Christmas Murder Mystery Game, Printable 1934 Swiss Luxury Train Case for Couples

Seller's description

Christmas Eve, 1934. Konrad Hartmann, the old chocolate king of Basel, has hired a whole luxury train to carry his family up into the Swiss snow. At midnight, in his grand hotel at the top of the line, he means to name his heir: the grandson who has just come home from America after twenty-two years. The train climbs through the night with its windows lit, into the long spiral tunnel under the Silberhorn, and comes out into the moonlight at 23.47. Konrad Hartmann is dead in his private salon car, his Christmas tree on the floor.

His executor has gathered every paper of that night, and before he reads the will on New Year's Eve he asks you two things: who killed the old man, and is the young man really his grandson? Five people could have reached the salon car: the grandson back from America, the daughter who has run the factory for twenty years, the master chocolatier at his side for fifty, the physician travelling to watch his heart, and the driver of the steam engine.

What's included
• 29 pieces of evidence in three sealed envelopes: the executor's briefing with a card for each suspect, the police photograph of the salon car, the conductor's sheet, a drawing of the salon car, statements, the engine driver's running sheet, the photographer's flash plates, the line's route map, letters from America, a diary, telegrams, a signal-box register and more
• Three things to do with your hands: punched summit tickets to match against the conductors' punches, the old man's paper fortune teller to cut out, fold and play, and the chocolate firm's secret recipe card to cut out and lay over the papers
• A Start Here guide
• A Scoring file: you write your verdict in your own words first, then score yourselves question by question
• Hints for every question, a nudge first and then a pointer, so nobody stays stuck for long
• The full story, with a timeline of the night
• A printable gift invitation

Players, time and difficulty
• 2 to 6 players, ages 18+
• Hard: the answer runs through all three envelopes
• One evening, about 2 to 3 hours. Your table may be quicker or slower
• Content: one death, told in the reports; signs of a struggle in the scene photograph, never a body or blood; wine, kirsch and cigars

How it works
Print the pages and open Envelope 1. Read the evidence together, compare the papers and keep your case notes. When you've read every page, open the next envelope. After the last one, write down your verdict in your own words: who killed Konrad Hartmann, how, and why. Then open the Scoring file. It asks each question and gives the answer, and you add up your points before reading the full story.

Printing
• Letter and A4 versions, each in Deluxe (full color) and Ink-saver (light on ink)
• 36 pages to print, plus the one-page gift invitation if it's a present
• Print at 100% scale, single-sided, at home or at a copy shop
• You'll need scissors for the paper fortune teller and the recipe card

Written and illustrated with the help of AI tools, from our own story, prompts and edits, and checked by us.

Digital download, nothing is shipped. You receive PDF files to print yourself.

FAQ
• Can we play it on a screen? Start Here opens on a phone, but you'll fold the fortune teller and lay the recipe card over the papers, so printing works best.
• Do we need a host? No. Everyone plays together, and the hints, the scoring and the full story each sit in their own file until you need them.
• Can more than 6 play? Yes, but the papers go round more slowly. Print a second copy of the busiest pages if you like.
• Is it a role-play party game? No. You're the detectives working the case file, and nobody plays a character.
• Is it really hard? Yes: it's one of our two Hard cases, and the truth only comes together in the last envelope. The hints are there whenever you want them.
• Letter or A4? Letter for US printers, A4 for most of the rest of the world. Choose Ink-saver if your printer is low on ink.