Basic CMYKI finally got the chance to play Are You The Traitor? recently, and it did not dissapoint for a light warm up or cool down game between two-hour slugfests.  It is essentially Werewolf without any player elimination.

Here’s the gist:  There is an Evil Key that has been entrusted to a group of Guards who must deliver it to the Good Wizard for it to be destroyed.  One Guard secretly has been deigned the Keeper of the Key, with every other Guard being a bodyguard.  Unfortunately, the Evil Wizard (who wants the Key for himself) has disguised himself to look just like the Good Wizard.  Also, there are Traitors secretly among the Guards who are trying to give the Keeper of the Key over to the Evil Wizard…

  • At the start of each round, players are dealt a role card that will determine your goal for said round.  You will either be in the ‘Wizard’ category or the ‘Guard’ category.  Among the wizards, you will be good or evil.  Among the guards, you will be The Keeper of the Key, a regular Guard, or a Traitor.
  • Each round, players discuss who is who.  The Evil Wizard wants to catch the Keeper of the Key, the Guards and the Good Wizard want to catch the Traitors, the Keeper of the Key wants to deliver the key to the Good Wizard and the Traitors just don’t want to get caught while signaling to the Evil Wizard who has the key.
  • Once someone thinks they know who they are trying to catch, the player says “Stop!” and points at someone.  The identity of the pointing player and the player being pointed at are revealed.  If the accusing player is correct (The Good Wizard pointing at a Traitor), everyone on that player’s team gets a Treasure Card ranging in value from 1 to 5 points.  However, if the accusing player points incorrectly, (The Good Wizard at a regular Guard), then everyone on the other team gets a treasure card.
  • After an accusation is resolved, you shuffle up the identities and deal them out for the next round.  The first player to 10 points worth of treasure is the winner!

Play is fast and accusations fly left and right.  If you enjoy ‘mob mentality’ games but dislike the somewhat arbitrary player elimination of Werewolf, you can’t go wrong with Are You The Traitor?.

The table is yours,

Phil

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