The Werewolves of Millers Hollow

Years ago, a friend of mine Dado introduced me to a version of this Werewolf-themed game which has delighted every person I've ever introduced it to. Even though my game master skills don't remotely compare to my teacher's, I still get requests from non-gamers to run this game at their parties. I don't recall meeting anyone who didn't like it.

So what's it all about? In a nutshell, people play various characters in a little village deep in the woods, where they discover at the start of the game that their mayor has been brutally murdered last night... by a Werewolf! In fact, one of the players is secretly the werewolf (and knows it), but the villagers are unfortunately blind to the werewolf's identity. The villagers figure out the killing must have been the work of an insider, and immediately decide that the best method of resolving the problem is to lynch the player who is obviously the werewolf (duh). The players vote on who to lynch, and if they succeed in getting the werewolf, the game is over.

But they usually fail. And when they do, that night the werewolf strikes again, horribly tearing apart another of our noble villagers. The process repeats until noone is left. That might sound brutally straightforward, but what makes Werewolf truly interesting is the different roles the characters play. The hunter readies their guns for a last stand against the beast, the priest divines the true identity of lost souls, the cultist worships the werewolf and will do whatever it takes to keep it alive - self sacrifice is a legitimate option. Add the seer and the warlock for an incredible battle of wit and deduction as the "good guys" seek to lynch the true werewolf, before its too late.

If you have every played "Mafia" or "Assassin" the core concept will be familiar to you. The key difference is that this game has several special rules which grant different players bits of useful information, and so involves a game master running the show who knows every player's secret identity and resolves special rules. They hopefully also maintain the eerie / campy werewolf-themed mood to round out the psychological tension between the players.

I'll add the rules later if many people read this and want them. Also get in touch if you're in Sydney and want to organise/join a game!