“Within each of us, ofttimes, there dwells a mighty and raging fury.”
Pilot episode, The Incredible Hulk

Throughout history, we have been plagued with tales of mad animal-men, wild lycanthropes that tear through the night eating human flesh, violating women and animals, and infecting humanity itself.

Why is that? Instinct? It’s one of the story types that is everywhere you look, regardless of culture.

It just occurred to me, reflecting on my aggressively protective nature of those I love.

Werewolf

A Mind Game

also called “Mafia”

Werewolf is a simple game for a large group of people (seven or more.)
It requires no equipment besides some bits of paper; you can play it
just sitting in a circle. I’d call it a party game, except that it’s a
game of accusations, lying, bluffing, second-guessing, assassination,
and mob hysteria.

I really like it. But then I go to some strange parties.

Setting Up

Assemble a group of players. An odd number is best, although not
absolutely mandatory. There should be at least seven players; nine or
eleven is better.

Make up a set of cards, one for each player, with a role written on each
one:

• One “Moderator”
• Two “Werewolf”
• One “Villager (Seer)”
• All the rest “Villager”

Shuffle the cards and hand them out, face down. Each player should look
at his card, but must keep it secret. Only the moderator
reveals his card and shows himself to be the moderator.

(Alternatively, the group can choose a moderator in advance; the
moderator then takes the “Moderator” card, shuffles the rest, and hands
them out face-down.)

Two players are now secretly werewolves. They are trying to slaughter
everyone in the village. Everyone else is an innocent human villager;
but one of the villagers secretly has the Second Sight, and can detect
the taint of lycanthropy.

The Game: Night and Day

The game proceeds in alternating night and day phases. We begin with
Night.

At Night, the moderator tells all the players “Close
your eyes.” Everyone should.

The moderator says “Werewolves, open your eyes.” The two werewolves do
so, and look around to recognize each other. The moderator should also
note who the werewolves are.

The moderator says “Werewolves, pick someone to kill.” The two
werewolves silently agree on one villager to tear limb from limb. (It is
critical that they remain silent. The other players are sitting there
with their eyes closed, and the werewolves don’t want to give themselves
away. Sign language is appropriate, or just pointing, nodding, raising
eyebrows, and so on.)

When the werewolves have agreed on a victim, and the moderator
understands who they picked, the moderator says “Werewolves, close your
eyes.”

The moderator says “Seer, open your eyes. Seer, pick someone to ask
about.” The seer opens his eyes and silently points at another player.
(Again, it is critical that this be entirely silent — because the seer
doesn’t want to reveal his identity to the werewolves.)

The moderator silently signs thumbs-up if the seer pointed at a
werewolf, and thumbs-down if the seer pointed at an innocent villager.
The moderator then says “Seer, close your eyes.”

The moderator says “Everybody open your eyes; it’s daytime. And
you have been torn apart by werewolves.” He indicates the
person that the werewolves chose. That person is immediately dead and
out of the game. He reveals his card, showing what he was, and leaves it
face-up.

Now it is Day. Daytime is very simple; all the living
players gather in the village and lynch somebody. The mob wants bloody
justice.

As soon as a majority of players vote for a particular player to die,
the moderator says “Ok, you’re dead.” That player then reveals his card,
and the rest of the players find out whether they’ve lynched a human, a
werewolf, or (oops!) the seer.

There are no restrictions on speech. Any living player can say
anything he wants — truth, misdirection, nonsense, or bareface lie.

Contrariwise, dead players may not speak at all. As soon as the
sun comes up and the moderator indicates that someone is dead, he may
not speak for the rest of the game. No dying soliloquies allowed.
Similarly, as soon as a majority vote indicates that a player has been
lynched, he is dead. If he wants to protest his innocence or reveal some
information (like the seer’s visions), he has to do it before
the vote goes through.

No player may reveal his card, to anyone, except when he is killed. All
you can do is talk.

Once a player is lynched, night falls and the cycle repeats. Everyone
closes their eyes, the werewolves (or werewolf) secretly select someone
to kill, the seer (if alive) secretly learns another player’s status;
then the sun rises, one player is found dead, and the remaining players
begin to discuss another lynching. Repeat until one side wins.

Winning

The humans win if they kill both werewolves.

The werewolves win if they kill enough villagers so that the numbers are
even. (Two werewolves and two humans, or one werewolf and one human.) At
that point they can rise up and slaughter the villagers openly.

In Case It’s Not Totally Clear

The villagers are trying to figure out who’s a werewolf; the werewolves
are pretending to be villagers, and trying to throw suspicion on real
villagers.

The seer is trying to throw suspicion on any werewolves he discovers,
but without revealing himself to be the seer (because if he does, the
werewolves will almost certainly kill him that night, since he’s the
greatest threat to werewolf national security.) Of course the seer
can reveal himself at any time, if he thinks it’s worthwhile to
tell the other players what he’s learned. Also of course, a werewolf can
claim to be the seer and “reveal” anything he wants.

The only information the villagers have is what other players say — and
who dies. Accusing someone of being a werewolf is suspicious. Not
accusing anyone is also suspicious. Agreeing with another player a lot
is suspicious, and therefore so is pretending not to agree with another
player. Never voting to kill a particular player is very suspicious for
both of them — unless it’s the seer who knows that player is innocent.

Technical Notes

When everyone closes their eyes at night, it is best for people to also
start humming, tapping the table, rocking back and forth, or some such
noise. This will cover up any accidental sounds that are made by the
werewolves, the seer, or the moderator.

