Tag: Host Your Own Mystery

🎭 Mystery parties work best when they’re crafted for the people who actually show up. That’s why at Whodunnit Mysteries, we design customizable games that aren’t just plug-and-play—they’re built to feel personal.

Whether you want something wildly bespoke (“It’s a murder mystery, but set at a dinosaur dig in 1934”), or you just need to adapt an existing favorite to fit your cast (“We need to swap one guy for a girl”), you’re in the right place.

This blog will walk you through:

• 🛠️ The difference between full customization and quick edits

• 🔀 What’s flexible and what’s not in our games

• 👥 How our design philosophy keeps every guest engaged

• 🎉 Real examples of custom games we’ve created

• ✨ How to get started on making your event unforgettable

🛠️ Section 1: What Makes a Game “Customizable”?

🔍 Spoiler alert: Not all games are created equal.

Most mystery games online promise you can play with “as few as 4 and as many as 100 people!” But let’s be honest—that usually means a few core characters and the rest are fluff roles where people are told to “just observe and have fun.” It’s fine… but it’s not immersive.

At Whodunnit Mysteries, every single character matters.

🧠 Every individual character has something to hide. Teams know they’re teams, and their expectations are clear.
📜 Every clue is deliberately placed.
💣 Every plot twist hinges on player interaction.

This means two things:

✅ We can customize our games to work for your group.

⚠️ But we won’t compromise the integrity of the mystery to make it generic.

Customization doesn’t mean dumbing things down. It means crafting something that feels alive for your players.

2. Customizing Our Existing Games

Not every party needs a brand-new mystery. Sometimes, you fall in love with one of our pre-written games—like Mystery at Cattleskull Crossing, Coalition of Monsters, or Murder at the Buxton—but you need a few tweaks to make it work for your group.

Here’s what’s possible:

✅ Playing with One or Two Missing People

Our games are designed with double-layered clues. That means most characters have at least one person who also knows their secrets. If a guest drops out last-minute, the game doesn’t fall apart. You can still uncover the mystery without feeling like the whole plot has a gaping hole in it.

This makes our games especially great for:

• Unpredictable RSVPs

• Youth groups and classrooms

• Games with teenagers (or grownups) who might get cold feet

• Families where Uncle Jim might show up but probably won’t

✅ Flexible Genders for Some Roles

Some games are already written with gender-neutral characters. Others can be adjusted with minor wording tweaks to reflect the makeup of your group. Just let us know who’s playing, and we’ll let you know if your preferred game can flex.

⚠️ Gender or Setting Swaps Require Full Customization

If you love the storyline of Follow the Flag but want it set in a Las Vegas casino… that’s not a small edit. Why? Because our games are intricately woven with time, place, and character logic.

A Civil War General can’t just become a modern-day blackjack dealer without the entire clue network breaking. If you want to shift setting, time period, or fully flip the genders of all the characters, we’ll need to build or rework the game from the ground up.

It’s doable. It’s awesome. But it’s not a “quick fix.”

3. Why We Don’t Offer Extremely Flexible Games

Some mystery game companies brag that you can play their games with any group, any number, and just assign people “roles” at random. The downside? You get filler characters. You get clues that go nowhere. You get players who feel like they don’t matter.

That’s not us.

We believe every character should:

• Have something to hide

• Know something worth revealing

• Play a role in solving the mystery

If you want an experience where everyone is engaged and no one feels like an extra, you’ll love our approach.

The one exception? Our team-based games.

These are structured differently—perfect for larger events, classrooms, or family reunions. Each team plays as one “character” and works together to solve clues, interrogate others, and piece things together. In these, you can flex group sizes more freely—but the narrative still has weight.

4. Customization in Action: Real Examples

Plunder the Sea for a Daughter’s Birthday

I was teaching a class at a writer’s conference about how to write mystery games and we outlined a game as a group. One of the attendees loved the story so much, but in the course of the class, she discovered how much work it is to write a game. In the end, we took that model, tweaked it to fit the needs of her tween’s birthday, and the party went swimmingly.

🦸 Murder at the Museum Fundraiser

We custom-built a mystery set at a small-town church-turned museum. The setting and the clues were based on actual items and things the attendees could touch, see, and experience in while in the musem. The story had missing people, murder, sabotage, and a dramatic final reveal all while immersed in the fun of the 1950s.

🪦 Romantic Suprise Event at Enchantress’ Revenge

Being part of a big event in peoples’ lives is always exciting. Enchantress’ Revenge was a requested by a man twitterpated with his Fairytale-loving girlfriend. We immersed them in a world of kings and queens, princes and princesses, and the witches trying to kill them. Love conquered all and the game culminated in true love’s kiss and a proposal of marriage.

Let’s Make It Work for You

Whether you need:

• A small tweak to an existing game

• A completely original mystery

• A version for all-male or all-female casts

• A non-murder game that’s still full of drama

• Or something that works even if Uncle Jim bails…

We can help.

You can start with one of our pre-written favorites and ask what’s customizable. Or you can message us your wildest theme, and we’ll see what magic we can brew.

No matter your choice, we guarantee: no fluff characters. No cookie-cutter roles. Just clever, clean fun that keeps your guests guessing until the very last clue.

Want a Custom Game Built Just for You?

Let’s talk! Fill out our Custom Game Questionnaire to let us know exactly what you’re looking for. We’ll help you choose the best path forward—whether it’s a simple edit or your very own bespoke masterpiece.

🔍 Because when every guest matters, every clue counts.