Both Cold Ledger Games mysteries now come as digital editions that play in the browser on your phones, with nothing to print and no app to install. The Hundredth Episode is a murder mystery party game for 8 to 20 players, ages 16 and up: the host starts a room from their phone, the players join with a link, and the night runs about three hours, or 90 minutes with the short format, in one room or on a video call. The host plays too, because the room picks one of four sealed cases and never tells them which. It costs $29.99. The Orpheum File is a cold case for one or two detectives, ages 16 and up, 60 to 90 minutes, played on a phone, tablet or computer; two people can work the same file from separate devices. It costs $6.99. Both are sold on this site and on Etsy, and the printable editions of both stay on sale at the same prices.
That paragraph is the whole announcement. The rest of this article is what each edition does once it is on a phone, what you need, and which one to pick. What is inside the printable boxes is in Four Killers in One Box, the host's week for the printable party is in How to Host a Murder Mystery Party at Home, and the free, paid-small and paid-large formats are weighed in 3 Ways to Play a Mystery. None of that is repeated here, and nothing below names a killer, an answer, or a document that decides one.
Can you play a murder mystery party on your phones?
Yes. The Hundredth Episode digital edition is the party game rebuilt for the browser, run from the host's phone. After checkout the host gets a link to a host page. From it they start a room, days ahead if they like, and send the join link round. Players open it in any current browser, give a name, and buy nothing. The host casts them, and from that moment each phone is that character's private guide: their secrets, their three objectives, and the statement they will read aloud. Nobody sees anybody else's.
On the night the host's phone steps through the evening. Every phone goes dark together for one real minute. When the lights come back, sealed cards go privately to the eight main characters' phones. The statements are read from each player's phone, in character order. Then three waves of evidence, thirty-two documents in all, open on every phone at once, one wave at a time, so nobody reads ahead. Accusations, a secret vote that the room counts for you, and the reveal on every screen at the same moment. The only requirement is that every phone is online during the party.
Can the host play too?
Yes, and this is the reason the party exists in this shape at all. The Hundredth Episode holds four complete sealed cases. In the printable, a person who is not playing picks a number and the host prints one case blind. In the digital edition the room does the picking: when the host starts a room it chooses one of the four and never shows the host which. So the host takes a character, reads their own guide and nobody else's, works the evidence alongside the guests, and learns the answer at the reveal, with the room.
Three cases stay sealed
A night uses one case. The other three stay unplayed on that copy, and a new room picks from the cases it has not played: the same twenty characters, the same minute in the dark, and an evidence trail that convicts somebody else.
The cost of a host who does not know the answer is a host who cannot steer, which is why every line the host says is written out in the printable and why, on phones, the host's job is a tap: advance the phase, call the occasional press conference, and otherwise be a character in the room like everybody else.
Does it work over a video call?
Yes. The room runs from the host's phone and reaches every player's phone wherever that phone is, so the same game works for twenty people in one living room, for a remote team on a video call, or for a mix of both. Nothing about the evening depends on a table: the cards, the evidence and the ballot all arrive on the phone in each player's hand, and the reveal reaches every screen at once.
For an office party or a team event with a hard stop, the digital edition carries the 90-minute format. The evidence pack goes to every phone ahead of time as required reading, and nothing is cut from the mystery; what changes is when people read, not what they read. Nobody needs acting experience, every costume is one easy line, and the content is adult without being graphic: a man is killed on stage and a fifteen-year-old death is reopened; no gore, no assault. Running it for paying guests, such as a ticketed event, needs written permission first.
Is there a two-player cold case you can play online?
Yes. The Orpheum File digital edition is the cold case for one or two detectives, in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. You get seventeen documents on paper-styled pages, a timeline worksheet, and four answers to commit. Hints open one tier at a time, three tiers per objective, so you never see more than you asked for, and using them is playing correctly. Once the four answers are committed, the sealed solution opens and shows where the file fooled you.
Two can play from separate devices. Invite players sends the same case link to a partner, and everyone on that link works the same file from their own phone, tablet or computer: the same exhibits, the same worksheet, the same hints. Progress saves with the case, so an evening can become two sittings without losing a row. The content note is the printable's: a young woman's death and a police cover-up; no gore, no assault. Ages 16 and up.
The two games side by side
| Digital edition | The Hundredth Episode | The Orpheum File |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A murder mystery party game | A cold case file |
| Players | 8 to 20 | 1 or 2 |
| Ages | 16 and up | 16 and up |
| Time | About three hours, or 90 minutes with the short format | 60 to 90 minutes, no clock |
| Price | $29.99 | $6.99 |
| What you need | A phone per player, online, in any current browser; the host buys, players join free | A phone, tablet or computer, online, in any current browser |
| Where it plays | One room, a video call, or both | Anywhere; two devices can share one file |
| Who runs it | The host, from their phone, while playing a character | Nobody; there is no host |
| Replay | Four sealed cases; a night uses one | One case; hand it to someone else and watch them read it |
| Where to buy | On this site or on Etsy | On this site or on Etsy |
Printable or digital: what changes and what does not
Each game is the same game in either edition, at the same price. What changes is who does the handling.
