5 Things I’ve Learned About Writing Effective Mysteries

Since I love to read mysteries, it makes sense that I also love to write mysteries. When I write speculative fiction these days, my stories have an element of discovery and investigation. My characters uncover clues, wrestle with what they’ve learned to extract facts, and finally reach the conclusion around…

10 Things I Learned Putting Together a Murder Mystery Weekend

(But first: All das Beste zum Geburtstag (and always) to my littlest cousin!) Planning murder mysteries can be an educational experience. You learn how your friends deal with competition, who likes to dress up in costumes, and how to cook for fifteen people. You also learn things that are a little more…

Creating a Murder Mystery Weekend Problem III: Getting Players to Solve the Mystery (SPOILER FREE)

Third entry in my process notes on developing a murder-mystery weekend! If you missed it, you can also check out the second installment. When I first started planning this hunt, I wanted to solve what seemed to me to be the main problem with all the murder mysteries I’d played in…

Creating a Murder Mystery Weekend Problem II: Letting Players “Kill” Each Other (SPOILER FREE)

Second entry in my process notes on developing a murder-mystery weekend! At one friend’s murder mystery party, players could kill each other using in-game weapons. I thought this was a lot of fun, so I wanted to include a similar mechanic in my murder mystery weekend. (Besides, it would help…

Creating a Murder Mystery Weekend Problem I: Caring About Characters (SPOILER FREE)

So I’m planning a murder mystery weekend this May. Before I say anything about it, let me note: there is nothing in this blog entry that will spoil the game for any of the players or give anyone an unfair advantage. So feel free to keep reading no matter who…

Hey, I Just Met You, And This Is Crazy, But EXPELLIARMUS! Treasure Hunt, Maybe?

Yesterday, Saturday July 28th, the Dark Lord tried to rise. Fortunately, a plucky band of clever wizards set out to stop him by following a trail of clues to collect the four legendary amulets of prophecy — or did they? You see, some of those wizards were secretly on the…

Dead Heat: “*You’re* a Zombie – Let’s Go Kill Them!” (Or, Why You Should Always Double Tap)

Graaaaa… BRAIIIIII- *ahem*, oops, sorry, something got caught in my throat. I’m here today to tell you a story. It’s not a pretty story — full of brains in more ways than one — but it’s the truth. It happened in High Park last Saturday. And now we all must…