Are You a Werewolf? is another Mafia/Werewolf variant, this one produced by Looney Labs. I believe it was the first of the professional Werewolf games currently on the market.
Players: 8-15
Playing Time: 20-60 minutes
Difficulty: 1 (of 10)
This review shares some text in common with my other Mafia / Werewolf reviews, mostly in the Game Play section.
The Components
Are You a Werewolf? comes in a plastic baggy with:
The Cards: The cards are all printed on sturdy, glossy cardstock with rounded corners. Each one features black and white artwork by Alison Frane along with the title for the role ("Villager", "Werewolf", "Seer", or "Moderator").
Primarily due to the black and white printing, the cards are pretty plain; Alison's artwork is very nice, but doesn't have the same energy that her simpler line drawings do (as seen throughout other Looney Lab products).
Overall, the components in this game are solely and entirely utilitarian; because of the very low price point, the game still earns an average "3" out of "5" for Style.
The Game Play
In Are You a Werewolf? if you're a werewolf you're trying to kill the humans, and if you're a human you're trying to kill the werewolves.
Setup: The game begins with choosing a moderator, then handing out role cards to all the players. Two players will be werewolves, one player will be a seer, and a number of players will be villagers. These role cards are kept secret.
Order of Play: The game play is broken into two broad parts, which repeat in order: night and day. Each night someone is eaten by a werewolf, then each day someone is lynched.
Night: There are two phases during the night: the seer phase and the werewolf phase. The night begins with everyone closing their eyes. It's generally suggested that people hum, tap, or whatever during the night to cover up accidental noises.
The Werewolf Phase. The moderator then asks then werewolves to open their eyes. They identify each other, then silently select a player who they kill. The werewolves then close their eyes.
The Seer Phase. The moderator then asks the seer to open his eyes and to silently select another player. The moderator then shows a thumbs-up or -down to show if the player is a werewolf or a villager.
Day: Everyone now opens their eyes and the moderator identifies who has been killed; that person reveals his role card and may no longer talk. The rest of the players now discuss who they think are werewolves. The seer may be able to give some pointers, but if she's too explicit, she will become a target for the werewolves. Likewise, other players (usually the werewolves) can pretend to be the seer (but this of course has its own dangers).
After the discussion the players then must reach a majority decision as to who is a werewolf. That player is then lynched and out of the game. His role card is revealed.
(Various Werewolf games vary as to whether role cards should be revealed or not upon death; as noted here, Are You a Werewolf? is definitely on the "reveal" side of things.)
Now, a new night begins ...
Winning the Game: The game ends when the werewolves are all eliminated (giving victory to the villagers) or when the number of villagers and werewolves are equal (giving the victory to the werewolves, who promptly throw away their disguises and devour the remaining villagers).
Relationships to Other Games
The game of Are You a Werewolf? apparently dates back to a game called Murder which first appeared in the 1960s and featured one murderer, one detective, and a number of potential victims.
The modern game of Mafia was probably invented in 1986 by Dimitry Davidoff. It included two gangsters, one angel (or alternatively a knight-commandant), and a bunch of innocent citizens.
Andrew Plotkin rethemed it to Werewolf, probably around 1997.
Are You a Werewolf? only uses the core Mafia/Werewolf rules, not the various extensions that have been added over the years.
Are You a Werewolf? is one of three Werewolf games that I'm aware of that are currently in professional production. The other two are Lupus in Tabula by daVinca Games and The Werewolves of Millers Hollow by lui-meme. Each of the others is much more nicely produced, and expands the basic rules of the game, but is also more expensive ($10 instead of $4).
The Game Design
As with other Werewolf/Mafia games, Are You a Werewolf's
main selling point is that it can support large numbers of players: a total of 16.
All the Werewolf games manage the large number of players by keeping most folks involved all the time. During the night there's some waiting around as individuals take their turns, but it's fairly short. Then, during the day, everyone gets to participate at once.
Traditionally most of the members of the Werewolf/Mafia family of game have two flaws:
Only a Few People Get to Be the Werewolf: This game works fine for a play or two, but afterward some people will start to get antsy because they keep having to play villagers. Unlike most versions of the game, Are You a Werewolf? does not introduce special human roles to resolve this issue.
Players Are Knocked Out of the Game: Day by day, players are totally knocked out of the game. This is the most troublesome for people who are knocked out early, and Are You a Werewolf? doesn't really do much to alleviate this core problem of the Werewolf games: one player will die before they can do anything.
Overall, Are You a Werewolf? is a very vanilla version of the Werewolf genre of games, and thus earns an average "3" out of "5" for Substance.
Conclusion
Are You a Werewolf? is one of several Werewolf games on the market, but it'll probably only interest you if: the lower price point ($4 vs. $10) affects you; or if you want a "pure" Werewolf game without extra roles. Otherwise, you should probably pick up one of the variants with higher production values: Lupus in Tabula or There Werewolves of Millers Hollow.
Review Summary