Solving the riddle or “The thirteenth will of Mr. Buchholz”

Our regular Göttingen get-together is a great opportunity to get to know colleagues better. Here, employees from all departments meet in a relaxed atmosphere, exchange news, or chat about life. Sometimes, cool ideas for joint activities, such as a murder mystery dinner, emerge during these gatherings. It didn’t take long to find people who were interested in solving puzzles – and off we went.

We obtained a game for the appropriate number of players. Everyone was able to “study” his or her character in advance and prepare accordingly. Those who wanted to transformed into their character for the evening. Some arrived at the crime scene, the vaulted cellar at our Göttingen office, with some unusual outfits or unfamiliar hairstyles. A proper location for this case. My colleagues Jacqueline Hellmigk and Petra Oelkers created the right crime atmosphere. They transformed the room into the crime scene described in the script with great attention to detail.

With each round of the game, we delved deeper into our characters, receiving clues about our lives and work. For example, my character, an illustrious American film actor, was not the rogue I had initially assumed – I was a little off the mark myself at first.

Somehow, everyone seemed suspicious, and the clues given about the characters in each episode caused quite a bit of confusion. Only the culprit knew about his crime from the beginning. The others were in the dark and speculated about the motive for Mr. Buchholz’s involuntary demise. It was fortunate that we were able to recharge our batteries between the four episodes. The goodies brought along by all the suspects provided not only a substantial buffet but also plenty of breaks to catch our breath.

We solved the puzzle after six(!) hours of gameplay, countless clues about our characters, and lots of fun. It goes without saying that we want to repeat this evening. We are very excited to see if we can solve the next case as well.