Catch the Witch

Overview and Victory Conditions

Overview

• Catch the Witch is a game for 4 to 12 players in the same room, each on their own phone, in which the cat wizards of a village hunt for the witch.
• Each player receives one role from the Villager side (Villager, Herbalist, Pickpocket, Guardian Knight, Seer), the Witch side (Witch, Crow), or the Solo side (Jester). Only you can see your own role.
• Each day runs in the order “Day (gathering ingredients) → Evening (the duck's announcement) → Night (ritual → vote)”, and days continue until the game is decided. The day the Knights arrive is the last day.
• The Witch side wins or loses as a team. Even though witches may attack each other, there is no individual victory rule.

Villager side victory conditions (the game ends the moment any one is met)

• Seals complete: The number of successful rituals reaches the number of seals for your player count. Even on the Knights' day, the Villagers win the moment the ritual succeeds, and no final vote is held.
• All witches exiled: Every witch has been voted out (the Villagers win even if the Crow is still in play).
• All remaining witches are frogs: The Villagers win the moment every witch who has not been exiled is a frog (checked at the end of the day or after the vote).
• Knights' final vote succeeds: If the cat exiled in the vote on the Knights' day is a witch, the Villagers win. They win on the spot even if other witches remain.

Witch side victory conditions

• Witches take over: The witches win when the number of non-witch cats in human form (not a frog, not exiled) is equal to or less than the number of witches in human form. This is checked at the end of the day and at the end of the vote. Frogs are not counted on either side. This condition cannot be met if no witch is in human form. The Crow and the Jester count as non-witch cats (Villager side) in this count.
• Knights' final vote fails: If the cat exiled in the vote on the Knights' day is not a witch, or if no one is exiled because of a tie or because everyone skipped, the witches win.

Jester victory condition

• The moment the Jester is exiled by vote, the Jester alone wins and the game ends. The Jester also wins if exiled in the final vote on the Knights' day. On a day when the Jester is a frog, the Jester cannot be voted on and so cannot win that day.

Priority when several conditions are met at once (engine check order)

• When the ritual ends: If the seals are complete, the Villagers win immediately.
• When the day ends (after attacks and restorations are resolved): ① All remaining witches are frogs → Villagers win ② Witches take over → Witches win.
• When the vote ends: ① The exiled cat is the Jester → Jester wins ② On the Knights' day, if the exiled cat is a witch → Villagers win, otherwise Witches win ③ All witches exiled, or all remaining witches are frogs → Villagers win ④ Witches take over → Witches win ⑤ If none of these, the next day begins.
• Witch score (shown on the result screen) = the number of frogs at the moment the game ends.

Flow of a Day

Start: checking roles

• Each player presses and holds their role card to check it, then taps “Ready”. When every player has tapped it, Day 1 begins. It does not advance on a timer. If someone does not tap it, the host can mark them “Away”, which counts as Ready.

Morning announcement (start of the day)

• The postman duck announces the ingredients needed for tonight's magic circle. They are chosen at random from the ingredients of the open places, as many as the number of ingredients needed. Everyone can see them.
• From Day 2 on, the scene of yesterday's vote result is shown, then the morning video, then the day.

Day: choosing a place and gathering ingredients

Departure order = Villager side, Crow and Jester (everyone who is not a witch) → Guardian Knight (when guarding) → Witches.

• Everyone who is not a witch chooses 1 place. No one can see where others chose. You are free to coordinate destinations with others by talking, or to deceive them. A place is submitted as soon as you tap it, and you can tap another place to change it until the witches' turn begins (this does not apply after the Guardian Knight submits “Guard”, or to witches). In a game with a discussion time limit, the remaining time is shown, and at 0 seconds any cat that has not chosen gets a random place. The Herbalist can choose a frog to turn back at the same time (Chapter 6). The Guardian Knight chooses “Gather” (same as an ordinary cat) or “Guard”. Guarding is chosen last, after the other cats have all chosen, seeing only the number of cats at each place (Chapter 6).
• When everyone who is not a witch has chosen, every screen changes to the “Gathering ingredients” scene (the place you went to, the ingredient being gathered and a gauge). The witches have 15 seconds. During these 15 seconds, only the witches see a small pop-up with the number of cats at each place (no names) and choose a place → spell → attack target (Chapter 5). After 15 seconds, the choice is made automatically.
• When the day ends, everything is resolved at once: ① attack (turning cats into frogs) ② Herbalist restoration ③ handing out ingredients (Chapter 4) ④ victory check.

