Werewolves Within

Mechanics

Game mechanics in Werewolves Within are based on the rules of the popular social game Mafia, created in the 1980s at the Faculty of Psychology of the Moscow University. In the game from Red Storm, however, the setting of the game has changed, and its participants, instead of exposing the members of the mafia present among them, try to determine which of the players is the werewolf.

The game assigns randomly selected characters to each participant, performing various social functions in the village. Among them we can find a blacksmith, a young woman or a typical village idiot. The aim of the game is to guess, based on various circumstantial evidence, conversations, observations of behaviour or, finally, one's own intuition, which of the participants of the game plays the ungrateful role of a werewolf. In order to avoid being unmasked, the beast can resort to a variety of activities: lying, convincing other players that they are mistaken or making secret deals with the participants of the game, revealing its true identity to them in secret.

Not without significance for the course of the game are also special roles assigned to individual players. While a standard villager does not have any special abilities, during the play he can acquire skills that make it easier to identify the werewolf. For example, a tracker can move closer to selected participants, checking if they hear the characteristic roar of a werewolf, an observer can discover another person's identity thanks to a sharpened sense of observation, and a traitor will help the monster by deceiving other villagers.

Game modes

Werewolves Within is designed for multiplayer gameplay, in which between five and eight players can take part. Thus, Red Storm's production is one of the first titles for VR goggles, which focuses on multiplayer mode.

Technical aspects

Werewolves Within offers a colourful, slightly cartoonish visuals, maintained in a medieval fantasy atmosphere. At the same time, the whole thing was designed in such a way as to make the best use of the unique possibilities of virtual reality sets, and the events were shown, of course, from the perspective of the first person. In addition, the game faithfully reproduces all the moves and gestures made by the players, as well as the tone and volume of their voice. During the game we can, among other things, move closer to other participants of the game, whisper to their ears, or make speeches, which will convince others of our innocence.