All Part of The Game is a murder mystery scenario that is straightforward for the DM and slightly more complicated for the players. The pregens are fun to play with--especially the botanical baseball player--and the premise involves trying to solve a friend's murder while the deceased's servants (and the police) all insist that "it's all part of the game." This actually does encourage the investigators to step in and solve the mystery themselves, which (of course) is more esoteric than it seems.

Spoilers ahead, if you spoil yourself, you will realize that "it's all part of the game."

I had a lot of fun running around showing everyone the flowers I had succeeded a Botany roll to identify and asking people about the flowers. However, while it was clear they were connected to the death of Curtis, their connection to the sliggish symptoms of the staff was less apparent. There has been a wonderful inclusion of proposed optional events--under "The Plot Thickens"--which a Keeper may include to help the investigators along; perhaps an extra handout in the form of an empty bottle of poison which includes "extract of belladona" would be a helpful addition.

The final encounter is wonderfully grisley in a Lovecraftian way, and there is a plethora of options available for common ways to end the scenario.

All in all, pick up this scenario if you want to run a straightforward murder mystery with a Lovecraftian twist.

The inclusion of 4 pregenerated characters helps make this an easy start one-shot. I've got a really cool idea to add to it, too, so I found it a scenario that I could mold to fit either established Investigators or to jump in with something different and unique if you've been running your players hot and heavy in a campaign and need a break. I also love to include handouts or visual aids, and I do a lot of Halloween stuff, so having a few masks laying around to change NPC personas visually is a cool trick, too, and inspired by the pictures included in this scenario.

Quite a lovely little scenario and as a first time effort it is somewhat of a gem.

At first glance this would seem to be similar to many other closed location games or scenarios. It has a feeling of a game of Cluedo (Clue) for its setup and inspiration as the party are invited to a weekend murder mystery party but actually ruins much deeper and will superbly work as either a one shot or a single or two session interlude in a campaign.

The ideas of a masquarade ball are used alot, closed house mysteries again feature often in these scenarios but the combination of the two along with a time sensitive story makes this feel different and fresh.

The characters are presented in a believable manner and the story allows for a lot of scope despite the enclosed setting. Finding yourself involved in the events is handled well and the transition from what you thought was going on to what is really happening is for a first time author a slick piece of writing.

Overall i enjoyed this scenario and the ability to change it to other eras without significant changes is alway a plus to an old gaslight player like myself.

This is a great scenario for one or two sessions. It's location constrained in a way that feels natural for the premise, and within that location are several areas that Investigators can explore as they choose. There's a ticking clock to provide time pressure and to keep the narrative moving, which is easy for the Keeper to tweak as needed. There are some fresh takes on familiar tropes that manage to put the scenario on familiar ground while still delivering surprise and delight (or dread!). I thoroughly enjoyed this as an Investigator and look forward to running it as a Keeper.

When my usual group was down a few players, instead of canceling the session, we asked a friend to run this for us. And boy am I glad we did. This was a fun one-shot that hit all the right notes for me with a good mix of eldritch horror shenanigans and cheeky jabs at murder mystery tropes. I had so much fun playing it that I bought a copy for myself with the intent of running it for another group of friends (and I'll update my review once I get that chance). Hope to see more from the writer.