back to article Pitchfork-wielding villagers hunt hairy shapeshifters in One Night Ultimate Werewolf

El Reg contributor Adam Fowler brings to these pages the first in what may become a series of board game reviews. Here, Adam dices with furry beasts in One Night Ultimate Werewolf. Watch out! I've always loved card and board games. Growing up, when I wasn't glued to a computer of some sort, I'd play for hours with my …

  1. Elmer Phud

    Sounds a bit like Avalon - which is basically the 'sit in a circle and close your eyes' Mafia game.

    (I'm a big fan of 'Family Business' - which has nearly caused fights before)

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      For a Mafia"/gangster type game, I recommend "Cash n Guns". very little thinking required.

    2. AdamFowler_IT

      You're right, Avalon is very similar. I think ONUW scales players a bit better and is easier to get anyone to just join in and give it a shot, partly because of the theme.

  2. graeme leggett Silver badge

    "Do you like accusing others of lying? How about making up stories yourself, with the hope that nobody catches you out? "

    Certainly for the first bit, "The Resistance" fits, see Wil Wheaton's TableTop on youtube. He's joined by some actresses (no idea what they've been in ) so perhaps that helped make it interesting.

    1. AdamFowler_IT

      The Resistance needs players to have more of an understanding of what's going on, or the bad guys seem to win. ONUW has each round as a standalone game and there's only a single decision at the end, so is less harsh on a group.

      The Tanner role which I didn't mention, is it's own 1 man team as the goal is to be killed, or you lose. Lots of nice variations are possible.

    2. WraithCadmus
      Angel

      For a nice fast game based about bullshit and calling bullshit try Coup. Takes about 10 mins once everyone is happy with the rules.

  3. Omgwtfbbqtime

    Looks fun

    It'll make a nice change from Cards against Humanity and Arkham Horror.

    1. AdamFowler_IT

      Re: Looks fun

      Very different but fits in well with the same groups IMO. I'm tempted to review Cards Against Humanity next, but it's a very simple concept that barely needs reviewing. I am a fan though :)

      1. graeme leggett Silver badge

        Re: Looks fun

        I think reviewing King of Tokyo or Castle Panic (or any of the Panic clan) might be more family friendly.

        1. AdamFowler_IT

          Re: Looks fun

          King Of Tokyo is a good one, but I might as well review the newer King Of New York.

  4. Bob AMG

    I think this might be the original. http://www.amazon.com/Werewolves-Millers-Hollow-Special-Card/dp/2914849885

    1. AdamFowler_IT

      I have a copy of that exact one. That's a different reprint of the more original Werewolf game, which was just based on a free Mafia game I believe.

      Sadly I'd have to recommend avoiding Werewolves at Millers Hollow - the game itself is good if you have a larger group, but the cards are of poor quality and don't actually have your role written on. Unless you know exactly what the picture on the card means, which is often very difficult to tell, it's a confusing game. There's several other prints of Werewolf out there, check any other one out that says the roles on the cards (ideally with a description on what it does).

      ONUW is better for a smaller group, and has no player elimination (other people don't stand around most of the game just watching because they died in the first round).

  5. Clive Galway

    BSG boardgame

    On a similar note, check out the Battlestar Galactica boardgame.

    The game has a very good mechanic that lets the bad guys sabotage the game, whilst giving the good guys a way to work out who the bad guy(s) are.

    Also, it can get to the point where you know exactly who the bad guys are, but doing something about it becomes a race against time.

    Highly recommended.

    1. Valeyard

      Re: BSG boardgame

      been recommended to me too, especially as the people find out if they're traitors fairly late on in the game which sounds good

  6. Johnny G

    Young Frankenstein

    Igor: Werewolf!

    Dr. Frankenstein: Werewolf?

    Igor: There.

    Dr. Frankenstein: What?

    Igor: There, wolf. There, castle.

    Dr. Frankenstein: Why are you talking that way?

    Igor: I thought you wanted to.

    Makes me laugh every time I hear werewolf mentioned. Thank you Mel Brooks.

  7. Valeyard

    A board game series?

    Sweet!

    Me, the missus and some of her friends regularly get together for the likes of suburbia, flash point (if we're in a more co-op mood) or puzzle strike, I can't wait to see more of these

    Less on the "party games" like cards against humanity though i think, there are 3 or 4 girls that usually play the games with us and if someone tried to bring out some laddish game it'd just be cringeworthy, every time people hear i play board games they always ask if it's either monopoly or card against humanity, it's like there's nothing at all in between

    1. Omgwtfbbqtime

      Re: A board game series?

      Try Elder Sign - it's a lot simpler than Arkham Horror (fluid dynamics as applied to fusion reactions is simpler than Arkham Horror!) but still pretty much a Co-op game, it was featured on one othe TableTop YouTube videos.

      Or if you want something a little more cutthroat there is always the old classic Talisman?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: A board game series?

        We bought Elder Sign a few weeks back and really enjoy it, very much recommended.

        But Dominion takes our prize for the most amount of awesomeness!

    2. AdamFowler_IT

      Re: A board game series?

      Hoping so, we'll see how this goes - for my reviews, they won't be deep 3-4 hour games that require hours of reading rules, but they will be more complex than One Night Ultimate Werewolf. I thought it was a good starter and was hoping to see some reactions on what people wanted.

      I'm also not planning to do any plain technical reviews - there's plenty of sites out there that can tell you the basics of a game. I'll tell you why I like a game, and what's good or bad about it.

      1. Valeyard

        Re: A board game series?

        yeah that's pretty sweet. i always make sure i own a few easy to explain games for casual mates who want to turn up anytime, most of my wife's friend's never even considered themselves board gamers before and would've flaked out at difficult things

        so games like love letter, king of tokyo, carcassonne and robo rally are always good intro games

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