Christmas Eve at the family lodge. Mom announces she is marrying the ski instructor. By the end of the Yankee Swap she is face down in the hot tub. Host a murder-mystery Christmas party for 8 to 20 suspects in their worst sweaters, print it at home tonight, and even you won't know the killer.
Roxy Kincaid built an empire out of inflatable lawn Santas, and every Christmas Eve the whole family comes to Sugar Pine Lodge to be grateful about it. This year she has an announcement: she is marrying Beau, the ski instructor, twenty-five years her junior. Then the Yankee Swap starts, Roxy slips out for her hot-tub soak, and her son finds her face down.
Real-looking evidence lands on the table: a coroner's report, a doorbell-camera log, the Yankee Swap score sheet, a shareholder statement nobody read, and the toast cards she never got to read. Every clue is really in the documents, and your table cracks it as a team.
Dress code: your worst Christmas sweater. Every character comes with a sweater suggestion, and the ugliest one of the night wins an award.
The brother-in-law everyone loves, the daughter with the clipboard, the son who calls himself a founder, the neighbour who knows everything, the fiance who is far too young. The comedy comes from them. The murder is played straight, and the evidence is real.
Count your guests, deal characters from the top of the cast list, and stop. The mystery holds at every size from 8 to 20. Guests 9 through 20 get full stories, secrets and motives; nobody can tell who was added last, including them.
The Solution arrives sealed as its own separate download, and a big red STOP page guards the character secrets while you print. Play Roxy, give the toast, die in the hot tub, come back as the Detective, and still gasp with everyone else.
No pun names, nothing you cannot say in front of your boss, and six characters play male or female exactly as written. A real Yankee Swap your party can actually run is in the kit, with rules, draw numbers and a sweater-contest ballot.
The digital kit is 6 numbered, print-ready files plus a small photo pack, sized for standard Letter paper. Plain paper is fine, black and white is fine, and a red STOP page tells you exactly where to stop reading so even the host stays unspoiled. Print it as many times as you like and host it again and again.
You'll need: a home printer, a box of envelopes (two per guest plus one), a wrapped gift per guest for the swap, and a Christmas dinner's worth of food and drink. Run time about 2½ hours, plus around 20 minutes to set up.
Spoiler-safe by design: the Solution arrives as its own separate download, so nothing in the kit you print can reveal the killer.
Secure checkout · both downloads on your confirmation page and in your email
8 to 20 suspects, plus Roxy, the victim, who is best played by the host. Count your guests, deal characters from the top of the cast list, and stop; the mystery holds at every size. It plays brilliantly anywhere in that range, and the Host Guide has a two-table party mode for 15 and up.
Yes, it was built for one. Clean language, no forced romance, no pun names, and nobody plays a coworker: everyone plays a Kincaid. The Yankee Swap in the kit is a real one your office can run with its own wrapped gifts.
Yes. Pay and both downloads (the kit and the separate sealed Solution) are on your confirmation page and emailed to you. Nothing ships. Print tonight, play this weekend.
Two ways. Fill-in paper invitation cards are in the kit, or open your free online Host Hub, enter your date and place once, and text each guest a private link to their own character page, portrait and sweater included. No app, no sign-up.
No. Black and white is a suggestion and a money-saver, not a rule; the evidence looks more authentic that way. Color is only worth it for the cover poster and the photo Who's Who, and both are optional.
Yes, that's the whole point. The Solution is a separate download and the character secrets sit behind a STOP page, so you can print, seal, and host the entire night without ever learning the answer.
Six characters (the installations chief, the plus-one, the junior accountant, the neighbour's kid, the talent manager, and the executive assistant) play male or female exactly as written, with two portraits each. Pick whichever fits your guest when you assign roles.
Yes. Print it as many times as you want for your own parties. Please don't resell or redistribute the files.
