BLOOD ON THE CLOCKTOWER

How to play Blood on the Clocktower

Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game for large groups where, unusually, dead players keep playing. A Storyteller runs the game while the town tries to identify the Demon in their midst before it kills them all. This page is an overview and guide — the game is famous for the drama that comes from its living-dead twist and its huge cast of characters.

1. 1

   The Storyteller assigns secret roles

   One person is the Storyteller, running the game rather than playing to win. Everyone else secretly receives a character — Townsfolk, Outsider, Minion or Demon — and only knows their own.

2. 2

   Nights: the evil team acts

   Each night the town "sleeps" while the Storyteller wakes certain characters. The Demon kills, and other roles gather or act on secret information.

3. 3

   Days: talk, deduce, nominate

   By day the town discusses openly, shares what their roles learned, and nominates suspects. This is where the game lives — in the arguments about who is lying.

4. 4

   Execute a suspect — and keep playing if you die

   The town votes to execute one player each day. Crucially, dead players stay in the game: they keep a single vote and can still talk, so death removes your safety but not your voice.

5. 5

   Good wins by killing the Demon; evil wins if it survives

   The town (good) wins the moment the Demon is executed. The evil team wins if the Demon survives until only a couple of players remain.

Tips and strategy

• Because the dead keep talking, being executed early is not the end — a dead player who deduces the Demon can still swing the game.
• The Storyteller has latitude to keep the game dramatic, so treat information as strong evidence rather than proof.
• Good players should share what their roles learned; evil players win by muddying exactly that flow of information.
• New groups should start with the introductory character set, Trouble Brewing, before adding the wilder scripts.
• You need a decent group — it shines from around 7 players upward, plus a Storyteller who is not competing.

Frequently asked questions

How is Blood on the Clocktower different from Werewolf or Mafia?

The biggest difference is that dead players stay in the game — they keep a vote and can still speak. There is also a Storyteller who runs the game with some discretion, and a very large roster of characters, so no two games play the same.

How many players do you need?

It works best with larger groups, roughly 7 to 15 players, plus one person acting as the Storyteller who runs the game rather than playing to win.

What is the Storyteller’s job?

To run the game: assign roles, wake characters at night, deliver information and keep the game dramatic and balanced. The Storyteller does not try to win.

Is this a full playable version?

This page is an overview and guide to how the game works and its characters. Blood on the Clocktower is designed as an in-person game led by a Storyteller.