Werewolves...games as media?

Are games considered a type of media? Not video games, but just a game you play with your friends, like a card game, board game, etc.??? I'm not sure...but in light of our class discussion on media violence, in response to the violence part, I'm writing about a game.

My brother had his birthday party Friday night, so we all decided to play this game called Werewolves. I don't know how many of you have played it (I hadn't even heard of it) but it's basically Mofia, on steroids. It's a really fun game, but it's also really violent!!! First of all, the game is all about killing other people so you win. And when someone dies, the instructions say the person is "lynched, hung, drowned, and shot with a silver bullet". Maybe a little extreme? That is quite the death! Is that really all necessary?

Then I thought about how not fun the game would be if we played in very neutral terms, such as simply "getting out" instead of dying, and having different colors for people instead of horrific monsters like werewolves, along with witches and fortunetellers. Back in the day games/violence/things weren't always so graphic, they really did use to be simpler! I thought about how TV shows and movies have also escalated in violence because of the "rush" we get from viewing it. The game that I played, Werewolves, would really not have been any fun if there weren't more emotions involved by including people's lives etc. Where is society heading?

All in all, a very fun game, I plan on playing it again. But I am also aware of how "into" the violence we tend to get, and how we need to be careful consumers of violence through all sorts of mediums.