Fun, fellowship and a butler
Pinecrest Mysteries
A murder-mystery party made for gathering together: Frost, a dry English butler on your tablet or laptop, hosts while every guest plays a character on their own phone.
Early access. Everything you can buy today is a complete, playable demo of a startup's first mystery, with more on the way.
Meet Frost (free) Try the free rehearsal
The first game is Snowbound at Pinecrest Lodge: about two hours, 8 to about 34 players, family-friendly (PG), and made with a Christian Bible-study group in mind but fine for anyone.
Why we made this
We love ministry and we love fellowship. Studying Scripture together is at the center of what we do, and it is not all we do. We also gather just to have fun: to laugh, to celebrate, to enjoy one another's company, and to let some joy into life together.
Pinecrest Mysteries is one of the ways we do that. A murder mystery turns a room of friends into a cast of characters, and gives everyone a reason to lean in, trade theories over snacks, and laugh at a butler who refuses to take sides.
We made it to help other communities have that kind of evening too: Bible-study groups, small groups, families, friends. It is centered on the ministry and fellowship of the body of Christ, and it is open to anyone who wants to join in.
Purpose of the Ages Ministries, in partnership with Believe God
Early supporter notice
Pinecrest Mysteries is a startup, and everything you can buy today is a complete, playable demo (early access): one mystery is ready and more are being added; we do not promise a release date for any new mystery. Everyone who pays before the full catalog is ready is an early supporter who is helping us build it. What you buy is the service described at checkout. It is a purchase from Purpose of the Ages Ministries LLC, a for-profit Colorado LLC: it is not a charitable donation and it is not tax-deductible. All sales are final.
Snowbound at Pinecrest Lodge
It is Christmas Eve, 1978. A blizzard has closed the road and the telephones are dead. At the midnight toast, the lodge's owner is found dead, and everyone left in the building is a suspect.
That is all we will say about the plot. Frost has asked us not to spoil it, and he notices everything.
How a night works
- Invite. The host shares a party code in the group chat. Guests sign up on their phones with a name and a PIN of their choosing.
- Cast. The host assigns characters (the screen suggests a cast, and you can change anything). Each guest gets an advance part to read before the night.
- Start. The host presses Start. A sealed part opens on every phone, and Frost introduces the evening on screen.
- Investigate. Frost narrates eight scenes. Clues appear on the phones round by round. Guests question each other and, out loud, Frost himself: one tap on the host screen starts a hands-free conversation, and he listens and answers without more taps until 30 seconds of silence.
- Accuse. Everyone names who, where and with what. Frost does not confirm a guess, but he does reveal the truth.
What each guest gets
- A character, with an advance part to read ahead and costume ideas
- A sealed part that opens when the game starts
- Clues on their own phone, scene by scene
- For some guests in larger parties, a secret wild card: one prepared fib to tell
- A way to make an accusation, and a place at the reveal
No app to install, no printing.
What the host gets
- One screen to run the night in Chrome, with Frost on it
- A sign-up page for guests, and an invitation to copy and paste
- Suggested casting, and help refilling a part if someone drops out
- Late arrivals and early departures handled without stopping the game
- Any clue on the big screen for guests without phones
- A part of their own, so the host is not just the caterer
Meet Frost, free
You should hear him before you pay him. No account, no card.
Meet Frost
Ask him a few questions (5 per visit). He will answer, within reason, and decline to name any culprit.
The free rehearsal
A small practice mystery, the Stolen Fruitcake, so you can see how a night fits together before you ask anyone to your house.
Plainly: the free versions use a synthesized voice and a simpler animated mouth. The paid game has Frost's filmed introduction, set lines and Easter eggs, with his own voice, lip-synced. Those lines are prepared in advance; when a guest asks him something live, the answer is generated on the spot and spoken in a voice. Hands-free listening needs Chrome. One tap starts a conversation and Frost then listens and answers without more taps; after 30 seconds of silence he stops listening and it takes one tap to start again.
Planned early-access prices
Checkout opens soon. These are planned early-access prices, shown so you know what is coming. Nothing can be bought yet.
$12.00 per month
Host subscription
For the host, with every mystery in the catalog.
$19.99 per guest, per game
Guest ticket
Each guest's place at the table for one game.
$149.00 up to 10 players
Group ticket
The host prepays for up to 10 players. The host's own part is always included.
Believe God, the book
Pinecrest Mysteries comes from the same ministry as Believe God by Jonathan Lawrence: a spiritual journey about how God's light breaks through the walls we build. The game is for an evening of laughing together. The book is for the quiet afterwards. Neither needs the other, and both are better shared.
You can read the Introduction and Chapter 1 free.
Read the first chapter free Buy the book
Planned, with no date promised: buying the paperback or hardback will also earn a year of hosting the early-access game.
The first of many
Pinecrest is the first mystery, not the last. Here is what is playable today and what is being written. More mysteries are coming, and none of them has a promised date.
Snowbound at Pinecrest Lodge
Season: Christmas
Thanksgiving at Pinecrest Lodge
Season: Thanksgiving
More mysteries coming: new holidays and seasons, new casts, the same butler
More mysteries are coming. We do not promise a release date for any new mystery, including the Thanksgiving one that is in progress.