Game Night with Friends

Last weekend I was finally able to play a few games of One Night Ultimate Werewolf. My older daughter and I got it as a joint Christmas gift last year, but we only played it once or twice as a family, and no one else wanted to play it some more. I'm not sure why neither of my daughters were very interested; it seems like the kind of thing they would enjoy, and perhaps they would if we all tried it again with friends.

On Friday I was able to play it at a gathering of old friends, and I really enjoyed it. None of them had played it, but most of them had played regular Werewolf. Because there is only one phase each of day and night in One Night Ultimate Werewolf, it took some mental adjustment. It was hard to realize what to look for and not just how to figure things out, but what it was we should even be trying to figure out. After the first couple of games it seemed like it got easier.

The first game was made even more screwy by the fact that both werewolf cards were still in the center; all seven players were villagers. That's not exactly the smoothest introduction to the game. In other games, we had little kids (spectating) blowing their parents' cover, other kids playing (and doing quite well, I thought, despite being unfamiliar with what an Insomniac is and having to read the rule book to figure out what they were), and all players in general trying to figure out how their roles affected their knowledge of what's going on with other players. It was chaotic, but I thought it was a lot of fun, and it seemed like everyone enjoyed it to varying degrees.

I also played a game of Dragonwood with friends' children, and not only was it a fun and pretty simple card game, but it was a lot of fun interacting with the kids. I don't see my friends often enough, and I see their sons and daughters even less, and when I see them there's not a lot of one-on-one interaction. These are all friends I have known since college. Now that I'm thinking about it, the opportunity to spend a little time getting to know their children seems golden.