Game: Murder Mystery
Target Audience: groups of friends, probably age 14+, groups of more than 4
Game Creator: Anthony Pratt created clue, which is the closest foil
Platform of the game: IRL
I think that our game, called Witch Hunt for now, is ultimately under the umbrella of murder mystery or social deduction. It is a different flavor of murder mystery. So, in order to test out how our game could be complemented or informed by a murder mystery game, I set out to create and play a murder mystery game with friends.
It was hard to rally people to take part in the murder mystery, so I had to make it a whole dinner party event. Each person that attended was given a role to play via a card handed to them when they walked in the door. As is the nature of murder mysteries, the information on the card is confidential. Then the whole group is given the background story so that everyone is playing with the same context.
Mechanisms
Unfortunately, for the first murder victim (figure 1), once she got killed, she was kind of just a witness to the rest of the events and not a participant. I think this is something my team and I are trying to avoid. Because our game will involve “trials” whereby someone gets burned at the stake at the end of each round, we don’t want the victim to be ineligible to play for the rest of the game. That tends to turn people off from the game (as it does for me) because you get bored watching everyone else play while you’re on the sidelines.
Because a murder mystery is more free form, there is more variability. Our game would have roles dictated by pre-determined cards, whereas a murder mystery can be made from scratch. I think murder mysteries are also more embodied – since it’s more of an experience, people tend to inhabit their roles more (as seen by the various costumes in the pictures). Similarly, because our game will be dictated by “manufactured” characters and storylines, so to speak, there is a more rigid ordering of events and roles. However, the more people added to the game, the more roles are being played and the more complex the game can become.
Murder mysteries are pure social deduction, bluffing, and theatrics, whereas our game will use cards in order to progress the game forward. Similarly, Witch Hunt will have players have certain abilities or advantages that don’t typically exist in a murder mystery game, or at least didn’t in the game that I put on with friends. At least in my playing of our murder mystery, it was less “play” and more “socializing” than I think we would want for Witch Hunt. Witch Hunt also doesn’t require a gamemaster the way that a murder mystery does (I was the gamemaster, of course).
Another important difference is that Witch Hunt is based on turn taking and a progression of individual turns whereas Murder Mysteries involves different people socializing at once and is not in-turn. It’s more like the TV show Survivor where people can conference on the side together and create game plans. Everything is messier.
Ultimately, Witch Hunt is a much more structured, rigid game than a Murder Mystery which can kind of be used as just another way to socialize more fluidly with some goals in mind. I think, however, Murder Mysteries have more potential for a deeper narrative than Witch Hunt because of this lack of rigidity. Thematically, the games are similar, but they operate on different mechanics. Witch Hunt has more concrete mechanics whereas murder mysteries rely on social dynamics almost completely.
Aesthetics and Fun
Both games lean heavily into aesthetics, which is part of the appeal. They both center on narrative play and perhaps some sort of fellowship (Witch Hunt more than a murder mystery). Both games are designed for existing groups of friends (as they rely on deception and social deduction), which would hopefully deepen existing social relationships (building/strengthening friendships). The mechanics and dynamics of gameplay lend heavily to the aesthetic experience and contribute to the narrative that unfolds.
Ethics
Our game is based on the Salem Witch trials which was a very sexist, violent period in American history. We chose it because it’s a fun aesthetic, but we will try not to play into existing tropes. I think we want our game to poke fun rather than really make any real commentary. You could also argue that social deception games are not that ethical, but its hard for me to really buy into any sort of argument because games are fun and people know what they are buying into.
