Guest Author - Lynn Little

Players: 8-15 players

Needed to play: deck of Are you a werewolf playing cards or adapt a normal deck of cards

Are you a Werewolf is a card game that is a combination of role playing and bluffing. If you do not have a deck of Werewolf cards, mark plain playing cards as follows:

One Moderator
One Seer
Two Werewolf cards
The rest of the cards mark as Villager

Each player gets one card. Use only enough cards, so everyone gets one and there are none left over. Do not reveal to anyone which card you were dealt. There are basically two sides: the werewolves and the villagers. The werewolves are looking to destroy all of the villagers while the villagers hope to lynch both werewolves. The moderator will guide players through each round of play.

The game takes play in day and night phases. The game begins with a night phase. Everyone lays down their head and closes their eyes. The moderator will then say "Werewolves, open your eyes." The two werewolves raise their heads, revealing themselves to each other and the moderator. The moderator will then ask the werewolves to pick someone to kill. Werewolves will point or make some other gesture as to which villager they wish to kill. Noting their decision, the moderator will then say "Werewolves close your eyes." Next the moderator will ask the Seer to open their eyes. The seer is a special villager who can see werewolves. The seer points to a player and the moderator will reveal the truth the Seer if the player is a werewolf by either a thumbs up or thumbs down. The moderator then instructs the Seer to close their eyes. The night phase is now over, and the moderator asks for everyone to open their eyes.

The day phase begins with the moderator revealing whom the werewolves killed. That player then reveals their card and leaves it face up on the table. Next, villagers discuss which player they want to lynch for the killing. The Seer will try and guide the decision to kill a werewolf but is not likely to reveal to the group that he/she is the Seer because she/he becomes a target of the werewolves. Once a majority has decided on a villager then he/she is killed. Players who haven't been killed are free to say anything they wish during the day phase. Werewolves might try and throw suspicion on other players while the Seer might gun after a Werewolf. If you have been killed, then you cannot speak. The cycle then repeats with another night round.

During the night, players pat their legs or make other white noise to drown out any accidental verbal communication that might come from the werewolves, moderator, or seer. Werewolf is a game created by Andrew Potkin and is a spinoff of the game Mafia!

The folks over at Looney Labs have a set of Are you a Werewolf cards. The set includes 2 Werewolf cards, 1 Seer, 1 Moderator, and 12 Villager cards, plus instructions.