Spending an evening in downtown Savannah with friends can be fun, but if you’re tired of bar-hopping and ghost tours, there’s a new option now that involves solving a crime.
“The Case of the Dead Paparazzi” is a live-action, interactive game that will have participants scouring downtown for clues.
Donny Klemmer, Jr. created the game while he was working for a bar trivia company in Michigan. He said he and his friend wanted to offer something new for their best clients. Prior to the bar trivia company, Klemmer had worked for a company that sold interactive murder mysteries for corporate events.
“We had a murder mystery group that would come to your banquet hall or come to your place of business or come to your event, and do a 90-minute murder mystery while you had dinner,” said Klemmer.
“I sold it as a super interactive event for these clients, and then I went to a couple of them and I saw these actors perform, and it just wasn't that interactive. You just watched what they did, and at the end, you said, ‘oh the butler did it.’”
Clemmer said he knew the concept had potential. It just needed to evolve. In his experience, reality shows like “The Amazing Race” have changed people’s perspective of in-person gaming.
At the time, Clemmer was in Royal Oak, Michigan, and decided to cash in on the landscape and have people be led from one location to the next by clues.
“We played [a demo game] on Saturday night. We had 25 teams running around Royal Oak, trying to solve the crime.”
Clemmer said everyone seemed to enjoy it, so it was back to his buddy’s basement where they had based their office. After some waiting, the calls finally started coming in. One was from a parks and recreation department wanting to try it.
“From there, the parks and rec department took it and ran with it.
“[The contact] called me up the next day and said, ‘That was just a huge success. I talked to the head of all the parks and rec departments in the entire state of Michigan. There's an annual conference, and we're willing to give you a booth there for free.’”
That booth at the conference had them accepting invites from all over the U.S. Now “The Case of the Dead Paparazzi” is in Savannah.
The storyline has participants playing private detectives who are trying to find out who killed a member of the paparazzi.
“We give you some details about his death. Everyone gets the same amount of intel at the briefing. You get a package of intel, and your job is to determine who did it with what. We're just like a big game of Clue.”
The winners receive actual prizes too.
Clemmer said they have several different episodes prepared for anyone who wants to share the experience with friends. They also change around details of those episodes to keep them interesting for repeat customers.
The only thing left to ask yourself is if you think you have what it takes to crack the case.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Get to the bottom of the mystery of 'The Case of the Dead Paparazzi' with Investigate Downtown
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