Some fun game night ideas for families with kids of different ages include classic board games like Monopoly or Clue, group games like Pictionary or Charades, and outdoor games like scavenger hunts or relay races. Check out our Family Game Night section and all games list the recommended ages to play.

The amount of time it takes to plan a game night depends on various factors such as the number of guests, the type of games you plan to play, the location, and the level of detail you want to incorporate into the event so the best answer is anywhere from 15 minutes to 15 months! If you are planning a simple game night with a few close friends or family members, it may take you only a few hours to decide on the games, gather the necessary materials, and set up the space. However, if you are planning a larger event with more elaborate decorations and multiple activities, it may take several weeks or even months to plan and prepare. Seriously...A game night doesn't always have to be a grand event, or cost one! You can take 10 minutes to throw some board games on the table and text some friends or call the family over for some laughs or you could be planning a mega casino night for a New Years Bash with your closest 500 friends, which would take a bit longer to plan. On average, if I'm throwing a party for say...25 friends I would usually take 1-3 weeks depending on the theme (I always have a theme) but if you are planning for a kids party of say 12, It may take you just as long since the kids need a bit more in the ways of activities.

My best answer for this is to create a game night that YOU want to be a part of! Even if the night is to celebrate your kids birthday or someone else's milestone, the more excited YOU are for the night, the better the party will be, so get creative and find a theme that speaks to you and gets you excited! If someone has given you a theme and you are struggling with it, please message us or use the chat button. We can send you suggestions that will get your mind flowing with ideas and have one heck of a party!

To make things a little easier in planning your game night, we have implemented a few categories like: Family Friendly Night, Ladies Night, Group Games and more. Each game will have a rating attached so you can find the games that are appropriate for your event. We don't want the Church Choir Group stumbling onto the Adults XXX Games (unless that's how you roll...hey...we don't judge!) Or maybe Drunk Jenga isn't the right game idea for your 5 years olds birthday party. Use the ratings to help you navigate the games, but most games can easily be tweaked for your specific party needs.

The number of games you plan for a game night depends on the length of the event and the types of games you choose. As a general rule, it's a good idea to plan for 2-4 games and allow around 30-60 minutes for each game, depending on the complexity and number of players.

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By following these steps, you can send one page from a protected PDF file via email Open the PDF File: Use a PDF reader like Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF viewer to open the protected PDF file. Go to Print: Click on “File” in the top menu. Select “Print” or press Ctrl + P. Select Print Options: In the Print dialog box, select “Microsoft Print to PDF” or any other PDF printer option from the list of printers. Choose the Page to Print: Under “Pages to Print,” select “Current page” or enter the specific page number you want to extract in the “Pages” field. Print and Save as PDF: Click “Print.” A dialog box will appear asking you to save the printed output. Choose a location on your computer to save the new PDF file. Give it a name and click “Save.” Compose an Email: Open your email client (Gmail, Outlook, etc.). Click on “Compose” or “New Email.” Attach the PDF File: Click on the attachment icon (usually a paperclip). Browse to the location where you saved the extracted page PDF file. Select the file and attach it to your email. Send the Email: Enter the recipient’s email address. Add a subject and a message if needed. Click “Send” to send the email with the attached PDF page.

Yes, you can typically remove a few players from a mystery game and still play, but keep in mind with mingle style mystery games, the game is meant to have guests up and mingling, so too small a crowd will make the game less fun. In updated games (all games will be updated to our new format by 2025) your suspect sheet (a sheet with the list of all the suspects names) will have a few names that have an * next to their name. These are suspects you can remove. If your sheet does not have that yet, please send us a message and we can tell you which suspects to remove. Also in your game packet is a sheet that has a few ideas on how to incorporate the suspect sheets that are not being played by a guest, into the game in other ways, that make the game more fun. We highly recommend using any or all of these ideas.

Most of our mysteries are Interactive mystery games. While other mystery parties have guests reading clues in turns in a certain order or acting out scripts , Interactive mysteries are quite different. Your Suspects will be up and mingling around, and it’s up to the other suspects and any non-suspect Investigators to question each other to piece together the mystery. This works for a game night with close friends/family, but it also an amazing way to play with people who maybe don't know each other yet. It's a ton of fun and your guests will LOVE IT!

