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Hosting these same mysteries as adults...well, they were a ton of fun, but we couldn't help but imagine some things we would do differently: More puzzles, not fully scripted, and no guilty party lurking among the players, so we decided to make our own version with Crimes & Capers!
More Puzzles
The classic mystery party is generally one central mystery divided into different acts. During each act, players learn more about their own characters and are meant to reveal (or not reveal) certain bits of information so that everyone else can learn about each other. The act concludes once everyone has said all they need to say or after a certain period of time.
As designers, we wanted there to be satisfying solves over the course of the entire game. The central mystery is always present, but we want players to have concrete moments of victory and progress throughout the game — clear gates that they need to pass through. We find this so much more satisfying when an act ends, not because everyone said their whole script or the timer went off, but because the group has worked together to puzzle out the answers they need. Therefore, Crimes & Capers is divided into three sections, each with their own solves along the way:
• There is a classic "puzzle section" in which players encounter escape room-style puzzles that will resolve to words or phrases. These puzzles can be tackled together as a group, or players can divide them up and come back together with relevant information.
• There are three questions that must be answered in order to open the locked container and reveal more information. Players need to scan their own personal information and combine it with information from other players in order to determine those three numbers and open the container. This is where collaboration is key as no single player has enough information to determine a digit on their own.
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• Finally, there is the grand mystery of the game. Players need to combine information from their own character, information from other characters, and the information that was revealed in the locked container. Only by really studying and understanding all of these elements will players be able to solve the mystery correctly.
Scripting
There are many different kinds of players. Some folks LOVE to dive into character and roleplay all night. They come in costume, maybe have worked up an accent, and will answer only to their character's names. On the other end of the spectrum are players who have no interest in role playing; they're just here to solve the mystery! In the classic mystery games, everyone is expected to roleplay because they need to say the lines that they have in the script. We wanted to change that.
In Crimes & Capers, each player is given a character and something that belongs to that character that is full of information they will need. In High School Hijinks, it's the notes that they passed in class during the day, while in Lady Leona's Last Wishes it's their personal diaries.
If a player wants to roleplay, the materials are very much written in character, and players can have a great time reading them out loud to the group. With that information as a basis, they can stay in character and discuss with the others to determine what truly went down.
If a player is just there to solve the mystery, they can gather the information from the materials and relay it to the group. There's plenty of relevant clues that they can share with the group, without needing to act like anyone other than themselves.
We love the flexibility this gives to groups so that they can truly enjoy the game in a style that best fits their dynamics.
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Players Are Innocent
In traditional mystery parties, one of the players is generally the guilty party. They may find out in the beginning, or they may not find out until the third act, but at some point someone will be lying to everyone, making everyone's information suspect and potentially making that player uncomfortable.
We wanted to create a game that felt truly collaborative, a game in which players didn't need to worry about whether their friends were lying to them, so in Crimes & Capers, the players are never the guilty party, and their information is always true. In High School Hijinks, the players are the senior leaders of the high school cliques, and the suspects are all staff members. In Lady Leona's Last Wishes, players are attempting to discover where in the mansion Lady Leona hid her fortune.
In this way, players can relax and connect with their friends without the stress of wondering who might be lying — or suddenly having to lie yourself!
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We were thrilled to show this proof of concept for Crimes & Capers to Scott Gaeta of Renegade Game Studios because of his history with the How to Host a Murder series. Scott and his team played the game and were excited enough by the format to commission three games — so then we needed to figure out three new worlds in which to set the games.
We knew that we wanted all of the worlds in the series to feel unique and distinct from one another. Furthermore, they had to be worlds that people would be excited to step into. We considered all sorts of different genres as you can see from this initial list — and we hope to do all of them one day!
• Roaring 20s - Set in the decadence and deceit of a 1920s party.
• Alice Tea Party - Alice in Wonderland theme with all the characters from the classic.
• High School Stereotypes - Breakfast Club/Mean Girls/Whichever era we go with, everyone loves going back to HS and taking on a stereotype.
