Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games

Our games are downloaded and printed or shipped pre-printed in the box. They include everything you need to host your own murder mystery evening.

This includes the Host Guide, Invitations, Character Background and Confidential Booklets, Evidence, Solution, Whodunit Cards, Certificates, Name tags, Game Money, and any other items the game may need. The Host Guide will tell you how to use each file or item. The PDF files in the download version also have comment notes to help guide the host. I actually repeat information several times just to be sure nothing is missed. My main criteria in writing our games is that they be easy to host and easy to play. Other kits out there can have difficult and very involved hosting instructions. With our games the host has most of the evening free to play and take care of their guests. The hosts total duties during the party should only take about 15 minutes!

Guests will rely on their wits and will be immersed in an evening of treachery, murder, blackmail and back stabbing. You will see how cunning your friends really are! No need to learn complicated information or memorize lines.

Your guests will get detailed character backgrounds which will allow them to slip into the role of their character. Every guest will have secrets and schemes going on. If there is a murder it usually occurs early in the evening, after which, everyone receives a Confidential Booklet, which tells Secrets they have, Secrets they know about others and Things to Do. This booklet really gets your guests hopping.

Some people still have a hard time understanding and tend to think they need to lead their guests along to get things going, so here is a basic breakdown of how the evening works. It might differ slightly between games and if it does, this will be noted in the Host Guide Step-by-Step.

Your guests will know what to do when the party starts. They all get background information and many will have instructions to have a Confrontation with the soon to be murder victim about something from their shared background. After all of these are completed, the planned victim will die. They might have to indicate it to you, if you have to do something to bring about the murder. If this is the case, then you must get with victim before the party to discuss this and arrange a signal. When the murder occurs the Inspector will run to the victim/s, make a pronouncement, have them taken out and then you serve dinner and give everyone their Confidentials.

During dinner people will be reading over their Confidentials and feeling out people mentioned in their background. After dinner the Inspector presents the evidence, you do the Weapon and Action cards, then people start mingling and doing the things stated in their Confidentials. When things start winding down (and you will be able to feel this), call everyone together, hand out Whodunits, fill in Certificates as the Inspector presents the Solution.

The main thing is to just follow the Host Guide Step-By-Step Instructions and everything else will happen on it's own. There is nothing you need to do to lead people along or get them going. It happens the way it is supposed to in a natural way, led by people being able to let go of their inhibitions normally held in check by morals. In our games they get to be bad without guilt. It is quite heady and people really do take to it like fish to water, no need to lead them there:-)

If you have more specific questions about how they work feel free to post them here!

My mum recently bought murder at Four Deuces for teens for my 16th birthday party, im having a lot of trouble figuring out how it works though?? i understand that everybody has their own character, but im worried taht people won't take their character seriously, im also wondering how a murder will occur (exactly, too specific is not too specifiic in explaining it to me)?

I can't wait to dress up and enjoy the night but im worried about arkward silences and people not wanting to go along with their characters. I was also wondering what characters i can drop as i was hoping for only 12 people? i can't seem to find which characters to get rid of, as they all ahve secrets which seem important. HELP!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

Yours Auzzie_auzzie

If you will refer to your host guide you will find exact instructions for the murder. It is essential that you read these 2 pages carefully. Here is a copy of the murder instructions:

Make sure that the person who is to play Don Big Jim Ravioli is very outgoing and will enjoy 'dying' in front of the guests. His character has a list of things that need to be done before the murder takes place. Allow about 30-45 minutes before the murder.

• After these are done he will nod to you & clink his glass at which time you turn out the lights.
• Arrange for a loud bang to sound.
• Immediately turn on the lights.
• The Don will drop over dead.
• The Inspector will run to his body, feel for a pulse and pronounce him dead and ask some people to remove his body from the room.

I am not sure what you don't understand about the instructions. Do you have a specific question???

With Murder at the Four Deuces you don't have to worry about ackward silences or people not going along with their characters. First off people are free to go where they want with their character so there is nothing to 'go along' with. I have found that even the most shy and reluctant guests get into the spirit of things. This game has been out for over 3 years and never have I had a complaint that things didn't run smoothly or that it was boring in any way. It is just one of those games that works right everytime.

In the host guide it tells you which characters to use. Here is what it states:

Assign characters using the GuestList.pdf file. The first 13 are your required characters. (Don Ravioli gets a second character)

-Therefore if you have 12 attending you will use the first 13 characters listed on the Guest List. The last 8 characters are the ones that you drop. After the first 13 characters or the main ones as I call them, characters are listed in their order of importance. I don't do that with the main ones as they are all important.

Hope this helps. Feel free to post any other questions you might have.

Thankyou so much!! the info you provided especially about which characters to drop off helped a lot!! I'm sure the game will be a smash!!! i can't wait to dress up and see all my friends do the same. Thanks for the advice, i will post another message if i have any other questions.
Thanks again!
Auzzie_auzzie

Ok quick question(s)
I do not want to do a scavenger hunt for my murder at the four dueces. Do people just draw a card out of a hat for the action cards and a seperate one for the weapons card? Can I just give them their cards at dinner when I give them their confidential booklets?

You need to add the action cards and the weapon cards to a bowl or hat, along with enough blank cards to make it so every person there gets to draw 1 card.

So if you have 13 guests (including yourself, if you are playing), you would add the 4 action cards, 4 weapon cards and 5 blank cards into a hat or bowl and pass it around to let each guest make one draw.

These alternative instructions are at the bottom of the Weapon Scavenger Hunt Instructions.