When You Are Ready To Begin Begin your mystery experience with the Announcement of Murder. If you are serving alcohol at your party, begin the mystery earlier in the evening. In our experience, the longer people drink the less coherent the Suspect information becomes! How The Sleuths Ask Questions The Announcement of Murder provides some information that will get the investigators going. These are also provided for quick and easy reference on the Suspect Notes pages. Based on what they learn from asking these initial questions, they will naturally come up with questions of their own. If a sleuth asks something that is not explained in the Suspect information, the Suspects should reply with the answer, “I have no answer for that.” This phrase is designed to keep the questions moving along and convey to the person asking the question that they need to change their line of questioning without the interrogator or the Suspect having to break character to explain that there is nothing in their information to answer the question posed. This is explained to the Suspects in their Suspect Notes page for quick and easy reference. The Investigations The investigations portion of the mystery follows, and there are a few ways you can run the investigations. Some hosts will eavesdrop on the questioning to determine when a lull occurs, at which case they will ask players to make their accusations. Others will walk around asking guests if they are ready to cast their accusation or if they need more time. While both of these methods work well, I personally prefer the third method: putting a time limit on the investigations. I find that it creates a really fun sense of urgency on the questioning, and prevents the investigations from hitting a lull as people get all the information they receive. Any of these three methods work, and since our mystery format is designed to work around your party, you can choose the method that you like best. If you choose to set a time limit though, how long you set is up to you. Here is the way I determine how long to let the investigation last: Determine how long you want the mystery to last in total (for example, 2 hours) Allow 15 minutes for the Announcement of Murder, and for the Suspects to introduce themselves Allow 15 minutes for accusations to be cast at the end and for the “Big Reveal” In this example, your investigations would last 90 minutes. The more Suspects you have, the longer you and your guests will need to investigate. For 6-8 Suspect versions, an hour of investigation time is fine. For 10-14 Suspects, 90 minutes should suffice and for 16 or 18 Suspect versions, 90 minutes to 2 hours will be enough. These are just guidelines though – you can make it work for your unique party. Beware The Tight-Lipper There always seems to be one Suspect at the party who wants to appear to be the guilty party and will try to bait people to interrogate them harder by not giving any of their share information away. After serious psychoanalysis, we have determined this person craves attention, be it positive or negative. But since we’re not throwing a mystery party to deal with people’s personal issues, let’s just say this person is not cool. Don’t fret though, because all Suspects are advised in their Suspect guide that they have to share their “Reveal” information. If you have a tight-lipped Suspect who still insists on being evasive to the point of party-wrecking, gently remind them that the Reveal information needs to be shared or they’ll ruin everyone’s good time. Announcement Of Murder The Accusations Your mystery includes accusation forms. Print off and/or copy that page as many times as needed to ensure everyone attending your mystery party has a form on which to cast their accusation at the end of the mystery. Before the “Big Reveal”, hand out the accusation forms and ensure every participant has one. If you are awarding prizes or trophies for best sleuth etc., you will want to give your players enough notice to finish their questioning and fill out their ballot form. From there you can have each person tell the group who they accused and why, or gather the accusation forms and put them in the ballot box. After The Big Reveal you can peak through the accusations and award prizes/titles etc. as necessary. Award prizes for “Best Sleuth”, “Best Suspect” and more! For large groups, have participants place their accusation forms in a ballot box for prize draws/door prizes If you have a smaller group and/or the time to do it, it’s always fun to have everyone tell the group en masse the name of the person they have accused, and the reasons why. The purpose of writing down the accusation before casting it is so that no one can change their mind after hearing the others’ accusations and reasons behind their accusation. The Big Reveal The end of the mystery is marked by The Big Reveal. Once everyone has cast their accusations against the killer, it’s time to reveal the guilty party! If you are having guests cast their accusations in a ballot box, you will want to announce the deadline for casting accusations before The Big Reveal in order to give everyone time to get their vote in the box. The Big Reveal is included in a separate file so you can print it on its own without the worry of stumbling across it as you read the rest of your Host Materials. This way, you can solve the mystery too! You can use the audio file titled “The Big Reveal” or read the transcript called “The Big Reveal”, included in your Host Materials.

Most games can be played in 2-3 hours, but you can set the time limit. We have some games that are meant for smaller groups, which will reduce the amount of time to play.

