My experience as a parent, uncle, and ex child is that kids love playing games. Motion Computing Reinstall Yahoo. This page is all about hosting murder mystery games for your kids. And to be honest, the interactive murder mystery games I talk about here bring out the kid in me. Some of these party games are a bit different to the other games on this site. Theyre not all interactive murder mystery games I hope you like the wider choice. Just to let you know that my daughter played Curse of the Pharaoh with 9 other girls for her 1. We havent done anything like this before and admittedly it was quite a complex plot for a first attempt However everyone loved dressing up especially dressing as men and they all had a great time. Thought youd welcome the feedbackThanks very much. From Liz Marshallhosting a game for kids. Based on my experience of running murder mystery games for kids and Im not an expert by any imagination, here are a few things to look out for. Lots of introductory blub Some games including the Freeform Games parties provide a fair amount of pre party information, including the invitation, a background newsletter and other things. Dont expect kids to read much more than the invite and even then, not a lot of that. A longer introduction may be needed As a result of kids not wanting to read anything beforehand, you may need a longer introduction. So you may have to take longer to set the scene and go through any rules. That, however, is balanced by the next point. A shorter running time If my experience is anything to go by, an all kid group will blast through plots and secrets and will probably finish in a much shorter time than you might otherwise have expected. Shyness Kids can be shy I know I was and dont like looking like idiots in front of their peers. So as a host you may find that the first part of a game consists of you answering their personal queries privately. Four years makes a lot of difference You may find that some older teens are too self conscious to get fully into the game while 1. Theres also a big difference between a 1. That means that birthday parties might be the best place to run a murder mystery game as all the kids are likely to be more or less the same age. Friends Where possible, cast real life friends as friends in game. Playing with grown ups The easiest way to play with kids is to just incorporate them in the regular murder mystery parties described elsewhere on this site. Although there are often younger characters in the games, you might want to vet them first to ensure that they are suitable. This works really well when you have only one or two kids, but is a little trickier when you have more kids than grown ups. In that case you may need to consider your casting choices carefully you may want to pair up kids and their parents or choose one of the options below. Way out West is an interactive murder mystery game set in Cactus Gulch, a small town in Americas Wild West. Way out West is for 1. Set in Cactus Gulchs saloon, Way out West features land disputes, cowboys and lawman, disreputable card games, strange folk from out of town and hostile Indians. Freeform Games wrote Way out West as a family friendly game to start with, but theyve had a good deal of feedback from people whove run it for groups of kids and younger teens, for birthday parties and the like. So theyve now written a version of the game specifically for kids, and theyre giving it away free with the standard game Click here to discover more about Way out West. These three games are slightly different theyre not murder mystery parties but are instead themed interactive parties that last about an hour and are suitable for including into a larger party. Check out Murder Mystery 2. Its one of the millions of unique, usergenerated 3D experiences created on Roblox. To get the FREE RAINBOW KNIFE EFFECT, click the. Download murder mystery party games to play at your next event for 10100 guests. Many themes for all ages. Just download kit, print host party A gangsterthemed murder mystery party set in a speakeasy in the 1920s. Host a fun murder mystery party. We have murder mystery party games for all ages and group sizes from 5 to over 200 guests. Download this murder mystery party kit about a murder at an NYC cocktail party and have a great evening with your friends. An entertaining cluebased murder mystery party for 610 guests ages 13 up in a traditional old mansion setting. This game has a victim known prior to the game and. In Pirate Island, pirate ships have gathered off a small Caribbean island to take part in the Pirate Games and quest for treasure. Whoever wins the most doubloons is the winner In Monster Mash and Trick or Treat, gangs of monsters are competing to see who can become the best monster gang in the haunted county of Hallowshire. The gang with the most gold wins Trick or Treat is the Halloween version of Monster Mash. The party games are for 6 to 2. Theyre all published by Freeform Games. Click here to go to the Freeform Games website and download the free intro pdf to learn more about Pirate Island. Or click here to download the free intro pdf and learn more about