Choosing a suitable game

Questions about choosing a suitable game for me and my guests.

are these murder mystery party games suitable for me and my guests?

Some murder mystery parties involve adult themes including drugs and romance (and murder!) and as a result they are not always suitable for young children.

They are ideally suited for open-minded, intelligent people willing to have a good time.

Some games are suitable for kids - click here for details of mystery party games for kids.

If you're worried about offending your guests, some of the games do contain fewer references to, er, dubious activities and are more suitable for the easily offended. Click here for "good clean fun" parties.

do you have any themed murder mystery games?

Yes - click here for a page full of themed murder mystery party games (including women-only parties). 

Are the games suitable for a church group?

This question is really difficult – because I have no idea what might (or might not) offend your guests.

In general, there’s nothing in the games that you wouldn’t expect to find in a typical episode of Inspector Morse. In particular, there’s often adultery, theft, fraud, blackmail, drugs and (of course) murder. But hopefully you’d expect that from a murder mystery.

However, if you're really worried about offending your guests, some of the games do contain fewer references to, er, dubious activities and may be more suitable. Click here for "good clean fun" parties.

how many players do I need?

Most murder mystery parties are for a variable number of guests.

For example, Murder at Sea can be played with anywhere between 17 and 33 guests (plus one host). 17 is the absolute minimum you would need for Murder at Sea.

If you have more than 17 but fewer than 33 guests, the game details which characters you should and shouldn't use.

Can I run a game with fewer than the minimum stated number of guests?

In short: It's best to have the minimum number of guests.

For example, A Speakeasy Murder is designed for 15-32 guests, and the 15 minimum guests are all essential.

It's theoretically possible to run the game with fewer guests than the minimum, but you will either need guests taking on two roles at once (not really recommended) or you as the host will have to play the part of the missing guests (also not something I recommend).

While I do have some advice (see my Tips for Hosts page) for these situations, in general I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you try and run games with fewer numbers than the minimum.

You would be better choosing a game with the correct number of guests - or finding more friends that you can invite.

Can you play a game written for up to 30 guests with 40 guests?

While you can add a few additional characters into the games, it would be hard to add more than three or four this way (click here to read how you can do that).

Instead, you are better off choosing a game specifically designed for that number of guests – St Cakes, for example, works with up to 200!

If I have 14 players, is it better to play a game with 10-14 players or 14-40?

I prefer to run a murder mystery game with as many places filled as possible.

So in that situation I’d host the game for 10-14 players.

But you can do either.

Got a murder mystery game question?

If you need to ask me a question, either use this page or type your question into a Facebook comment field.

And please check the FAQ first - your question has probably been asked before!

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