How to remove a character from a murder mystery game at the last minute?

Firstly, I should begin by saying that not all murder mystery companies create games in the same way, so if you aren’t playing one of ours, don’t assume you can do what we describe below to adjust your kit… it may not work for your game.

Before I get to HOW to do it… a quick question first.

Can we swap your order for you?

If you are using one of our games, then it’s possible to remove either one or two characters at the last minute, but if we have time, then do get in touch first to see if we can make things even easier for you by switching your game for you.

If you’re in the UK we can often arrange shipping out a smaller sized game, and we have done this for overseas customers too – but sadly shipping costs often make this expensive.
We can also swap you to a digital copy in the smaller size. Digital swaps we do totally free of charge, we just need enough notice to do it. If you know you have less than 12 hours before the party and don’t think we’ll get back to you in time – then order the lower sized digital kit and immediately email us to let us know – we’ll refund that second purchase as soon as we’re back at our desks. Ordering again means you’ll have instant access to the game.

Adjusting our games for last minute guest absences.

Because of the way we construct our games it’s usually possible to remove a guest or two from the game kits. However make sure you always remove one the pair that are missing in the next size kit down. The way we construct these games, these are always less likely to be the murder.

If you need to go from 6 to 5 then you really need to reach out to us as you might inadvertently remove the murderer!

But if you have 8 or more guests, it’s possible to adjust the games DIY.

How to do it:

Firstly find the booklets of the last two characters in your invitation list.

If you are just removing one, check that the one you leave behind doesn’t speak AFTER the person you plan to remove by reading their introduction statement and concluding statement on pages 4 and 14.

If they do, you will need to write over the top of their introduction and concluding statements so that they now speak after the person who is still IN the game (the person mentioned in the booklet you have removed). The dialogue may not “flow right” so you may need to score through any “linking lines” to a previous conversation – but they will at least know who they speak after so the game will flow.

Next pull apart the booklet of the character(s) you plan to remove and set aside the pages with the questions and answers (usually pages 7, 10 and 13). Cut the questions at the top of the page out. Taking care to keep them in different piles for rounds 1, 2 and 3.

You now have two options…

option 1 – keep these questions in 3 pots in the middle of the table and just tell guests you have lost a character(s) and when they hit a question for them – they should pick one out of the pot in the middle. (Every now and again this could mean someone asks themselves a question, but you can laugh that off).

Option 2 – you can work through the other guests booklets finding the questions they would have asked the character you removed and staple or stick one of your “cut up” questions over the top of any questions you find. Making sure you put the right question in the right round! To make your life easier you can use the inspector booklet to find who has what question – but if you don’t want to spoil the game for yourself you may want to avoid opening that booklet as you may see the solution.

With that done, you only have the scripted dialogue between rounds to adjust. What we’d suggest here is that as host, any time your missing guest is supposed to speak in the shared dialogue at the start of the rounds, just read in their lines.

When you use the inspector – your missing guest will still be mentioned on the voice recording and video unless you want to use editing software yourself to remove them, but game play and solution should all work.

Can I remove ANY guest in the same way?

No. We’d strongly suggest you don’t. Not all guests can be removed from the game. Some contain linked statements or alibis, some contain details relating to the murderer, and one of them WILL be the murderer. So we’d strongly suggest you don’t just randomly pick a guest to remove. We’d suggest adjusting your guest list to ensure you remove one of the pair missing in the lower sized kit.

But I really want to remove a specific person… can I?

Sometimes it’s possible. If you simply cannot adjust your guests around to make taking out one of the last pair possible – then do reach out and we can let you know if you can. BUT be aware – if we say “no” – you will either find out who the murderer is, or will know that these guests were critical to solving the case, so it can spoil it for you to know if you can or can’t.

It’s all rather messy… can I have a word copy so I can adjust it myself?

Yes – we can send you an MSword copy of the character booklets so you can go through the process manually the way we do at the office when someone requests a character to be removed. Just ask and we can email that over.

Can you adjust the game for me?

Yes of course. There is a fee to customise the game by 1 person – £25. If you have a specific person you need to remove, this MAY be possible… but costs will be higher as they are not as easy to remove – so you could be looking at £35 – £55.

If you need us to totally redo the inspector because you want the murderer taking out – then it’s cheaper to HIRE an actor for the evening than for us to redo the inspector recording. We have done this for people in the past. Costs around £450.

OR you can take the inspector role. Re-writing the murderer, with you taking the inspector role will cost between £150-£300 depending on the game and how the plot works.

Other ways to deal with a missing guest

If you don’t want to adjust the game, or you have a murder mystery game that isn’t one of ours then why try one of the following suggestions (all of which have been done by our customers over the years):

• Have a person play two roles.
• Use a puppet for the extra guests.
• Invite a last minute “friend” – everyone loves a party, and few will turn you down. And it’s a great way to get to know new people.
• Pre-record the character and play sound bites or video of their responses (this does take a bit of tech know how and the ability to find the right files each time… but can work.
• Get a friend to join you on zoom and have them be the extra guest.  (Make sure you have a good omni-directional mic for them so they can hear what’s going on.)