Folk Games

Murder

#minimal-movement

Source: Woodcraft Folk Games Games Games

Everyone sits/stands in a circle, and one player leaves the room. This player is the Detective. While they're away, select one player to be the Murderer.

When the Detective returns (to stand in the centre of the circle), the Murderer attempts to murder every non-Detective player by winking at them, without the Detective noticing. If winked at (murdered) players should loudly and noticeably die, usually in a hammy, theatrical fashion.

The Detective typically has 3 guesses to determine the Murderer.

Variants:

The Sleeper

One player is secretly chosen to be the Sleeper. All players walk randomly around the room, and the Sleeper can send players to sleep (they lie on the floor) by winking at them. If any other player suspects they know who the Sleeper is, they put their hands up but continue to walk around. When 2 or more players have put their hands up, they are asked (on a count of 3) to point to the suspected Sleeper. If they are wrong, both they and the accused player go to sleep.