Social deduction games are fantastic, and we’ve talked about how to be a better Werewolf player before. Each game is unique, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf the shining example of that. There’s only a single night phase, but at the end of it you may have changed your role or team. You first need to figure out what your winning condition is, and only then can you decide how best to proceed.
You can play One Night as a silly game where you point fingers and then reveal who dies. But you can also play it strategically – carefully crafting your deceptions and turning the game to your advantage. If you want to be the One Night guru of your group, here are a few tips.
Learn to Love Lying – Your Life May Depend on It
One Night has so many special powers that it seems like you can simply figure out what happened if everyone tells the truth. And you usually can. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. For example, what if I’m the Seer and I saw a Wolf. If I’m honest, I might tell everyone. Which seems like a good idea until the Troublemaker says that he switched me and that other player. Suddenly, my honesty got me killed and I lose the game. But if I lied a bit and figured things out a little more, I might have a chance to win.
Even if you start on the village team, you don’t know for sure that you ended up there. So it’s best to shroud yourself in a cloak of falsehood until you are more certain how to use your special knowledge.
That doesn’t mean you should sit there and be silent, either. A quiet village is a dead village. So it is very important that the conversation keep going. Make some accusations or claim to be some other role. Get the conversation started and you’ll be surprised what the other players let slip.
Robber, Troublemaker, and Seer, oh my!
One Night has a ton of variety and you can swap out various roles for completely different experiences. But these three – Robber, Troublemaker, and Seer – will be in nearly every game. The Troublemaker, especially, is what really makes the game work.
As Seer, it is often advantageous to look at two cards in the center rather than a single player’s card. But it’s best to keep the knowledge to yourself. You don’t want to start by saying, “I saw Mason and Robber in the center” because that means the wolves know which roles are out and will know not to make the mistake of pretending to be those roles. Also, you may want to lie about what you saw in order to get reactions from other people. Or maybe you look at someone and see a wolf. Instead of revealing that right away, it’s sometimes good to keep that in your pocket until a later claim needs confirmation.
The Robber is one of the sneakiest roles in the game. Often, the Robber ends up grabbing another villager’s card. This is helpful because you can confirm what the player started as and shore up his or her claims later. But the best is when you get a werewolf’s card. Then you can pretend to be Seer who “saw” a wolf. Or you can make that wolf look guilty because they think they still have the wolf card. And when everyone votes for them, you win as a wolf!
The Troublemaker has the most opportunity to deceive. You can pretend to swap the wrong two cards and see if either player suddenly admits to being a werewolf. Even if you aren’t the troublemaker, it’s sometimes a good way to make a claim. Maybe you and another player are wolves and someone is on to your buddy. Just say, “Actually, I’m the troublemaker and I swapped him with someone else.” Boom! Perfect alibi and it allows your teammate to play right into it.
More Roles, Daybreak, Vampire, and Beyond
If you have those concepts ironed out, you can start to apply them as new roles get added into the mix. The Minion and the Tanner can both win by dying, so they want to act suspicious and try to get killed. And they also provide cover for werewolves who might act overly suspicious as a double fake.
In Daybreak, you’ll get interesting cards like the Witch who can change someone to one of the center cards, or the Alpha Wolf who can convert another player to the wolf team. These changes can really disrupt preconceived notions and are a great way to challenge someone who thinks they have the whole thing figured out.
Vampire adds a new team, as well as a Mark system. You don’t change roles as often, but you can change motivation. The Assassin wants to kill a particular player, and the Traitor wants his own team to lose. So even if you figure out that someone is a village role, that doesn’t mean they are on your team.
And always remember to lie, lie, and lie again. At least until you think it is in your interest to tell the truth.
Do you play One Night Ultimate Werewolf? Share your tips in the comments.
All Image Credits: Bezier Games
Featured Image Credit: Bezier Games