- Start the game with the night phase, where everyone closes their eyes and the moderator invites the werewolves and other players to kill or save their friends.
- Open your eyes and discuss as a group who you think the werewolves are. When you’re ready, take a vote on who to eliminate.
- Repeat the day and night phases until only the werewolves or only the villagers remain.
Setup
Assemble at least 7 players and assign a moderator. Werewolf is meant to be played with a large group of people, so gather up a minimum of 7 players and have them sit in a circle or around a table. Next, choose someone to be the narrator. The narrator oversees the game and walks the players through the game, but doesn’t actively participate themselves. When playing more than 1 game of Werewolf, take turns being the moderator so that everyone gets a chance to play. If there are a large number of players, the moderator can use a notebook to write down the role of each player and who has been killed to keep track of the game.
Shuffle the role cards and deal a single card to each player. Have the moderator give everyone a random role card, which represents the role that the player will take during each game of Werewolf. Count out cards for 1 Seer, 1 Doctor, 2 Werewolves, and enough Villager cards for the rest of the players. If you’re playing with more than 15 people, add 1 werewolf card for every 4 players that are in the group. Alternatively, shuffle in bonus roles like the Witch or the Alpha Werewolf to mix up the game.Tip: If you don’t have the official Werewolf deck, you can use scraps of paper to play the game. Write or draw villagers, werewolves, a Seer, and a Doctor on strips of paper and have people choose them out of a hat.
Look at your cards, and keep them secret! Once the cards are dealt and the stage is set, have everyone take a peek at their cards and take note of what role they’ve been assigned. But remind everyone to keep their role a secret.
The Night Round
Tell all of the players to close their eyes and drum the table. After the cards have been dealt to the players, the moderator announces the beginning of the night phase by saying, “Close your eyes.” Then, everyone slaps their knees or drums the table to mask any sounds other players might make in the round. Each player keeps their eyes closed when it isn’t their turn. If any player opens their eyes or cheats, then they are out of the game.
Have the werewolves choose who they want to kill. While the players are drumming their hands, the moderator says, “Werewolves, open your eyes.” The werewolves then open their eyes and silently point to who they want to kill. The 2 werewolves must agree on 1 villager. When the werewolves make a decision and agree on a victim, the moderator takes note of who is being killed and says, “Werewolves, close your eyes.” The werewolves keep drumming while they decide so the other players don’t suspect them.Tip: Use any gesture, such as a nod, a raised eyebrow, or a motion of the head to indicate which player will be killed off.
Have the Doctor save 1 person. With the other players continuing to drum, the moderator says, “Doctor, who would you like to heal?” The person with the Doctor card then opens their eyes and chooses 1 person that will survive if the werewolves decide to kill them. The moderator takes note of who they select, and the Doctor closes their eyes again. The Doctor can choose to save themselves if they want. The Doctor won’t know who the werewolves chose to kill. If someone was chosen to be killed by the werewolves and the Doctor chose to save them, the moderator will say, “Someone has been saved,” at the beginning of the day round.
Have the Seer try to identify a werewolf. Next, the moderator says, “Seer, open your eyes. Seer, pick someone to ask about.” The person with the Seer card then opens their eyes and points at 1 player that they think might be a werewolf. The moderator uses a silent gesture to let them know if they have identified a werewolf. The Seer then closes their eyes. The moderator can give a thumbs up or nod their head to let the Seer know if they guessed correctly. In some versions of the game, such as One Night: Ultimate Werewolf, the Seer is allowed to view the card of the player of their choice instead of simply identifying whether a player is a werewolf or not.
The Day Round
Open your eyes and identify who was killed or saved. Once all the roles have taken their turns, the moderator says, “Everybody open your eyes, it’s daytime.” The moderator then reveals the person who was killed, and whether or not they were saved by the Doctor. If they weren’t saved, they're eliminated! Eliminated players remain silent for the rest of the game and do not reveal their identity. Alternatively, have the killed player reveal their card. This variation speeds up the game and makes it a bit easier for the villagers to win. Have fun role playing the event! The moderator might make up a story about how the player was killed, who might perform dramatic death throes.
Introduce yourselves in character. The first day phase begins by having each player take a turn talking about themselves in the character of a villager. The werewolf, Doctor, and Seer players are trying to hide their true identities. For example, when it’s your turn, you could say something like, “Hi, I’m Chris, the local blacksmith. I’ve got a bunch of pitchforks sharpened and ready to hunt werewolves!” Role playing is a big part of the game, so have fun with it!Tip: Have each player stay in character the entire game to make the discussion and vote more interesting!
Discuss and vote on which player to kill. After their introductions, the players discuss who they believe is a werewolf. The players can say whatever they want—promise, bluff, lie, or tell wild stories about who they are. The moderator then takes a vote, and the player that the majority of players believe is a werewolf is killed. That player is now out of the game. Though there does not have to be a limit, to keep the game moving, set a 5-minute time limit for the day phase to force the other players to make a decision as to who they want to kill off. If the village runs out of time or they can’t reach a majority vote, then the round ends, nobody is killed, and the opportunity to potentially kill a werewolf is missed.
Begin the night round again and play until either only werewolves or villagers remain. The players close their eyes and drum on their knees or table once again. The night round repeats with the werewolves, seer and doctor playing their roles (if they’re still alive), and the game continues until either all the werewolves or all the other players have been eliminated. The werewolves typically win the game if they kill enough villagers to make the numbers even, since at that point they have a clear path to winning. But let the game play our for fun, anyway!
Bonus Roles
The Witch During the night phase, awaken the Witch and ask them, “Witch, would you like to resurrect or poison a player?” The Witch can then either select a dead player to bring back into the game, or select a living player to kill, and they can do either of these only once per game of Werewolf. If the Witch chooses to take action, they gesture which action they want to take by pointing at a player and then miming either resurrecting them or poisoning them. Get creative! If the Witch doesn’t want to act that night, they simply shake their head.
The Village Drunkard The Drunkard is a regular villager who can only communicate through nonverbal gestures. If they do talk, they’re automatically killed during the next night phase.
The Alpha Werewolf The Alpha Werewolf card is swapped for one of the regular Werewolf cards. The player who’s dealt this card must say the word “werewolf” at least once per day phase, trying to sneak it casually into the conversation to avoid suspicion. If they don’t they die during the next night.
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