Cover to Dazzled to Death, a murder mystery game.

Dazzled to Death

(23 customer reviews)

$39.99

Dazzled to Death is a downloadable 1948 murder mystery game for 12 to 15 guests and a host. Blackmail, theft and betrayal a glittering Massachusetts cocktail party. This includes, free of charge, a Christmas version of the game. Written by Tracy Bose. Recommended for ages 15+.

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Dazzled to Death is a murder mystery game for 12 to 15 guests and a host. It is set at a high-society family party, in 1948 Massachusetts. Download the free introductory pdf file.

Dazzled to Death is an innocent family gathering, with a few friends and strangers added to make the party go with a swing. However, not everyone is as they seem – some have dark secrets they need to keep hidden... and someone is the killer! 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 Dazzled to Death?

Dazzled to Death comes bundled with The Night before Christmas – it's the same game, but with a Christmas theme, ideal for holiday season parties!

"The Night before Christmas was a terrific party. The story line was sophisticated enough to engage everyone but not so complicated that we didn't all get into it. My family had a blast and wanted to do it again the very next day (not practical). I'm sure we will be doing other events of this type in the future when we can get everyone together. Good fun was had by all."
Nancy Wakeman, United States

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See stories and pictures from Dazzled to Death

Read the Boston Times

It is 1948. The socialite Evington-Browne family ("E-B" to their friends) and guests are preparing for their annual cocktail party, held by tradition at the family's hunting lodge in the White Mountains north of Boston. A fierce storm has now set in, and the party finds itself cut off from the rest of the world. This is unfortunate, as the valet of one of the guests has been found dead in the kitchen! It looks like a heart attack – but is it murder? Can you achieve your goals, keep your secrets hidden and survive Dazzled to Death? It's up to you.

In Dazzled to Death you will discover the following:

  • Who has been wearing a mask to sneak around?
  • Who will inherit the Dazzling Diamonds?
  • Would the infamous cat-burglar 'the Puma' dare to strike here?
  • Are the Evington-Browne family in danger of losing their money, their reputation in society and their sanity?
  • Can anyone keep control of Tracy's pet monkey?
  • ... and, of course, who killed the valet?

Find out in Dazzled to Death!

Dazzled to 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.

"Dazzled to Death was brilliant! I had a variety of different friends over, and they all enjoyed getting into character and attempting to solve the mystery! "
Emily , New Zealand

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

Includes rules for the use of poison.
Includes rules for the use of poison.

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Boston Times.

Cast of characters

  • John Evington-Browne III: Respected businessman and head of the family.
  • Rose Evington-Browne: John’s much-loved wife.
  • Patrick Evington-Browne: John and Rose’s studious 20-year-old son.
  • Evie Evington-Browne: John and Rose’s willful 21-year-old daughter.
  • Tracy Evington-Browne: John and Rose’s mischievous 16-year-old daughter.
  • Priscilla Evington-Browne: John’s elderly and often forgetful aunt.
  • Agatha ‘Aggie’ Marbles: Priscilla’s elderly English friend and allegedly famed detective.
  • James Pemberton: Rose’s brother. Art dealer and traveler.
  • Charles Pemberton: James’s son, currently a student at Harvard.
  • Dr. Bruisyard: Retired family doctor and friend.
  • Miles Earnshaw: Unexpected guest, friend from Rose’s youth.
  • Reggie Haven: Young socialite friend of Evie’s.
  • Christy Crompton: Student friend of Patrick’s.
  • Soames: Butler/Housekeeper.
  • Dinah Peters: Cook (temporary stand-in for usual cook).

Dazzled to Death is for 12 to 15 players:

  • 12 players (4 male, 6 female, 2 any)
  • 13 players (5 male, 6 female, 2 any)
  • 14 players (5 male, 6 female, 3 any)
  • 15 players (5 male, 6 female, 4 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

Dazzled to 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, Dazzled to Death contains plenty of other plots and secrets to keep everyone busy. Dazzled to Death isn't scripted, and lets the players decide how to achieve their goals and thwart their enemies.

"Thank you so much for letting me download the new files and the extra characters. The Dazzled to Death party was a huge success, everyone enjoyed it and the two extra characters fitted in seamlessly!
People are already talking about which game we should buy to play next – except this time someone else can host, so that I can try my hand at detective!"
Hayley van den Bergh, New Zealand

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Waiter, and welcomed to the party.

