As the Ball Drops: New Year's Murder Mystery Party Game

Available for download at checkout
Regular price $43.95
Product details
  • Type Download
  • SKU ASBALLDROPS
  • Age Range 14 to Adult
  • Minimum # of Players 8 Suspects
  • Max Players (Main Game) 12 Suspects
  • Max # Available (Sold Separately) 104: 32 Suspects, Up to 72 Team Roles (3 Teams)
  • Difficulty Rating Moderate, 5/10
  • Roles Flex-Gender (Main Game) Co-Ed with Expansion Pack #1.
  • Game Duration 2 - 4 Hours Average (Flexible)
  • Setting The luxurious Broadway Plaza Hotel in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
  • Game Format Murder | Guided Clue Mingling | 4 Rounds
  • Vibe & Content Notes Glamorous Scandals | Clean, Humorous New Year's | Celeb Drama
  • Publication Date 2009. Last Revised: 2025

A glamorous New Year’s Eve murder mystery party game set inside a luxurious Times Square hotel. This festive mystery is packed with New York high society, celebrity drama, outrageous personalities, glittering surprises, daring party games, glamorous scandals, simmering rivalries, hidden motives, carefully guarded secrets, and danger as the final countdown approaches.

Murder Mystery Party Game Synopsis:

The countdown is on, and the Broadway Plaza Hotel is preparing to ignite Times Square with the New Year’s Eve celebration every other party dreams of becoming. Behind the exclusive doors of this legendary New York landmark, the red carpet rolls out for an evening of high fashion, daring games, glittering surprises, and glamorous intrigue.

The guest list includes New York’s elite, outrageous celebrities, ambitious professionals, eccentric personalities, and socialites determined to command the spotlight. Guests arrive in their finest attire, savor decadent bites, mingle beneath dazzling lights, and play party games filled with unexpected twists.

Unfortunately, many of the invited guests share simmering rivalries, scandalous histories, hidden motives, and secrets capable of destroying carefully polished reputations. As midnight races closer, tensions inside the Broadway Plaza Hotel continue to rise. You have secured VIP access to the most exclusive New Year’s Eve gala in Times Square—but when the final countdown begins, will everyone live to see the ball drop? This is where your story begins.

Host a Large Group Game:
  • Main Game: 12 unique suspect characters
    • 8 characters are required, and 4 are optional.
    • Includes the optional Moochers expandable team led by Takey Takerton.
  • Expansion Pack #1: 6 additional unique suspect characters
    • Sold separately.
    • Includes 2 female, 2 male, and 2 gender-flexible roles.
    • All 6 characters are optional and may be added in any combination.
  • Expansion Pack #2: 6 additional unique suspect characters
    • Sold separately.
    • Includes 6 gender-flexible roles.
    • 3 characters are required when this expansion pack is used, and 3 are optional.
    • Designed to be added after Expansion Pack #1.
    • Includes the optional Experimental Sous Chefs expandable team led by Dakota Wren.
    • Includes the optional Entertainment Crew expandable team led by Marley Larkspur.

All 24 suspect roles are unique characters. The minimum number of required suspects increases from 8 to 11 when Expansion Pack #2 is added. The three expandable teams use duplicate, non-suspect roles and may include up to 30 players each, allowing the complete game to accommodate up to 114 players.

Host Character List, Game Preview & Free Resources

This game is licensed for personal, private use only. If you plan to use it for any commercial purpose, public event, business, organization, school, fundraiser, church, promotional activity, paid event, or any use that generates revenue or provides a commercial benefit, you must purchase a Commercial License.

Purchase Commercial License
  • 5 stars: 11 (73%)
  • 4 stars: 4 (27%)
  • 3 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 2 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 1 star: 0 (0%)
A
Adora
Fantastic Game

We had a blast. Players from 12-46 and everyone had fun. (Even the moody teens got into the game) This was a great way to kick off a new year and we will definitely be buying another soon.

Directions were SUPER EASY to follow!

A
Anonymous
Great way to spend New Year’s Eve!

