The Reality is Murder – a 2000s murder mystery party game with a tropical setting for 23 to 30 guests

"We hosted The Reality is Murder this past Saturday night and everyone (all 30 characters!!) seemed to have a blast!"
Jeremy Gustafson, USA

Recommended for ages 18+
Costs US$49.99
Written by Freeform Games

Click here to buy the game

The Reality is Murder is a murder mystery party game for 23 to 30 guests and one or two hosts – download the free introductory pdf file.

Join us in an exciting evening of reality television 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 The Reality is Murder? It's up to you.

The Reality is Murder

It is 2003 and Tribal is Network 123's reality show where 12 people live on Moko Shanti, a beautiful tropical island for up to 40 days. Every few days, contestants vote each other off the island during Tribal Meetings. Now, only three contestants are left, and tonight is Tribal's finale.

Tonight, everyone has returned to the beach where the final Tribal Meeting will be broadcast live and the winner of the $1,000,000 prize will be decided.

Unfortunately, all is not well. Jeff Thompson, Tribal's creator and director, has been found dead on the beach – a machete embedded in his chest… Find out who killed Jeff Thompson in The Reality is Murder.

See stories and pictures
from The Reality is Murder Read the
The Islander

The Reality is Murder 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.

"Overall, players (experienced and new) had a really good time."
Mark Rickert, USA

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

Includes rules for combat.

These are the characters in The Reality is Murder:

• Alex Johnson – Matthew Stuart-Fosterson's personal assistant.
• Bernie Fraser – A stay-at-home parent from New York. First to be eliminated, coming 12th.
• Bo Bo Hardensfield – TV chef and presenter of Tribal's spin-off show, Tribal Bites.
• Britney Thompson – Jeff Thompson's wife and Tribal's host.
• Chris Keller – Tribal's head of security.
• Cindy Perkins – A waitress from Miami, Florida and a finalist.
• Clara Stuart-Fosterson – Network 123's Finance Director, and Matthew's wife.
• Derek Lunesdale – A body builder from Detroit, coming 7th.
• Devon Warring – Unemployed, from Orlando. Mysteriously pulled out of the show, effectively coming 9th.
• Domino Mountford – An eccentric French contestant currently living in New York City, coming 11th.
• Dr Charlie Milahoff – Tribal's psychologist.
• Dr Georgie Palmer – Tribal's on-site doctor, an expert in tropical diseases and injuries.
• Harry Samson – A retired US Army veteran from Long Island. Most recently eliminated in Tribal, coming 4th.
• Honey Rider – Bikini model from LA.
• Jules McGee – A snake and insect expert, originally from Australia.
• Kelly Patterson – A model from New York City, coming 8th.
• Lou Breakmier – An aging mystic from San Francisco, coming 5th.
• Mary Newby – Production assistant and Rex's wife.
• Matthew Stuart-Fosterson IV – CEO of the TV Network 123.
• Mike Hollandale – A real estate agent from LA and a finalist.
• Murray Neilson – Originally a park warden from the Florida Everglades, now an assistant producer.
• Phoenix – Leader of the Moko Shanti Islanders.
• PJ Deever – Tribal's primary camera operator.
• Rev. Hal Cleever – A minister from a small town in Texas, coming 10th.
• Rex Newby – One of the set designers, responsible for the creation of the Tribal Meeting set. Mary's husband.
• Ronnie Brooks – Ski instructor and mountain guide from Colorado, coming 6th.
• Sam Wraysford – Sam is Tribal's producer.
• Sandy Aikley – A lawyer from Chicago and a finalist.
• Skua – Phoenix's headstrong son.
• Summer – Phoenix's daughter.

Number of guests	Male characters	Female characters	Ungendered characters
23	6	7	10
24	6	7	11
25	8	7	10
26	8	7	11
27	9	7	11
28	9	7	12
29	9	7	13
30	9	8	13

How Freeform Games Murder Mysteries Work

The Reality is Murder 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!

The Reality is Murder 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, The Reality is Murder lets you decide how to achieve your goals and thwart your enemies.

"Keep up the good work … no one makes scripts like yours."
Nicole Brownlee, USA

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Events Manager, and welcomed to Moko Shanti. 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 Reality is Murder. Who will win Tribal? Who are ANTHRO? And of course, how did Jeff Thompson die? Depending on what the players choose to do, there are several different possible endings, but finally everyone finds out how they did, and what secrets everyone else was concealing.

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.

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

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.

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