1. Open a room
One of you opens Whowolf, enters a name and taps “Open a room”. That device is now the host: the game runs on it, and it shows a QR code for the others. The host plays along like everyone else and sees no more than anybody else.
Ideally the host is a device with a full battery that stays on the table during the round. The app keeps the screen awake.
2. Join
Everyone else opens Whowolf, enters a name and taps “Join a room”. Then there are three ways in:
- Tap: the host’s room shows up by itself under “Rooms nearby”. One tap and you are in.
- Scan: tap “Scan QR code” and point it at the host’s screen. Before connecting, the app shows which room you are joining.
- By hand: if neither works, the host finds the address and room code under “Connection details”, and you type them in with “Connect by hand”.
If you scan the QR code with your normal camera, you land on a small page that explains what to do next. Playing in the browser is not possible yet; for now you need the app.
3. Pick a figure
In the lobby, everyone automatically gets a free cardboard figure. Tap “Choose your figure” to swap it. The figure is only your look; roles are dealt later, secretly and at random.
4. Deal the roles
Once everyone is in, the host taps “Deal the roles”. That works from 3 players, but it gets really fun from about 5. The app picks roles to fit the group:
- Up to 4 players there is one werewolf; from 5 players, roughly every fourth player is a werewolf.
- From 4 players, there is a seer.
- Everyone else is a villager.
Now everyone looks at their own phone alone and taps to see their role. Don’t let anyone look! The werewolves also learn who else is in their pack. Tap “Got it” when you are ready.
5. The night
The app announces that the village falls asleep, and everyone taps on their phone. What someone does depends on their role, but from the outside it looks the same for everyone:
- The werewolves pick a victim together. They see whom their packmates tap and should agree. Without a majority, the village gets away for the night.
- The seer taps another player and learns their role on the spot.
- Everyone else counts sheep. Sheep hop across a meadow: tapping a white one earns a dream point; black ones are better left alone, or you lose three points. Werewolves and the seer join in once they have made their choice.
How many sheep cross your meadow is decided by the game anew for every player and every night. Some get a big flock, some only a few sheep. The night has a fixed length (one and a half minutes in the test version), shown by a countdown.
6. The morning
The sun rises, and the app announces who didn’t wake up and what their role was. Or that everyone made it through the night.
Then comes “How well did you sleep?”: everyone sees how many sheep each player counted. Whoever had to hunt or look into souls had less time to count. That is a hint, not proof, because the flocks differ in size.
7. The day
Now you talk, phones down. The phone only shows who is still alive. Who acted suspiciously? Who had remarkably few sheep? Who claims to be the seer, and is it true?
The dead stay silent and watch. When you are ready, the host starts the vote. In the test version it starts by itself after eight minutes at the latest.
8. The vote
Every living player votes in the app for who they think is a werewolf, or abstains. Whoever gets the most votes is banished, and their role is revealed. On a tie, nobody is banished. Then the next night falls.
9. Who wins?
- The village wins once every werewolf has been banished.
- The werewolves win once they are at least as many as all other living players.
At the end, the app shows who was who and crowns the best dreamer, the player with the most dream points over the whole game. “Play again” starts the next round right away.
The narrator
Every announcement appears as text on every phone. The host device also reads them out loud. If you’d rather not, turn the narrator voice off. Custom voices, music and moods are planned.
If someone drops out
If a screen turns off or the Wi-Fi drops for a moment, the app reconnects by itself. Even after restarting the app, the start screen offers “Back to the game”, and you are back with exactly your role. Only the host should not close the app: if the host leaves the room, the round ends for everyone.
The wolf trail (planned)
An idea that only exists in Whowolf and is meant to come next: at night, the phones on the table play quiet sounds, wind, footsteps, an owl. And sometimes a growl. Everyone knows the rule: if it growls from X’s phone, a werewolf sits on X or very close by, right next to X in small groups and up to three seats away in big ones.
So villagers want their phones loud and werewolves would rather keep them quiet. But careful: in the morning every phone yawns at the same time, and a silent one stands out. Whoever hears the trail on their own phone knows a lot, but is suspicious to everyone else. This needs the seating order, which you will then set as a table circle in the lobby.
Tips for a good round
- Keep your phones flat in front of you at night so nobody can glance at other screens.
- Once you are dead, you give nothing away, not even with a grin.
- Lying is allowed, even encouraged. But only in the game.