Murder Mystery

Grand Hotel Murder Mystery Party Game

★ MURDER AT THE HALCYON — a 1958 grand hotel whodunit for 4-12 players ★

Get it on Etsy → Instant digital download · print at home

The Halcyon has been taking guests since 1868 and takes its last on Sunday. The spa is drained, three of the four floors are shut, and there are dust sheets over most of what is left. Duncan Ayres, who owns it, sold it in the summer to a firm that is going to pull it down in March. On Thursday at six he was found at the bottom of the service lift shaft, which is a place a man gets to only if somebody puts him there.

🎭 THE TWIST THIS ONE IS BUILT ON

Halfway through the evening, somebody else dies. That is not a twist — it is the evidence. Up in one of the shut-up rooms is the night porter, seventy-one, in the job since 1919, who has twice asked whether he might have a quiet word with somebody about Thursday. Nobody has given him one yet. When your guests understand why the second death matters, they will have the first one too.

🖼 FULLY ILLUSTRATED — NEW EDITION

• 12 painted character portraits, one on every character sheet

• A "Meet Your Characters" page so your guests can see the whole hotel at a glance

• A painted cover of the service corridor as it was found

Nobody hands out a plain sheet of text any more. Your guests get a face to play.

👤 12 CHARACTERS, EACH WITH A REAL SECRET

The 6 at the centre carry the mystery — the manager who has run this hotel for thirty years and has been moving one resident's account forward a quarter at a time since 1951, the daughter whose father changed his will in September and told nobody which way, the bookkeeper who has carried that account in her own handwriting for eleven years, the permanent resident who has not paid for a room since 1951 and knew perfectly well that somebody was covering it, the surveyor whose report is dated a month before the sale was announced, and the brother-in-law who has been drawing on the family trust since 1952.

6 more of the Halcyon each get a full sheet of their own: a motive, an alibi, something they saw, and a reason to be nervous. Nobody at your table just watches.

📄 WHAT YOU GET — instant download, 23 pages

• Host Guide — how to run all three rounds

• At a Glance — the whole game on one page, safe to read even if you are playing

• The Tangle — who is covering for whom (host only)

• The Story — read aloud to open the night

• Meet Your Characters — the illustrated cast

• 12 Character Sheets — secret, alibi, what you know, and what to say in Round 3

• Clue Cards for all three rounds

• Accusation Sheets and printable invitations

• The Murderer’s Envelope — hand it to one guest, or leave it sealed and play along yourself

• The Solution — sealed at the back, read aloud at the end

🖨 HOW IT WORKS

1. Print. A4 and US Letter are both included — print at 100% on plain paper.

2. Hand out. One character sheet per guest. At 4 players you use the core 6; at 12 you hand out every sheet in the file.

3. Play. Three rounds, roughly 90-120 minutes. Clue cards go out at the top of each round.

4. Accuse. Everyone fills in an Accusation Sheet. Read the Solution page aloud — whoever names the murderer, the method AND the motive wins.

You can host AND play. No character sheet tells its owner they are the killer, so read your own and leave the last two pages — the Murderer’s Envelope and the Solution — in an envelope until the vote.

★ GREAT FOR ★

Dinner parties, game nights, girls’ nights in, birthday celebrations, Halloween gatherings, and evenings when a group of friends wants something to do together — small groups and large.

Teen & Adult · Instant digital download · Nothing is shipped · Print it again for the next party.