Custom Mystery Games

IMAGINE: AN EVENT NO ONE WILL EVER FORGET! CUSTOMIZED FOR YOU, YOUR GUEST OF HONOUR, BUSINESS, CLIENTS, MEDIA EVENT, BOOK – YOU NAME IT!

A custom mystery party is THE MOST UNIQUE and personal party or event idea, and celebrates a person or event in a way no other party activity can.  A custom mystery is written from scratch, completely personalized for your party, event, situation, venue and, if applicable, your guest of honour. We write the game around your inside jokes and the information you provide us about the event.

Custom mystery parties are unforgettable, and the possibilities are endless! They also happen to be our favourite product, because they are so much fun, not only for us and the guests, but for the host or event organizer as well. We write a mystery FROM SCRATCH for your situation, whatever that situation may be!

- Birthday parties

- Company events

- Media and PR events

- Client Meet-and-Greets

- Customer Appreciation events

- Business Booster events

- Conferences

- Networking events

- Trade Shows

- Breakout Sessions

- Ice Breakers

- Charity Fundraisers

- Anniversaries

- Book Signings

… and more!

Because you’re in control, the mystery created for you can be a murder mystery or a non-murder, family-friendly mystery event – it’s up to you, and what suits YOUR guests, party, event, business or situation!

SCENARIO 1: An unbelievable birthday celebration idea

By far our most popular type of custom game is for a birthday party. We have done parties for kids, teens, grandparents and everyone in between. During our consultation, you tell us about your guests of honour, as well as the major players on the guest list. We form the mystery around themes that are relative to your guest of honour or group, their past, travels and more. Then, we package it all up in a .zip file with easy instructions on how to facilitate the game so the party is a raging success! Guests are shocked and delighted to find their little nuances and inside jokes have been worked into the mystery!

Here’s an example:

Shirley did a lot of travelling in her youth. For her surprise 60th birthday party murder mystery game, we worked her travels and destinations into the mystery. She was a contract killer, and had to travel to all of these places to fulfill her “contracts”. To this day people still tease her about her days as a “contract killer”. (Shirley Kanewischer, Medicine Hat, Alberta – read what she had to say about her surprise party HERE)

Jack’s 40th was a distinguished affair, and the mystery was set at the opera, Carmen – his favourite. He had a love of watches and a penchant for pickingup and leaving town without telling anyone ahead of time. Jack was clearly hiding something, and even he was surprised to find out that he was really a spy, a la 007, and his love of watches was because each one was custom-made for him, equipped with stun gun, communication devices and more. (Game re-released as Kaleidoscope, read what the designer in Washington we partnered with said about the mystery creation process HERE!)

For Sahitya’s sweet 16th, we worked her love of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice into the game. A riddle had to be solved for the game to continue, and, of course, the answer was something SHE would know, putting her and her passions front and centre on her big day. (The Antikythera Code, read what the party honouree said about her amazing party HERE)

SCENARIO 2: A Company or Corporate Event

Custom mystery events are perfect for a company or corporate event, including team building activities and ice-breakers. We create custom “mini-mysteries” (designed to be played in about an hour) for break out sessions and getting-to-know-you situations, as well as full custom events for longer sessions or the evening portion of a conference.

Here’s an example:

At the end of the Petro Canada Occupational Health Associates conference, Maureen wanted a way to make their Saturday evening dinner unforgettable. Because the associates were coming from all over the world, although many had worked together for years, some had never met face-to-face. Maureen did a fantastic job of gathering “dirt” on the suspects, and the murder mystery event that came out of the information made this event one of my all-time favourites. It was a fantastic way to get the associates mingling in a social situation, building relationships between them in a fun and relaxed way. Read what Maureen from Petro Canada (now Suncor) had to say about her custom mystery event!

SCENARIO 3: A Media or PR Event

Naturally, when a company puts on a media or PR event, they want to make an impression! Something the press will never forget, but also something that will get their fingers flying across the keyboard, or a feature on the news. Companies big and small are always searching for a way to make an impact, and give the media something interesting to write about, something that will stand out from the rest of the hum-drum event invitations they get on a daily basis. We plug into our experience working in newsrooms to create a custom mystery event the media will love! Picking one or two central marketing focuses (or personnel), we build the game around those things you want highlighted and promoted. While we do not act as a PR company, we create an event activity that any PR professional would trip over themselves to promote!

