Murder at the Gilded CanaryPrintable 1920s murder mystery party game · 4–20 players · New Year's Eve 1927 · Port Haven speakeasy

Three sizes of the same night

The speakeasy case comes as three separate downloads. Mini keeps the six people who saw the most: the bookkeeper, the singer, the crooked cop, the widow, the liquor man and the bartender. Classic adds the coat-check girl, the pianist and the doorman, who back up the timeline. Grand fills the club with twenty guests, from a reporter on the cigarette tray to the judge at the card table.

What is a murder mystery party kit?

Murder at the Gilded Canary is a role-playing murder mystery party game. It is New Year's Eve, 1927, the last night of a Port Haven speakeasy. At the midnight toast the owner collapses, the doors are bolted, and everyone in the room becomes a suspect.

Each guest plays one of the suspects: the bookkeeper, the headline singer, the crooked cop, the widow patron and more. You get a secret, three personal goals and clues the others need. Together you solve a three-part case: when the ledger was gutted, how the owner was poisoned, and who did it and why.

The host only needs to read: the guide says what to say at midnight, when to switch off the lights and when to reveal each answer. Plan 90 minutes to 2.5 hours.

What is in the kit

• Host Guide with the narration for the toast and the blackout, scoring, awards and the full solution.
• A file for each of the 20 suspects: public page, secret page, three objectives, round clues.
• 12 evidence cards, from the torn ledger to the telegram in number code.
• Case sheets and an invitation for New Year's Eve, 1927.

How the evening runs

• Round 1 · Arrivals (15 min). Guests introduce themselves in character, mingle and read their first page.
• Round 2 · The Toast (25 min). The owner collapses at midnight. Clues are traded and the first question of the case is answered.
• Round 3 · Blackout (30 min). The lights go out for 60 seconds, a telegram appears and secrets come out. Second answer.
• Round 4 · The Reckoning (20 min). Everyone votes for the killer and the host reads the solution.
• Scoring and awards (10 min). Add up the points and hand out awards such as Best Costume and Best Liar.

The rules that make it fun

• Secret objectives. Bribe a doorman, win a bet, get the room humming: every character scores 1, 2 and 3 points for personal goals, even without solving the case.
• The truth rule. Everyone may bluff about their secret, but nobody may lie about their clue pages, except the killer.
• Favor marks. Whisper a question to the host, demand a sentence from someone's clue page, or refuse one question.
• The blackout. In Round 3 the lights go off for sixty seconds, everyone changes seats, and a telegram appears on the bar.