This game is licensed for personal, private use only. If you plan to use it for any commercial purpose, public event, business, organization, school, fundraiser, church, promotional activity, paid event, or any use that generates revenue or provides a commercial benefit, you must purchase a Commercial License.
- Type Download
- SKU KARLTON
- Age Range 10 to 14
- Minimum # of players 6 Suspects
- Max Players (Main Game) 10 Suspects
- Max players available 20 Suspects (Expansion Pack Sold Separately, 4 are M)
- Difficulty rating Straightforward, 3/10
- Character roles All-Female (Main Game), Co-Ed Expansion Pack (4 M)
- Interactive Extras Ransom notes (6), Fun Coded Message Group Challenge, Finale Graphic of the Victim (for a hunt) with a Message
- Game Duration 2 to 4 Hours Average (Flexible Timeline)
- Game format Kidnapping (Kid-Friendly) | Guided Clue Mingling | 4 Rounds
- Vibe and Content Notes Tween Glam Fun * Chaotic Celeb Kidnapping
- Date of publication 2006. Last Revised: 2018
A lighthearted hotel-themed non-murder mystery party game. This glamorous charity-event mystery is packed with celebrities, entertainers, colorful professionals, red-carpet excitement, juicy gossip, suspicious secrets, ransom notes, hidden clues, party games, and the shocking disappearance of a famous (fictional) movie star.
This is the instant download version, so there is nothing to ship and no shipping fee. Simply download, print, prepare, and play!
Prefer a professionally prepared game? Choose the Boxed Kit version, and our staff will professionally print and prepare the game materials for you.
Helpful Links:
Main-game players can prepare for the charity bash with character information, costume suggestions, details about the Karlton-Ritz Hotel, and the celebrity kidnapping mystery premise.
For the host character list, sample game materials, and free invitation, scroll to the bottom of the page.
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Expansion Pack: Adds 10 Characters
Sold separately.
Celebrity Kidnapping Mystery Party Game Synopsis:
The luxurious five-star Karlton-Ritz Hotel is hosting a glamorous charity bash to help save New York’s endangered bog turtles. The city’s most interesting personalities are preparing to walk the red carpet, enjoy delicious food, play entertaining party games, exchange juicy gossip, and raise money for the smallest turtles facing extinction in the Big Apple.
Excitement surrounding the event has skyrocketed because Robbie Pattenson, the star of the wildly popular Enchanted Gnome movie series, is rumored to make a special appearance. Celebrities, entertainers, athletes, medical professionals, performers, and other prominent guests are eager to meet the famous actor, but several people on the guest list are hiding suspicious secrets and questionable motives.
When the celebration becomes the scene of a kidnapping, the guests must examine the ransom notes, search for hidden clues, question the suspects, and determine what happened to the missing movie star. Your invitation to the Karlton-Ritz charity bash has arrived, your red-carpet attire is ready, and this is where your story begins.
Expand the Karlton-Ritz Kids Mystery Party:
- Main Game: 10 unique suspect characters
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Expansion Pack: 10 additional suspect characters
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- Sold separately.
- Includes 6 female and 4 male optional roles.
- The expansion characters may be added in any number and combination.
- Adding the 6 female expansion characters creates an all-female game for up to 16 players.
- Using the complete expansion creates a co-ed game for up to 20 players.
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This is a non-murder kids mystery centered on investigating the kidnapping of a famous movie star. There is no murder victim or forensic report.
The game includes ransom notes, hidden-clue activities, investigation sheets, party games, and a guided mystery format designed for young sleuths.
This is the instant download version of the game. Simply download, print, and prepare everything you need to play, with no shipping fees or delivery wait.
PDF files included:
- Host Instructions
- Printable Game Materials
- Solution
- Optional Extras, such as the free invitation
For the boxed kit, also called the Party Pack, use the link provided on the product page.
Printing Tips
For the best results, open and print the files using Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from Adobe.com. Other PDF viewers may alter fonts, spacing, colors, page sizing, or interactive features.
- Download the PDF files to your computer and note where you save them before opening or printing.
- Select Actual Size or 100% Scale unless the instructions specify otherwise.
- Do not select Fit to Page, as this may resize cards, labels, or other game materials.
- Confirm that the paper size is set to US Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches.
- Print one test page before printing the complete game.
- Use standard printer paper for any worksheets or investigation sheets.
- Use heavier paper for invitations, clue cards, and other materials that will be handled during the game.
- Print in color when possible for the intended appearance.
- Do not select double-sided printing.
- Allow ink to dry completely before cutting, folding, or assembling the materials.
Printer settings and results may vary by printer.
I purchased the downloaded version for my daughter’s 11th birthday party, it was great, her friends had a lot of fun. This was our 2nd birthday mystery party. however, I think the Oster Mystery was better. This year will will host another mystery, most likely a “murder” mystery birthday party. I highly recommend using my mystery party.
I admit it was overwhelming at first putting it together but it all came together at party-time. The timeline of events was very helpful. We had 6 girls participate and they had a blast! It was fun watching the whole things unfold.
The entire process was so easy - they show parents exactly how to host and move the party along. Even our shy guests got really into it. We printed out character bios, added a few things into it, and hand delivered it to our guests the week before the party. Easy to social distance during this event. It took our party 2.5 hours with one break for dinner. Only one issue - some of the colored pages with clues only printed giant black squares, but this was remedied if we re-printed in black and white.
I hosted this party with fourteen 5th graders and they absolutely LOVED it! I was able to host the party completely outdoors (we live in Florida) and hid the clues in different outdoor places. I had to improvise by putting things 'near' the bathroom vs. 'in' the bathroom, but it worked out great. Additionally, with so many kids - I was able to really move things along as they worked together. I would definitely host another party again and highly recommend this party in particular!
I was excited to use the Kidnapping at the Karlton Ritz kit for my daughter's 10th birthday party. Unfortunately, the kit had 2 major problems.
First, the resolution of the entire 2-hour game is totally random. The mystery feels like it suffered from really lazy writing. Every ransom note except the last one either simply showed up or was revealed by a code clue to be "near." So, there was no real challenge in finding the notes. Then, the kids are supposed to question each other and behave according to character, but nothing in either their stories or in the "clues" led to any sort of conclusion whatsoever. So, when the kidnapper was revealed at the end, it was 100% random, and could have been ANY of the characters. That really takes the fun out of the game. The kids knew throughout the game that nothing that was happening was actually building upon information gathered during play, and they felt disappointed when the answer turned out to be just as random.
Second, the characters themselves are kind of grotesque in their retrograde characteristics. All the girls felt icky playing such vapid, materialistic, image-obsessed characters. The characters were so empty that they couldn't even play them ironically. They just weren't interested in them as described.
It's absolutely our fault for choosing a game with characters we knew were lame, but hoped would serve nonetheless. The lack of any actual sleuthing rewarded with answers that made logical sense, however, was a huge disappointment.