The Food is to Die For

The Food is to Die For is a murder mystery game for 12 to 15 guests and a host. It is set in an up-market restaurant. Download the free introductory pdf file.

The Food is to Die For is a thrilling evening of delicious food, scandals started and revealed, and 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 The Food is to Die For?

See stories and pictures from The Food is to Die For.

Read the Herald's Lifestyle Section.

At The Food is to Die For, Pierre Baudelaire's restaurant changes names faster than playboys change girlfriends. Nobody cares though, because the man's a genius and makes food that is absolutely to die for. Everyone just called the restaurant "That place at the end of Maple" for years, until Pierre decided the joke was hilarious and changed the restaurant's name, formally, to At the End of Maple.

Whatever the name, this is THE restaurant in town – where anyone who's anyone is seen dining. Celebrities, politicians, philanthropists, and foodies, all wait and wait for the chance to get a table. Tonight is a special night – C.J. Charles, the most discerning and respected restaurant critic in the business, is dining here and will write a review.

Most of the staff came in at 10 this morning to make sure all the preparations were in order and took a break between 2 and 6 pm, in time for the dinner service to start.

When they arrive though, Pierre is sprawled on the floor of his kitchen, in a puddle of beet soup and blood. Pierre was a gifted chef, but he made enemies. Who hated him enough to kill?

The Food is to Die For 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.

 

Includes rules for combat.

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Herald's Lifestyle Section.

Cast of characters

Kitchen Staff

• Alex Norman: Co-owner of At the End of Maple
• Chris Armstrong: Co-owner of At the End of Maple
• Brianne Fox: Sous-chef
• Evelyn Maxwell: Sous-chef

Wait Staff

• Taylor Weddington: The maître d'
• Gerald von Rubenstein: The wine steward
• Julianna Dixon: The bartender
• Mike Young: A server
• Tess Pickering: A server

Guests

• C.J. Charles: A respected restaurant reviewer
• Adrian Charles: C.J.'s brother, an actor
• Hailey Hudson: A celebrity actress, Hannah's twin sister
• Hannah Hudson: A celebrity actress, Hailey's twin sister
• Billie Adams: A local beat cop investigating the murder
• Natasha Petrov: At the End of Maple's truffle dealer

The Food is to Die For is for 12 to 15 guests:

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

You also need a host – someone to organize the party and ensure everything runs smoothly.

How Freeform Games murder mystery games work

The Food is to Die For 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, The Food is to Die For contains plenty of other plots and secrets to keep everyone busy. The Food is to Die For isn't scripted, and lets the players decide how to achieve their goals and thwart their enemies.

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer and welcomed to At the End of Maple.

They then receive their detailed backgrounds – including dark secrets, objectives, and money. The fun then begins as they form alliances, blackmail each other, steal items, and maybe even try to murder one another! Along the way they may uncover some of the mysteries of The Food is to Die For. Who is working for the Mob? Who is here under a false identity? Who is stealing wine, and who is defrauding the restaurant accounts? And, of course, who killed Pierre Baudelaire?

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

Recommended for ages 15+

We recommend The Food is to Die For for those aged 15+, as it contains references to a romantic affair between unmarried people.

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 – freelance reporter in search of the big story. (Any)
  (by Freeform Games)
• K.C. Warburton – internationally acclaimed artist. (Any)
  (by Brandon Lloyd Hicks, based on Steph Mann's original)
• Lennon West and Sterling Bardot – A businessperson, and their friend. (But are they, really?) (Any)
  (by Ethan Ball)
• Mary Williams – famous mystery author (F)
  (by Allison Amoaye)

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 The Food is to Die For 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.