So you’ve been assigned a character and you’ve come to the party dressed in the
most fabulous costume and have been told to play your role. So now what?
The mystery is separated into 3 rounds. During the party, you will be handed a clue
card that contains the clues necessary for your character for the round. These clues
contain everything that you need to solve the mystery. However, during the
investigation segment of the game, you will need to ask the right questions and pay
close attention to everyone’s clues to be able to get the whole picture of what has
happened.
In each of your clue cards, there will be some information that you can reveal in
casual conversation with other guests. It is just like real life! You can elect to have
some of those clues as information that you should be ‘asked’ by other guests in
order to reveal. You can hide the truth but do not lie and make up clues. This
could alter the mystery for the other guests. Some of the information in your clue
cards might be for actions to perform during certain rounds or it might give you
personal information to explain to you how your character feels about certain issues
involving other characters or situations. This personal information is given to you to
enable you to act as the real character. And…each character should… as in real
life…know a little more about their character above the rest of the group. Therefore,
these types of clues do not need to be revealed to the other guests…unless you
want to tell your secrets! Don’t worry, others will figure your secrets out on their own
in later rounds if it is vital to the mystery.
Just as with any normal dinner party - most of the party play will involve mingling
with the other characters and finding out about each other's characters and the
clues you all have received. As the game progresses, you should have quite a bit of
information to filter through to figure out the motive and the murderer! Read your
clue cards thoroughly and take your time discussing issues with other guests. Make
sure you speak to all guests in each round .Any guests who you feel might be
hiding something…make sure to ask them loads of questions! You will be asked to
submit a guess of ‘whodunit’ and why they did it at the end of round two.
From this point forward, you are to remain in character until the mystery is solved. If
you are playing a ‘green alien from Mars’, then that is who you are until the end!
Undoubtedly, your host has cast you into a character that you are comfortable
playing. There are some characters that are designed to be played more reserved
than other characters that should be played more boisterous. Feel free to play your
role however you feel comfortable. Embellish your character’s personality if you
would like. However, if you are feeling more reserved tonight, you can opt to allow
the other characters to approach you or you can simply listen in on others’
conversations to get your information.
| HELPFUL HINTS ON HOW TO PLAY A MURDER MYSTERY: GUEST INSTRUCTIONS |
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