Murder mysteries for team building and private events
For more info or to book please call 020 8842 1284
Murder mysteries for team building and private events

Murder Mystery Types

Murder mysteries for freeWe now have three games you can play virtually online via Zoom, FaceTime and other video apps. Go here for more information about them and to see the great reviews they are getting. You can buy, download and run two of them yourselves or enquire here as to how we can run any of them for you.

Our murder mystery games suit many different groups and budgets. We’ve run them for corporate groups, government organisations, charities, private dinners, birthday celebrations, stag and hen dos, wedding receptions, schools and many others. Perfect for parties and corporate groups, they put you in the middle of an unfolding mystery. There are clues to solve, characters to play, secrets to unlock.

Unlike board games like Cluedo, our whodunits aren’t “one size fits all”. They come in many different shapes and sizes, to suit different groups. Tell us what you are looking for and we’ll offer whichever type of game provides the best fit.

They work nicely in many different kinds of venue – everything from a grand Scottish castle to a suburban home. They can fit in with other activities guests are involved in. We often run them as part of a team away day. They can be used to promote a new product or venue. They are also a popular choice for hen parties.

They usually last around 3 hours over a meal, but we also run them on their own and to different timings. Many lend themselves well to getting into costume and fancy dress.

Murder Mystery Types

A full list of every murder mystery plot we offer is available here. It also tells you how many people each crime solving game is for and what form the game takes.

To talk to us about what you are looking for, please call us now on 020 8842 1284. Or make an enquiry – let us help you find what you are looking for.

For more information about all the different types of plot we run, please click on any of these links:

Our new, online virtual games are mainly intended for those wanting to take part in a whodunit via Zoom, Google Meet and other similar apps. You can buy, download and run them yourselves or contact us here about hiring us to run a game for you. The games you can buy to run yourselves work best for groups of up to 20 people. Bigger groups can also play them but then most of those taking part will have an observer/detective role. One mystery we can run for you – a version of our Shotgun Wedding plot – is aimed at those wanting something that will work for bigger groups. Its excellent as a virtual, online team-building murder mystery, too. To receive more information from us about all this, please go to our contact page.

Our Participative plots are designed to be played by a group all gathered together in the same space (i.e. not virtually). They come in two forms. Our Highly Participative plots give everyoneTeam building the chance to play a character in the mystery. How much people do get involved is very much up to them but even shy people often amaze themselves by how immersed they become. Our Fairly Participative plots are for bigger groups. Some guests have individual characters to play and everyone else is treated as if they are part of the overall theme – members of the aristocracy in High Society, wedding guests in Shotgun Wedding, etc. In all our Participative plots, there is always plenty for everyone to do. Suspects to question. Clues to consider. Items of evidence to process. They get people interacting with and talking to each other in a much more relaxed way than usually happens on these occasions. And they always provide plenty to talk about afterwards, too.

Most of our Team Building Murder Mysteries are meant for a group all gathered together in the same space. We do have one game which we can run for you as a big, virtual team-building event. Otherwise, these games will usually  be run over a meal or on their own as part of a training day. Murder mysteryWith some, the primary aim is for staff to enjoy a new experience together which bonds, improves morale and breaks down barriers. With others, more specific training goals can be targeted: leadership and negotiating skills, team work, communication, etc. Trainers sometimes think that, because our murder mysteries are such fun, they won’t be able to deliver any useful team building results. Training has to be hard work, right? Wrong. We offer dynamic, experiential learning in a form which is safe, enjoyable – and highly effective. Try it and see!

Our Watch The Action plots were created pre-Covid for social events in which groups want a murder mystery that is broken up into different sections/scenes with breaks in between. Our actors will entertain you and provide you with a gripping mystery to solve. But you will also have time for other group activities: chatting. Networking. Talking shop. Engaging in other training games. These plots are ideal, too, for groups which want to be entertained between courses over a meal and want to be left on their own while they are enjoying their food.

Our Best Value plots offer options for those on a tight budget. By hiring fewer actors and/or by doing more of the preparation yourselves, you can get a dramatic, highly entertaining mystery for a fraction of what it might otherwise cost. Some can be played online.

Our Seasonal, All Day, Weekend and Bespoke Whodunits fill in all the gaps and tick all the boxes our other events may not cover. Plots for Halloween? Tick. Christmas plots? Tick. Plots which can fill a whole day or a whole weekend? Tick. Plots written or adapted specially for you? Tick! These are meant for people to play who are all gathered as one group: they aren’t intended to be played virtually.

AllParticipative whodunits our mysteries feature detectives or investigators. How else would anything ever get solved? For Sherlock aficionados, our Sherlock Holmes Mysteries feature the great man himself. A battle of sleuthing wits in which you’ll be competing with the best detective there has ever been. And in plots we’ve created specially to match the complexity and ingenuity of the stories he appeared in.

Activities To Accompany Your Murder Mystery. So, you fancy doing a murder mystery. But you want it to be part of an away day, part of something bigger. You’re looking for other things to do, too. That’s where these other activities come in. Through our sister companies, Initiative Unlimited and Find The Treasure. We have a wide range of options to choose from: everything from bespoke training to ice breakers and energisers. Best of all, we can often combine what’s happening in these other activities with the murder mystery itself. And with the same characters throughout. A treasure hunt, for instance, which has been requested or created by the murder victim. A School Sports Day which is part of our St. Cakes school whodunit. Some “team building games” which the fictional company in Office Murder has organised for its staff (you!).

And Free Murder Mysteries. Yes, they do exist. And, no, they aren’t all rubbish. But the usual limitations apply. Some are rubbish. Most lack the detail and layers of intrigue you’ll find in our paid-for mysteries. The solutions can be too easy or impossible. You’ll have to do everything yourself and probably won’t be able to co0ntact anyone if you have a query about how the game works. And, with downloadable games, you are more likely to hit technical problems or find that “Free” actually means “Free Until We Ask You To Pay For Some Extra Bits You’ll Need”.

“A double murder has been committed. One of these ears is a woman’s, small, finely formed, and pierced for an earring. The other is a man’s, sun-burned, discoloured, and also pierced for an earring. These two people are presumably dead.”
Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Cardboard Box