Sixty seconds of darkness. Two hundred witnesses. Nobody saw a thing.
THE HUNDREDTH EPISODE
A murder mystery party game for 8–20 players, about three hours, printable or played on everyone's phones. A true-crime podcast is taping 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 and nobody has left the building.
Printable: instant download, 4 PDFs + 1 ZIP, US Letter, black-and-white friendly · Digital edition: a room on your players' phones, nothing to print · Which should I pick?
Both Cold Ledger games in one purchase: The Hundredth Episode + The Orpheum File, $37.99, printable or digital.
Refundable within 14 days until you download, or start your first room; after that the sale is final unless something is faulty (refund policy).
"Seven footfalls walked toward him in the dark. Everyone in this room can explain where they were."
Inside the game
The printable's files and the digital edition's phones, each led by its video.
Four killers. One box. The host doesn't know either.
Most party mysteries hand the host the answer and ask them to keep a straight face for three hours. This one doesn't. Four complete sealed cases ship inside the game, and the setup picks one without ever showing you which: a picker page in the printable, the room itself in the digital edition.
Someone else picks the number
Before the party, a person who isn't playing picks a number from one to four. You print only the pages that number names — the four spans are unlabeled, identical in length, and nothing on the picker page hints at what's inside them. On phones, the room rolls that die for you and keeps the answer to itself.
So you get to play too
You take a character, work the evidence, and argue alongside everyone else. Nothing the host does all evening requires knowing the killer — you find out when you open the sealed solution and read it aloud, with the room.
Three cases are still sealed
When the group wants another night, three unopened cases are sitting in the same file: same twenty people, same sixty seconds of dark, an evidence trail that convicts somebody else.
Two ways to play, one night
The same twenty characters, the same minute in the dark, the same four sealed cases. Pick the table you play at.
Printable
Five files to download: the host guide and the four sealed cases behind a picker page, all twenty character guides for print and for phones, and the evidence pack with name tags, voting cards and awards. The host prints one case and the evidence; players read their guide on a phone or on paper.
- Instant download, about 50 sheets for the host to print
- Yours to keep and print again
- Also sold on Etsy
Digital edition
The game on everyone's phones, nothing to print. You start a room from your host page, players join with a link and a name, and each phone shows its own guide privately. On the night your phone runs the evening: the blackout's minute on every screen, the sealed cards to the eight primaries' phones, the statements, the evidence waves, a secret vote the room counts, and the reveal on every screen at once.
- Players buy nothing and install nothing
- In one room, or on a video call for a remote team
- The three cases you haven't played stay available for another night
What's in the printable
Five files — four PDFs and one ZIP — delivered the moment you buy: a download page opens right after checkout, and the same link lands in your email.
START HERE
Host only. How the evening runs, the five-minute picker procedure, and the spoiler map that says exactly who may read what.
HOST MATERIALS
The complete host guide — every line you read aloud is written out — plus the picker page and the four sealed cases behind it.
CHARACTER PACK · PRINT
All twenty character guides, two pages each: secrets, three objectives, one costume line, and an on-the-record statement to read aloud.
CHARACTER PACK · PHONE
A ZIP of the same twenty guides as separate files, so you can text each player exactly one. Players never need a printer.
EVIDENCE PACK
Nineteen pieces of printed evidence — logs, diagrams, transcripts, memos — plus name tags, voting cards, awards, and an invitation template.
How the night actually runs
About three hours, arrival to verdict. The host guide reads the whole evening out loud for you — nobody needs acting experience, and every costume is one easy line. In the digital edition the same beats are the phases your phone steps through: statements are read from each player's phone, the waves open on every phone at once, the vote is cast on phones and counted for you, and the solution reaches every screen together. The beats below are the printed evening.
Arrival
Name tags, drinks, everyone in character. Every guide carries three objectives and the social ones point at named people, so the room warms itself up while you do nothing but enjoy it.
The blackout
You turn the lights off for one real minute and nobody moves — it's atmosphere, not a re-enactment. When they come back on, you read the discovery script and hand the eight primary characters their sealed cards.
On the record
In character order, every player reads their printed statement aloud. No interruptions. From that moment the statements are testimony, and anyone may quote them for the rest of the night.
Three evidence waves
THE ROOM, then THE SYSTEMS, then THE PAPER TRAIL — what the building was, what the machines heard, what people carried. You flip a face-down stack at the top of each wave and keep time while the room argues.
Accusations and the vote
Thirty seconds each, in character: name one suspect and one piece of evidence. No passes. Then everyone votes by card, secretly, and you tally it aloud.
The sealed solution
You retrieve the folded page and read it top to bottom exactly as printed. It walks the dark minute leg by leg with timestamps and reads the proof — which was printable and on the table the entire time. Awards after, win or lose.
What the host has to do
One setup session before the party, and then the guide runs the evening for you. Printable on the left of each step, phones on the right.
Send guides two days ahead
Printable: one file per player from the phone pack, or their pages from the print pack. Digital edition: start a room, send the join link, and cast players as they arrive; each phone shows its own guide. Either way they read it privately and arrive as somebody.
