Overview
The game is played in a village-like setting with players taking on different roles such as villager, werewolf, or a special character. The other players try to discover who the werewolves are and kill them. The game is fun and suitable for a social gathering. Details of how to play one night ultimate werewolf are provided below.
Objective
The village team tries to kill at least one werewolf to win. The werewolf team wins if no werewolf is killed and at least one villager dies.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf Rules
The following are some One Night Ultimate Werewolf Rules.
. The game is played with three more cards than the number of players.
. The game is played in phases. Players close their eyes during the night phase and must not open them except the announcer summons their role to perform its special duty.
. Player interaction is forbidden during the night phase except perhaps a player’s special action demands it.
. Players are allowed to interact and discuss freely during the day phase but must not show their role cards.
. Players vote after discussing for a few minutes during the day phase and the player that receives the most votes dies. The killed player must reveal their card. If multiple players tie for the most votes, all the players that tied are killed off and must all show their cards. If no player receives more than one vote, then no player dies and all the players will show their cards.
. Role cards may be added or removed as the players want but if a mason role is to be introduced, then both mason cards must be used. Also, the insomniac role can only be used in a game if at least one of robber or troublemaker role is included.
Number of Players Needed
3 to 10 players.
Equipment
. 16 roles cards (with 12 unique roles; 3 villagers, 2 masons, 2 werewolves, 1 each of hunter, town drunk, seer, tanner, minion, insomniac, troublemaker, robber, and doppelganger)
. 16 character tokens
Setting Up One Night Ultimate Werewolf Game
The game set-up differs depending on the number of players. The basic setup is for a game of 3-5 players. To accommodate more players, simply add more role cards. For a 3-player game, 2 werewolves, 1 each of villager, seer, robber, and troublemaker are used. For a 4-player game, add 1 villager to the 3-player setup. For a 5-player game, add 2 more villagers to the 3-player setup.
Note that there should always be 3 more role cards in play than the number of players involved in a game.
Pick the right number of cards for the number of players to be involved in the game and also gather the tokens that match the picked cards. Place the tokens in the middle of the playing area. After this, shuffle the cards and deal one card to each player. Three cards will be left, place these face-down in the middle of the playing area next to the tokens.
Each player quickly peeps at their card and then places the card face-down near the three cards in the middle. Each player must be able to reach all the cards, and also recognize which card is theirs. One player is chosen as the “Announcer”. In addition to playing the game, the announcer also has the responsibility of announcing each of the roles in order, so that players who have actions to perform during the night phase can do them. It is best to select an experienced player for this role.
How to Play One Night Ultimate Werewolf
The game is played in two phases, the night phase and the day phase. Each role is called upon to carry out its special action during the phases. Not all roles have actions to perform during the game. It is possible for there to be no werewolf as both werewolf cards could end up being part of the 3 cards in the middle.
Night Phase
The game starts in the night phase. Some roles have actions to perform during this phase and must be woken by the announcer to do their duty. Villagers, Tanner, and Hunter have no action to perform during the night so they must sleep throughout this phase.
To begin the night phase, the announcer asks everyone to close their eyes. He/she may say “Everyone, close your eyes”. After this, all the players including the announcer must close their eyes. The announcer then begins to call each role to awaken them and allow them to perform their special action.
The announcer begins with the werewolves by announcing “Werewolves, wake up and look for other werewolves”. All the players with werewolf cards will open their eyes and look around for other players whose eyes are opened. There may be none as both werewolf cards may not end up with any player. After allowing some time, maybe 10-15 seconds, the announcer asks the werewolves to close their eyes. He/she may say “Werewolves, close your eyes”.
The announcer calls on the next role, seer. He/she may say “Seer, wake up. You may either look at another player’s card or two of the three cards in the middle”. The player with the seer card then opens their eyes and either takes a look at one other player’s card or looks at two of the three cards in the middle. The announcer then asks the seer to close their eyes. He/she may say “Seer, close your eyes”
Next, the announcer calls on the robber. He/she may say “Robber, wake up. You may exchange your card with any other player’s card and then view your new card”. The player with the robber card then opens their eyes and does as the announcer said. The announcer will then ask the robber to close their eyes. He/she may say “Robber, close your eyes”.
