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Mystery Figure - latest gossip

The Mystery Figure lurking at the top of the agathachristie.com homepage has finally made their move and murdered a member of the community. Police are powerless to stop the killer from striking again, until somebody can identify them.

Stay tuned to agathachristie.com over the coming weeks and see if your little grey cells can make sense of proceedings. In the meantime discuss who you think it is with other members of the community below - though get too close to the truth and you might wind up MURDERED!   

Mystery Figure 2011

Moderator2 27 Oct 10 at 4 p.m. GMT

We want to hear your ideas for next year's Mystery Figure game. What did you like about this year's game? What did you dislike? Did you feel something was missing? Was it too slow? Too difficult to play? We want to hear it all!

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42 replies

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GKCfan 17 Jun 11 at 9:19 p.m. GMT

Really?  Thanks for informing me about that!  I appreciate that.

Delicious_Death 17 Jun 11 at 8:15 p.m. GMT

GKCfan

For example, a short mystery could be:

"Sven Hjerson walked into the parlor where the four suspects waited for him.  He had never met any of them before, but he had already deduced that the killer had to be a man.  As he entered the room, he saw the victim's chauffeur, the victim's cook, the victim's uncle, and the victim's secretary.  Without a word, he arrested the killer.  Who was it?"

The answer would be the victim's uncle.  We know that the killer is a man.  The uncle is the only one who was unquestionably male– the rest were all women!

This one doesn't work, because in fact the chauffeur is also unquestionably male.  The female would be a chauffeuse!

LauraPoirot 14 Jun 11 at 8:40 a.m. GMT

Thanks GKCfan!

That sounds great but I myself don't think I could find it out.... Do we find the first victim in the category "latest on the site"?

GKCfan 14 Jun 11 at 5:33 a.m. GMT

LauraPoirot, last year's game is over and some of the clues have been removed.  Hopefully, this year's game will start soon!  For more information on last year's game, see http://agathachristie.com/insight/papers/2010/11/24/solution-mystery-figure-game/

LauraPoirot 13 Jun 11 at 6:06 p.m. GMT

Hey I'm new and I've actually never heard of the "mystery figure" can anybody tell me how it works? it sounds really interesting, (how) can I take part?

tudes 05 Jun 11 at 11:25 p.m. GMT

I´m very excited!  I can´t wait ...

Pat_september 21 May 11 at 6:32 p.m. GMT

svcodeman

is there going to be one this year?

Moderator2

svcodeman - Yes, absolutely, to coincide with the new site, watch this space!

Moderator2 

YAY!!!

mr_ease02 04 May 11 at 11:53 p.m. GMT

I played the game by myself just in the last few days and I thought it was brilliant! I wouldn't change a thing. This is THE Agatha Christie fansite, after all. Definitely don't make it easier to appeal to those who haven't read all of AC's works.

Eirini_violin 21 Apr 11 at 10:28 a.m. GMT

I'm new here...but I played the previous game and I like it sooo much!!!! I agree with SpearmintHippo, if we not picking a murderer from one of her novels we have not a Christie Mystery Figure game!!!

SpearmintHippo 12 Apr 11 at 8:07 p.m. GMT

GKCfan

I loved the Mystery Figure game, but I have some concerns.  Last year, you could have read fifty Christie novels, but if you hadn't read the one that the Mystery Killer appeared in, you couldn't win. 

but I don't see how you could run an Agatha Christie Mystery Figure game without picking a murderer from one of her novels?  You can't have an Agatha Christie Mystery Figure game with a murderer from someone else!If it is an Agatha Christie-based game, the answer has to be a figure from one of her novels. Yes it's a bit of pot luck assuming everyone has read the book the murderer is from but how else would you chose who the mystery figue is? 

For what its worth, I thought the game was brilliant mainly because of the forums and the help / hints that all the posters gave.  I'd like to see it return in the same format only longer!! 

I'm really looking forward to the next one!

Moderator2 12 Apr 11 at 4:20 p.m. GMT

svcodeman - Yes, absolutely, to coincide with the new site, watch this space!

Moderator2 

svcodeman 30 Mar 11 at 7:06 p.m. GMT

is there going to be one this year?

