A Christmas Murder Mystery for Adult Friends: A White Elephant Swap for 8 to 20

For a Christmas party of 8 to 20 adult friends, the murder mystery we wrote for exactly that night is Twenty-Two Gifts from Cold Ledger Games, set at a white elephant swap. It comes out on Wednesday, October 28, on this site and in the Cold Ledger Games shop on Etsy. In short:

• Players: 8 to 20.
• The story: a circle of old friends at their sixteenth white elephant swap, in the same old house as always. After dinner there are twenty-two gifts for twenty-one people, and nobody will say which one is theirs.
• Time: about three hours, or 90 minutes when every player reads their character and the shared evidence ahead of time.
• The host: plays a character too. Four sealed versions ship in the game and one is picked blind, so the host plays as blind as the guests.
• Printing: it comes printable, or as a digital edition played on everyone's phones with nothing to print.
• Until it's out: The Tenth Winter and The Hundredth Episode, our other two party games for 8 to 20, are on sale now at $34.99 for the whole group, printable or digital.

The rest of this guide is what a friends' Christmas party needs from a murder mystery, what to play before October 28 or instead, the cold cases for one or two, and how to plan the night.

What a Christmas Party With Friends Needs From a Murder Mystery

A Christmas party with friends is not the office party and not the family one. The guest list is people who chose each other, the evening runs late, and somebody is usually hosting in their own living room. Five things decide whether a boxed murder mystery suits that night:

• A cast that bends to the guest list. You won't know the final count until the week of the party. Look for a game with a required core and optional parts that drop out cleanly. Our party games on sale now need eight and take up to twenty: characters 1 to 8 are required, and 9 to 20 join in number order, so any count in between works.
• A host who gets to play. At a friends' party the host is usually the person who most wanted the game. Many boxed mysteries hand the host the answer and ask them to keep a straight face all night. Ours ship four sealed versions and pick one without showing the host which, so the host plays a character as blind as everyone else.
• A length that fits the evening. If the game is the party, about three hours from arrival to verdict is right. If dinner, a toast and your own swap come first, look for a written 90-minute format, where the reading happens at home and the night is the argument.
• Nothing to chase in December. No props to buy and no printer run the night before. With a printable, only the host prints, in black and white; with a digital edition, nobody prints anything.
• A story your friends will enjoy being in. Christmas without the North Pole: a party that could be theirs. Plenty of friends' Christmas parties end in a white elephant anyway, which is why Twenty-Two Gifts is set at one.

Twenty-Two Gifts: The Murder Mystery Set at a White Elephant

Every December, the same circle of old friends holds a white elephant swap in the same old house. This year is their sixteenth. After dinner there are twenty-two gifts for twenty-one people, and nobody will say which one is theirs. Twenty-one friends, twenty-two gifts, and one nobody brought: that is the party your guests walk into.

It plays the way our other party games do. Eight to twenty players, each with their own character. Four sealed versions in the game, one picked blind, so the host plays too. About three hours for the full evening, or 90 minutes when every player reads their character and the shared evidence ahead of time. Printable, or on everyone's phones.

It comes out on Wednesday, October 28, on this site and in the Etsy shop. With it comes About Three, the cold case behind it, for one or two: the same house, eleven Decembers earlier. The signup at the end of this guide sends one email when a new Cold Ledger game comes out.

What to Play Before October 28, or Instead

Two party games for 8 to 20 are on sale today. In both, the host plays blind, one purchase covers the whole group, and each comes printable or as a digital edition.

The Tenth Winter, for a party in winter without the tinsel. A young distillery holds its tenth year-end party at the founder's lake house, ten winters after its co-founder went through the ice. The founder has promised an announcement at the toast, and she never finishes it. About three hours, or 90 minutes; the room can split into detective teams, and at 16 or more it can run as two tables. The toast is any glass, and nobody is asked to drink alcohol. It is a company's party, so your friends play coworkers for a night. $34.99.

The Hundredth Episode, with no holiday in it at all. A true-crime podcast tapes its hundredth episode live in the theater where its case began, and when the lights come back up, the host is dead at the podium. About three hours, or 90 minutes, with one minute in the dark. $34.99.

If your party is a Christmas party with a swap in it, Twenty-Two Gifts is the one written for it. If you're buying now, or you'd rather keep Christmas out of the story, pick The Tenth Winter for the winter party or The Hundredth Episode for anything else. If part of the group is far away this year, the digital editions also run on a video call, and our remote guide covers the call.

For One or Two: A Cold Case for a December Evening

Not every December night is a party. Cold Ledger's cold cases are for one or two: a file of documents, four answers to commit to in writing, and a sealed solution you open only after you have. Most finish in sixty to ninety minutes, printed at the kitchen table or played on a phone.

• The Orpheum File, a case the town closed fifteen years ago, in the theater where The Hundredth Episode is set, $6.99.
• Accident, Drink Involved, the lake house case ten winters before The Tenth Winter, $6.99.
• About Three, out October 28: the cold case behind Twenty-Two Gifts, in the same house eleven Decembers earlier.

For two, How to Host a Detective Date Night at Home covers splitting the file and arguing it out.

Planning the Night

Pick the date, then the game. December weekends fill first, so send the date before anything else. The game itself can wait: the printables are instant downloads, and a digital edition is a room you start when you're ready.

Count to eight. Eight players is the minimum for any of our party games, and every player past eight is optional. Cast from character 1 up, and the game fits whoever turns up. Under eight, the party games won't run; the cold cases are written for one or two.

Send the reading early. Each player gets their own character, privately, any time before the party. For the 90-minute format the shared evidence goes out too, two days ahead, and the word to use is "required": a table that has read spends the night arguing, and a table that hasn't spends it catching up. Our 90-minute guide has the clock block by block.

Decide where your own swap goes. If your group does a real white elephant every year, keep it: put it before the game while everyone arrives, or after the verdict, when the room is loud anyway.

Serve what your friends already eat and drink. The mystery needs paper or phones, a room, and people willing to accuse each other. The full two-week plan is in How to Plan a Murder Mystery Party in Two Weeks, and the host's own checklist is in How to Host a Murder Mystery Party at Home.

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