Hi all. I run a one-person studio in Japan making printable murder mystery party games as PDFs. The eleventh scenario is now up, and it is the biggest one so far.
The Eve, 20:00 — 8 players + 1 host. https://aiqlabs.itch.io/the-eve-2000
The night before a summer festival, the eight people who run it gather. The head of the neighbourhood association is found dead. There is no vote at the end: the eight of you decide, at the same moment, where each of you will stand at tomorrow’s procession, and that is the ending.
If you have only played a boxed “murder mystery dinner party” before, this is a different genre, so it is worth knowing what changes:
- The host runs the game and does not play. That is what lets the story hold information back until the last clue.
- Each player gets a private booklet with a secret only they know, and two win conditions: one shared (find the killer) and one personal.
- The murderer is a real player, not the host. They have their own goals and act on them.
- Every piece of evidence is a document. Nothing to cut out, no art to squint at. If you play online there is nothing to print at all.
- Single use. Once you know the answer you cannot replay it, but you can host it for other groups afterwards.
The series now runs from 2 players up to 8, including one that is free and one that needs no host at all. Each is standalone, so there is no order to follow.
Free one, if you want to try the format first: https://aiqlabs.itch.io/last-contact-0400
The rest of the series is 30% off right now: /s/199829/japanese-murder-mystery-series-launch-sale
Happy to answer questions about running one of these, especially if you have never hosted before. The host script reads top to bottom and there are no rules to arbitrate and no dice.
On disclosure: these are written with the help of a language model and then edited, structured and checked by a human before release. Every page on itch carries the AI disclosure field.