About ‘Werewolf’
Werewolf is a communicative and deductive party game for groups consisting of at least six players.
The game starts with a gruesome realisation:
Some bloodthirsty beasts have sneaked into your community. By spreading doubt and other, more malevolent practices, they try to reach the supremacy in the village. Therefore, while viciously howling at the moon, they devour an innocent victim each night. Quickly, the first villagers claim it could be the long-forgotten werewolves…
It doesn’t take long until the gallows are set up, which are now used each day in the frantic search for the beasts. Unfortunately, only after the condemned villager has died, their identity can be revealed.
At the beginning of the game, players are given an identity card that is only visible to them. They must then fulfil the goal of that character. In alternating day and night phases they can eliminate other players in various ways.
All this is supervised by a narrator who guides the players through the night. More concrete details about the course of the game can be found below.
Individual game goals
- The werewolves try to eliminate all villagers.
- The villagers have the goal to find and kill all of the werewolves.
- At the beginning of the game, some characters are uncertain which faction they are going to join.
- Some other, more sinister characters pursue their own goals…
Course of the game
- A game master/narrator is selected. They are the person running the game and are not allowed to participate in the discussions.
- Cards are selected. The number should match (or exceed) the number of players.
- The chosen cards are shuffled and dealt so each player receives a secret identity.
- After a first day on which the mayor is elected, the game alternates between day and night phases.
- During the night phases, all players close their eyes and have to be quiet. The narrator calls the nocturnal characters, one (or one group) at a time. These include i.e. the werewolves, which open their eyes and silently choose a victim.
- Prior to the day phase, the players eliminated during the night are announced.
- In a discussion, the remaining players can decide who they assume to be suspicious, and accuse them of being a werewolf.
- The accused are allowed to briefly defend themselves.
- A vote takes place. For this, the mayor counts down from three, after which everyone has to decide for one of the accused by pointing at them.
- The player with the most votes is assassinated and reveals his identity.
- The next night begins.
- The game goes on until one faction has reached their goal.
Additional rulings
For the werewolves to stand a chance, during the discussion it is forbidden (at least according to our rules) to state your own identity. Of course the other players may guess and you may give vague hints, but our experience has shown that the game can quickly be destroyed if the seeress, fox, witch, etc. just state who they are. If you are playing with a big number of simple villagers or a variant where identities aren’t revealed upon death, naturally this rule may be altered because then the werewolves have enough chances to hide.