INTRODUCTION
Since I was a young teen, I really disliked the horror genre, and for a very obvious reason: I am a chicken that gets scared easily. Even now, years later, I am still squeamish with the genre and avoid it if possible. But sometimes, on very rare occasions, I want to startle myself. So, I pick up the horror genre, only to regret it afterward. As the years pass, we encounter many subgenres in the horror genre, the most popular nowadays being zombies. Other than the zombies, we see death games often, with Squid Game and Alice in Borderland being the most popular TV series in the death game category. But, even though I truly loved those series and, most importantly, death games, I feel that Asian cinematography is missing out on another death game, which is very popular and has many twists — the werewolf game. Werewolf...What?
It happened about six years ago. I stumbled on a game app, and among the games, I found the werewolf game, which totally changed my gaming experience. While some people enjoy slaying monsters or racing cars, my brain gets dopamine thanks to highly strategic games in which you must play with psychology. The Werewolf game, or Mafia game, is a social deduction game that was created in the 1980s by a Russian professor of psychology, Dimitrij Davidoff. Since the 1980s, the game has spread all over the world and is often played at parties or even online. Gameplay
The game is very simple and easy to understand. It is true that, over the years, the game has evolved, and the rules or even roles are not strictly set in stone, but the basics still remain the same. First and foremost, the basic gameplay separates groups of players into two groups: villagers and werewolves. Usually, the game is played in groups of six or ten. In a six-player game, there are only two werewolves. In a ten-player game, there are three. The goal of the game is also the same in any variation of the game: if the villagers want to win, they have to kill all the wolves, and if werewolves want to win, they have to kill all or the majority of villagers. Simple, right?
Other than the players being divided into two groups, the game itself is split into two sections: day and night. During the day, everyone gathers and talks about who could be the possible werewolf. At night, the werewolves kill the villagers. You might be curious: when can the villagers kill the werewolves? Well, at a day voting. Other than talking, the villagers must pick someone among themselves to stand trial and defend themselves. If the players decide their defense is weak, they can kill the defendant with their votes, learning the identity of the killed player. Since the game is played in large groups, a villager (and not a werewolf) may get killed on the trial. Now, with all this being said, you might be thinking that even though there are fewer werewolves than villagers, they are still strong, so how can villagers win the game? Well, villagers are not so powerless... |
ROLES
WEREWOLVES | Alpha Wolf
When investigated by the Seer or any other player with investigative abilities, the Alpha Werewolf appears to be an ordinary Villager. | Vampire
Powerful role but has a big disadvantage - their votes do not count during day trials. Thus, they can be voted out. |
VILLAGERS | Hunter
If attacked at night by a wolf, he can survive, and the attacking wolf gets killed. | Villager
Regular role with no special powers. | Robber
Before night comes, they choose someone to steal their voting rights for the next day’s trial. | Seer
Can peak at other’s identity cards. | Assassin
Once per game, they can kill any player of their choosing. | Doctor
Before night comes, they choose a player they want to protect from a werewolf attack. |
RULES
Since the game is so popular, the rules and even the roles vary a lot, so I am going to present you with multiple rules from the film media where the game was played.
First, we are going to look at rules from a Korean TV series, Night Has Come which solely focuses on the game of Werewolf, or Mafia, as they call it in this series. 
1. The participants will be secretly assigned as civilians, a doctor, a police officer, and a mafia. 1.1 The doctor can prevent the execution of a participant of their choice. 1.2 The police officer can discover the occupation of a participant of their choice. 2. Starting from 8 a.m. to midnight, the participants will select the mafia members through voting. 3. At midnight, the participants with the most votes will be executed and their occupations revealed. 4. After the voting ends at midnight, all participants except the mafia members will go to sleep. 5. During the night, while the participants are asleep, by 6 a.m., the mafia must execute someone they choose by unanimous voting. 6. When either the team civilian or the team mafia kills all of the other team and wins, it’s game over. 7. Civilians, the doctor, and the police officer are on the same team. 8. You cannot reveal your role to other members of the game. 9. If the mafia doesn’t kill at night, one of the mafia members is executed. 10. If villagers don’t vote on the day, they are executed. 
