Guides for HowlNight

Werewolf Rules: How the Game Works and Every Role Explained

Werewolf is a social deduction game for larger groups: a few players are secretly werewolves, everyone else belongs to the village. At night the werewolves strike, during the day the village argues, accuses and votes someone out. Nobody knows who is who – and that is exactly what makes the game so much fun.

This guide walks you through a full game, from dealing the roles to the final vote. After that you’ll find every role explained, a suggested night order and a way to play without anyone having to sit out as the game master.

What you need

Werewolf works best with a big group. HowlNight’s Werewolf Night supports 5 to 24 players. Traditionally, one extra person is the game master (also called the narrator or moderator): they don’t play a role, they lead the night, call the roles and keep track of who is still alive.

Besides that you need one secret role per player and enough room to sit in a circle. Everyone must be able to close their eyes without peeking.

Setup: dealing the roles

Every player secretly receives a role and looks at it without showing anyone. A good rule of thumb is one werewolf per four players – that is also how HowlNight’s presets count. The werewolves must always be fewer than the rest of the players, otherwise the village has lost before the game starts.

The remaining cards are special roles and plain villagers. For your first game, keep it simple: werewolves, the Seer and villagers. Add more special roles once everyone knows the flow.

The night

The game master says that night falls and everyone closes their eyes. Then they call the roles one after another. Only the called role opens their eyes, makes its choice silently – usually by pointing – and closes its eyes again.

The most important moment is the werewolves’ turn: they wake up together and agree on one victim. Roles that only act in the first night, like Cupid, are called only then. A useful habit for the game master: call a role even if its player is already dead and wait a few seconds, so nobody can tell from the silence who is out.

The day and the vote

In the morning everyone opens their eyes and the game master announces who died in the night. The role of the dead player is revealed, and from now on they stay silent.

Then the village discusses: who acted suspiciously, who defended whom, who is suddenly very quiet? At the end everyone votes by raising hands and the player with the most votes leaves the game and reveals their role. The village may also decide to vote out nobody. Then the next night begins.

Who wins

The village wins as soon as no werewolf is left. The werewolves win as soon as they are at least as many as all other living players. There is one special case: if Cupid made a werewolf and a villager fall in love and those two are the last players alive, the lovers win together.

All roles explained

HowlNight has 16 roles. The first ten are in the free Core Roles pack, the last six are in the Extra Roles pack. Here is what each one does:

Role	Team	What it does
Werewolf	Werewolves	Wakes every night with the other werewolves and picks a victim together. During the day pretends to be a harmless villager.
Villager	Village	No special ability, but the vote counts. Helps the village find the werewolves.
Seer	Village	Looks at one player’s role every night.
Witch	Village	Has a healing potion and a poison potion, each usable once per game. Learns at night who the werewolves chose and can save them or poison someone else.
Hunter	Village	When killed, at night or by the vote, immediately takes another player along with a last shot.
Cupid	Village	Makes two players fall in love in the first night. If one of them dies, the other dies of a broken heart.
Guardian	Village	Protects one player from the werewolves every night, but never the same player two nights in a row.
Elder	Village	Survives the werewolves’ first attack and only dies at the second one – or when voted out.
Fool	Village	If the village votes them out, they show their card and stay alive, but may no longer vote.
Medium	Village	Learns every night the role of the player who left the game most recently.
Fox	Village	Points at a player every night and learns whether there is a werewolf among them and their two neighbors. After a “no”, the Fox loses the ability.
Wolf Cub	Werewolves	Wakes with the werewolves. If the cub is killed, the werewolves may choose two victims the following night.
Knight	Village	If the werewolves kill the Knight, a werewolf dies the following night. With a human game master, it is the nearest werewolf to the Knight’s left.
Wild Child	Village	Secretly picks a role model in the first night. If the role model dies, the Wild Child becomes a werewolf and wakes with them from then on.
Raven	Village	Marks a player every night. The next day that player starts the vote with two votes against them.
Bear Tamer	Village	If a werewolf sits right next to the Bear Tamer in the morning, the bear growls – without telling who it is.

Night order

The order matters: the Guardian has to protect before the werewolves attack, and the Witch can only react once she knows the victim. This is the order HowlNight calls the roles in:

Cupid (first night only), then the two lovers open their eyes to recognize each other
Wild Child (first night only)
Guardian
Werewolves, together with the Wolf Cub
Witch
Seer
Fox
Raven
Medium

Which roles for which group

HowlNight offers three presets that fill in the role counts for your number of players:

Beginner: werewolves, the Seer and villagers – ideal for a first game.
Classic: the usual mix. The Seer from 5 players, the Witch from 6, the Hunter from 7, Cupid from 8, the Guardian from 10 and the Elder from 12.
Chaos: as many different special roles as possible, with at least one villager left.

Playing without a game master

The classic problem with Werewolf: one person has to lead and never gets to play. In HowlNight the app takes over the narrator. The device lies in the middle of the table, a recorded narrator voice calls the roles, and only the called role opens their eyes and makes its choice on the screen. Then the app waits a few seconds so the player can get back to their seat before the next role is called.

In the morning the narrator announces the night’s victims and their roles, and a discussion timer tells you when it is time to vote. You vote by raising hands and tap the result. Roles whose players are already dead are still called, and the app only pretends to wait, so nobody can tell from the timing. If you play with the Fox, sit in the order of the player list so the neighbors are correct.

If you prefer the classic way, one person can still lead: HowlNight then shows the announcements step by step and keeps track of who is alive.

Try it at your next game night

HowlNight is a collection of party games played on a single phone or iPad that you pass around. Werewolf Night deals the secret roles, leads the night with a real narrator voice and lets you continue an interrupted game later – so everyone at the table gets to play.

Frequently asked questions

How many werewolves should there be?

A good rule is one werewolf per four players. The werewolves always have to be fewer than the other players, otherwise they win immediately.

What happens if the vote is a tie?

Agree before the game how to handle ties, for example with a short second discussion. The village may also choose to vote out nobody that day.

Can you play Werewolf without a game master?

Yes. In HowlNight the app takes over the narrator: the phone lies in the middle, calls the roles and everyone makes their night choice on the screen, so nobody has to sit out.