Overview
| Author: | Ted Alspach, Akihisa Okui |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Players: | 3-21 |
| Time: | 10 min |
| Mechanics: | Hidden Roles, Game Variable Player Powers, Voting |
Description
Each player is assigned a role of villager, werewolf, or special character. Over the course of only one night and the following morning, the players will determine who among them is a werewolf…hopefully.
Goal
The villagers’ goal is to identify who among them is a werewolf and kill them while the werewolves’ goal is to survive.
SETUP
- One player creates a game and share the game room link or game code.
- Players join the room and create an in-game name. It is suggested that you use the name that the other people in the game know you as.
- Once everyone has joined the room, the player who created the game will press Start Game and select the roles that you will be using in the game.
- Instructions are given for the game and gameplay will start once all players have clicked OK.
Note: Wording of the online version of the game is designed around in-person play with players using the game on their phones. The game can be played completely virtually without a problem.
GAMEPLAY
Roles & Powers
At the beginning of gameplay, each player will be randomly assigned a role. Three extra roles are not assigned to a player. In a physical game, these roles would be placed facedown in the center of the table.
Werewolf: At night, all Werewolves open their eyes and look for other werewolves. If no one else opens their eyes, the other Werewolves are in the center. Werewolves are on the werewolf team.
Minion: The Minion sees who the Were-wolves are. The Werewolves don’t know who the Minion is. If the Minion dies and no Werewolves die, the Werewolves (and the Minion) win. If no players are Werewolves, the Minion wins as long as one other player (not the Minion) dies. The Minion is on the werewolf team.
Mason: When using the Masons always put both Masons in the game. The Mason wakes up at night and looks for the other Mason. If the Mason doesn’t see another Mason, it means the other Mason card is in the center. Masons are on the village team.
Villager: The Villager has no special abilities but is definitely not a werewolf. Players may often claim to be a Villager. The Villager is on the village team.
Seer: At night, the Seer may look either at one other player’s card or at two of the center cards but does not move them. The Seer is on the village team.
Robber: At night, the Robber may choose to rob a card from another player and place his Robber card where the other card was. Then the Robber looks at his new card. The player who receives the Robber card is on the village team. The Robber is on the team of the card he takes; however, he does not do the action of his new role at night.
Troublemaker: At night, the Troublemaker may switch the cards of two other players without looking at those cards. The players who receive a different card are now the role (and team) of their new card, even though they don’t know what role that is until the end of the game. The Troublemaker is on the village team.
Insomniac: The Insomniac wakes up and looks at her card (to see if it has changed). Only use the Insomniac if the Robber and/or the Troublemaker are in the game. The Insomniac is on the village team.
Drunk: The Drunk is so drunk that he doesn’t remember his role. When it comes time to wake up at night, he must exchange his Drunk card for any card in the center, but he does not look at it. The Drunk is now the new role in front of him (even though he doesn’t know what that new role is) and is on that team.
Hunter: If the Hunter dies, the player he is pointing at dies as well (regardless of how many votes his target receives). The Hunter is on the village team.
Tanner: The Tanner hates his job so much that he wants to die. The Tanner only wins if he dies. If the Tanner dies and no Werewolves die, the Werewolves do not win. If the Tanner dies and a Werewolf also dies, the village team wins too. The Tanner is considered a member of the village (but is not on their team), so if the Tanner dies when all werewolves are in the center, the village team loses. The Tanner is not on the werewolf or the villager team.
Doppelganger: The Doppelganger looks at another player’s card. They take on the role of that card. They are on the team of their new role.
Suggested Roles
- 4 players: Werewolf, Seer, Robber, Troublemaker, Drunk, Insomniac, Tanner
- 5 players: Werewolf, Seer, Robber, Troublemaker, Drunk, Insomniac, Hunter, Tanner
- 6 players: Werewolf, Minion, Seer, Robber, Troublemaker, Drunk, Insomniac, Hunter, Tanner
- 7 players: Werewolf, Werewolf, Minion, Seer, Robber, Troublemaker, Drunk, Insomniac, Hunter, Tanner
- 8 players: Werewolf, Werewolf, Minion, Mason, Mason, Seer, Robber, Troublemaker, Drunk, Insomniac, Tanner
The online version of the game also includes several roles from One Night Ultimate Werewolf Daybreak expansion and one role from One Night Ultimate Vampire. Those roles have these symbol next to them: 
and 
. It is recommended that you only include these roles in your game after you’ve become familiar with the roles in the base game.
