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Murder of the High Wizard – Virtual Edition
£39.95
Host this magic-themed game over video chat as a “virtual” party.
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The College of Wizards investigates a shocking event.
Backstory
Your guests will be playing the roles of wizards and faculty of the prestigious College of Wizards.
Murder!
The body of High Magus Wilburton was discovered this morning. It appears he died late last night, the night of a full moon. His body was discovered by the College’s head of security, who has gathered the faculty here today to solve the murder.
Solving the Mystery:
High Magus Wilburton’s death is only the latest in a series of deaths and disappearances that have occurred around the college in recent weeks. Could it have something to do with the enigmatic artifact brought to the college by Herr Himmelmorder, or is there something even more sinister at play?
Murder of the High Wizard is suitable for 8 guests (or 8 couples), including the host or hostess. The available guests include:
* = Optional character
- Minerva Blackthorn: Ambitious and scheming, Minerva, Vice Proconsul of the College, has run roughshod over those who get in her way. Her ruthless tactics have made her unpopular, but no one can argue with their effectiveness.
- Engel Anglebright: Engel has been the Magus’ apprentice for years. Bright and idealistic, he is eager to become a full-fledged wizard.
- Julian Tagglebaum: The College’s absentminded librarian has only one concern in his life: books.
- Rebecca Redbush: The College’s antiquities expert has little patience with other people, especially those who don’t know what they are doing.
- Eria Greenbough: The College’s head of research is a micromanaging pest who never gives the researchers a break. Some claim her particular style of management has been hampering the College’s research endeavors.
- Olena Oxnard: Olena, a scholar of theoretical magic, hasn’t published in years. Her research program is in danger of losing funding, and she is under a lot of pressure to produce results.
- Rory Olembark: Only a truly skilled wizard could serve as the College’s head of security. Rory is a serious man with very little patience for small talk.
- Heinrich Himmelmorder: Heinrich is a visiting professor from the Kollectiv Magick. He’s been very inquisitive about every aspect of the College since he arrived.
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.
Recycle1 –
Headline Team building
Nickname Recycle1
We did this for a team building activity at work. We needed a quick, affordable option and this was perfect!
Rachel –
Headline So much fun they didn't want to stop playing!
Nickname Rachel
My daughter used this game for a virtual murder mystery party for her 11th birthday. She invited 8 friends and they all had a blast! The girls showed up in costumes and took on funny accents when they were reading their parts. They did not want to stop playing and kept coming up with theories explaining the crime. The instructions were clear and easy to follow.
This was an excellent party game to play during Covid times because of social distancing, but honestly, the girls would have loved playing it even if they didn’t have to be distanced from each other. My daughter had a really great time and was very happy with her party!
Virtual Queen –
Headline Great fun had by all
Nickname Virtual Queen
New Year’s Eve celebration, zoom party. Everyone really got into character. Well written and organized script, very easy instructions to follow, great way to have fun virtually.
The Banquet Witch –
Headline magical office drama and also murder too
Nickname The Banquet Witch
we played this one virtually for halloween and had an absolute ball! i think with a normal group experience this would fit neatly in a thirty minute block, but i mixed things up a little and, instead of progressing directly from one round to the next, i allowed discussion in between each round. this (plus the fact that we were drinking, gonna be real) helped extend the mystery solving to about an hour and a half—partially because my friends all got SO into character! a lot of what extended the party was that everyone really played into the DRAMA of the provided coworker dynamics and escalated the hints of small spats provided into highkey office drama and kept being petty and sarcastic at each other in character. it was hilarious.
so yeah, i went out of my way to draw this party out, but the singular sober participant had the mystery figured out by the approximate suggested thirty minute mark, it’s just that no one would listen to him because we were too busy creating our own office politics. definitely possible to draw this out into a whole Thing with the right group, but will fit tidily into a thirty minute time slot if necessary. the mystery was a lot of fun and had plenty going on to keep everyone on their toes without being too complex (because, you know, 30 minutes).
also worthy of note: this isn’t really a Harry Potter parody. i mention that because i very much did not WANT it to be and was a little worried i’d be unable to escape references, but this felt very much like a magic school of its own instead of “Hogwarts, but transposed slightly to the left and down a little.” so that was great!
attached is a photo of the moment the killer’s motive was revealed. the green fae blur is me, the hostess, who already knew, but was absolutely freaking out at how intense my friend got about it. it was GREAT.
Deanne –
Headline College Wizard Fun
Nickname Deanne
Theme Highlights Some used a fake Zoom background and some dressed up.
We hosted a college age party on Zoom for Halloween. Lots of the college students we work with are Harry Potter fans, so the wizard theme gathered interest. We had a prize contest for best-dressed and best-acted, to encourage some fun party wear. People enjoyed the event and it worked well on zoom.
We did the game twice with two different groups, both accused different people of being the murderer–and few guessed correctly. It was fun that the culprit wasn’t super obvious. Several characters had sketchy alibis and the real murderer was able to throw suspicion on others.
As the host, I read the full mystery ahead of time to help the flow of conversation. I called on people by name to read their lines in order. However, several times people still got lost on when they were supposed to read their lines–mixing up their comment lines with their response lines. I asked follow-up, clarifying questions after each round of conversation, to help people get the info straightened out.
I also adjusted the murderer’s info page, so that the person did not know that he/she was the murderer until I texted them the info near the end of the game, after all accusations had been made.
The Murder Mystery kit was easy to use and made for a great party during COVID times.
Santa Cruz –
Headline Halloween Fun!
Nickname Santa Cruz
Theme Highlights Costumes and Zoom Backgrounds
We had a great time as a family doing this on Halloween virtually, we had a mix of ages from 11 to 80. Everyone had a fun time and got into their character and dressed up. We used Zoom virtual backgrounds to “decorate” for the party. We are planning another one for Thanksgiving!
Teresa A –
Headline Great alternative to traditional birthday party!
Nickname Teresa A
Menu Highlights Unfortunately I didn’t think about making themed food and drink because this was all rather last minute for us but that is such a great idea. Maybe next time.
My daughter’s 13th birthday party had to be cancelled because of the stay at home order and so in my search for something to replace it I came across Playing with Murder. She loved the idea. We went with Murder Of The High Wizard-Virtual Edition. It was fairly easy to set up. We did it on Google Hangouts and even though we had a little trouble getting her grandpa connected it went very well. The kids especially seemed to enjoy it. We didn’t have time to do costumes to really get into the roles because it was such short notice but if we do this again, we definitely will. Thank you for providing us with a great way to celebrate her birthday.
Fun Mom –
Headline Awesome
Nickname Fun Mom
This was a fun mystery activity for my daughter to do for her birthday during social distancing. It worked very well and the group had lots of fun!!!