Help and FAQs

We do everything we can to ensure that buying and downloading our games is trouble free. Even so, things can go wrong! Let us help get you murder mystery helpback on track with these FAQs and answers.

If you are experiencing difficulties, here are some common solutions:

Password Queries
Once you have purchased the game, you will usually receive one email confirming the sale and another separate email providing either the link and/or password you need to download the game or details of where to get these from. When entering your password, remember that it is CASE SENSITIVE and should be a combination of letters and numbers. Your password is NOT your sale reference number. If you ordered the game a long time ago, your password may no longer be valid, for security reasons.

Download (PDF) problems
If, after downloading the introduction, you are asked by your computer which program you want to open the file with, this means that you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or that it is not properly installed. In either case go to Adobe’s website and download the latest version.
If the PDF file opens but is not displayed correctly (missing words/pictures characters etc.), then you probably do not have the latest version of the Reader. Again, visit Adobe to solve this problem.
Once you have entered the password and started to download the game, the pages will appear one at a time. You must wait for all of the pages to download before you start to print the game, otherwise you will be left with parts of the file missing. The time this takes will vary a lot depending on your location/connection/computer etc. If for any reason you become disconnected while downloading, you will have to start over again.
If you are using Internet Explorer and are having problems downloading a game, try right-clicking the link to the game and choosing “save target as” from the menu. Choose a place to save the game to and then click OK. Once the game is downloaded, go to the place you saved the game to and double-click on the file to open it.
Alternatively, it may be that you lost your Internet connection while you were downloading and this scrambled some of it. Check your connection and try again.

Compatibility
Our games are come as standard (password protected) PDF files or ZIP folders. These work on almost any modern computer operating system including Windows, Apple and smartphones with a PDF reader installed.

Does it matter if I don’t yet know exactly how many people are coming to the party?
No, it does not matter, providing the final number is within the range the game is meant for (6-8 people, 6-20 people, 14-40 people or whatever).  With some games, we provide you with a table showing which characters you must use and which you can drop. With others, some people get to observe and crime-solve rather than play an actual character.

Can I edit the game or make it into a Word file?
Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, we cannot allow the editing of our games or their conversion between file formats. Please see our terms and conditions for more details.

I want to run the game commercially/on multiple occasions/as part of my business. Can I do that?
You must purchase a commercial license from us or contact us to discuss your plans for the game.

Can you put the game in the post for me?
The purpose of this site is to be automated. We no longer provide printed versions of our games except when we also come and run them (see below). However, your password should work on any PC for at least 6 months after purchase if you are unable to get to a printer straight away.

Can you run our game for us?
Our company is based in the UK. If you are planning to hold your murder mystery in the UK, we may be able to provide an actor or actors to run it for you after you’ve printed it out and put it together. Depending on where you are, we may even be able to do everything for you: print out the game, put it together and come and run it for you. Go to Best Value Option Two on our Murder Mystery and Mayhem site for more on this or contact us here about it. Again, this mostly applies to group events in the UK but, if you have the budget for it, we will travel beyond the UK, too.

Can you give me advice on costumes/menus/acting etc?
The UK version of this site has plenty of useful information about costuming. Go to Murder Mystery Costume Guide for more on this. For other ideas and information, look our for what’s being talked about in our blog and our Facebook page. .

Still need more help?
If you cannot find the solution for your problem on the site, contact Murder Mystery Games for human assistance.

27 thoughts on “Help and FAQs”

  1. Hello, I’m looking to purchase The Auction for around 34 people. Does everyone have a character or are some people observers/crime solving rather than play an actual character? Also is this completely scripted or do each characters get given tasks/who to talk to etc to find the murderer. I’ve played various types of murder mysteries before and want to make sure I get this one right! Thank you

    1. Hi Charley. Our Auction game is one in which everyone attending will have a character to play. Some bits are scripted – e.g. the solution – but people mostly rely on instructions they receive on the night about what their character knows and what they are trying to achieve. The characters are written in such a way that even people who are naturally quite shy should cope fine with what we give them to do. If you want games which are more scripted and in which not everyone has a character, Murder In The Red Room and The Chocolate Bar Mystery both provide this. Though originally meant to be played virtually/online, they are sometimes played (and enjoyed!) by people who are all gathered in the same room.

