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.
- Type Download
- SKU HOLLYO
- Age Range 7 to 9
- Minimum # of players 6 Suspects
- Max Players (Main Game) 10 Suspects
- Max players available 14 Suspects (Expansion Pack Sold Separately)
- Difficulty rating Easy Breezy, 2/10
- Character roles Co-Ed or *All-Female (*By skipping optional Males - see Host Character List)
- Interactive Extras Riddle Chain Scavenger Hunt, Announcements, Certificate, and Graphics for Finale Hunt
- Game Duration 2 to 4 Hours Average (Flexible Timeline)
- Game format Competition| Mysteries, Jokes, Scavenger Hunts | 4 Rounds
- Vibe and Content Notes Halloween House Party Vibin' * Clean Kid Drama
- Date of publication 2009. Last Revised: 2024
A fun scavenger-hunt-style Halloween mystery party game. The main game features five age-appropriate mysteries to solve. One expansion pack, sold separately, adds 4 required gender-flexible characters and four additional mysteries, expanding the complete game to 14 unique players solving nine mysteries.
This playful Pumpkin Town adventure is packed with colorful costumes, Halloween jokes, party games, tricky mysteries, a riddle-chain scavenger hunt, spooky treats, pumpkin-themed challenges, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to inherit the world’s most fabulous pumpkin patch.
This is the instant download version, so there is nothing to ship and no shipping fee. Simply download, print, prepare, and play!
Prefer a professionally prepared game? Choose the Boxed Kit version, and our staff will professionally print and prepare the game materials for you.
Helpful Links:
Main-game players can prepare for Holly’s celebration with character information, costume suggestions, details about Pumpkin Town, and the story behind Polly Pumpkin’s mysterious retirement announcement.
Scroll down below to see the host character list, download the free invitation, and view the sample game materials.
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Expansion Pack: Adds 4 Characters and Four Additional Mysteries
Sold separately.
Kids Halloween Mystery Party Game Synopsis:
Holly O. Wene is famous for hosting the most exciting Halloween parties in Pumpkin Town. Every October, hopeful guests eagerly check their mailboxes for an invitation to her legendary celebration. With Halloween approaching, the town’s most colorful personalities are preparing creative costumes, spooky snacks, party games, and plenty of festive fun at Holly’s mansion.
This year’s celebration includes a very special announcement from Mrs. Polly Pumpkin, the owner of the world-famous Polly Pumpkin’s Pumpkin Patch. Rumors are swirling that Polly plans to retire and is searching for someone worthy of inheriting her extraordinary pumpkin patch. However, she will not choose a successor without putting the hopeful candidates to the test.
The guests must investigate five fun mysteries, share Halloween jokes and clues, complete a riddle-chain scavenger hunt, and take part in a final pumpkin hunt before Polly selects the grand-prize winner. Your invitation to Holly O. Wene’s party has arrived, so choose your costume carefully and prepare to solve the mysteries of Pumpkin Town!
Expand the Holly O. Wene Halloween Mystery Game:
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Main Game: 10 unique character roles
- Players investigate and solve five age-appropriate mysteries.
- Very light roleplaying - the game is about bonus games and the fun mysteries to solve.
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Expansion Pack: 4 additional character roles
- Sold separately.
- Adds four additional mysteries to the game.
- Changes the minimum group size from 5 to 9 players.
- Expands the game to 14 unique characters and nine mysteries.
- The expanded 14-character configuration uses the pre-game website at /hollyoparty.
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Character Pairs or Teams:
- For groups larger than 14, two or three children may share each character role.
- Players sharing a role work together to solve the mysteries and complete the scavenger hunts.
- Shared characters are duplicate team roles rather than additional unique characters.
This is a non-murder kids mystery. The players compete to solve Polly Pumpkin’s challenges and win the right to inherit her world-famous pumpkin patch.
Roleplaying is intentionally minimal for this age group. The game focuses primarily on mingling, sharing clues and Halloween jokes, solving mysteries, and completing scavenger hunts.
This is the instant download version of the game. Simply download, print, and prepare everything you need to play, with no shipping fees or delivery wait.
PDF files included:
- Host Instructions
- Printable Game Materials
- Solution
- Optional Extras, such as the free invitation
For the boxed kit, also called the Party Pack, use the link provided on the product page.
Printing Tips
For the best results, open and print the files using Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from Adobe.com. Other PDF viewers may alter fonts, spacing, colors, page sizing, or interactive features.
- Download the PDF files to your computer and note where you save them before opening or printing.
- Select Actual Size or 100% Scale unless the instructions specify otherwise.
- Do not select Fit to Page, as this may resize cards, labels, or other game materials.
- Confirm that the paper size is set to US Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches.
- Print one test page before printing the complete game.
- Use standard printer paper for any worksheets or investigation sheets.
- Use heavier paper for invitations, clue cards, and other materials that will be handled during the game.
- Print in color when possible for the intended appearance.
- Do not select double-sided printing.
- Allow ink to dry completely before cutting, folding, or assembling the materials.
Printer settings and results may vary by printer.
I purchased this game for my 9 year old daughter's party, and it was way too simple for her group. It probably would be better for a group of 6-year-olds. Also, just for clarification, the "5 mysteries" are actually 1 mystery with 5 parts. I assumed I was getting 5 unique mysteries, but that is not the case. This is great for someone who wants a visually simple game that doesn't need a lot of ink to print off. The characters are fun and that was my daughter's favorite part of the game. They are just for fun and dress up, so each individual doesn't have to stick to their character.
When discussing what to do for my daughter's 7th birthday party, her requests were 1) a costume party and 2) a scavenger hunt/something "detective-ish". My immediate though was a murder mystery party...but 6 & 7 year olds are a little young for murder. Thanks to a quick Google search, I not only found My Mystery Party, but the absolute perfect solution for our party. Holly O. Wene's Halloween mystery party was the perfect size of required characters and a great entry-level of difficulty for our guests. It was very easy to set up, and all of the girls had a great time at the party!
We played this game for Halloween, quarantine style this year. It was very well organized and had a lot of fun twists and activities for the kids. They all had fun, even adults! For “Polly’s Pumpkin Patch” I got one of those plastic pumpkins that are popular to trick or treat with and filled it with everything from pumpkin pie filling to pumpkin seeds and pumpkin candy and a pumpkin cup. It was a fun, real “pumpkin patch” our winner won!
I’d highly recommend for your next kid friendly Halloween party!
It took quite a bit of time to put it together, but it accomplished all the things I was hoping for. Our party of 10 children 7-12 years of age, really mingled well, shared jokes and clues and had such a great time. Glad I bought it!