Top 8 'Plot-Twist-Predicting' Mystery Shows to watch with your friends for a Weekly Guessing Game
There’s a special kind of magic that happens when you’re huddled on a couch with friends, screaming at a TV screen. It’s not about the jump scares or the dramatic monologues. It’s about that moment, just after the credits roll on a cliffhanger, when everyone turns to each other and asks the same question: “Okay, who do you think did it?”
This ritual of collective detective work is one of the best ways to experience television. It transforms passive viewing into an active, hilarious, and sometimes fiercely competitive sport. Setting up a weekly guessing game with your friends—complete with a shared document for theories, a running tally of who’s been right, and bragging rights for the ultimate victor—can elevate your watch parties from a casual hangout to a can’t-miss event.
But not all mystery shows are created equal for this purpose. You need a series that masterfully doles out clues, plants convincing red herrings, and builds a world so intricate that every detail feels like a potential breadcrumb. It needs to have that perfect “plot-twist-predicting” DNA. So, grab your notepad and your most cynical friends, because we’ve curated the ultimate list of shows perfect for your next weekly guessing game.
1. Only Murders in the Building
This show feels like it was reverse-engineered in a lab specifically for group guessing games. The premise itself is a meta-commentary on our obsession with true crime: three lonely neighbors in a swanky New York apartment building, played by the delightful trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, start a podcast to solve a murder that happened in their own building.
What makes it a masterpiece for weekly theorizing is its structure. Each season presents a single, compelling murder, and each episode tends to focus on a specific suspect or clue. The show cleverly uses the podcast format to have the characters literally voice their theories, giving your friend group a perfect launchpad for your own debates. The tone is light and comedic, which means the stakes for your guessing game feel fun rather than grim, and the pool of quirky, eccentric residents provides an endless supply of viable (and hilarious) suspects.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Create a “Suspect Board” in a shared Google Doc or on a physical corkboard. For each episode, add a new suspect or piece of evidence. Award points for correctly identifying a red herring (a clue meant to mislead) and bonus points for the person who names the actual killer first, even if it’s a wild guess early on.
2. Severance
If a traditional “whodunnit” feels too straightforward, welcome to the deeply unsettling world of Severance. This isn’t a show where you’re just asking “who did it?” but rather “what is it?” and “what is going on?” The series follows employees at the mysterious Lumon Industries who have undergone a “severance” procedure, surgically dividing their memories between their work lives (innies) and their personal lives (outies).
The guessing game here operates on multiple levels. On a macro level, you and your friends can theorize about the grand conspiracy of Lumon Industries. What do they actually do? What’s with the goats? Why is the corporate handbook a religious text? On a micro level, each episode drops tiny, cryptic clues about the characters’ outside lives and the true nature of their work. The show’s sterile, off-kilter aesthetic means every out-of-place item or strange line of dialogue could be a critical clue.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Divide your theories into two categories: "Innie Mysteries" (e.g., "What do the numbers mean?") and "Outie Mysteries" (e.g., "What is Mark's backstory with his wife?"). This helps organize your speculation as the two worlds slowly begin to collide. The person who correctly guesses the finale’s big cliffhanger reveal wins the season.
3. True Detective (Season 1)
For the friend group that prefers a slow-burn, atmospheric mystery, the first season of True Detective is required viewing. This isn’t about fast-paced twists; it’s about steeping yourselves in the humid, gothic landscape of Louisiana as two detectives, Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson), hunt for a serial killer over 17 years.
The genius of True Detective for a guessing game lies in its dual timelines and philosophical depth. You’re not just looking for clues in the 1995 investigation but also in the 2012 interviews, trying to piece together what went wrong between the partners and what they might be hiding. The symbolism, from the "flat circle" of time to the mysterious Yellow King, invites deep analysis and literary-level speculation. It’s a show that will have you and your friends debating character motivations and occult lore long after the episode ends.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Focus your weekly guesses on interpreting Rust Cohle’s cryptic monologues. Each week, have everyone submit their interpretation of a key line of dialogue. The person whose interpretation ends up being closest to what actually happens gets major points. This rewards close listening and thematic analysis, not just spotting clues.
4. Lost
This is the grandfather of all weekly guessing game shows. For six seasons, Lost had the entire world asking questions. What’s in the hatch? Who are the Others? What are the numbers? While its ending is famously divisive, the journey is an undisputed masterpiece of collective theorizing. The show is a labyrinth of mysteries, packed with sci-fi, supernatural elements, and deeply complex character backstories.