  2. I want to buy The Auction
    We host a family reunion every year and we try to come up with a fun event for it each time. My question is can we hand our guest their invite upon arrival? I know for sure of some of our guest that are coming but, a lot of them decide last minute if they are coming. Will I know which characters need to be the 12? I think I could assign 12 by mailing ahead of time and then just hand invites to guest that show up the extra characters. Hope I’m making sense. I am excited about trying this. Thanks

    1. Hi Lena. Thanks for your interest in our game. I would recommend getting most or all the invites out to people beforehand so there is less for everyone to read at the start. The paid-for game explains which characters to use, depending on how many of you there are on the day. If you think the final number will be 12, you might do better to choose a game like Murder Aboard or The Final Curtain. Both these games will work even if last-minute drop-outs mean you end up with fewer than 12 people. And both were written especially for smaller groups like yours. Anyway, whichever way you go, I hope you have a great time playing our game. Best, David Shannon

        1. I’ve emailed you privately to sort this out for you. The problem is, I think, that some email providers bounce or reject emails which are genuine, assuming by mistake that they are spam. Anyway, I hope my email gets round this for you. Best, David

  3. We are thinking of doing ‘the Auction’ for a 40th birthday party. We may have up to 50 people, is it possible to double up characters or add some more?

    1. Hi Sammi. People have sometimes in the past shared a character. Two might stay together throughout, pretend they are identical twins, that sort of thing. This won’t work with every character, so you will need to check first (which will reveal some plot spoilers). You can also add someone as simply an extra journalist character. Give them lots of money and tell them to spend it on trying to get information from people. Neither of these solutions is ideal otherwise we would already have incorporated them. Our St. Cakes plot is great fun and, while having some individual characters, mainly works in teams. That might be a better alternative if there are 50 of you.

  4. Hi we are thinking of doing The Final Curtain for a 12-year-old’s party but there will be two younger kids (7 and 9). Do you think the game will be traumatizing for them? Many thanks,
    Ryan

    1. Hi Ryan. Thank you for checking and raising this with us. We rate this game as suitable for those aged 12 although some of what the characters get up to (e.g. sex outside marriage) can be a concern for some groups. My opinion is that the 7 and 9 year old definitely won’t be traumatised by anything in it – it’s meant to be light-hearted, it’s meant to be fun. More of an issue is how much they’ll want to join in. The written information each character gets might be too much and a bit confusing for them. One possibility might be, rather than give them characters, make them unnamed assistants to Jay Fitzharing and the Inspector and get those playing these characters to make sure they have enough to do. We can’t guarantee this will work but it is one way, perhaps, to proceed.

  5. We are playing the last gasp next weekend. I’ve made my own invitations for the game, as everyone will be together anyway and I actually didn’t want to give away yet where the location is and what day we will play it. Will this be a problem, is there anything specific on the original invitations which is needed in the game?

    1. Thanks for buying the game and I hope you have great fun playing it. The game will run a lot better if people do receive most of what’s in the invitation in advance. Please feel free to re-do the opening page of it and leave out the details you mention but we recommend you still let people know that it’s happening in 1899, that George Sweet has invited them to attend and which character you’d like them to play. To avoid giving people too much to read at the start, we’d also strongly recommend you ensure they receive the Guest List and Coddingham Gazette from you before the event. Organisers often believe that it’s more fun if our mysteries are sprung on people as a surprise. I don’t think you’re planning to do this, but just in case: in our experience, what makes the games even more special is when people know beforehand what’s in store for them. That way they can look forward to it and enjoy learning a bit about the other characters before the game itself gets underway.

  6. I am thinking about doing The Final Curtain for my daughter’s 13th birthday party. She wants to be involved in the game as much as her guests. Is it possible for me (the mom) to set everything up and then not be a part of the actual game? Does my daughter still have to be Jay (forgot the last name)?

    Also, this crowd of teens is a conservative group (think church youth group)…any adultery, drugs, sexual content, etc involved in any of the characters/clues? Thanks!

