Werewolf Game Origin: From a Moscow Classroom to the Versions Played Today
The werewolf game origin story starts in Moscow, in 1986 or 1987, with a game called Mafia. A psychology student made it up for the high-school pupils he taught. About ten years later, Andrew Plotkin learned it at a puzzle convention and swapped the mafia for werewolves. Both names are still in use. Today it is a boxed card game, a video game and a TV show. This page tells that story with its sources, lists the game's other names, and shows how the versions played today differ.
The short answer
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1986 or 1987 | Dimitry Davidoff, a psychology student at Moscow State University, devises Mafia |
| 1989–90 | International students he taught probably take it abroad |
| 1997 | Mafia is documented in the US. Andrew Plotkin learns it, and gives it the werewolf theme |
| 2001 | Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux is first published |
| 2007–08 | Ultimate Werewolf, from Bézier Games |
| By 2010 | Werewolf is played at nearly every big tech event |
| 2014 | One Night Ultimate Werewolf; Town of Salem on Steam |
| 2021 | De Verraders, the Dutch show that became The Traitors |
| 2024 | France's Loups-Garous on Canal+, and a Netflix film of the same name |
| 2025–26 | Germany's Werwölfe on ARD, and the Netherlands' Wolven on NPO 1 |
Mafia: a Moscow classroom game
Mafia was devised by Dimitry Davidoff, a psychology student at Moscow State University, as a classroom activity for the high-school pupils he taught. Sources give 1986 or 1987. (Andrew Plotkin's page, with Davidoff's own account; Wired, 2010; Popular Mechanics, 2019, which interviews Davidoff.)
In Davidoff's own account, the game spread from that classroom to dormitory parties, to other departments and to summer camps. International students he taught in 1989–90 probably took it abroad. In the United States, Mafia is documented in 1997. (Plotkin's page; Wired.)
Davidoff's account, which Plotkin publishes, is short and vivid: "my students become the first players. then of course student parties in my dormitory - biggest one in moscow - housing thousands of students from different departments."
The idea was simple, and it still is: a few players secretly work against everyone else, and the group has to talk its way to the truth.
Werewolf: Plotkin's retheme
Andrew Plotkin learned Mafia at the 1997 National Puzzlers' League convention and gave it the werewolf theme. The mafia became werewolves, and the townspeople became villagers.
Plotkin did not invent the seer, though. The version of Mafia he learned already had an investigator, and the seer took that place. (Plotkin's page, the primary source; Wired.)
Plotkin's own page puts it in a few lines. He learned Mafia with "Two Mafia gangsters, one Knight Commandant, and everyone else innocent citizens", and he writes: "I think werewolves are niftier, so I changed it." His Werewolf deck had one moderator, two werewolves, one "Villager (Seer)" and villagers for everyone else. That small set is still the heart of every version played today.
So Mafia and Werewolf are one game with two stories. The rules underneath are the same: a hidden team kills at night, and the village votes by day. If you want to play the Mafia way, see how to play Mafia.
The boxed editions
The game needs no equipment, but it is also sold in boxes.
- Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux, by Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly, was first published in 2001 by Lui-même, and is now published by Asmodee. It has sold more than 7 million copies (AFP, 2024). (La Libre, AFP, 2024.)
- Its names abroad. The German edition is Die Werwölfe von Düsterwald. The English one is The Werewolves of Millers Hollow, also spelled "Miller's". According to Wikipedia, the Dutch edition is Weerwolven van Wakkerdam and the Spanish one Los hombres lobo de Castronegro. (ITV Studios Germany, ARD press text; Wikipedia in English, Dutch and Spanish.)
- Ultimate Werewolf, by Ted Alspach, from Bézier Games, dates from 2007–08: Alspach says it has been "around since 2007", and Wikipedia says 2008. (Bézier Games, 2020; Wikipedia.)
