Are You a Werewolf?

Last updated
Are you a Werewolf?
Players5 or more; recommended, 10 or more
Setup time< 5 minutes
Playing time5–30 minutes per round
ChanceLow
Age range5+
Skills Strategic thought
Team play
Roleplay

Are You a Werewolf? is a party game from Looney Labs. Its gameplay is derived from the game Mafia.

Contents

The game does not require special equipment; a deck of playing cards can also be used, though Looney Labs does have a specialized deck for sale.

Gameplay

The game starts with the Moderator handing each player a card. Players play out the role given to them by the card:

Until a player is eliminated, players are not to reveal their identity as printed on the card. Players may lie about what's on their card. When a player is killed, their card is revealed.

The game starts at night. All players close their eyes (often also bending their heads forwards) and make noise, usually clapping hands or slapping thighs to cover any unintentional noises that could disclose information. The moderator summons their werewolves awake, and asks them to make a selection of a villager to die. They then close their eyes, and the Seer is summoned to make a selection of a player to determine if s/he is a werewolf. The moderator will gesture with a thumbs-up for yes and thumbs-down for no.

After the first night has ended, the moderator describes a calamity as having befallen their town. Many narrators choose to ham it up, especially during pick-up games at game conventions.

Night may be accompanied by players tapping gently to mask sounds made by gesturing. [1]

After the night, the day portion begins with the unfortunate demise of a villager, and debate about who in the group is a werewolf. The day ends when a simple majority of players select another player to be eliminated. Play then repeats unless a victory condition is met.

According to some rules, the role of dead players should not be revealed; according to others, if doctor dies, nobody should know that. [1]

Victory conditions

A game ends in one of two ways:

Psychology of the game

The game displays many of the problems with mob mentality. With rare exceptions, villagers will end up killing at least one - and, more likely, several - villagers rather than the werewolves. Recriminations and accusations without cause are bandied about, and on occasion players are killed for the most trivial of reasons.

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werewolf fiction</span> Fantasy genre

Werewolf fiction denotes the portrayal of werewolves and other shapeshifting therianthropes, in the media of literature, drama, film, games and music. Werewolf literature includes folklore, legend, saga, fairy tales, Gothic and horror fiction, fantasy fiction and poetry. Such stories may be supernatural, symbolic or allegorical. A classic cinematic example of the theme is The Wolf Man (1941) which in later films joins with the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula as one of the three famous icons of modern day horror. However, werewolf fiction is an exceptionally diverse genre, with ancient folkloric roots and manifold modern re-interpretations.

<i>Werewolf: The Apocalypse</i> Tabletop role-playing game

Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game of the Classic World of Darkness game series by White Wolf Publishing. Other related products include the collectible card games named Rage and several novels. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as "Garou". These werewolves are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual desolation of urban civilization and supernatural forces of corruption that seek to bring the Apocalypse. Game supplements detail the other shape-shifters.

"Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other organized crime groups from Italy. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of disputes between criminals, as well as the organization and enforcement of illicit agreements between criminals through the use of threat or violence. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling, loan sharking, drug-trafficking, prostitution, and fraud.

The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra, also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. It is an association of gangs which sell their protection and arbitration services under a common brand. The Mafia's core activities are protection racketeering, the arbitration of disputes between criminals, and the organizing and oversight of illegal agreements and transactions.

<i>Werewolf: The Forsaken</i> Tabletop role-playing game

Werewolf: The Forsaken is a tabletop role-playing game set in the Chronicles of Darkness created by White Wolf Game Studio. It is the successor to Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the "game of savage horror" from the old World of Darkness line of games, but has moved to a more personal sort of horror, reflecting the "dark mystery" theme of the Chronicles of Darkness.

Wink murder is a party game or parlour game in which a secretly selected player is able to "kill" others by winking at them, while the surviving players try to identify the killer. The game is also variously known as murder wink, killer, murder in the dark, lonely ghost and killer killer. The practical minimum number of players is four, but the spirit of the game is best captured by groups of at least six players or more.

Are You a Werewolf? is a party game from Looney Labs. Its gameplay is derived from the game Mafia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Genco Russo</span> Italian mafioso and politician (1893–1976)

Giuseppe Genco Russo was a Sicilian Mafia boss from Mussomeli in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. Genco Russo, also known as "Zi Peppi Jencu", was an uncouth, sly, semi-literate thug with excellent political connections. A vulgar man, as he used to spit on the floor no matter who was present, he was often photographed with bishops, bankers, civil servants and politicians. He was considered to be the arbiter of Mafia politics, and was regarded as the successor of Calogero Vizzini, who had died in 1954. Although by then a wealthy landowner and politician as a member of Christian Democracy (DC), Genco Russo still kept his mule in the house and the toilet outside, which was little more than a hole in the ground with a stone for a seat and no walls or door according to Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Calderone</span> Member of the Sicilian Mafia

Giuseppe “Pippo” Calderone was an influential Sicilian mafioso from Catania, eventually becoming the capo of the Catania Mafia family.

