Everything you need to know to play, host, and customize the ultimate social deduction experience.
Werewolf (also known as Mafia) is a social deduction game for 6-100+ players. The game divides players into two teams: the Village (good) and the Werewolves (evil). The village doesn't know who the werewolves are, and the werewolves must eliminate the village without being discovered.
Team: Village | Count: Most players
Ability: None. Villagers vote during the day to eliminate suspected werewolves.
Strategy: Your only weapon is logic and persuasion. Speak up, share observations, and build coalitions with trusted players.
Team: Werewolves | Count: 1-5
Ability: Each night, wolves choose one player to eliminate. Wolves know who each other are.
Strategy: Blend in with the village during the day. Coordinate kills at night. Never defend a packmate too aggressively.
Team: Village | Count: 1
Ability: Each night, the Seer investigates one player and learns whether they are Good or Evil.
Strategy: Build information silently. Reveal with concrete evidence around round 3-4. Coordinate with the Doctor.
Team: Village | Count: 1
Ability: Each night, the Doctor protects one player from elimination. Cannot self-save or protect the same player twice in a row.
Strategy: Protect high-value targets. Watch for the Seer and keep them alive. Vary your protection pattern to avoid detection.
Team: Werewolves | Count: 1
Ability: As a werewolf, plus the King can mark one player each night. If the King dies, the marked player dies too.
Strategy: Mark players who would lead the village after you're gone. Play aggressively knowing your death has consequences.
Team: Village | Count: 1
Ability: Each night, the Shooter stores a target. If the Shooter is eliminated, the stored target is eliminated too.
Strategy: Store suspected wolves. Announce your role publicly to deter wolves from targeting you.
The game alternates between night and day phases until one team wins.
During the night, all players close their eyes or look down. Special roles act in order:
The host announces who was eliminated at dawn. The Doctor's protected player survives.
During the day, all players discuss and vote.
After elimination, the game returns to the night phase.
When one team meets its win condition, the victory screen appears with full role reveals and a recap of the game.
All werewolves and the Wolf King have been eliminated. The village successfully identified and removed the threat.
Werewolves equal or outnumber the remaining villagers. This happens when the village has lost too many members to mount a successful vote.
Extremely rare, but can happen if the last wolf and last villager eliminate each other simultaneously (e.g., Wolf King kills the last villager, but the wolf is voted out the same round).
Running a smooth game requires preparation. Here's how to host Werewolf for any group size.
Once you've mastered the standard game, try these variations to keep things fresh.
Change: Two Seers are in the game. They don't know each other's identity.
Effect: Creates fascinating dynamics. Two Seers may independently identify the same wolves (building confidence) or reach different conclusions (creating genuine uncertainty about who's real).
Change: One Seer exists, but receives random results instead of accurate ones.
Effect: The Seer's confidence becomes a weapon for the wolves. The village must question every investigation result.
Change: Remove the Doctor from the role pool.
Effect: Faster, more brutal games. Every night kill is permanent. Puts more pressure on the Seer to build evidence quickly.
Change: When a wolf is eliminated, all surviving wolves are publicly revealed for 10 seconds.
Effect: Dramatically changes wolf strategy. Wolves must play much more carefully knowing that exposure is devastating. Makes for shorter, more intense games.
Change: One Villager is randomly selected to become a former role when that role's player dies. E.g., if the Seer dies, the Amnesiac becomes the new Seer.
Effect: Extends the game and gives the village a second chance if key roles are eliminated early.
Minimum 6 players (4 villagers + 2 wolves). Optimal experience is 10-20 players. The game supports up to 100+ players with adjusted role counts.
Yes! Players join through their phone's web browser. No app download required. Just scan the host's QR code or enter the room code.
A typical game lasts 15-45 minutes. Larger groups and more special roles tend to extend the game time. The host can adjust phase timers for faster or slower play.
Yes, the game is completely free to play. The code is open source on GitHub.
Absolutely! Werewolf is widely used for team building, icebreakers, and classroom activities. The QR code entry system makes it easy to onboard large groups quickly.
Create a room and invite your players. No sign-ups, no downloads — just pure social deduction.
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