Welcome to Grim Gatherings
A story-led murder-mystery party for friends, with the host's narration on one device and each guest's character and clues on their own phone. You can use a ready-to-play mystery or write one in the workshop. Accounts are optional for playing.
Your game night in three steps
- Prepare the gathering. Choose Create a new game, add each player's name, and pick a mystery whose player range fits your group. Review the story and assign characters. The host narrates and only counts as a player if assigned a character too.
- Open the doors. Open the lobby before sharing its QR code or room link. Guests scan or enter the code, choose their assigned name, and read their character invitation. Start the game when everyone is ready.
- Read, discuss, vote, reveal. The host reads each chapter aloud. Every guest reads their current clue about another character to the group. Discuss the public evidence and vote after each round; clues can change your mind. After the final vote, choose Reveal the killer and read the solution. After the host confirms End game, the host returns home and connected guests can choose Return home.
All evidence in the ready-to-play mysteries is read aloud. Do not inspect the host's story review if you want to avoid spoilers. Murderer identity notification is an optional host setting; it is off by default.
Optional premium games use a different format: secret-faction social deduction for 3-10 players, passing one trusted device around for private cards and actions. The two-game bundle is a one-time $9.99 USD purchase tied to the signed-in account; those games do not offer the free mysteries' phone-room joining. The shop tells you whether purchases are open.
Devices, connections & saved games
Use a current Safari or Chrome browser and an internet connection on every device. A laptop or tablet is ideal for hosting. The host browser runs the room: keep the game screen open and the device awake. We request screen sleep prevention where the browser allows it, but this cannot keep a closed laptop, locked device or suspended browser running.
If someone disconnects, leave their character assigned. Phones retry automatically and keep their last received clues; votes wait until reconnected. Return to the host screen or choose Reconnect room. Do not create a new room just to repair a connection.
If you reload the host or return home, choose Resume on the same browser and device to reopen the saved room. Guests keep the same link and character. Browser Back preserves your saved game. Creating a new game or replacing a mystery asks for confirmation before discarding the old room's progress.
Save an edited mystery to My Stories or download its JSON before ending a game. A saved mystery is separate from live progress. Local saves are not an account backup and can be lost if you clear browser data. Optional workshop accounts provide creator draft backups, not live-game cloud hosting.
If a room cannot connect, check its code, ask the host to open the lobby, and make sure the host is awake and online. Some restrictive networks block peer-to-peer connections; try another network or browser. A sleeping host temporarily pauses the game rather than providing always-on server hosting.
Contact & support
Report bugs or ask general questions through our GitHub support tracker. Include the browser, device, steps to reproduce and any non-sensitive error message. A GitHub account is needed to post.
Reports are public. Never post passwords, API keys, account tokens, live room links, unpublished stories or personal information. For an account or privacy question, ask the owner for a private contact method without posting your account details.