- One Night Ultimate Werewolf (Bézier Games, 2014) is credited to Ted Alspach and Akihisa Okui. It builds on Okui's Japanese card game ワンナイト人狼, which is marked ©2012; its release year is unconfirmed. (Inside Games, 2014; a library catalogue entry.)
Online and at tech events
By 2010, Wired reported, Werewolf was played at nearly every big tech event: Foo Camp, SXSW, GDC and ETech. (Wired.)
The game also went online. Town of Salem, by BlankMediaGames, has been on Steam since 15 December 2014, and its store page calls it "inspired by the party games Werewolf and Mafia". (Steam.)
Why one game took so many shapes
Nobody can say for sure why this game spread so far. But a few things make it easy to pass on. It needs no equipment. It works for a handful of friends and for a crowd. The core rules fit in a minute, so a new player can join the next round. And every group can add a role of its own, which is how the versions below grew apart.
Japan and China
The game took its own shape in East Asia.
- Japan. In Japan's 人狼 (jinrō, "werewolf"), the fox (妖狐) is a third side. The werewolves can't kill it, the seer's look kills it, and it wins by surviving. The madman (狂人) is a human on the wolves' side. (4Gamer, 2014.)
- China. According to Chinese Wikipedia, competitions of 狼人杀 (lángrénshā, "werewolf kill") generally use 12 players: 4 werewolves, 4 special roles and 4 villagers. (Chinese Wikipedia.)
Both change how the game feels. With a fox at the table, the seer's look is a weapon as well as a question, and the fox wins by staying alive, so both sides have to hunt it as well as each other. The madman muddies the count: the seer sees a human, yet that human wants the wolves to win. The 12-player board does the opposite: it makes the game easy to judge. Four players kill, four have a power, and four have only their vote.
On television
The game's newest form is reality TV.
- The Traitors began as De Verraders, made by IDTV with RTL, on RTL 4 in 2021. Journalists describe it as based on, or similar to, Mafia and Werewolf. (Broadcast, 2026; NZ Herald, 2023; Wikipedia.)
- France. Canal+ started Loups-Garous on 11 October 2024, made by Fary and Panayotis Pascot. Netflix released a film, also called Loups-Garous, on 23 October 2024, directed by François Uzan. (La Libre, AFP, 2024.)
- Germany. ARD's Werwölfe – Das Spiel von List und Täuschung started on 25 September 2025, based on Die Werwölfe von Düsterwald. Its second season began on 24 September 2026. (Brandora, 2025; ITV Studios Germany; Wochenblatt, 2026.)
- The Netherlands. Wolven – Het spel van list en bedrog (BNNVARA) started on 29 August 2026 on NPO 1 and Disney+. It is the Dutch version of the Canal+ format. (The Walt Disney Company, 2026.)
The game's other names
The same game goes by many names.
- Mafia, the original name, from 1986 or 1987.
- Werewolf, Andrew Plotkin's name for it.
- City of Palermo, in some European countries, according to English Wikipedia.
- Cidade Dorme ("the city sleeps") in Brazil, according to Portuguese Wikipedia. (English Wikipedia; Portuguese Wikipedia.)
Many Spanish speakers who look for the game type "el pueblo duerme" ("the village sleeps").
Are Mafia and Werewolf the same game? Yes. Werewolf is Mafia with a different story: werewolves instead of the mob, villagers instead of townspeople, and a seer where the Mafia Plotkin learned had an investigator. Groups who play one can play the other at once. What differs from table to table is the set of extra roles, not the core.
| In Mafia, as Plotkin learned it | In Werewolf | In Wolf Village |
|---|---|---|
| the mafia | the werewolves | Werewolf |
| the innocent citizens | the villagers | Villager |
| the investigator | the seer | Seer |
| the night: the mafia pick a victim | the night: the werewolves pick a victim | the same |
| the day: the town votes someone out | the day: the village votes someone out | the same, by pointing |
What changed, and what stayed the same
Look across the versions and three things are always there:
- A hidden team. Mafia gangsters or werewolves, working against everyone else.
