Quick Description
Murder mystery improv scene. The characters’ status is assigned in secret by a random playing card. Characters die from lowest to highest status.
How to Play
Each player receives a playing card. They look only at their own card.
To start playing Card Status Murder, one person says, “Someone in the room is a murderer.”
The Improvisers must play a status equal to their card (Ace being high, King being a little lower, Queen being a little lower – and so on through 2)
During the course of the scene the players must die in order from lowest to highest card/status. [Hence the name: Card Status Murder]
The players don’t know which card is the highest and must compare their status to the other players.
The last player alive is the murderer and must give a speech explaining how and why they did it.
After the scene, the players line up in order of death and display their cards.
Note
You might also think of this as the final scene from a murder mystery. When all the suspects are brought together and the murderer is revealed.
This game may also be known as “Someone in the room is a Murderer!”
Origin
Card Status Murder comes to us from Cynthia Brown and was created by Mission: Improv in Wenatchee, WA.
She adds, “We developed this game in rehearsal as a listening exercise. It is fun and easy for a tight group, and audiences are amazed by it.”