Blood on the Clocktower: Complete Guide to Rules, Roles & How to Play

There are social deduction games. And then there is Blood on the Clocktower.

Most games in this genre ask you to sit quietly after you’re eliminated and watch everyone else have fun. Blood on the Clocktower never eliminates you. Dead players keep their voice. They keep a vote. They can still win – or lose – the game. It is the single smartest fix to the biggest problem in the genre, and it is why this game has become the one that serious board game players talk about above everything else.

Created by Steven Medway and published by The Pandemonium Institute, Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game for 5 to 20 players, set in the fog-drenched village of Ravenswood Bluff. A demon is hiding among the townspeople. The town needs to find it and execute it before too few players remain alive. The demon and its minions need to stay hidden long enough to win.

Here is everything you need to know before you play.

What is Blood on the Clocktower?

Blood on the Clocktower is a hidden role game – which means everyone receives a secret character at the start, and nobody knows what anyone else is.

Players are split into two teams: the good team (Townsfolk and Outsiders) and the evil team (the Demon and its Minions). The good team outnumbers the evil team significantly – but the evil players know exactly who each other are from the very beginning, and they are lying to everyone else.

One player acts as the Storyteller – they do not take a character role but instead run the game, manage each player’s abilities, and keep track of what is happening behind the scenes. The Storyteller role is a big deal. In Blood on the Clocktower, they can provide misinformation, nudge the balance, and shape the narrative of the session. A good Storyteller makes the game memorable.

The roles: Townsfolk, Outsiders, Minions and the Demon

Every character in Blood on the Clocktower has a unique ability. These are not small flavour additions – they are the engine of the game.

Townsfolk are the core of the good team. Their abilities generally help gather information, protect others, or disrupt the evil team. The Washerwoman might learn which players have a specific role. The Empath learns how many evil neighbours they have. The Soldier cannot be killed by the Demon at night.

Outsiders are on the good team but their abilities often cause trouble – for themselves or for the good team. The Drunk thinks they have a Townsfolk ability, but they do not. The Recluse might appear evil when investigated. Including Outsiders makes the good team’s information less reliable.

Minions support the Demon. They know who each other are and who the Demon is from Night One. The Poisoner makes a good player’s ability malfunction. The Scarlet Woman can become the Demon if the Demon dies with enough players still alive.

The Demon kills one player each night. If only two living players remain, the Demon wins. If the Demon is executed by the town, the good team wins.

Game Setup

Before the game starts, the Storyteller selects a Script – a specific set of 22 to 25 characters that will be in play for this session. The Script determines the entire character pool. Players receive a random role from that pool, face down.

On the first night, the Minions and the Demon learn each other’s identities. The Demon is also given three characters currently not in play to use as bluffs during the day. Meanwhile, good players begin receiving their first pieces of information through their character abilities.

The Storyteller uses the Grimoire – a book containing every player’s role and status – to manage the game throughout. It is the only source of truth.

How to play: the Night Phase

All players close their eyes. The Storyteller works through the character order, tapping players on the shoulder or using a pre-agreed signal to wake them one by one. Each player performs their ability – receiving information, choosing a target, or taking an action – then goes back to sleep.

Crucially, the Storyteller can lie to players who are Drunk or Poisoned. If your ability is being disrupted, you will not know – the Storyteller will simply give you false information as if it were real. This is intentional. It makes every piece of information uncertain.

At the end of the night, the Storyteller announces which players have died. Those players are now Dead – but they are still in the game.

How to play: the Day Phase

Everyone opens their eyes. The day phase is essentially a court case – players share what they know, accuse each other, form alliances, and try to figure out who the Demon is.

The evil team will be lying. Some good players will have wrong information without knowing it. Some players are deliberately designed to appear evil when they’re not. The whole thing is delightfully unreliable.

At any point during the day, a player can nominate another player for execution. A second player must second the nomination. If a majority of living players vote in favour, that player is executed. Only one execution can happen per day.

Dead players keep one ghost vote they can use for the rest of the game. They can still talk, still argue, still influence. The game only ends when the win conditions are met – not when you die.

The three official Scripts

Blood on the Clocktower ships with three official Scripts, each designed for a different experience:

Trouble Brewing is the recommended starting Script. It introduces the core mechanics cleanly, with characters that give clear information and a relatively fair balance. Play this first.

Sects & Violets is more complex, with characters that warp information in interesting ways. The Storyteller has more room to be creative here. Good for groups who have played Trouble Brewing a few times.

Bad Moon Rising focuses more on killing mechanics and introduces powerful Minion abilities. The evil team plays differently here – more chaotic, more aggressive. One for experienced groups.

Blood on the Clocktower vs Werewolf: what’s the difference?

Werewolf (also known as Mafia) is the obvious comparison. Both are hidden role games where good players try to find the hidden threat. But Blood on the Clocktower addresses nearly every problem Werewolf has:

• In Werewolf, eliminated players sit out. In Blood on the Clocktower, dead players keep a vote and stay in the conversation.
• In Werewolf, most players have no ability – they just guess. In Blood on the Clocktower, every player has a unique power that gives them something to do and something to think about.
• In Werewolf, information is scarce. In Blood on the Clocktower, information flows constantly – but it might be wrong, which is the point.
• In Werewolf, the moderator is passive. In Blood on the Clocktower, the Storyteller actively shapes the experience.

The result is a game that keeps everyone invested from the first night to the final vote.

Play Blood on the Clocktower at Draughts

Blood on the Clocktower isn’t a game you can just sit down and play at a regular café table. It needs its own dedicated space, separate rooms, and room for players to move around freely, which makes it different from most of the games in our library.

We used to run dedicated Blood on the Clocktower evenings in a space set up specifically for it, and they were brilliant. We’re not running those sessions right now, but we’re hoping to bring them back. When we do, tickets will be available to book in advance through our website.

In the meantime, we’re a bar, restaurant and board game café with over 1,000 games across both our Waterloo and Stratford venues. Book a table at draughtslondon.com.

Frequently asked questions about Blood on the Clocktower: