"Folklore Murder Mystery" bottles mayhem, mischief, and manic fun
Have you ever suspected one of your close friends of murder, but you couldn’t be a hundred percent sure? Maybe you should play nice, for now, and speak with them in hushed tones, ask careful questions, hoping they will eventually slip up, and provide you with some morsel of truth that will confirm what you feared most.
Folkore, Perth’s one-of-a-kind social deduction party game, aims to bottle that feeling, by engineering fantastical murder mystery narratives and unique game mechanics where you and your closest group of friends can inhabit new characters, cause mischief, and giddily accuse each other of murder.
Hosted by founder and game master Mike Drysdale, Folklore Murder Mystery Events celebrates their one year of rendering these experiences for birthdays, work outings, and bucks/hens nights by unveiling their new high-concept sci-fi adventure: ‘Titan Star: Uprising’, and we were invited to board the ship to experience the game for ourselves.
Below are fragments of uncovered logs from our Titan Star experiences:
I watched as they voted against me, their hands raised, one by one.
Guilt was declared, contrary to my pleas, and the clang of my steps as I was led to the airlock was an echo of my comrades' rapturous applause.
“Rebel!” the group chanted, but I was honest to the Order.
I was dutiful and faithful. Always have been.
All I ever wanted was a promotion.
The radio crackled.
“Any last words?” asked the ship’s AI, M.I.K.E.
I swore my allegiance to the airlock doors, and the cold, dead grasp of space held me in whatever mercy it could afford.
Think games like One Night Werewolf, Mafia, and Secret Hitler. Folklore takes the seed of what makes these games fun and elevates them into an immersive, dynamic, breathing experience, partly a credit to the role of a Game Master, who steers the ship and adapts to participants’ interactions with one another.
From fantasy monster-hunting to Hollywood noir, Folklore’s adventures offer a variety of characters, all with their own unique skills and abilities, adding layers of subterfuge previously unseen in similar games. Some players can steal others' identities, others can feed you false information - and few, if any, can be trusted at all.
Throughout the event, alliances were forged just as quickly as they were lost (a man offered Fynn a Fisherman’s Friend during the first game, then soon became his Fisherman’s Foe).
With its palpable, suspicion-fuelled excitement and knack for turning the fondest friend into the strangest stranger, Folklore Murder Mystery excels at drawing every player into the drama, whether as an inquisitive investigator, a shameless liar, or simply a group of mates ready to dive into three hours of unadulterated fun.
