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What is a murdergame? A primer
A murdergame is a short-term cast-capped roleplay on Dreamwidth where player characters murder other player characters. This post will explain conventions of the genre as clearly as possible for newcomers.
How do I join a murdergame?
What happens in a murdergame?
The most common murdergame is what I will call a "murder mystery game". Characters are told to murder one of their fellow participants due to an incentive or threat. When someone is murdered, characters will investigate the body and the crime scene, then present this evidence at a trial. They are then forced to vote for a fellow participant to be executed.
Are there other types of murdergames?
Yes! Perhaps the characters are forced to vote for one person to kill like in the hit free game Your Turn to Die, or perhaps in a werewolf/mafia situation the characters are forced to attack members of opposite factions if they want to survive. Sometimes mafia games even have "trials", though they are usually not "evidence-based" in the sense that it is possible to take fingerprints or otherwise identify who committed the murder. I will continue to focus on "murder mystery games".
Wait, are there subtypes of murder mystery games?
There are two main types of murder mystery games.
Mass execution games have two possible outcomes at a trial. Either the cast votes for the correct culprit, who is executed; or the cast votes for someone else, and everyone BUT the culprit is executed, meaning the cast would be executed "en masse". Some mass execution games have an explicit philosophy of ensuring that the mass execution outcome does not happen.
Scapegoat games play out with either the cast voting for the correct culprit, who is executed; or the cast voting for someone other than the correct culprit. This other person has become the "scapegoat" and is executed. Often, there will be a possibility for the original culprit to "retire", i.e. become exempt from the IC rules of the death game. (Killing the retiree would be neither incentivized nor prosecuted, and they likewise could not reap the benefits of a motive even if they attempted another murder.)
Mass execution games often have commonalities far beyond the single rule structuring the killing game: They may require all game canon threads to be public outside of specific plot role circumstances, or use specific header comments such as "Monday" and "post-execution" to organize player threads. Likewise, scapegoat games may be similar to other scapegoat games, such as allowing players to lock any post they wish as long as a mod account is included in the filter. However, any particular murdergame might be comprised from whatever selection of mass-ex-typical or scapegoat-typical elements.
What are app restrictions for murdergames?
Many murdergames have an "age cap" due to the dark subject matter; characters may need to be 18+, 16+, or 15+. Sometimes there is a variant such as a "maturity clause", where characters like Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender or Emma from The Promised Neverland are deemed "suitable" for a death game.
The absolute lowest age cap I have ever seen is 11 years old, besides Castle Whimsical (![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
castle_whims), a game for any and all characters 17-and-under.
Games may have other general criteria like a canonmate cap or a request that canons have an English translation available.
"Gimmick rounds" also exist where characters may follow some other specific criteria, like committing a murder before, or being from a canon that is a video game.
Who gets to commit murder in a murdergame?
In most recent games, the answer is "RNG decides who". Player applications will include their character choice of "culprit" or "victim", and perhaps information about their schedule, such as whether they're willing to be part of the very first case. Based on these criteria, the mods will "roll the dice", contact the selected culprit/victim, and set up a Discord message or private Plurk where they can plan the case. Often, details of the case will be compiled in a Google doc. Many games will allow variations such as accomplices or "double murders" (where the culprit kills a second person, usually a witness to their first crime). The sky is the limit, mods can be very open to implementing player ideas!
Some games select murder case participants without RNG. This might be based on different criteria such as player schedules or plot circumstances. The most common recent method is called "proposals", where prospective killer players will have an opportunity to write up a "proposal" about how their character would go about the murder that week.
Overall, the moderators will organize the murders, and players communicate with the mods before any game canon death happens.
What else do I have to do in a murdergame?
The following schedule is common in many games. The body discovery investigation starts at 12 PM EST Friday. (Hence the meme "Friday is die-day".) The trial will begin at 12 PM EST Saturday. Afterwards, players will submit "trial proof", a link to at least one trial comment from their character, as well as "non-trial AC", a link to comments that are not related to the investigation or trial. One game's requirement is one ten-comment thread; another requirement is twenty comments spread over 2-4 threads. In other words, activity check is weekly for living characters! This corresponds to 50-100 comments a month, and many players will post even more.
