A free murder mystery game for work, ready to print
An original office whodunit for 6 to 8 players: the story, character cards, three clue rounds, a host script and the solution. Play it in about 75 minutes, in person or on Zoom.
Murder at the Golden Stapler Awards is a complete murder mystery game you can run at work with no budget and no acting skills. The founder of a paper company is poisoned during the office awards night, and everyone at the party had a reason. The clues are fair: a sharp team can solve it before the reveal.
The game at a glance
- Players
- 6 to 8 suspects, plus one host who narrates
- Time
- About 75 minutes
- Where
- A meeting room, the office party, or a video call
- You need
- This kit printed, a pen per player, and a timer
- Prep
- 10 minutes: print, cut the cards, read the solution
Host pages, cut-out cards and the solution.
The story: read this aloud
It is Friday night at Quillfeather Paper Co., and the whole office has stayed late for the Golden Stapler Awards, the company's famous (and slightly ridiculous) annual awards night.
At 8:35, founder and CEO Montgomery "Monty" Quill leaves his office in the executive hallway, walks to the stage and raises his glass. While Felix's slideshow plays, Monty roasts half the room and hints that the board will hear "some very interesting news" at 9:30.
At 8:55 he goes back to his office, sits down and finishes his tea. At 9:05 he collapses at his desk. Monty Quill will not be handing out any staplers tonight.
Everyone at this party had a reason to want Monty gone. Priya, his top seller. Derek from IT. Margaret, the CFO, who signs every expense report in green fountain pen. Theo, his nephew and the summer intern. Rosa, who has run the office for 20 years. And Felix, who planned this whole evening and never puts down his green highlighter. Even HR and facilities had their reasons. Tonight, one of them is lying. Your job is to find out who.
House rules
- Stay in character. Your card tells you what you know.
- Anyone may dodge a question or change the subject.
- Only the killer may tell an outright lie.
- Share your "what you know" facts whenever they help, or hurt, someone else.
- No accusations out loud until the host calls for them.
The 8 character cards
Give one card to each player. With 6 players, leave out June and Sam; with 7, leave out Sam. Margaret's card always goes out.
Playing, not hosting? Stop reading here. Everything below gives the game away.
Priya Shah
VP of Sales
Who you are: The top seller at Quillfeather for eight years. You win every contest and you remind people of it.
Your secret: Monty planned to cut sales commissions by a third and announce it tonight. You have a job offer from a competitor in your bag.
During the toast: At 8:38 you went to Monty's office and left a note on his chair, in your usual blue pen, asking him not to announce the cuts. His tea sat on the desk, still steaming. You were back out by 8:40, then took a call from the recruiter on the balcony until 8:56. Admit the office visit if someone brings up the badge log.
What you know:- At dinner, Margaret asked you whether Monty had said anything about "the audit."
- Theo has been whispering on the phone all week.
Play it: Confident, impatient, used to winning arguments.
Derek Holt
IT Manager
Who you are: You keep every system running and you know everyone's passwords, whether you want to or not.
Your secret: You have been secretly mining cryptocurrency on the company servers. On Monday, Monty hinted that he knew.
During the toast: You slipped into the server room at 8:41 to shut the miner down before anyone could look, and stayed inside until 8:58.
What you know:- As you walked into the executive hallway, Priya was hurrying out, looking flustered.
- Felix was furious that Monty rewrote his toast to make fun of him.
Play it: Nervous, explains far more than anyone asked.
Theo Quill
Summer intern, Monty's nephew
Who you are: Everyone knows you got the internship because of your uncle. You are trying very hard to prove them wrong.
Your secret: Last week you scraped the company van and hid the repair bill. Monty found it this afternoon and said, "We'll talk after the party."
During the toast: You were in the parking garage on the phone with the body shop, begging them to keep it quiet.
What you know:- Last week Uncle Monty told you he had found "a big hole in the books."
- Rosa tidied Uncle Monty's desk this afternoon, read something in his notebook and went pale.
