Chain Murder
Chain Murder is a guessing game in which players leave the room and re-enter one at a time. Each returning player watches the previous player silently act out a murder scenario, then must reproduce what they saw for the next player. The chain of imitations progressively distorts the original scene, producing comedy through accumulated misinterpretation.
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Related Games
Murder Endowment
Murder Endowment is a short-form guessing game in which one player must determine the method, location, and motive of a fictional murder based on clues provided by the other performers. The endowed players act out increasingly obvious hints while maintaining the reality of their scene. The game generates comedy from the guesser's struggle to decode the clues.
What’s Going On?
What's Going On? is a guessing game in which one performer must deduce the situation, location, or event they have been placed in based on the behavior of the other characters. The endowing players act as though the circumstances are obvious while the guesser pieces together the clues. The game rewards both clear physical communication and sharp observational skills.
Occupation Endowment
Occupation Endowment is a short-form guessing game in which one player must deduce their secretly assigned profession based on clues embedded in the behavior and dialogue of their scene partners. The endowing players treat the guesser as though the occupation is obvious, creating comedy from the gap between certainty and confusion. The game rewards subtle clue-giving and sharp deductive instincts.
Guest Game
Guest Game is a short-form guessing game in which one player hosts a party while other performers arrive as characters with secret identities or traits assigned by the audience. The host must determine each guest's secret through interaction. The game rewards clear character physicalization and the host's observational acuity.
Party Quirks
Party Quirks is a short-form guessing game in which one performer plays a host welcoming guests to a party, each of whom has been secretly assigned a strange identity or behavioral quirk. The host must figure out each guest's quirk through interaction while the guests drop increasingly obvious clues. The game was popularized by Whose Line Is It Anyway and remains a staple of short-form shows.
Crime Endowments
Crime Endowments is a short-form guessing game in which one player must determine a secret crime, weapon, and location through clues embedded in the other players' behavior. The endowed players know the secret combination and weave references to the crime, weapon, and location into natural-seeming conversation and action, while the guesser asks questions and observes their behavior to deduce the combination.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Chain Murder. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/chain-murder
The Improv Archive. "Chain Murder." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/chain-murder.
The Improv Archive. "Chain Murder." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/chain-murder. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.