Tofu LabsHow to plan a Christmas murder mystery party
Christmas is the best time of year for a murder mystery party. People are already in the mood for a long evening, there's a table full of food anyway, and a snowed-in village with a suspicious mince pie is about as cozy as murder gets.
Here is how we'd plan one, from the first invitation to the reveal.
Pick your date early
December weekends fill up fast. Send a save-the-date at least three weeks ahead, and four if your friends have children or office parties to juggle. The week between Christmas and New Year's is often easier: people are home, rested and looking for something to do.
Choose a game that fits your group
| Your group | What works |
|---|---|
| 6 to 12 friends or family with teens | A hosted party game with characters, like Murder at the Robin & Kettle. |
| Just the two of you | A Christmas puzzle case, such as Silent Night at Hollybrook, over a few evenings. |
| Puzzle lovers who want to make it last | A mystery advent calendar like Murder at Hollybrook Hall: one clue a day from December 1, the killer named on Christmas Eve. |
| A family gathering with young kids | A Christmas escape room for the children, like The Great Sleigh Rescue, while the grown-ups cook. |
Keep it cozy rather than creepy. A Christmas party often has a grandparent or a twelve-year-old at the table, and a game with no gore keeps everyone in.
Three weeks before
- Fix the guest list. Write down who is sure to come and who is a maybe.
- Cast the main characters with the sure guests. Give the extra roles to the maybes.
- Print or order everything now. The week before Christmas printers run out of ink and shops run out of envelopes.
Two weeks before: invitations with a costume idea
Christmas costumes are easy because everyone owns something festive. Give each character one simple prop: the choirmaster gets a scarf, the baker an apron, Father Christmas a red hat. A Christmas jumper counts as a costume.
The menu, round by round
Match the food to the rounds and the evening paces itself.
- Arrival: mulled wine or hot cocoa, and something to nibble while people read their secrets.
- Round one: soup or a cheese board. Easy to eat while reading a booklet.
- Round two: the main course. It's the longest round, so serve the most filling dish here.
- Round three and the reveal: dessert. A Christmas cake or a plate of mince pies is perfect, and in our game the whole evening is a cake contest.
Tofu's tip: make dessert ahead. You don't want to be whipping cream in the kitchen while the killer is being unmasked.
Set the scene
You don't need to redecorate. Turn the big light off and use fairy lights and candles. Put on quiet Christmas music without lyrics, so it doesn't fight the conversation. Lay one "evidence" item on the side table: an empty mug, a torn letter, a single suspicious mince pie.
On the night
Allow about two and a half to three hours. Read the opening out loud with the lights low, then run one round per course. Before the reveal, give everyone five quiet minutes to write their accusation down. Writing it first means nobody can claim afterwards that they "knew all along".
If someone cancels
December colds happen. If an extra role drops out, simply leave that character out. If a main character cancels, give the part to the most confident guest who has an extra role, and send them the booklet that afternoon. Check what your game's host guide says too: a good one tells you which parts can be dropped.
Still want more Christmas mystery?
A mystery advent calendar is a nice way to stretch the fun through December. Ours, Murder at Hollybrook Hall, has 24 small puzzles and a killer to name on Christmas Eve. It comes as a set of 24 door pages and as a paperback.
