What custom actually means here
The crime, the cast, the timeline and the evidence are written for your group. That is why the head count can go to twenty-five, well past the twelve a stock file allows, and why a character can carry a detail only your friends would recognise.
It is also why the stock files are not editable: the murder mystery kits are print-ready PDFs where names cannot be swapped, because every exhibit would have to be re-photographed to match. Customisation happens at the writing stage or not at all. The commission page is custom murder mystery.
What the brief asks you for
Who is coming and roughly how many, first names, the occasion, the setting and the date. Then the things that make it yours: shared history, running jokes, the person who is always late, the holiday that went wrong. And just as importantly, the limits: anything that must not appear, anybody who must not be made the culprit, subjects to keep away from.
That last part is what keeps a personal scenario enjoyable rather than pointed. A personal detail should make someone laugh in recognition, never make them the target of the evening.
The outline, then the file
You do not go straight to a finished game. An outline is submitted for approval first: the crime, who did it, the shape of the evening and how each guest is used. You read it, you say what is wrong, and the writing starts from the approved version.
After the brief is approved, the print-ready PDF is delivered within 72 hours, with unlimited revisions within the scope of that brief. Revisions inside the brief are part of the deal; changing the premise after the outline is approved is a different job.
What it costs, and how it compares
$219 for up to fifteen players and $279 for up to twenty-five. At twenty-five that is about $11 a head for an evening written about your own group, which is the part no stock file and no agency booking can supply.
A stock kit is $39.90 for six to twelve players. So the custom scenario costs more per evening and less per person than most catered alternatives, and it exists mainly for two situations: a group too large for a kit, or an occasion where the point is the people rather than the plot.
When a stock kit is the better buy
If you are six to twelve, if you have no particular occasion, or if you are deciding this week for next weekend, buy a stock file. It is instant, it is cheaper, and it is already built: fifty or fifty-six pages, twelve character packs, twenty-four or thirty photographed exhibits, about three hours.
Commission a custom game when the date is far enough out to allow a brief and an outline, when the guest list is larger than twelve, or when the evening is meant to be about the guests themselves. Both formats are printed by you and run by one of you: a custom game does not come with a host. What that evening involves, step by step, is on the printable murder mystery kit page.
Frequently asked questions
Can you just put our names into an existing kit?+
No. The stock files are print-ready PDFs with photographed exhibits, so a name cannot be swapped without re-photographing the evidence. Personalisation happens at the writing stage, as a custom scenario written from scratch.
How long does a custom murder mystery take to make?+
The outline is submitted for approval first, and the print-ready PDF is delivered within 72 hours of the brief being approved. Revisions within the scope of the brief are unlimited.
How many players can a custom game handle?+
Up to twenty-five, which is what makes it the format for a group too large for a stock kit. It is $219 up to fifteen players and $279 up to twenty-five, whatever the setting you choose.
