The outdated board game Werewolf is making a comeback, and the APP is very popular, but there are many pain points

The predecessor of Werewolf was a killing game , which was invented in 1986 by Dimitri Davydov, a professor of psychology at Moscow University in the Soviet Union. In 1997, American Andrew Plotkin added the werewolf cultural background to form the Werewolf game. Werewolf became all the rage after being made into a board game by the French company Asmodee and introduced into China. It was loved by many young consumers at the time as a pastime after dinner.

After years of silence, Werewolf has made a comeback and has returned to the public eye since June last year. After becoming popular on the Internet for the second time, it has been valued at a market value of hundreds of billions and has been crazily sought after by capital.

Online Werewolf became popular due to e-sports live broadcasts and became popular due to variety shows. Live streaming became popular in 2015, and e-sports live streaming tried to launch its own programs for various games, and Werewolf was one of them.

Baidu Index shows that since the broadcast of Zhanqi TV's self-produced e-sports reality show "Lying Man", the popularity of Werewolf has increased significantly thanks to the popularity brought by the participation of well-known game anchors. According to public data, the total number of visitors to the first season of "Lying Man" exceeded 50 million. This dazzling achievement has prompted other live broadcast platforms to follow suit. After Panda TV launched a similar program "Super Liar" (later renamed "Panda Kill") in 2016, the popularity of Werewolf Killing has risen again. What made Werewolf so popular all over the country is thanks to "The Temptation of Dinner" produced by Miwei Media and premiered in September 2016.

"The Temptation of Dinner" is divided into two parts: celebrity interviews and Werewolf game. Different from the rules of traditional Werewolf game, the Werewolf game in this program is mainly based on entertaining chats and jokes, showing greater entertainment, friendliness and tolerance. In addition, the fan effect brought by both celebrity guests and " U Can U Bibi " contestants has promoted the popularization of Werewolf among the public, allowing the program to achieve more than 500 million views after the first season was broadcast on Tencent Video . Baidu Index shows that the popularity of Werewolf has remained high since the show was broadcast, and it has experienced explosive growth after its conclusion, triggering a variety show + Werewolf imitation craze.

At the same time, Werewolf is a game that relies on logical reasoning and language interaction. The rules of the game require at least 8 players to start the game, and the standard game requires 12 players in a multiplayer game. It is naturally endowed with a strong social gene. This feature can also be seen from the APPStore ranking data. Werewolf ranks much higher in the social ranking than in the game ranking. In the past two years, social games such as " Honor of Kings " and " Onmyoji " have become popular in the streets and alleys. The social attributes of Werewolf, coupled with the fact that the average online time per person exceeds 3 hours, have made investors see the possibility of entering the social world from games.

Werewolf game apps are popping up like mushrooms after rain

Based on the above two reasons, and the fact that the variety show "Temptation of Dinner" did not launch related APPs in a timely manner after it became popular, APPs such as Tiantian Werewolf Killing and Werewolf Killing took the lead in release and were sought after by eager players and capital. According to the search results of TapTap, there are currently more than 50 apps related to Werewolf Killing, and public data shows that five apps including Werewolf Killing Official and Werewolf Killing Everyday have successively obtained financing , and more Werewolf Killing apps are already negotiating financing. Currently, Werewolf APP can be divided into two types according to different diversion methods.

1. Werewolf APP grafted with live broadcast platform

The live broadcast platform has laid the foundation for the online dissemination of Werewolf Killing. The Werewolf Killing APP can enhance its influence by cooperating with the live broadcast platform. The apps that have been integrated with the live streaming platforms include Tiantian Langrensha and Langrensha. Langrensha has completed a round A financing of several million yuan, and Tiantian Langren has also completed the first round of financing negotiations. The Werewolf APP cooperated with Zhanqi TV to launch the sixth season of "Lying Man", the ancestor of the Werewolf variety show, while Tiantian Werewolf adopted a wide-net approach, cooperating with multiple live broadcast platforms such as Panda TV, Douyu TV, and Huya Live , or directly sponsoring the competitive reality shows launched by the live broadcast platforms, or jointly launching new Werewolf reality shows with the live broadcast platforms, such as "Who is the Wolf King" and "Yule Werewolf". The cooperation between Werewolf APP and live broadcast platform has the following two advantages.

First, Werewolf is a game with a certain threshold. Baidu Index shows that the most popular topics viewed by users are "Werewolf Rules" and "How to Play Werewolf". It takes some time for newcomers to learn the rules. While watching the live broadcast, users can quickly receive game play and related experience. In addition, the live broadcast platform adopts a multi-perspective playback method. For example, Zhanqi was the first to introduce the "witch perspective" and "civilian perspective" in editing methods, allowing users to feel involved when watching the game and participate in discussions, thereby generating interest in Werewolf.

Secondly, as the first live broadcast platform to try online werewolf killing, it has gathered a large number of loyal fans through the traffic appeal of the anchor. Secondly, after the accumulation of many reality show programs, excellent Werewolf players have stood out, forming schools such as the northern logic flow represented by JY, Zhijian, and Xingfu, and the southern status flow represented by Shentu, Li Jin, and Piaomiao. These anchors have become the objects of pursuit by other players.

Users often follow KOLs to choose platforms. In addition, well-known anchors will broadcast live on the Werewolf APP. Fighting with masters is the pursuit of many Werewolf players. Fans' desire to play Werewolf will turn to Werewolf APPs such as Tiantian Werewolf that have cooperated with the platform. Tiantian Werewolf even recruited JY, known as the "No. 1 Wolf King in China", as a shareholder, and used the influence of the platform and the anchor to divert traffic to the platform.

