by Charlotte Gurney
This time of year organisations and staff look forward to holiday events and Christmas parties. However, this year everything is different. Apart from the social distancing restrictions you might have people in your office who simply don’t want to be around others right now or are isolating. The obvious solution to this is to host your party or events via Zoom - but how can you ensure it’s more memorable than just another Zoom chat? Make it into a murder mystery party that’s how.
Getting started with a murder mystery party
The first thing you’ll need to do to host a murder mystery party is to find yourself a game. There are plenty on Etsy that will provide you with everything you need to get the party under way, including the all essential script. Once you’ve picked your game then you can create the date for the party and think about who to invite. It’s essential to make sure that everyone has Zoom so that they can join in and it can be useful to have a WhatsApp group for the event so that you can share information and get everyone excited. Also essential is whether or not you want people to be in costume and what props they’re going to need. The more invested in this process you are the more fun it’s going to be so don’t hold back when it comes to asking people to dress up and take part.
Planning the party
1. Once you have selected the right game for the event make sure you understand how it works so that you can explain this to others. Any game that you choose should come with a fairly comprehensive set of instructions.
2. Create your guestlist and start sending out invitations to make sure that everyone is going to be ready at the right time. You should allow an hour or two for the party.
3. If the game you’ve chosen provides this as an option then select your killer now and let them know in advance so that they can ask any questions about their role.
4/ Make a list of the props and costumes and send this out well in advance.
Playing the game
1. Start with introductions - of the game and the characters.
2. Identify whether the death has already taken place or will do during the game.
3. Allow each person to introduce themselves.
4. Read through any evidence that needs to be shared with the group.
5. Take breaks to allow people to get refreshments.
6. Make sure you’ve scheduled any break outs for points in the game when people need to do individual or group questioning or thinking.
7. Start the final act and remember that people may have specific roles in the script that they need to complete in this time.
8. When all the evidence is read and you reach the end of the script it’s time for people to try and guess who the murderer is and then the game is complete!
A Zoom murder mystery party is a great way to share the holiday spirit with your team or clients, to celebrate the end of the year and also get everyone to take part in something together.