Players sometimes dress for their roles as they search for the mystery killer, Ye Zizhen reports.

Players in an offline Jubensha shop in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, dress for different roles in a game. (ZHANG YUAN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

On Wednesday morning, Zhang Ziqiu received a group chat message from people trying to line up playmates for later that afternoon.

The game: Murder.

Jubensha provides more opportunities to experience different lives. ... Playing Jubensha games and the process of problemsolving meet their (university students’) needs to find the real self

Li Shijia, psychology expert, East China Normal University

She said yes, and then quickly got dressed and hailed a cab. It took her to a shop, about 13 kilometers away.

Twice a week, the 25-year-old temporary worker from Shanghai joins her friends－and sometimes strangers－to play Jubensha, one of her favorite social activities.

It's usually played with a game board and clue cards on a table, but there may also be a live cosplay version offered in which players in costume wander from room to room, or between scripted scenes, in search for the killer. There's lots of talk and collaboration between players.

Jubensha, literally translated as "script murder", originates from a murder mystery game in the United Kingdom. In 2013, the game Death Wears White was translated and introduced into China, giving board game players another option beyond mahjong and poker.

In 2016, a reality show, Who's the Murderer, began broadcasting on Hunan TV. And so the audience grew.

"In 2018, my friend from college asked me to play Jubensha with him. That was my first experience," says Li Dong, a 39-year-old financial analyst from Beijing.

In some cases, Jubensha players need to get dressed for a part and play a role according to the script. The decor of the shop where the game is played matches scripted scenes.

"There are different types and themes－horror, romance, history and detective. Some of the scripts are based on famous movies or storylines from novels," Li says. "Each script takes about five to seven hours to finish playing and find the murderer. I know a very popular script that takes 14 hours to finish and haven't had the time to try it out.

Seven players preview their script before a game in a bar on Qushuiting Street in Jinan, Shandong province. (WANG JIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

"I enjoy the process of inference, reasoning and deducing the right answer. It gives me a sense of achievement.

"It's boring to just have meals or a drink with friends, so we sometimes play Jubensha as a way of interacting. You can also learn history through the game because many scripts are based on historical figures and stories."

Experiencing other people's lives as if living in another world is one of the reasons people enjoy playing Jubensha, according to Xu Jing, a psychology teacher at Shanghai University.

Different themes in the scripts meet people's psychology of thrill-pursuing. "Jubensha provides more opportunities to experience different lives," says Li Shijia, psychology expert from East China Normal University.

"Especially in case of university students, playing Jubensha games and the process of problem-solving meet their needs to find the real self," she adds.

"I have met many university students who can not go to their universities abroad to study because of COVID-19, and they sometimes spend day and night playing," Li Shijia says. And there's a variety of players－pregnant women, mothers with daughters and even players with pet dogs.

The host of a game reads his script in a Jubensha shop in Xi'an. (ZHANG YUAN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

Each script costs from 150 yuan (US$23.3) to 250 yuan per person. The number of players ranges from eight to 15. Meals and drinks can be ordered through apps for delivery.

At the end of April, the first offline shop for the reality show Who's the Murderer－called Me-city－opened in Changsha. It was a hit, with 900 visits during the five-day Labor Day holiday.

Shop owners purchase scripts and provide the venue and props. The players complete the chain.

According to Dianping Research, a research branch affiliated with Meituan company, the total market value of the Jubensha industry will reach 31 billion yuan by 2023.

The requirements for entry are not high. Lin Qiuru, a 27-year-old owner of a board game shop, says she invested about 200,000 yuan to open her shop on Changshou Road in Shanghai's Putuo district.

In many cases, owners of board game shops are enthusiasts of the games themselves, and that's the case with Lin. Before opening the shop recently, she had been playing Jubensha for two years. She used to be a beauty blogger.

Players have fun during a game in the Xi'an shop. (ZHANG YUAN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

Urbanization and increasing demand for cultural consumption are two factors behind the phenomenon, says Sun Jiashan, a researcher at the National Academy of Arts.

Also, the growing uses of the internet and reality shows such as Who's the Murderer also contributed to the popularity of the game, Sun adds.

Low investment and growing market demand have led to the flourishing of Jubensha shops these years. The number of offline Jubensha shops reached 30,000 by the end of 2020. In April, however, some Jubensha shops closed.

A survey at Sina Weibo suggests more players think the quality of service and script is deteriorating.

Pirated scripts and random use of film and drama copyright are also problems of this industry.

"The protection of intellectual property is urgent. Meanwhile, more regulation is needed to prevent violent and erotic content in the scripts," Sun says.

Randy Wright contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at yezizhen@chinadaily.com.cn