The Resistance is a social role-playing card-based social deduction party game. The game's premise involves a war between government and resistance groups, and players are assigned various roles related to these groups. A King Arthur themed-variant with additional roles is marketed as Avalon. Like other social deduction games, The Resistance and Avalon rely on certain players attempting to disrupt the larger group working together, while the rest of the players work to reveal the spy working against them.

The Werewolves of Millers Hollow is a card game created by the French authors Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly that can be played with 8 to 47 players. The game is based on the Russian game Mafia. It was nominated for the 2003 Spiel des Jahres award.

<i>Ultimate Werewolf</i> Board game adaptation of the social deduction game Warewolf

Ultimate Werewolf is a card game designed by Ted Alspach and published by Bézier Games. It is based on the social deduction game, Werewolf, which is Andrew Plotkin's reinvention of Dimitry Davidoff's 1987 game, Mafia. The Werewolf game appeared in many forms before Bézier Games published Ultimate Werewolf in 2008.

<i>Werewords</i> Board game

Werewords is a board game for 4 to 10 players designed by Ted Alspach and published by Bézier Games in 2017. Players guess a secret word by asking questions. There are different roles randomly assigned at the start of play. Villagers try to find out the magic word before the time is up while the werewolves are trying to mislead them.

<i>Jinrō Shokei Game</i> 2015 film by Guillaume Tauveron

Jinrō Shokei Game: Tatoe Kimi ga Okami, Demo Boku wa Kimi wo Mamoru, better known simply as Jinrō Shokei Game, is a 2015 Japanese film directed by Guillaume Tauveron. The film stars Motohiro Ōta as Taiga and Kōsuke Yonehara as Yūichi Niina. It is based on the popular card game The Werewolves of Millers Hollow, and incorporates psychological and Boys' Love themes.

<i>Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood</i> 2021 video game

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is a 2021 action role-playing game developed by Cyanide and published by Nacon. The game is based on White Wolf Publishing's tabletop role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. The story follows Cahal, an eco-terrorist werewolf who has been banished from his werewolf tribe, and who fights against the Pentex corporation and the pollution it causes. The player, as Cahal, traverses areas in the American Northwest, and can shapeshift into a wolf, human or werewolf form to perform various tasks, such as exploration, conversation and combat.

Spyfall is a 2014 card game for 3–8 players designed by Alexander Ushan and published by Hobby World. A sequel, Spyfall 2, was published in 2017. A superhero themed variant, DC Spyfall, was published in 2018. The game has evolved over the years, with new variations and "advanced rules" emerging to keep gameplay fresh and engaging, a captivating social deduction board game, has become a beloved pastime for many. The game's core premise revolves around uncovering the spy hidden among the players. As the game has evolved, new variations and "advanced rules" have emerged, introducing elements like multiple spies to heighten the challenge and create a more chaotic, engaging experience.

<i>Town of Salem</i> 2014 video game

Town of Salem is an online multiplayer game with social deduction and strategy elements. It was developed and published by indie game developer BlankMediaGames, and released on December 15, 2014. Early alpha and beta versions were browser-based and free-to-play. On October 14, 2018, the game was released for iOS and Android mobile devices after a successful and long-supported Kickstarter fundraiser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social deduction game</span> Category of game

A social deduction game is a game in which players attempt to uncover each other's hidden role or team allegiance. Commonly, these games are played with teams, with one team being considered "good" and another being "bad". During gameplay, players can use logic and deductive reasoning to try to deduce one another's roles, while other players can bluff to keep players from suspecting them.

<i>Citizen and Mafia</i> 2019 Iranian TV series or program

Citizen and Mafia(formerly: Mafia) is an Iranian television contest that airs every night at 7 pm and repeats at 11 pm on IRIB Salamat. This program is directed by Mohammad Rajaei and produced by Alireza Soltani. Behnam Tashakkor was in charge of performing the first season of this program, which went on the air under the name of "Mafia", and Alirum Nouraei is in charge of narrating the second season of this program called "Citizen and Mafia" And the game model in the first season was a classic Mafia game. But in the following seasons, new characters came into play. After the broadcast of this match on TV, this style of play has become known as the game of Citizen and Mafia with the scenario of IRIB. In this game, there are no independent roles such as Werewolf, Syndicate, and..., and there are only two groups, Citizen and Mafia. However, the game does not have many famous characters such as Natasha, priest, butler and terrorist. In the tenth season, the game scenario has changed and roles such as Commando, Guard, NATO, Rifleman have been added to the game.

<i>Under a Blood Red Moon</i> Role-playing game supplement

Under a Blood Red Moon is an adventure module released in June 1993 by White Wolf Publishing for use with either of their tabletop role-playing games Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and is a part of the World of Darkness series. It is set in and around Chicago, and follows the conflict between the local vampire and werewolf communities; players take the roles of werewolves, or vampires belonging to the Camarilla or Sabbat sects.

References

  1. 1 2 "Are You A Werewolf? Rules of Play". Looney Labs . Retrieved 2010-06-15. Night-Noise: When everyone closes their eyes at night, it is best for people to also start humming, tapping the table, patting a knee, or making some noise. This will cover up any sounds made accidentally by the werewolves, the seer, or the moderator
  2. "Pyramid: Pyramid Review: Are You A Werewolf?". www.sjgames.com.