Murder in Dreary Hollow | Virtual Murder Mystery
$49.95
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Write a Review
Murder in Dreary Hollow | Virtual Murder Mystery
An intriguing murder mystery game for 4-10 players, ages 13+ to be played at home or in a virtual setting. This game takes about two hours to play. This is an instant download version of a virtual format game - no waiting, no shipping fees - download and play - no printing is needed. This murder mystery game was formatted to play on Zoom or other video chat - you send each player a PDF file before the game and meet up virtually to play! (This game does not have required video content as some of the other virtual games.)
Helpful Links:
Host character list- Free, printable invitation
- Murder Mystery Prop Emporium
- Direct your guests here - the corresponding pre-game site at Your Mystery Party
Mystery Synopsis:
Leota Xavier was the most despised lady in the town of Dreary Hollow. With a sharp tongue and scowls galore, this spinster managed to make more enemies than friends during her miserable lifetime. A five-time widow with more money than good sense, she had retired from being the headmistress at Dark Harbor Preparatory School long ago. She lived alone in a mansion on the outer edge of town with nine cats and terrorized the townsfolk when her butler drove her into town.
To nobody’s surprise, Leota’s body was discovered in her front yard early this morning. The Dreary Hollow Police have summoned you. You either have the missing pieces of the puzzle needed to solve the case, or you are a prime suspect. This is where your story begins.
YOU WILL RECEIVE: (There are no videos with this game like the others in this virtual catalog).
- Host instruction file - including bonus games to play virtually, player instructions, and a timeline sheet (abbreviated instructions) for your event.
- 10 character packets (PDF files) to send to your players in advance of the party. They include instructions, a character bio, suspect list, and three rounds of game play (optional pre-game, round one materials, round two materials).
- Solution keys for the game and game challenge - host can play along without spoiling the game.
- Editable text field player contact sheet for pre-game
- Free invitation (optional to use)
- Free pre-game website (optional, but suggested)
- Spectator file - if you wish to add non-suspect/non-character players to play along.
- Optional host list for 4 required players - only open if you intend on hosting with 4 or 5 players.
If you wish to host this (or any other) game for profit, you will need a commercial license - click here.
- Minimum Age:
- 13 due to difficulty
- Difficulty rating:
- Moderate, 4/10
- Gender of players:
- Flexible
- Number of Players:
- 4-10 unique suspect roles in the main game.
- Expansion pack/ expandable?:
- No. 10 is the max of character roles. However, you can have spectators play along. There is an optional PDF file to download for these spectators - add up to 100+ players.
- Date of publication:
- September 2020
Reviews
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Fun virtual party for my 11 year old and her friends!
My daughter and five of her 11-12 year old besties had a blast with this. It's great because it doesn't have age-inappropriate material (as long as you're okay with murder and blackmail and the dark web - haha - which was all fine - I'm pretty sure none of them really know what the dark web is anyway). I would caution that the character bios are pretty sophisticated and, even with high reading comprehension, there was some parent explanation necessary. I moderated/hosted the virtual party, keeping them on track and on time. (For example, one of the guests took it upon herself to look at Wikipedia to research a particular snake that was mentioned, and then wanted to read the whole article out loud to us! Oi!) As a host, the instructions, etc were very easy to follow. We ended the mystery at just over two hours total (with a 15 minute break in between). Only one of the 6 girls actually solved the mystery, but they all put a lot of thought into it -- so to me, that means it was just the right level of difficulty.
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Great for first timers
We played this game for a small five person NYE dinner. I hosted and gave out the information the night before however, we knew we were doing a murder mystery a week prior. Very easy to follow along however I highly recommend doing it two days prior if you can! We played with 5 people and had a lot of fun!
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Great fun
We loved this murder mystery game. We had 6 people with 4 of the 6 having two characters. That was a little confusing. I would recommend having one character per person. We played it on Zoom which worked out pretty well. Six people worked out well on Zoom and it took us approximately 90 minutes. We took a Zoom poll to see who everyone thought was the guilty party and that worked out well. I emailed everyone their character info which allowed them to prepare for the game. Some created creepy backgrounds, which was fun. Would highly recommend it. I would definitely get another murder mystery game. It is well organized and easy to follow.
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Great fun
We loved this murder mystery game. We had 6 people with 4 of the 6 having two characters. That was a little confusing. I would recommend having one character per person. We played it on Zoom which worked out pretty well. Six people worked out well on Zoom and it took us approximately 90 minutes. We took a Zoom poll to see who everyone thought was the guilty party and that worked out well. I emailed everyone their character info which allowed them to prepare for the game. Some created creepy backgrounds, which was fun. Would highly recommend it. I would definitely get another murder mystery game. It is well organized and easy to follow.
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Great fun for a group of 8!
Had a blast doing this, just make sure you the rest of the crew really read into their backgrounds and story beforehand
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Loved!
Used this for my 13 yr old daughters birthday party. Everyone had a blast! Thank you!!! We will be coming back for sure!
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Not dreary at all!
My work team and I did this as a virtual celebration after a few planning meetings. Everyone got to order a costume, and we had an amazing time! It was pretty easy to facilitate, and most of us solved the crime~
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Twists and humor galore!
This is the third mymysteryparty.com game that my former college classmates and I have played during COVID. We played Who Whacked the Mole and then Murder in 1985 and have plans to play the paranormal game for Halloween. We loved Dreary Hollow! There were lots of twists and we often had to stop speaking to finish laughing at the things we learned about the suspects! The characters were finely drawn, the plot interesting and the game play fun! We particularly liked the extra puzzles at the end! At this point, we're old pros at this, and we wear costumes, create Zoom backgrounds and have a signature cocktail specifically chosen to complement each game. In this case, the cocktail was "The Old Lady," which was quite potent! Since there are fewer of us than there are characters, we take on non-required characters as secondary characters, relating what we've "heard" from these other suspects, which makes the story richer. The best tip I have is to choose the characters randomly and act them out broadly! Half the fun is having a guest play completely against type! Also, at this point, we've learned to tailor the game to our wishes. One of us wanted to pin this game to a certain time frame and we chose the 70's even though some things then became anachronistic. Because of that, I changed my character, Frances Bones, from a straight-laced teacher, into a 70's hippy teacher, which added a reason she and the victim did not get along, and it was just more fun to costume and act out this character as slightly amended! This has been a wonderful way for far-flung friends to connect, and we've been so grateful for these games and the way they've brought us together! I've been recommending this to everyone I know! I wholeheartedly recommend this particular mystery to you as well. Looking forward to our Halloween game . . .
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Great family game
So much fun! We played with only 4, in person and it worked out well. Detailed instructions made it easy to be the host and still be an active player. We will be doing more mysteries in the future! Thank you!