Trick or Treat. Or click here to download the free intro pdf and learn about Monster Mash. Hollywood Lies is an interactive murder mystery game for 1. Hollywood. Dazzled to Death has swept the board at the Eric Awards ceremony and it is now the time of the post awards party. However, Dazzled to Deaths leading actor has been killed is it murder As well as solving the murder, Hollywood Lies includes a movie making game there are three producers who need to make their movie. Murder Mystery Game For 12' title='Murder Mystery Game For 12' />Each movie needs a screenplay, actors and a director and the cast and crew of the movie act out a scene from that movie. Hollywood Lies is suitable for older kids aged 1. Halloween Lies is the Halloween version of Hollywood Lies. The two games are the same, but Halloween Lies has a horror movie theme. Click here to learn more about Hollywood Lies. Click here to learn more about Halloween Liesthe birthday party games lady. The Birthday Party Games Lady provides downloadable party games some of them mystery parties, some of them more traditional for kids of varying ages. The games include Medieval Madness a whodunnit for 6th graders. Search and Riddle a detective mystery for 9 1. Survivor a survival game for 6 8 year olds. Harry Potter play Quidditch at Hogwarts for 8 to 1. Not just birthday party ideas complete kids birthday party games packages click here to go to The Birthday Party Games Ladys site and learn more. Mysteries on the Net produce games where the emphasis is on solving the murder. While their adult games can be quite fiendish their kids games are much simpler. In all their games a few kids play the suspects, while the everyone else is a private detective trying to solve the mystery. The Sticky Case of Chuckles the Clown is for 8 to 2. The Curious Case of the Lost Elephant is for 8 to 2. The Mysterious Case of a Quarterback in Space is for 8 to 2. The Hair Raising Case of Rapunzels Green Tresses is for 1. The Perplexing Case of the Pilfered Pooch is for 8 to 2. The Ghostly Case of the Haunted Amusement Park is for 8 to 2. The Strange Case of the Disappearing Presents is a Christmas game for 8 to 2. Click here to go to the Mysteries on the Net site and learn more about their games. Make sure you click on the Looking for a Kids Mystery link when you get to the site. How to Host a Murder Mystery Game. An Evening of Murder, Mystery Mayhem Suddenly the lights go out and you are startled by the sound of a gunshot. Light returns, and you see a dead man on the floor next to you As you look around the room, you notice some very shady characters. One of them must be the murderer, but which one is it This may sound like a movie, but it isnt. You are, in fact, participating in an exciting murder mystery party game. Murder Mystery Parties are becoming a very popular entertainment choice for Party Hosts looking for a unique experience to offer their guests. Party planners want their event to be talked about in excited conversations for weeks afterwards. Your run of the mill food, music and social gathering, just doesnt garner real excitement. Murder mystery games have been very popular in the UK for about 2. Recently, there has been a huge growth of interest in the USA, as more people are becoming exposed to them. The first murder mystery games featured actors who portrayed characters using scripted roles. They would mingle with the guests while dropping clues. These are still performed today at large fund raising events and murder mystery dinner theaters. The next generation of games let the guests themselves play the characters, but the parts were still scripted. Later boxed sets were introduced, which were scripted and played out in rounds, much like a board game. While these could be enjoyable, they lacked spontaneity, or the ability to be creative. Everything went exactly as scripted. Today a new genre of Murder Mystery Games is emerging. These are called Interactive murder mystery games. In the older versions, solving the murder was the sole purpose of the game. Some of the new murder mystery games have many subplots. Guests will have their own nefarious agendas. Parts are no longer scripted. Instead characters receive detailed backgrounds, which describes their fictional relationships with other characters at the party. They also have secrets of their own, which may have nothing to do with the murder that occurs. Participants take on their characters persona. After the murder, they learn certain details of the crime through evidence, eavesdropping, and questioning other characters. Some games include play money, which can be used for buying information, blackmailing, and other devious schemes. All of this leads to extensive social interaction, which is the real point of a party, isnt it How many boring parties have you been to where there were small groups of people gathered together in clusters Or even more horrifying to the hostess, are people standing around, not conversing at all. This just doesnt happen with a well written interactive murder mystery party. With a good game, the guests can get so caught up in their own schemes, that they