So sorry... this game is SOLD OUT 😢
$18.00

The Howly Growly deluxe game pledge with the Cookie-Monster look-a-like game bag!! Yes please!! ?

This is the Deluxe version of the game with vertical slots for card organization, plus 2 bonus expansions – Curses + Spells – and a monster bag! THis version plays at 4 – 10 players!

Buyer beware!!! Tom Vasel didn’t enjoy this game… ?

Tom Vasel reviews the game HERE!   As noted above, he did NOT like it! But he does note that many other people really like it quite a bit! So I mean… that’s a win in my book.

And, there are quite a few comments below the video where people who have actually played it say that they really like it. Heck, some even go so far as to say the LOVE it!  Haha.  I included it here because I feel like he does a solid job of going over the rules and what have you.

A game that is party game first… social deduction game second.

What exactly do I mean by this?

Well, this is a fun, light game with a lot of fast decisions that is ultimately a tad easier to grasp for people who may not be Euro strategy-gamers well versed in the basics of social deduction. So, party in front and business at the back. Wait, do I have that backward? What is the mullet description again.. haha.

Anyway, in my mind a non-Euro-strategy-gamer is any person who may enjoy board games from time to time but who does not refer to the games in their closet as a “collection” and who largely leans toward party games or lighter, fun games. The sorts of games where you can chat about your trip to Canada without everyone at the table telling you to shush because they can’t focus on the development of their engine! You get the idea. ??

I do not say this with any derogatory intent (in case you are new to the site and don’t already have a feel for the type of person I am). Rather my point is that while your every-week gaming group might be like “meh,” your friends and family that may not be so into board gaming may well enjoy the heck out of it!

I’ve played and at first I felt very much like Tom Vasel… sort of, “how do I win this and will that win feel satisfying?!?!?” But once I started to sense that it was more party game and less “I worked so hard to try and win but I only came in third place and I am not sure if board gaming is a good hobby for me because after all I lost four games this month and well…. “ I really started to enjoy it!

Existential, board game losing streak crisis aside… how does it play?

Right out of the gate the fact that you can play with up to 10 players makes this an easy win for those impromptu large-group gathering moments where someone says, “we should play a game!” Add in that “party game” vibe… and we are off to the races. For the trifecta, I offer the idea that it can be taught in a few minutes and is readily understood by just about everyone… Boom! ?

The game end conditions themselves are super easy. Werewolves are trying to bite people in an effort to convert all Villagers into werewolves. If they accomplish this, they win!

Villagers are desperately trying to survive the 3 nights of the game, and if even jus tone of them makes it, they win! Think “30 Days of Night” but swap in werewolves for vampires and also take it down from 30 days to 3 nights. Done. Side note – that is a fantastic movie!

Basic round anatomy…

The game starts with dealing out an initial starting card to each player. Anyone who receives a bite starts the game as a werewolf and remains a werewolf for the entire game; hoping to add tasty Villagers to their pack! All other players start as villagers.

Then players receive three additional cards each and then check to see if they are dead (three wound cards) or if they have become a werewolf (three bite cards). If they did become a werewolf, this is kept secret for the remainder of the game.

One notable exception is if you are playing with 8 or more players; in this case, all players close their eyes and only werewolves open theirs so that people know who the werewolves are at the start of the game. After this first hand check if people are converted to werewolves, their newfound hunger for flesh is kept secret!

Now we take the pre-made card deck (made up of bite, wound, charm and salve cards and also containing night event cards located at 1/3, 2/3, and 3/3 of the deck for triggering first night, second night and final night respectively) and pass it around the table. When a player takes the deck they remove the top (face-up) card and read it aloud to the table and then give the card to a player of their choice.

The active player can never take the card for themselves. Obviously (?) if you are  villager then you want to try and give out cards in such a way as to keep your fellow villagers alive! So charm cards that negate the bite card effects and salve cards that negate the wound card effects are a great choice!