They then receive their detailed backgrounds – including dark secrets, goals, and items. The fun then begins as players form alliances, blackmail each other, steal items and maybe even resort to murder!

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

Recommended for ages 15+

We recommend Dazzled to Death for those aged 15+, as it refers to a child born out of wedlock, although this is handled delicately.

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.

  • 'Ginger' Roberts and Jules Cameron – freelance reporter and event photographer. (Any)
    (by Freeform Games and Larry Weixel)
  • Angelique Gemini – Priscilla Evington-Browne's paid companion. (F)
    (by Michele Scott)
  • Beryl Sutton – Rose Evington-Browne's cousin. (F)
    (by Jenni Malloch)
  • K.C. Warburton – internationallyacclaimed artist. (Any)
    (by Steph Mann)
  • Mephisto Lustig – Harvard friend of Charles Evington-Browne. (M)
    (by Michele Scott)
  • Reverend Maxwell Reagan – pastor of the First Church of Boston (M)
    (by Larry Weixel)

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

IMPORTANT – you shouldn’t add too many of these characters in to your game as they haven’t been designed to work together (unlike the main game characters). If you add in several, they may make your game chaotic and incoherent. You should probably instead choose a larger game. If you still want to add several extra characters (four or more), we recommend having an extra host to help.

"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 Dazzled to 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.

23 reviews for Dazzled to Death

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    Anonymous (verified owner) –

    This game was just what I was looking for! I had previously done a murder mystery party that fell flat. No one guessed the murderer correctly, and there wasn’t much to do. I loved that this game incorporated several different side stories/objectives that kept everyone entertained the entire time. While we still didn’t have a correct guess on the murderer, many of the other goals were accomplished. 10/10, would recommend. The only confusing part was whether this was supposed to be a masquerade. There was mention of it, but then it didn’t really come up again.

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    Joshua –

    This was a great game! It was our first one and a great time. Everyone enjoyed and we had a blast.

    Only comments:
    1) Prep time was a lot. A few hours for printing and stuffing at least. I made the mistake of not doing it sooner than the day before.

    2) It was everyone’s first time, and it was a bit confusing for many people at the beginning. They picked it up soon thought.

    3) There is A LOT for the host to remember, and at times it seems like a bit much.

    4) The open ended nature was fun, but was a bit confusing for some.

    Overall, it was a blast. Will definitely try to do another!

    Image #1 from Joshua
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    Shannon –

    I hosted this at my friend group’s reunion and it was a huge hit! People loved that it was detailed and got very into their characters. I spent a long time on casting, which I think paid off.

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    Matthew Grindrod –

    It was a lot of fun and I’d absolutely recommend it!

    It took time for people to get into the swing of things, but everyone really enjoyed it when things got going!

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    Christina C. –

    So much fun! We played with 15 players plus the Waiter and people are still talking about it! I loved how there were different plots and everyone was engaged in their own story. A+ and will definitely be buying another!

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    Agos B. –

    Dazzled to Death was the perfect game for the perfect evening! Everyone was 100% in character, investigating and murdering each other. We had a wonderful time! We played this with my friends, ranging from 14–16 years old, and with enough organization and explanation we played it perfectly! It was surprising just how much they enjoyed it! No one had ever played a murder mystery game before except for me, and now they’re all asking me when the next one will be. Thank you so much for making this possible!

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    Jonathan Jamieson –

    My oldest daughter’s high school cancelled its ‘girl ask guy’ dance this spring due to COVID. We decided to scale it down and privately hosted a murder mystery dinner party. Dazzled to Death was a great game. We had 12 players and they all loved it. None of them had played a murder mystery before, but I had done several. By far, this was the most fun version of the genre that I have ever seen.
    The game was well paced and full of intrigue. I would recommend the game to anyone who is adventurous enough to try it. Lots of fun.

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    Tyler Walker –

    Our family is usually pretty stuffy, even when it comes to family functions. We like to have fun, but not necessarily get out of our comfort zone. When someone suggested we do a mystery dinner (Dazzled to Death) instead of our traditional costume party for Halloween, we weren’t really sure how it would turn out, but everyone got into it and we all had a great time. We are planning to do another mystery game this October.

