Behind the Scenes at PAX West 2026: Making Murder at Menlo Park

We’re going to PAX West!

For the past few weeks, we’ve been hard at work expanding the world of our steampunk murder mystery game, Murder at Menlo Park. We’ve been designing, printing, packing, filming, cutting things out, and generally building and adding to our usual pop-up murder mystery parties.

One of our favorite parts of making a murder mystery is all the stuff around the actual game. The name tags, newspapers, invitations, props and tiny details are what help players get into the world before the murder even happens.

For PAX this year, we got to take that idea much further with our friends at Hidden Teapot. So we wanted to show you some of what we’ve been making before we take over a room at the Summit Convention Center September 4th-7th!

The Name Tags

Everyone who plays Murder at Menlo Park gets a character name tag.

This is partly practical. When you have around 45 people in a room investigating each other, it helps to know who everyone is, especially since most everyone doesn’t know each other yet.

But it also helps with the fun part. Once you put on your name tag, you’re not just another person wandering around PAX anymore. You’re a guest at Professor Jacobson’s exclusive reveal, and everyone around you is potentially involved in the murder. It’s up to con attendees to mix and mingle with each other using their Character Profiles to set the scene.

The Postcards

These are our little invitations to Menlo Park, and they have been one of our favorite pieces to work on. We wanted them to feel like something that actually belonged in 1915, rather than a modern advertisement for a game set in 1915. They’re making their way around PAX this weekend, so keep an eye out for one.

The Newspaper

We also created an entire newspaper for the event.

The Menlo Park Chronicle gives players a little more information about what’s happening in the world of the game and helps introduce some of the strange events surrounding Professor Jacobson and their invention.

It also gives people something to read while they’re waiting for their game.

We love using things like newspapers in our games because they let us sneak in little pieces of the story without making someone sit down and read a giant wall of backstory.

The Sticker Sheets

Our PAX West 2026 swag this year is a sticker sheet for all guests who come and play our pop-up murder mystery! The sticker sheet features businesses and industry leaders who are attending the reveal at Menlo Park as special guests.

It’s a small detail, but these are the kinds of things we love adding to our games. It makes the fictional world feel a little bigger than the two hours you spend playing the mystery.

Plus, who doesn’t want a steampunk sticker?

The Trailer

We also teamed up with Hidden Teapot to make a trailer for Murder at Menlo Park.

They did an incredible job bringing the world to life, and getting to see this thing we’ve been working on for months actually become a video was very, very cool.

If you haven’t watched it yet, go check it out!

So Much Stuff!

We have had so much fun expanded the world of Menlo Park just in time for PAX West this weekend! We get to take a story that started as a bunch of ideas on a page and build an entire little world around it.

And now we finally get to see what happens when you all get to play!

Come Play at PAX West

If you’re going to PAX West and have a badge, come find us!

Murder at Menlo Park is a two hour mix and mingle murder mystery. You’ll play a suspect, investigate other PAX attendees, make alliances, collect clues and try to figure out who committed the murder.

You do not need any acting experience and we will make sure you are prepped and ready to play!

📍 Room 345, The Summit, Level 3

🎭 Around 45 players per session

🎟️ Reservations are available through the PAX Nav App, with lots of additional walk up spots available.

Come visit us in Menlo Park.

We have a murder to solve. 🕵️

And if you’re not going to PAX this year, we’ll have plenty of photos and behind the scenes content to share afterward!