Host or Play a Custom Whodunit

A murder mystery written about your own people. Here is how to host it, what your guests do, and how the night runs.

Who plays
Up to 20 guests, each as an alter ego of themselves
Suspects
Up to 8, everyone else is a detective
Where
In the Mission Masters app or in a web browser
Sold
Bought on missionmasters.io, as a purchase or a gift

In a Custom Whodunit you pick a theme and a place, and every guest plays a version of themselves: the movie star version, the hot stock trader version. One private mystery is written for your group, with a title that carries the guest of honor’s name. Once it is written it plays like any Whodunit.

Hosts: start with the first section. Guests: jump to For your guests.

Host it

Your order page tells you where things stand in plain words and gives you one next step. Setup saves as you go, so you can leave and come back from any device.

  1. Step 1: Buy it, or open your gift

    Order the Custom Whodunit on the website, where you buy it for yourself or as a gift. You can pay by card, or use a discount code (a 100 percent code for the Custom Whodunit makes it free and still builds a full mystery). If someone gave you one, open the gift certificate they sent, sign in or make an account, and claim it. Either way you land on your order page, with a themed banner that already carries the guest of honor’s name.

    See the Custom Whodunit

  2. Step 2: Answer the setup questions

    One question per page, with a narrator and the words always on screen. You choose the occasion, who the night is for, who is at the table, the place and its city, the date, the theme, and the title. You also pick the victim from a gallery of made-up characters. There is no box for a real person’s name.

    Love stories
    Sweet means crushes and being in love, kept light. Off means none. Affairs never appear, either way.
    Your people
    Optional pages for running jokes, pets, how the night should feel, a prize, and anything off-limits.
    Surprise
    Tell us if it is a surprise for the guest of honor and when they should find out.

  3. Step 3: Add your guests

    Add each guest’s first name, last name and email on the game setup’s invite step, the same one every Whodunit uses. The custom setup questions show who is on the list but do not edit it. Guests sign in by email, and they never need an app. You can add and change guests as often as you like until we write the mystery.

  4. Step 4: Send the invitations

    Each guest gets a personal link that opens in their browser. Guests receive the standard game invitation when you finish setup, and then the custom invitation (the hero, the dress code and your note) when you press Send on your order page. The custom one says it follows the first. You can watch who has replied on your order page.

  5. Step 5: We write your mystery

    We do not write until everyone has answered, and writing takes up to an hour. Your order page says it is still being written and gives an estimate. If something stalls, it starts again by itself and our support team is told. We never swap in a different game.

When we write it

Your game date sets the latest we will wait for replies. The last reply always starts the writing sooner.

  • Set up more than 6 hours ahead: we write no later than 6 hours before the game.
  • Set up 3 to 6 hours ahead: we write no later than 3 hours before the game.
  • Set up 1 to 3 hours ahead: every guest must reply by 1 hour before the game, and we write then. We tell you this when you set the date.
  • More than a day away and a guest is still missing 24 hours before? We ask you what to do: keep waiting, give the missing seats to stand-in characters and write now, or remove them.
  • At the deadline, a seat that has not replied goes to a stand-in character and the story is written. A guest who replies later still plays that character.

Changing your guest list

  • Before we write it, change anything you like, as often as you like.
  • After we write it, you get one free change round until 24 hours before the game. Opening it reopens the guests’ answers, and the new version is written when the guest list changes or you close the round. After that you can buy another rebuild until 3 hours before the game. The price is shown before you confirm.
  • Every rebuild sends everyone an update with their latest character.
  • Inside 3 hours the guest list is fixed. A guest who drops out leaves a seat a stand-in character plays, and a late guest plays the character already written for a seat.
  • We email everyone who has accepted 24 hours and 3 hours before the game, with their character card and their link, and text guests who opted in. You get a short note at 24 hours and 3 hours saying who has not replied.

Surprise mode

Turn it on in setup if the night is a surprise for the guest of honor.

  • The guest of honor is left out of the invitations and sees nothing about the game anywhere until the time you pick. Everyone else is asked to keep it quiet.
  • At your release time the guest of honor is invited, and the game opens for them.
  • Their seat is always kept for them, and nobody can turn it into a stand-in character.

Party extras

Once your mystery is ready, your order page adds extras for the night. None of them holds up the game.

