How to Play Werewolf Without Cards: Playing Cards, Paper or Phones
You don't need Werewolf cards to play Werewolf. Here is how to play Werewolf without cards, in three ways: with a regular deck of playing cards, with paper slips, or with your phones. Each way does the one job the cards do: it gives every player a secret role that nobody else sees. The rules of the game stay the same. If you need them, the complete rules explain every role and the vote.
No cards? Your phones are the cards, and the narrator
Three ways to play without cards
| Playing cards | Paper slips | Phones | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You need | one deck, jokers included | paper, a pen and a cup or hat | one phone for the host; the others on their own phones or a few shared ones |
| Setup | about 2 minutes | about 2 minutes | the host types a name and taps twice; players join with a code |
| A narrator who doesn't play | yes | yes | no: a phone narrates |
| Roles it can do | all 13 | all 13 | all 13 |
| Best for | a game night at home | camps, trips, anywhere with paper | groups who want everyone to play |
With a deck of playing cards
A standard deck has enough cards for every setup in the rules, up to 20 players. The kings are the werewolves, the number cards are villagers, and each special role gets one queen, jack or ace. This mapping is ours; any other works if everyone knows it before you deal.
| Role | Card | An easy way to remember it |
|---|---|---|
| Werewolf | a king (one per werewolf, up to four) | the kings rule the night |
| Villager | any number card, 2 to 10 | ordinary folk |
| Seer | Queen of Diamonds | a diamond is a crystal ball |
| Doctor | Ace of Hearts | hearts keep you alive |
| Witch | Queen of Spades | the dark queen |
| Hunter | Ace of Spades | the spade is an arrowhead |
| Cupid | Queen of Hearts | the queen of hearts |
| Masons (two) | Jack of Spades and Jack of Clubs | the black jacks come as a pair |
| Village Idiot | Jack of Hearts | |
| Minion | Jack of Diamonds | a jack serves the kings |
| Jester | a joker | a joker is a jester |
| Cursed | Ace of Clubs | |
| Fox | Queen of Clubs |
How to deal
- Pick the narrator. One person doesn't play. They deal, run the night and keep the secrets, so they may know every role: keep a list.
- Count the players, not the narrator, and choose the roles. For a first game, deal werewolves, a seer and villagers, and add the doctor from 7 players. For this mix, the number of werewolves is: 1 for 4 to 6 players, 2 for 7 to 10, 3 for 11 to 16, 4 for 17 to 20. If you add a minion, deal one werewolf fewer, but always at least one. The setup tables give a role mix for every group size.
- Take out exactly those cards, one per player: the kings, the special cards, then number cards for the rest.
- Shuffle and deal face down. Each player looks at their card without showing anyone, and keeps it face down in front of them.
- The first night. The werewolves open their eyes together, so they see each other. Only the roles with a night power are called: Cupid (first night only), the werewolves, the seer, the doctor and the witch. Three things need an extra call with cards, because on phones the card does them. Before the werewolves, call the two masons to see each other. If the minion should know the werewolves, let the minion open their eyes while the werewolves raise a thumb. After Cupid, tap the two lovers so they see each other, and tell them if they are on different sides.
- When a player dies, they turn their card face up, if your group reveals the roles of the dead. If not, they keep it face down until the end. Two cards are shown either way: the hunter's, when they shoot, and the village idiot's, when the first vote against them spares them.
Use the night order from the rules, and the narrator calls each role in turn.
With paper slips
This takes about two minutes, and paper is everywhere.
- Tear one slip per player. Make them the same size, so nobody can tell them apart.
- Write one role on each slip, with the same pen and in the same way: a big W for each werewolf, S for the seer, D for the doctor, V for each villager, and so on. Agree on the letters first.
- Fold every slip the same way, twice, and drop them into a cup or a hat.
- Each player draws one, reads it without showing anyone, and folds it again.
- Keep your slip in a pocket until the game ends. A dead player shows their slip, if your group reveals the roles of the dead. Either way, the hunter shows theirs when they shoot, and the village idiot shows theirs when the first vote against them spares them.
- The narrator runs the night in the usual order, and notes who is who as each role with a night power wakes. Make the same extra calls as with cards. The other roles never wake.
A note for groups with the same handwriting habits: if the narrator writes the slips, the narrator should also be the one who knows the roles. Nobody else should watch the slips being written.
With phones: no cards and no narrator
Phones can do both jobs: they deal the roles in secret, and one of them narrates. Wolf Village works this way.
- The host creates a game on their phone, in the browser. Nothing to install.
- Everyone joins with the four-letter code or the QR code on the host's screen. Joining is free, and nobody needs an account. People without a phone can still play: on Shared phones, anyone in the game can add them with Add a player without a phone, and they take their turns on someone else's phone.
- The host deals. A new host's game starts with the Basic setup, made for any group from 4 to 20 players. So the host types a name and taps Create game, and once at least 4 players are in, taps Deal the roles.
- Everyone checks their role in secret. Each player sees only their own role. The werewolves also see who the rest of the pack are. If they are dealt, the minion sees the werewolves too (unless the host turns that off, as the Fox setup does), and the two masons see each other.
- The host's phone narrates. It speaks every line in a recorded voice. With Voice narrator, everyone closes their eyes and the phone calls the roles one by one. With Everyone at once (called Pass the phones on Shared phones), nobody closes their eyes: every living player takes a secret turn, on their own phone or on the nearest shared one, villagers too, so nobody can tell who has a power.
- The host plays too. With I'm playing too on, the host gets a role like everyone else, so nobody has to sit out as the narrator.
By day, the village still talks and votes by pointing, in the same room. The phone only records the result.
No cards? Your phones are the cards, and the narrator
How many werewolves to deal
About one werewolf for every five players: 1 for 4 to 6 players, 2 for 7 to 10, 3 for 11 to 16 and 4 for 17 to 20. A minion takes one werewolf's place, but there is always at least one werewolf. For the special roles at each size, see the setup tables in the rules.
Mistakes that give roles away
Without proper cards, small things can show who is who. Watch for these:
- Cards that differ. A bent corner, a stain or a different back gives a card away. Use one clean deck, and deal all the cards you need from it.
- Slips that differ. A longer word, a thicker fold or a different pen gives a slip away. Same size, same pen, same fold.
- Looking around at night. With cards or paper, everyone must keep their eyes shut until called. The werewolves open their eyes only when the narrator calls them.
- Sounds. Werewolves who whisper or tap the table give themselves away. Agree on a victim by pointing and nodding, in silence.
- The narrator's eyes. A narrator who looks at the seer while saying "Seer, open your eyes" has just told the table who it is. Look at nobody.
- Dealing too many specials. In a small group, a witch, a hunter and Cupid leave few plain villagers, and every death says a lot. Start with the Basic mix, and add roles once everyone knows them.
With phones, most of these go away. Nothing marks a phone's role from the outside. With Everyone at once (Pass the phones on Shared phones), every living player takes a turn at night, so nobody needs to close their eyes. Just hold your phone so nobody else can see the screen.