Monster Hunt

Monster Hunt was designed around a central philosophy: be careful what you wish for. In this medieval fantasy social deduction game, finding the evil players is only half the challenge—knowing when and how to eliminate them can be just as crucial to the town's survival.

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The evil characters that help define this design philosophy include two henchmen and a monster:

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• The Alchemist - "If the town kills the alchemist, their workshop explodes, and their direct, living neighbours die as well."

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This means the Alchemist ultimately wants to be voted out so they can kill the two good players sitting next to them in the process.

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• The Poltergeist - "The poltergeist thinks they're good. If the town kills them, a voter becomes evil. Monster votes count twice".

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Aside from being the evil team's strongest bluff because they completely believe the lies they're telling, voting out a Poltergeist doesn't actually lower the number of evil players in a game, because they're replaced by another good player.

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• The Hydra - "If the hydra is the first evil player to die, their henchman become hydra and lose their henchmen abilities."

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​The Hydra might be the most deadly of the three. If this monster is voted out early, you can end up with three monsters instead of one, meaning three deaths per night instead of one.

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​On the good side, there are only two members of the Hunting party capable of nullifying these effects:

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• Assassin - Once per game, attempt to assassinate a suspected henchmen

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An assassination doesn't count as being killed by the town so it doesn't trigger the Alchemist's or Poltergeist's abilities.

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• Brute - If the monster attacks the brute, they take down a henchman in the process

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Just like an assassination, a take down doesn't count as being killed by the town so it doesn't trigger the Alchemist's or Poltergeist's abilities.

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This design deliberately disrupts the social deduction strategy of brute force information sharing. In Monster Hunt, even strong mechanical evidence doesn't guarantee victory—timing and strategy matter as much as deduction.​​

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Even if you know who the bad guys are, it might not be in your best interest to kill them. This creates a game where knowledge alone isn't power—players must navigate when to act on their suspicions, building toward tense moments like assassination attempts and climactic revelations.

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Like all folklore games, the experience of playing Monster Hunt is a mixture of puzzle solving, reading people, navigating occasionally unreliable information, and building consensus where at least a minority of individuals aren't incentivised to do so! 

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If you have specific questions, stories, or thoughts about Monster Hunt, check out r/folkloremonsterhunt our dedicated subreddit community.

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Hunting Party

• Tracker

• Assassin

• Brute

• Medium

• Druid

• Knight

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Villagers

• Prophet

• Urchin

• Historian

• Magistrate

• Bartender

• Sentry

• Patron

• Beneficiary

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Monsters

• Hydra

• Cerberus

• Dragon

• Medusa

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Henchman

• Sorcerer

• Alchemist

• Poltergeist

• Stalker