Written by Amelia Huggins
Well howdy y’all kind folk, it’s October 20 1874, and there
has been a murder Out here in the Olde West! Mitch Maverick
was shot dead late last night at the Deadwood Saloon, which
is such a shame, ‘cuz he just won a bunch of money in a poker
tournament. And my oh my, how quickly everyone turned
on eachother, with gentleman accusing gentleman and even
ladies accusing other ladies. Folks, it was a mighty disaster!
Lucky for y’all, none of it was real. Why, it was simply
just a game, darlin’, hosted by Roanoke College’s own Historical
Society. A similar Murder Mystery party was held by the
organization last year.
The actual date was October 29, 2023, and the actual
setting was the Bank building. Participants got to dress up in
whatever costume they wanted, and talk in whatever accent
they wanted, from 6:30-8:30, which is quite a nice change
of pace as opposed to the dreaded tests and projects of the
week prior. There was food, laughs, good company, prop guns,
you name it, they had it. Each of the participants was given
a character sheet as a guide before the game began. This
character was who we were supposed to embody, and who
would hopefully solve the mystery of “whodunit”.
At the beginning of the game, everyone was also given
a sheet with a list of objectives to complete as a way to meet
other characters. Then, as we were all settling into each other’s
company, BAM! Mr. Maverick was shot dead just as he was
about to win the award for the poker tournament, kicking off
the second half of the night. After that, participants were all
given a new sheet of objectives, this time not to help us get to
know each other, but to hopefully help us sort out the murder
and bring Mr. Maverick’s killer to justice.
By the end of the night, one person was able to solve
the mystery of who the killer was! The answer was shocking,
and other secrets were revealed along with it. All and all, it was
quite a fine evening filled with lots of excitement.
