Sam & Hannah from FOXBOX Detectives are the guests for this week’s Meet Your Maker. I have to say that this is one of my favourite interviews so far, as they offer some fantastic, in-depth insight into the business of making detective/murder mystery games. We talk about the most important elements of a good detective experience, designing for a wide audience and starting a business from scratch. Enjoy!
(Meet Your Maker is an interview series featuring creators of puzzle and mystery games and experiences from across the globe. We aim to shine a spotlight on both established creators and those who are just setting out on their journey. Stay tuned for more interviews coming soon.)
Can you start by telling me a little about yourselves?
I’m Sam and together with my wife Hannah, we run a small business in the UK (Surrey) specialising in immersive murder investigations. It began as a way to be creative and have another hobby we could enjoy together. It has now grown into something much bigger than we anticipated. Hannah is still employed full-time as an Audio-Visual Designer. As the business grew, I left my job after 10 years in security and FOXBOX Detectives became my full-time job. Now, instead of preventing crimes, I spend my time committing them—fictionally, of course!
What is FOXBOX Detectives and how did it come about?
If you have ever sat and watched an intense murder documentary with shocking police work and potential leads that have been missed, then you’ve probably thought to yourself: “How did they miss that? I bet I’d make a great detective!” That’s where FOXBOX Detectives comes in. We create an opportunity to test your sleuthing skills, attention to detail and ability to solve escape-room-style elements; all from the comfort of home. Not only do you receive physical evidence in a case file, but login details are provided to access an online evidence database. You’ll review CCTV footage, listen to recordings of police radio surveillance, decipher codes, inspect text messages, recover voice notes, examine witness statements, hack security systems and more.
We first started designing amid the pandemic in 2019. In the beginning, we weren’t serious about the project. We thought that maybe our family and friends might enjoy it and we might sell a handful online. We viewed it as a way to be creative and do something we enjoyed together. Furlough gave us time to write the storyline and character concepts for our first cold case and slowly the case grew larger and more complex. Once completed, we listed Deadly Secrets of Dylan Jones and customers loved it! My phone kept pinging with sales and the positive reviews kept pouring in! People would leave reviews like, ‘Can’t wait for the next cold case!’. But we hadn’t even thought about a second. We were just amazed by the positive response and happy to have reached the finish line on our project. But we had to give the people what they wanted; so, we got back to work!
You’ve released multiple cold case games, would you mind telling us a little about each of them?
Deadly Secrets of Dylan Jones is our original cold case. We wanted to create something relatable but gripping at the same time. There are many other mystery games out there that are set in unrelatable situations like being a spy on a billionaire’s island or submarine for example. Whilst this can be entertaining, we think it can sometimes be a little disconnecting. Dylan Jones is a regular man from St Albans, England with what appears to be a normal lifestyle that many can relate to; a partner, a car, a home and a regular job. But by digging deeper you’ll discover not everything is as perfect as it first seems. Full of twists, turns, lies and drama; this cold case will have you gripped until you find the truth surrounding his death.
The Berkshire Copycat Killer is maybe our most popular cold case and for good reason. It’s very unique! We wanted to expand on the quantity of escape-room-style elements and also introduce some more ‘creepy’ aspects to our second creation. As with Deadly Secrets of Dylan Jones we kept our raw finish and realistic feel to the design of the product. Save the glossy, polished graphics for Monopoly and Scrabble! Our cold cases have no instruction book – everything you need to know about the experience is given to you in a natural way that flows with the story, to really immerse the user.
We will get to your latest game in a bit, but for new players, do you recommend starting with a particular case?
People can dive into any of them. However, some customers say they get a little stuck with The Berkshire Copycat Killer because its difficulty level is slightly higher than the others. I would recommend starting with Deadly Secrets of Dylan Jones. It is a great introduction to the world of solve-at-home detective experiences. It’s very fun, it keeps you guessing and the escape-room-style elements give you a great sense of satisfaction once solved. It’ll test your detective skills – without making you question whether you should just stick to Sudoku!
I’m interested to learn more about the nuts and bolts of designing a case. What does your development process look like?
Designing a cold case is extremely difficult but very rewarding! Because you have such a wide variety of consumers, it is very difficult to create something suitable for everyone. It needs to be difficult but not too difficult, intricate but digestible, sell at a price point that suits the majority and give away incriminating evidence without being too obvious for ‘experienced gamers’. We also like to ensure that our characters are diverse and represent different cultures. There are many factors to consider.