Pick the case without peeking
Printable: someone else names a number, you print that span and nothing else. It isn't difficult — it only asks you not to peek. Digital edition: the room picks when you start it, and never tells you.
Sort and hide
Printable: sort the evidence face-down into three station stacks by the corner mark, pocket the sealed character cards, and put the folded solution under the centerpiece. Digital edition: nothing to sort; the room holds everything until its moment.
Keep time and play
Flip a stack per wave, or tap the next phase on your phone; call the occasional press conference, and otherwise be a character in the room like everybody else.
Good to know
Characters 1–8 are required and the mystery is fully solvable at eight; 9–20 join in number order, and nobody in the fiction dangles uncleared when a seat is empty. With the printable only the host needs a printer; with the digital edition nobody does. You'll want a room where the lights can go off for a minute, or a video call where everyone's phone can. Play it as many times as you like for your own game nights.
Content note: a man is killed on stage and a fifteen-year-old death is reopened; named characters carry grief and years of public blame. No gore, no sexual assault. Ages 16 and up. The evening includes one minute with the lights out — anyone who would rather not can simply close their eyes.
Common questions
How many players does The Hundredth Episode need?
Eight to twenty. Characters 1–8 are required and the mystery is fully solvable with eight; characters 9–20 join in number order, and nobody in the story is left dangling when a seat is empty.
How long does the game take?
About three hours, arrival to verdict. If you have a fixed end time, the host materials include a 90-minute format: everyone gets the case file, the evidence pack's nineteen documents, two days ahead, and nothing is cut from the mystery.
Can the host play too?
Yes. Four complete sealed cases ship in the game. With the printable, someone who isn't playing picks a number from one to four and you print only the pages that number names, so the setup never shows you who the killer is. In the digital edition the room picks the case itself and never shows you. Either way you play a character all evening, as blind as your guests: unless your own sealed card tells you at the blackout that you did it, you find out at the reveal with the rest of the room.
What is the digital edition?
The same game played on phones, with nothing to print. You open your host page and start a room, days ahead if you like. Players join with a link or a code, give a name, and buy nothing; once you cast them, each phone shows its own character guide privately. On the night your phone runs the evening: the blackout's minute, the sealed cards to the eight primaries' phones, the statements, the three evidence waves, a secret vote the room counts, and the reveal on every screen at once. It works in one room or on a video call, and the three cases you haven't played stay available for another night.
What do I need to print?
With the printable, only the host needs a printer: the 22 pages of the case the picker names, plus the 28-page evidence pack with name tags, voting cards, team verdict cards and awards. That's about 50 sheets of US Letter, one-sided, and black and white is fine. Players read their own character guide on a phone, or on two printed pages if they'd rather have paper. With the digital edition, nothing: everything is on the phones.
Does it work for an office party or team building?
Yes. Nobody needs acting experience: every line the host reads aloud is written out, and each costume is one easy line. For a work event with a hard stop, use the 90-minute format. With the printable, the room can also split into competing detective teams, each handing in a verdict card the host scores after the reveal. Running it for paying guests, such as a ticketed event, needs our written permission first (section 2.5 of our terms).
What ages is it for?
Ages 16 and up. A man is killed on stage and a fifteen-year-old death is reopened, and some characters carry grief and years of public blame. No gore, no sexual assault. The evening has one minute with the lights out; anyone who would rather not can simply close their eyes.
How do I get the files?
Instantly. The printable: a download page opens right after checkout and the same link arrives by email, four PDFs plus a ZIP of the twenty character guides as separate files so you can text each player their own. The digital edition: a page with your host link opens right after checkout, and the same link arrives by email so you can start a room whenever you like.
Can we play it again?
Yes. After your first night three cases are still sealed in the same game: the same twenty characters and the same minute in the dark, with an evidence trail that convicts somebody else. With the printable, run the picker again on the numbers you haven't used; in the digital edition, start another room and it picks from the cases you haven't played.
Is there a bundle with The Orpheum File?
Yes. The Cold Ledger bundle has The Hundredth Episode and The Orpheum File together for $37.99, printable or as both digital editions, against $41.98 bought separately. Each game arrives exactly as it does when bought alone. See the bundle.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, within 14 days of buying, as long as you haven't downloaded the files or, for the digital edition, started a room. After that the sale is final, unless something is faulty: if a file won't open, pages are missing or a room won't load, reply to your purchase email and we'll fix it or refund you. Details are in the refund policy.
THE ORPHEUM FILE
The same town, fifteen years earlier — the night that started all of this. A cold-case mystery for 1–2 detectives, printable or played on your phone: seventeen exhibits, four objectives, graduated hints, a sealed solution, and one evening at the kitchen table. Each game stands entirely on its own, and neither spoils the other's answer.
The room investigates itself.
Twenty people. One minute in the dark. Four ways this ends.
Refundable within 14 days until you download, or start your first room; after that the sale is final unless something is faulty (refund policy).