Killer Party
Killer Party Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 53 "Mission" cards
- 1 rules sheet
Goal of the Game
Be the last player in the game, OR eliminate the largest number of players, OR both at once (even better!).
Preparation
- As organizer, get paper and a pencil.
- Make a spaced-out list of all participants. Write the names one under another in a precise order: each player must kill the player whose name is immediately below their own (the last name on the list must kill the first).
- Select one "Mission" card per player. Each card has a clock and a colour (title) to help you choose which cards to put into play, depending on the type of event the game is part of.
Clocks
- Short clock: short games for quick murders, about four hours. Example: a game held around an aperitif followed by a dinner (8 pm to midnight).
- Medium clock: games of about 6 or 7 hours. Example: a game held around an all-day event (a wedding) or a long evening (New Year's Eve).
- Long clock: games involving missions that need long preparation, or whose execution spans at least an evening, a night and a morning. For weekends and holidays only!
NB: if needed, a medium or long game can be supplemented with short missions, but not the other way round.
Colours (titles)
- Blue titles: the murder can be carried out anywhere.
- Green titles: the murder requires the game to take place outdoors.
- Orange titles: the murder requires a particular condition. For example: does the venue have a kitchen? A bathroom?
Playing the Game
1. Assigning Missions
Discreetly give each participant a Mission card, telling them the name of their victim. A random distribution is best avoided (see Tips below). Make clear that it is not yet time to commit a murder.
2. Official Start
Gather the players and tell them all of the following:
- The game ends at a set time, or as soon as only one player remains in contention. The last living player, as well as the player who made the most victims, will be the grand winners.
- NB: you may also plan to reward the fastest killer, the most spectacular, the most sneaky, and so on.
- Missions and the names of the people to be killed must remain personal and secret. A player's mission is unique and should not be taken on or attempted lightly.
- Any player who is killed must hand their Mission card to their assassin. The victim must hand over the card without resistance and without alerting the other participants. The assassin then comes to see you so that you can give them the name of their new victim, who is the former victim of the freshly dead player.
- It is a game: players do not kill each other "for real". They must stay clever in carrying out murders. Do not injure. Do not hit. Do not make anyone cry. Do not set anything on fire. (NB: the bride must be able to thank you at the end of the game, and not ask her father to throw you out on the spot.)
- The real start of the game: murders become possible from... NOW!
3. Tracking Murders
When a player completes their mission, they come and find you with their victim's card:
- Cross out the victim's name on your list.
- A new victim is assigned to the killer. This victim is the name that followed the name you have just crossed out. Their new mission is on the card the killer has just recovered.
- On the list, write next to the killer's name the name of the person they have just killed, so that their record is up to date.
The Mission cards set out in detail the place, the method and the conditions of the murder. For a murder to be valid, its conditions must be met: place, timing, phrases to be spoken, objects to be placed, and so on. In case of doubt about how a card should be interpreted, the organizer decides.
Warning: if you are not the organizer of the game, do not read the Mission cards. You would no longer be able to take part in the game!
End of the Game
The game ends when everyone except one player is dead, or when the "end of game" signal is announced. You may then officially announce the end of the party. Gather everyone together and hand out the promised prizes.
Tips
The rules sheet marks the following section with a printed warning that it should be read only by the organizer.
- When drawing up your list of killers, keep in mind that a player finds it easier to get going if they know their victim well. If you prefer to have people who do not know each other kill one another, choose their missions with great care.
- Some people may find missions that seem very simple to others hard to carry out. (Throwing a glass of water in the face of a stranger at a party: easy, or not easy?) Take this into account for each player's first murder.
FAQ
Can a killer who is unmasked by their victim before the murder change mission and target?
No. Too bad for them: it was a poor killing. You will not improvise a new organigram of killers to cancel out their clumsiness. They must watch for another opportunity, or wait to die quietly!
The killer has carried out the murder, but the victim refuses to acknowledge it!
Summon the killer and the victim. You have the final word on the dispute. Either you judge that the murder was indeed badly carried out, in which case it does not take place and nothing changes: neither the mission nor the victim (and too bad for the surprise effect!). Or you judge that the victim is acting in bad faith, in which case the murder is validated, the victim must pass their Mission card to their killer, and the game carries on.
Do the players have the right to know who will kill whom?
No. Nobody other than the organizer should know the organigram of murders.
Some participants are not interested in playing.
This is not a problem. You can still include them in the game system: they receive a mission, carry it out or not, and hand it over to their killer when they are killed.
Someone really died during the game. Are you responsible?
No. Neither you, nor the publisher, nor the authors of this game! The murderer will simply leave the game to return to reality: the police, the courts, prison.