may even forget to investigate the murder Each murder mystery game usually takes place in exotic locations and timelines. These can include gangsters in Chicago during the roaring twenties, or maybe a sock hop in the fifties. You might even be placed in fictional settings. These settings allow participants to don great costumes and immerse themselves in the setting. This allows guests to more fully experience the ambience of the game. When you decide to host a murder mystery party, there are some things you should look for in the game you choose. First and foremost is to stay away from scripted games. These allow no imagination or spontaneity, and they play more like a board game. For true enjoyment, your guests need to feel immersed in the world your chosen game has created. Look for a theme that you think your guests would enjoy. My best seller is Murder at the Four Deuces, which takes place in 1. Chicago. The reason this game is so successful is very simple, and something many people dont think about. Men are usually the first to balk at participating in this type of event. When told that they will be playing a gangster, they become excited about the idea. It is very easy for men to costume for this theme and they get to play powerful characters. It also allows them and the other guests to be bad, without actually being bad. It is exciting to be able to unleash our normally suppressed tendencies, without suffering any guilt. Something we dont want to do in real life, but relish doing in a make believe way. So, whatever game you do decide on, it is a good idea to choose one with good strong characters for the men. Look for a game that is easy to host. Most of the good games are purchased from the internet. I operated a murder mystery theater before I developed the Dinner and a Murder game system. I know how important it is to be able to have easy to follow instructions. The night of the party, the last thing a hostess needs is to have to scramble around trying to run the game, while making sure all the guests are happy, food is served and cleaning up. You get my point. A good game will have very few hosting duties associated with the game, allowing the hostess to participate as a character also. If the host guide reads like a technical manual move on. Do not purchase a game that does not have an introductory file that you can read before purchasing. All games are not created equal. There are good ones and bad ones out there. You do not want to take a chance on harming your reputation by hosting a bad murder mystery party. If a site cannot give you a partial glimpse of the actual game, then they are very likely hiding something. This introduction should contain the host guide and other details about the game that will give you a good feel for how it will work. While you are at the web site, also look for customer comments. Of course, we all know that they are not going to post negative comments on the site and could in fact make up comments. If you only see one or two line comments, be leery. Customer feedback can also give you great ideas for throwing your own party. I am constantly amazed by my customers creativity. Murder Mystery Game Kit Contents A good kit will have everything you need to play the game. You should not have to go out and purchase elaborate props. It should have invitations, host guide, characters evidence at the least. Game money is a plus that adds a whole new dimension to the game experience. Either the kit, or the web site, should also give you party theme ideas. Everything from menu, recipes, decorations, hairstyles, music and costumes can give a host very good ideas for their party. If your kit does not contain certificates, you can design some yourself. It is always nice to be rewarded in the game for solving the murder, best costume, best performer etc. Next I will give you some tips on planning and hosting a murder mystery party Try to plan your event at least 2 weeks in advance. A month advance planning is most optimal. You can throw a last minute party, but things will be much less stressful with careful planning. Before assigning characters, it is very important to send an invitation and receive an RSVP. Let your guests know that when they confirm, you are counting on them to attend. When it comes to food, easier is better. I have thrown murder mystery parties where I did all of the cooking and it made for a very stressful day and party. Unless you can have your party catered, the easiest menu is done potluck. The first time I decided to do this, I worried about what my guests would think, but to my surprise they loved the idea. It gives them a chance to contribute to the party and show off their culinary skills. Just about everyone has a special dish that they excel at. If not, there are always needed items that dont require cooking skills. Drinks, ice, cups etc. If you do decide to cook, think simple and have everything ready before the party starts. After the solution has been read, it is always fun to go around the room and let each character reveal their secrets. Your guests will be amazed at what they didnt know was going on under their noses.