Minutes 0 to 10: download and check
Enter your personal code on the case file portal and download the file. Open the PDF, check it is fifty or fifty-six pages depending on the file, and find the notice on page two.
Mind the calendar at this point. The code waits indefinitely until first used, but from this first opening it stays valid only one week. If the party is ten days away, do not open it now: buy whenever you like, open inside the last week.
Minutes 10 to 30: read the host's guide
This is the step everyone wants to skip and should not. The guide is on the portal, not in the PDF: before the game, during the game, ending the game, and the solution for the host.
Read it straight through once without taking notes. Two things will stay with you and they are the two that matter: the order the exhibits open in, and what to say for the characters nobody is playing. The four files are on the murder mystery kits page.
Minutes 30 to 40: cast the roles
The six core characters are always dealt. Add one supporting character per extra guest, in the order the guide suggests or by matching personalities to the people you know.
Deal the culprit's pack quietly, to someone who will enjoy the responsibility rather than dread it, and without announcing that the role sits in that seat. Do not draw lots in front of everyone: that is the moment a hesitation shows, and a table always watches who gets what.
Minutes 40 to 55: print and separate
Print the notice, the two pages of each character you are dealing, and all the exhibits. A4 single-sided at 100 percent, or tick fit to page on US Letter. At eight players that is around forty sheets.
Separate the character packs immediately, folded or in envelopes with the guest's name on the front. That small step is what stops a private sheet sitting face up on the table during drinks, and it costs two minutes.
Minutes 55 to 60: sort the exhibits by act
One folder per act, with the opening minute written on the front. The order is in the guide: in Murder at the Royal Casino the exhibits open at minutes 20, 40, 60, 75, 90, 110, 120 and 130.
Put the folders on a sideboard, away from the glasses. Then set out pencils, an eraser, scrap paper and the ballots, and check the light over the table. You are ready: all that is left is to announce the start time and hold it.
If this is your first time hosting, read the full run of an evening on the printable murder mystery kit page as well. It takes ten minutes and it answers the questions that come up once guests are already sitting down.
Frequently asked questions
How long does preparing a murder mystery take?+
About an hour for a kit if you follow the order: download, read the guide, cast the roles, print, separate the packs, sort the exhibits by act. A cooperative case file takes about twenty minutes.
When should I open my access code?+
Inside the last week before the party. The code waits indefinitely until first used, but it stays valid only one week from that first opening, and that window covers the guide and the reveal as well as the download.
How should I hand out the culprit's pack?+
Quietly, to someone who will enjoy the responsibility, without drawing lots in public and without hinting that the role is in that seat. Their pack has the same length and sections as everyone else's.
