Tips for Hosting a Video Chat Party
Host a virtual murder mystery party and have heaps of fun with family and friends. These mysteries are ideal for Covid lockdowns - or just for connecting with those who live some distance away.
Our video murder mystery parties are easy to host, lots of fun and suitable for 6-14 players.
They run well across Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype etc. Most of our customers use Zoom and we have over 170 positive reviews.
You will need to do some pre-party admin (see Before Tab of the section below). Once the party begins, however, the host duties are so easy that we encourage all hosts to play a suspect along with their guests. (An "organiser" character is very definitely NOT needed!) See the During Tab in the section below.
Virtual murder mystery parties are actually a lot easier to host than conventional face-to-face ones! This is because you are not trying to juggle playing a character with cooking a fancy meal. Once the rounds begin, you have nothing to do but play a suspect and enjoy the game; there is no popping back and forth to the kitchen and trying to time things in the oven. You also don’t need to decorate or even tidy your house – although small, token decorations where the camera will focus can add to the fun.
Our parties work well in a virtual format. Unlike online murder mystery games by some other companies, our games are designed so that all guests join together on a single call. No break-out rooms are required for the main party, although you can use them for the optional pre-party fun and sleuthing if desired.
Our Party Booklets have now been redesigned so that all characters, including the two optional characters, have a set order to speak. This makes it easier to follow in larger, online parties. If you wish, you can add extra fun and spontaneity by using our optional chime-in dialogue suggestions – or by creating ad-libs of your own. Or you can simply stick to the fun scripts. The choice is yours.
We have revised and refined our host instructions to give clear, detailed instructions.
View Host Instructions For Virtual Party
We also provide a separate "Tips for Running a Virtual Murder Mystery Party" document for all hosts detailing the technical tips such as muting microphones before playing the audios, optionally sharing clues while players read them etc.
We have revised and revised the Guest Instructions on pages 4-5 of the Party Booklets until they are now crystal clear.
View Sample Virtual Party Booklet
We have also created special virtual murder mystery invitations (themed to the theme of your choice). These invitations include a tip sheet for guests on taking part in an online mystery - for example, the importance of setting the Display Name to your character name rather than your real name so it is easier for people to realise who is speaking.
A short summary of the tip sheet we provide with all virtual games:
To check that their cameras and microphones work and that they have a good spot for their wi-fi. (Great to do before the party!)
Have fully-charged devices - or a charger to-hand!
Party booklets and clues (if any) to hand. Alternatively, if booklets are to be viewed electronically, then an additional device is needed. Many guests find it easier to print the clues so that they don't need to keep flicking between different tabs on their device.
Display Name (the name that appears on the screen) set to the character name not their personal name. This makes it a lot easier to work out which character is speaking.
A microphone (if available) helps to guests move their device slightly away from themselves whilst still maintaining sound quality.
A rest for phones / iPads / Tablets saves sore arms.
Audio and camera turned on and display options (eg gallery and thumbnail) the way they wish.
Virtual backgrounds - if guests don't use some of the decorations printouts and ideas supplied by Maple Mystery Games, then software such as Zoom enables them to use fun virtual backgrounds. Great for setting the scene!
These tips are pretty light as the host has very little to do during the course of the party!
1 If the optional Pre-party Fun and Sleuthing (Initial Mingling in pre-party booklets) is played, then use a video call environment that permits multiple rooms. For example, with Zoom, create multiple breakout rooms, make everyone a co-host of each breakout room and then they can join and leave each room as they please. With Google Hangouts, create multiple hangouts that people can join.
2 When playing the audio Introduction and Solution, mute microphones (or ask guests to mute their microphones). This cuts out background noise and enables the quality of the audio to be heard.
Tip: before the game, check that you know how to enable your device to share an audio across the virtual call software of your choice.
3 Optionally, share clues as and when needed. This is completely optional as players read the clues as part of the game. Some parties, however, like to study the information on the clues afterwards - if so, share the appropriate page of the Duplicate Clues document as requested.
Tip: it might be a good idea to check how to share a document in advance.
We also provide a full set of host instructions specially tailored for virtual parties:
View Sample Host Instructions For Virtual Party
We've been lucky enough to recieve over 170 positive reviews. To see these, check the review section at the bottom of each theme. A few a given below:
