How to play VampireVote

VampireVote follows the classic werewolf (mafia) rules: a few hidden vampires live among the villagers, and everyone has to figure out who to trust. You can learn the rules in five minutes; mastering them is all about reading people. This guide covers the rules, what is different in online mode, and tips for both sides.

The goal

There are two teams: the village and the vampires. Vampires know each other; villagers don’t know who the vampires are. The village wants to vote every vampire out. The vampires want to bite their way to equal numbers without getting caught.

How many players?

VampireVote supports 4 to 20 players. The host chooses the number of vampires; on the automatic setting there is roughly one vampire for every four players:

1. Roles are dealt

Everyone secretly gets a role: Villager or Vampire, plus a Doctor and a Seer if the host turns them on. In the tabletop game a narrator deals cards; in VampireVote the phones do it, so the narrator gets to play too. See roles for details.

2. Night

The vampires choose a victim. The Doctor protects someone; if the vampires picked that exact person, nobody dies that night. The Seer learns whether one player is a vampire.

• In person, night is not played in turns: everybody makes a choice on their phone at the same time. Villagers also pick the person they suspect, so nobody gives their role away just by tapping their phone.
• Online, night happens in real time: everyone walks around the map and vampires bite players they get close to. Biting has a cooldown.

3. Day and discussion

In the morning the night’s victims are revealed. Everyone shares what they saw and who they suspect. Dead players can’t talk; online, ghosts can only chat with other ghosts.

4. Voting

After the discussion everyone votes for the player they want to send away, or votes to skip. The player with the most votes is voted out. If there is a tie, or skip has at least as many votes, nobody leaves. Depending on the room settings, the role of the voted-out player is revealed or kept secret. If no team has won, a new night begins.

Who wins?

• The village wins when every vampire has been voted out. In online mode the village also wins by finishing all tasks.
• The vampires win when the number of living vampires equals or exceeds the number of living villagers.

What’s different online

• A dark map: you walk around the Village Square, the Count’s Castle or the Night Carnival. You only see as far as your lantern light; vampires see further in the dark.
• Tasks: villagers complete short mini-game tasks, and if they finish them all the village wins. Vampires can pretend, but they can’t really finish light tasks (lamp, candelabra, bulbs). If the light didn’t come on, be suspicious.
• Report and bell: whoever finds a body presses Report, everyone is called to a meeting and the location of the body is announced. Each player can also ring the emergency bell once (it is locked for the first seconds of the night).
• Morning comes: if nobody reports anything, the meeting starts on its own when the night timer runs out.

Tips for villagers

• Remember who was where. “Who were you with?” is the strongest question in any meeting.
• Watch the light tasks. If someone stood at the lamp but it never lit up, they may have been faking.
• As the Seer, don’t reveal yourself too early; an exposed Seer becomes the next target. Speak up when you have found a vampire or the vote is critical.
• Be wary of both the player who never speaks and the one who accuses everyone. Ask for a reason before you vote.
• Not sure? Skip. Voting out an innocent player hands the vampires a free round.

Tips for vampires

• Never bite with a witness around. Wait for someone to be alone.
• Leave the body behind, then blend into the crowd. Sometimes being the first to report is the best cover.
• Don’t over-defend your partner; two players who never vote for each other stand out.
• Hang around task stations, but stay away from light tasks.
• Tell a concrete story in meetings: “I was at the chicken coop and saw Purple walking toward the field.” Vague answers draw suspicion.

Quick summary

At night the vampires bite, the Doctor protects and the Seer checks. By day everyone discusses and votes someone out. The village wins when every vampire is gone; the vampires win when they equal the villagers.