Alpha Wolf: When playing with an Alpha Wolf, an additional werewolf card is placed in the center but separate. At night, the Alpha Wolf wakes with the other werewolves. Afterwards, the Alpha Werewolf wakes up again and must exchange the werewolf card in the center with any other player’s card that is not their own or belonging to another werewolf, without looking at either card. The Alpha Werewolf is on the werewolf team.
Mystic Wolf: The Mystic Wolf wakes with the other werewolves. Afterwards, they Mystic Wolf wakes separately and may look at one other player’s card. The Mystic Wolf is on the werewolf team.
Apprentice Seer: The Apprentice Seer wakes and may look at one of the center cards. The Apprentice Seer is on the village team.
Paranormal Investigator: The P.I wakes up and may look at the cards of up to two players, one at a time. If they view a Werewolf or Tanner, they may not view any more cards and they become a werewolf or Tanner, respectively. If the P.I sees the Doppelganger that saw a werewolf, they continue looking. The P.I is on the village team unless they find a werewolf, in which case they join the werewolf team, or if they find a Tanner, in which case they become a Tanner and only win if they die.
Witch: The Witch wakes up and may look at one of the center cards. If they do look at a center card, then they must exchange that card with any player’s card (including their own) without looking at it. The Witch is on the village team unless they replace their own card with a card from a different team.
Dream Wolf: The Dream Wolf does not wake up with the other werewolves though the other werewolves know that the Dream Wolf is a werewolf. If playing with the Minion, the Minion is also informed of the Dream Wolf. The Dream Wolf is on the werewolf team.
Bodyguard: When everyone votes, the player the Bodyguard chooses cannot be killed. If that player had received the most votes, the player with the next most votes (up to two) is killed. Recommended for five or more players. The Bodyguard is on the village team.
Copycat: The Copycat wakes up and must look at one of the center cards. From that point on in the game, the Copycat is the role they viewed and wakes up if the new role is called. The Copycat is on the team of their new role.
Night Phase
During the Night Phase, the players are woken in the order of their roles (see below for order) and complete the action that is part of their role. The online version of the game will go through the role order and exclude any roles not chosen to be part of the gameplay:
- Copycat
- Doppelganger
- Werewolves
- Alpha Wolf
- Mystic Wolf
- Minion
- Masons
- Seer
- Apprentice Seer
- Paranormal Investigator
- Robber
- Witch
- Troublemaker
- Drunk
- Insomniac
- Doppelganger-Insomniac
The roles of Villager, Tanner, Hunter, Bodyguard, and Dream Wolf do not wake up during the Night Phase.
Day Phase
During the Day phase, players have until the in-game timer runs out to discuss among themselves who they believe the werewolves are. The timer in the online game will adjust according to the number of players.
Depending on the roles that are in the game, players might unknowingly wake-up with a different role than they started with. Players can tell the truth or lie about the role that they have (or had) and the actions that they made during the night. Throughout the Day Phase players are trying to determine what their role is, who their allies are, create trust and deflect suspicion off of themselves to manipulate things to their desired outcome. Werewolves might want to claim a different role so that they don’t die.
When the timer runs out, or everyone decides to, there is a vote.
GAME END
During the voting phase, there is no further discussion. Each player casts one vote. Players cannot vote for themselves. The person with the most votes is killed and their role is revealed.
If the at least one werewolf dies, the village team wins. If no werewolves die, the werewolves win. If the person who dies was on their own team (such as the Tanner), neither the villagers nor the werewolves win. If everyone has the same number of votes, no one dies. The village team wins if the werewolves are in the center and no one dies.