Themed dinners are currently very popular. No wonder, the full-length events combine the telling of an exciting story with a special kind of culinary experience. For those who prefer to organize a crime game themselves, the Mord im Villa Mafiosa play set could be from Gmeiner Verlag is just the thing. We have put the complete package under the microscope with Holmesian precision and, as part of the following review, will show you what content you can expect in the game box, how well a crime dinner can really be organized with the available material and whether the Italian recipes are real Are ticklers.
Do the authors Michaela Küpper and Marlies Müller, together with Gmeiner Verlag, make you an offer that you cannot refuse?
Complete package for criminologists
Those who have been faced with the decision to organize a crime dinner themselves will often be shied away from the complex organizational processes. With the new crime card game Murder in the Mafiosa villa You are now offered a complete package that not only gives you support, but also takes care of most of the organizational work for you - at least from a purely material point of view. The box includes game material that allows you to easily plan the crime dinner experience for a group of between 5 and 8 players. 48 playing cards serve your guests as visual aids, which contain detailed stage directions, in order to advance the crime thriller adventure. In addition to your 4 host cards, with which you can easily appear as the director of the evening, the box contains 7 invitation cards for the dinner guests as well as 7 secret files with additional instructions. To make the setting perfect is up to the game Murder in the Mafiosa villa comes with a 90-page cookbook, which also contains nicely illustrated place cards to cut out. With this complete package, you and your invited guests will be entertained at a high level for at least 90 minutes. So ideal conditions for an exciting crime dinner with illustrious guests from the orbit of the Italian mafia.
The authors did not choose the background story by chance: "As criminals, Mafiosi are something like the kings of crime," answers Michaela Küpper when asked about the reason for choosing precisely this background story. In addition, Mafiosi are not only “particularly savvy crooks, but exquisite cooks with a passion for Italian cuisine”. In order to be able to put you and your guests under the same blanket, at least in terms of storytelling, it made sense to use characters as protagonists who operate within an organization that is considered one of the most popular symbols of criminality: the mafia.
If you follow the stage directions and decorate your role with a good dose of spontaneity, you and your guests can look forward to a murderously entertaining evening with friends who embody characters who are far from everyday life - and you will also eat well at your crime dinner.
Crime dinner: everyone slips into (s) a role
Your guests shouldn't be too shy once they have accepted your invitation to a crime dinner. The prerequisite for a successful evening is that each of the 5 to 8 guests slip into the role intended for them and fill it as well as their acting talent allows them. One of the special features of the crime dinner Murder in the VillaMafiosa is the implementation that is perfectly tailored to the organization in the home environment. The author and editor of the crime game, Michaela Küpper, has combined the trendy components of cooking on the one hand with the experience of a crime adventure in order to develop a culinary adventure together with the illustrator Marlies Müller, which in its entirety currently has a special position among the available Products of the crime dinner games.
The game experience is intended for players aged 14 and over. The age limit is well chosen, because the guests of your self-planned crime dinner should not be younger in order to be able to convey the detailed character descriptions authentically. On the contrary, the rule of thumb is that the greater the life experience of the guests, the more profile the individual characters get. Murder in the Mafiosa villa becomes one of the games for which the age limit of 14 - 99 years is actually appropriate. Grandma and Grandpa or the in-laws are welcome guests at this crime dinner, who can actively help to make the group of players much more attractive.
More tips for the Planning a crime dinner for the home we have put together in a separate article.
And who has so far wondered why we are not giving away much about the story behind the crime dinner Murder in the Mafiosa villa It should be said that on the one hand he is a very attentive reader, but we deliberately did not want to spoil any content in order not to spoil possible surprises for you. It is a lot of fun to read into the role descriptions.
Culinaria Criminale: Convincing Italian cookbook
An Italian crime dinner would be unthinkable without the right recipes. The authors of the crime card game must also do this Murder in the Mafiosa villa have thought, because the enclosed cookbook with the melodious title Italy - Cooking with Corleone and Co. contains over 50 recipes from different regions of Italy. When asked which of the recipes was particularly recommendable, Michaela Küpper replied: "Oh, there are many! The minestrone, for example, which is prepared from home-cooked vegetable stock. We have attached great importance to using fresh products. If you like meat, we recommend the "Carpaccio Comandante". "Insalata alla Contessa" is something for salad lovers, and for pasta lovers we recommend the tomato sauce from sauce guru Fratinelli, with which he became extremely rich. The "Ear noodles alla Mafia" are something for cooks with a sure instinct, but Aunt Helga's sparkling "Limoncello Picobello" can actually be made by anyone."
The enclosed cookbook is not just a neat accessory, but one of the heart of the game for us Murder in the Mafiosa villa. Anyone who has played through the story with their guests will continue to meet for one or the other Italian buffet in the future to try out other delicious recipes. All recipes can also be implemented by inexperienced cooks, so that frustration and stress arise during preparation. And that is the top priority when organizing a crime dinner: the host should also be able to relax and have fun at the job at all times. Most of the dishes can be wonderfully pre-cooked so that they can be served punctually for the start of the dinner with just a few more movements. We are almost inclined to say that the complete package is worth the purchase just because of the great cookbook.
The task was clear to us: if we have been sent a complete package for a crime dinner, which also includes a cookbook with traditional Italian recipes, we inevitably have to stand in the kitchen. We chose the gnocchi with tomato sauce alla Fratinelli, served on a baked aubergine. We have mixed a delicious cocktail to go with it. If you want to mix the delicious drink yourself, here is the recipe: 4 cl triple sec, 1 cl Blue Curaçao, 4 cl pineapple juice and the whole thing with Ginger Ale pour on - done.
Pictures of murder in the Villa Mafiosa
Infobox
Number of players: 5 to 8 players
Age: from 14 years
Playing time: 90 to 120 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Long-term motivation: low
Published by Gmeiner Verlag
Year of publication: 2016
Authors: Michaela Küpper, Marlies Müller
Language: German
Cost: 20 Euro
Conclusion
Anyone who has always wanted to organize a crime dinner will get the right tool at hand with the all-round carefree package from Gmeiner Verlag. The crime card game Murder in the Mafiosa villa contains everything you need to organize an entertaining crime dinner. All play materials are lovingly implemented and garnished with a good dose of humor. The illustrations are reminiscent of comparable titles from the themed area of mafia games. Slightly overdrawn cartoon-style characters get you in the right mood for the upcoming crime adventure. The recipes go perfectly with the general story and can be cooked quickly and easily to bring Italian flair to the scene. The instructions on the playing cards are easy to understand, so that even absolute crime dinner beginners will have a lot of fun with the set.
For the host, the specially tailored character role of Toni Travoni is particularly nice. In this way, the host does not degenerate into an extra, but with his acting talent contributes a significant part to the overall atmosphere of the criminal case Murder in the Mafiosa villa at. Fans of exciting crime stories shouldn't miss this card game from Gmeiner Verlag.
