When it comes to picking the perfect gift for your mother this year - why not look to give your mother something that will immerse her into a year long mystery puzzle and release the inner Agatha Christie in her?
This year's top seller for Mothers' Day looks likely to be CosyKiller the latest in mystery subscription boxes to hit the market.
Shipped out from the UK, with a distribution house already set up in the USA to handle their growing overseas subscribers, this latest mystery subscription services has seen 300% growth within the year, with a second story-line joining the original in January 2019 and a third set to come on line in 2020.
"Nearly everyone who joined us for the first story signed up for the second," said Jo Smedley, Managing Director of Red Herring Games - the company behind Cosykiller. "We knew it would be popular, but we had no idea it would be this popular."
It's a real success story for the small quirky murder mystery game business which launched when Jo was herself a new stay at home mother of two.
"Taking maternity leave gave me time to change my goals in life. I didn't want to go back to working in the NHS and writing and entertaining was something I enjoyed."
It seems crime was also something she could naturally turn her hand to, as she's now written over 100 murder mystery game plots, has a crime thriller in print and is a full member of the Crime Writers Association and International Thriller Writers.
"People always tell you crime doesn't pay," Jo Smedley said. "I've proved it can!"
I had a chance to interview her to learn more.
Why was CosyKiller created?
We have provided murder mysteries for small groups for many years, but we noticed that more and more people were asking for mysteries for 2 players. It's really hard to create a dinner party game for 2, as if you know you aren't the murderer, it becomes really obvious that the other person is. Game over! So we were trying to work out how to create a game that 2 people could play.
Then we were asked by Crime Con to create a puzzle that would run underneath their convention - and in designing that - we realised that we COULD create a game for 1 or 2 players that would work with a drip feed of information.
We spent a year working out how we would drip feed information and looked at digital delivery, but decided that a subscription box model would work best. The most popular games we create for events are our multi-room clue style murder mysteries which contain evidence you can handle, and allow the guests to pursue their own line of questioning. We wanted to give our subscription box a real touchy feely element in keeping with this popular event style, and also allow users to create their own story and pursue their own line of reasoning. So we constructed a complicated plot, and in creating each box decided our first story should hit as many senses as possible, using smells, touch, taste and sight to create a truly immersive experience.
We launched our idea on Kickstarter and after successfully achieving the funding needed to develop the product we launched in January 2018! And it's been phenomenally well received. We're now onto year two (new story) and 90% of last year's players have signed up for the new season.
Who will the subscription appeal to?
We thought it would appeal to housebound mystery lovers and those who enjoy the puzzle traditional cosy-style murder mysteries. But what we've found is that our biggest fan base are the puzzle loving game enthusiasts. They like the complexities within the plot, the historic setting and the ciphers. It's a great present for people who like reading, puzzling and love vintage memorabilia.
Why are mysteries fun and beneficial?
Although the subscription box is designed to play solo, what we've found is that many people are playing in groups. For those who live away from each other, this is a great way to do something together. They chat on the Facebook forums, and in their own private groups and we've had lots of friends join up asking to be on the same shipping schedule. Some friends meet regularly for drinks to chat through the box contents, and others play as couples or as families across the internet.
The subscription box acts as a catalyst for conversation. It's great for problem solving too. Unlike a novel you get really invested in the story and really connected to the historical period. It's a great educational tool as well, as all the news and memorabilia is consistent with the period, and it gives you a real sense of life in those days. Our first year's cohort were really sad to say goodbye to the first story and the characters they'd got to know over the year - but they were really excited to get stuck in to the next story.
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