YES! All of our mystery games are designed with the host in mind, to protect you from possible spoilers, with emailable suspect guides and separate, well-marked files for the Big Reveal. As a host, you put so much into the parties that you should be able to participate, solve the mystery and have as much fun as your guests… IF you want to. So, if you as the host would like to take on a suspect roll and investigate to find the killer, our materials are designed for you. Some hosts do prefer to simply play the host while their guests solve the mystery, and that’s okay as well – as the host, the choice is yours to be a suspect or not!

YES! You have a few options to make the game fit your party needs Suspect Add-On's : For when you need additional suspects for a larger party. We offer 12, 24 or 36 additional suspects for each game, but you can have hundreds if you have a very large event. For more than 36 additional players, just message us. Alternative Ending: Ever host an AMAZING murder mystery game night and everyone wants to play another one?! I have! So we offer alternative endings for the game you already have! You will use the same suspect sheets, but the announcement and reveal will be unique, creating another version of the game! Custom Game: Finally, we offer a 100% custom option, where you can pick and choose what you would like your game to be, from it's theme, to the names of your suspects, to who the murderer is. You let us know your requirements and we can meet it and quickly! Our custom games, typically take 3-5 days to prepare, depending on how many suspects you will need.

Your mystery materials come with individual suspect guides for each suspect. Most murder announcements have instructions for the Suspects that help them understand how to play. The Introduction will also give any additional Investigators instructions on how to play, so all the host typically needs to do is read the murder announcement, but detailed instructions are included with the download.

Minimum a few hours, but it can take hosts days to weeks to prepare and months, if you're hosting a large event (over 75 people). We do recommend at least a few days, but some hosts prefer weeks to prepare, while others will order their mystery game kit an hour before their party. It’s entirely up to you and how you want to host your party. Since our materials are instantly downloaded and the Suspect Guides can be emailed to your guests instead of having to print off each guide, you can use as much, or as little, prep-time as makes you, as the host, feel comfortable.

Nope. Our materials are not designed to be changed, and we do not advise our clients opting to change our materials for quality reasons. While some mystery companies provide files that can be changed, our mysteries are designed to make things easier for the host, and are offered as a complete package subject to copyright. We do offer custom games, so if you are looking for a game that is unique to you, please reach out to use.

Your mystery comes in a encrypted.pdf file. Upon completion of payment, you’ll see an instant download available on your payment receipt. – Open and Save. Click Save and then save it somewhere on your computer where you’ll easily find it later – we recommend your desktop. Once the file has downloaded, you’ll be able to access and print off the entire package or only the pages you need.

This is something unique to Game Nights Galore. We heard from a lot of hosts that wanted a way to play a mystery game with under 10 people, so we brainstormed and came up with games that can be played sitting at a dinner table or around a bonfire or wherever your more intimate party will take place. The host will read the announcement as normal, and the suspects will ask questions, one person at a time, until the rounds (you determine how many) are completed. This type of game works best for 6-8 players.

There are only three rules that you must, MUST abide by or the mystery will not work. Other than these three things, you can pretty much do anything you want. Don’t make up information about the other Suspects. For example, unless your Reveal information says “You saw Joe Jones kill the victim”, don’t say it! Don’t lie about your Secret information. So, if your Secret information says “You were running down the dark hallway at the time of the murder”, and someone comes to you and says, “So-and-So saw you running down the dark hallway at the time of the murder”, you can’t say “No, I wasn’t”, “I don’t know” or “Maybe, maybe not…”. Don’t lie. You must share your “Reveal” information. There’s always one person who thinks they’re going to be cool by playing the “tight-lipped” Suspect. No matter how many people ask them questions about things they saw, they won’t share their Reveal information. These people spoil their hosts’ parties, so please don't. Reveal information is designed to be used so that you can place the blame on someone else and deter suspicion from yourself. It also contains information vital to solving the mystery. So, please don’t be this person and spoil everyone’s good time. Share your Reveal information, don’t lie when asked about your Secret information. Now, having said all that, you CAN be vague. An example of this is “Where were you at the time of the murder?” “I was in the hallway.” You don’t have to tell them you were actually in the hallway with the victim. Wait for them to ask you “Were you alone?” Let the sleuths work for it!

