Red Herring Games – Event FAQ

Absolutely. While our events include natural breaks suited to a three course meal, they run just as smoothly without food. Many groups use these pauses for drinks, plot discussion, or a quick breather before continuing.

Guests usually don’t need to learn anything beforehand. If they’re playing suspects, they’ll have short lines to read during the event. If anyone struggles with reading, let us know — we can give them a smaller role or provide materials in advance.

Our experienced writing team can tailor the experience to your group. This may be a fully custom written mystery or a bespoke edit to an existing game. Contact us and we’ll advise on the cost for your preferred level of customisation.

Our events work brilliantly for groups from 4 people up to several hundred. Please ensure we have your final guest numbers in advance, especially if guests are playing suspects.

Most clients book their venue before contacting us, so we rarely handle this aspect. However, if you’d like help finding a venue, we can recommend places we’ve worked with or gather suggestions for you.

We ask that you provide the cast with a meal and access to water during the evening. We bring all game materials and props. You may choose to theme your venue, and we can provide inspiration if you’d like — it’s optional but adds atmosphere.

We supply prizes and certificates, but we can advise on additional suitable prizes if you’d prefer to provide your own.

Yes — we host events on any date and time that suits you.

We are always expanding our actor database across the UK. If you’re interested, please email your CV to joseph@red-herring-games.co.uk.

Yes! Solving a murder is no easy task, so we always reward your guests. We bring themed chocolate bars, winner certificates, and virtual escape room vouchers as standard prizes.

This depends on the style of your event. If guests are taking on roles, we encourage you to assign suspects yourselves, as you know your group best. If you’d prefer us to allocate roles on the night, just let us know.

Our actors arrive at least 30 minutes before your event begins to ensure everything is set up perfectly.

A typical running order for a three course meal:

• 15 minutes – Murder Mystery Begins
• 30 minutes – Starter
• 15 minutes – Investigation Unfolds
• 30 minutes – Main
• 15 minutes – Investigation Intensifies
• 30 minutes – Dessert
• 20 minutes – Thrilling Conclusion

This is a flexible guide. Timings may vary depending on guest numbers, event flow, and meal arrangements. We can easily adapt the structure for events without a meal.

Very little preparation is needed. We handle the organisation and will keep you updated with any important progress.

We are always adding to our acting database and are happy to be contacted by prospective actors in any part of the UK. Please email us your CV.

We write weekend murder mysteries to order as these events are usually bespoke to each venue. Due to this fact and that it requires actors over two evenings, prices start at around £3500.

Costs vary dependent on the style of evening chosen and your location. However, we realise that most people want to be given a “ball park” figure early on, as this helps them to know what they can afford. We can say it’s not as costly as you might think and prices start from £249.99 for a commercial script.

As our host we ask that you provide the cast with a meal and drinks during the evening. We will bring the game materials and any props needed. It is up to you if you want to dress the venue appropriate to the theme and we will provide you with information to help with ideas for this. Although it’s not essential, it does add to the atmosphere.

We usually bring prizes and certificates with us to most events, but we can advise on additional suitable prizes if you’d prefer to provide these yourselves.

Most of our regular bookings are taken once customers have already arranged their venue, so we rarely get involved in this aspect of your party; however, every now and again we are approached by someone who would like help finding a venue too and we’re happy to give details of venues we’ve worked with in the past or obtain recommendations for you.