Lei'd to Rest – a present-day murder mystery party game with a Hawaiian setting for 6 to 22 guests

"Lei'd to Rest was a really great time. I love the flexibility for the game to go in so many directions. I think after each game, guests have started to realize the freedom and come up with stuff they can do that isn't necessarily on their sheet or in their items. "
Stephanie Wagner, United States

Recommended for ages 15+
Costs US$29.99
Written by DeAnna Knippling

Click here to buy the game

Lei'd to Rest is a dinner party murder mystery game for 6 to 22 guests and a host – download the free introductory pdf file.

This game is a bit more complex than some of our others. If you've not hosted one of our games before, you might want to allocate a bit longer to prepare for it and to read through how it's going to work.

Join us in a thrilling evening of sun, sand, legend, lies, treachery and murder. You will be in the middle of the action and it will be up to you to wheel and deal with the other guests. Can you achieve your goals, keep your secrets hidden and survive Lei'd to Rest? It's up to you.

Lei'd to Rest

It's the present day on the island of Hawaii. The local culture, exotic and isolated for centuries, is being eroded by the constant stream of tourists flooding through the airports. All sorts of people rub shoulders at the resorts. Most of them are innocent travellers, but some of them have ulterior motives.

Lokuhai Beach is a small, isolated beach in the loneliest part of Harmony Cove. The beach itself is owned by Harmony Cove Resort, about a half-hour drive through rocky, mountainous countryside. Advertised as the "Last Real Hawaiian Beach", it's gorgeous. Birds of Paradise call to each other past the vibrant orchids -- you could make your own lei in minutes -- and jewel-toned lizards beg for table scraps. The music of the forest harmonizes with a nearby waterfall, cascading down the side of a steep hill through pools and sparkling in the sunset as it runs into the cove.

The luau started badly... the bus broke down on the way to the beach, and everyone had to walk the last fifteen minutes. Everyone's cell phones seem to be unable to reach out of the mountains to the resort (or anywhere else), and the driver has been unable to get the bus running again. One of the guests, Joe Markham, has been trying to help get it started...

See stories and pictures
from Lei'd to Rest Read the
Legend of the Red Goddess

Lei'd to Rest 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.

"Just downloaded Lei'd to Rest – first time I have downloaded one of your games. We intend to play the game in May – but I just wanted to say how good the game looks – and so easy to download."
Dave Measey, Leicester, United Kingdom

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game, a cast list of all the characters, and a copy of the Legend of the Red Goddess – plus details of how to buy the game.

Now available in German!

You can buy a German translation of this game – click here for more details.

These are the characters in Lei'd to Rest:

• Anna Nayuki – The pushy local real estate agent
• Annatto – The enigmatic religious enthusiast
• Anson Hardasty – The wealthy elderly businessman
• Elsie Brighton – The naive Midwestern newlywed
• Jack Slack – The local entrepreneur and ne'er-do-well
• Keoni – The tour guide and entertainer, with aspirations
• Max Hartnett – Anson Hardasty's best lawyer
• Mel Squant – The perfect grandparent and tourist
• Mojo Mo – The Hawaiian cook and sometime witch-doctor
• Ned Brighton – Elsie Brighton's sickly other half
• Penny Kingsbury – The cynical local doctor
• Sarafina Chavez – The aspiring actress, and Anson Hardasty's mistress

And here are the extra characters that you get if you purchase Lei'd to Rest Expanded:

• Brad Bates – Local dance instructor
• Cassidy Hayes – Stateside florist
• Chelsea Whitaker – Famous local surfer
• Earl Peace – Private investigator
• Heather Harris – Secretary to Earl Peace
• Lawrence Ost – Local botanist
• Noelle Wright – Stateside florist
• Ren Matsuda – Out-of-work local
• Rory Beard – Local surfer
• Wilson Scott – Tourist and postal worker

Number of guests	Male characters	Female characters	Ungendered characters
6	2	2	2
7	2	3	2
8	3	3	2
9	4	3	2
10	4	3	3
11	4	4	3
12	4	4	4
13	4	4	5
14	6 or 4	4 or 5	4 or 5
15	6 or 4	4 or 5	5 or 6
16	6	5	5
17	6	6	5
18	6	6	6
19	8 or 6	6 or 7	5 or 6
20	8 or 6	6 or 7	6 or 7
21	8	7	6
22	8	7	7

How Freeform Games Murder Mysteries Work

Lei'd to Rest is unlike many murder mystery games. Although the game starts with a murder, most of the characters have more important things to do than to investigate it. And the killing may not be over – it is unlikely that everyone will survive the remainder of the evening!

Lei'd to Rest is played just like a murder mystery game. You may be trying to solve the murder, but primarily you are (initially at least) concentrating on your own goals and objectives. Unlike most boxed murder mystery games, Lei'd to Rest lets you decide how to achieve your goals and thwart your enemies.

"We'd previously played Bludgeoned on Broadway, so I knew Lei'd to Rest would be a superior game. I love the completeness of the materials, well developed characters and back stories, and as host, ease in running."
Sara Duprey, United States

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Bus Driver. They then receive their detailed backgrounds -- including dark secrets, objectives and special items. The players can form alliances, blackmail each other, steal items and decide what they plan to do next season. Along the way they may solve some of Lei'd to Rest's mysteries. Are the locals poisoning people? Who threatened the starlet? How are the wealthy businessman and the victim connected? Is someone threatening the tourists? What makes a smuggler so interested in an innocent-looking Midwestern newlywed? All will be revealed in Lei'd to Rest.

Extra characters

Sometimes you have too many guests and you need more characters. So we've written a free extra character for each of our games that you can add in, and some of our customers have created their own characters for their parties and are kindly willing to share them.

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

IMPORTANT – if you've bought the game, you can download the files for these characters from the download page where you got your main game files. Contact us if you need the link and password to get back to that page.

• 'Ginger' Roberts – freelance reporter in search of the Big Story. (Any)
  (by Freeform Games)

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