This is a combined review / session report from my first encounter with "Shadow Hunters", a game that has been billed as a mixture of Werewolf and Bang!

As an enthusiastic member of the BGG Werewolf community (check out our forum under the PBEM forum!), I was very interested when I saw this being played at a game shop I visited while on business travel. I joined the group, and wound up playing a grand total of 3 games, which gave me a look at most of the cards and characters. A description of the sessions follows the review.

The Rules
The game itself is relatively simple. You draw a character card at the beginning of the game. Characters belong to one of three factions: Shadows (the bad guys), Hunters (the good guys) or Neutrals. Each character has a number of hit points, a victory condition, and a special power they can use, usually after they have revealed themselves. Victory conditions are basically eliminate the opposing team for Hunters and Shadows, and the Neutrals have some interesting variations (one just has to survive, another actually wants to be the first to die).

The board has 6 locations, which are grouped into 3 locales of 2 locations each. Locations are randomly allocated to the 6 spots, so the same 6 locations are in every game, but the groupings are different. This is significant since you can usually only attack someone in the same locale as yourself.

There are 3 decks of cards that come with the game black, white and green. A player will usually, but not always, have the option to draw a card on their turn from one of the decks. Black usually does damage, or is equipment that increases damage, and White is mostly equipment that protects, or healing events. Green basically allows you to gather information on what role other players have. Green cards have a statement about a person (e.g., you are a Hunter), and a consequence if true (e.g., Take 1 point of Damage). When a player draws a Green card, they look at it, and hand it to another player. If the statement is true, the player must do what the card says. Only the player who drew the card is aware of what it said.

A player's turn consists of rolling for location (each location has a number or numbers - you go to the location with the same number you roll on a D4 + D6, with a 7 allowing you to choose), then doing what the location says, and finally choosing whether you will attack anyone located in the same locale as you. Attacks are done by rolling the D4 and D6, and subtracting the lower die from the higher.

How it played
The game naturally begins with players looking to draw green cards, and deduce what roles other players have. As this happens, alliances and rivalries start to form. Players are not allowed to talk about the results of their green card queries, but it becomes obvious who is on the same team, and who is not from the attack phase of the turn.

A key part of the game is when to reveal your character. Revealed characters typically are able to use their special ability, which makes them more powerful. It also can make them a target. The Vampire, for instance, heals 2 points every time he makes a successful attack. But 2 points won't save them if everyone gangs up on them, so the choice of when to reveal is a critical one.

The end game is pretty much a dice rolling contest. There is certainly some strategy, as my games demonstrated, but mostly it becomes a game of move, and attack someone on the other team.

My Reaction
I initially found the game interesting, but after 3 plays, I probably won't play this again. The game pretends to give the player some control, but the location that you go to each turn determines what you do and who you can attack - and that location is determined (mostly) randomly. This makes it frustrating in the early game when you're trying to draw Green cards and can't, and frustrating again in the late game when you're trying to attack specific people and can't.

I saw very little Werewolf style deduction in the game. The Green cards will naturally separate the group out into factions fairly quickly. For a player used to Werewolf, this game will essentially play itself for you. Roll dice, move to location, draw card, attack. It moves quickly, and seems like it ought to be interesting, but it really lacks the tension of Werewolf. Overall, I give it a 5.

The one caveat I will add is that I was playing with a group of strangers. With a group of friends, this could be more exciting. Or not. It depends on your friends, I would guess.

The Games
I began our first game as "The Unknown" - a shadow player who is able to lie when receiving a Green card. This was an 8 player game with 3 Hunters, 3 Shadows, and 2 Neutrals. I eagerly looked for a chance to lie my way into the favor of the Hunters, only to be completely ignored by the Green cards. The group seemed a little more bloodthirsty than really necessary, so I passed on several chances to attack people, and watched a great deal of damage get handed out in the name of blind vengeance. By the time the group had figured out who was who, the Shadows had the upper hand, helped in part by our Vampire who revealed early, and managed to use his regenerative power to stay in the game while handing out a great deal of damage. The Hunters simply couldn't get the rolls they needed to go after him.


Game 2 was, I think, a 7 player game. I was Emi, a Hunter who is able to move to the adjacent location within the locale rather than rolling the dice once she has revealed. I found a Shadow early, and handed out damage to that player repeatedly. My other hunter got the hint, and also piled on. Meanwhile, a spear had been drawn that gave a revealed hunter +2 Damage. I revealed, and used my ability to move to a location that allowed me to steal the spear, which then gave me a huge attack value (I had another card for a +3 total). I killed off the Shadow I knew about, then went after the player who had begun attacking me. It was a fairly even contest, but I drew a white card that healed me completely. After that, it was easy to finish the other Shadow off.


Game 3 I was the Unknown again. Everyone started attacking early, with a great deal of damage done before any Green cards were drawn. One player was ganged up on, almost arbitrarily. When he died, he turned out to be Daniel, the player who wins if he dies first. Game over.

On a side note, I think the Daniel character is interesting, in that he ought to prevent people from attacking blind, but it's very anti-climactic when he wins.


Bottom Line: Not bad, but not really good either. Kind of plays itself, and the player is along for the ride. I've seen some interesting 5 and 7 player games of Werewolf on the BGG WW forum, and I'd play that before this any day.