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.)
(See statistics.)
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.
- "Cupid": One villager is also the Cupid. At the start of the
game, he secretly indicates two others players. These players are now a
pair of Lovers. (The moderator taps the Lovers on the shoulder, and has
them open their eyes and see each other. So the Lovers know who each other
are, and the Cupid knows who they are -- but none of them know
(initially) whether the Lovers are human, wolves, or one of each.)
Now: if one Lover dies (day or night), the other dies immediately of a
broken heart. Furthermore: if the Lovers are the only two people left
alive, even if one is a human and one is a wolf, they both
win.
("Ours is a forbidden love." -- Willow)
- 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.
I have done some
statistical simulations
of the game, mostly to figure out when to add a third werewolf.
(Seventeen players looks right.)
A friend has reported another name for the game: "Seduction", where two
seducers try to deflower all the virgins before they're caught, with a
gossip peeking. Every day the virgins go out and... arrange a tryst with
one of their number? Send someone to a brothel? Ok, it doesn't make
a whole lot of sense.
Steven Clays reports: "We (= a Belgian group of 2500 ecologists between
8-25) learned the game from Slovenian people in July '96." Hm.
If you have any more information about the origins of the game,
please send me a note. That's erkyrath@eblong.com.
Commercial Editions of Werewolf
I know of two:
-
Les Loups-Garou
de Thiercelieux -- a French publication. Has a number of additional
character cards, including the "Cupid" described above.
-
Are
You A Werewolf?
-- published by
Looney Labs.
Just werewolf, villager, seer, and moderator cards; rules basically
as described on this page. (Looney Labs events tend to degenerate into
Werewolf late at night. Friday night at Origins 2002, we had four games
running with 52 people total...)
And I might as well give my opinion about this sort of thing:
I did not invent this game, so I have no right to permit or forbid people
from publishing commercial versions of it, or otherwise making money off of
it. As far as I'm concerned, it's folk culture, as much as hopscotch or
chess. (Even if it was invented in 1986 (see below). Folk work fast. The
word gets around.)
On the other hand -- if you publish a version which is called "Werewolf",
as opposed to "Mafia" or some other theme, it would be cool if you noted
my name. I don't insist. I'm just asking. Because I am the sole
inventor of the idea of having this game be about werewolves... and
while that gives me no rights of ownership, it does mean that the chain
of causality flows back through me.
It's kind of a weird feeling, actually. I am your memetic lycanthropic Eve!
Heh.
Other Werewolf/Mafia Web Pages
-
Graduate Mafia Brotherhood
of Princeton University. This page lists a broad range of variants
and rule suggestions, including the out-of-control "Mafia meets
Werewolf"...
See also their detailed
history
page.
-
A
description of an IRC version
by "Bryce"
-
Another
page by "Soonger". In this version, there's a single, roll-call vote
to lynch; whoever gets the most lynch votes is strung up.
-
It looks
like the same game...
But it's in Russian. I think. (The server doesn't seem to
specify a charset header, either.)
(dead link, sorry)
-
Another page
by "Beer". In this version, the person being lynched has the opportunity
for a short speech in defense of himself; this is followed by a second,
confirming vote to kill.
-
And finally, although this isn't a link: My latest web search has
turned up the highest quota of Mafia mentions from...
wait for it... the event lists of Christian youth camps.
No, I don't know what this means.
-
Ok, one such link: In
"skit
ideas" for youth camps. Standard rules.
(dead link, sorry)
-
Maffia
SIG of Mensa HungarIQa,
a Hungarian group.
Interesting variant: the Mafia cannot communicate at night, not even to know
who the other Mafia are trying to murder. They must somehow agree on their
target during the day, in the course of the normal discussion.
If they don't all attack the same target, nobody dies that night.
-
Vegard Engstrøm
has a
detailed site.
In this version, the identity of people killed at night is
kept secret; so the Mafia can kill the Knight Commandant and never know it.
Worse, the Mafia can kill one of their own, or even both, and laugh at the
resulting confusion. Also, the Knight Commandant is given the
identity of one Mafia member per night, instead of having to ask. (The
ratio of Mafia to citizens is higher, to counter this increased power.)
-
A description of Mafia at the
1997 NPL
Convention, which is where I learned about it myself. Written by
"Qaqaq". (NPL names are funky. Mine's "'Andrew'".)
-
Another
site, standard rules but with no Seer/Knight Commander.
Photos from an action-packed game session!
-
Dimitry Davidoff's
site, in which he claims to have invented the game in 1986. History
in the retelling! His rules are well off the current average: the players
may lynch any number of people during the day, lynched players do not
reveal their identity, there's no communicating at night
and there is no moderator or Seer.
-
Bruno Wolff's
site, including some variations and statistical models.
Last updated July 7, 2002.
Werewolf Statistics
This
page in Spanish
(translation thanks to Daniel Gómez)
Zarfhome
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