As a kid, birthday party options are endless- you can choose from Skateland, Chuckie Cheese, a tea party, a scavenger hunt, or a themed party extravaganza to name just a few. But I am a firm believer that fun birthday parties should not just be memories from our childhood. I think we should put just as much effort into making memories as adults as we did when we were children.
With this in mind, last year I decided that I wanted to do something outside of the box for my special day. I wanted to do something that would force people to step out of their comfort zones, be a bit creative, wear costumes of some sort, and have a blast. After much thought, I decided that a Murder Mystery party was just what I was looking for. I researched a ton on which game to buy online and landed on a company called Shot in the Dark Mysteries. I found that this company had the perfect set-up for a hassle-free, user friendly format (and they provide tons of materials and printables to make your party a success!)
Looking through all the options, I chose Murder at the Superhero Peace Convention.The storyline for this mystery is set at a Peace convention where all the super heroes and villains were convening to discuss hope for the future where peace would be declared. But right in the middle of the hopeful discussions, a murder is discovered. And so the story began...
Prepping for the party was a blast. I invited a small group of friends, assigned them each their characters and emailed them a file on their character. [The file provided information on who each character was, some costume ideas, and things each person needed to know in order to help them solve the murder.] Then I worked on making some of the details for the party:
- comic book bunting flag (idea from Pinterest)
- character file folders for each person (allowed people to be as prepared or not prepared as they wanted to be
- a backdrop for photos & a few Pow, Pop, Kapow props
- my costume for my character "The Crowned Prosecutor"
We had a really great time with this murder mystery party. It was a blast seeing the costumes that everyone came up with and watching how each person got into character for the mystery. The game took about 2 hours as we asked each other questions to try to determine who was the guilty character at the party. Finally, after everyone made their accusations the culprit was revealed and the murder solved. I would highly recommend doing this for an adult birthday party. It was so much fun to put together and a great time for everyone the day of.
I am hoping to brainstorm another idea for my birthday this year, but I have less than a month to come up with something! Until then... cheers to fun birthdays and celebrations!
xo
P.S. A few words of advice for hosting a murder mystery:
- give invitees 2 weeks or more notice- then no one will get stressed about a costume and if someone drops out it gives you enough time to fill the slot
- give incentive to solve the murder- have anyone who wants to put 2-3 dollars in the pot and whoever guesses the murderer wins the money!
- invite people who are willing to be a little adventurous and willing to be creative
- Party favors and prizes are always a plus. I put together a Best Costume and Best Detective ballot. Whoever got the most votes won a prize.
