1920s Speakeasy Murder Mystery Party Game

Chicago, 1926. The Gilded Lily keeps no sign above its door and everyone in the city knows exactly where it is. Tonight Ruby Vale sang her last set to a full house, took her bow at ten past midnight, walked back to her dressing room and never came out again. They found her a quarter of an hour later, still in her stage beads, her champagne coupe tipped over beside her hand.

🎭 THE TWIST THIS ONE IS BUILT ON

Ruby kept a little black book, and everybody in this room is in it. Six people had a reason to want that book closed for good — and every one of them can tell you where they were standing when the band stopped playing. The question is not who hated her. It is who knew what she had written down.

🖼 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 table at a glance

• A painted cover of the stage 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 hat-check girl who sells the guest list out the back door, the off-duty detective on forty dollars a week to keep the raid wagons away, the bootlegger with three dead men in a Cicero basement behind him, the heiress whose family money ran out two years ago, the bandleader who says the songs the city loves were his, and the columnist who invented the quotes that ended a man's career.

6 more regulars of the Lily 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.

★ QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK ★

Q: Is it hard to host?

A: No. The host reads one page aloud and the evening runs itself.

Q: Do guests need to act?

A: Not at all. Everyone reads their own sheet and answers questions.

Q: Can the host play too?

A: Yes. The solution stays sealed until the final reveal.

Q: How many people?

A: Works from 4 to 12. Spare roles simply sit out.

Q: Do I print everything?

A: Only the sheets for your guest count. A4 or US Letter.

Q: What if we get stuck?

A: Every kit includes a host guide and the full solution.

★ PLAYERS, TIME AND HOSTING ★

Players: 4 to 12 — spare roles simply sit out

Length: 90 to 120 minutes

Hosting: easy — the host reads one page aloud, and no guest needs acting experience