Participants, please find the mafia and start voting now. Now, we are going to look at a Japanese movie anthology called The Werewolf Game. It is important to note that in each movie, there are new roles—usually special ones—but the rules somewhat stay the same. 
1. Leaving the premises of the game is punished by execution. 2. Gather in the common room every day at 8 o’clock, discuss who you might think is a werewolf, and take a vote. 3. Kill the voted person by 9 o’clock. 4. You are free to choose the method of killing – there is a handgun with 6 shots, but do not take it out of the common room. 5. If you fail to kill someone on a day of voting, all players are going to die. 6. The werewolf will meet the other werewolf and anonymously decide who to kill from midnight to 2 a.m. 7. If werewolves fail to kill someone at night, all players die. 8. Villagers, keep your doors locked from midnight to six o’clock in the morning and do not leave your rooms. 9. If you refuse to participate, try to escape from this building or look at someone else’s role card. The person breaking the rule is going to die. 10. Among the villagers, there is one prophet, one guardian, and lovers. 11. The prophet will choose one person every night and get a prophecy, whether that person is a villager or a werewolf. 12. The guardian will choose one person every night, and that person will be protected from the werewolf – but the guardian cannot protect themselves. 13. The lovers are aware of each other’s identity. 14. If you kill the werewolves, the villagers win. 15. If there is the same number of villagers and werewolves, the werewolves win. Each of you do your best to survive. |
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Werewolf Game in Cinematography
I think you’re well aware of which TV series and movies I am going to talk about since I already included them in the "rules" section. Truthfully, there is not a lot of media that uses this death game as the main plot device. I do think it’s sad because, while it is not really a physical game but more of a strategic game, I find great joy in it. Just like you can cheat in physical games, you can also cheat in this game. The great mathematicians sat down and literally made a formula on probability. The verdict is pretty clear: both teams can win the game; it only depends on strategy. I am going to talk about Night Has Come first since it is among the most recent projects with this game. I must say that it was a pretty big hit! I did mind how the writer bent their rules so they would get the result they wanted, but overall, it is a great portrayal of the game. What makes the series more stressful is the fact that the players belong to the same class and thus know each other very well, which adds to the emotional factor. In the end, someone has to die, and the pressure of killing someone who you’re close to makes the terror factor, which is constantly present in horror movies, rise to its ultimate height. This series not only showed how the game should be played but also the effect it has on someone’s mind because emotional bonds in this game are the worst enemy of players. |  |
The biggest difference between Night Has Come and the Japanese movie franchise The Werewolf Game is pretty clear: while the Korean series' main leads are all classmates, the Japanese movie's main leads are all strangers to each other who just somewhat ended up in the same situation, meaning that the players do not feel as guilty as the Korean players who have to kill someone to whom they are close. In this manner, I do think that emotional bond plays a big factor in this game. I experienced it firsthand. When I play the game with close friends, I feel sorry to see them go. But when I play online with strangers, I am emotionally detached, so I can focus much better on the game and create strategies that guarantee my win. |  |
The third series where I witnessed this game being played is the recently aired Netflix series Ready, Set, Love, though the game appeared only in one episode. The series once again changed the game a bit, keeping only the basic structure. In the series, they exchanged the werewolves and used witches as villains. Since the series is a romantic comedy, there wasn’t real slaying or blood, but still, it showed how fun this game can be. |  |
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CONCLUSION
While the horror genre is full of amazing subgenres, be it zombies, ghosts, or demons, I do think there should be a place for horror death games as well. While Squid Game and Alice in Wonderland created the blueprint for this subgenre, I wish the writers would look at some more noteworthy death games, like the Werewolf game. While it may lack the thrill of physical games, I think there is something exciting about psychological games, in which making the perfect strategy is a must to win. Many people think this game separates the good from the bad, but honestly, this game doesn’t do that. The players receive their roles randomly, and there is no “good” or “bad” side since, in the end, both teams have to kill to not be killed.
Dear reader, what is your opinion on this? Would you like to see the Werewolf game as a main plot device in cinematography?
Edited by: Cookie |
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