GKCfan 26 Mar 11 at 8:20 p.m. GMT

Players could send the answers to an e-mail address, and for each question they got right, they'd get a series of clues back, like "doorstop," "violets," "cheese straws," "cake," "scar," "pan," "ducks," "laundry," and "newspaper."  All the clues would lead to one book: A Murder is Announced.  Of course, this would replicate the problem of "you have to have read this book..."  There might be another way of doing it, but this is just my suggestion.

GKCfan 26 Mar 11 at 8:12 p.m. GMT

For example, a short mystery could be:

"Sven Hjerson walked into the parlor where the four suspects waited for him.  He had never met any of them before, but he had already deduced that the killer had to be a man.  As he entered the room, he saw the victim's chauffeur, the victim's cook, the victim's uncle, and the victim's secretary.  Without a word, he arrested the killer.  Who was it?"

The answer would be the victim's uncle.  We know that the killer is a man.  The uncle is the only one who was unquestionably male– the rest were all women!

GKCfan 26 Mar 11 at 8:07 p.m. GMT

Of course, the new mystery game would have to be Christie related.  A series of puzzles, acrostics, and other games involving Christie trivia would help. 

It would be interesting if a creative writing aspect were involved. 

It might be fun if there were a series of mini-mysteries to solve.  For example, a 900-word mystery starring Sven Hjerson (or someone like that) could be released weekly.  Each week, Sven would solve a murder with four or five suspects.  The players could send the name of the killer to an e-mail address, and if they were correct, they would receive a clue, leading to the ultimate solution to the game, which could be a Christie book or character. 

GKCfan 26 Mar 11 at 7:57 p.m. GMT

I loved the Mystery Figure game, but I have some concerns.  Last year, you could have read fifty Christie novels, but if you hadn't read the one that the Mystery Killer appeared in, you couldn't win.  Also, there's a problem with some prizes being determined by the "first-one-to-correctly-enter," like the second prize.  Remember, people around the world participate it.  In some parts of the world, the clues are released at noon, when some people can access them immediately, some people are at work or school, and others are asleep.  I think that prizes should all be determined by either random draw or picked by judges, since the worldwide time difference affects some people differently.

oodelally3 17 Feb 11 at 6:29 p.m. GMT

I didn't get to play this one--but I see I can start from the beginning, even though it won't be for competition. That'll allow me to dust off my detective skills!

I think there should be more of these through the year...and probably more victims in each one, too. But I think the suspects can be us members, as well. Maybe you can notify the suspects ahead of time, so they're aware of that, as they play. But they don't actually know which one of them is the killer, either--until you decide to clue that person in on it later in the game.

I loves me some good AC mysteries! Most other stories pale in comparison and start to bore me. But I never get tired of her books or the TV versions!

I just did a scene from "Poirot Loses a Client," for my actor reel. It had such delicious lines, I had to put it on film!

GKCfan 10 Jan 11 at 6:38 a.m. GMT

From May to September of 2010, we followed clues and used our knowledge of Christie books to catch a "serial killer" who was actually a killer from one of Christie's novels. Clues were hidden throughout the website, and the winner got a prize.

To play the game for fun, go here: http://www.agathachristie.com/mystery-figure/It-Begins/

Bunch_Marple 10 Jan 11 at 2:48 a.m. GMT

Im sorry, Im new, just wondered what this game was/involved and will there be one this year? Thanks! :)

Pat_september 07 Jan 11 at 7:08 p.m. GMT

Happy New Year to ALL!  Cheers! Here’s to a new – and hopefully soon beginning of a new Mystery Figure Game

I thoroughly enjoyed the game; the hints were very clever and so diverse build, the clues skilfully hidden throughout the website. The pace might have been a bit slow at times, but then it allowed many others to catch up – I think.; also, enjoying the game so much, of course I would have gobble it all up – mostly like a slice (two or three, why not..) of Delicious Death Cake

It would be interesting for the new game to have a couple of different ways of getting from clue A to clue D; let’s say through clue B (for some) OR through clue C (for others) depending on the path/clue followed– just to make it a little bit more challenging. Especially since contestants would, inevitable and enjoyably, discuss it all in the forum.

Also narrowing the suspects to just a few might be interesting, but before that, why not first narrow the “theme” of the game first? Let’s say the first couple of clues will only tell us if it’s a Marple OR Poirot story in the end

Looking forward to the beginning of the new Mystery Figure game! Or has it started already...  Better look arround again!