Beloved local business owners Frankie Lynn and Tony Moon love sharing big news. But lately, the open-book-minded couple has been more tight-lipped than usual about “something” they’ve had brewing for the past few months. Some of their closest friends have even playfully accused the Moons of purposely leaving them hanging with clues shrouded in mystery.
This includes fun social media videos that explain very little, coy misdirects, and promises that a big reveal is coming.
And quite honestly, the suspense is killing everyone.
“I’ve got people watching the videos and texting me with, ‘Quit being a teaser. Just tell us,’” Frankie Lynn said. She’s owned the wildly-popular Baskets by Frankie Lynn for seven years. “They want to know when we’re rolling it out. We just say, ‘Soon.’”
Well, the wait is finally over. In an exclusive interview with The Cross Timbers Gazette, Frankie Lynn and Tony announced they’ve designed a customizable murder mystery dinner game that ships right to your door and is fun for the whole family.
It also promises to be unlike any mystery game currently on the market.
“We have a party every year that always seems to get bigger and bigger — to the point where guests would dress up and bring props,” Tony said. He owns Thunderville Laser Shop and partners with Frankie Lynn to create many custom items in her famed gift baskets. “We kept thinking there had to be a way to engage everyone without having to dress up, etc. Don’t bring anything, just come. We’ll take care of the rest and explain later.”
Frankie Lynn agreed, adding that it feels great to tell everyone their big secret.
“We always sit down and think about new stuff we can do, and that’s when we came up with this idea for a game,” she said. “We just thought it would be a lot of fun, and it is. The people we’ve tested it with absolutely love it.”
The game is called Murder Mystery Dinner, and the objective is simple: someone at the party was murdered, and it’s everyone else’s job to figure out which guest did it. The game comes complete with a detailed script, a laser-etched puzzle with whodunnit clues, and guest name tags. Each guest — some quirky names include Detective Dan and Delirious Debbie from Dallas, Larry and Linda Lively from Lubbock, and Paul and Pam Peterson from Paris — has their own sketchy backstory and motive.
As for the victim and crime scene, the Moons say that’s up to the game’s owner. An inanimate object is best, such as a stuffed bear, doll, Elf on the Shelf, etc. One tester simply laid a rock over the victim’s head, while another stabbed a teddy bear with a knife to create a creepy yet hilariously unique crime scene.
“The game works best with six couples, but we’ve played it with as many as 12,” Tony said. “As soon as they show up at the door, they get a name tag and a puzzle piece. That’s it. From there, Delirious Debbie finds the murder scene, and Detective Dan takes control of the situation to figure out who did it. Everyone has a motive for killing the victim.”
Frankie Lynn added, “Everyone was in the dining area when I snuck away and screamed, ‘Oh, no. Someone killed Elf on the Shelf.’ They all thought something was really wrong, so they came running. That’s when the game started.”
Frankie Lynn and Tony say it takes them roughly four hours to make each game from scratch. They hope everyone loves it, and the pie-in-the-sky goal is to make their little game mainstream in a retail setting.
The defining hook is the customization piece. Tony personally laser etches and cuts each puzzle. He also writes the scripts, creates everyone’s backstories, and engraves each box. The recipient can have their name or the event’s name engraved on the box and even request a customized theme (Western, Science Fiction, the 70s, etc.) with different scripts for each.
“There has been a lot of excitement throughout this rollout phase,” Frankie Lynn said. “Our testers have loved it and gave us small suggestions here and there of things they thought might help. And now it’s finally here. We’re excited.”
For more information on Murder Mystery Dinner, visit https://thunderville.com/murder-mystery.
(Sponsored content)
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