I totally agree that it was a great experience! Having played Werewolf before, it has never been as much fun as this time, probably due to playing with other LessWrongians. I liked that we had very long and detailed discussions, trying to decide on the most optimal strategy, bluffing on several levels-- and it was very interesting to see how minor less rational thoughts could affect our decisions very substantially! Like that time when I was playing werewolf, I decided to maul Thomas during my last night, thinking that I knew I was dead the next day anyway but at least I would have some revenge. I should have thought a bit longer and mauled James instead - he would have passed the sheriff badge to me!
I definitely learned a lot about myself during this game - how I analyse things when pressed for time; how emotions affect my rationality; how hard I find it to bluff in a game more complex than poker...
I would strongly recommend other meetup groups try playing this game!
There is already a post related to this meetup but it concerns a discussion which took place after I had left so I will write about the games of Werewolf. Please post your thoughts too and correct any inaccuracies.
Thoughts:
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Games:
1 GM: {Douglas}, Villagers: {Ramana, Jon, Jonathan, Alexey, Ai}, Werewolf: {Thomas}
Jon mauled. No-one lynched. Jonathan mauled. Thomas lynched. Villagers win.
2 (Seer added) GM: {Douglas}, Villagers: {James, Jonathan, Alexey}, Werewolves: {Thomas, Ai}, Seer {Ramana}
Ramana mauled. Jonathan made Sheriff. No-one lynched. Alexey mauled. Ai lynched. Jonathan mauled. James lynched. Werewolves win.
3 (Sheriff's deputy and wills added) GM: {Douglas}, Villagers: {James, Jonathan, Ai}, Werewolves: {Ramana, Alexey}, Seer: {Thomas}
Jonathan mauled. James made Sheriff. Ramana lynched. Thomas mauled. Alexey lynched. Villagers win.
4 GM: {Thomas}, Villagers: {Douglas, Jonathan, Alexey}, Werewolves {James, Ai}; Seer {Ramana}.
Ramana mauled. Alexey made Sheriff. Douglas lynched. Alexey mauled. Sheriff passed to Ai. Jonathan lynched. Werewolves win.
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This post was partly motivated by this comment in the google group: