[andy_wrote]

I can't believe that I'm the first to mention One Night Ultimate Werewolf, which has been the consensus favorite amongst my friends for a while now.

It has relatively simple rules but very solid strategy (rewards logic and duplicity). The games are short, so you never feel "stuck" on a long game and when you're a beginner, you can rapidly absorb new lessons and strategies and apply them to the next round. The replay value is tremendous.

I have observed/heard about the game not "clicking" for some players the first few times. You _can_ reason out substantial amounts of information by sharing claims and thinking hard about what you personally know, and you _can_ tactically disrupt other people. I think if you have a crowd of new people, it helps to have an experienced player sit out one round and emcee, encouraging certain lines of thought and discouraging others. One of my friends said he only really "got" it after the third round, when he saw me spin a story from start to finish so that I could pin a wolf on someone when I in fact was a wolf.

I also love Dominion, which others have mentioned. (That's my personal favorite; Werewolf is my friend group-favorite.) It is in a very different genre, but it also has fast-cycling games, deep strategy vs. simple rules, and huge replay value, which are three aspects of board games that I really value.

[romanhn]

Seconded. One Night Ultimate Werewolf has been a workplace favorite for well over a year. Recently introduced it to my friends, who are into Mafia (though those games inevitably end up with people upset at each other) and it was a hit.

Some reasons ONUW is awesome:

- Each game can be completed in 5-10 minutes.

- Supports a very large amount of players. We've had 20+ players without any issues (with the expansion pack).

- As mentioned above, replay value is high. I still encounter new situations all the time.

- No need to have an individual sit out as an emcee due to an awesome mobile app that leads the round.

- Most importantly, does not seem to lead to interpersonal conflict the way Mafia tends to. Most likely due to shorts rounds and the fact that there's enough information to go off rather than pure speculation.

[andy_wrote]

I totally agree with your point about the comparatively low conflict in ONUW. In addition to the points you mentioned that drive this, I'd add uncertainty about your own team membership, and the fact that "good guys" may also be telling lies, so it's not necessarily true that a liar is a bad guy.

These factors prevent people from identifying too heavily with one team or the other, and that issue, for me, is at the heart of why there is less conflict in this game than other Mafia-style games. Right before getting into ONUW we had played The Resistance a bit, a similar game which had some fun moments, but in which we found the conflict potential to be high. Some people would be just dug in on one view, in direct conflict with others, throughout almost the whole game.

[eddyg]

I find Two Rooms and a Boom better than ONUW. Similar concept, but with a lot of great optional characters that you can add-in as desired.

[cozuya]

I made a one night variation of werewolf in React/Node at https://onenightwerewolf.online . Not seeing much play because I haven't advertised it at all.. until um now. Check it out if you like lying to internet strangers.

[k__]

Is it better than regular werewolf?

We play this all the time, but it's a bit ugly for people who get out on the first night.

I talk trash most of the time so some people just kill me on the first round because they want their peace :D

[andy_wrote]

I've never played regular Werewolf, unless you are referring to what I know of as the informal party game Mafia (several nights, one killer, several townspeople, maybe one or two additional roles who get special abilities).

In that case, yes much better:

- Everyone is involved start to finish, and a free phone app serves as the emcee.

- People receive cards with (usually) unique roles that furnish them some special information in their own way. I think some Mafia variants have minor special roles, but the makers of ONUW really did a good job thinking of creative ones.

- Many roles involve moving cards around at night, so when you wake up you usually don't know for sure whether you're still the role you thought you were, or whether a card you saw at night is still where it was when you saw it.

[germanier]

All players stay in the game until it is over (hence One Night).

[agnivade]

> One Night Ultimate Werewolf

This seems to be Mafia with cards.