Top 10 Murder Mystery
Dinner Party Games

Jazz, Moonshine and Murder is the most polished dinner party game we’ve hosted. It’s set in a 1920s speakeasy packed with flappers, mobsters, bootleggers, and socialites. There are a total of 3 murders throughout the night, so 3 friends got the chance to act out their murders in the funniest ways possible. The 3 that are killed continue to play as ghosts, so they weren’t left out of the fun. It’s also improv style, so there’s no scripts to read, but every character has talking points to help push the case forward. The evidence does a lot of the heavy lifting in pointing toward the killer.

But it was the points system that made the game such a huge success – something none of the other games on this list have. Players earn points by uncovering the secrets of other characters and completing specific actions throughout the night. This was a masterstroke. It meant even guests who aren’t naturally theatric had a clear goal, and it turned a social game into genuine competition. Everyone was invested right up until the end.

All 20 characters are gender-neutral – names, pronouns, etc and costume suggestions were basically anything from the 1920s, so you dress as you like basically. So there’s no thought process of “well, you’re the only man left so you have to be the bartender” situation. I just matched my friends according to the characters they best matched. The host can play as the Speakeasy Owner or Bartender and doesn’t know the killer’s identity either. The game shipped as four clearly organised PDFs: instructions, character sheets, evidence, and extras (invitations, name tags, voting sheets, awards). The instructions were crystal-clear, so there was minimum prep work besides printing it out. Oh, and there were no romantic pairing between any of the characters. I think this should be standard with all games of this type.

Maple Mystery Games is run by a couple out of the UK, who has been writing murder mystery games since 2004. Their 1920s Speakeasy game is one of the most popular one’s on the site – and for good reason. It’s got great characters, a sharp plot, and an audio solution that clearly states the murderer/s and evidence.

The game uses a scripted format, but you can mess around the dialogue if you want, as long as you get the general message across. Some of our first time players, who were nervous about their first time playing a murder mystery game, were thrilled to have a booklet to read instead of improvising lines. The more experienced of us went a bit off-script. No one knew who the killer was until the very end – including myself (the host). And the host can play as any character. It came with a ton of hosting guides,food suggestions, costume ideas, decoration ideas, and customizable templates for invitations, etc. It has everything you could ever need to host a murder mystery dinner.

Nobody guessed the killer correctly, but it didn’t matter because we had such a great time. Everyone was engaged throughout the night and the scripts were super easy to follow. We used this game when we had a slightly smaller group than usual and it worked out well.

Shadows Over Shrouded Island is Print Mysteries’ first and most-reviewed dinner party game. The story is about a secret island, but it is not played out on the island itself. It’s actually set in the home of the adventurer who’s about to set sail to find the island. Everyone at the party has a secret of why they want to be included. Players have to find out these secrets (some good, some bad) which can also lead to the killer.

Like its 1920s sibling, Shadows also has 3 murders, gender-neutral characters playable by anyone, and a host that does not know who the killer is. It’s split into four clean PDFs covering instructions, characters, evidence, and extras for your party. Again, there are no scripts, just character info, talking points, secrets, and the evidence that drops after each murder.

Having no romantic or flirtatious character dynamics meant that this game worked amazingly well for out mix of colleagues, and family without making anyone feel uncomfortable.

Night of Mystery has been running since 2005 and has sold over 128,000 party games around the world. There were a few versions of this game available. We went with the smallest version of 8-12 people to keep costs down. It’s a very pricey game, but it’s enjoyable.

This game really took off after the murder and people got into mingling and questioning each other. It’s not a super difficult mystery but it is fun. I appreciated that they sell a clean version on their site, so if you want to keep things PG like I do, you certainly can.

I feel like this game would work great for very big groups. The only thing that didn’t work for me was the overload of information. Some people love that, but I prefer things to be as simple as possible. There is a requirement to have a certain number of males and females present, but after that – there are a bunch of gender-neutral characters to use, so you shouldn’t have too much of an issue with it.

This game distinguished itself by being a replayable murder mystery game. The killer is randomized each time, so you’re able to use the game multiple times. They did have set male and female roles, but the game states that you’re able to use any character regardless of their gender.

We played the 4-14 version to save some money. But you can play with up to 30 people for really big games. This particular game was available in English, French and German. The game includes detailed character guides, themed invitations, scripts for all the players, and costume suggestions. It was a lot of fun, and different to what we were expecting. The replayability aspect is what really put it up so high on this list. Even though we’re not the biggest fans of scripts, when you’re paying such high fees for a game, it’s nice that you can replay them again at some point.

The story revolves around a chocolatier who’s found murdered. I loved having an excuse to buy a ridiculous amount of chocolate for the party. There’s 2 versions of the game – a cocktail mingling version and a dinner version. We played the cocktail version that’s the classic way these games are played, but if you choose the dinner party route – the investigation will be designed around a 3-course meal with 2 breaks included in your timeline.

Shot in the Dark have a clever feature that lets you email suspect guides individually to guests, rather than printing everything yourself. These character packets can be sent directly to guests by email, preventing the host from seeing any spoilers. I (the host) received a separate guide so I could stay in the dark alongside everyone else. No one – not even the killer – knew the outcome until the big reveal at the end.

Emailing everything makes preparation super simple, and the quality of the clue materials was excellent. It’s the perfect option for birthdays and Valentine’s Day (of course).

This story is about a bunch of socialites and tycoons who have to solve a mystery in Manhattan. We got the version that’s suited for 10-25 people, but they do have an extended version that can include over 100 people.

There’s a fun scavenger hunt element to this game. It comes with 13 full-color illustrated clues that I hid around the venue. This was something I hadn’t seen in any other games. It comes with lots of info to help you set everything up and a 171-page PDF with invitations, name tages, voting sheets, costume tips, awards, etc., as well as some MP3 sudio effects.