Ultimate Werewolf

Love Werewolf! Always a hit.

A classic game that I happily spent hours and hours with. I always enjoyed playing with an experienced group so that multiple roles could be added as going off of more information than 'my neighbour moved' when deciding who to eliminate was always more fun. I do not have this in my collection anymore though as too many people in my life do not like having to lie or be lied to during games.

I HATE Werewolf. The player elimination is the worst part about it. Being forced to either watch and being bored to death, or to leave and find friends who like to play enjoyable games, are not good choices. Even if you stay alive, it is not fun, just a waste of time.

Memories of playing this game still raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels (and no, it was not being killed, it was being forced to play this game).

There are much better social deduction games out there.

Palermo

The perfect starter Werewolf game for beginners. I've upgraded since but if you are teaching new players this is a good place to start without any complicated roles.

The problem with werewolf is that the villagers have almost no tangible information. The only useful info comes from the handful of special characters who have SOME information, but those people are actively disincentivized to share (because if they reveal who they are, the werewolves will kill them). The result? A game state where people are just looking around at each other, maybe cracking jokes, but operating with no info as the werewolf players slowly knock them out. It's been a frustrating moodkiller whenever I've brought it out.