The moderator should stick to the script to avoid mistakes or clues. If
he says “Open your eyes, werewolves” instead of “Werewolves, open your
eyes,” a player may misconstrue the command before the last word.

The moderator should be careful to always talk towards the center of the
group. If (for example) he turns to face the seer when he says “Seer,
select someone,” the werewolves may detect the change in acoustics.

It is really important that dead players not speak, and the moderator
not speak outside his official capacity — even to correct a blatant
misstatement about a matter of record. (I’ve seen a game where one
player — a werewolf — recited the history of the game up to that
point: “X was murdered, then we lynched Y, then Z was murdered…” And
he swapped two names, a night-murder and a day-lynching, to confuse
matters. It would be unfair for a dead player to say “Hey, that’s not
right, I was lynched!”)

There are several reasons to have an odd number of players (including
the moderator): There will be an odd number of living players during
each day, which prevents tie votes on lynchings; and the game will
always end with a lynching. If there are an even number of players, you
can get ties, and the game will end with a nighttime murder — which is
anticlimactic, because everyone knows when the sun goes down that the
game will end at dawn. (Because the werewolves are certain to kill a
human and win.)

But more importantly, the humans’ chances are significantly weaker when
there are an even number of players (including the moderator.)

This is probably because an even game always ends with a nighttime
murder, and an extra murder is always to the advantage of the wolves;
whereas an extra daytime lynching could help either side.

This game can produce a lot of shouting (during the day) and a lot of
humming (at night.) Don’t play where the neighbors will complain.
(“Don’t mind us, we’re just deciding who to kill!”)

My cards are cheesy cartoons (smiley faces, smiley faces with fangs, and
a smiley face with a third eye.) Some of my friends have made decks out
of selected Magic cards, X-Files cards, and other card games with neat
art.

Possible Variations

• When the seer secretly points to a player at night, the moderator
  says out loud “Yes, that’s a werewolf” or “No, that’s not a
  werewolf.” (Avoid “he” and “she”!) The other players still don’t know
  who was pointing or who was pointed at, but they do know what the answer
  was. If it was “yes”, the werewolves know the pressure is on…

• Don’t use a “Moderator” card; instead, put in one more “Villager”
  card. Then have an extra Day phase at the beginning, where the lynched
  player becomes the moderator. Advantage: Everyone gets to introduce
  themselves and start casting suspicion around, based on no
  information whatsoever. (Since it’s before the first night, not even the
  werewolves know who each other are!) Disadvantage: It’s possible for the
  moderator to be a werewolf or seer, which starts one side off with a
  handicap.

• Instead of passing out cards randomly, choose a moderator first, and
  then let the moderator decide who will be what. The moderator passes out
  cards as he pleases. (This might be fun if the group has played a lot of
  games together (not necessarily Werewolf) and know what it’s like for
  different people to team up. If the group is new to Werewolf, I wouldn’t
  recommend this variation.)

• Instead of everyone making noise at night, everyone is as quiet as
  possible, and they listen for the sounds of pointing. (I feel this
  pollutes the pure brain-ness of the game. You should cast suspicion on
  each others’ arguments, not on whether they can sign silently. But some
  people do play this way.)

• If there are a whole lot of players — say, seventeen — it might be
  better to add a third werewolf. I have not experimented with this, so I
  don’t know. Of course at that point it’s also possible to split into two
  separate games.

• If the number of players is even, you can give the villagers
  an advantage by granting the seer a free inquiry, letting the werewolves
  recognize each other, and then starting
  with a day-phase. (Or, equivalently, start with a night but don’t let
  the werewolves attack that first night.) This keeps the parity normal.
  It’s hard to quantify the advantage of a free inquiry, since it’s
  entirely psychological, but at least you don’t have an entirely
  information-free first day.

• If the number of players is small, or even, perhaps improve the
  villagers’ chances by giving one of them wolfsbane? The villager with
  wolfsbane cannot be killed by wolves; if he is picked, the moderator
  announces “It’s dawn… nobody was killed last night.” Of course, the
  herb is no protection from lynching. Disadvantage: this screws up the
  parity, so some games won’t end with a lynching. (This is a very
  speculative variant, and needs a lot of playtesting before it can be
  recommended.)

• A variant from Princeton: one villager has wolfsbane, but he
  chooses which doorstep to sprinkle every night. (He can
  choose himself.)
  If he picks the same person the wolves pick, that person doesn’t die.
  If he picks a wolf, nothing happens.
  Disadvantages: again, this screws up the parity. Also, if the last
  two players are a wolf and the wolfsbane-owner, the game is a stalemate.
  (Hm — that’s the result that was described to me, but it doesn’t
  necessarily follow. You could say that since the wolf-team has equal
  numbers, they win by daytime massacre, and the herb doesn’t help.)

• “Dark City”: At night, the werewolves get to swap two villager
  cards (thus possibly changing the identity of the seer). Ideally, when
  a villager dies, it should not be revealed whether or not he was the
  seer.

• Other variants are noted below, with links to groups that play that
  variant.

History

I did not invent this game. I don’t know who did. I learned it at the
1997
National Puzzlers’ League
convention, under the name “Mafia.” (Two
Mafia gangsters, one Knight Commandant, and everyone else innocent
citizens.) I think werewolves are niftier, so I changed it.

Thanks again, Carm! I like it better with Weres, too. 😀