Volity Games publishes Werewolf

SOMERVILLE, MA - Volity Games has announced the launch of Werewolf, a free multiplayer online game of monsters, mob hysteria, and grim humor.

In Werewolf, players take the role of villagers trying to figure out which of their number are secretly werewolves, using only conversation. Once per turn they take a vote on a player to "lynch" (eject from the game). As the game progresses, the number of players dwindles due to both nighttime werewolf attacks and daytime lynchings, until either the monsters are wiped out or the villagers are outnumbered.

Werewolf is a variation of a Russian social game called Mafia, and was first documented in 1997 by Andrew Plotkin. In the years since, the game - which Plotkin published to a public web page, and invited people to use as they liked - has been a perennial hit at game conventions, and has been the basis of several print editions from commercial game publishers.

Plotkin himself is the Volity version's programmer as well as its artist, providing the minimalist, cartoony artwork of smiling villagers and fanged (but also smiling) werewolves that adds a whimsical twist to the gloomy theme.

Plotkin said that, as far as he knows, this is the first version of Werewolf to be implemented for a platform designed for user-friendly Internet gameplay. "People have been playing this game for years - in person, on chat systems, in web forums - even on television," he said. "But I wanted to set up a Werewolf game which people could easily play on-line. Whenever you have a few minutes, you can pop in and play a round."

Volity Games is a Somerville-based startup based around the Volity Network, an open platform for multiplayer casual games. Its website at http://volity.net contains resources and information for game players and independent game developers.

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Volity Games publishes Werewolf

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