Night of Mystery Party Games - Night Of Mystery - Frequently Asked Questions

HOW DO I RUN A NIGHT OF MYSTERY PARTY?

Excellent Question! And one that needs more explaining, please see the "How to Play" Page of our site and/or download a preview file to get a complete understanding of how our mysteries are run!
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Download an introduction file for more info.

WHAT IF I AM A FIRST TIME HOST/HOSTESS?

First time host/hostesses need not be weary. Night of Mystery parties have everything you need to throw a successful party and are designed to be easy-to-run.
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CAN I PLAY ALONG WITHOUT KNOWING THE MURDERER?

You, as host, get to decide how much or little you know about the murder. If you wish to play along, you can read the host's guide, which will tell you how to set-up the party without knowing the murderer and/or solution.
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WHAT IF I DO NOT HAVE THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GUESTS?

Each game comes with instructions and the minimum number of people that need to be in attendence. As long as you have the minimum number, you will be alright. Make sure to read through the host guide that you receive to see which characters should be left out if you are short of the maximum number of guests.
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ARE THE PARTIES PRE-SCRIPTED?

Life doesn’t go by a script and neither should you. We find that pre-scripting a party takes away from the spontaneity of the event and limits your guests in what they can do and think. With Night Of Mystery parties, you will find that each of your guests will receive more than enough information about their character, how to play, secrets and objectives for them to do with as they please throughout the party. This gives the character enough to do without being told WHAT to do. This format also allows for much improvisation throughout the night and a party as unique as the individuals attending it.
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WHAT IF I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE COMING TO MY PARTY?
Before ordering, we suggest you get an accurate guest count. You can do this by downloading an invitation to the party and asking for an rsvp. Once you have the guest count, you will be able to purchase the mystery for the correct amount of guests you are expecting.
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CAN I UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE TO ANOTHER PARTY IF I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OR TOO MANY GUESTS?
While we would love to honor the ability to upgrade or downgrade for a game, unfortunately, we cannot. Since our games are custom written for the size of the party (ie, we don't just create a mystery with 8 characters and then keep adding more characters to it), each mystery size is unique unto itself and must be charged that way. That being said, going from 10-15 version to 15-20 version, will not only add in more characters, but it will change the storylines of the existing characters, and vice-versa in going from a larger version to a smaller one. This is why we strongly suggest you get a guest count before formally ordering. You can do so by downloading an invitation, inviting your guests and then purchasing your mystery once you have a more acurate number of people attending. Unfortunately, if you find yourself in this predicament, you will have to purchase another version of the mystery for the size you want unless you are moving from the 15-20 version to the 20+ version (see directly below).
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CAN I UPGRADE MY MURDER MYSTERY PARTY TO THE 20-80 GUEST VERSION?

We now offer "upgrade materials" for those of you who have already ordered the 15-20 guest version and found yourself with more than 20 guests wanting to participate. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to upgrade in between the other sizes of parties, as the storyline and main characters change. Because of this, you will have to re-distribute all of the materials and purchase the new size of the party. Because of this, we highly recommend you get an accurate guest count before purchasing.
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HOW ARE THE LARGER (20-80 GUEST) VERSIONS FORMATTED?

The larger party includes 20 guests as suspects and then a number of general character descriptions for additional guests. These additional general characters will keep their birth name and they will have information about the murder, secrets to keep and objectives to complete. These characters will act as sleuths and help bring to the surface some of the hidden motives of the suspects in question. You may have duplicates of as many of these general characters are you need in order to fill your guest list. With larger parties, we find that it is important to have these extra roles to (a) make sure everyone is "involved" with the murder and (b) to help bring to light all of the possible motives for the murder. These versions are also a great way to accommodate guests who are last-minute add-ons or guests who are unsure if they are going to be able to make the party at all.
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WHAT IF I HAVE MORE THAN 80 GUESTS?

If you have more than 80 guests attending a party, you can order the larger version of a party (20-80 guest version) and simply duplicate the general characters in order to fill your guest list. While the party versions are labeled for 20-80 guests, we have heard of our customers throwing them with over 100 in attendance.
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ARE THESE GAMES SUITABLE FOR YOUTHS OR CONSERVATIVE GROUPS?

Night of Mystery has developed a number of "Clean Versions" of our mystery themes. Please see next question for explanation.
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WHAT IS A CLEAN VERSION?

Due to a heavy demand for games that were suitable for more conservative groups and youths, some of the parties have been formatted without any reference to alcohol, affairs and illegal drugs. These mysteries are named "Clean Versions" and are found here. Please note: there are a number of our parties that DO NOT have clean versions. We recommend clean versions for gatherings with more conservative guests and company functions so as not to offend anyone. Although these mysteries do not have references to some topics; blackmail, bribery, murder and deceit are still part of the game.
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WHAT IS ALL INCLUDED IN THE DOWNLOADED PARTY?

