What is a murder mystery party?

Party Time Mysteries murder mystery parties are parties that are interactive, role playing parties where the guests are given character descriptions and costume suggestions and a fictitious “murder” occurs during the course of the party that everyone witnesses and attempts to solve.  
 

What makes Party Time Mysteries different than other murder mystery parties?

Our parties are not prescripted but rather led by objectives that the guests are given to help introduce and develop their characters.  The “murder” occurs during the party and the “victim” then becomes a detective who tries to solve the murder along with the other guests.

 

How is a Party Time Mysteries murder mystery run? 

Before the party the guests are given their character descriptions, a brief outline of the party setting and acting and costume suggestions.  The party itself is divided into five stages:
        Stage One: the guests arrive and are given envelopes containing a name tag, play money and objectives for them to complete during the first stage.  
        Stage Two: the host reads the introduction that sets up the evening and instructs the guests to begin mingling and completing their objectives.  At this point dinner or h’orderves are often served.  
        Stage Three: the victim is “murdered” and the guests are given more objectives to complete.  The victim then becomes Inspector Klooless© with a new set of objectives and joins the other guests in the investigation.  
    Stage Four: evidence is presented that helps to solve the mystery
        Stage Five: the guests attempt to solve the mystery and vote for the guests that they feel have performed the best as their character and the guest that has the best costume as well as an accounting of their own financial situation.  When the votes have been tallied, the solution is read and awards are given to the guests who successfully solve the mystery, the guest with the most money, the guest who has the most votes for best actor and the guest who has the most votes for best costume.

 

What if I have never hosted a mystery party before?  Is it complicated?

Party Time Mysteries parties have everything you need to throw a successful party and are designed to be easy to run.

In the murder mystery parties, can I play along without knowing the murderer?

You, as host, get to decide how much or little you know about the murder.  If you wish to play along, you can read the host’s guide which will tell you how to set up the party without knowing the murderer and or the solution.

 

Do I have to have a certain amount of guests attend the party? 

Each murder mystery game has a minimum and maximum number of people needed to be in attendance to run the game.  As long as you have the minimum number, you will be fine.  Some characters are female, some are male and there are several characters in each game that are gender neutral so that the numbers of female and male guests can vary depending on your needs.  The host guide will list which guests are optional and which guests are necessary to run the game, though the guests should never be told this as each guest should feel included and necessary.  The numbers needed for the children mystery parties is flexible as the clues are not dependant on the guests providing them and the mystery takes place before the guests arrive so a missing character doesn’t spoil the outcome.  Minimum and maximum numbers are still suggested with the children parties for your convenience.

 

Are these games suitable for youth or conservative groups? 

All of our games are written to be appropriate for every age however we feel the teen and adult games may be too complicated for children under the age of 12.  In all of our games we have avoided the reference to illegal drugs, alcohol and offensive affairs and situations, other than the fact that the murder mysteries are about, well, murders.

 

What are the children mystery games like? 

The games for guests under the age of 12 are less complicated than the adult and teen mystery games.  The guests in the children mystery parties are assigned characters and given costume suggestions and a small character description but the game does not depend on the guests assuming those characters.  There are clues that are given to the guests as the party progresses through various party games that create the mystery plot.  In the end the guests have an opportunity to guess the solution to the mystery and awards are given to the guests who figure out the mystery.

 

What is included in the downloaded party?

Each Party Time Mystery© Includes:

    A Host Guide— A complete how-to of throwing your party which includes directions on preparing the invitations, assigning characters and preparing for the party.  Children mystery parties also include complete instructions for games and clue distribution.
    A Schedule of the Night— A step-by-step breakdown of how the night will go.
    An Introduction— to be read to the guests upon arrival.
    Designed Invitations— that you can customize with the details of your party.  Murder mystery parties also include information to be sent with the invitations including background information on the party and the guest list.
    Character Descriptions— full descriptions of the characters, including costuming and acting tips.
    Name Tags— for your guests.
    Evidence— This evidence will help your guests solve the mystery.
    The Solution— revealing the murderer, thief or other explanation and all the clues that could have led you there.
    "Whodunit” Cards—to allow your guests to guess the murderer, thief or explanation to the mystery.  Murder mystery parties also give everyone a chance to vote for the guest who was the most convincing in their assigned character role and the guest with the best outfit.
    Award Certificates— to be awarded to the guests that solve the mystery.  Murder mysteries also include awards for best actor, best costume, and the player with the most money at the end of the night.

Murder Mystery Party downloads also include:
    Character Objective Sheets— this includes objectives for each character to try to achieve at each stage of the game in order to uncover evidence and find the murderer.

 

Can I get my mystery mailed to me?

No. All of our murder mystery games come as downloadable files. This allows for immediate delivery to the customer upon order.
 

How long do I have to download my mystery?

You will have 14 days from the time of purchase to download and save your file. Once saved, there is no time limit for you to be able to access your file on your own computer. Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for lost or undownloaded files after your 14-day downloadable time period.

 

 What is your refund policy?

Party Time Mysteries does not offer a refund on any of their products. Due the nature of the files, we have no way to prevent a customer from using a party package after the customer has been sent the link to be able to download it from our site.