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There Might Be No Christmas
$39.95
Add intrigue to your next party with this mystery game, set at a the North Pole.
Format:
30 Minute Mystery
Setting:
The North Pole
Time:
30+ minutes
Ages:
Family / Children
Players:
Play with Printed Sheets or the App
Hosts have the choice of playing the game with printable documents or using the PWM Party Assistant app
View app gameplay guide
Play In-Person or Over Video Chat
You can host this game in-person or over video chat. The game is built to be run either way!
Santa’s presents are gone! We need them back tonight!
Backstory
Your guests will play the roles of various inhabitants of the North Pole, including elves, reindeer, snowmen, and other creatures from Christmas folklore. Santa Claus has summoned everyone to his workshop. The normally jolly old man has a stern look on his bearded face as he solemnly tells us that his workshop has been broken into and his magic sack of Christmas presents has been stolen! Without the sack, there can be no Christmas.
Solving the Mystery
Santa has called everyone to gather because they are under suspicion of theft! One of the helpers is responsible, and the group needs to find out who. There’s no time to spare; it’s Christmas Eve, and if the sack of toys isn’t recovered soon, Santa won’t be able to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls!
There are 8 primary characters in this game. Read the "How to Play" section for instructions on how to play this game with more than 8 people.
* = Optional character
- Donner: One of Santa's eight tiny reindeer, Donner is well known for his frequent complaints regarding the difficulty of the Christmas sleigh flight.
- Ivan Blizzard: Lead Foreman at the Toy Factory, Ivan is an enthusiastic go-getter whose utter devotion to Christmas has never been questioned.
- Ernest Winters: One of Santa's elves, Ernest's enthusiasm for Christmas has notably waned in the past six months.
- Kristina Kringle: Also known as the Christmas Fairy, Kristina Kringle was once a famous holiday icon; some suspect that she is bitter that Santa Claus has stolen her glory.
- Caroline Claus: Mrs. Claus is Santa's wife and second-in-command; she is one of the most beloved inhabitants of the North Pole.
- Tonya Baum: A beautifully decorated singing Christmas tree planted outside the Toy Factory, Tonya is a gentle soul who always has a kind word and a Christmas carol for any passersby.
- Jacky Frost: An animated snowwoman brought to life by an enchanted hat, Jacky Frost is responsible for imbuing all of Santa's toys with a dash of Christmas magic.
- The Krampus: Santa's least-beloved helper, the Krampus is the monster who brings coal and switches to the children on Santa's "naughty" list.
Extra Players
- *Investigator: If you have more than 8 players, additional players have the option of playing the role of "Investigators". In this role the players are not suspects and do not have character backgrounds but can question the suspects and try to solve the mystery along with the other players.
What's Included
This game kit includes:
- Hosting guide – A guidebook that takes you through all the steps for running the game
- Character sheets – Information sheets for eight unique characters and one generic "Investigator" character
- Name cards – Printable name cards that can be placed in front of players for in-person games (optional)
- Introductory handout – A brief description of the game that can be sent to your guests ahead of the event (optional)
- Invitation template – Printable template that can be used to send paper invitations to your guests (optional)
Our line of 30 Minute Mysteries is specially designed for fast setup and easy play, whether your playing in-person or virtually over video chat.
All you need to do is:
- Gather a group of players
- Distribute character sheets
- Follow the party guide instructions
If you’re playing in person, you have the option of printing out the hosting script and character sheets, or you and your guests may view them on your electronic devices.
Best of all, the party facilitator can choose whether they join in the game and solve the mystery along with the other guests!
Playing the Game
While this mystery has 8 primary characters, it is designed to accommodate any number of additional players. See the “Expanded Game for Large Groups” section below if you have more than 8 players.
Each of the players will be assigned a character and given a character sheet that explains who or what their character is, what information their character knows, and how their character should respond to events that occur during the game.
The game will progress in rounds.
Round One will start with the party’s host or hostess reading a script that explains the nature of the mystery that is afoot. After the introduction is read, each player at the table will share a piece of information from their character sheet, which will often be met by a response from another player.
Round Two begins with the host sharing a clue that should shed further light on the mystery. After the clue is revealed, the players will once again go around, providing another piece of information.
Round Three, the final round, begins with the host sharing the last clue. The players then go around the table a final time, sharing their last piece of information.
By this point, the players should have enough information to piece together a theory about who was responsible for the crime. Everyone will vote for the culprit, which the host will then reveal. Any player or couple who correctly guessed the identity of the killer is declared a winner.
From start to finish, the game typically requires half an hour to complete.
What Do I Need in Order to Play?
Our 30 Minute Mysteries are specifically designed to not require very much in the way of supplies. All you need is:
- Playing area
- In-person – Table to sit around or large playing area where the guests can sit in a circle
- Virtual – Video chat room (links to 3rd-party providers like Zoom included in game)
- A group of players (minimum 8 people)
- Access to a printer or electronic device (so you can distribute game materials)
Expanded Game For Large Groups
If you have more than 8 players, there are three ways that you can accommodate everyone:
- Investigator Role – Using this method, eight guests play the primary characters while the remainder of the guests each play the Investigator role. Players in this role are not suspects and do not have character backgrounds but can question the suspects and try to solve the mystery along with the other players.