    Image #1 from Tyler Walker
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    Ross –

    I just played Dazzled to Death last night, and now I’m on here looking for more. I’ve played a number of other murder mystery evenings and always got tired with the scripted format – I just wanted to be let loose to find things out for myself!
    Well, this certainly delivered. There was intrigue, attempted poisonings, constant uncertainty of who was telling the truth, and I loved it. We all got so into our roles that we spent a good hour discussing the events of the evening after we’d finished, and are still realising more as we discuss it today.
    All I have to do now is work out when we can play our next game!

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    Peter and Heather Grusauskas –

    Just to let you know that we had the Dazzled to Death party on Saturday last and it went exceptionally well. Our guests dressed for the occasion and were at their devious best to discover who the murderer was and who was having it away with whom. Their pleasure is evidenced by the e-mail and sms chatter talking (mainly in character) about how things went. The notes, props and character notes were ideal and worked brilliantly. Even a couple of (very) shy guests warmed up and got into the spirit of things. When time came to wrap up, people were amazed at the time (10:30pm) and wondered where the evening went.
         Our logistics were that I was the waiter and essentially served the meal and drinks through the evening, adjudicating as we went along. We tried to call a halt for the meal, but that break lasted about 10 minutes and then they were into character again. The players didn’t want to stop for the meal such was their involvement – lucky we planned a buffet-type meal that was easy to walk around and serve.
         Anyway, once again, thanks very much and we look forward to planning another one in the not-too-distant future.

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    Caz Glitherow –

    Can I just say… I ran Dazzled to Death on Saturday night and it was fab! We had such a giggle all the women dressed as men was hilarious! One lady said she has done 3 before but this was the best by far! I have spread the word and the fantastic price.

    Image #1 from Caz Glitherow
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    Tara Marshall-Tierney –

    I held Dazzled to Death for my 15th birthday years ago and have only got round to writing about it 3 years later looking for another one to do! Unanimously agreed as one of the best parties ever. The set up of not having a script was fantastic and allowed us to really become our characters. Nobody ever came out of their roles! We shortened the break in the middle because everyone was too eager to deal with all their duties… fantastic too how many seperate stories were going on – and we all got so involved in our own stories and instead of feeling stressed/sad/excited/scared for our characters, we genuinely were stressed, sad, excited and scared because they were us!
         The freedom we had to turn the story our own way was really fun too, and a lot of unexpected turns occured such as one couple planning to marry (never suggested in the script) and the death of a completely unexpected character (never suggested but a clever tactic to distract everyone). This story is really exciting and so good for that age range – I would recommend it to anyone! Three years later it’s still talked about and everyone asks me all the time to have another and it was so much fun I’m thinking of throwing them another treat 🙂
         Thank you Freeform Games for creating such a fantastic game – we thoroughly enjoyed it and are eager for more!

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    A Customer –

    We would definitely like to try more, and our guests agreed that Dazzled to Death was great fun.

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    Thomas Halliday –

    We played Dazzled to Death recently and had a great time. Everyone was really involved and enjoyed themselves (with varying levels of success in the actual game). Everyone was dressed up and there were even some American accents being maintained throughout the night! A wonderful product, and I will certainly be buying more in the near future.

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    A Customer –

    Dazzled to Death was wonderful! We all had so much fun!

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    Carrie Edwards –

    Dazzled to Death was the first time I’ve run a murder mystery game, I followed your instructions closely and everything went really smoothly, so I wouldn’t change anything.
    There’s no need for the host to panic when they read all the info and character profiles. It feels like there’s too much info to take in and remember on the night, but in reality the game runs itself once all the guests know their characters, it’s brilliant, quite magical!
         It was nice to have an excuse to get the girls to glam up with diamonds etc, and get the boys to dress up too. It was really fun to assign characters, they seemed to fit my group of friends really well. It was very funny to choose the fathers and sons! We also decorated our house and found we could think of decorations to suit the theme. I would really recommend making the props ie the diamonds and paintings, it really added to the fun.
         I was really amazed how involved in the game my friends became. I was a little sceptical at first because I thought it was going to be too complicated, but the evening ran really smoothly and it was very satisfying to see all the plot lines unfold. It bought out lots of mischievousness in my friends! Not everyone guessed the murderer, so it was a great reveal at the end too.
         Thanks for a great evening, for the level of fun we had the game was a real bargain!

