Christmas murder mystery game, printable

When to play it over the holidays

The easiest slot is after dinner, once the table is cleared. Plan on about two hours of play, plus fifteen to thirty minutes to hand out the booklets and read the prologue.

It does not have to be Christmas night itself. A Christmas murder mystery also works on Christmas Eve, between two family meals, or in the week between Christmas and New Year with friends who are not at your table on the 25th.

Six at the table, no more, no fewer

A Christmas table is rarely a round number. The game is played by six, host included: every character holds part of the case, and there is no five-player or seven-player version.

Someone cancels at the last minute? A replacement who arrives before the start takes the free role: the host guide has you hand out the booklets on arrival, with fifteen minutes of reading. More than six of you? The Christmas and New Year’s Eve bundle gives you two mysteries for one payment: two tables of six, or the same friends on two different nights.

The host’s schedule

• One week before: decide who plays whom and send the invitation, the guide includes one to copy
• The day before: print on US Letter, black and white is fine, and slip each booklet into an envelope unread
• On the night: welcome, prologue read aloud, three acts, vote, reveal

The host reads the guide alone before the evening. The solution is not in it: the host plays like everyone else, without knowing who the killer is.

Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

Same format, two moods. This one is for the Christmas table; for the party on the 31st, see the New Year’s Eve murder mystery game.