Murder at the Grand Hotel

During the ceremonial opening of the New York Grand Hotel the actress Monique Moreau is found dead in her suite. How could the opening celebration end so tragically?

New York, August 1962. Welcome to the city that never sleeps! Everybody who was anybody had come to Manhattan to celebrate the opening of the magnificent Grand Hotel – aspiring politicians, powerful industrialists and beautiful actresses. The largest luxury hotel in the United States was set on redefining the term “five-star”, and was also to be the crown jewel in the empire of Frederic Price. The hotel tycoon was one of the richest men in the country. Since his marriage to the actress Dóra Galor, he was now even better known than before.

The opening speeches were full of praise, and the guests ate and drank copious amounts from the five-course menu. The evening had all the hallmarks of an incredible coming-together of American high society. Once the official part of the event was over, the guests gathered for an exuberant cocktail party at the longest hotel bar in the entire city. But the evening took a tragic turn when the young actress Monique Moreau was found dead in the bathtub of her hotel suite late in the evening. The idea that the young woman, described by the media as the next Dóra Galor, would take her own life is rejected by everyone as incredible.

The police were informed immediately. But it will take the authorities hours to search the entire hotel and secure all the relevant evidence. You have all been requested to stay here in the lobby. Until the police have questioned everybody, you are all on your own in solving the mystery, asking the questions: what happened this evening? How could the opening celebration end so tragically?

What is a murder mystery game?

You and your guests slip into the roles of the main suspects of an exciting murder case. The objective of the game is to convict the perpetrator – one of the people sitting with you at the table. This can only be achieved if the players discuss the course of events amongst themselves and compare their experiences of what happened. But be careful: Each character (including you!) has their own dark secrets which they’d be better off keeping to themselves.

You all gather in the wake of the crime and attempt to piece together your memories, with the aim of identifying the perpetrator. In each round, you recall more and more about the circumstances of the crime, as each round deals with a different period of time from the evening the crime was committed. At the end, everyone votes on who should be handed over to the police as the suspect.

Culinario Mortale is a highly interactive game. There are only a few rules, and no pre-prepared dialogue. The focus is on working through the puzzles and discussing the events together.

Alongside a well-structured game manual, each game contains game booklets for between five and eight characters (the number of players for each game can be found on the packaging and here on our website). In the game booklets, each guest will find their personal clues and a description of their role. Each game booklet also includes a brief overview of how the game works. As such, all players can jump right in. The support code included with your Culinario Mortale game will allow you to download the role descriptions in advance from our website in PDF format, and easily send them to your guests via email.

GAME CONTENT: 1 Game Manual, 8 Game Booklets, 1 Incident Booklet (includes of prologue, incidents, solution), 8 name badges, 1 support code

— description from the publisher.