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Jazz Age Jeopardy – Free Edition
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Turn your party into a 1920’s jazz club with this FREE game kit.
During a night of Prohibition-era revelry, something goes terribly wrong.
Backstory
The guests are a mixed group of club staff members, entertainers, and guests at a private party held at a jazz club in 1920s New York City. It is the height of the Jazz Age, and social revolution is afoot. This is the age of Prohibition—and of bootleggers and gangsters. Club owner Felix Fontano, the son of a successful bootlegger and crime boss—and a successful businessman himself—is throwing this private party for a group of select friends. It is a night of revelry like many other nights of revelry enjoyed by this group of sophisticates, artists, and hoodlums . . . until things go horribly wrong.
This mystery is divided into two primary segments. During the first portion of the evening (Act One), the partygoers will have the opportunity to eat, drink, dance, and mingle, while enjoying the swanky atmosphere and smooth jazz of Fontano’s club, The Cat’s Meow.
Murder!
At the midpoint of the evening, one of the players makes a terrible discovery: someone has been murdered in the back supply room of the club!
Solving the Mystery
Act Two will begin with the grisly discovery of the victim’s bloody body. In the area around the body, there are signs of the struggle that occurred prior to the death. It will now be up to the guests to figure out what happened.
The guests quickly decide that the best course of action is not to call the police, but rather to conduct an investigation amongst themselves; at this point, all the guests are suspects; a formal police investigation would dredge up unsavory details of their pasts and expose them to public scandal and unwanted personal repercussions, not to mention the serious and immediate legal repercussions of being caught in a bootlegging establishment!
Jazz Age Jeopardy - Free Edition is suitable for 15 guests, plus the host or hostess. In this particular game, the host or hostess will play the role of the Narrator, who keeps the party on track and helps to advance the action. The available guests include:
Male Roles
* = Optional character
- Felix Fontano, Club Owner. Felix owns The Cat’s Meow Jazz Club. He is attractive and vain, the son of famous bootlegger Frank Fontano.
- Raymond Reynolds, Artist. Raymond is an old college buddy of Felix’s—an artist and something of a dilettante. He comes from old money.
- Jefferson Mitchell, Stockbroker. Jefferson is a successful stockbroker working on Wall Street.
- Edgar Fitzpatrick, Broadway Producer. Edgar is an up-and-coming Broadway director and producer.
- Roger Webster, Attorney. Roger is a money-hungry, ambulance-chasing attorney.
- Duke Carillo, Track Owner. Duke owns a horseracing track in New Jersey. He’s an old friend of the Fontano family.
- Poppy Gebhardt, Club Manager. Poppy manages the day-to-day affairs of the club with an iron fist.
- Calvin Carpenter, Bartender. Calvin is the bartender at the club. He’s cocky and presumptuous. A scoundrel with the ladies.
Female Roles
- Edith Fontano, Club Owner’s Wife. Edith is Felix’s wife. Enduring years of his infidelity has left her hardened and cynical.
- June Palmetto, Actress. June is a famous actress, a southern belle in the big city.
- Judy Jordan, Flapper. Judy Jordan is a popular young woman on the party circuit. She’s young, bubbly, and optimistic.
- Claudia Mitchell, Writer. Claudia is a well-known author and the wife of stockbroker Jefferson Mitchell.
- Gloria Call, Singer. Gloria is a jazz singer hired to perform this evening.
Male or Female Roles
- Win Wallace, Accountant. Win is the accountant for many of the guests. S/he’s reserved but knowledgeable.
- Elliot Nash, Jazz Pianist. Elliot is a talented jazz pianist who often performs at the club. S/he is cool, calm, and collected.
What's Included
Party Package Features
Jazz Age Jeopardy – Free Edition is a 119-page downloadable PDF file that you print at home. It includes the following features:
- An introduction that explains the basic principles of running a mystery-party and special tips to help make your party exciting, memorable, and easy to run
- Step-by-step instructions on how to prepare for your party
- A detailed party guidebook that will walk you through the event in a simple, easy-to-understand format
- Character sheets for each player – the character sheets include tips on costuming and role-playing, as well as special goals and information unique to each character
- 7 illustrated clue cards the players can use to solve the mystery
- Voting sheets
Looking for More?
The Full Edition also includes:
- Fully customizable invitations, complete with RSVP cards and guest lists
- Customizable awards for your guests
- Nametags
- Special handouts for your guests offering a detailed overview of 1920s costuming and slang
- Specific tips on props, menu items, sound effects, and casino games
- A separate “Customizable Documents” file that includes all of the invitations and awards in an editable format
- Step-by-step printing instructions
- A lengthy MP3 audio effects clip for use with your party
- Instructions on how to use this clip to best effect
If you're interested in these extra features, download the full version here: www.playingwithmurder.com/jazz-age-jeopardy
Mary gee –
Headline Nice party
Nickname jane
The game was pretty interesting
Deb –
Headline "Rip Roaring Good Time"
Nickname Kitty
Menu Highlights Ribs, meatballs,corn on the cob,cole slaw. Mixed nuts and because this was a birthday party for five, multiple cakes and ice cream.