- A night. The hidden team picks a victim while everyone else sleeps.
- A day. Everyone talks, accuses and votes one player out.
A fourth came later: someone who can look. The Mafia Plotkin learned in 1997 already had an investigator, and Werewolf has the seer. Either one gives the village a little hard information to argue over.
Almost everything else has changed. The story moved from the city to the village. Versions added roles of their own, such as Japan's fox and madman. The game left the classroom for boxes, video games and TV studios. And the moderator, the player in Plotkin's deck who sits out and runs the night, can now be a phone.
That last change is the one Wolf Village makes. Plotkin's deck had a card for the moderator. In Wolf Village, the host's phone takes that card. It keeps the night's secrets and announces the morning, and with Voice narrator it calls the roles one by one in a recorded voice, so everyone at the table can play. Wolf Village's setups also deal a doctor, a witch, a hunter and Cupid.
The variants played today, and the setups that match them
Every version shares the core: a hidden team kills at night, the village votes by day. What changes is who else is at the table. Here is how the versions above map to the ready-made setups in Wolf Village.
| Version | What it adds to the core | Closest setup in Wolf Village |
|---|---|---|
| Mafia, as Plotkin learned it in 1997 | an investigator among the innocent citizens | Basic: werewolves, a seer and villagers, plus a doctor from 7 players |
| Plotkin's Werewolf | the werewolf story, and a seer in the investigator's place | Basic |
| Japan's jinrō | the fox, a third side, and the madman, a human on the wolves' side | Fox (9 to 20 players): the fox, a minion who doesn't know the werewolves, a seer and a doctor who can't protect themselves, plus two masons from 11 players |
| China's lángrénshā | 12 players: 4 werewolves, 4 special roles, 4 villagers (according to Chinese Wikipedia) | Standard 12: 4 werewolves, 4 villagers, the seer, the witch, the hunter and the village idiot, plus a sheriff |
| The mix the app calls "Europe's classic" | the witch, the hunter, Cupid and an elected sheriff, plus the village idiot from 11 players and a doctor from 17 | Classic, 8 to 20 players |
| Online and TV versions | play over the internet, or on television | none: Wolf Village keeps everyone in one room |
Each setup's full role mix for every group size, and every role's rules, are in the complete rules.
How to play each version tonight
- Tap Create game in Wolf Village, and let everyone join with the code.
- Pick the setup from the table: Basic for Mafia or Plotkin's Werewolf, Fox for Japan's version, Standard 12 for the Chinese 12-player board, Classic for the witch, the hunter and Cupid.
- For Plotkin's deck exactly, with 5 players or more, tap Customize: set two werewolves, keep the seer, and switch the doctor off (Basic deals it from 7 players). Everyone else is a villager, and the phone is the moderator.
- Deal the roles. The phone narrates the night, and the village votes by pointing.
FAQ
Who invented the Werewolf game?
The game is Mafia, devised by Dimitry Davidoff, a psychology student at Moscow State University, in 1986 or 1987. Andrew Plotkin, who learned it in 1997, gave it the werewolf theme.
Who invented Mafia?
Dimitry Davidoff, a psychology student at Moscow State University. He devised it as a classroom activity for the high-school pupils he taught.
Did Andrew Plotkin invent the seer?
No. The Mafia he learned in 1997 already had an investigator. He gave the game werewolves, and the investigator became the seer.
What is Werewolf called in other countries?
Mafia in many places, City of Palermo in some European countries (according to English Wikipedia) and Cidade Dorme in Brazil (according to Portuguese Wikipedia). Spanish speakers often search for "el pueblo duerme".
Is the game older than the boxed card games?
Yes. Mafia dates from 1986 or 1987, and Plotkin learned it in 1997. The first boxed edition on this page, Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux, came in 2001.
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