The Midnight Congregation

5–13 players 60–120 min 3 factions Social deduction Occult

What gathers here

A ritual.
Three agendas.
One god.

A secret order convenes at midnight to complete a forbidden ritual. Most are true believers, devoted to the summoning. But Heretics move among them — smiling, nodding, and quietly poisoning every step. Somewhere at the table, the Townsfolk watch it all, unable to tell the faithful from the frauds.

Accuse. Vote. Lynch. And pray that whatever you summon tonight isn't in the mood for public executions.

5–13
Players
7–10
Sweet spot
3
Factions
110+
Cards

The three factions

Who sits at the table?

Nobody announces their allegiance. You piece together who's who — one accusation at a time.

Cultists
The Faithful
Cultists icon

True believers. They want the ritual completed and a Cultist standing at the altar when the god arrives. The Custodian among them can shield the ritual from disruption — once.

Win when a Cultist High Priest calls the god in the Finalization Round.
Heretics
The Saboteurs
Heretics icon

Hidden among the faithful. They want the ritual to complete — but with a Heretic holding the altar when it does. The Defiler carries a vote worth two — deployed at precisely the right moment in the final round.

Win when a Heretic claims the High Priest role and seizes the ritual.
Townsfolk
The Uninitiated
Townsfolk icon

They don't know who worships what. Their only tool is suspicion — steer enough wrong components toward the altar and fill the Disruption track before the believers finish their ritual.

Win when the Disruption track fills before the Devotion track does.

The round loop

How it plays

I
Nominate & Vote

The High Priest role passes clockwise. The table votes to confirm. Rejected nominees add Chaos — enough chaos and a random card resolves.

II
Player Selection

The High Priest picks two players to participate. Who they choose — and why — is the first lie of the round.

III
Secret Submissions

Chosen players draw two component cards, secretly discard one, and pass one face-down to the High Priest.

IV
The Officiant Phase

The High Priest privately reviews all submissions, picks one, and reveals it. Then comes the lie: "It was the only required component anyone gave me." Nobody can verify the pool.

V
Consequences

Required components advance Devotion. Everything else advances Disruption. Tracker triggers fire lynchings and jailings. Power roles activate. The cycle continues.

"It was the only required component anyone gave me."

The High Priest's eternal alibi

Every session

A different god

Before play begins, one Quirk card and one Judgment card are drawn. Together they name the god and define its demands. The Quirk sets the rule it imposes on the congregation. The Judgment determines how it reacts.

Ten Quirks, eleven Judgments. Every pairing creates a different dynamic — a different thing to play around, argue about, and blame when it all goes wrong.

Quirk + Judgment = The God
Kevin quirk card
Quirk Card
Kevin

Before the confirmation vote, the player to the nominee's left must immediately propose an alternative. The table votes between two candidates.

The Watchful judgment card
Judgment Card
the Watchful

At the end of each round, if Disruption exceeds Devotion, the Chaos counter advances by 1.

Contents

What's in the box

Card art
Component Cards
45 cards · 15 types · 3 copies each
Card art
Quirk Cards
10 cards — defines the god's rule for the game
Card art
Judgment Cards
11 cards — 1 Silence · 4 Wrath · 3 Favour · 3 Omen
Card art
Faction Cards
13 cards — 7 Townsfolk · 3 Cultist · 3 Heretic
Card art
Role Cards
13 cards — Townsman · Marshal · Cultist · Custodian · Heretic · Defiler
Card art
Power Cards
13 cards — Congregant · Oracle · Inquisitor · Medium
Board photo
God Boards
3 boards — Small (5–7) · Medium (8–10) · Large (11–13)
Token photo
Markers & Tokens
High Priest marker · Jail marker · Chaos · Devotion · Disruption · 8 Resolution tokens

Are you the High Priest?

The ritual begins when everyone sits down. Who you trust, what you submit, and how convincingly you lie — that's the game. The god just watches.

Read the Rules Get the Game