Tuesday, June 19, 2007

5 Electric Tips for Creating a Buzz about Your Party


You’ve purchased your murder mystery game of choice. You’ve set a date. You have your guest list in mind. Now, how do you get all of your guests as excited as you are? Here are a few tips from Shot In The Dark Mystery Games’ Mystery Maiden to create a buzz about your murder mystery game party.


Send invitations describing each guest’s character
Invitations that include the suspects, descriptions and those playing them will get your guests thinking and wondering ahead of time – who could the killer be? What’s going to happen? All of this creates excitement. This can be done via email, hand delivery, or regular mail.

Call your guests ahead of time to hype your party
Sounds simple, right? It’s amazing how many guests neglect this easy step. About a week before your party, call your guests and tell them you’re thrilled they’re coming! Tell them a little more about the plot and discuss others attending. Share any little extras you are adding into your game. Your excitement will easily rub off, and discussing the party will get your guests talking about your party with their spouse or other guests.

Submit a press release
If your party is in honor of something – a 60th birthday party, an anniversary or a celebration of any kind, submit a press release to your local newspaper and TV station. It’s common for journalists to have slow news days, and you are offering them a local story their readers will love. There is no guarantee it will be published or aired, but if it is, the buzz over your party will heighten. Look especially to local independent publications and society pages. There are also many free online press release services, such as 24-7PressRelease.com. Your guests can search for the release online and get excited reading about your fabulous party on the World Wide Web.

Create a web space for your party
Sure, reading and writing HTML is about as simple as deciphering hieroglyphs and creating your own website can be time-consuming and frustrating. However, there are easy ways to create your own murder mystery game party web space containing the latest updates, as well as after party guest reactions. Myspace.com is an excellent place to create a web space. It’s easy to set up, and with a simple Myspace account one can also start a private group about their party. Yahoo 360 is also an excellent place for beginners harness their own little spot on the web. For those up for a challenge, create a blog about the party where guests can comment. Whatever web space you choose, make sure you update it often so your guests can share in your excitement.

Distribute a gossip email a few days before your party
This email will work best if sent three or four days before your murder mystery game party. Write things like, “I heard a rumor that someone was going to be murdered on Saturday night…” Make sure you include references and jokes to your guests, i.e. “I’ve always thought that Billy Joe looked a bit shifty – anyone else think he could be the killer?” Create a dialogue about the party ahead of time and watch the excitement about your murder mystery game heighten!

Mystery Maiden writes and facilitates murder mystery, general mystery, forensics and custom mystery games for Shot In The Dark Mysteries. For more party host tips, quizzes and more, visit http://www.shotinthedarkmysteries.com/. The Mystery Maiden can also be reached via email at mysterymaiden@shotinthedarkmysteries.com.

Monday, June 11, 2007

8 Simple Ways to Draw Non-Suspect Guests into your Murder Mystery Game

Sometimes our guest lists are larger than the number of characters in our murder mystery game. Typically, as excitement grows about our parties, so do our guest lists. Follow these eight easy tips for drawing non-suspect guests into your murder mystery game so the number of people attending your party will only be limited to the size of your living room.

Assign guests to read the introduction/chapter evidence

Each chapter in your murder mystery game begins with either an introduction or general evidence to be shared with everyone. Most hosts begin the chapter by delivering the introduction/evidence themselves. If you have additional guests not playing a suspect, consider assigning one guest to share the introduction or evidence for each chapter. In the average mystery game this would engage 4-6 non-suspect guests, pulling them into the plot by getting them personally involved.

2. Assign a guest to be a clue master
A clue master delivers the clues at the start of each chapter. Clue masters always have a good time – they deliver exciting new information, drawing them into the fun – a perfect solution for those who want to attend but don’t want to be a suspect. Nine times out of ten the clue master has so much fun they elect to play a suspect upon the next murder mystery game.

Create a “Notes” page
At the start of the mystery give all murder mystery party attendees a page on which to keep notes during the mystery (or if you’re really ambitious, provide little notebooks to each guest). The notes page will help each guest remain involved with the game and keep track of clues even though they are not being accused.