Play it: Eager, jumpy, and guilty about the van.
Rosa Delgado
Office Manager
Who you are: You have run this office for 20 years. You know where everything is and most of what everyone is hiding.
Your secret: While tidying Monty's desk this afternoon you read his notebook. You saw "$400,000 missing" but not who took it. You have told nobody.
During the toast: You stood by the stage handing out drinks the whole time.
What you know:- Margaret slipped away during the toast to fetch the award envelopes. She came back at about 8:52 empty-handed.
- Monty made his own tea at 8:15: Earl Grey, in a plain white company mug.
Play it: Warm, sharp-eyed, never misses a detail.
Felix Brandt
Marketing Director
Who you are: You plan the Golden Stapler Awards every year, and you mark up your slide notes in green highlighter.
Your secret: You wrote Monty's toast. He rewrote it to roast you in front of everyone, and you have been drafting your resignation all week.
During the toast: You ran the slideshow laptop by the stage from 8:35 to 8:55 and never left it.
What you know:- Derek has been very jumpy about anyone going near the server room.
- At dinner, Priya said, "Monty won't get away with this."
Play it: Dramatic, a little wounded, wants applause.
Margaret Okafor
Chief Financial Officer
Who you are: You have run finance for 12 years and sign everything in green fountain pen. Nobody gets reimbursed without your initials.
Your secret: You are the killer. You quietly moved $400,000 out of the Henderson account, and this week Monty found out. During the toast you slipped into his office, stirred poison into his tea and threw the empty packet in the kitchen trash, wrapped in a page from your budget binder. You may lie about anything except your name.
During the toast: Say you badged into the executive hallway to fetch the award envelopes from your office, but couldn't find them.
What you know:- Priya stormed out of a meeting with Monty on Tuesday.
- Derek has stayed late every night this month with the server room door shut.
Play it: Calm, helpful and a little too eager to help the detectives.
June Park
HR Director · leave out with fewer players
Who you are: You run HR by the book, and you hear about everything eventually.
Your secret: This week Monty asked you to prepare a termination letter with the name left blank, "for after the audit." You printed it at 7 pm.
During the toast: You stood next to Rosa by the stage the whole time.
What you know:- Monty told you the board would get "unpleasant news" tonight.
- Theo asked you how much trouble someone gets in for damaging a company vehicle.
Play it: Composed, careful with every word.
Sam Rivera
Facilities Manager · leave out with fewer players
Who you are: You keep the building working. You hold the master keys and you can pull the badge logs.
Your secret: You propped the loading dock door open all evening so the caterers could come and go, which is against the rules.
During the toast: You were by the stage fixing the microphone the whole time.
What you know:- The executive hallway door logs every badge in and out. Nobody passes it without a record.
- Last month Margaret asked you how long the badge logs are kept.
Play it: Practical, unflappable, slightly smug about the logs.
How to host a murder mystery game
The host narrates and keeps time instead of playing a suspect. Read the solution before the game, and only you.
- A few days before (5 min). Hand out one character card per player. Margaret's card goes to someone who can keep a straight face. Keep the clue cards and solution for yourself.
- Open the case (5 min). Read the story aloud, then the five house rules. Dim the lights if you're feeling theatrical.
- Introductions (10 min). Each suspect stands, gives their name and role, and says where they were during the toast. Secrets stay secret for now.
- Round 1: the scene (15 min). Read the three scene clues. Let people mingle and question each other until the timer goes off.
- Round 2: the doors (15 min). Read the three door clues. Expect the badge log to start arguments; that's the point.
- Round 3: the evidence (15 min). Read the last three clues. Give everyone a final chance to corner a suspect.
- Accusations (5 min). Everyone except the killer writes down who did it, why, and when. Collect the slips before anyone talks.
- The reveal (5 min). Read the solution aloud, score the slips, and hand out a prize for the best detective and the best performance.
The clue rounds
Read one round at a time, then start a 15-minute timer for questioning. Each round narrows the suspects.