If a player does not complete AC or chooses to drop, usually their character will be killed outside of a case, which is frequently framed as a "punishment" for breaking an IC rule. For example, they may be killed for abstaining from the vote in a trial, entering a restricted area, or attempting to attack the captors.
What are other common murdergame tropes?
I keep hearing about a graveyard. What is that, a cemetery?
In virtually all murdergames, you get to continue playing your character after they die. Usually these characters are confined to a "graveyard" or "deadland"; living characters are initially unaware of their continued existence. Due to this secrecy, players of dead characters may be invited to a "deadchat" such as a separate discord channel. Explanations for characters' consciousnesses persisting after death may include the dead characters being copied into a virtual reality, the entire killing game taking place in a virtual reality in the first place, a universe where there is an afterlife like Supernatural / Ghostbusters / The World Ends with You, or the characters being brought back to life with magic/technology in some other location.
Sometimes graveyards provide the option to spectate the activities of the living, sometimes not. Sometimes characters will be able to interact with "graveyard NPCs" and otherwise experience a new direction for the plot, sometimes not. Depends on a lot of factors.
The graveyard may be simply a different plane of existence where the characters find themselves to be intangible ghosts in the same setting as the living characters. Sometimes the dead characters become ghosts or zombies that are even readily visible and able to speak freely in the same area. However, there might still be secrets about these beings' nature, or special hidden locations they access, so there is still a "dead server".
What is golden ending?
Eventually, the dead characters may be granted the opportunity to be restored into their previous state of existence. If they do in fact get brought back to life, then "golden ending" has occurred. Sometimes, golden ending encompasses other positive events, such as permanently defeating their captors, regaining their powers (because they were "nerfed" during the murdergame), or getting to return home. Reviving the dead is the main usage, though (e.g. "can't wait until they golden end and go home together"). Since intermediate rounds of multi-round murdergames do not have a "golden ending", sometimes the entire multi-round murdergame will instead have what they call a "diamond ending". See below.
What should I know about multi-round murdergames?
Multi-round murdergames can take many forms! Sometimes the rounds are entirely unrelated and just have a similar format. Sometimes the rounds clearly take place in the same universe yet continuity is still basically irrelevant to gameplay.
However, some multi-round murdergames have a "survivorland" and/or a "shared graveyard". In round 1, several characters will die and end up in the graveyard, and then the living characters find that instead of returning home, they are stuck in "survivorland". Then round 2 is similar, with R1 and R2 characters meeting in these places, and so on until the final round where there is at last the opportunity for "diamond ending", where all characters come back to life.
Multi-round murdergames may also have "all-star rounds", where only characters from previous rounds are allowed to apply. If there is a shared graveyard, all-star rounds will usually be restricted to characters who were survivors in said past rounds.
What is a mock week?
Usually, a mock week for a murder mystery game lasts for one OOC week and culminates in one murder case and trial, so the term comes from the phrase "mock trial". Mock round is an alternative term that is applied especially frequently in situations where there is more than one week of play time.
I have more questions!
Then feel free to comment on this post! ♥
How do I join a murdergame?
- First comes an interest check, a post where people say "We're running a murdergame for [spins wheel] anime characters set in [pulls card out of hat] a network of caverns. Would you be able to play in April, May, or June?" Prospective players will reply to the post with their character considerations and any questions they may have.
- Next comes a Plurk announcement that reserves will open on a specific date. Let's say 4/20 at 12 PM EST. Yes, the time is important.
- Reserves are formally opened when 4/20 comes around. There will be a limited number of slots for the game, about 15-40, and this is your one chance to app. Many games fill up within SECONDS. As a result, games may offer a "proxy reserve" system where you can make your friend paste in right at 12 PM, "Lenga is apping Haruhi Suzumiya".
- The actual apps will be open for perhaps a week. Alternatively, "reserve drops" may occur; this may reopen slots (before the app period ends), or "waitlisted" players might get to app.
What happens in a murdergame?
