Village at Night or Nine Men’s Morris?

The key differences

• There’s no player count that suits both – Village at Night and Nine Men’s Morris are made for different groups.
• From 3 players on, only Village at Night works: it goes up to 12 players, Nine Men’s Morris only up to 2.
• Village at Night needs at least 5 players – with fewer people, only Nine Men’s Morris works.
• Village at Night needs a TV, or an iPad or Mac as the table; Nine Men’s Morris also runs on phones alone.
• Village at Night is louder than Nine Men’s Morris (loud vs. silent).
• Only Nine Men’s Morris can be played against the computer – Village at Night needs real players.
• Village at Night has more interaction than Nine Men’s Morris (constant debate vs. you react to each other).
• Nine Men’s Morris works from age 6, we recommend Village at Night from 10.

At a glance

At a glance	Village at Night	Nine Men’s Morris
Type	Party games	Board and dice games
Players	5–12 players	2 players
Length of a game	15–30 min	10–20 min
Age	ages 10+	ages 6+
Luck or skill	mostly skill	pure skill
Noise level	loud	silent
Learning curve	clear after one round	quick to learn
Interaction	constant debate	you react to each other
TV	needed	not needed
Against the computer	no	yes
Teams	yes	no
Bluffing	yes	no
Reading needed	yes	no

Which one suits you?

Village at Night

A game of hidden roles: at night the wolves strike, by day the village tries to work out who’s lying. The TV narrates, so nobody has to sit out as game master.

Pick Village at Night when there are at least five of you and you enjoy arguing and reading people.

Nine Men’s Morris

The old board game with nine pieces each: place, then move, and finally fly. Close a mill and you take one of your opponent’s pieces – and a well-built double mill often decides the game.

Pick Nine Men’s Morris when two people want a calm strategy game that’s settled in about a quarter of an hour.

What they have in common

• Both come free with Gather and need no account.