W(h)erewolf, Whowolf, Whatwolf, Whywolf ???

The best party game, except of Activity perhaps, is Werewolf. Activity is fun but the party or the gathering is quasi over if someone forgot to bring the game to the party. What should be done then? Well, first of all, don't panic! There is still another option: Werewolf

The advantage over other games is that you don't need anything, except a piece of paper, which is cut in small stripes or little cards, and a pen. It's a simple game for a large group of people, however, it is a little tricky at first to get the procedure of the game and you need at least seven people for it.

Here are the rules:
before starting the game you will need

• to choose a moderator (preferably with a good imagination)
• paper stripes or cards, on which you write (or if you prefer draw) the different characters. The characters are two werewolves, a seer, a witch and villagers.

After the preparation everyone, except the moderator, draws a paper stripe on which they see which character they are going to represent. The werewolves' goal is to kill all the villagers, which includes seer and witch, before they identify the werewolves as such and lynch them. 

The game changes between day and night. During the night everyone closes the eyes. First, the moderator asks the werewolves to open their eyes, choose one person in the circle they want to kill and close their eyes again. Then the moderator asks the seer to open his/her eyes, choose one person in the circle whose identity he/she wants to learn. The moderator sticks the thumb in the air if the person is a villager and down if the person is a werewolf. After the seer went to sleep again, the witch awakes. The  person who plays the role of the witch can either kill or save a person but only once. The moderator tells the witch whom the werewolves killed before, so she can save the person or kill another in addition to the already killed player. 

The sun rises and everybody opens their eyes. This is where Werewolf gets really exciting. The moderator announces who was killed and who was saved overnight. During the day the players can say and do anything, including lying, bluffing and drawing off the attention from themselves in order to convince that they are innocent and that another player is the werewolf.

At this point usually a huge discussion erupts. By the end of the day the players have to nominate a person they suspect to be a werewolf and lynch that person. The nominated person has to reveal the identity after the moderator announced his/her death. 

The procedure starts again, the sun sets, the werewolves wake and sniffing through the cold night they make their way to their new victim...

The person who remains at the end is the winner.

There are several possible variations of the game but this is the way my friends and I play it. When there are more people we usually add some characters. For example, cupid who chooses two players at the start of the game and these players fall secretly in love. If one player should be killed during the game the lover dies with the murdered. 

A hint for the moderator: he or she shouldn't speak in the direction of the player with the eyes open, this could be a hint for the other players and the fun fades away quickly. 

The game is real fun, you should try it out! 

Here are two links where you can print the cards out:

WEREWOLF CARDS

WEREWOLF CARDS

Gather some friends around you and get the party started!