• In a game without a discussion time limit, there is no time limit during the day (except the witches' 15 seconds). If someone does not choose, the host can mark them “Away” and a random place is chosen for them.

Evening: the duck's announcement

• The duck announces the cats who did not come back today (new frogs) and the cats who came back. Frogs are always found at the pond, and where they became frogs is not announced. If no frogs appeared, the announcement is “Everyone came back safely”.
• The announcement scene only moves on when every player (including frogs and exiled cats) taps “OK”. The host can mark players who do not tap it as “Away”.
• After everyone confirms, the evening discussion begins. During this step the Pickpocket (evening to the yes/no vote) and the Seer (evening to the vote) use their abilities.
• Discussion time rules: In a game with a discussion time limit, a countdown starts when everyone has confirmed, and the game moves on to the Chief's proposal the moment it hits 0 seconds. Even with time left, it moves on right away once every player in human form taps “End talk”. In a game with unlimited time, there is no countdown and the game only moves on when everyone taps “End talk” (Away = counts as tapped).

Night: choosing who puts ingredients in the magic circle (Chief's proposal → yes/no vote)

• The Chief chooses and proposes as many cats in human form as today's number of ingredients needed. The Chief may include themselves. It must be exactly that number. The Chief role rotates in seat order. On Day 1 the first Chief = the first person in seat order, and after that the person after the previous Chief. Frogs and exiled cats are skipped. If a proposal is rejected, the next person immediately becomes Chief, and the next day's Chief continues from the person after that. In a game with a discussion time limit, a random proposal is made automatically when time runs out. In a game with unlimited time, the game waits until the Chief submits (Away = random proposal).
• Yes/no vote: Every player in human form (including the Chief, excluding frogs and exiled cats) votes yes or no. The moment everyone has voted, who voted yes and who voted no is revealed, names included. A vote is submitted as soon as you tap it, and you can tap the other option to change it until everyone has voted. No trace of the change remains. In a game with a discussion time limit, at 0 seconds anyone who has not voted counts as yes. The proposal passes with a majority of yes votes. A tie means it is rejected. Away counts as yes.
• Passed: After everyone confirms the passed scene (the members entering the magic circle and the yes and no votes), the ritual begins (Chapter 7).
• Rejected: The curse gauge goes up by 1, and after the rejected scene is confirmed, the next Chief makes a new proposal. When the curse gauge is full, that day's ritual fails automatically (no seal, and it does not count toward unlocking spells), and the game moves straight to the vote. The curse gauge is reset to 0 every day.

Ritual (magic circle)

• Each proposed member secretly puts in 1 ingredient (Chapter 7). Players who are not members wait. There is no time limit (Away = the first card that can be played).
• When everyone has played, the result scene (success or failure only) → OK → the 4-second “Who was it?!” squabble → vote.

Vote

• Every player in human form votes for 1 cat in human form or skips. You cannot vote for yourself. Frogs and exiled cats can neither vote nor be voted for.
• A vote is submitted as soon as you tap it, and you can tap another cat (or Skip) to change it until everyone has voted.
• In a game with a discussion time limit, any votes not cast when time runs out are counted as skips automatically. In a game with unlimited time, the game waits until everyone has voted (Away = skip).
• For counting and exile, see Chapter 8. When everyone has confirmed the result scene, the next morning begins.

Summary of automatic handling