Make a spectacle of the end-of-game accusations
My favorite part of facilitating or hosting mystery games are the accusations. By this point in the mystery game, everyone has loosened up and all are having fun. When it’s time to accuse one another, even the most withdrawn people find it hard to stay out of the excitement. When requesting accusations, focus on your extra guests – they are unbiased and have been watching everyone closer than you think. Ask them who they accuse and, most importantly, why. You’ll be amazed by how close extras pay attention, and accusing someone is their moment to shine!

Offer prizes for correct accusations

Display your prizes on a small table and at the beginning of the game explain their purpose. When I facilitate a game, I’m always shocked at how crazy people go over even the silliest prizes – rubber balls, hanging Halloween spiders – anything you can imagine. I always enjoy shopping for little prizes; even a dollar store offers great, cheap prize ideas. Also, as a Host Help exclusive, email mysterymaiden@shotinthedarkmysteries.com to request a FREE MURDER MYSTERY GAME GIFT CERTIFICATE. Make it your main prize and watch the excitement mount.

Asssign a Detective (if one not provided in your murder mystery game).
Certain mysteries, like Murder on the Mound, include an optional detective role, but any game can contain a detective. The detective reveals the solution at the end of the mystery. Think of this as Sherlock Holmes’ big reveal at the end of any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. How little or how much your detective does is up to you, but here are some ideas. The detective could wear a badge, gather fingerprints as people arrive and read the suspects descriptions at the start of the game. As the game goes on and your guests mingle and share clues, your detective could interrogate people. Heck, at the end of your murder mystery game, the detective could even handcuff the guilty suspect and take them away.


Start some gossip

Another one of my favorite things to do when facilitating a murder mystery game is to start gossip. As my guests mingle and share clues, I get a thrill out of whispering to an extra, “That Daisy Crook seems lie she’s got something to hide…” or “Did you see the way Ester Runner glares at Nicola Drake?” It’s so devious, and more times than not the person I approach shares their gossip and suspicions with me. Go on, start some gossip.

Create a buzz

There is a very good reason I put this hint last. With the previous seven tips, your mind should be racing with ideas of your own. These ideas make it easy to create a buzz about your party. Creating a buzz is so much fun I have written an entire article on it!


Mystery Maiden writes and facilitates murder mystery, general mystery, forensics and custom mystery games for Shot In The Dark Mysteries. For more party host tips, quizzes and more, visit Shot In The Dark Mysteries. The Mystery Maiden can also be reached via email at mysterymaiden@shotinthedarkmysteries.com.

Friday, June 1, 2007

Easy Murder Mystery Game Party Prop and Decoration Ideas

I wrote a pirate mystery game for a women in the US recently, who did her backyard up as a giant pirate ship and hid treasure throughout the yard for the guests to find. Conversely, I spoke to a woman at a recent game I facilitated (The Pool Hall Pummeling) who said she had so much fun, as the last murder mystery game she attended all they did was sit around a table and read clues.

Sure, both methods work, but really, which party would you rather attend? There’s no need to go all out like the woman with the pirate mystery game (unless you want to, of course), however there is something to be said for adding in little extras to make your party special. Here are some ideas I like to include when I facilitate or host my own murder mystery game party.

- Create pamphlets with the pictures of each suspect.
I love this idea because there is so much potential to stir up some fun. In a recent game I facilitated for a family member’s 60th birthday party, I created pamphlets in Paint, including pictures of each of the suspects. Only, instead of including nice pictures of my family members, I sifted through years of photo albums and selected the most menacing pictures of each person I could find. I distributed the pamphlets as everyone arrived, and the room was instantly filled with laughter over the photos. Cries of “where did you get this picture?” were accompanied with shrieks of joy, and even those not playing a suspect had a good time making fun of everyone’s most murderous looking profile pics.

