A mystery party game for teens, with no murder
Alibi Hour's party mode is a whodunit for a room of friends where nothing violent happens: something goes missing, four guests play the suspects from private sheets on their phones, and everyone else plays detective. The case lives on Alibi Hour's server, so the person who sets it up in ChatGPT doesn't know the culprit and can play too.
Updated · The Open Apps, Inc.
How to host one
- Start the party. In ChatGPT, say “Start an Alibi Hour mystery party”. You get a 4-letter code, a link and a QR code.
- Hand out sheets. Everyone opens the link on their phone. Up to four guests each take a suspect; the rest join as detectives. Each sheet is private.
- Play the hour. Ask each other “Where were you at 8:30?”. Suspects read their line exactly. The culprit's phone gives them a cover story to stick to.
- Vote and reveal. Everyone votes on their own phone. When you're ready, tell ChatGPT “reveal”: every phone shows who did it and how the votes went.
Why it works for a group
In most party kits the host has read the solution. Here nobody has: the four sheets come from a case a solver has checked, so the answers always point to exactly one culprit, and the only person who knows is the guest playing them.
There's nothing to print, no characters to memorise and no costumes needed. It runs on any phone browser; only the host needs ChatGPT.
Ways to run a mystery night
Pick the format that fits your group and your evening.
| Alibi Hour party mode | A printed party kit | A mystery written on the spot by a chatbot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | One sentence in ChatGPT; guests open a link | Print and hand out booklets | Write prompts, copy parts to guests |
| Can the host play? | Yes: nobody knows the culprit | Usually not: the host has the solution | No: the host's chat holds the answer |
| Content | Non-violent cases, ages 13+ | Varies by kit; many are murder plots | Whatever the prompt asks for |
| Length | 15 to 30 minutes | Often 2 to 3 hours | Varies |
| Group size | 2 to 12 (4 suspects, 8 detectives) | Fixed by the kit | Any |
Compared by format, 14 October 2026.
Use it in ChatGPT
Alibi Hour is a ChatGPT plugin. Type one of these:
- “Start an Alibi Hour mystery party”
- “How's the party going?”
- “Reveal who did it”
Questions
- What age is it for?
- Ages 13 and up. Cases are non-violent and use made-up people and places.
- Do guests need ChatGPT?
- No. Guests only open a web page on their phone; they don't sign up or type a name. The host needs ChatGPT.
- What if we're fewer than four?
- Take the sheets you can; the card in ChatGPT reads out the lines of the suspects nobody took.
- Can the culprit win?
- Yes: if most votes go to someone else, the culprit gets away. Every phone shows the result.
- Is anything saved?
- The party is deleted 24 hours after its last activity, or at once when the host ends it.