We had fun with this. We turned my Mother-in-Law's house into a speakeasy with red lights and candles and lots of feather boas, etc. Everyone drank their gin cocktails out of tea cups and their beers out of paper bags labelled "definitely NOT beer," and we had a potluck of 1920's foods. Everyone really got in the spirit and dressed their parts and it was pretty fun. No one guessed the murderer. My biggest criticism is that the game suggested using the characters Tim & Claire for 8 people when Heidi and Bart would have been better (they have better motives and interact more with the other characters). All in all, though, I think everyone had a blast.
I think the game overall is great. We enjoyed the role playing, acting and interactions with each characters. My friends and I dressed up and we laughed a lot throughout the whole game which is good. However, since we are do not have enough people to fill up the rest of the "side characters". It's funny that sometimes we talked to the air or reveal the clue without a real person exists. Besides, the fingerprint anaylzer was fun and interesting but we can't figure out how to read it properly. It needs more explanation perhaps. Finally, almost all of us could not guess more than half of the trivia questions. Maybe we need to study well before the game lol! :)
Finally, would like to say it's fun and keep it up. We will definitely play another game again.
This game was fun but did not take nearly the 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours it was marketed as requiring. In fact, the 8 girls (12 years old) were fully participating and having fun with it but it took only 35 minutes to play out. Disappointing as I had to scurry around to fill them time with other things.
The game was one of the best! I have hosted a murder mystery each New Years at my home and this one was probably the most fun. It seemed to flow very well. The gift exchange with "trashy" gifts was a huge hit. My guests came up with some really clever ideas, like a taking fish, a used cap, old calender and shoe polish for the everything that needs to look new. Thank you Host-Party, Mary
To make this successful, you need to prepare, prepare, prepare. The materials are duplicated and confusing (including typos) so you have to do your homework to be sure you have all the material, correct and ready for the party. The cards are written in the third person so the girls were sometimes confused). We numbered the cards so the conversation would flow and that helped. We made all the props and had a crime scene (with crime tape and body outline), took mug shots and fingerprints, had an unknown detective interrogate, notebooks and pens for the girls, BHLA sign with school crest at the door and on the menu. Dining room was the Academy's Headmaster's private dining room and parents were the staff (Butler and Chef). All in all it was a lot of fun and the girls said it was the best party ever. However it takes a lot of preparation and commitment from the parents!
Had a group of 14 people for a New Years party. Everyone had a great time. It was a fun way to begin the night! We chose Murder in Margaritaville and got lots of laughs seeing each other dressed for our parts. We would definitely do this again.
Great fun! We really had a good time! This is our second host-party game and it was as much fun as the first time. It gives flexibility to play with things by having the print options.
Jo - Boulder Creek, CA
Sunday, January 01, 2012 A Holiday Murder
Great game! We had a blast!
Lauren a. - 2146 Erma Drive
Saturday, December 24, 2011 Mistletoe Madness
This game was SUPER fun!! We ended up not having two of the not so important characters and it still was great. People got right into the whole plot and the costumes they came up with were amazing and surprisingly detailed. I hosted this party and did a completly Greek themed dinner. It has been about a month since we did this party and it went over so well that we have begun planning our next party in just a few weeks. I really really recommend this game, especially if it is your first you are throwing because the theme is easy to cook and decorate for and everyone has a white sheet they can make into a toga. We still yell OPA! to each other whenever we are in the same room!!
We did this game and a 5-course dinner for my daughter's 16th birthday party (about 3 hours, could have gone 3.5). Her friends are all theater kids and got really into character and costumes! It was a big hit -they all said it was one of the best parties they had been to. It helped to have mom manage the clues so the kids could concentrate on having fun and playing the game.
Everyone had a blast playing the game. We had arabian/persian themed food and almost everyone knew who the killer was by the end of the night even if they blamed someone else.
Shanda L. - Madison Wi
Saturday, November 19, 2011 Deadly Ever After
This party rated an 11 on a scale of 1 - 10! Everyone said this was the best party yet and I have hosted upwards of 20 different parties. Having 8 rounds allowed for plenty of interaction between the characters and room for accusations and denials. The clues were timely and well thought out to add to the discussion. On the whole, an excellent party.
Nancy J. - 2566 Glen Drive, New Smyrna Beach
Sunday, November 13, 2011 Murder at Spooky Castle
This was a multi-age party held for my daughter. All of the girls had a great time!! We really enjoyed the variety of activities included in the kit so that we had constant amusement and change. We can't wait to host another mystery party!! Such fun!!
