Firstly, in person game means that all players are together in one space (kitchen, garden, living room, pub, conference room, tent, etc) Secondly, you will need to prepare for your murder mystery event.
If you have hosted any parties before, then this one will be very similar - your guests will arrive, you will entertain them, perhaps offer them drinks and food and then everyone will go home their own merry way. The game replaces the the entailment part and it will allow you to relax and take part in the game as well.
But, if you have not been a host before then here are some expert ideas for you.
Co - host
There is no reason for you to need to do everything by yourself - unless you want to. Make the most out a mystery game and share the responsibility of hosting by asking one of the players to co-host with you. Sometimes the choice is obvious (your flatmate, your partner, your best friend) but sometimes you might want to ask someone who might have a better place or who might be better at guiding the players. This way you have less to stress about and you can enjoy the game more!
1. Plan your party
Hosting a murder mystery game is not a magic trick and you should not stress out about it. You just need to be as organised as you can be. Each Fat Egg murder mystery game kit comes with a background information: you are provided with links for ideas as well as a playlist we'd suggest for your game and to get everyone in the mood. We are not master chefs and so you can make up what food and drink selection you want to offer.
Whilst no real preparation is needed - it is best if you allow at least 5 days for everyone - including yourself! to get ready for your game. This allows you and your group to find out more about the theme and the character before the game begins. It is important to mention that you might not have time for any of that and you (with your team) just decide in the spur of the moment to play a Fat Egg game - which is totally fine and doable! When the host downloads the game, each character's file is separated into small files and the host can simply share on Airdrop/WhatsApp/Messenger the relevant file with each player. Basically, it takes longer for you to read this paragraph than for the host to buy, download and distribute the game with the other players, so you needn't worry about planning if you just want to play a game!
Theme
You, hopefully together with your team, decide which game you want to play and what you are in the mood for. If you are playing in the summer most likely you will choose a relaxing game with a summer theme, whilst if you love the 1920's - 1930's then you will choose one of our period themes. In the winter people like to play Christmas related games, so please bear that in mind when you choose your mystery.
Once that is done you (and your team) can figure out how to create a theme and the more you invest in it ( in terms of your time) the more fun the game will be. Create a tea party with miniature sandwiches, turn your kitchen into a vineyard by cardboard circles turned into barrels or have a beach party in the garden and make sure everyone is in their swimwear for the game with a little cocktail umbrella in their drinks. You do not need to think big to create an atmosphere!
Decoration
The party decor can make a big difference for the game and you can do as much or as little of it as you want!
Social media pages are full of excellent ideas and if you are unsure how to go on about decorating your venue then get in touch with us at info@fategg.co.uk and we will be happy to help!
As mentioned above your download will include some background information, so make good use of it!
Food and drinks
We have played many mystery games over the years and we have three suggestions for you. 1. Rather than worrying about you doing all the food and drinks feel free to ask everyone to bring something. If you have a specific theme - let's say ice cream - then make sure you ask everyone to bring some food related to it.
2. As the host your team naturally look at you as the "guide" . Between each rounds, ask your group to move around, have some drinks and nibbles and talk about the game.
3. Keep It Simple: Choose food that are easy to make and eat: finger food, small sandwiches, vegetables and fruit, crackers etc. Your group is coming to play a murder mystery game and they do not except you to be masterchef! Just make sure you have enough ice and drinks in the fridge. There are amazing dishwasher safe straws and decorations that you can use in order to make sure people use their own plates and glasses during the whole night - saving you precious cleaning up time and saving the planet all at once!
2. Characters
In general we set each game where half the group are males and the other half females. Having said that, we played numerous games where we had more women or men, so this should not stop you from assigning characters - it is actually quite fun to see an "unexpected" person to play a given character. It comes down to more to you knowing your group.
Once you have downloaded a game it is your responsibility as host to decide on who will be playing each character. If you do not want that task then simply put every players name in a hat and the name of each character in another and match them together. If, however, you want to assign the roles yourself make sure that the character in the game fits well with the player. Ie do not try and get someone who is afraid of animals to be a zoo keeper and so on and so forth.
3. Inform your team
The downloaded game kit provides you the information you will need to pass on to your team. Once you have decided on the characters please inform the players, so they can prepare. Plus it will get everyone just a bit excited about the upcoming event together!
4. Game structure
No matter which Fat Egg mystery game you play, they all have very similar structure and no one ever knows until the end of the game if it was their character who committed the crime or someone else. It is up to you and your team's sharp thinking and discussion to figure out which one of you was the Fat Egg!
We have put together the following structure to facilitate the game
Host(s) purchases the game
Host(s) sets the plot and distributes characters
Players read their own bio and background information about the plot and the character they play
Let the game begin! The brochure provided will tell you if the game starts with introductions of the Fat Egg Detective Sergeant's (FEDS) speech
The game has three rounds, we recommend that after each round you discuss what you have learnt
After the final statements the Players decide on the suspects and vote (it might be that you will have numerous suspects);
The results are revealed by your FEDS and you can celebrate a good game
You tell us how the game was and send us photos and videos (optional obviously).
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