A Very Merry Murder: A Cozy Christmas Murder Mystery Party Game
Printable, 6–16 players, 90 minutes to 2.5 hours. A spoiler-safe printable whodunit for family Christmas, Friendsmas and office parties. Play the full 2.5-hour party or the 90-minute Express version. From Clue & Candle Games, the party-games imprint of Hustle Studio.
$17.00 USD, one-time, for the whole party (about $1.42 per guest at 12 players)
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↩️ 14-day no-questions refund. Email us within 14 days of purchase and we'll refund you. You don't need to give a reason.
🎄 Party guarantee. If your party didn't work out (the game didn't fit your group, or you got stuck), tell us within 14 days and we'll refund you in full.
📥 Instant digital download. Nothing is shipped, and there's no subscription.
Try before you buy: free mini mystery
The Case of the Cold Cocoa is a free 10-page printable mystery for 4–6 players (about 45 minutes) from the same team, written in the same style. It has 4 core suspects plus 2 optional ones, host scripts, 9 evidence cards, ballots and a solution with its full clue chain. No email or signup needed. Print it, play it, and judge our writing before you spend anything.
Free mystery, coverFree mystery, Start Here pageWhat's in the free mystery
New shop, honest note: Clue & Candle Games is a new imprint, so there are no reviews or customer party photos yet, and we won't invent any. Instead, you can play the free mystery, see the real unedited pages below, and count on the 14-day refund.
Why hosts like it
Nobody stands around: every booklet gives its player a manner to play, three lines to try, an answer for when they're accused, and in each of the three rounds things to reveal, two questions to ask and a mini task.
Fits your evening: the full party runs about 2.5 hours with dinner. The 90-minute Express version can be played seated around one table.
Quick to prep: a one-hour prep plan. A 6-player game needs only 28 printed pages and 12 cards to cut. Everything else is optional.
No spoilers while you print: every character has their own 4-page PDF, and the answer sits in a separate sealed file.
A fair, provable answer: the solution file walks through a 6-step clue chain, and every step names the evidence cards that prove it. A "why the others didn't do it" table clears every other suspect.
Flip through the kit (52-second video)
Look inside
These are the real pages. The only blurring hides key clues in the later rounds and the answers on the solution pages. Your downloaded files have no blurring.
Everything in the ZIP, file by fileThe kit's real pages on a party table (a staged mockup, not a customer photo)Meet the 12 suspectsCasey Sleigh's booklet: Round 1 in fullMorgan Ivy (core suspect): Rounds 2–3, key clues blurredJamie Pudding's booklet: Rounds 1–3, unblurredEvidence cardsIs it fair? The six questions and their evidence cardsSolution pages, answers blurredRun sheet + Script 2Choosing your cast for 6–16 playersStart Here + one-hour prep planInvitations, name tags, banner, propsAwards, table sign, labels13 phone e-invites + Invitation Maker
Real interior pages, unedited
Straight page renders from the US Letter PDFs, with no mockup and no styling added. Pages that would spoil the mystery aren't shown.
It is Christmas Eve at Snowbury Lodge, and the Frost & Fable Toy Company is having its annual party. Founder Nicholas "Nick" Frost raises his favourite red mug for the 9 o'clock toast. Forty minutes later he collapses beside the tree. The snow has closed the only road, nobody can leave, and somebody in the room did it.
Your guests arrive in costume as the head toymaker, the finance director, the struggling-novelist heir, the caterer, an uninvited rival and more. Every character has a motive, a secret, public relationships and goals for the night. Each booklet also tells its player how to play the part (Casey bustles about with a ladle and takes any slight against the eggnog personally), gives three lines to try and says what to answer when someone points the finger. Each round, you reveal new evidence cards and every player opens the next section of their booklet. It gives them something to reveal or gossip about, questions to put to named suspects, and a mini task, such as taking a "newsletter photo" of three suspects or handing out a naughty-or-nice verdict as Santa. The six optional characters are eyewitnesses. Each one holds a detail that backs up the evidence, so a bigger party solves the case faster.
