The evening slot, not the working session
Use the version with roles after the day's sessions end. Each person gets a character with a secret and a personal objective, one of them is the culprit, and the evening runs about three hours: six to twelve players plus a host who does not play, $39.90 a file.
For the working part of an offsite, use the cooperative format instead, where nobody hides anything from a colleague. The two catalogues are on the murder mystery kits and detective case files pages.
Who should host the evening
Somebody who does not play a suspect. They read the guide beforehand, release the exhibits at set minutes, answer briefly for characters nobody is dealt, settle the signed agreements and read the reveal.
A manager can do it, and there is an argument for it: the host is the only person who is not a suspect, which removes the awkwardness of a senior colleague being accused all evening. Whoever takes it needs about an hour of reading and an hour of printing and sorting, and the variants for a work group are set out on the murder mystery team building page.
More than twelve people
A kit holds twelve character packs. Above that you have two options. Run several tables of the same file, each with its own host, in rooms where they cannot hear each other. Or commission a scenario written around your own team.
The custom murder mystery goes up to twenty-five players: $219 up to fifteen and $279 up to twenty-five, with an outline submitted for approval before anything is written and the print-ready file delivered within 72 hours of the brief being approved.
The cyber case for a team of five
For a smaller group, or an afternoon session with a point to it, Operation Blackout: a city in the dark, hospitals on backup power, nineteen exhibits, two to three hours, sixteen hints in four tracks, thirty-seven pages. One to seven investigators, cooperative, no host.
It is the version that shows how a team handles shared information, because nobody can read nineteen exhibits alone. Add fifteen minutes of debrief at the end: which document changed our mind, and who was holding it.
Precautions at a work event
Three, and they head off almost every objection. Cast the roles yourself rather than drawing lots in public, so nobody is handed something that embarrasses them, and never deal the culprit to someone who would hate the attention.
Keep participation optional, without asking anyone to explain. And say in the invitation that there are no costumes and no acting, because that is what people assume and it is what stops them coming. Nothing in any file requires either.
Frequently asked questions
Should a murder mystery be the working session or the evening?+
The evening. The version with secret roles is a social event rather than an exercise. For the working part of an offsite, use a cooperative case file, where nobody has to hide anything from a colleague.
Can a manager host?+
Yes, and it has an advantage: the host is the only person who is not a suspect, which avoids a senior colleague being accused all evening. They need about an hour to read the guide and an hour to print and sort.
What if the team is larger than twelve?+
Run several tables of the same file with a host each, in rooms out of earshot, or commission a custom scenario for up to twenty-five players at $219 up to fifteen and $279 up to twenty-five.