TraceyWaananen-Stieb - Grand Blanc, Michigan
Saturday, November 05, 2011 Fairy Games
The party went amazingly. The script was well written and the party wasn't extremely difficult to prepare for. Everyone loved the play and the ending was a shocker. I would definitely do it again a thousand times.!
This was our Second Annual party. It was a HUGE success! The clues were different than the first year. THis year it was more interactive and more adlib. If you have a group of people that are creative...it will be a breeze! We had 13 characters and I made videos for the Ghost of Reginald the Ring Master when he spoke his lines. You can search them on YouTube. For decorating... I made 3 cages with stuffed animals in them (lion elephant monkey). We put red and white strips of plastic tablecloth down the "circus room" to make the tent and put up paper LED lanterns for ambiance. We also had games. Ring toss (beer bottles), A box with different sized holes to toss peanuts in, and a "Dumpo" elephant peanut toss game (if you got the peanut in the trunk or mouth, it would "poop" it out...hence "Dumpo") We game out tickets to the guests that they could turn in for drinks ect. Have fun with it... this was all adults and it was a blast!
Brian a. - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Monday, October 31, 2011 The Psycho Circus
We were a bit nervous about having the party because we did not know all of our guests very well, but the game was easy to play and the conversations came fairly naturally. The game names and characters were clever and we all had fun dressing up. The plot was interesting and full of clever motives. I really like the flexibility of the game and the ability to email all of the info out. I put the entire party together in 3 days - which is not recommended, but it still worked great! Thanks for providing this fun alternative! *We used the teen version for our group of adults because we wanted a fun, clean party. A perfect way to celebrate Halloween!
This was a great party for my daughter's 13th birthday. No-one had been involved in a mystery party before, but it all worked really well and it was so much fun. We added a detective role and set up an investigation room where the 'police photographer' took mugshots of each person, holding a card with their name on and 'SUSPECT', took fingerprints and used the online fingerprint analyser (which everyone enjoyed - lots of "oohs and ahs"!) and had a board to which we pinned the pieces of evidence which came with some of the clues. We had a 'body' under a sheet in there, which also went down well! We did the chocolate tasting game but didn't add any other games. It took almost 4 hours but everyone was really involved in it - it didn't feel too long. 2 people guessed the murderer but it didn't seem possible to truly work it out - all suspects equally implicated. It's not very clear from the instructions that everyone needs to hear all the clues read out; we did this with a buffet meal but had everyone sitting down to read out clues. We'll certainly do another party like this!
So much fun! We had this party for my son and his girlfriend's 21st birthday party. Make sure you invite people who BECOME their character and give that little extra. Can't wait to have another one!
This was a great murder mystery party. I arranged my living room like a business convention: white tables, chairs, pens and portfolios with each rounds clues concealed inside. We conducted the party like a business meeting and had mini breaks for games.
Games we played were:
Blind Knifing: Put a blindfold on the competitor, spin a few times then let them stab a giant styrofoam drawing of a person. Whomever gets the deadliest stab wins.
Top Shot: Each person gets five rounds to shoot with an air soft handgun at an air soft target board.
We had a great time and finished the night off with a gift exchange,
This was a great success. It kept 14 fifteen year olds entertained all evening and the chocolate guessing game was a fun break. We had chocolate cake and chocolate fondue breaks too. We had to add two extra characters which I thought may be complicated at first, but with a little bit of time spent preparing beforehand, I had great fun writing clues for the extra players. It would be easier if the extra clues that you write appear in order on the clue print kit instead of at the end of the list so you can keep track a bit more easily, but apart from that, I couldn't complain. It is a fairly effortless way to entertain a large group of children at a party. I would highly recommend these parties for anyone (and I have been). We have four children and there have already been requests for next year!
Great fun, I hosted the Chocolate to die for murder mystery, it was sooo much fun and pretty easy to do. I loved the questions/clues and enjoyed seeing my guests have fun. The only thing I would have done differently, was to possibly let the guests see a few of their clues prior, it was a lot of reading during the party, maybe letting some clues goes pre-game would eliviate this.
This was the first party I hosted. The game worked out better than expected. We had 20 guests, ages 2-70 that never played a murder mystery before. The several story lines and clues had everyone still guessing up until the end. Two characters guessed the murderer correctly.