You play Inspector Noel and don't take any of the 12 roles. The 15-page Host Guide takes you from zero. It has a tick-box checklist, a one-hour prep plan, a cast table for 6 to 16 guests and a removable-characters table. It also has a full run sheet, a 90-minute Express run sheet and four read-aloud scripts. Each script comes with interrogation prompts and optional follow-up questions for quiet moments. Hosting tips, a themed menu and decor ideas round it out.
The first round's evidence points at the wrong people on purpose. The answer only comes together once the key log, the Secret Santa list, the receipts and the last round of evidence are on the table. The sealed solution lays out the 6-step clue chain with the card numbers for each step, explains why each of the other suspects is innocent, and gives you a word-for-word reveal script and a ballot answer key.
Costumes come in two levels for every role: an easy one from your wardrobe, and a "go all out" country-lodge look (velvet, tweed, white fur, a Santa suit) for the photos. Every page reads clearly in black and white, and every PDF comes in true US Letter and A4 sizes.
What you get (file list)
You get one ZIP download. It holds two folders, US-Letter/ and A4/, with the same 24 PDFs in each: 48 PDFs in total, and 159 printed pages per paper size (111 if you skip the optional combined-booklets file). The ZIP also holds 13 phone e-invites (PNG) and Invitation-Maker.html. After purchase, every file can also be downloaded on its own from your download page.
Bonus on the download page: an editable party planner spreadsheet (.xlsx) with a guest/RSVP tracker, timeline and shopping list.
Who it is for
Families hosting Christmas with teens and grandparents (use the seated 90-minute Express version)
Office and team holiday parties of 6–16 people
Friendsmas hosts who want costumes, decor and photos
First-time hosts who want everything scripted
Who it is not for
Groups wanting a gory or adult-themed game
Groups of fewer than 6 (try the free Cold Cocoa mystery for 4–6 instead)
Anyone looking for a 1920s, Gatsby or glamorous-manor theme (this one is a cozy Christmas Eve at a toy company's country lodge, with friendly illustrated portraits)
Anyone wanting a physical boxed game (this is a digital download; nothing is shipped)
FAQ
How many people can play? 6–16. Up to 12 guests each get their own role; with 13–16, guests share roles in pairs or play Deputy Detectives (they get their own brief). The host plays Inspector Noel on top of that.
How long does it take? About 2.5 hours with a dinner break, or about 90 minutes with the Express version.
How much printing and cutting? For 6 players the essentials are 28 pages and 12 evidence cards. Invitations can be sent by phone, and name tags, decor and awards are optional.
Is a 4-page booklet enough for a whole evening? Each booklet is built for mingling, not reading aloud. Page 1 is the character and costume. Page 2 is the secret, how to play the part, three lines to try and what to say if accused. Pages 3 and 4 hold three rounds, each with things to reveal, two questions for named suspects and a mini task, plus a conversation tracker and notes. Most of the evening is spent talking, and the booklet keeps every player supplied with something to say.
I've never heard of Clue & Candle Games. Who are you? Clue & Candle Games is the party-games imprint of Hustle Studio, a small independent digital shop. This site is our own store. There's no marketplace in between, so you can email us directly at chenphien@gmail.com. We reply within 2 business days.
Are there reviews or customer photos? Not yet. The game is new, and we won't invent any. That's why this page shows real, unedited interior pages, a whole booklet's later rounds unblurred and how the case is solved card by card. It's also why the free Cold Cocoa mystery is there to try first. You're also covered by the 14-day no-questions refund.
Can I get a receipt for expenses? Yes. Waffo Pancake is the merchant of record for this sale. It processes the payment, handles any sales tax or VAT that applies, and emails you a receipt. If your finance team needs something specific on the receipt (company name or address), email us and we'll help sort it out.
Who wrote it? It's an original story by Clue & Candle Games, written with AI assistance. Every clue was checked against the solution, and every round was walked through for each character.
What if it doesn't work for my group? Email chenphien@gmail.com within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. You don't need to give a reason (see Terms).
🔒 Secure checkout by Waffo Pancake (merchant of record), using common payment methods. Instant download. 14-day no-questions refund. Digital download only; nothing is shipped.
