Black Forest (2014)

It was a small village at the base of the Black Forest in Germany. Life was simple and peaceful in the village until a series of brutal murders. The horrific nature of the killings left no question that werewolves had infiltrated the village.

The villagers had little time to determine who the beasts were. The werewolves were cunning, and used the paranoia to help the village tear itself apart. Which side prevailed?

Black Forest is a cooperative board game for 3 to 5 players. Players win or lose together as members of the village. However, one player is secretly a werewolf, trying to defeat the other players. In order to win, the villagers must ascertain which player is the werewolf, and eliminate all of his or her villager tokens in the Court House.

The game is divided into two phases. In the Day Phase, players take turns placing their Villager tokens on village spaces (like the Fields, where they earn gold; the Market, where they can buy market cards; the Seer, where they can hire the Seer to have a vision on another player, and possibly gain clues about the player's role; or the Court House, where players vote to eliminate a Villager token belonging to one of the players).

In the Night Phase, players are dealt a hand of Night cards, and must choose one and pass the rest, until they have a card chosen for each player in the game. Cards are then assigned and revealed. The Night Phase is where the werewolf player tries to eliminate Villager tokens from the game, but also when the villagers try to fortify against werewolf attack.

After every other Night Phase, there is a Harvest, where the players must have enough gold to make it through. If enough Villager tokens have been eliminated that the Harvest cannot be successful, the werewolf player wins. Villagers can also win by upgrading all 12 Village tiles, but this involves spending gold that may be necessary for the Harvest.