Does anybody really read Agatha Christie novels for the murders? I certainly don’t. The murder in each one is a fun little puzzle, but that’s a sauce, drizzled on the main course. The meat of each story is really about the relationships, the petty little human dramas that swirl and bubble around a shocking event like the murder. In some of her best works, like my personal favorite Evil Under the Sun, the murder seems an inconvenience to the cast; they just keep on playing tennis and sipping sidecars and shooting each other whithering glares despite the dead body. The corpse found baking in the sun is just another parlor game, to be enjoyed like swimming or cocktails in the lounge, for wealthy Brits on holiday.
That the fun of the social world around a murder was so prominent was the biggest surprise attending Wildrence and Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries’ Space Smugglers. Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries is a company that provides the full experience of a murder mystery party without anyone forced to take on the burden of planning and hosting; they typically come to your home for a private event, with you providing the requisite number of guests. That is, until now. Ghost Ship has now partnered with Wildrence, a design studio and immersive theatre venue on New York’s Lower East Side that’s bursting with secret passages, hidden compartments, and cozy, intimate rooms. From what I observed, Wildrence and Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries are a match made in heaven. The experience also takes full advantage of how intricate and bonkers a space like Wildrence’s is. It’s a murder mystery! Of course, you might need the secret passages and hidden compartments that an average home won’t have.
Space Smugglers itself a light-hearted mashup of Star Wars and Firefly. I found myself playing the role of “Snow,” the trusty first mate on our smuggling ship. Because the piece relies upon on none of the participants knowing anything ahead of time, all I can reveal to you is that while my character was listed as “loyal, brave, and moral,” every character (mine included) had a boatload of dark secrets guaranteed to stir up drama.
The plot hit on cozy, almost rote sci-fi beats, but for an audience-driven piece, familiarity with the source material actually allowed for faster onboarding into the game world.
Beyond that though, I can report that in the abstract, the plot of Space Smugglers worked very well. It wasn’t the most complex mystery, and we almost shot ourselves in the foot overthinking it, but it still was a fun riddle to solve. But the character drama was the real draw of the evening. We were all encouraged to lie, cheat, and steal from the get go, and our group of players ran with it. Suffice it to say, no matter how “loyal, brave, and moral” each character was, we all had our knives firmly planted in each others backs by evening’s end.
The structure of the evening’s puzzle, like a good escape room, had something for everyone. Clues were hidden in the space for those willing to rifle through pockets and couch cushions, and physical puzzles were available for those who preferred a more straightforward (but just as difficult) challenge over solving the murder. For me, my evening mostly revolved around scheming and social engineering and sharing cocktails with various crew members, but that suited me just fine. That said, while a little bit of flavor was given to each character’s personality during the character selection survey, and everyone was seemingly satisfied with their assigned roles, it might serve the game well to also offer a snippet of each character’s core gameplay mechanic ahead of time. Our ship’s pilot was pretty much stuck on puzzle duty, and although they were satisfied with their role, I can imagine other players feeling frustrated by being stuck in an unforeseen function.
It’s worth mentioning how nice a party it was aside from the mystery. Food and drink were spectacular; I regretted eating dinner beforehand and depriving myself of the room to further stuff myself with prosciutto and gyoza. Cocktails and mocktails were free-flowing and a successful lubricant at urging us all into fully embracing our given characters. A citrus, gin, and oolong tea blend felt particularly universe-appropriate; if only it were raining outside, I could close my eyes, take a sip, and fully live out my Blade Runner fantasy.
If the evening had any one fault, it’s that it relies a bit too heavily on the chance you’ll have an eager, fun group of players to play with, given its origins as a private party experience for hire. With a small cast of all principal characters, even one “dud” participant would have wrecked the experience. I was lucky during my playthrough but can imagine not all nights would be as successful in the future. Surrendering the duties of a host means surrendering the ability to curate the night. There are easy ways to fix that, though — having one game master as an in-universe character helps if anyone doesn’t play their role. Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries might also consider having a few quick props on hand in case anyone comes sans costume, as another way to encourage the evening’s theming and roleplaying.
In the end, though, the experience is just a boatload of fun. Space Smugglers a great way to get into light live action role-playing (LARP), as well as a pretty spectacular third or fourth date, and, overall, just a charming and sharp night out. Agatha Christie always made murder seem like a delightful game for the bourgeoisie. Disturbingly, yet delightfully, after a night with Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries at Wildrence, I can confirm she was totally right.
Space Smugglers runs again on Nov. 16, with tickets for $145 per person. Mysteries will be held approximately monthly. Experiences from Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries are also available for hire, with Space Smugglers running $320 for a party of 8, venue and special Wildrence-specific features not included.
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