| Printable | Digital edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Printing | The Hundredth Episode: the host prints about 50 sheets. The Orpheum File: 29 pages, or read on screen | Nothing |
| Picking the party's case | Someone who is not playing picks a number; the host prints that case blind | The room picks when the host starts it, and never says which |
| Character guides | Sent to each player as their own file, or handed over on paper | Each phone shows its own guide once the host casts that player |
| Evidence, cards and the vote | Sorted face-down into stacks, pocketed, and tallied by hand | Released to the right phones at the right moment, and the vote counted for you |
| Hints in the cold case | One hint per page in a booklet | One tap per tier |
| Playing apart | The party needs a room; the case needs one table | The party works on a video call; the case works across two devices |
| What you keep | The files, to print again | The link; a new room on the same copy picks an unplayed case |
| Price | $29.99 and $6.99 | $29.99 and $6.99 |
Which one should you pick?
Pick The Hundredth Episode if you have a crowd. Eight people is a real minimum and three hours is a real commitment; what you get for it is twenty people in character, a vote before the answer is read, and a host who is genuinely playing. If your crowd is spread across cities, the digital edition is the version that works, because the room does not care where the phones are.
Pick The Orpheum File if you want a quiet evening and close reading. One or two people, no scheduling, no host. Its pleasure is catching one document contradicting another, and the digital edition keeps the worksheet beside the exhibits and the hints one tap away.
They share a world. The Orpheum File is the cold case at the Orpheum Theater, fifteen years ago. The Hundredth Episode happens fifteen years later in the same building, at the live taping of the true-crime podcast The Cold Ledger, the show that reopened that case. Each stands entirely on its own and neither spoils the other's answer, so the order is yours. If you want to try the house style before paying for anything, The 90-Second Case is free in the browser: four exhibits, three statements, one lie, ninety seconds.
Where to buy, and what arrives
On this site: The Hundredth Episode at $29.99 and The Orpheum File at $6.99. Checkout opens a page with your link at once, and the same link arrives by email: the host page for the party, from which you start rooms, or the case for the cold case, which opens on any device you sign in from. Both are refundable within 14 days until you start your first room or open the case.
On Etsy: The Hundredth Episode digital edition and The Orpheum File digital edition, at the same prices. Etsy delivers a one-page pass; type your Etsy order number on the page it names and your game opens. The printable editions stay on sale in both places, at the same prices.
Coming next
The next Cold Ledger party game is in the works: for 8 to 20 again, set at a company's year-end party at the founder's lake house, with a one-to-two player mini-case alongside it. It has no name and no date yet, and this is all we will say about it until it does.
Frequently asked questions
Do the players need to buy anything or install an app?
No. For The Hundredth Episode, one person buys the digital edition and starts a room; everyone else joins with a link or a code and a name, in any current browser, and buys nothing. For The Orpheum File, one person buys the case and sends the case link to a partner. Nothing is installed for either game.
Can the host play The Hundredth Episode without knowing the killer?
Yes. The game holds four sealed cases. When the host starts a room, the room picks one of the four and never tells the host which, so the host takes a character and works the evidence as blind as the guests, and finds out at the reveal with everyone else.
Does it work over Zoom or another video call?
Yes. The Hundredth Episode runs from the host's phone and reaches every player's phone wherever it is, so the party works in one room, on a video call, or both at once. The Orpheum File works the same way for two people: send the case link, and both of you work the same file from separate devices.
How many people can play?
The Hundredth Episode is for 8 to 20 players: characters 1 to 8 are required and the mystery is fully solvable with eight, and characters 9 to 20 join in number order. The Orpheum File is for one or two detectives. Both are for ages 16 and up.
How long does each game take?
The Hundredth Episode runs about three hours, arrival to verdict, or 90 minutes with the short format, where the evidence pack goes to every phone ahead of time as required reading and nothing is cut from the mystery. The Orpheum File takes 60 to 90 minutes, with no clock, and progress saves with the case if you stop partway.
What is the difference between the printable and the digital edition?
The same game and the same price in each case: The Hundredth Episode is $29.99 in either edition and The Orpheum File is $6.99 in either. The printable is PDFs you print at home or read on screen; the digital edition plays in the browser with nothing to print, picks the party's case for you, releases evidence and sealed cards to the right phones at the right moment, and counts the vote. The printables stay on sale.
Can we play The Hundredth Episode more than once?
Yes. After the first night, three of the four sealed cases are still unplayed on that copy. Start another room and it picks one of the cases you have not played: the same twenty characters and the same minute in the dark, with an evidence trail that convicts somebody else.
Where do you buy the digital editions, and what arrives?
On wigleystudios.com, checkout opens a page with your link at once and the same link arrives by email: the host page for The Hundredth Episode, or the case for The Orpheum File. On Etsy, each digital listing delivers a one-page pass; type your Etsy order number on the page it names and your game opens. Either way there is nothing to download to play.
Pick your table
The Hundredth Episode, a murder mystery party for 8 to 20 on everyone's phones, $29.99. The Orpheum File, a cold case for one or two on yours, $6.99. Nothing to print, nothing to install.
The Hundredth Episode The Orpheum File