kit? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

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