Sometimes there are participants who will wander around asking everyone if they are the murderer. If this person is at your party, it will probably be in a loud, accusatory voice, and they will shout, “WHY DID YOU DO IT? WHY DID YOU KILL HIM/HER?” We love these people – they make everyone laugh. So, if this person shows up at the party, don’t worry, you’re not going to be in an awkward position. The killer doesn’t know they’re the killer, so you can be entirely honest with the material you have without worry about letting something slip that you shouldn’t. Here’s why we choose not to let the killer know they are the killer… Game Nights Galore doesn’t just put together a mystery package and assumes it will work at a party. We actually host these mysteries ourselves, in small private parties and large, public events. Based on our real live experiences, we have chosen to keep the killer a mystery, even from the killer, for a few reasons. First, not knowing allows all Suspects to be completely honest with the information they receive. Second, it allows all players to piece together the mystery equally. With one Suspect not investigating, the identity of the culprit quickly becomes clear and the mystery ends up ruined. Not only that, when the participants know each other well, it can quickly become obvious who the killer is based on the way they act. Therefore, in our experience, your mystery is more successful when the killer isn’t aware they are the killer. Not to mention that the Suspect who is the killer can cast an Accusation before The Big Reveal, even if that Accusation is against themselves!

Whether you have attended or hosted a mystery from another company, you will have to forget what you know about mystery parties. Our interactive murder mystery games are a bit different than many out of the box games. The format of your mystery party is a “Mingle” mystery. What this means is that instead of sitting around, reading in turns from a piece of paper, everyone is up and mingling around, questioning each other to piece together the clues and solve the mystery. This exciting, up-off-your-booty format makes for a very fun and exciting game night with tons of laughs and amazing moments to remember and talk about for a long time. With no lines to memorize and no scripts to read, your guests will be thrilled to participate in the game. Our mysteries are a pure and true “Investigation” experience. Someone has been killed, and the Suspects have been identified. They need to be questioned, just like a Sleuth would question witnesses and suspects to solve the murder case.

Additional suspects can be purchased in our shop. We have them ready made for our most popular games, but if you don't see your game in the shop, no worries. Order the custom additional suspect add-on and let us know which game you have. You will receive your PDF files in 24-48 hours. LInk to shop: https://www.gamenightsgalore.com/shop Scroll down to the additional suspect section and find your game. Some games will have 2 options for 12 or 24 additional suspects, so make sure to pick the one you need.

We can customize a game for you! We have 4 different add-on's that you can choose from to create a unique game for your game night. Add-On's Additional Suspects: Most of our games are set up for 12 players but if you find you have more guests who want to play a role and you need more suspects, you can purchase them in sets of 12. With this option, you can let us know if you need specific genders for your additional suspects, so if you have a party of more females than males, you can ask for 12 additional suspects, all female. Alternative Ending: Nothing is worse than playing a murder mystery game and LOVING it, but now you can't use it again because maybe you are playing with the same guests and now they know who the killer is or you as the host have played and know who did the crime. With an alternative ending, you can play again using the same suspect sheets, but a new murder reveal creates a new storyline. Language Translation: We offer any of our games to be translated into almost any language (including the really hard ones!). We have had our games translated into French, Chinese and German and have had some very happy patrons playing all over the world! (Our OG Barbie game has been played in more than 18 countries!) Fully Custom Game: Lastly, but not least, we have our fully custom game option, leaving you to let us know what you want your game to be. You can customize everything from the name, the theme, the suspects names, their backgrounds, who the victim is, who the murderer is, gender roles and well...just about anything and we will help you fill in any of the blanks, creating a unique game for your event. We do a lot of custom games for engagement parties and birthdays and making each suspect with unique characteristics to match the guest playing the role is so much fun for the game and for us and guest always have a blast! With these custom options, which are VERY affordable, you can create a night of murdery magic!

Additional suspects can take 24-48 hours to be sent to your email on file. Our files are sent PDF protected, which can sometimes push incoming emails into your spam folder, so it may not be a bad idea to check there as well.

Yes, changes can be made to an already created game, by selecting a custom game. We can customize any part of an existing game, or create one specifically for your event. If you need additional suspects, we have an add-on for that, which provides 12 additional suspects. If you need a different ending, we offer an alternative ending option. If you need your game in another language, we can provide this as well (We use AI for language translation, but so far it's worked beautifully).