Christmas Reunion with Death

Christmas Reunion with Death is a murder mystery game for 6 to 9 people where the host can play too. It is set at a Christmastime high-school reunion in small-town America, in the present day. Download the free introductory pdf file.

Christmas Reunion with Death is an evening of high-school grudges, present-day rivalries, and Christmas murder! Your guests will be in the middle of the action, and it will be up to them to wheel and deal to get what they want. Will they achieve their goals, keep their secrets hidden, and survive Christmas Reunion with Death?

Christmas Reunion with Death comes bundled with Reunion with Death – it's the same game, but without the Christmas theme, so it can be used at any time of year!

"I thought everything about Reunion with Death was great! The interwoven storylines were good, I liked the clues and the slow release of information throughout the evening."
Cerys

See stories and pictures from Reunion with Death (the non-seasonal version of the game)

Read the Holborrow Courier-Bugle.

It's Christmas, in smallish-town America – and Holborrow High is staging its 15-year school reunion. Former students are gathering in the town's main hotel, ahead of the big festive party tonight. But one of them, former prom queen Mikolette Lukanis, has been found murdered!

Everyone is locked in together in the hotel ballroom where the gala was to have taken place, pending a full police investigation. High-school rivalries will re-emerge, old grudges and secrets will surface: along with a heady mix of present-day envy, betrayal, and holiday-season lust.

Get out your glad rags and Santa hat, consult your old high-school yearbook, head for some eggnog at the complementary bar, and join the alumni of Holborrow High as they prepare for their Christmas Reunion with Death!

Christmas Reunion with Death lasts for about four hours and is suited to an evening. It is often played over a meal – a finger buffet if possible, to allow guests to circulate and talk in private.

"I have hosted at least 8 in-person Freeform Games murder mystery parties, so I was excited to do a virtual one for once!… Reunion with Death was SO fun! Everyone had a great time, and is still talking to me and each other about it!… Overall, I am VERY satisfied, and they all keep asking me when the next one will be!"
Rob Newbold, United States

One of our more straightforward murder mystery games, suitable for beginner hosts.

No combat, no poison.

The host can either play one of the characters or can just be the host, as they prefer.

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Holborrow Courier-Bugle.

Cast of characters

Locals, living in Holborrow

• Elizabeth Rondel: Former library monitor, now a police officer.
• Frieda Gilbert: Former ‘nice girl’, now a beautician.
• Ross Tallowah: Former swim team star, now runs a cafe.
• Suzanne Cardigan: Former goth outsider, now a journalist.
• Taylor Michaels: Former science whiz, now cares for elderly parents.

Returned from out-of-town

• Charles Masinga: Former high-school-band member, now a professional musician.
• Damian Lukanis: Former chess club captain, married to Mikolette Lukanis, now an architect.
• Jay Fitzgerald: Dropped out of high school, now a software developer.
• Rowan Silverberg: Former grade-A student, inherited money and now a dilettante.

Reunion with Death is for 6 to 9 players:

• 6 players (2 male, 2 female, 2 any)
• 7 players (2 male, 2 female, 3 any)
• 8 players (3 male, 3 female, 2 any)
• 9 players (3 male, 3 female, 3 any)

You also need a host – someone to organize the party and ensure everything runs smoothly. That can be a separate person – or the host can also play one of the characters in the game. It's up to you.

How Freeform Games murder mystery games work

Christmas Reunion with Death is unlike other murder mystery games. Although the game starts with a murder, each character has several goals they must try to accomplish. While they may want to solve the murder, Christmas Reunion with Death contains plenty of other plots and secrets to keep everyone busy. Christmas Reunion with Death isn't scripted, and lets the players decide how to achieve their goals and thwart their enemies.

"We've played Reunion with Death twice – I hosted for some of our regulars and for my daughter and her friends (800 miles north of us). It was well received by both groups."
Mark Rickert, United States

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Hotel Manager, and welcomed to the Sturner Palace Hotel.

They each have their detailed backgrounds – including dark secrets and personal objectives. The fun then begins as they form alliances, blackmail each other, lie, cheat, and deceive! Along the way they may uncover some of the mysteries of Christmas Reunion with Death. Who is secretly a drug kingpin? How, fifteen years ago, did high-school girl Marcie Matthews die? What will be the fate of local radio station KHOL? And, of course, who is the murderer of Mikolette Lukanis?

Finally, the game concludes and everyone finds out how they did, and what secrets everyone else was concealing.

And the host can play too! Unlike most of our other games, the host can also play a character in Christmas Reunion with Death. Just be careful not to read the file that's marked as secret, if you plan to do that. (Or if you want to just host the game, without playing a character, you can do that as well.)

Recommended for ages 18+

We recommend Christmas Reunion with Death for those aged 18+, as it includes references to drug use, extra-marital affairs, and homosexuality.

Extra characters

Sometimes you have too many guests and need more characters. So most games have free extra characters (written by us or previous hosts) included in the download when you purchase the game.

• Parker Biggins – tobacco shop owner from a nearby town (Any)
  (by John Mulheren)

Please note that we haven't always tested these – and they may not tie in exactly with our games.

"Thank you for a great site, fantastic games, good service and very quick reply. Keep up the good work." Ole Martin Brodwall, Norway

Cast Iron Guarantee

We offer a Cast Iron Guarantee on all our murder mystery games. If you're not completely satisfied with Christmas Reunion with Death then please let us know within 30 days and we will refund you. See our full terms and conditions, and our refund policy.

Trouble downloading? If you have trouble downloading the game files, please first check your spam folder. If you still can't find the download email, contact us with the name of the game and the email address you used to purchase it, and we'll resend it.