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Werewolf Village is the werewolf party game for one player: you and up to eight computer villagers, and somewhere among you, the wolves. Each night the wolves take someone, the Seer reads one heart and the Guard watches one door. Each day everyone speaks in turn — accusations, defences, claims to be the Seer — and then the village votes someone out, and their role is shown. You may be dealt any role: a Villager with only your vote, the Seer, the Guard, or a Werewolf who must lie low. The villagers reason from the record, wolves lie, and every word and vote is kept in the log for you to read back. Six villages, each harder than the last. Free, no download, and it plays with a tap, a click or the keyboard.
How to play Werewolf Village
- Press Play, choose a village and press Start. You are dealt a role — or pick one from the menu on the start card. Everyone else is a computer player.
- Night comes first. The wolves choose someone to take. The Seer chooses one player and learns whether they are a werewolf. The Guard chooses one door to watch — never the same door two nights running — and anyone behind it is safe. A Villager simply sleeps.
- At dawn the village learns who was taken, and what role they had.
- By day everyone alive speaks once, in turn: an accusation (with a reason, if they have one), a word for someone they trust, a claim to be the Seer and what they read, or nothing at all. On your turn choose Accuse, Speak up for, Claim to be the Seer (Share a reading, if you are the Seer) or Say nothing.
- Then everyone votes, and you vote first. The player with the most votes is banished and their role is shown; a tie banishes nobody. You may also hold your vote.
- The village wins when every werewolf is gone. The wolves win once they are as many as everyone else.
- Stars: one for winning, one more for still being in the game at the end, and one more if the day vote never banished anyone from your side. One star opens the next village.
- Everything said and every vote is kept in the log beside the village. Tap a player when nothing needs choosing to mark them with your own note — suspect, trusted, or clear. Keyboard: the arrows walk round the village, Enter chooses, Esc goes back.
Tips
- Two people claiming to be the Seer means one is a wolf. If the second one answered by naming the first as a werewolf, that one is the liar — in these villages, more than 9 times in 10.
- Read the night. Whoever the wolves took had often been pointing at a wolf: a player the victim had accused turns out to be a werewolf about 7 times in 10.
- A hunch is not evidence. “Just a feeling about Bram” comes from a wolf only about one time in five — no more often than chance. Weigh what was done, not who sounded sure.
- When a banished player turns out to be a villager, look again at who voted them out and who pushed hardest. When one turns out to be a wolf, look at who stood up for them.
- As the Seer, say what you found the day you find a wolf. As the Guard, watch the Seer once they have spoken up, and otherwise your own door.
- As a werewolf, say little, vote the way an honest villager reading the log would — even against your partner — and if the Guard turned you away from a door, try the same door the next night: it cannot be guarded twice running.
FAQ
Is Werewolf Village free to play online?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All six villages are included and open one after another.
Can I play werewolf alone?
Yes — that is what this is. The werewolf party game usually needs a group of friends and a moderator. Here every other player is a computer villager with their own habits: some are sharp, some easily led, and the wolves lie. The game runs the nights for you.
What are the rules of werewolf?
A village hides a few werewolves. Each night the wolves secretly remove one player; each day everyone discusses and then votes to banish one player they suspect. The village wins by banishing every wolf; the wolves win once they are as many as everyone else. Special roles help the village: here, the Seer learns one player’s role each night and the Guard protects one player each night. In this version every banished or taken player’s role is shown, a tie vote banishes nobody, and you always vote first.
What roles can I get?
Villager, Seer, Guard or Werewolf, dealt at random in proportion to how many of each the village has — or pick one yourself from the menu on the start card. The first village has no Guard. Each role has its own job: the Villager reads and votes, the Seer reads one heart a night, the Guard watches one door a night, and a Werewolf chooses who the pack takes and tries not to be found.
Do the computer players cheat?
No. A computer villager knows only its own role and what is on the record — the same log you see — and a true Seer knows only its own readings. The wolves know each other, as they do in the real game. Villagers never lie; wolves sometimes claim to be the Seer. Replaying a deal keeps the same roles, but the computer players decide afresh, so a replay cannot be learned by heart.
Does skill matter, or is it luck?
Both, as in the real game. Measured over thousands of games, a player who follows the tips on this page wins about three games in four at the first village and about half at the last, while one who taps at random wins about three in five at the first and about one in three at the last. The edge is biggest for the Seer and the Guard (more than 20 points) and smallest for a Werewolf, who wins about half its games either way — careful play there gains only a few points.
How do I know who is lying?
Nobody tells you, but the log keeps everything. Look for two Seer claims — one of them must be a wolf, and the one who answered by naming the other nearly always is. Look at whoever the night took and who they had accused. And when a banished player’s role is shown, look back at who voted for them and who spoke up for them.
Is werewolf the same game as Mafia?
It is the same family. Mafia was devised by Dimitry Davidoff in Moscow in 1986, and Andrew Plotkin recast it with werewolves and villagers in 1997. Werewolf Village plays the werewolf version, with a Seer and a Guard.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Held upright, the village sits above the talk; held sideways, they sit side by side. Every choice is a tap, and on a computer the arrow keys and Enter play the whole game.