We hosted this party with 10 guests,ages ranging from 13-70. Everyone arrived to the party in character ready to play. Each round of play was very easy to navigate through and the game went extremely smooth. Everyone had so much fun trying to solve the murder. I would highly recommend this party!

H
Hannah
NYE 2020 was one to remember!

We absolutely loved this game!! 8 of us played for NYE and we had the best night. Everyone loved their role / character and had so much fun getting into character. We all dressed up and that made the night even more fun. I was the host and it only required a hour or so of preparation. We had such a fun night and will be doing another game again soon!! we only had 8 players and it worked out but I think having the recommended 12 players would make it even better but overall was great, 10/10 recommend!!!! good for all ages. We had a group of 3 teens, 3 college age and 2 adults.

M
Michelle
GCF

Good, clean, fun. My family and I participated in the murder mystery game "As The Ball Drops, In Time Square" as a new years celebration. All of us had a great time participating in the game. It was very well detailed and easy to follow for a first time murder mystery players. Would highly recommend.

J
Jenny
So much fun!

We did this for New Year this year with 2 families. There were 5 kids ages ranging from 12-16 and four adults. We had so much fun. It was so well organized! We can’t wait to try another one!

A
Anonymous
New Year’s Fun with Family and friends

We had 8 including my husband and I our adult children and another couple. Everyone was excited and up for dressing up and playing their roles so it was a great start. The story and package downloaded were complete and provided very clear instructions. As host I wished I had read further than I did. I was trying not to find out too much and missed a few very important pages of instructions. Even so with the information I did read and the clue cards we were able to have a great time and worked to solve the mystery.

We will do it again.

P
Paula
Lots of fun, tricky on zoom

We hosted this for our New Years party and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was tricky to facilitate, talk about clues, and reveal the murder over zoom. It was also much faster virtually since there was less mingling and some optional games didn't apply.
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FROM MMP STAFF:
We do agree that it would be tricky on a video chat, as this is not a virtually formatted game. We're glad you pulled it off, but it's best if you stick with the virtual games here: https://www.mymysteryparty.com/virtual-murder-mystery-games/ Thank you for your feedback! Great to know it's possible to pull off!

A
Anonymous
Lots of fun for the whole family!

We did this mystery on New Year's Eve and had 9 adults and 3 elementary age kids join in as well. We loved the character descriptions and everyone dressed their part. We enjoyed the extra games that were included and did those in between the rounds of clues. Only 3 people guessed the right person at the end of the night, but we all had fun. My only complaint would be we were unsure of what to do when the murder actually happened, not all the characters were told what to do in their clues so there was some confusion as to who should be where. Nobody read through it before hand so everyone would be surprised. All in all a successful party though!

J
Jamie O'Neal
Best New Years Eve Party

The event was a great hit, so many compliments for our guests. They are already talking about and planning for next year.

M
Mark Stein
Great New Year's Eve Murder Mystery

This was my second Murder Mystery and we recently did it for NYE. It was fun, on the easy side so a great game for beginners. As far as New Year's Eve themed, it wasn't super "As the Ball Drops" but that was fine. I'd recommend to new crowds trying to do a murder mystery on NYE.

C
Cathy Cole
Fun for NYE

We used the game on NYE with adult and teens. It was fun and quite interactive. It gave a fun focus to the evening.
There was a lot of preparation for the host.

A
Anonymous
Very clear instructions

We have never done a murder mystery party and so not sure what to expect. Everyone came in costume and kept their characters for the most part of the evening. All in all, everyone had a great time and I would definitely do another one. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow.

H
Heather Lopez
Great game for NYE!

Bought this game to play on NYE and it was a lot of fun! We had eight players of all age ranges and the game flowed well. When the victim was revealed it was hilarious. If you are looking for something interactive to do that gets everyone engaged then look no more!

A
Anonymous
Great party for teen girls

This was a wonderful 14th birthday party ( on New Years 2017 )for our daughter. We actually had one girl nail the conclusion. It was fun and we all had lots of laughs. We had 8 girls it was perfect! Thanks!

A
Anonymous
Tons of fun!

My group of 12 had a blast with this game. Will be hosting another one soon.