What to Do If You Need to Adjust the Gender Ratio in Your Murder Mystery Game

Gender Ratio in Your Murder Mystery Game

It’s a classic party planning headache: your guest list doesn’t match the gender split of your murder mystery game. Don’t panic – this is a common challenge, and there are plenty of solutions (with a little help from the Red Herring Games team). Now, you need to figure out how to fix the gender ratio in your murder mystery game.

When Gender Ratios in Your Murder Mystery Game Matters (and When It Doesn’t)

Some games have gender-specific plot lines – think secret pregnancies or romantic subplots. In these cases, simply swapping a name and pronoun might not be enough; a full rewrite may be needed to keep the story smooth and the clues logical.

Some games have a number of flexible plot parts which will suit either gender playing them, but because they’re referred to by other characters as he or she when mentioned by them, the pronouns are wrong in their booklets and in the solution.

Some characters have names that are so clearly one gender or another, that names have to be changed, and when that happens it means the solution won’t work properly.

All of these issues are surmountable if you are willing to put some time and effort into adjusting the game yourself or have some budget available so we can do it for you.

The Easiest Fix: Embrace Playing Out of Character!

If you want to solve the gender ratio in your murder mystery game without changing a single word of the script, the easiest and often most hilarious solution is to simply ask your guests to play a different gender!

Women playing male mobsters with drawn-on moustaches, or men playing glamorous divas in feather boas, often leads to the most memorable nights. If your guests are up for a laugh and enjoy a bit of amateur acting, this completely bypasses the need for any script changes.

What About the Inspector?

If your game includes a video inspector, as ours do, then any changes made to the game aren’t reflected in the video as these are pre-recorded. But there are still options!  We always adjust the script, so you can either get a friend who won’t be there on the night to record the inspector script for you, or in some instances we can make amends to the MP3 files, or if the budget is available, we can record a new inspector for you.

With advances in AI technology it won’t be long before AI will be able to create new inspector recordings for you, but we aren’t there yet, and besides our REAL actors add so much more to your event than an AI voice could ever do.

How We Can Help Fix the Gender Ratio in Your Murder Mystery Game

• Customisation: We regularly tweak games to suit your group’s gender ratio. Minor changes (like pronouns) are quick and affordable. Changes to names or major rewrites (for characters with gender-specific plotlines) take a bit more time and cost, but it’s all possible! We will completely update the gender ratio in your murder mystery game for you, so you just have to hit print.
• DIY Option: If you’d like to make changes yourself, just ask us for an MS Word copy after purchase – we’re happy to send one so you can adjust the roles as needed.

The Bottom Line

Whatever your group, we can help you get the perfect fit. Just let us know your needs and we’ll guide you through the best options – whether that’s a quick tweak, a full rewrite, or empowering you to make your own changes.