- The characters find themselves confined to a specific area; often a single large complex building, sometimes more like a village. Their captors state that there are incentives to commit murder. There are no immediately obvious ways to avoid the captors' threats or return home.
- Events occur over a limited period of time. There may be a peace week, 3-6 weeks with guaranteed death events, and then a final "endgame" week leading up to a "mastermind trial".
- There may be just one "mingle post" per week, which can even include other events like "punishments" or "motive announcements". Sometimes people post more than one "top-level" a week.
The most common murdergame is what I will call a "murder mystery game". Characters are told to murder one of their fellow participants due to an incentive or threat. When someone is murdered, characters will investigate the body and the crime scene, then present this evidence at a trial. They are then forced to vote for a fellow participant to be executed.
Are there other types of murdergames?
Yes! Perhaps the characters are forced to vote for one person to kill like in the hit free game Your Turn to Die, or perhaps in a werewolf/mafia situation the characters are forced to attack members of opposite factions if they want to survive. Sometimes mafia games even have "trials", though they are usually not "evidence-based" in the sense that it is possible to take fingerprints or otherwise identify who committed the murder. I will continue to focus on "murder mystery games".
Wait, are there subtypes of murder mystery games?
There are two main types of murder mystery games.
Mass execution games have two possible outcomes at a trial. Either the cast votes for the correct culprit, who is executed; or the cast votes for someone else, and everyone BUT the culprit is executed, meaning the cast would be executed "en masse". Some mass execution games have an explicit philosophy of ensuring that the mass execution outcome does not happen.
Scapegoat games play out with either the cast voting for the correct culprit, who is executed; or the cast voting for someone other than the correct culprit. This other person has become the "scapegoat" and is executed. Often, there will be a possibility for the original culprit to "retire", i.e. become exempt from the IC rules of the death game. (Killing the retiree would be neither incentivized nor prosecuted, and they likewise could not reap the benefits of a motive even if they attempted another murder.)
Mass execution games often have commonalities far beyond the single rule structuring the killing game: They may require all game canon threads to be public outside of specific plot role circumstances, or use specific header comments such as "Monday" and "post-execution" to organize player threads. Likewise, scapegoat games may be similar to other scapegoat games, such as allowing players to lock any post they wish as long as a mod account is included in the filter. However, any particular murdergame might be comprised from whatever selection of mass-ex-typical or scapegoat-typical elements.
What are app restrictions for murdergames?
Many murdergames have an "age cap" due to the dark subject matter; characters may need to be 18+, 16+, or 15+. Sometimes there is a variant such as a "maturity clause", where characters like Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender or Emma from The Promised Neverland are deemed "suitable" for a death game.
The absolute lowest age cap I have ever seen is 11 years old, besides Castle Whimsical (
castle_whims), a game for any and all characters 17-and-under.Games may have other general criteria like a canonmate cap or a request that canons have an English translation available.
"Gimmick rounds" also exist where characters may follow some other specific criteria, like committing a murder before, or being from a canon that is a video game.
Who gets to commit murder in a murdergame?
In most recent games, the answer is "RNG decides who". Player applications will include their character choice of "culprit" or "victim", and perhaps information about their schedule, such as whether they're willing to be part of the very first case. Based on these criteria, the mods will "roll the dice", contact the selected culprit/victim, and set up a Discord message or private Plurk where they can plan the case. Often, details of the case will be compiled in a Google doc. Many games will allow variations such as accomplices or "double murders" (where the culprit kills a second person, usually a witness to their first crime). The sky is the limit, mods can be very open to implementing player ideas!
Some games select murder case participants without RNG. This might be based on different criteria such as player schedules or plot circumstances. The most common recent method is called "proposals", where prospective killer players will have an opportunity to write up a "proposal" about how their character would go about the murder that week.
Overall, the moderators will organize the murders, and players communicate with the mods before any game canon death happens.
What else do I have to do in a murdergame?