Watching Lost for a guessing game today is a fantastic experience. The show constantly introduces new puzzles, from the Dharma Initiative to Jacob and the Man in Black. Each character’s flashback (or flash-forward) adds new layers to their motivations and the island’s secrets. It's a long haul, but the sheer volume of theories you can generate—from the mundane to the wildly supernatural—is unmatched. Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe the journey is often more important than the destination, and Lost's journey is legendary.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Before starting, establish whether anyone in the group has seen it before. If not, you’re in for a treat! Create a "Mystery Log" where you list every unanswered question that pops up. Each week, everyone can place their bets on which mysteries they think will be answered next and what those answers might be.
5. Mare of Easttown
If you want a grounded, character-driven mystery that will have you suspecting literally everyone, look no further than Mare of Easttown. Kate Winslet plays Mare, a grizzled detective in a small Pennsylvania town where she knows every resident and their complicated, messy history. When a young woman is murdered, the investigation forces Mare to confront the darkness lurking within her own community.
This show excels as a guessing game because it’s less about elaborate conspiracies and more about human nature. Every single character has a secret, a motive, and a potential alibi that’s just a little too shaky. The red herrings are heartbreakingly plausible because they’re rooted in real-life desperation and flawed choices. Your group’s discussions will sound like real detective work, focusing on motive, opportunity, and the tangled web of relationships in a town where everyone is connected.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: The game here is all about motive. After each episode, have everyone rank their top three suspects and, crucially, write down their theorized motive. You don't just get points for guessing the killer; you get bonus points if you also correctly guess why they did it.
6. The Afterparty
For a lighter, more comedic take on the whodunnit, The Afterparty is an absolute blast. The premise is simple: a celebrity is murdered at his own afterparty, and a detective must interview each of the eccentric guests to find the killer. The brilliant twist? Each episode retells the night’s events from a different character’s perspective, and each retelling is done in a different film genre (rom-com, action movie, musical, psychological thriller, etc.).
This unique structure makes for a fantastic guessing game. You get the same story told in different ways, with each version revealing new clues while also highlighting the unreliability of the narrator. Is a character remembering a detail correctly, or is it just a flourish from their "movie"? It’s a hilarious puzzle that encourages your group to pick apart inconsistencies and decide who is telling the most truth.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Keep a "Clue vs. Genre Flourish" list. When a character reveals a new piece of information, your group has to vote on whether it's a legitimate clue or just part of their genre-fied memory. This adds a fun layer of media literacy to your detective work.
7. Dark
Alright, it’s time to put on your thinking caps. And maybe get a giant whiteboard. The German-language Netflix series Dark is the "hard mode" of mystery guessing games. It starts with a missing child in a small town but quickly spirals into a mind-bending, multi-generational time travel saga involving four interconnected families.
The guessing game in Dark is not just "who?" but "when?" and "who is who?". The central puzzle is the town’s labyrinthine family tree, which is warped and tangled by decades of time travel. Characters you meet as teenagers appear as grizzled adults and vice-versa, often in the same episode. Predicting the next temporal jump or correctly identifying a character’s older/younger self is a victory in itself. Even I, Goh Ling Yong, had to maintain a detailed spreadsheet just to keep track of everyone. It’s a challenging but incredibly rewarding watch for a dedicated group.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Don’t even try without a visual aid. Use a free online tool like Miro or just a big piece of paper to map out the family trees of the four main families (Nielsen, Kahnwald, Tiedemann, and Doppler). Update it together after every episode. The person who correctly connects a new character to their place in the timeline first gets to lead the theory session for the next episode.
8. Pretty Little Liars
For a glorious descent into high-stakes teen drama and utterly bonkers plot twists, Pretty Little Liars is your go-to. The show follows four high school friends who are stalked and blackmailed by a mysterious figure known only as "A," a year after their group's leader, Alison, disappears.
While the logic can be… questionable at times, the show is an absolute engine for generating theories. "A" sends a constant stream of cryptic texts, leaves behind taunting clues, and seems to be omniscient. This creates a perfect environment for a guessing game built on pure, unadulterated speculation. Every side-eye, every whispered conversation, every new character is a potential clue. The central question of "Who is A?" evolves multiple times over the series, providing several "mini-games" for your group to solve across its long run.
- Your Guessing Game Tip: Embrace the chaos. Your guessing game should be as over-the-top as the show. Create a "Wildest Theory of the Week" award for the most creative, even if completely unhinged, prediction. You’ll be surprised how often the show’s twists manage to out-crazy even your most imaginative friend.
Turning your TV night into a full-fledged guessing game is more than just a fun way to pass the time; it’s a way to connect, collaborate, and share in the thrill of a great story. It makes you an active participant, a detective in your own living room, searching for the truth one episode at a time.
So, text your friends, pick a show from this list, and prepare your evidence board. The only thing better than a shocking plot twist is being able to turn to your friend and say, with ultimate satisfaction, “I told you so.”
Now it's your turn. What are your favorite shows for a weekly guessing game? Did we miss a hidden gem? Share your top picks and your craziest theories in the comments below!
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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