The S. - 95 Massapequa Ave
Monday, August 15, 2011 A Lethal Luau
This game was a lot of fun! It was my first time to host such a game and everyone was on to their roles once the game started. The pre-game clue help build up the excitement and everyone was curious to see and find who the real culprit was. It was fun to watch the tactics of each guest to conceal their evidences and to accuse others.
This game made my birthday more memorable. Guests keep on telling me that they had fun and we are already planning our next murder mystery.
The tools on this site are amazing and easy to use.
Katrina S. - San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines
Saturday, July 09, 2011 The Railburn Affair
After having my girlfriend almost drag me to a murder mystery party two months ago, I had such a blast that I decided to host my own murder party. This set up is great, no special decorations, and easy menu, and no costumes necessary. I ended up having 13 guests and so created the neighborhood psychic, Lady Bologna, who read palms, auras etc. Of the 13 people playing, no one guessed the murderer, and we all had an incredibly good time. I added a couple of extra motives/story lines to increase the suspicions amongst players. The props are easy to make. If you're apprehensive about hosting a murder party, this is a great one to start off with.
Great fun and good laughs. Characters all played their parts and dressed in 40's gangster/moll doll fashions. We had traditional Italian food, chianti, chicken parmigiana, braciole, tiramisu and cannoli. Generally great portrayal by characters everyone acted "out" and some over-actors (j.k.). No one guessed the murderer! I had clue kits with flashlight, mints, little tablet, custom pencils (Explicitly Your Pencils.com)and for each round in envelopes and The Solution Round in Red! Great time with this event and it is the second one I've done and themed perfectly.
Debbie a. - 14631 Corkwood Drive Moorpark
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Death of the Godfather
So, I only had 8 guests, so we left out Rapunzel, Hamlet, Robin Hood, W.W., and the dead girl (I might be missing someone, don't discount me on it). It was harder to play with missing characters, cause a lot of their information was important. If you host, and your missing characters, you really have to organize their clues well or you and your guests will be missing important information. What we did is we stuck the extra clues under the corresponding book, and read them aloud before each round. It didn't work very well. Also, some characters that we played had a way easier time than others solving the mystery, because their clues were very clear who did it; however, the rest of the group was left in the dark if they didn't interrogate that person very carefully. My group became very confused when 6 of us accused one person, and the other 2 accused different people, and one of the stray's was right because of information they had never heard before because they hadn't thought to ask that person specific enough questions to discover their secrets. This game is a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of work to get it right, and you have to be playing with really meticulous people.
The game was a lot of fun...people were getting genuinely heated about their character! Even the shy people got into it when they saw everyone else playing. Very creative and unique...no one who came had ever done a murder mystery party before; I'm sure they'll never forget it.
Sherlock H. - Virginia Beach, VA
Wednesday, April 06, 2011 Deadly Ever After
We played Murder 90210 at my daughter's spend the night birthday party. We found out just a day or so before the party that one of the guests would not be able to come after all. It was pretty easy to combine a couple of the characters into one, and the party was good-to-go. All of the girls got into their roles, and by the time the reveal round came around, the girls were asking if we could add more to the game - no one was ready for it to be over. They had a great time!
Lynn a. - 107 Hudson Drive, Vidalia, GA
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 MURDER 90210
I just hosted a Fairy Games party for my daughter's 9th birthday. It was a lot of fun! We had 8 girls. I alotted 3 hours for the party which I was worried might be too long but it actually worked out perfectly. We did omit the homeland video, the Blacksmith story and the Cut Throat Math game. Instead of new hairstyles we made head garlands with ivy and flowers and ribbons and we also played two other games that I added in. They really had fun pretending to be their characters and doing all the activities. They had a blast with the recipe hunt and trying to figure out who the dark fairy was. I played Queen Echo and I found typing out my script and what I had to do next and carrying that around with me really helped me in keeping straight what I had to say and do instead of flipping back and forth between the game materials. I would definitely recommend this party.
Erin W. - Connecticut
Monday, March 14, 2011 Fairy Games
Well it was all in all a great party... We did too assign the characters first, so Snow White hosted it all, instead of Sherlock Holmes. But we said that Mr Holmes interrogated Snow White first, whose house was next to the murder scene and she had to call everyone she saw next to the body the last hours. He would watch the details. Rather short game, only 3 short rounds including the solution, but the theme was really fun, especially since some of the male players were dressed as female characters. We improvised on the food, serving "poisonous baked apples" as a dessert, with tea and a "drink me" potion, and "eat me cookies" from alice in wonderland. Also had forest ambient sounds as a background. Really impressive!
