Including Kids In Your Murder Mystery Party
Can kids participate in a murder mystery party game?
We get asked this question a lot! Parents, caregivers, and others with kids in their lives are often looking for new, fun things to do with their kids, so why not a murder mystery game?
The short answer is, yes, kids can play! Typically, we recommend our murder mystery games for groups ages 16+ as our games generally require minimal adult supervision, the ability to read and understand game mechanics and piece together clues, and the content is written with teens and adults in mind. However, we’ve met some pretty precocious 10 year olds who have played a murder mystery game as a minor character with other adults and did well! Ultimately it is up to the parents’ or caregivers’ discretion and we are here to help you include kids in your next murder mystery party!
Here are some tips for including kids in your murder mystery party!
1. Review content warnings and make sure your kid’s character is not in romantic relationships with adult characters
All of our murder mystery party games include content warnings for informed decision-making and all potential relationships between characters in the game are listed each game’s host guide. It is good for parents or caregivers to review the game’s content ahead of time. As a note, our games will never include modern firearms, gory or graphic imagery, or assault.
2. Assign them to a minor role.
As we mentioned, we’ve had kids play minor characters on their own in some games. This allows kids to play along without having to help move the main story along. We typically recommend that kids play a minor character in a murder mystery game with other adults and possibly one or two other kids in other minor roles.
3. Give them a buddy.
You can also have kids team up with a trusted adult or another kid to play one character together. We still recommend minor characters for this, but this can help kids have more fun and give them some guidance through the game.
4. Make them an assistant/co-investigator.
We always have one investigator character in our games who is driving the murder mystery part of the plot along by questioning suspects and piecing together clues. Kids can participate by being a general investigator or an assistant to the investigator and help solve the crime! Have them go talk to other characters and report back or help you review the evidence and give input on who the culprit could be. You can even give them extra money to bribe others and give them a leg up on gathering information!
