Murder mystery card game created by Morecambe based events company proves a success

“When it became clear that we wouldn’t be able to go out and perform we realised we’d need an alternate source of income to keep the company going,” said Ben Cooper-Muir, director of the company who co-created the game with his husband Lee.

“We toyed with the idea of doing online events or mail out mysteries but customers can only play those once. We wanted to create something you could go back to and enjoy again and again, which is where we came up with the idea for Foul Play.”

It took many months of plotting and scheming to plan out this perfect crime, but the master criminals finally cracked it and the game allows for there to be a different killer every time you play. The game is for two to five players from age 14 +and here is a summary of how you play it from the producers.

“Welcome to Edwardian England. The Lord of the Manor is dead! There are eight suspects, servants at D’Arque Manor, all accused of the murder of the Lord and Master of the estate and it’s up to you to play against the other detectives to be the first to uncover the evidence, capture the killer and solve the crime. There’s more than one way to catch a killer though. So what’s it gonna be? Good Cop or Bad Cop? These two game versions come with their own set of rules and tactics to crack the case and finger your suspect, but will you use fair play or Foul Play?

You’ll need to find the three evidence cards that point to a specific suspect in order to catch a killer in this crazy criminal caper. Will you uncover them in the crime scene? Or will you resort to more tricky tactics, and plunder the proof you need to solve this crime?”

Ben said: “Originally, when we created the game there was just one way to play. Then, as me and Lee were testing it out, we realised that there was an alternate way to play.

“One where you didn’t just catch the killer, but you framed them for the crime. So we added that in as an alternate way to play. You can either be a Good Cop and find the evidence to solve the crime or Bad Cop and find the evidence to frame a suspect.”

However you play the game, it’s a hit for any lover of murder mysteries and sold almost 200 copies over the launch weekend. So does that mean that After Dark will be giving up their live events to get into game production full time? “Absolutely not!” insisted Ben, “As soon as we can get back out performing again, nothing can stop us! Let’s just say that Foul Play is another string to our bows. Who knows, we might do Foul Play Live when lockdown finishes. Who knows what the future holds!”

Foul Play is available from www.foulplaygame.co.uk. Priced £8.95 per deck plus P & P.