The murder mystery party you write yourself

Write the murder.
Cast your friends.
Deny everything.

Start with an idea, a grudge or an inside joke. ParlorCrimes turns it into a complete murder mystery party: your friends as the suspects, secrets only they know, clues hidden around your house, and a reveal that holds up.

Craft your mystery Play a card game now

“It was a town where everyone locked their doors—until they didn’t.”

You are the author

No two parties get the same story

Boxed mystery games hand everyone the same script. Here you decide who dies, who did it and what everyone is hiding.

A typewriter, candle and blank case notes on a writing desk

“The will was changed the night before the wedding.” That is enough to begin.

Start with one sentence

Write every word yourself, let AI draft the story from your venue, or mix the two. The AI only ever writes inside the steps you choose, and you can rewrite anything it suggests.

By handWith AIA bit of both

Eight dinner guests eyeing each other across a candlelit table, one chair empty

One of them did it. You decide which. Or you don’t.

Cast your friends as the suspects

Give every guest a public face and a private secret. Pick the killer and the case builds around them. Or seal the solution and let fate choose, so even the host can play without knowing.

Choose the killerOr let fate decideAlways solvable

A wax-sealed envelope and a blank card on a silver tray held by a gloved hand

Saturday, half past seven. Dress for dinner. Trust no one.

Save the date, RSVP, arrive in character

Send a save-the-date with the day and start time. Guests RSVP, claim their character, add it to their calendar, and turn a selfie into a portrait of who they are playing.

Save the dateRSVPSelfie portraits

A hand pulling a hidden card from a bookshelf while the other holds a phone up to it

Behind the third book from the left. Somebody knew it was there.

Hide real clues around the house

Print the clue cards and tuck them where your story says. Guests hunt them down and scan the QR code to unlock the evidence on their phone. The story only uses rooms you really have.

Printable clue cardsQR evidenceYour own rooms

A phone, a laptop and a tablet on a parlour table beside a candle and a teacup

No app to install. Open the link and you are in the room.

Play in one room, or online

Every guest plays on their own phone, tablet or computer. Tasks, secrets and accusations arrive round by round, and a TV board keeps the whole table on the same page.

PhoneTabletComputerTV board

An open book with reading glasses on a leather armchair by the fire

Chapter one: in which your brother-in-law lies about the cellar.

Then read the book of your night

Afterwards, what actually happened at your table becomes a short novel, with your guests’ portraits on the cover. Choose the writing style: golden-age mystery, hard-boiled detective, noir, or the butler’s own memoir.

Four writing stylesShare with your guests

Your host for the evening

Meet Wetherby

He announces each round aloud, nudges the guest who has forgotten their task, and speaks for anyone who failed to show. Rename him if you must. He will pretend not to mind.

“Everyone has skeletons in their closet. Yours just happen to be real.”