From Halloween Enthusiast to Game Creator

I’ve always loved Halloween. The crisp fall air, the spooky atmosphere, the thrill of a good story—it’s a time of year that has always sparked my creativity. Growing up, I spent hours writing stories about haunted cornfields, mysterious shadows, and falling into other worlds. Now that I’m older, I’ve realized it’s not the spooky season that I love so much as the stories it inspires.

When I moved into my new home, I naturally decided to throw a Halloween party. But I had a dilemma. As much as I love Halloween, I’m not a traditional party person. The idea of standing around a snack table or awkwardly mingling while music plays in the background just doesn’t appeal to me. Even with my closest friends, traditional “parties” are hard for me. What I really wanted was something more structured—something that would tie my love of spooky stories with my passion for games.

That’s when the idea for Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party was born.

The Spark of the Idea: A Different Kind of Party

I’ve always been obsessed with games—whether it’s board games, video games, or card games, I love the challenge and the chance to immerse myself in a different world. When I started planning my Halloween party, my first thought was to host a murder mystery game. But as I browsed through kits online, nothing clicked. Most murder mystery parties felt predictable—different themes but the same structure. Others were too complex for what I had in mind. I wanted a simple game that my friends could easily engage with but wouldn’t feel pressured to play. I wanted a game to guide the party, not a scripted night.

That’s when I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Instead of a murder mystery, I thought it would be more fun to play a social deduction game, where my guests would take on roles and try to deduce which one of them was secretly “possessed.” I wanted to give my friends structure but also the freedom to let their personalities shine. And of course, I wanted to write the story for this game.

To make things easier for my more introverted friends, I decided to pre-assign ghostly personalities so they wouldn’t have to worry about coming up with characters on their own.

I knew I needed one of my friends to act as my Seer, guiding the group in their search for the possessed, while another would secretly be the Possessed (which later became the Demon role in Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party). The Seer was chosen in advance to help me out—there’s nothing like recruiting your best friend to make sure things run smoothly at your first Halloween party!

Building the Game: From Roles to Rituals

Once I had the basic idea of the game—players haunted by different ghosts and one of them secretly possessed—it was time to flesh out the mechanics. I decided to structure the party around a four-course meal. Between each course, I would encourage my guests to discuss who they thought might be possessed, with a vote at the end of each round.

To keep things discreet, I had guests close their eyes as I collected the dishes at the end of each course. I thought the sound of plates clinking was the perfect cover to secretly ask the Seer to open their eyes and guess who the possessed might be. I’d also ask the Possessed to “claim” a victim, who I would discreetly notify in between courses. The whole process added a layer of mystery and excitement to the dinner, even if it was a bit messy in its first iteration.

In the final version of Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party, I refined these mechanics, giving hosts several options for how to be more discreet in communicating with the Seer and the Demon. I also changed the “possession” component of the gameplay to an optional variation to increase the difficulty. This gives players a more customizable experience, depending on how challenging they want the game to be.

Unexpected Twists and Lessons Learned

One of the best parts of that first party was watching how my guests interacted with the game. While I had designed the mechanics and roles, the most unexpected twists came from the players themselves. One of my friends, in an attempt to protect the group, decided to hoard the cocktail recipe pages—the ones I’d scattered around the house for players to find and brew a banishing potion. They even hid the pages in new places, which meant the challenge of creating the potion wasn’t completed until after the game ended.

That was one of the big lessons I learned: sometimes, players will take the game in directions you didn’t anticipate, and you need to be flexible with your design. Another lesson came from my quieter friends. While I knew they wanted to participate, they weren’t sure how to jump into the discussions. From that, I realized the importance of encouraging participation without forcing it, so in the final game, I included guidelines for hosts on how to balance personalities and make sure everyone stays involved.

Story and Lore: The Creation of Lady Halloway

For the game’s story, I originally had Mr. Halloway as the antagonist—an evil demon who had called everyone to the house. But that felt too obvious, too much like a typical murder mystery. So, I created Lady Halloway, a woman searching for her lost partner, Henry. While looking for him, she accidentally opened a door between worlds, allowing ghostly spirits—and the demon—to cross over into our realm.

In the first version of the game, I tied the backstory directly to the potion mini-game. Guests could piece together the lore while they searched for ingredients to banish the possessed. But in the final version of Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party, I decided to separate the two. The journal entries now serve as atmospheric elements, giving curious players more context without affecting the flow of gameplay.

The Magic of the Color-Changing Potion

One of my favorite elements of the game was the idea of banishing the possessed through a color-changing cocktail—a “potion” that players could brew together. Originally, I planned to have multiple drink options with a riddle (inspired by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) where players had to figure out which potion was the right one. But riddles are hard to write, and I wanted to keep the experience more lighthearted.

So instead, I created a recipe with themed ingredients and scattered the recipe pages throughout the house. The cocktail was a fun way to cap off the night, and while it was more of a party element than a core gameplay mechanic, it added to the overall immersive feel of the evening.

From Party Game to Finished Product: The Evolution of Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party

After the success of that first party, I realized I had something special on my hands. What started as a fun Halloween game for friends evolved into a full-fledged project. It took me about two months to pull off that initial party, but refining the game into the version you see today took nearly a year of redesigning and tweaking.

One of the biggest challenges was finding the right balance between fun and complexity. I wanted the game to be accessible, even for players who aren’t experienced with social deduction games, but still engaging enough to keep people on their toes. Over time, I added options for different difficulty levels, expanded on the story, and fine-tuned the mechanics so that hosts could customize the experience based on their group’s preferences.

Reflections on the Journey

Looking back on the journey of creating Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party, I’m amazed at how much it evolved from that first party idea. It started as a way to bring structure to a Halloween gathering and turned into something far bigger—a game that blends my love of storytelling, games, and spooky themes into one immersive experience.

For anyone considering designing their own party game, my advice is simple: don’t be afraid to start small, learn from your players, and let the game evolve organically. You never know where it might take you.

I can’t wait for others to experience the world of Dead Man’s (Dinner) Party. Who knows? Maybe Lady Halloway’s story will inspire a new round of spooky tales at your next Halloween party.