Hello! In the first week of EDL 290T, the class played Ultimate Werewolf. In this game, people are assigned roles. During night phases, players are called upon, one role at a time. The player of each role is able to make a decision that influences the game. As the game progresses, those that are werewolves remove players from the game while those who are not werewolves, try to discover who the werewolves are.

This is a game that I was already familiar with, but only had experience playing in a small group of no more than six people. I really enjoyed playing this game with over 20 people. Having a large group of people made it more challenging. One of the most interesting aspects of our group’s game of Ultimate Werewolf was that, for the most part, none of us knew each other! This was the first class meeting. Ultimate Werewolf is a very social game where people need to attempt to read into other peoples’ minds. This was especially tricky by not knowing the other players. People not knowing other people also made individuals uncomfortable and hesitant to actively participate, which made the game even more challenging.

This game provides people with many leadership opportunities, regardless of their role. During the day phases, the villagers try to hunt down the werewolves while the werewolves attempt to blend in. In our game, from the beginning, a few people were very vocal. These people tried to use their roles and their knowledge of other peoples’ roles to help guide others into making decisions that best helped the group. Even if people playing this game know each other, people may be intimidated to speak up due to a fear of becoming a target. Those who spoke up early on acted as leaders by helping others progress in the game and by making others more comfortable to speak up.

I believe this is a great family game, but more than a family game, I think this would be great for coworkers to play. This game would change the roles that people may have in their job hierarchy and would allow people to see from different perspectives. Within work environments, it is important that people are able to understand other peoples’ opinions and collaborate. Ultimate Werewolf is definitely a game that gets people to think critically and work with others. This is a great game which I would recommend to any group of people!