Werewolf
Are You a Werewolf? Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Shuffle together two werewolf cards, the seer card, and enough villager cards so that there is one card for everybody. If no one takes the moderator card voluntarily, shuffle it in as well. Deal a card to each player, face down. Everyone secretly looks at their card, and may not reveal it until they are killed.
How to Play
The game is a party game of deception that consists of alternating rounds of "Night" and "Day" phases.
Night: During the night, the werewolves will maul someone, and the Seer will learn the truth about one player. The moderator must lead the villagers through the events of the night by following the script below.
Day: Players gather in the village and discuss who to eliminate. The mob wants bloody justice! Once a majority agrees to lynch someone, the lynched player shows his or her card and says nothing for the rest of the game.
Game Over: Repeat night and day until the werewolves are all dead, or the number of werewolves and villagers is equal, in which case the werewolves overrun the villagers, killing them off openly. All players still alive at the end of the game are the winners.
Nothing Means Nothing: If you can't keep quiet when you're dead, leave the room. (This is a game about werewolves, not ghosts.)
Summary of the Game
- Each player is randomly assigned a secret identity. You may say whatever you wish about your card, but do not show it to anyone until you are dead.
- Each night, the Werewolves wake up and choose a Villager to maul, while the Seer learns the truth about one other player. The Moderator guides the village through the events of the night, by following the script below.
- Each day, the mob must vote to eliminate one member of their group, in hopes of removing a Werewolf.
- Repeat night and day until...
- the Villagers win, if there are no more Werewolves, or,
- the Werewolves win, if their number is equal to the number of other survivors.
- Remember: The dead can't speak!
Moderator's Script
It is night. The moon is full. Everyone, close your eyes. Werewolves, open your eyes. Werewolves, choose a victim.
The werewolves silently agree upon and gesture towards the player they wish to kill. The moderator silently confirms them.
Werewolves, close your eyes. Seer, open your eyes. Seer, point at someone.
If the player being pointed at is a werewolf, then the moderator gives a thumbs up; otherwise a thumbs down is given.
Seer, close your eyes. The sun is rising. The night is over. Everyone, open your eyes and see that this person has been torn apart by werewolves.
The moderator points at the victim, who reveals his or her card and says nothing for the remainder of the game.
Recommendations
No First-Night Kill: During the first night, the werewolves wake up only to find out who their secret partner is. (Their first victim is an imaginary villager.)
Night-Noise: Each night, when all players close their eyes, it is best for people to also start tapping the table or patting their knees, so as to cover up any sounds made accidentally by the werewolves, seer, or moderator.
Three Werewolves: This edition includes 3 of the werewolf cards. However, only 2 should be used unless your group is larger than 14.
Odd Number of Players: Voting deadlocks happen less with odd numbers.
Using the Blanks: We prefer the core game featured here, but there are many extra roles that others have added to the game. With this in mind, we have included 3 blank cards, to be used by groups who favor additional characters. Use a permanent marker to customize these blank cards. Suggestions for new characters to choose from can be found at: LooneyLabs.com/games/werewolf
Timed Days: Set a secret timer for 10 or 15 minutes. If there's no agreement on who to lynch when the timer rings, Night begins without a lynching.
Don't Combine Copies: When a big group wants to play, people often assume they should combine two or more copies of this game and play as one big group. However, we don't recommend this. Playing in a 30 person village just isn't as much fun as it might seem. A group that big will have a much better time playing as two separate villages, with a third starting up as soon as there are enough bodies available. (At big conventions, groups playing this way often hunt werewolves all night long!)
Look For Traitor! After years of hunting werewolves, Andrew Looney designed a deception party game of his own, called Are You The Traitor? It's similar to Werewolf in some ways, but improves on it in others (for example, there's no elimination of players). Now available from Looney Labs!
Types of Hunters
Detective: This type of player gets really into the puzzle of finding the werewolves. Detectives can become very good at identifying werewolves, and often lead their villages to victory. However, their investigations require time and patience, since werewolf detection is a difficult task.
Avenger: This is a player who prefers to let mob-rule hold sway over the village. Being eager for justice, Avengers will seize upon any excuse, no matter how flimsy, in order to get someone lynched.
Which Type Are You? It's good to understand which kind of hunting-style you prefer. Detectives in a village of Avengers may become frustrated by the mob's hasty decisions, while Avengers tend to grow impatient when the Detectives' investigations drag on too long. Either way, if you know what you like best, you can urge others to play it your way, or go with the flow when you're outnumbered.
Happy Hunting!