The following schedule is common in many games. The body discovery investigation starts at 12 PM EST Friday. (Hence the meme "Friday is die-day".) The trial will begin at 12 PM EST Saturday. Afterwards, players will submit "trial proof", a link to at least one trial comment from their character, as well as "non-trial AC", a link to comments that are not related to the investigation or trial. One game's requirement is one ten-comment thread; another requirement is twenty comments spread over 2-4 threads. In other words, activity check is weekly for living characters! This corresponds to 50-100 comments a month, and many players will post even more.
If a player does not complete AC or chooses to drop, usually their character will be killed outside of a case, which is frequently framed as a "punishment" for breaking an IC rule. For example, they may be killed for abstaining from the vote in a trial, entering a restricted area, or attempting to attack the captors.
What are other common murdergame tropes?
- The characters may be assigned some kind of individual title, like Kino the "Wanderer" or Yugi the "Duelist". In these cases, often the NPCs will address the characters exclusively by titles rather than names. There may also be an official IC term for the group of characters trapped in the game, like "the Chosen Ones" or "the Damned".
- The characters may have lost several important memories and will regain them over time. Or they may start out with completely intact memories and lose memories over time.
- There may be a "gacha" in the game. Characters get tokens corresponding to their number of threads and put them into a vending machine. They may receive their own "regains" (items from home. Characters usually arrive with the clothes on their back, if that), other characters' "regains", or other items.
- There may be a mechanic for "private conversations", posts on a character journal that use Dreamwidth filters so only the participating players and the moderators can read them.
- Golden ending. See below.
I keep hearing about a graveyard. What is that, a cemetery?
In virtually all murdergames, you get to continue playing your character after they die. Usually these characters are confined to a "graveyard" or "deadland"; living characters are initially unaware of their continued existence. Due to this secrecy, players of dead characters may be invited to a "deadchat" such as a separate discord channel. Explanations for characters' consciousnesses persisting after death may include the dead characters being copied into a virtual reality, the entire killing game taking place in a virtual reality in the first place, a universe where there is an afterlife like Supernatural / Ghostbusters / The World Ends with You, or the characters being brought back to life with magic/technology in some other location.
Sometimes graveyards provide the option to spectate the activities of the living, sometimes not. Sometimes characters will be able to interact with "graveyard NPCs" and otherwise experience a new direction for the plot, sometimes not. Depends on a lot of factors.
The graveyard may be simply a different plane of existence where the characters find themselves to be intangible ghosts in the same setting as the living characters. Sometimes the dead characters become ghosts or zombies that are even readily visible and able to speak freely in the same area. However, there might still be secrets about these beings' nature, or special hidden locations they access, so there is still a "dead server".
What is golden ending?
Eventually, the dead characters may be granted the opportunity to be restored into their previous state of existence. If they do in fact get brought back to life, then "golden ending" has occurred. Sometimes, golden ending encompasses other positive events, such as permanently defeating their captors, regaining their powers (because they were "nerfed" during the murdergame), or getting to return home. Reviving the dead is the main usage, though (e.g. "can't wait until they golden end and go home together"). Since intermediate rounds of multi-round murdergames do not have a "golden ending", sometimes the entire multi-round murdergame will instead have what they call a "diamond ending". See below.
What should I know about multi-round murdergames?
Multi-round murdergames can take many forms! Sometimes the rounds are entirely unrelated and just have a similar format. Sometimes the rounds clearly take place in the same universe yet continuity is still basically irrelevant to gameplay.
However, some multi-round murdergames have a "survivorland" and/or a "shared graveyard". In round 1, several characters will die and end up in the graveyard, and then the living characters find that instead of returning home, they are stuck in "survivorland". Then round 2 is similar, with R1 and R2 characters meeting in these places, and so on until the final round where there is at last the opportunity for "diamond ending", where all characters come back to life.
Multi-round murdergames may also have "all-star rounds", where only characters from previous rounds are allowed to apply. If there is a shared graveyard, all-star rounds will usually be restricted to characters who were survivors in said past rounds.
What is a mock week?
Usually, a mock week for a murder mystery game lasts for one OOC week and culminates in one murder case and trial, so the term comes from the phrase "mock trial". Mock round is an alternative term that is applied especially frequently in situations where there is more than one week of play time.
I have more questions!
Then feel free to comment on this post! ♥