World Famous Comics: Murder Mystery Party - A Taste for Wine and Murder
Murder Mystery Party - A Taste for Wine and Murder
From: University Games Average Rating: Binding: Toy Manufacturer Minimum Age: 18 years Manufacturer Maximum Age: 99 years Model: 33202 Number of Items: 1 Release Date: March 01, 2002 Studio: University Games
Features:
Party Planner with recipes and menu by Sandra Gluck
Character Booklet for all suspects including roles and background information
Compact Disc included with introduction and solution to the crime
Product Description: This annual wine-tasting festival is in full swing when the body of local vineyard owner, Barry Underwood, is found hidden beneath his wine cellar. Everyone's a suspect when murder is on the menu. Just invite 6 to 8 of your friends to dress up and play the roles of the devious suspects and your ready for some drop dead fun! Comes with a complete party planner, invitations, costume and menu suggestions, clues and more! Mystery dinner party game for 6 to 8 players.
Editorial Review: Put on your own mystery dinner theater: murder's on the menu, and everyone's a suspect in this grownup game for six to eight players. The game includes everything you need to serve up mystery, murder, and fun: a shopping list, menus, and recipes by cookbook author Sandra Gluck; eight party invitations and envelopes; place cards; secret clues; and, best of all, a murder mystery to solve. Just invite your friends to dress up and play the roles of the devious suspects (each with his or her own character booklet with roles and background info): Otto Von Schnapps, Tiny Bubbles, Papa Vito, Marilyn Merlot, Ralph Rottingrape, Hedy Shablee, Bonny Lass, and Bud Wizer. Serve up a meal or light snack, play the (included) cassette tape with its introduction, summary of events, and solution to the crime. Find out who killed California vineyard owner Barry Underwood, and why. --Rebecca Hughes
Very Confusing and Poorly Written ^ I have at least one murder mystery party at my house each year. In the past I have purchased the mysteries [...] or written them myself. For Christmas, my parents gave me A Taste for Wine and Murder and I was very excited to try a new format. Because I hold these parties fairly often, my friends are familiar with how these mysteries are played and are not easily confused. We played this game with the 6 suspects and two extra characters. My primary complaints are:
1 - The extra characters had very odd parts and the suspects had no response to their accusations. There were confused looks all around the table whenever those characters spoke up. 2 - Characters contradicted themselves from one round to the next. For example, round one: "this guy is like my son". Round two: "He's a twit." No logic whatsoever. 3 - The booklets seem like such a great idea, but it was very unclear about how the characters should use them. The dialogue would end and we would all stare at each other and have to "break character" to figure out how to proceed. "You want to go first? Or should I?" 4 - We still don't really know who did it. When we tried to play the last track of the cd, it went all wonky. No scratches on the disk...it seemed like the original recording used to make the cd was scratched. Very unfortunate, but we had had so much wine at that point, we just laughed at the poor quality of this game.
Before we started, one of the guests asked if we could save the game materials so that his mom could borrow them to have a party of her own. At the end of the night, he said, "Nevermind...I think she can find something better."
Luckily, I have such a fun group of friends we had a great time despite the confusion created by the game. If, however, you were playing this game with people who weren't close friends, you could end up coming off looking like a disorganized host...a pet peeve of mine.
Fun Dinner Party Material ^ We had a New Year's Eve dinner party with this game with six people. It kept everyone entertained between courses until midnight. We dressed in camped-up formal wear rather than the suggested costumes and everyone had a ball with their characters. Would recommend this for adult parties. Only wish we had a choice of different endings so we could play the game again with other sets of friends. Once you know who dunnit it, the game isn't re-playable.
Tons of fun ^ This was my first Murder Mystery Party. I was a little worried that my guests would not feel comfortable because no one really knew each other. However, even the shyest guests had a blast! Everyone wanted to be invited to the next one :)
Murder Mystery Kit ^ Eight friends and I had a memorable evening with this. We dressed up as our characters and prepared our favorite special foods. The murderer was a complete surprise to everyone and all the suspects had a motive and an opportunity. If you ever played CLUE as a kid you will love this.
Too confusing ^ Too confusing...not spontaneous enough....directions interfered with the spontaneity of the evening. Would not purchase again.
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