Of course it helps if you know who the heck is who in the game! Ahhhh, social deduction… therein lies the fun! Keeping track of who gives what cards to whom and so on will help players to deduce who is who! And since everyone knows who the original werewolves were… that provides one more piece of moderately useful info!

Still… it seems like it would be really difficult to figure out who the werewolves are??

Ah yes… you have paid close attention my friends. By the aforementioned clues alone it would be quite difficult indeed! Fortunately the game factors that in by adding a slight twist during the night phases.

During the night phase each player will give one card to each of their living neighbors in the game (to the left and right). These cards are not revealed to the group. They are shuffled together face down and then added to the players hand.

During this night phase only werewolves may pass a bite card!

While the player may not know whether a particular card came from the right or left, they certainly know, “It was one of those two people, dang it!”

So, if you are bitten at night by one of your neighbors, then you KNOW that one of them is a werewolf. And if you receive TWO bite cards… you, my friend, are surrounded by werewolves!!

If you are a struggling villager with a werewolf to each side, you may start to focus on sending wounds their way or what have you… which will perhaps be picked up on by your fellow villagers… who may then join in your quest to rue the day!!

Alternatively, maybe no one notices and instead all the werewolves bite and convert all the villagers and win. I mean… it’s up to you. ?

Final night thoughts…

This is a very fun game! But it is the sort of game where you want to win, but instead of being frustrated by a loss, you feign indignation and complain a lot to your friends as you grab another tasty beverage and maybe a few Doritos. In my mind it is most decidedly in the same ballpark as One Night Ultimate… but there is no debate or discussion time.

For players who didn’t feel comfortable (or didn’t do a good job) of lying during One Night Ultimate discussion rounds… this game is a welcome break that still packs in a LOT of fun!

Super-honest, introverted, non-debate-team humans… this is for us! Rejoice! ??

Plus the game box comes in a Cookie-Monster like cloth bag that is just too cool to not attract attention from your friends when 8 of them come to your house for movie night and want to play a game before the night is over!

Ages: 10+
Players: 4 – 10
Play Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Designer: Joey Vigour
Artists:
Publisher: Vigour Games
SKU: Vigour Games 001
MSRP:
Basic game is selling for $24
on eBay at the time of this
listing (AUG 2020). I’m selling
the deluxe version ?
Our Price: $18.00
Link to BGG: Growl

 

 

 

So sorry... this game is SOLD OUT 😢



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Description

 

Growl! This is the Howly Growly pledge level with the fun, furry monster bag! I’m not making this up! ?

Work together to distribute the bites and wounds amongst the village. Some of you are wolves trying to “turn” the others. When Night falls, everyone secretly passes cards to their neighbors!

4-10 players (up to 15 with more cards) all claim to be innocent humans, but one (or more) of them is Wolf Zero, the original werewolf that wants to infect the village!

The deck of cards sits face-up in the middle of the table. One by one you take turns picking up the top card and giving it to any (other) player you want. The cards can be a Bite (which brings you closer to becoming a wolf) or a Wound (which brings you closer to dead), or cards that cancel other cards. When a Night card is revealed, the full moon comes out and werewolves and humans get to pass cards anonymously, which is how the infection spreads and turns humans into wolves. Charms negate Bites and Salves negate Wounds. 3 Wounds (net) kill either a human or a werewolf. 3 Bites (net) turn a human into a werewolf, and only wolves can pass Bites at night.

When the deck is exhausted at the end of the third night, Wolf Zero(es) begins to GROWL and slowly other wolves (even dead wolves) join the growl! If any humans are left alive, all humans (even dead ones) win. If all the players who are still alive are growling, all wolves (including dead ones) win!

  • GROWLis a 10-15 minute card game for 4-10 players of all ages
  • The cards in your hand reveal whether you are a human or a werewolf
  • Humans turn into werewolvesif they get bitten 3 times!
  • Everyone gets to bite, stab, heal, and give gold, so we all have power, not just the loud people
  • Doesn’t require a moderator or phone app

~Description by publisher

Additional information
Weight 3.3 lbs
Dimensions 7 × 5 × 4 in
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