Before the party, every guest receives a character with their own history, relationships, motives, and costume ideas. During the game, players follow character-specific cues and questions, uncover evidence, trade information, and attempt to determine who committed the murder—and why. The evening culminates in accusations, a vote, and the final reveal. The mystery matters, but so does the glorious chaos of watching your friends become someone else for the night.

Most of our murder mysteries are available for 12, 20, or 30 players. The 12-player version contains the essential cast and complete mystery; the larger versions expand the world with additional characters and interactions while keeping the core murder intact. Everyone gets their own character, so for the smoothest game, choose the version that most closely matches your guest list.

Yes. The host can absolutely take a character and play. You'll need to prepare and print the game materials beforehand, but as long as you avoid reading the final speeches and reveal, you can preserve the mystery for yourself and investigate alongside everyone else. The host does have a few responsibilities, but the game is designed to be co-created by the entire group.

Plan on roughly 2–3 hours for the game itself. How long the full party lasts is entirely up to you. Costumes, dinner, drinks, photos, elaborate decor, and the inevitable refusal of certain guests to break character can easily turn it into a much longer night.

Everything required to run the mystery: host instructions, party invitations, character profiles, character-specific game materials, key-character speeches, evidence, voting cards, the final reveal, and award certificates. The materials can be printed at home, while invitations and character information can also be sent digitally to your guests before the party.