    1. Hi Megan. Your daughter won’t have to play the organiser role in the game but someone else will – ideally the person who knows most about the game, because they got it ready for everyone! If you aren’t part of the actual game, that’s fine but you will probably have a very, very dull time because nothing will make much sense to you and people around you will spend most of their time playing the game. Finally, although we say the game is suitable for those aged 12 and above, we base this on the kind of tv dramas which 12-year-olds can freely watch, which often do have references to the things you are concerned about – e.g. adultery. Rather than buy our game and then find that some of your group is uncomfortable with any of it, I’d invite you to stay safe and find something else for your daughter to do instead. We take the view that murders don’t happen unless people behave badly and, for there to be several motives and several suspects, that bad behaviour has to take various forms. Hope that helps – and sorry not to be able to just say Yes!

    1. I’d strongly recommend against trying this, especially with so many people. Timings vary as different groups take different amounts of time and games tend to last longer when run over a meal – but I’d still allow yourselves at least two and a half hours for this plot.

  7. Two questions about the mystery party on a yacht.
    1. We will actually be on a yacht and may not have any wireless when we play. Can everything be downloaded prior to that evening?
    2. Can this game be played with only 5 people? If so, which characters should be included?
    Thanks
    Suni

    1. Hi Suni
      Thank you for your message. A mystery party on a yacht sounds like a great idea. Downloading and preparing everything beforehand won’t be a problem. That’s something you’ll need to do whether your party happens at sea or on dry land. But the game is for a minimum of 7 people so trying to play it with just 5 people isn’t something we’d recommend.

  8. I am planning on playing “The Final Curtain” with guests aged 15-55. Since the game is advertised for ages 12 and up, I am worried that it will be too easy for a group of adults to guess the murderer. Can you provide some insight into whether or not I should pick a different one? It is for my 18th birthday, and I don’t want it to be guessed within an hour.

    1. Hi Kaitlyn
      The age rating is to do with content, not how easy a plot is to solve. I would be very, very surprised if anyone works out the identity of the murderer in The Final Curtain within an hour. Even at the end, some may still not have worked it out. Trying to solve the crime should give everyone plenty to think about throughout the game. But how many do solve at the end is always unpredictable depending on how freely guests share information with each other and how successful they are in tying everything together. My recommendation for you, assuming you have the right number of guests for it, is to stick with The Final Curtain. Hope you enjoy it!

  9. Is the host also playing the game? In other words does the host know who the murderer is in advance or is the host possibly the murderer. The are 7 of us aboard a personnel yacht and would like to play. We all want to be involved.
    Thanks for the clarification

    1. Hi Vaughn
      Thank you for your message and interest in our games. Rest assured that, in all of our games, the host shouldn’t know who the killer is in advance and will have a character to play during it. As you put the game together, you will be protected from finding out too much about what goes on in it. When the game is running, you’ll be joining in rather than just watching. It’s much more fun that way, we think.

  10. Hey guys.
    I was wondering with Final Curtain is it essential to cast Errol Blackstone and Brian Booth before Bert, Spangles and Madge?

    We have eleven people including the host. So it’s either Errol, Brian, Sandy and Pip or Bert, Spangles, Madge and either Errol or Brian.

    Cheers

    Nick

    1. Hi Nick
      Whichever works best for you is fine. If you’d prefer to have Bert, Spangles, Madge and either Errol or Brian in your version, that’s no problem. It’s always useful to have at least one character you can easily drop, and you have that in Errol or Brian.
      Enjoy the game!

  11. Okay there are 6, 7 people if I can find another. ABout 5 women and 1 male…. from 30 -89 in age. I am looking at the Farthinggay Manor, or the Final Curtain… I am thinking about the Final Curtain only because of our name. We like interactive games- which do you suggest? It will be for our family Christmas

    Thanks Cathy Deeley

    1. Hi Cathy
      Thanks for your interest in our games. Farthingay Manor is for 6 people only; the Final Curtain is for 7 or more people. We also have our Reading of the Will plot for 6-8 people. So, if there are 6 of you, we recommend Farthingay or Reading of the Will. If there are 7 or more of you, then we recommend the Final Curtain or the Reading of the Will. In the free introductions to each game, you’ll find some more information about the plots and descriptions of the characters in them. Your guests will be playing these characters. Which do you think they will most enjoy playing? We recommend you make your final choice based on that.
      Whichever game you choose, we hope you have a great time playing it – and have a fantastic family Christmas.

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