How to Gift a Printable Murder Mystery

Two facts shape the gift. The first is delivery: payment goes through Stripe, the PDF is generated and emailed within seconds to the address given at checkout, and nothing is shipped. Whoever pays gets the file, and the file includes the solution. The second is the license: it is personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable, for your own private, non-commercial games, as many times as you like. Sharing, forwarding, uploading or reselling the file is not allowed, and the details are on the terms of sale page. So the gift cannot be an attachment. It has to be the evening itself, and there are two honest ways to give one. Either you run the game for the recipient and their friends, or you print the whole kit, sort it, box it and hand over the paper, keeping the file in your own inbox. Both shapes cost the same: $39 for a kit built for 6 to 8 players, $49 for 9 to 10, $59 for 11 to 12, or $39 for a detective case file for 2 to 6 players. The printable murder mystery kit page describes what each PDF contains, which is what you are about to print.

The clean version is to give a date. You buy the tier that fits the recipient's usual group, print the host guide, read it once, print the character sheets, clues and ballots, cast the roles and run the evening at their party. The card says the date, the title and one line: a murder mystery party, and I am running it. Cast the recipient as a suspect with a big motive and plenty to hide, so they are questioned all night and still surprised at the reveal. Never the culprit, who knows the ending from the first page, and never the host, who reads the solution. The host guide allows the host to take a suspect role that is not the culprit, so you can play too if the count needs it. This shape suits the friend who loves being a guest. The whole burden of printing, sorting and timekeeping stays with you, and the recipient's only job is to open an envelope at the door. It is also the only shape that works when the gift is for a couple who would never host: you bring the evening to their living room and take the folder home afterward.

The boxed version is for the friend who loves hosting. Print the whole kit at home, on the heaviest paper your printer accepts, in color if the budget allows. Then assemble it the way a host would want to find it. One envelope per character, marked with the character name, holding that player's sheet. Three envelopes marked round one, round two and round three, holding the clues for each. One envelope of ballots, one per player. The host guide on top, unsealed, because the recipient reads it first. And the solution in its own sealed envelope marked host only, open last. Put the stack in a folder or a box, add a ribbon, and hand it over. The recipient runs their own private party with their own friends. The file stays in your inbox and is never forwarded, which is what keeps the gift inside the license. The guide to assembling a printable murder mystery kit walks through the sorting in detail, envelope by envelope. Print two days ahead rather than the morning of the birthday: a kit for ten players is ten sheets, three rounds of clues, ten ballots and the guide, and sorting it properly takes an evening.

The kit is the present, so the pairing stays small and points at the setting. A bottle of Bordeaux with The Last Vintage, since the story is a poisoning at a Saint-Emilion harvest party in 1985. A Venetian mask with The Masked Ball. A set of poker chips or a deck of cards with Murder at the Royal Casino. A bandana with The Cursed Island. A candle with The Cursed Manor, for the storm. A pair of dark glasses with Hollywood Noir. For a detective case file, pair a magnifying glass and a notebook, because the group will spend 1.5 to 2 hours cross-checking documents and someone always wants to take notes. A box of the recipient's favorite tea suits The Phantom Affair, which is a Victorian manor and a very human plan. One accessory per guest is the dress code every kit needs, so a second useful pairing is a bag of them: eight masks, eight bandanas, eight paper flowers for the lapel. The seven kits and their settings are listed on the murder mystery kits page, so the pairing is chosen from the title.

A birthday is the natural fit, in either shape. For the friend who hosts, the box; for the friend who would rather be a guest, the date. Buy the tier for the group that usually turns up at their parties, and if you are not sure, ask a mutual friend. Christmas suits the box, because the recipient's group is already assembled in the week that follows and the kit gives it something to do on the evening between the holidays. The guide to a printable murder mystery for the holidays covers the December version, including the one point to know: no scenario is set at Christmas, so the wrapping carries the season and the story carries the evening. A housewarming is the case for a detective case file. A couple who just moved does not have twelve friends within reach yet, but two people at a new kitchen table can open Vanished in Paris or The Phantom Affair, both 1.5 hours, with no host and a sealed solution. Print it, put it in a folder with a bottle, and it is the first evening they spend in the new place doing something other than unpacking.

The card gives four facts and keeps one. The four: the title, the setting, the number of players the kit is built for, and the run time. The one it keeps is anything from the solution envelope. The victim is not a spoiler, since the introduction names the crime in the first minute, but the culprit and the method are. A card for The Cursed Manor might read: "A stormy night, a will, and a manor full of heirs. Built for eight players, about two hours. You are the host: read the guide first, and open the sealed envelope last." A card for the date shape is shorter: "Saturday the 14th, 7:00 pm, your living room. A murder mystery party, and I am running it. Your envelope is waiting at the door." Add the dress code in one line, one accessory each, so the recipient can pass it on to their guests without inventing it. Do not write the player count as a range if you bought a specific tier: the PDF is built for the tier chosen at checkout, so a kit bought for 6 to 8 players is a kit for 6 to 8 players.

The tier is the one thing to get right, because the PDF is built for the tier chosen at checkout and the host guide lists a core cast of six roles first, then the roles that join at eight, ten and twelve. When the recipient's usual group is unknown, the 6 to 8 tier at $39 is the safe gift, and a group of seven plays the core six plus one of the two roles that join at eight. For a couple, a detective case file at $39 plays with 2 to 6. The file is not editable, so the kit cannot carry the recipient's name inside the story. The personalized gift is the custom scenario, written from scratch around the recipient's group with real first names and anecdotes: $219 for up to 15 players, $279 for up to 25. It needs a co-conspirator who knows the group. On reprinting: the license lets you print the kit as many times as you like for private games, so when the recipient wants to run it again with a different group, you print a second set for them. The guide to reprinting a murder mystery kit for another group covers the second printing.