Since the beginning of the year the first two games of the new Deadly Dinner series have been available: Red Carpet in Ruinsand The Last Rose. Depending on the case, five to eight people can enjoy an unforgettable evening where everyone takes on the role of a suspect. On the set of a 1950s-Hollywood film or behind the scenes of a dating show – together you have to solve a murder case! However, one player is the murderer and they must try anything and everything to draw attention away from them and onto other suspects. Everyone has motives for the murder. Those are revealed bit by bit over the course of three rounds. Every round, you get new information about the course of events and sometimes you also receive secret objects or hints. If you manage to find the culprit, you win, if not they will get away with murder.
Behind the crime dinner-series is the trio Lukas Setzke, Martin Student and Verena Wiechens. We asked them about the development of their games, working as a team and much more:
How did you come up with the idea of developing murder mystery games?
“It all started with the Christmas Party in 2017 we had planned with our team of the Escape Room Breakout in Göttingen. We really wanted to play a game together that is personal and funny and where all players are important. So we decided to write our own murder mystery. That worked really well and was a lot of fun, so afterwards we thought about developing murder mysteries for our customers, too.”
At which point did you realize for the first time that your idea would actually become a game?
“We started out with the intention of developing a game. But once the perfect name, ‘Deadly Dinner’ was found, everything started falling into place.”
Aside from the Deadly Dinner-series, there are other murder mystery games on the market. What makes your games special? Why should people definitely take a look Deadly Dinner-series?
“There are three things that distinguish our games from others:
1. Our crime cases are logically, deductively solvable. They include a real game board which, along with small figures, helps to retrace which person was where at what point in time. So it really is great for crime-fans and hobby-detectives.
2. Even though each game can be played with a varying number of people, all roles are important. No one is just sitting around, being unsuspicious and basically unable to take part. All players also receive additional small goals they can strive to complete. Additionally, all players receive mysterious objects that offer secret information (in the form of letters, bills, pictures etc.). Players decide if and when they mention them to the others.
3. Our games are fun. Humor and sometimes exaggeration are important to us when developing the games. We want all players to be able to have an immersive experience. Our story lines and plot twists are not only supposed to narrate a suspenseful crime case but also to make players laugh. Ultimately, playing games should be fun! 🙂
How did the cooperation with Pegasus Spiele come about?
“Actually, Andreas Finkernagel, one of Pegasus Spiele’s CEOs, came to us. We had brought the game to SPIEL in Essen, 2019, and it somehow must have ended up with him. I think there were also conversations with our friend Arne from the Spieleburg in Göttingen that helped both sides to eventually work together.“
How long does it take from the first idea until everything is set and all details work out?
“It takes six months at most from the first idea until we pass the game on to Pegasus. During these months the game has to be tested, corrected and improved a lot to make the text as entertaining, informative and short as possible. When we are happy with the text, layout and design, the editors at Pegasus Spiele take over the rest of the work. And currently, printing and delivery are a challenge. Covid also made a good job of slowing down the ‘normal’ day-to-day-business of the board game industry.”
You develop the games as a group. Can you tell us more about what it is like to work together? And what is it like to work with our editorial team?
“We developed the first cases on our own, the editors mainly took care of the implementation and the adjustment to the Pegasus-layout. Now we work closely with our editor Irina. She gives us advice and feedback and tests the new cases. Nevertheless, we can work pretty independently. We come up with a theme, a fitting number of players and pitch the idea to Irina. And up till now she has always been enthusiastic! 🙂 Then the three of us continue working on the game. Martin is mainly responsible for the secret objects and the logical deduction. Lukas and I write the texts and develop the characters. Lukas is the expert for humor and I decide the look of the games.“
Through your escape room, you are often in contact with fans of mystery. Do you think people who visit escape rooms also enjoy murder mystery games and the other way around or do they cater to different audiences?
“There is a small difference in the number of players, for one: in our escape room the groups usually consist of four to five people, with Deadly Dinner we cover groups of up to ten people. Additionally, not everyone who enjoys escape rooms like to dive into a role or incorporate a bit of acting into the game. Murder mystery games are also not as widely known as escape games. But aside from that we think that the two groups overlap greatly: Both games are special events that you experience with a group. For both, players have to be open and think outside the box. And both games share a certain addictive quality once you have acquired a taste for them.”
Can you tell us anything about the next cases yet? What themes can we look forward to?
“The next case takes players back to the time of hippies. In a tranquil commune that wants to revive the legendary Woodstock festival (and obviously terrifically fails), the guru is found dead. So, you can look forward to Jimmy Hendriks’ music, peace necklaces and a lot of humor.”
Are you planning on developing other games, as well, or do you want to completely focus on the Deadly Dinner-series?
“We constantly wake up with new stories and ideas. In fact, we are working on other games, too, that are not confined to murder mysteries. But Deadly Dinner is very dear to our hearts, so it has a special importance to us.”
Dear Verena, dear Martin, dear Lukas, thank you very much for your answers. We are looking forward to your next cases! 🙂
Questions, comments, feedback? Share your thoughts with us at blog@pegasus.de