We don’t create cold cases that include unrealistic numbered envelopes that read ‘open me next’. Our physical evidence is provided in random order to enhance the realistic feel. Creating a product like this is like telling a story through a book, except there are no page numbers. Therefore, you can’t control when the ‘reader’ gets certain information. This is a big challenge in the design stage.
Top tip: if you’re building an intricate storyline like a murder investigation, use spidergrams! (Also known as mind maps or spider diagrams).
We are very lucky to have very supportive family and friends around us who help us with playtesting. Some have experience in the board gaming industry and some have other skill sets that help build the final product.
What are the key elements that make a great murder mystery game?
- A gripping storyline: It has to have misdirection, plot twists and drama. People LOVE drama!
- Puzzles: They must be presented realistically. There is nothing worse than trying to solve a murder but you have a quick puzzle to do that isn’t related to the storyline. I also think it’s important to try and be original with your puzzles. Even an original twist on an existing puzzle is refreshing.
- A great variety of materials: Everybody digests information differently. Some people love to read information but might miss the small details within an image. Others retain more information from a series of images or a video but get lost when reading a 2-page witness statement for example. A balance of material and media is important.
Have you had to overcome many obstacles as a small business?
FOXBOX Detectives is a two-person team. We first started this business without any experience in product design, graphic design, web design, business management, operational management, puzzle design, product assembly, distribution, etc. I didn’t even own a laptop or know how to copy and paste from a keyboard. We simply taught ourselves using YouTube, Chat GTP and picking the brains of smart people we know. We have no staff, but we have outsourced our distribution, some coding elements and some product assembly to third parties.
I hate to point the finger at Amazon, but I will! Selling our products via Amazon has been very difficult. Everything from identity checks, proving brand ownership and even listing products feels like a mammoth task. Just to start selling on Amazon with their Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) programme feels like a full-time job, let alone learning how to run adverts and promote your brand on their platform. But that’s enough negativity from me; we are currently selling on Amazon and are happy with the partnership moving forward.
The biggest obstacle we face is having no prior experience or mentor. We have no boss we can turn to who has the answers to a problem. Everything is learnt along the way, which I suppose is also a positive as we have grown so much since this business began. But it is certainly difficult.
Would you say there is a big overlap with your skill sets? What are your strengths and weaknesses?
We consider ourselves lucky that our skill sets do not overlap a great deal. Hannah is fantastic at producing cool ideas to show an important piece of information. Whether that is hidden in a locked file or disguised as a train ticket. Her love of true crime podcasts and shows means she has a great understanding of what crime-solving enthusiasts will enjoy. A big strength of Hannah’s is her organisational skills. She makes the operational side of the business stress-free. Her biggest weakness is taking negative reviews to heart! You will inevitably receive negative comments about a product or service eventually and whilst we definitely take constructive criticism on board, she acts like a 2-star review is an arrow to the heart!
One of my strengths is design, which is surprising as I began with no experience. After many years of practice, I am able to produce game materials, promotional ads, design packaging and edit audio. I believe another strength of mine is the ability to make puzzles that have a good balance of difficulty, intrigue and originality. Two areas I could improve in would be marketing and my understanding of how to grow a business. I have no prior experience in business and this is something I aim to progress in the future.
Hunting the Kent Killer is your most recent release. How was the experience of putting it together?
Hunting The Kent Killer took us nearly two years to complete! We wanted to push ourselves and what we thought we were capable of, in terms of product design. We increased the amount of screen and voice actors; we wrote an intricate storyline and we ramped up the amount of online content to produce our most immersive experience yet. In the making of this game, we hired different vehicles, designed escape-room-style elements with the use of AI and we even developed a runner-style platform game you’ll need to play to help solve the murder.
This case will have you pinning evidence to your living room walls as you try to piece together the story and build a timeline. You’ll examine video diaries from Detective Jack Raven, listen to telephone calls involving potential suspects, decipher codes, inspect text messages, recover voice notes and even examine blood samples. In our online evidence database, you’ll find Detective Jack Raven’s latest discoveries on the Caleb Kingsley murder. The police can only get so far with the information stored in their database. They are unaware of the items Jack Raven’s wife finds in his home office. Items she is sending to you. Get ready to immerse yourselves.