Each Night of Mystery Party Includes:

A Host Guide— A complete how-to of throwing your party which includes directions on preparing the invitations, assigning characters and preparing for the party.
A Schedule of the Night— A step-by-step breakdown of how the night will go.
An Introduction— to be read to the guests upon arrival.
Designed Invitations— that you can customize with the details of your party.
Information to be sent with the invitations— including background information on the party and the guest list.
Character Descriptions— full descriptions of the characters, including costuming and acting tips.
Character Objective Sheets— this includes objectives for each character to try to achieve at each stage of the game in order to uncover evidence and find the murderer.
Name Tags— for your guests.
Evidence— more clues that will be presented toward the end of the night. This evidence will help your guests solve the mystery and find the murderer.
"Who Dunnit” Cards—“ to allow your guests to guess the murderer, along with vote for the most animated character and best outfit.
The Solution— revealing the murderer and all the clues that could have led you there.
Award Certificates— to be awarded to the best costume, the most theatrical, the player with the most money at the end of the night and to each of the guests that solve the murder.
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AM I GOING TO GET MY MYSTERY IN THE POSTAL MAIL?
NO. All of our murder mystery games come as downloadable files. This allows for immediate delivery to the customer upon order. If you are ordering costumes, decorations or accessories, they will be shipped, but our games are not sent in the postal mail.
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HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO DOWNLOAD MY MYSTERY?
You will have 14 days from the time of purchase to download and save your file. Once saved, there is no time limit for you to be able to access your file on your own computer. Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for lost or undownloaded files after your 14-day downloadable time period.
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HOW LONG BETWEEN WHEN I PLACE AN ORDER AND WHEN I CAN DOWNLOAD MY PARTY PACKAGE?

Upon the processing of your payment, you will be returned to a page where you can re-log-in to your account where you will have the ability to download your party and emailable invitations for your guests. You can also access this information for two weeks after your purchase using your account information. Be sure to remember your username and password that you created when purchasing the mystery.
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WHAT IF I HAVE TROUBLE OPENING, VIEWING OR PRINTING THE FILE?

If you are having trouble viewing or printing the file, please click here to go to the Adobe website. Once on the Adobe website, click on “Get Adobe Reader” (button on the left hand side of the screen). The site will take you through the steps to download this free application. Once you have the application downloaded, you will be able to view and print your file through Adobe Reader. Please note, this is Adobe Reader, NOT Adobe Acrobat. Often times, people get confused between the two applications. It is Adobe Reader that the file will perform better in.
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WHAT IF I HAVE TROUBLE DOWNLOADING THE FILE?

If you have trouble accessing your mystery and/or downloading your file, please visit www.mozilla.com and download the current version of the Firefox web browser. This should cure any problems you might be having.
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CAN I EMAIL OUT MY INVITATION AND CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS?

Yes. We have invitations you can download at any time to send out to your guests. (We recommend you do this before purchasing if you are unclear of your guest count.) Once you order, you will have access to your party pdf as well as email invitations with character descriptions included for your guests. See a sample emailable invite with character description here.
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WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO PURCHASE ONLINE?

You may call our customer service line (001) 920-639-1747 to purchase over the phone. If you wish to purchase by check or money order, please contact us and we will give you a current address to send it to.
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CAN I RUN THESE GAMES FOR-PROFIT?

If you wish to run our parties for profit, including charging any individual to take part or be a spectator while the game(s) are being played, or include it in a package for which you have charged the individual, you MUST pay the commercial fee.

The commercial fee enables you to run the game multiple times for-profit. We have found our fee to be less costly than our competitors and much less expensive than having your own party written for you. Please keep in mind that without paying this commercial fee, you are in violation of the law and subject to prosecution. WE DO monitor the web and often become aware of cases of infringement and prosecute when such instances arise. For more information, please see our terms and conditions.
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CAN I RUN THESE PARTIES AS A FUNDRAISER?

If you wish to run any Night of Mystery Game to raise money for charity, Night of Mystery will gladly donate the commercial fee to non-profit organizations. Upon payment, you will be asked for your non-profit number. To use the mysteries without either (a) submitting your non-profit number or (b) without paying the commercial fee is illegal. In addition, we ask that you clearly state on all the advertising copy that the game is from Night of Mystery, the website address (www.nightofmystery.com) and the fact that the game belongs to Night of Mystery. Finally, your right to use the game for your organization will commence at the finish of your event. If you wish to use the game for another fundraiser, you will have to purchase the game again. Night of Mystery will donate three commercial fees per non-profit number per year.
If you have any questions, please contact us or see our terms and conditions page.
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WHAT IS YOUR REFUND POLICY?

Night of Mystery does not offer a refund on any of their products. Due the nature of the files, we have no way to prevent a customer from using a party package after the customer has been sent the link to be able to download it from our site.

We do offer free introduction files that will assist in making sure that our party packages are everything that you expect and want in your purchase. Please seethese introductions before making your purchase to insure your satisfaction.
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Download an introduction file for more info.