2. Werewolf APPs derived from or embedded in variety shows

Compared with live streaming platforms, variety shows have a larger audience, and a large number of fans are willing to pay for celebrity recommendations. With the star effect of the variety show itself, the Werewolf Killing APP can easily gain a considerable number of users. The Werewolf APP derived from the variety show includes Dinner Party Werewolf, but as a derivative of the show "The Temptation of Dinner Party", Dinner Party Werewolf has its own brand effect. In addition, popular contestants from "The Rap of China" such as Xiao Xiao and Yan Rujing have taken positions in the game, attracting many fans to watch and compete for the opportunity to play with the celebrity contestants. As a latecomer, Werewolf at Dinner Party focuses on its content advantage.

Happy Werewolf is also very good at content marketing . Not only did it launch the "Painsha" advertisement on Chongqing Metro Line 3, it also relied on the influence of its spokesperson Xie Na to become one of the permanent games on " Happy Camp ". As an old variety show, it has a huge fan base, coupled with the fame of a large number of celebrities, which has made Happy Werewolf's popularity soar. According to official public data, the daily active users of Happy Werewolf exceeded 2 million within more than a month of its launch.

In addition, variety shows are extremely entertaining, and the rules of Werewolf combined with variety shows are relatively more friendly and more popular among novice players. But no matter which type of Werewolf Killing APP it is, the same shortcomings currently exist.

The Werewolf APP is very popular, but it has many pain points

First, the various Werewolf Killing APPs currently have similar gameplay and rules, and are highly homogenized.

Games that lack innovation will, once the novelty wears off, have monotonous content that will lead to a large-scale loss of users. In addition, the rules of Werewolf are not easy to master, which means that no matter how popular Werewolf is, it cannot develop into a national game.

Second, the profit model is single and its profitability is weak.

Currently, all kinds of Werewolf Killing APPs make profits through in-app purchases, such as providing users with identity cards, free first-kill opportunities and other paid products. The virtual currency of Werewolf Dinner can be obtained by completing tasks, while the two apps, Werewolf and Werewolf Everyday, can only be purchased with payment. According to the public data of Werewolf Killing, the average payment of Werewolf Killing users is only about 50 cents. If Werewolf fails to find a sustainable profit model, it may become another Three Kingdoms.

Third, the user experience is poor.

First of all, due to the uneven levels of Werewolf players and the lack of grading, coupled with the large number of people in the team resulting in a slow start, the online Werewolf gaming experience is not good. Many players expressed that they are unwilling to play games with people who are less capable than themselves. The lack of a sense of competition has become one of the reasons for user loss . Secondly, many Werewolf Killing users reported that various Werewolf Killing APPs had problems such as rye and incompatibility with device models. While capital is chasing trends, it ignores user experience.

Fourthly, as a game, online Werewolf emphasizes sociality. Many Werewolf apps have also launched video show functions, encouraging users to show their talents when speaking. Competitive games have become a gimmick, and the competitive fun is not as good as the offline Werewolf experience.

On the other hand, online Werewolf is a social game for strangers, and Werewolf is essentially a social game for acquaintances. Many players say that they don’t like playing games with strangers. Werewolf's performance in social networking is far inferior to that of social platform giants such as Momo. The Werewolf questionnaire survey data released by the author of Jianshu also showed that only 7% of players said that they mainly make friends. Competing with masters and having fun in the game are what most users pursue.

Fifth, after Werewolf became popular, various platforms have increasingly focused on "money", and the APP experience cannot keep up. While the value of Werewolf hosts is rising, the quality of their live broadcasts is declining.

Users who pursue gaming experience not only cannot get a good gaming experience, but also find it difficult to watch exciting Werewolf live broadcasts. In addition, the desire for quick success and instant benefits has also led some Werewolf Killing APPs to start launching "borderline" content in the name of social networking, and Werewolf Killing APPs may become vulgar social APPs .

The popularity of online Werewolf has given rise to offline IP stores

The popularity of online Werewolf has also reactivated offline board game stores. Many board game stores took the opportunity to transform themselves into only doing Werewolf business. According to public data, the attendance rate reached 70%. Offline Werewolf stores also gradually increased. There were even Werewolf anchors who opened IP stores directly offline, using online popularity to attract offline traffic. A typical example is JY Club opened by JY. The second Werewolf Killing flagship store opened in Shanghai in March had a turnover of more than 1 million yuan on the first day. The Werewolf Killing store also broadcasts members' battles online to obtain mutual publicity online and offline. But there are also some problems with offline Werewolf Killing stores.

First of all, it is difficult to get enough people to play Werewolf offline. If the store clerk arranges random teams, it goes back to the problem that players don’t like playing games with strangers.

Secondly, the internet celebrity effect has caused the prices of offline Werewolf IP stores and board game stores to soar. For example, JYClub adopts a membership points system and the price is 35 yuan per hour. Many players who like to play Werewolf offline said that the price was too high, so they chose to form their own groups and find a venue to play Werewolf.

in conclusion

Although Werewolf is popular among users and investors due to its social attributes and the popularity of live broadcast platforms and variety shows, there are many games of the same type and there are various problems with Werewolf both online and offline, so Werewolf can only be popular for a while.

For a product to remain popular for a long time, in addition to topicality, improvements in service and experience are indispensable. Each Werewolf killing game company also needs to optimize gameplay and client experience, plan more online and offline activities , and increase user stickiness. Currently, Werewolf Killing APP, Werewolf Killing official, etc. have begun to cooperate with live broadcast platforms to hold Werewolf Killing competitions to increase user stickiness. Dinner Werewolf Killing has taken measures such as establishing a credit point system, setting up reporting and blacklisting, and 24-hour patrols to ensure the order of the Werewolf Killing game. Will Werewolf continue to be popular, or will it be a flash in the pan like Three Kingdoms? We will have to wait and see.