One of the aspects I loved was the wrap-up video at the end of the game. It provides a satisfying ending while covering all the logic behind the killer reveal. Did you always plan to do this, or had you originally planned a solution in an envelope?
Ahh, I’m so glad you enjoyed the Full Story video! Originally our cold cases did have a document within a brown envelope to reveal the full story and tie up loose ends. However, they were time-consuming to pack, added extra weight, and extra cost. This meant we had to come up with an alternative. We are very happy that we did, because not only do the videos make sense from a production point, but they also provide a satisfying ending as you mentioned.
In an ever-expanding market for detective/mystery games, how do you innovate and keep the ideas and gameplay fresh?
Hannah loves to play all sorts of games. But I try not to play detective/mystery games as I think it can invade my subconscious, making our creations very similar to other games. We like to brainstorm original ideas that give each of our games a different concept or structure but are similar in a lot of ways. Staying innovative or original in any work of design can be a struggle but we enjoy the challenge!
We considered making our games a little gorier or ‘best suited for 18+’, but we have received reviews from parents with teenagers who say our cold cases gave them an amazing opportunity for quality family time together. They also mentioned that it kept their teenagers away from their screens. Reviews and feedback definitely help mould our next product.
Aside from your cold cases, you’ve also released a crime activity book called Kill the Time. Can you talk a little about that?
Kill The Time is a small adult activity booklet that packs a punch! There are riddles, puzzles, colouring in and fun challenges within the booklet to test your detective skills. It’s the perfect small gift, an awesome stocking filler, or a fantastic way to kill time when commuting. This was one of our first projects and was great fun to create. The designs are animated instead of the realism you’ll find in our cold cases. Hannah and I were in the early stages of learning product design and we had a lot of fun together.
Do you have any other games in development?
There is always something in the works! We have so many cool ideas that we’d love to create. We understand the elements of true crime that couch detectives enjoy, so we want to try and incorporate them into a very cool, serial killer card game. Watch this space…
You’ve started offering your games on Amazon, alongside Etsy. A partnership with The Detective Society was also announced recently as well! Are you planning to take over the world…?
World domination? I wouldn’t say that’s the official plan… but if it happens along the way, I won’t complain! Expanding to Amazon and partnering with The Detective Society are exciting steps toward making our immersive detective experiences more accessible. We want to bring mystery lovers more gripping, story-driven challenges, whether they’re playing solo or with friends.
We’re excited to launch a shop on our website, making it easier for customers to purchase games directly from us. We are also hoping to partner with more businesses. If anyone knows an escape room, gift shop or game store that you think would be a great fit to stock our cold case games, we’d love to hear from you!
When you aren’t designing games – what do you like to do for fun?
We don’t get a chance to play tons of games, but we do meet with friends and family on occasion for a quality games night. Things get ugly as we are all so competitive!
We are big fans of the popular ‘Exit The Game’ products. The gameplay can lack a little flow at times but some of the puzzles are fantastic and the use of the product packaging designs within puzzles is impressive. We also enjoyed ‘Hush Money’ by Professor Puzzle. It is smart how they provide an immersive experience within such a small package containing few physical items. That game is good fun.
When we aren’t thinking about puzzles and solving murder, I love to play basketball and am obsessed with the New York Knicks. Hannah enjoys swimming and nature walks in her spare time. We live in the south of Spain for half of the year so many weekends are spent at the beach eating churros, learning the language and chasing sunsets.
Any final words?
We’d like to say a huge thank you to anyone reading this who has supported our small business over the last 5 years. We love creating things that can bring people closer! On so many occasions we hear couples say our detective games gave them an amazing date night together, parents that spent quality time with their teenager and people that say our games were the perfect gift for their friend; it really keeps us motivated and fulfilled. Thank you for your continued support.
For anyone new to FOXBOX Detectives, our gripping cold cases have unexpected twists, compelling suspects, and evidence that will keep you second-guessing until the very end. Have you got what it takes to solve a murder?
Thank you!
I hope you’ll agree that this was a really interesting insight into the behind-the-scenes of FOXBOX Detectives. A huge thank you to Sam and Hannah for taking the time to answer these questions in so much detail. If you haven’t played one of their games yet but this interview has piqued your interest – you can find them online by clicking the links below.
You can also read my review of Hunting the Kent Killer for more details about that game. Spoiler: I loved it!
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