Next, the announcer summons the troublemaker. He/she may say “Troublemaker, wake up. You may exchange cards between two other players”. The player with the troublemaker card opens their eyes and exchanges cards between two other players without viewing the cards. The announcer then asks the troublemaker to close their eyes. “Troublemaker, close your eyes”.
The last action of the night phase is performed by the announcer. The announcer keeping his/her eyes closed slightly moves the cards around so that no player can recognize which cards were moved. After this, the announcer then wakes everyone up. He/she may say “Everyone, open your eyes!”. The players will all open their eyes and be suspicious of one another. The game moves into the day phase.
Note that interactions between players are forbidden during the night phase unless when performing special actions. Also, players must keep their eyes closed all through except their role is summoned to perform its special action.
Day Phase
During the day phase players are free to interact and converse but must not show their role cards to others, neither can they view their role cards. Players may not be aware that their role has changed during the night phase. Remember that certain roles change other players’ cards. So, the role card that is currently in front of each player which may be different from their original card determines their role. The players will continue to interact and try to figure out who the werewolves are. Werewolves will claim to be a different role so they don’t get killed.
After a few minutes of discussions, players take a vote. The announcer may say “Everyone, three, two, one, VOTE”! Each player then points to another player. The player with the most votes dies and must reveal their card. If there is a tie for the most votes, all the players that tied will die and must reveal their cards. If no player receives more than one vote, then no one dies and all the players show their card.
The game may be expanded to include other players and more roles may be introduced. Here is the full list of roles and the order that they should be called by the announcer.
Doppelganger: A special role that can transform into another role. During the night phase, the player with the doppelganger card can view another player’s card and will become that role. The doppelganger will perform actions associated with the role they transformed into during the night phase. For example, if the doppelganger viewed a werewolf card, they will wake up with the werewolves. If they viewed a mason card, the doppelganger becomes a villager. The same applies to the other roles, seer, hunter, drunk, troublemaker etc.
Before the doppelganger shuts their eyes after viewing another player’s card, the announcer will announce that if they viewed a minion card (the doppelganger is now on the werewolf team) they should keep their eyes open and for the werewolves to put their thumb up. If the doppelganger viewed the insomniac card, the doppelganger must open their eyes after the insomniac closes theirs to check their card to confirm if they are still a doppelganger.
Werewolves: They form the werewolf team. When called by the announcer, they open their eyes to identify themselves.
Lone Wolf: If there is only one werewolf, then that wolf may be allowed to view one of the three cards in the middle. This action is optional though.
Minions: Minions belong to the werewolf team. When the minions are called by the announcer, the werewolves must put their thumbs up for the minions to see. The minions know who the werewolves are but werewolves do not know the minions.
Masons: Both mason cards must be used if the mason role is introduced to the game. When announced, the masons wake up to see each other.
Seer: Wakes up when summoned to view either one other player’s card or two of the three cards in the middle.
Robber: Wakes up when called to swap their card with another player’s card. The robber may not view the card they are swapping for theirs before taking it.
Troublemaker: Wakes up when called to swap two other players’ cards without viewing the cards.
Drunk: Wakes up when called to exchange their card with one of the three cards in the middle. The drunk must not look at their new role card.
Insomniac: This card can only be used if at least one robber or troublemaker is in the game. Insomniac will wake up when called to check their card one last time to confirm it hasn’t been changed. A doppelganger that transformed into an Insomniac will not view their card one last time to confirm it hasn’t been changed.
Hunter: Hunters do not awaken at night but will always kill any player they pointed at if the hunter themselves is executed.
Tanners: Tanners are on the werewolf team but do not wake up during the night phase.
Villagers: Villagers do not wake up during the night phase.
Roles may be added to the basic setup as the players like but certain roles can only be used if other roles are included in the game. Remember that there must be three more cards than players.
Winning The Game
The game ends after one day and one night.
The villagers win the game if at least one werewolf dies. It doesn’t matter the number of other roles that died. Everyone on the village team wins if a werewolf dies.
The villagers also win the game if no one is a werewolf and no one dies.
The villagers lose the game if no werewolf was killed but other players (including the tanner) died.
The werewolves win if at least one player is a werewolf and no werewolves were killed. If the game is played with a tanner, then the werewolves win if at least one of the players is a werewolf and no werewolves are killed, including the tanner.