Hollywood Lies (16–32) 12+

Hollywood Lies – a present-day murder mystery party game with a Hollywood setting for 16 to 32 guests.

"Hollywood Lies was exactly what we wanted on New Year's Eve, a gala murder mystery. The guests haven't had that much fun at a party in years!"
Lauren Plaviak, Canada

Recommended for ages 12+
Costs US$49.99
Written by Steve Hatherley and DeAnna Knippling

Hollywood Lies is a dinner party murder mystery game for 16 to 32 guests and one or two hosts – download the free introductory pdf file.

Join us in a thrilling evening of scheming, intrigue and skulduggery. You will be in the middle of the action and it will be up to you to wheel and deal with the other guests. Can you achieve your goals, keep your secrets hidden and survive Hollywood Lies? It's up to you.

Hollywood Lies

It's award night and Tom Speed's latest film, Dazzled to Death, has just swept the board and garnered four Erics – for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Sadly, Tom Speed's award for Best Actor was accepted posthumously by his friend, Hayden Vicars, as Tom was killed in a driving accident late last night.

Despite this note of sadness, celebrations are in full swing at the Dazzled to Death post-award party. Deals are being cut for future productions and everyone is having a good time enjoying the atmosphere and mingling with Hollywood's movers and shakers.

Is there anything suspicious about Tom Speed's death? Who will win next year's Erics? Find out at Hollywood Lies.

Hollywood Lies lasts for about four hours and is suited to an evening. It is often played over a meal – a finger buffet if possible to allow guests to circulate and talk in private.

"I just hosted Hollywood Lies for a group of teen homeschoolers this weekend. I have to say that they had a blast! Their "movies" were a hoot! This is the 3rd year in a row that we have used your games as sort of an ice breaker for the kids to get to know one another. As usual, it was a great success. Thanks again!"
Janice , North Carolina, United States

The free introductory pdf file contains an introduction to the game and a cast list of all the characters – plus details of how to buy the game.

Important note: Hollywood Lies is an alternative version of one of our other games, Halloween Lies. The characters and the plots are the same, so if your guests have previously played Halloween Lies, they'll know the secrets of Hollywood Lies too! The difference is that Halloween Lies is written specifically for a Halloween party, while Hollywood Lies is suitable for any time of year.

These are the characters in Hollywood Lies:

• • Ash d'Lessey – Award-winning director of Dazzled to Death.
  • Bernie Newman – Has come to Hollywood to become a movie star.
  • Bobby Treveeno – Entertainer of the old school.
  • Cass Dockery – Works for a small independent movie financier, but is looking to break into acting.
  • Charlie Henderson-Plum – Played Skipper Primley, Dazzled to Death's British villain.
  • CJ Vasquez – One of Dazzled to Death's co-producers.
  • Claude Janvier – Composer who recently wrote the music for Ash d'Lessey's Bludgeoned on Broadway.
  • Detective Arden Chase – One of Hollywood's finest detectives.
  • Eddie Flax – One of Hollywood's many agents.
  • Evrim Meric – Bit-part actor with a minor role in Dazzled to Death.
  • Ghana Moon – Award-winning screenwriter of Dazzled to Death..
  • Hayden Vicars – Co-producer of Dazzled to Death and Tom Speed's friend.
  • Hunter Sharp – Independent film producer and director.
  • Jackie Simpson – Actor fired from Dazzled to Death before filming started.
  • Jam Lafayette – Owner of the Sacre Bleu! restaurant and TV celebrity chef.
  • Joss Dawson – In the business a long time, first as an actor and now as an agent.
  • Jules Milton – Manager of Spangles Hotel.
  • Les Tytan – Mesmerist whose clients have included Charlie Henderson-Plum and Mel Cutter.
  • Lou Egan – Respected Hollywood film director.
  • Luca Delmonico – Comes from a very wealthy family and recently appeared in the movie Davy Jones' Locker.
  • Max McNab – Bit-part actor struggling to get into the big time.
  • Mel Cutter – The author of 'Cutter's Comments', a notorious newspaper column in the Hollywood News.
  • Morgan Beech – Star of blockbuster movie Dazzled to Death.
  • Nat Rankin – Character actor who recently appeared in Davy Jones' Locker as a villain – as usual.
  • Pip Slater – One of Hollywood's many agents.
  • Ronnie Manfred – Character actor who often plays evil henchmen.
  • RT Markovitz – Press photographer for The Big Cheese, a newspaper.
  • Sam Cortinelli – One of Dazzled to Death's stunt doubles. Sam is rumored to have 'family' connections.
  • Shelly Wells – Owns TrixieCorp, a large corporation, but is now producing a movie.
  • Terry Ford – Character actor who played Hatch, a bodyguard, in Dazzled to Death.
  • Toy Shepherd – Comedian from the East Coast.
  • Val Taylor – Actor and producer, co-producer of Dazzled to Death..

How Freeform Games Murder Mysteries Work

Hollywood Lies is unlike many murder mystery games. Although the game starts with a murder, most of the characters have more important things to do than to investigate it. And the killing may not be over – it is unlikely that everyone will survive the remainder of the evening!

Hollywood Lies is played just like a murder mystery game. You may be trying to solve the murder, but primarily you are (initially at least) concentrating on your own goals and objectives. Unlike most boxed murder mystery games, Hollywood Lies lets you decide how to achieve your goals and thwart your enemies.

"Hollywood Lies went just perfect and everyone enjoyed themselves (we had 13 teenagers and 3 adults). It was just excellent!"
Isabell Auffermann, United Kingdom

On the evening of the game the guests are met by the organizer, the Master (or Mistress) of Ceremonies. They then receive their detailed backgrounds - including dark secrets, objectives and money. The players can form alliances, blackmail each other, steal items and even try to make the best movie for next year. Along the way they may solve some of Hollywood Lies's mysteries. What is the Post-Modern Freeform Movement up to? Who will get tickets to the charity ball? What really happened on the set of Snow Business? Which script will be made into a movie? And of course, how did Tom Speed die? Finally, the game concludes and everyone finds out how they did, and what secrets everyone else was concealing.

Extra characters

Sometimes you have too many guests and you need more characters. So we've written a free extra character for each of our games that you can add in, and some of our customers have created their own characters for their parties and are kindly willing to share them.

• • 'Ginger' Roberts – freelance reporter in search of the Big Story. (Any)
    (by Freeform Games)
  • Gwen Cortinelli – secretary and Sam Cortinelli's wife. (F)
    (by Jo Stinett)

Please note that we haven't always tested these – and they may not tie in exactly with our games.