What is a murder mystery game?
Sometimes it is a theatrical production with actors play their roles and give the clues, while you watch and try to figure out who committed the crime. Sometimes it is a small group of friends who take on the roles of the various characters in the story, giving clues and improvising the action. When it is all over, everyone guesses the murderer.
There are many opportunities for adventure, the professional mystery weekends at bed and breakfasts, or mystery dinner theater productions, mystery trains, cruise ships. For the do-it-yourself-er there are boxed games, complete with all the clues and instructions you need. These games are available at toy and book stores and online. There are even games you can download on your computer and print out. You could design your own game or hire someone to design a game especially for you. That is what my heroine, Gwen Wilson, does. She is a novelist and a mystery game designer.
How to Create Your Own Mystery Game
In July 1986, Writer's Digest Magazine published my article, "Writing for Fun: Creating A Mystery Game."
Based on my experience creating mystery games, I detailed step-by-step how to design and write your own mystery game.
That article is now available as a free download in .pdf format. You will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to read this eBook. The program is a free download and easy to use.
Click on the Adobe Logo if you don't have an Adobe Acrobat Reader, then use your back button to return to Play Murder.
Click here to download Writing for Fun
This should open the file in the Acrobat Reader in your browser. Click the save button on the Acrobat tool bar to save it to your desktop or a disk.
If you have problems downloading,
contact me at
More information about murder mystery games check out Resources