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    Anne Gregory –

    We just played the game Dazzled to Death and what a blast! Everyone came fully costumed and fully prepared for an evening of murder and intrigue.

    With great food, good music, fake candles and an inflatable moose head, my apartment was totally transformed into a hunting lodge! Thanks guys!

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    Gemma –

    I did Dazzled to Death for my 14th birthday party and everyone loved it! It was really cool having lots of goals and secrets and everyone got really into it!! This mystery is really fun… full of puzzles, suspense and lots of scandalous secrets!! I highly recommend it – and it is appropriate for early teens onwards (we had a 10/11yr old playing too)! Thank you so much for making these games… they are really creative and extremely exciting! Everyone has a major part! It was the best birthday party I’ve done!

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    Nick Eccles –

    Hi everyone! Just wanted to tell you how great last night was. We put on Dazzled To Death (the first Murder Mystery I’ve ever hosted!) and it was fantastic! Everyone said how much they loved it and it was a huge success. At first my guests didn’t know what was going on but they soon got into the swing of things! We made photographs to hang on the wall, family tree, family portrait and a lovely buffet. It seems as though the general consensus is to do one again but everyone wants me to do one sooner rather than later! So who knows I might be writing to you again around Christmas & New Year with the next story! I highly recommend to people to give Dazzled To Death a go because it was excellent! Thanks a lot Freeform Games! Nick aka The Waiter!

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    Ana Riva –

    It was difficult to decide what to do for New Year’s Eve. We were 4 families from different countries. Range age from 12 years old to 65 year old. I had to host the dinner for our friends but they hardly knew each other. It was a great choice to do Dazzled to Death. Everybody had a great time; we had not much time to prepare any elaborate costumes, especially the families visiting. But they were all into their parts. Even when we took a break for dinner, they could not stop talking about it. My soon who is 12 was the winner of all prizes — he was Reggie, and played wonderfully. I would love to write all the details but it will take me forever, there were so many great moments that I only want to thank you for a great game. I only regret that you do not have them in Spanish, I would like to do some more for my Mexican friends.

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    Vicky MacCallum –

    Brilliant – thanks so much! We played Dazzled to Death last weekend, and it was a real success – none of us had ever played one before, but people got really into character, and everyone enjoyed it hugely.

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    Sophie –

    I LOVED it! I had Dazzled to Death for my 15th birthday party, and though we were nonchalant at the beginning we had a ball! It was such a successful night full of betrayal, murder and suspense! My friends are all begging me to host one next year!!!

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    Cathy McConaghy –

    Just a quick note to say that we had a wonderful time playing our murder mystery party! All our friends fully immersed themselves in the atmosphere, the character and the costumes! A fantastic and memorable night was had by all, we are so looking forward to doing Dazzled to Death and will report back with the results…! I would highly recommend anyone considering buying a Murder Mystery to do it! They are so much fun, everyone joins in regardless of how shy you think they are and you can unearth some very interesting character traits!

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A list of what items each character gets would be helpful for the host. It is not included in the instructions. Hannah asked on 10 November 2024

Hi Hannah, you should find a list of which item each character gets on pages 9 and 10 of the instructions (dtd_01_instructions). If your copy of the document is missing those pages, please do email us and we will send you a fresh version of the file.

 Freeform Games answered on 11 November 2024 store manager
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How long does it last? Leni asked on 9 November 2024

Hi Leni, thank you for your interest in Dazzled to Death! We suggest allowing 3.5 to 4 hours in total, for the game. Out of that, 2.5 hours is the actual playing time, and the rest is for briefing, explaining the solution, and so on. The game is quite flexible in structure, though, so it will still work fine with an hour more or an hour less, if that's the time that you have available.

 Freeform Games answered on 11 November 2024 store manager
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What is the point of the telegram for Rose? I don't see how it affects the story line. Aaron asked on 25 October 2024

Hi Aaron, thank you for this question!
You'll understand that we can't answer it publicly here on the website, as it concerns a secret of the game's storyline. We will email you with the explanation.

 Freeform Games answered on 25 October 2024 store manager
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