New Release: Working the Case, 30min Murder Mystery Game
Working the Case is a 30-minute cooperative mystery game with fantasy, space station, and cyberpunk playsets...
Working the Case, designed by Randy Lubin of Diegetic Games, is now available for purchase. It's a 30-minute cooperative murder mystery game that's playable online via Playingcards.io. Buy it now for $10 USD: https://randylubin.itch.io/working-the-case
About the Game
Key Info
- Time: 30-60 minutes
- Player count: 1-5 players, no facilitator
- Themes: murder, mystery
- Playsets: fantasy, space station, cyberpunk
- Style: writers room
- Price: $10 USD
- Community copies available
Play Overview
In Working the Case, players collaboratively tell a murder mystery story from the perspective of investigators who are working to solve the case. They start by quickly establishing the setting, victim, and crime scene. Then, they dive into the core of the game: revealing one piece of evidence at a time and linking it to one of five suspects. At the end of each round, they eliminate a suspect until only one remains. Finally, they confront the culprit and determine if justice is served.
The case details and culprit are not determined in advance. Players tell the story such that any of the suspects could be the murderer and then find out the truth at the end of the game.
The game comes with three different playsets: Fantasy, Space Station, and Cyberpunk. Each playset contains unique Character and Motive cards, suited for its genre.
Working the Case is perfect for mystery lovers and its simple rules make it an approachable game for novice storytellers. It's short playtime (less than an hour) allow it to easily slot into a busy schedule – play it over lunch or during date night.
Listen to an actual play of Working the Case on the Party of One Podcast, where Randy and Jeff Stormer investigate a murder on a luxurious vacation space station.
The full rules of the game are available in this rules document.
About the Designer
Working the Case is designed by Randy Lubin of Diegetic Games. Randy Lubin makes beginner friendly tabletop storytelling games and larps through his studio Diegetic Games. He also runs games consultancy Leveraged Play where he makes applied games about possible futures and and manages the Foresight Games community. Randy also maintains the free online storytelling game platform Storysynth.