- Teams – Each primary character can be played by 2 or more people that work together as a team. This works well if you’ve invited several couples to your event, but also works if you break up your guests into eight larger teams of 3 or more guests.
- Multiple Groups – If you have 16 or more guests, you can break them up into groups of 8 players and run multiple instances of the game on their own. This method is best for large events (e.g. fundraisers) where each table of people can play through the game independently. This method goes well with the Investigator method, which allows you the flexibility to add more than 8 people to any group.
Both the standard and expanded games are included with the purchase of any game kit.
Content Rating:
This party is rated clean/no murder. There is no explicit material.
Difficulty:
This party is simple to set up and can be played with minimal or no preparation.
This party is average difficulty to solve.
Spyridoula –
I did it for a work Christmas party and it was soooooooo much fun!!!!! Everyone loved it and all 53 people were engaged every moment.
Anonymous –
I incorporated this mystery with a 55 and over group. I had eight tables set up and each table had to pick who would speak the character and the rest at the table were investigators. It went off without a hitch! The speaking characters really got into the role and did a great job.
Tina –
We had an absolute blast playing this! The story was engaging, the clues were well-paced, and it kept everyone guessing until the very end. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a fun, immersive night in.
Anise Flowers –
We played this mystery twice with two sets of children and had a blast. They loved getting into character and were very successful at solving the mystery. Everything was very organized and easy for the host to understand.
Anise Flowers –
We played this mystery twice with two sets of children and had a blast. They loved getting into character and were very successful at solving the mystery. Everything was very organized and easy for the host to understand.
Lisa Trotta –
We were looking for a fun game to play during a team event at work and needed one that would not take too much time. This was the perfect choice! This game was well written, had lots of fun lines, worked very well with a large group of 18 (some roles were played by 2 and even 3 players and it worked out perfectly with them sharing the lines, and was even quite comical when one team of 2 spoke their lines in unison!). The game has a fun plot, is easy to play and follow along, and with our actors/actresses doing some adlibbing, it took us about 45 minutes to complete. We chose to play the game on June 24th, exactly 6 months before Christmas Eve, which is when the game is set. To be in the holiday spirit, we decided to bring in presents to fill our big Santa bag. We collected items needed by a local shelter and the next day donated them. I would highly recommend this game to others! We are about to purchase another game for our next event in October.
Stephanie Boddie –
We had a blast! A great addition to our holiday gathering. We had eight adults play the roles & let the kids “investigate”. Easy to follow & fun to play
Anonymous –
This was so easy to run as a virtual event for our workplace! We are a fully remote workplace with staff all over the world, so it is hard to have a ‘Christmas party’. This was really fun, and everyone got really into it!
It was super easy for me to run and because we had more people than characters, we shared a lot of the characters between 2 people and just had one person on response dialogue and one person on starter dialogue, which worked out well since the app made that so easy.
We did a prize for the best costume even though it was virtual and I was honestly really surprised by how much everyone got into it and enjoyed it! It was so good to find one that only ran for 30 minutes as well – with so many timezones we don’t want one that runs for hours. I’m having to be there at 6am while others are having to be there at 10pm, so you need a balance! Really great, we will be doing more!
Anonymous –
I didn’t fully read the description to see that this was a 30-minute mystery, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. It was very easy to run the party and very self explanatory, but since it’s mostly just script that people read, there’s very little room for improvising and discussion. Where the discussion (and the schmoozing) during other Playing with Murder parties takes up the bulk of the time, there was almost no discussion for this (maybe 5 minutes), both because it was easy, and because most of it was scripted. I think this would work fabulously with kids or with folks who are unfamiliar and tentative about murder mystery parties. If you have an experienced or folks who are excited to try new things, I would recommend going with a harder (regular) Playing with Murder party!
fernando Riveron –
Well, orchestrated well scripted. Short enough to maintain everyone’s attention excellent ability to express personality, and ad Lib.
fernando Riveron –
We held the event under candlelight in a wine cellar, and the characters war, some paraphernalia not full costumes. We had several children involved one 10-year-old and an 8year-old. The latter needed an adult helping. Each of the participants really got into the swing of things with accents and acting. The areas available for ad-lib were marvelous. This was truly a highlight. I agree that you might want to consider developing alternates with the same characters. Each of our participants really owned their character. it was hilarious well worth the investment in time to set it up. thank you.
Shelly Kraus –
We had a wonderful time putting on There Might Not be a Christmas at our family celebration. Everyone who participated got into character. All ages participated and found the script easy to navigate. Lots of laughs and comments of wanting to do another one.