Round 1: The scene
“The police have arrived. Here is what they found.”
- 1.1The coroner's report: Monty was poisoned. The poison was in his tea, and it works within ten minutes of being swallowed.
- 1.2Monty's video call recording shows him sipping the same tea at his desk at 8:30, perfectly fine. At 8:35 he leaves for the stage and the mug stays on his desk.
- 1.3The photo booth took group shots at 8:40 and 8:50. Priya, Derek, Margaret and Theo are missing from both. Everyone else at the party is in both.
Round 2: The doors
“Security has pulled the building records.”
- 2.1The executive hallway badge log, in and out: Priya in 8:38, out 8:40. Derek in 8:41, out 8:59. Margaret in 8:47, out 8:51. Monty in 8:55. Nobody else between 8:35 and 8:55.
- 2.2The parking garage camera shows Theo pacing on his phone from 8:33 to 8:57. He has no badge for the executive hallway.
- 2.3The server room badge log: Derek in 8:41, out 8:58. The room has one door, no windows, and it sits across the hall from Monty's office.
Round 3: The evidence
“The lab results are back, and someone went through the trash.”
- 3.1There is a smudge of green ink on the handle of Monty's mug. The lab says it is fountain-pen ink, not highlighter.
- 3.2In the kitchen trash: an empty paper packet with traces of the poison, folded inside a page torn from a budget binder. The Henderson account line is circled in green.
- 3.3On Monty's chair, a note in blue ballpoint: "Monty, don't announce the commission cuts tonight. We need to talk. P." In his notebook, the last line reads: "Henderson account: $400,000 missing. Signed off by finance. Tell the board at 9:30."
The solution and scoring
Collect everyone's written accusation first, then score them.
- Correct killer: 3 points.
- Correct motive (the missing $400,000): 1 point.
- Correct moment (during the toast, between 8:47 and 8:51): 1 point.
- Margaret wins outright if fewer than half the table names her.
Show the solution (host only)
The killer is Margaret Okafor.
Margaret had been stealing from the Henderson account, $400,000 of it, and Monty found out. He planned to tell the board at 9:30 tonight.
During the toast she badged into the executive hallway at 8:47, saying she needed the award envelopes. She stirred poison into Monty's tea, the same tea he had sipped safely at 8:30, and on her way back past the kitchen she threw the packet away, folded inside a page from her own budget binder. She came back to the party at 8:52 with no envelopes.
She left two signatures: green fountain-pen ink on the mug handle, and a green circle around the Henderson account.
How the clues prove it
- The poison works within 10 minutes and Monty drank safely at 8:30, so it went into the mug while he was on stage, between 8:35 and 8:55.
- The photos clear everyone except Priya, Derek, Margaret and Theo.
- Theo was in the garage the whole time and has no badge. Derek was locked in the server room from 8:41 until after Monty drank.
- That leaves Priya and Margaret. Priya writes in blue ballpoint. The ink on the mug is green fountain pen, Margaret's pen. Felix's green is highlighter.
- Motive: the notebook says finance signed off on the missing $400,000.
How to play a murder mystery on Zoom
The game works the same on a video call. Four changes make it run smoothly.
- Send cards privately. Email or DM each player their character card a few days ahead. Nobody sees anyone else's.
- Share the clues on screen. Put each round's clues on a slide and read them out, so nobody misses one on a bad connection.
- Question in breakout rooms. Open rooms of three or four for each round and shuffle them between rounds, so every suspect gets cornered.
- Accuse in private chat. Players send their accusation to the host by direct message, then the host reveals the answer to everyone.
Want someone to run the mystery for you?
A live host can run a murder mystery for your team in about an hour, on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request). Nobody has to act, and the organizer gets to play too. See virtual murder mystery games.
Two hosted cases, with today’s prices. Book about 2 weeks ahead.
Like puzzles more than suspects? Try our free online escape room, book a hosted virtual escape room, or run an office scavenger hunt. Planning a bigger event? Get a free quote.
