GAME ON, WEREWOLVES - SIMON'S EVENT

October. As the nights noticeably encroach on the daylight hours, and Halloween draws ever closer, we turn our attention to the monsters that lurk in the shadows, and of man’s ignorance of them or the bold attempts to fight back against them. It’s perhaps a simplistic metaphor for the fight against cancer, and yet there’s something admirable in taking on that darkness that could, conceivably, affect any one of us in our life-time, either directly or indirectly. In the past year alone I’ve seen two friends diagnosed with cancer and have begun treatment. Undoubtedly many of you will have similar experiences. In my own small way I’m trying to make a difference by raising money for Stand Up To Cancer, by organising an event based around a game that I’ve been playing for close to 15 years. Indeed, one of the afore mentioned friends, Kate, has been playing the same game with me for much of that time. Werewolf is a social deduction game where-in the players, usually a group of between six and twenty people, are all secretly assigned roles. Most of them will be humble Villagers, ordinary humans like you or me. But hidden amongst them will be Werewolves, who prey on their human neighbours, night by night. If you’re lucky you might also find some other roles at your table, such as the Seer, who might be able to detect who the Werewolves are before being killed, or the Hunter, who will take someone with him or her when killed. The game takes place over a number of rounds that represent, alternatively, Night and Day. During the Night everyone closes their eyes, specific roles being asked to open their eyes and select targets, whilst during the Day the village awakens to see who has been killed during the moonlit hours, and are required to deduce who amongst them is responsible for any deaths. It is only by successfully lynching a Werewolf (or a lucky shot by a Hunter) that the villagers can hope to eradicate the Werewolf menace. Should ever the village be composed of a number of Werewolves equal to or greater than the remaining humans, then they take over the village and satisfy their hunger on the few surviving members. On Saturday 27th October, partway between a full-moon and Halloween, we will be holding our Werewolf event from midday and into the evening, kindly hosted by The Thirsty Dragon venue in Greenwich (https://thirstydragon.co.uk – 166 Trafalgar Rd, London SE10 9TZ). There will be several different copies of Werewolf available for people to play, as well as similar games based on similar mechanics but based on different themes (members of the mafia trying to pick off the civilian they hide amongst, cultist trying to kill off party-goers, alien horrors disguising themselves as researchers and soldiers, agents of a dystopian government infiltrating rebellious freedom fighters), but the big game that will be running will be the ‘Legacy’ version of Ultimate Werewolf, where each game will have a knock on effect on each of the Legacy games that succeeds it. This game accommodates from 8 to 15 players – I myself will be moderating, and am not included in those numbers – so arrive early to sign up and avoid disappointment. I’m asking that everyone who signs up for a game on the day pays a small fee to join each game (£1 for a game, or £5 for the Legacy game), but people are free to donate on the funding page whenever we want. Hopefully this page will be updated with pictures through the event, for anyone unable to make it in person. Thanks for reading! Simon Brake (Twitter: @psibreaker) Facebook details for the Event can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/876560915874844/ For the curious, I recommend this particularly good podcast about the game: https://www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/podcasts/a-game-of-werewolf.htm