Theme Highlights Lighting, Cats Meow signs, dark curtains, 1920 music
Such a great time! Everyone played along and got into character. This group has no problem calling each other out on all the clues and misdirects so fun was had by all!
Adriel Barnard –
Headline A roaring good time!
Nickname Adriel
Menu Highlights Tea sandwiches, chicken strips, chips and dip, popcorn, deviled eggs, veg sticks and dip, bread strips and dip, grapes, pineapple strips,
Theme Highlights 1920s Playlist, typewriter and old liquor bottles on display, themed digital invites, costuming
We had a ball. I was the host, and chose the characters for the guests and sent them their character info to their phone to save on printing (and help them not lose it during the evening).
The guests playing all figured out the murderer pretty easily, though, but, it did help that the murderer didn’t know who he was until Act 2. I’ve played other murder mysteries, and once the whole game was spoiled by the player playing the murderer not lying properly and giving himself away. So this structure worked exceptionally well. The instructions were easy to follow, and I used some designing skills to design my own invite, name tags and award certificates. In the end, I don’t even think the certificates were necessary – announcing the winners and the murderer’s etc would be enough. All the guests invited had a good time – even the more introverted. Each person brought finger food to share, and we had a drinks bar set up where the bar tender could help people, and had ice cream for dessert during the intermission. I thought afterwards that it would’ve been fun to have all the guest use a password to allow them in, to really get into the prohibition club feel.
Mark –
Headline An Amazing and Fun Evening
Nickname Flapper Jack
Menu Highlights Steak and potatoes. And drinks of all sorts of course.
Theme Highlights Decorated like a 1920s bar. Everyone dressed up which really helped.
What an amazing murder mystery. It included everything that was needed. It couldn’t have been easier. Our guests had a blast. They’re still talking about it. Such a great experience. The materials helped everyone get into character. It was the best.
lacybeaute –
Headline Super fun!
Nickname lacybeaute
Menu Highlights Sparkling
Theme Highlights Got 1920s the Great Gatsby theme decor and a lot of black and gold
The party was very engaging and fun for all characters, prep was not hard and everything is very straightforward!
Will be getting another one to play with my friends 🙂
Anita –
Headline very good
Nickname Anita
good
Roxy Carter –
Headline SO MUCH FUN
Nickname Roxy Carter
Birthday party, this was such a fun idea. It took some editing to perform online but it was an opportunity to have people from across the US join in.
Shikha –
Headline Online team event
Nickname Shikha
Thank you. I want to try some of the mysteries with the team members working virtually these days. Any suggestion and also can you please help with the right answer how to conclude the mysteries.
Elli –
Headline Cat's Meow confusing
Nickname Elli
It was fun! However, there was a part where the killer was meant to lie and others were supposed to call him out on it but no where was it said in any of the characters that this was a lie or fact. No one could call him out on it. So it made it very challenging and confusing.
jluglue –
Headline Fantastic Evening! Don't call the cops!
Nickname jluglue
Menu Highlights Sous vide beef roast, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes. Peanuts for snacks. Drinks included wine, whisky, mixed drinks... I don't recommend actual bathtub liquor.
Theme Highlights I upped the ante for the scavenger hunt by replacing evidence tokens with real objects, and added escape room elements/puzzles to move it beyond a simple scavenger hunt. This turned out to be a great move. Also, look up the group Postmodern Jukebox on Youtube. They essentially became my "live" band on my TV. Fantastic! I printed retro signs for "The Cat's Meow". Cat statues from dollar store or thrift store as table ornaments. Keep lighting dim, but visible. Red curtains, and brown furniture. Also, despite being recommended against, it is possible to be the narrator and still play 1 specific character (Poppy). It helps with the immersion and there are no "disembodied" voices calling for the next act.
Got a bunch of my friends for a different get-together, and murder mystery was the choice. Overall consensus was that characters and story were fairly well written and put together. The variety of characters allowed people with different levels of intro/extroversion to all be involved. Entire evening took about 5 hours. Overall, everyone had a lot of fun.
Kirsty –
Headline Absolutely Marvellous!!!
Nickname Kirsty
Menu Highlights Lots of cocktails and gin and tonics!
Theme Highlights We had lots of small tables facing a 'stage' area, put up a lot of speakeasy posters and 1920's art, had loud original 20's music playing, and we staged the murder in our basement which is suitably creepy!
My friends and I played this and absolutely loved it! I can’t believe its free, to be honest, as you get so much information and the characters and storyline are really well thought out. Everyone had a lot of fun getting into character, and they all interacted with each other perfectly thanks to the character prompts. Honestly, it was brilliant – a very, very good choice for your party!
Cheryl –
Headline doesn't fit
Nickname Cheryl
Party has not been given yet,