New Year’s Eve murder mystery game, printable

Before or after midnight?

The game takes about two hours, plus fifteen to thirty minutes of welcome. Two ways to time the 31st: start around 8 pm so the vote lands before the countdown and you toast at midnight with the case solved, or have dinner first and play after the countdown, for a night that stretches into the small hours.

Either way, plan the meal separately: the host guide times the game, not the raclette.

Six guests, no more

A New Year’s Eve party sometimes draws more people than one game table holds. The game is played by six, host included: every character holds part of the case, and it cannot be played with five or seven.

A guest cancels the day before? 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.

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 31st: 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.