Laura –
We were looking for a mystery game to play over Xmas for ages 9 to 71 and we found it! Good fun for the whole family and the kids really enjoyed helping folks get into costume. Easy to follow and we didn’t even have to help the 9 year old follow the scripts etc. I only wish the game lasted a little longer with another few clues. There Might Be No Christmas overall was a winner! We will look for a longer slightly more challenging game next year 🙂
Rebecca –
We played this on Christmas with our family. Most of us were together but we had a couple people playing via FaceTime. We all used the online option to play. It was fairly simple to set up and use. We will definitely be buying more games for other get togethers.
Ginger Bell –
We did this Mystery with our daughter, son in law and 4 grandsons Christmas Eve. It was filled with fun and laughter. we especially We especially like the easy use of the digital apps as our older grandsons were all able to see their line with ease. Would i be interested in another Christmas mystery next year? Absolutely!
sonia winke –
This was our second adventure with this company. It was equally as fun. It added a fun dimension to our Christmas celebration.
Alicia Waters –
I held a small party gathering this Sunday afternoon and everyone came dressed in red or green and I had lots of tinsel and elves had etc for prop costume
It was bring a plate and I allocated characters on the spot
It was heaps of fun and we broke for break at each round to eat and be merry
Tori Tomlinson –
Had a great time going through this with my Team – everyone was committed to their role, came dressed to impressed and we had a great time finding out who stole Santa’s presents for all of the good girls and boys! Only about half of the group guessed right!!
Frosty –
We acted out this mystery with a lot of laughter and it was great to have the kids be able to participate. Everyone loved how easy it was to follow along and know who spoke and who answered. Of course we improvised as well.
Twin mom –
We had 20 people for Christmas eve ranging in age from17 to 80. We paired people together for parts which worked well. Everyone had a lot of fun and we made alot of great memories.
There Might Be No Christmas Mystery –
It was such a fun mystery! We had the characters dress up as the parts of the mystery. Santa was the narrator and all the rest of the audience were the investigators. Everyone really enjoyed it!
We did not do play by 8 people at a table. It was a live performance – like the characters had come to life! I might have to check out another one for next year! But that is a year away. Thanks for giving our office a fun activity to do at our staff Christmas office party. I found costumes for all the characters. We changed a few names to fit who played the parts. For not practicing with the whole team of characters ahead of time- it went over well, adlibbing was done very well too.
Everyone gives it a great review. Thanks for your help in sending our agency the mystery! We had a variety of answers as to who the investigators thought did it. “There Might Be No Christmas” Mystery was a hit at our office party!
Frellzilla –
Ran the game twice side by side at a company Christmas party and everyone had a great time. We made minor adjustments so that an Investigator role also functioned as the facilitator in each room and people got their characters a day in advance to know what was going on. People went from nervous to all in really quickly and lots of fun was had. Many mentioned wanting to try something similar again in the future.
Ros T –
Charity Christmas lunch at a vineyard, with an average age of +65
6 out of 9 characters really got into the script, but 3 characters just read out their lines and in fact read the wrong round on two ocassions, which mucked up all the responses. We had a practice before we started to make sure they understood the process, but 3 of them still went off track. I wouldn’t do this for an older crowd again. But I’m giving it another go with my family Christmas day so that should be more fun
Robin –
We had a dinner meeting that included using “There Might Be No Christmas”. It was an enjoyable surprise for the guest, and everyone had a good time. Props were passed out and characters were assigned. I believe it was one of our best meetings.
Aunt Kari –
The grandchildren played during the Christmas party, and it connected the six-year-olds, the sixteen-year-old, and everyone in between in such a fun way!
Happy Family –
It went sooooo well! There might be no Christmas. Played Chistmas evening with grandparents and preteens, before opening presents. We gave no advance notice or did any special preparations, and it flowed seamlessly. Everyone was able to get into their parts so well, much fun and so much laughter
Party Planner –
We played There Might Be No Christmas on Christmas Eve with 24 people. We had 3 tables playing at the same time and one host walking them through it. Our ages ranged from 7-76 and everyone had a blast!
Granny –
Family Christmas party with 13 people, all ages. Everyone got into their characters with voices and accents. 10 year old won the prize with the best voice for his character. Adults did well also and were very funny. The game was just the right length, about an hour. Everyone enjoyed it. Sons-in-law were so funny as investigators asking hilarious questions. Grandpa organized game, explained rules and directed so everyone knew when to speak. That was very helpful. This was first time playing – we will do it again.
Anna Boncha –
This was the perfect icebreaker for our Christmas dinner of 15, family, friends and neighbors who had not all met before, including 4 teenagers. Other mysteries seemed too extensive and involved, this one is just 3 rounds, 30 minutes, we did it during dinner and it kept the conversations flowing. A reasonable price and you can immediately download the files and print everything out.
Mark –
We used it for a boys group activity for our church and the kids loved it (ages 8-10). They were all engaged through the whole activity and really got into their characters, even the ones that got stuck with the girl characters.