Witch Hunt (Good Little Games)
Witch Hunt (Good Little Games) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
In Witch Hunt you take on the role of rumour-mongering old women in a medieval village who have little to do but stew over perceived slights, and gossip about the likelihood of the other villagers being in league with dark forces.
Curiously, some of the villagers might actually be practicing witchcraft, and are rather anxious to remain undiscovered lest an angry mob arrive.
Who will discover the most witches and who will remain in the village unnoticed? Is that black cat really a family pet? Who has built a ducking stool? And what are you doing with that newt?
Components
The game contains the following 18 cards:
- 6 Identity cards
- 12 Rumour cards
You will also need some paper and a pen to keep score.
Setup
Give each player an Identity card. Shuffle the 12 Rumour cards and deal them face down:
- 3 players: Deal 4 cards to each player.
- 4 players: Deal 3 cards to each player.
- 5 players: Deal 2 cards to each player, and place the remaining 2 cards face up beside the play area (see Discarding cards).
- 6 players: Deal 2 cards to each player.
Pick up your Rumour cards. These are your 'hand' of cards for the round.
All players look at their Rumour cards, and then secretly choose whether to play the round as a Witch or a Villager. Place your Identity card face down in the middle of the play area, with your chosen identity pointing towards the centre.
Choose a start player to take the first turn.
Aim of the Game
The game is played over a series of rounds, until at least one player has 5 points. In each round, the Villagers try to find the Witches, and the Witches try to stay hidden. You gain points for finding Witches and by keeping your identity hidden the longest.
Rumour Cards
Every Rumour card has two different effects:
- Witch? — If you are ever accused of being a Witch, you may reveal a Rumour card from your hand and resolve its Witch? effects to avoid revealing your identity.
- Hunt! — On your turn, instead of making an accusation, you may reveal a Rumour card from your hand and resolve its Hunt! effect.
Whenever you play a card to use its effect, you must do everything it says, if possible. Always play Rumour cards face up in front of yourself. Some card effects require you to have an already revealed Rumour card to be played.
Important: When a card effect tells you to choose a player, you cannot choose yourself!
How to Play
The start player goes first. On your turn, you must either:
- Accuse another player of being a Witch. or
- Reveal a Rumour card from your hand and play it face up in front of yourself, resolving its Hunt! effect.
If you accuse a player, they must either:
- Reveal their identity card. or
- Reveal a Rumour card from their hand and play it face up in front of themselves, resolving its Witch? effect.
After an accusation
If a player you accuse reveals their identity, you score as follows:
- If they are a Witch, you gain 1 point. The accused player is then out of the game for the rest of the round, and you take another turn.
- If they are a Villager, you gain no points. The accused player takes the next turn.
You cannot accuse a player whose identity has already been revealed.
Revealing your identity
If you are ever revealed as a Witch, you are out of the round and cannot take further turns or play more cards.
If you are ever revealed as a Villager, you remain in the round, and can continue to take turns and play cards as usual. Some card effects require you to already be revealed as a Villager to be played.
End of round
When only one player remains with an unrevealed Identity card, the round ends. They then reveal their identity and score points:
- If they were a Witch, they score 2 points.
- If they were a Villager, they score 1 point.
Starting a new round
Begin a new round by shuffling all 12 Rumour cards and dealing new hands. At the start of each round, all players may freely choose to be either a Witch or a Villager.
The player who was last to reveal their identity in the previous round goes first in the next round.
Discarding Cards
Three cards — The Inquisition, Ducking Stool & Cauldron — can force players to discard cards.
Place any discarded cards face up beside the play area. In a 5-player game, treat the 2 cards placed beside the play area at the start of the game as discarded cards.
The Black Cat's Hunt! effect allows a player to add any one discarded card to their hand.
End of the Game
At the end of a round, if any player has at least 5 points, the player with the most points wins. If the game is tied, then players will have a high-stakes "monkey knife fight" and duel to the death. The survivor wins.