How to Play
Game Overview
When The Fire Fades is a social deduction game where players work together to complete missions while trying to identify the hidden beasts among them. Beasts win by sabotaging 3 missions or causing 5 team proposals to be rejected in a row; Humans must complete 3 successful missions and then survive the Hunt to win.
If you've played Avalon, The Resistance, or Werewolf before, the shape will feel familiar - hidden allegiances, a team sent out each round, and a secret vote that can sabotage the mission from within.
At every table size (5-10 players) each side also has hidden special roles, and the Humans' final victory is always decided by the Hunt (described below).
Setup
- Players: 5-10 players
- Roles: each player is secretly assigned as either a Human or a Beast
-
Beasts:
- 5-6 players: 2 beasts
- 7-9 players: 3 beasts
- 10 players: 4 beasts
Roles
At every table size (5-10 players) each side is dealt hidden special roles on top of their allegiance. The good-side pair - the Seer and The Guardian - is present at every count; the evil side grows from The Shapeshifter and The Hunter with two more beasts as the table fills.
👤 The Seer Human
Secretly senses the beasts and knows which players are the Beasts, but must hide that they know.
👤 The Guardian Human
Sees two players - one the Seer, the other The Shapeshifter - without being told which is which.
👾 The Shapeshifter Beast
Appears to The Guardian as a possible Seer.
👾 The Hunter Beast
If the Humans complete their missions, gets one guess to name the Seer.
👾 The Cinder Beast
A beast whose form has burned cold, so the Seer's sense passes over it - the Seer never sees The Cinder. It still runs with the pack, knowing and known by the other Beasts. Joins the table at 7+ players.
👾 The Stray Beast
A lone beast that hunts outside the pack: it knows none of the other Beasts and they do not know it - yet it still gives off heat, so the Seer does see it. Joins the table at 10 players.
Plain Humans and plain Beasts round out the table, and the Beasts know each other - except The Stray, who hunts alone. Which special roles appear depends on the player count:
| Players | Good roles | Evil roles |
|---|---|---|
| 5-6 | Seer, Guardian, + Humans | Shapeshifter, Hunter |
| 7-9 | Seer, Guardian, + Humans | Shapeshifter, Hunter, Cinder |
| 10 | Seer, Guardian, + Humans | Shapeshifter, Hunter, Cinder, Stray |
At the start of the game each player is privately shown their role and what they know (the opening reveal).
Game Flow
Each round consists of three phases:
Phase 1: Team Selection
The round leader selects a team of players to go on the mission. Team sizes vary by round:
| Players | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 8-10 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
Phase 2: Team Vote
All players (except the leader) vote to approve or reject the proposed team. The leader automatically approves their own selection. If the majority approves, the mission proceeds. If rejected, a new leader is chosen and proposes a new team.
Phase 3: Mission
Team members secretly choose whether to gather wood (success) or sabotage the mission. Humans must choose success; Beasts can choose either.
- Success: if all votes are success, the mission succeeds
- Sabotage: if any vote is sabotage, the mission fails - except the 4th mission in a 7-10 player game, which needs two sabotages to fail
The dying fire
The campfire is pure presentation: it darkens with each sabotage, and the discussion timer before team selection shortens as the fire dims (the host picks the timer speed, or turns them off). None of this changes the rules or the odds.
Win Conditions
👤 Humans Win
Completing 3 successful missions does not win outright - it begins the Hunt. The Hunter names one player; if it is the Seer the Beasts steal the win, otherwise the Humans win. This happens at every table size (5-10 players).
👾 Beasts Win
Sabotage 3 missions, or cause 5 consecutive team rejections.
Strategy Tips
For Humans
- Pay attention to voting patterns
- Notice who proposes teams with known saboteurs
- Communicate and build trust with other players
- Don't reject too many teams or beasts auto-win
For Beasts
- Blend in by voting with the majority
- Sabotage strategically - not every mission
- Cast suspicion on humans
- Get on mission teams to sabotage, and reject good teams to build toward 5 rejections
On the special roles: the Seer must guide the Humans without revealing that they know the Beasts, the Guardian should shield both of their candidates, and the Hunter should watch for whoever steers the Humans too confidently - that is likely the Seer. At larger tables The Cinder is invisible to the Seer, so a beast the Seer never fingers may be The Cinder; The Stray, blind to its own pack, must read the table like a Human to avoid sabotaging alongside no one.