-Set up a mock murder scene
When playing a murder mystery game, nothing matters more than having a good imagination. Help your guests along by setting up a mock crime scene. I wrote a custom mystery for a baby shower of over 50 guests in which the nanny was stabbed. The hostess set up her spare bedroom as a crime scene and, as everyone entered, they were showed through the crime scene. That detail was listed as her guest’s favorite moment of the party! How does one do this? Well, first you need to read ahead a bit in your Game Kit (not too far or you’ll spoil the mystery) until you find the crime scene description. For this reason, Shot In The Dark Mystery Games always feature the crime scene description within the first few pages, usually as a Chapter One introduction. Once you have the details, set up a corner of the room or a whole room as the murder scene. You can use a dummy for the body, or simply lay out a chalk outline. This gives your visitors a visual, and something to talk about as they mingle before the murder mystery game begins.

- Give your visitors notebooks
The cheapest and easiest way of doing this is to visit a dollar store. Dollar stores have lots of stationary in all sizes, and the small notebooks (3”x5” will do) are inexpensive. You could even go so far as to have the notebooks specially printed if you chose! The notebooks serve as a great way for suspects and extra guests to keep track of clues as the murder mystery game unfolds and is a great keepsake for after the party. Don’t forget to provide pens!

- Put the murder weapon in a Ziploc “Evidence” bag
At The Pool Hall Pummeling event I recently facilitated, I went to a billiard supply store and asked them for a single cue ball. They were happy to oblige and gave me many used cue balls to choose from. I picked the oldest, most worn cue ball, and they became curious why I picked that one. I told them it was to be used as a murder weapon. Through strange looks, they told me just to take it, that I didn’t have to pay for it. I went home, squirted some red paint on my Halloween pumpkin and pummeled away! It made a great prop for the party, and as the Detective read the opening clues, he passed around the “bloody” cue ball in a Ziploc bag for everyone to view part of the evidence.

- Print off “I Accuse” sheets
The end of your murder mystery game contains a section where everyone gets to accuse a suspect and explain why they think that person was the murderer. Printing of “I accuse” forms allows everyone to write down their vote (a la Survivor) and then, when it comes their turn to accuse, flip their sheet over and show everyone who they think is the killer.

- Encourage your guests to dress their character
Characters come with descriptions, and using that description it’s not hard to imagine what each character might wear. For extra characters, they can follow the theme. For example, while playing Murder on the Mound, have the suspects dress their character. The extra guests can come dressed as ball players, or even fans sporting foam fingers!

- Create Nametags
It’s a common school of thought these days that name tags at a party are a pretty lame idea (think Ross from Friends as he threw the party in his new apartment). The only time it IS acceptable to have nametags is when hosting a murder mystery game party. At first, while guests are getting to know the suspects, the nametags will come in handy. Of course, you are not labeling these nametags with their real names, but the names of the character they play. Nametags can be as simple as the sticky “Hello My Name Is” ones available in stationary stores the world over, or as complex as tags you have made yourself on your computer, to professionally made name tags.

- Create forensic props
This prop idea works especially well for the Death Scene Investigation games, where forensics are the main focus of the game. But forensic props can be added to any murder mystery game you choose. The best place to find forensic game props are, believe it or not, toy stores. Forensic Labs, Handwriting Analysis Kits and DNA Laboratories are common in toy stores or any store that has a game section. I recently picked up a Fingerprint Examination Kit, which came with evidence bags, an alternate light source, fingerprinting brush and dust, crime scene tape and more. Whenever I facilitate a game, everyone oohs and aahs over my evidence bags and ALS. I don’t tell them where I got it, but I’ll tell you if you promise to keep it between us.

If you have a clever idea you’re adding to your own Shot In The Dark Mysteries Game, please share it with us! And don’t forget to send us pictures of your event for our upcoming picture gallery!

Mystery Maiden writes and facilitates murder mystery, general mystery, forensics and custom mystery games for Shot In The Dark Mysteries. For more party host tips, quizzes and more, visit Shot In The Dark Mysteries. The Mystery Maiden can also be reached via email at mysterymaiden@shotinthedarkmysteries.com.