Game rules

The village wants to unmask the witches hiding among them. The witches' camp wants to take over the village. Nobody knows anyone else's role: you have to guess, persuade and bluff.

• The village: Villagers, Oracle, Healer, Vigilante and Pyre Martyr. With Premium, the Owl and the Archivist.
• The witches' camp: Witches and the Matriarch. With Premium, the Enchantress and the Fanatic.

• One player, the host, opens play.osteonix.app and creates the gathering. Their phone becomes the storyteller's voice: turn the sound up and put it in the middle of the table.
• The others join by scanning the host's QR code or typing the 6-letter code, then pick a name. No account, nothing to install.
• Once there are at least 5 of you, the host starts the game. Roles are dealt in secret: everyone sees their own on their own screen, and keeps it to themselves.
• The roles depend on how many of you are playing: roughly one witch for every four players. The Oracle is always there; the Matriarch and the Healer join at 6 players, the Vigilante and the Pyre Martyr at 7.
• With Premium, the host can add the advanced roles: the Owl from 9 players, the Archivist and the Enchantress from 10, the Fanatic at 14.

The storyteller announces nightfall: everyone closes their eyes. It then wakes the roles one at a time, in this order. Each acts silently on their phone, then goes back to sleep.

1. The Enchantress (Premium) bewitches a player, whose power is cancelled for the night. Never the same person two nights in a row.
2. The Oracle uncovers one player's side.
3. The Healer shields another player from the night's curse, never the same one two nights in a row.
4. The witches vote for a victim. The Matriarch confirms the coven's target and breaks ties. A lone witch chooses directly.
5. The Owl (Premium) watches a player and learns whether they went out that night, meaning they used a power or voted.
6. The Archivist (Premium) learns how many witches (Witches and Matriarch) are still alive.

The Fanatic (Premium) has no power and never wakes up. They play for the witches, but the Oracle sees them as a villager.

If the Matriarch is eliminated, another witch takes her place.

• The storyteller wakes the village and announces the night's victim, whose role is revealed. If the Healer protected them, nobody dies.
• The village argues out loud: accuse, defend yourself, bluff.
• Everyone votes on their phone for the player to send to the pyre. Whoever gets the most votes is eliminated and their role is revealed.
• If the vote ends in a tie, the Pyre Martyr, if still alive, burns instead. Without them, nobody is eliminated that day.
• If the Vigilante is eliminated, by night or by day, they choose a player to take down with them.

Then night falls again, until one side wins.

• The village wins as soon as every witch (Witches and Matriarch) is eliminated, even if the Enchantress or the Fanatic is still alive.
• The witches' camp wins as soon as it has as many living players as the village, or more.

The storyteller announces the winning side: the app checks for a win after every night and every vote.

• Start with 6 or 7 players: enough roles to keep things moving, and a game that stays short.
• Put the host's phone in the middle of the table, with the sound up and the screen on.
• At night, really close your eyes and keep your screen out of sight.
• By day, talk! A witch who stays too quiet gets noticed… and so does a villager.
• Once eliminated, stay at the table but say nothing more: the game will be all the better for it.