Summary

I co-created Wolfy, a multiplayer game inspired by Werewolf board game (also known as Mafia), available both as a mobile app and browser game. It now brings together over 3 million registered players and sees an average of 20,000 daily active users.

Initially launched as a personal side project, Wolfy quickly turned into an ambitious adventure, combining product design, strategic thinking, and organic growth. I kicked off the project with a close friend and software engineer, with two goals in mind:

• Develop my strategic Product Design skills through an end-to-end project experience;

• Bring a classic social board game into the digital age through a fresh online experience.

A live game of Werewolf on Wolfy.

Why Werewolf?

Werewolf is a classic party game in France, built around an asymmetrical dynamic between an informed minority (the werewolves) and an uninformed majority (the villagers), in a mix of bluffing and strategy. It's usually played with 8 to 15 players sitting around a table.

From sketch to v1 (early concept tweet)

This project became a unique playground where I could explore the intersection of game design, product design, and long-term product strategy.

In the following sections, I break down the key stages of this journey: my methodology, core UX decisions, retention mechanics I designed, and how my work contributed to Wolfy's growth and success.

An Opportunity

In 2017, while searching for an ambitious side project idea, I realized something clear: there was no satisfying online version of the game Werewolf. The only available product at the time was outdated, clunky, and poorly suited to modern usage.

As a regular player myself, I was the first to be frustrated. And if no one else was building something better—why not me?

Validating the intuition: a real user need

To test my idea, I shared a tweet in a small online gaming community, casually describing the concept of a new Werewolf game: modern, accessible, and playable online.

The response was instant.

Personal tweet about Wolfy.

Likes, retweets, and enthusiastic comments quickly confirmed one thing: the need was real and widely shared.

A range of challenges to solve

The idea was clear. But everything still had to be built. The project came with a wide range of UX and strategic challenges:

Design Approach

From the start, I structured my approach by combining user research, creative exploration, and product strategy.

🔄 User journeys & initial mapping

Before even thinking about screens, I began by mapping out the typical player journeys: onboarding, joining a game, playing, interacting, winning or losing, relaunching, customizing, socializing… Each step had to be crystal clear.

Brainstorming the user flow of the mobile app.

🗣️ Ongoing user research

Very early on, we opened a community Discord server and a dedicated feedback platform. These two channels became valuable spaces for exchange, where I could:

• Ask players direct questions,

• Observe their behaviors, bugs, frustrations, and needs,

• Chat in real-time or asynchronously on a daily basis.

This continuous user research allows me to base design decisions on actual insights rather than assumptions.

The community's engagement also gives me a fast and responsive feedback loop—ideal for rapid iteration.

Our platform dedicated to player feedback.

🧪 Focus group

To refine some high-stakes decisions (new roles, redesigns, game mechanics, complex UI), we created a Focus Group (called “Ambassadors”): a panel of players representing our different user profiles, helping us test and validate key hypotheses.

Sample questions from the Focus Group application form.

For instance, when designing the mobile app, we prototyped several options which the group tested. Their feedback shaped not only the UX, but even the game design itself.

This approach allows me to co-create with players.

⚙️ Prototyping

The game's key user flows were first prototyped in Figma at high fidelity.

These prototyping phases play a key role in our ability to iterate quickly by shortening the feedback-development cycle.

Prototyping screens for the mobile app's onboarding flow.

💡 Benchmarks

It was essential to draw inspiration from related products known for their strong UX. I conducted a targeted benchmark to identify proven interaction patterns and mechanics relevant to our context:

These benchmarks helped me make differentiated yet familiar design choices inspired by widely adopted products.

Plug.dj interface: an innovative platform for creating shared music listening rooms.

Key Solutions

Let's go over some of the solutions I implemented that helped shape Wolfy's success.

An immersive and intuitive interface

From the earliest versions, I paired the game chat with a strong visual interface.

Each player embodies a character (a skin) and chooses their seat within the game circle—a layout familiar to fans of the traditional, in-person Werewolf game.

The act of voting, a core part of gameplay, is done by clicking directly on the targeted character—an interaction designed to recreate the gesture of pointing in real-life games.

On the right side, the game chat becomes the backbone of the experience. Everything is designed to encourage discussion and observation.

Wolfy during a game session.

A landing page that converts

I also worked on a new landing page with a clear goal: turning more visitors into players.

I designed a page tailored to catch the eye of online gaming audiences—with animated assets, interactive elements, and a spotlight on key features.

📱 A successful mobile launch fueled by user feedback

Two years after the web version's release, we launched a Flutter-based mobile app, staying true to the game's DNA while adapting to mobile-specific use cases.

This wasn't just a direct port—we redesigned all user flows and micro-interactions with support from our focus group.

Wolfy's App Store page.

🎯 A thoughtful onboarding experience

Although the app was appreciated by regular players, it still lacked guidance for new users. There was no initial flow to explain the game's rules, key mechanics, or the wide range of available features.

To fix this, I designed a structured mobile onboarding experience, acting both as a tutorial and an early retention tool.

I ran dozens of user tests on a Figma prototype, iteratively improving screens, wording, and interaction logic. This helped surface key friction points.

Here is the interactive prototype we tested with our users. Feel free to try it out by clicking on it:

Results & Impact

Wrapping up

In this case study, I focused on the main subject of my portfolio: product design.

But behind this success, there's also:

But that's far too much for a single page—happy to talk more over coffee 🙂