  • A morning-after newspaper you can print, in the style of your theme. Guests appear by first name and persona title, and only if they agreed to print. A second edition with the culprit headline opens after the case is closed.
  • A dedication line that the introduction reads, and a 60 second toast read in the narrator’s voice.
  • Three group awards written from your inside jokes and your guests’ tall tales, which you accept, and which appear in the voting screen.
  • A party kit with decoration, food and game night ideas for your theme, a suggested playlist and the intro track.
  • A cast yearbook once the case is solved. You and your guests see each guest who agreed to print, with their awards and the reveal. A public yearbook page on the share link shows only the hero, the title, the date and the culprit headline, with no guests or photos.
  • A share link with three pictures of your hero (square, story and landscape) carrying the title, the game date and the Mission Masters logo. Turn the link off any time. Turning it off ends it, and turning it on again makes a new address.
  • Printable placards for each seat (suspects read SUSPECT, detectives read DETECTIVE) and a cast keepsake. A name or a face is printed only for a guest who agreed to print, and never an answer.

Gifts, free mysteries and company nights

  • A gift is a certificate for one Custom Whodunit. The person who claims it becomes the host. A discount code can never make a gift free.
  • Mission Masters sometimes gives a Custom Whodunit away. It arrives as a free gift with a claim link and works like any other.
  • Companies book it through the corporate quote and payment link: one table or two, up to 20 guests a table, and never more than two tables in a booking. Each table is its own mystery in the buyer’s account. Corporate mysteries start with a coworkers tone and love stories off.

Run the night

When your order says it is ready, the night runs like any Murder Mystery.

  1. Step 1: Open the lobby

    Open it from your order page or My Games. Guests open their link in a browser or join in the app, and wait there, and you see who is still missing.

  2. Step 2: Decide on a big screen

    Putting the clue board on a TV or computer is optional. Say yes to pair one, or continue with just phones. Either way works.

    Read the TV help page

  3. Step 3: Press Start Game and run the rounds

    The detective welcomes everyone and you launch Round 1. Each round hands out new clues, and your guests’ own facts show up in the story. Everyone talks, questions each other, and bluffs.

  4. Step 4: Take the accusation and close the case

    Everyone names a suspect, and the reveal names the culprit. There are no points. Everyone who names the culprit wins. Tap Create my memory video afterward to keep the night.

For your guests

You were invited to a mystery written about your group, and you are in it. You need a phone or a laptop with a web browser. You do not need an app or a password.

  1. Step 1: Open your link and say yes

    Your invitation has a personal link. Open it, then say I’m in, or I can’t make it. Your answers are saved, so you can stop and finish on another device.

  2. Step 2: Build your alter ego

    A narrator walks you through it, one question per page, and the words are always on screen. Pick a career, how good or bad you are, a secret skill, a rumor, a look, and a catchphrase. Then meet your alter ego, and shuffle the title or change an answer until it feels right.

  3. Step 3: Share a few true facts and two tall tales

    Each page tells you where your answer will show up. Write about you, not about anyone else, and nothing you would not want read aloud. Your answers are checked as you send them, and if one does not pass, you can rewrite it.

  4. Step 4: Choose how much to share

    Alter egos are for guests who are 18 or older, and everyone else plays a ready-made character. Guest photos are not available yet: your page says so, nothing is stored, and you play with a ready-made illustrated portrait. You can still say no thanks to anything you do not want to share.

  5. Step 5: Join on the night

    Open your link, wait in the lobby, and the host starts the game. Suspects hold their own secrets and bluff. Detectives look for the lies.

Questions people ask

  • Do I need an app? No. Guests can play in the Mission Masters app or in a web browser on their phone or laptop.
  • Do I need a password? No. Your invitation link gets you in. If you are asked to sign in on another device, use the email address the host invited.
  • What if I miss the deadline? You can still reply and play. You take the character the story already has for your seat, without an alter ego of your own.
  • Can I reply late, even on the night? Yes. Open your link and say yes.
  • What if a guest says no? A declined seat is played by a stand-in character, so nobody is left out and the story still works.
  • Can I turn off love stories? Yes. The host chooses whether they appear, and affairs never do.
  • Can I get a refund or cancel? You get a full refund before we start writing. After that, a refund only if we cannot deliver a playable game by the start time. There is no refund after the game is played. Contact support to cancel.
  • Is it a gift? You can buy it as a gift on the website. The person who opens the gift becomes the host and answers the setup questions.
  • Can I add my own photo? Not yet. Guest photos are not available, so every guest plays with a ready-made illustrated portrait, and no photo is stored.
  • Do guests get two invitations? Yes. The standard invitation comes when you finish setup, and the custom invitation comes when you press Send. The second one says it follows the first.
  • Can I keep it a surprise? Yes. Turn on surprise mode in setup and pick when the guest of honor finds out.
  • Is the yearbook public? The share link’s yearbook page shows only the hero, title, date and the culprit headline. The full cast yearbook is for you and your seated guests.

Keep going

Ready for a mystery about your group?

Order it for your own game night, or give it to someone who has everything but a good story.

See the Custom WhodunitContact support