Here’s an example:

Chrysler Egypt prides themselves on the impression their press trips make on the media. Each year something unforgettable is planned, and their 2009 press trip was no exception. They went macabre, and a murder was staged, beginning in Cairo. From there, the press was treated to a cross-country trip in the Jeeps, heading for Taba Heights, stopping along the way to lift fingerprints, interrogate suspects and compare bullets. The next day the GPS system was put to the test as the teams of three went off-roading through the desert in an effort to find a hidden clue, before heading to Castle Zaman for the giant finale – and to find one more body. Read what Hussein Razek from Chrysler Egypt said about their press event!

SCENARIO 4: Client Meet-and-Greets and Customer Appreciation Events

Whether for a retail store anniversary, customer appreciation event, Christmas party or client meet-and-greet, a mystery event is the perfect way to build a relationship with your clients – one we guarantee they will NEVER forget. Unsure how to create a buzz about your business and kick start that seemingly-elusive yet INCREDIBLY POWERFUL word-of-mouth advertising? Et voila. Who wouldn’t tell their friends about their hair dresser’s amazing mystery evening? And who wouldn’t return?

SCENARIO 5: Charity Fundraisers

These days we can’t drive down the street without being asked for money. Whether it’s the guy standing under the bridge at the red light with the Tim Hortons cup or texting a donation to Haiti, it can be overwhelming for the average person to figure out where to donate their money. It’s imperative that those looking to raise funds stand out from the rest. That comes in the form of giving potential donors an EXPERIENCE, not just a sob story.

Here’s an example:

Our favourite fundraiser was for GoodGiving, a charity that builds schools, mobile libraries and more in places like Vietnam and Cambodia. Not only are they doing incredible work for very good causes, they’re also amazing people and were an absolute blast to put on an event with. Our was The Fundraiser Fatality, a costumed Halloween event in Calgary, Alberta. The response was incredible, and the suspects played their parts so well we wondered if they had ever done it before (they hadn’t!). Read what Kristen from GoodGiving had to say about her mystery fundraising event!

SCENARIO 6: Book Signings

I made this its own category for a reason: it’s close to my heart. I began my career as a writer, and happened to stumble across the opportunity to write mystery games and events. Before that, I spent hours upon hours agonizing about how to market my work. Most authors think that getting published is the biggest hurdle, but are SHOCKED to find that they receive little or no marketing from the publishing company. Not to mention the fact that most writers these days make their start in alternate mediums and are completely responsible for their sales.

An author has a number of relationships to honour when they are trying to promote their work. The first is with their publisher, who wants them to sell books! The second is with bookstores, who may or may not want to carry their work. The third relationship is with their work – each writer wants to maintain the integrity of their work while promoting it, and not have to give it away just to get it into readers’ hands!

But by far, the most important relationship a writer has is with their reader. What makes a reader pick one author over another? What makes a reader GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to pick up an author’s work, and even recommend it to their friends? For John Grisham, not much. For the average writer though, it starts with the PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. Many will spend hours in a book store, hoping to sell a few copies at their “book signing” but find that unless they approach shoppers, they don’t receive much attention. As with any business but perhaps even more necessary for an author, they need to get readers to know who they are. A mystery event, taking place at a “high profile” book signing is the perfect way – it puts the author and their work centre stage, making they themselves a suspect and allowing them to connect with potential readers, build relationships with book stores by having a signing there that will actually bring new customers through the door, and generating word of mouth after the fact, when those who attended tell their friends what a fascinating mystery event they went to last night for *insert author’s name here*.

Here’s an example:

Michelle Miles, author of a number of books but the most famous being the Adventures of Ransom and Fortune series wanted a way to promote her first book in the series. Seeing as though she was my writing partner, and had inspired and influenced my career path, I could not help but write her her very own mystery game for her book signing. Not only was it a total blast, she got the opportunity to connect with readers, and start a buzz about her books. Read what Michelle Miles said about her book signing.

What blows my mind is that MOST MYSTERY COMPANIES DON’T DO THIS and the ones that do charge up to $6000!! WHAT?! No wonder people are always shocked to hear that we do our custom games, from-scratch, for just $1200 CAD. Plus, we do free, no-obligation consultations, where we run ideas past you so you can decide whether a custom mystery event is right for you. So, how can we help you honour that special someone on their birthday, get a buzz going about your business or connect with your clients in a unique and unforgettable way? Just fill out the form below and we’ll have a chat about what Shot In The Dark Mysteries can do for YOU!

SCENARIO 7: BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE PARTIES

We have an entire PAGE dedicated to the fun we have planning bachelor and bachelorette parties. Access the bachelorette parties page here and the bachelor parties page here!