• Pantheons - The Greek, Norse, Hindu, etc. pantheon of gods has gathered to solve a mystery.
• Fairy Tales - Classic fairy tale characters unite a là the film Into The Woods.
• Upstairs/Downstairs - Step into a world filled with posh landowners, scheming maids, butlers who know too much, and clever heiresses.
• Circus - Run away to a circus where every performer has their specialty...and their secrets.
• Animal Kingdom - Each guest takes on the role of an animal, from gruff gorilla to dandified flamingo.
• Music Awards Show - So. Much. Drama. Everyone from the hottest rapper to the too cool indie songwriter to the straight-laced classical musician is going to have to work together.
• Superheroes - In a world of powerful mutants and super-sized villains, all the heroes will need to come together to save the world.
• The Mall - The goths at Hot Topic, the gamer bros at Game Stop, the intellectuals at Barnes & Noble (generic versions of course).
• Video Game Archetypes - Generics of beloved video game characters (think our version of Wreck It Ralph)
The worlds we chose had to be places with multiple clear and distinct characters. Players would all need to fit together in the story, but at the same time be easily distinguishable from one another. Further, it had to be a world that was easy to understand, just from looking at the box and the materials. We wanted our players to be able to understand exactly what sort of world they were getting into at a glance.
Ultimately, we worked with the team to decide on our final three: a 1990s high school, a turn of the century upstairs/downstairs manor, and a music awards show. We filled each of these worlds with wildly different personalities, allowing players to create memorable characters.
We further fleshed out the worlds by adding in costume suggestions, playlists, and themed food-and-drink recommendations so that everyone could feel like they were stepping into these fabulous worlds when playing the game.
Playtesting a Party Game in a Pandemic
We initially conceived of the mechanisms for Crimes & Capers in 2017. We pitched the game to Renegade in January 2020. By March 2020, contracts had been signed, loglines had been approved, and we were ready to start creating and testing this modern reimagining of the murder mystery party.
And then...all parties were brought to a very abrupt end.
By the time the games were ready for testing, everyone was fairly familiar with video chatting as a main form of social interaction. This led to an unexpected silver lining: an abundance of players who were interested and available for testing! So many groups of friends were dying for something to do that was different from a zoom happy hour or movie watch party. They craved an activity that would bring them together, at least mentally and emotionally, since they couldn't be together physically. Additionally, players had a much easier time getting groups together now that they could invite their friends and family from all over the country.
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We sent our players Dropbox links with specific instructions about anything that might need printing or cutting. We quickly learned how many people don't have printers at home (or used to rely on the one at work). If some members of the group had a printer, they would be the ones to solve those puzzles.
A few puzzles needed to be in physical form, and for those we would ask our printer-owning playtesters to tilt the camera down, if possible, so that we could see their process of solving it. On the other hand, a lot of puzzles were able to be transformed into Google slides so that players could manipulate the pieces together in real time. It was wonderful to see people collaborating together to solve the puzzles, just as they would if they were in a room together.
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Players also adapted their note taking. Information is key to solving these games, and players needed to find ways to track everything together. Some groups appointed a specific notetaker to share their info with the group. Others collaborated on Google docs in real time, digitally inputting everything they needed so that all players could follow along.
Of course, to be safe and thorough, we also found some pods with 4-6 players and had them play the game all together in the same space just to be sure that wouldn't create any unforeseen problems. (It didn't.) The games worked so well over digital that we ended up creating codes for the final boxes. With these codes, players have the option to assemble a group in person OR over video chat. As long as one person purchases the physical copy of the game, they will be able to share their codes with the other players, who will then access digital files so they can all play the game together online. We love that this opens up the possibilities for players far and wide to enjoy the game together.
We are really excited about the way these three changes have reshaped the murder mystery party. Our playtesters have been having so much fun with the games, and we can't wait to see them out in the world!
Ariel Rubin and Juliana Moreno Patel
will hit the U.S. market in February 2022
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