Mafia
Party games · Hidden role games
Also Werewolf, Werewolves, Town of Salem
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Summary — 5+ players
Mafia is a hidden-role party game for five or more where secret killers pick off the town by night and the town votes someone out by day. The app deals the roles, wakes each role in turn and counts the vote, so nobody sits out as moderator. The town wins when the last killer is gone; the killers win when they are as many as the rest.
- Scored by
- Two sides, one of them secret. Each day the table votes somebody out; each night the killers pick somebody off. The killers win when they are as many as the rest; the town wins when the last killer is gone.
- Origin
- Russia
How it plays
1 of 7
Two sides, and only one knows
Five to twelve players. The killers are few and they know each other. The town is everybody else and knows nothing — not who the killers are, and not who among themselves is the detective or the doctor. That asymmetry is the entire game.
Rules
How to play
Players and equipment
Five to twelve players. Nothing but the app: it deals the roles, runs the night and counts the vote, and nobody has to sit out as moderator.
Two sides. The killers know each other and are few; the town is everybody else and does not know who is who. Among the town, one detective and one doctor, if the host has dealt them.
- Murderer
- killers
- Wakes together at night and picks a victim
- Detective
- town
- Checks one person a night and learns whether they are a killer
- Doctor
- town
- Covers one person a night; if the killers picked them, nobody dies
- Villager
- town
- Sleeps through the night, votes by day
Everyone needs a phone of their own, because the phone is where your role lives and where you act at night.
The deal
The host sets how many of each role there are — the counts are public, the names are not — and taps Start. Roles are dealt at random the moment the game starts. Tap your card to read it; nobody else's phone can show it. The killers see who their partners are.
The villagers are whoever is left once the killers, the detective and the doctor are dealt, and there are always at least two of them: a town where everybody but one has a night job has nobody to hide behind, so the app will not deal that table. Two killers at seven, three at ten, is the usual shape.
Play
Night falls. Everyone puts their head down. The app wakes each role in turn, with a countdown between them so nobody is caught looking up. The killers pick a victim together — the kill only lands when they have all chosen the same person. The detective picks one player and is told one thing: killer, or not. The doctor picks one player to cover, themselves included, but not two nights running.
Every night, the first included, begins on the host's tap, so the table has read its cards and put the phones down before anyone is woken. Nothing on the phone lets a role act before its moment.
Day breaks. The app says who died, or that nobody did. That is all it says. Then the table talks, and votes. Everyone votes at once and nothing is shown until the last vote is in, so nobody can play the numbers. Most votes goes. A tie is voted again between the tied; a second tie sends nobody. Abstaining is allowed and counts for nobody.
Then night falls again, and the two halves repeat until one side has won.
Scoring
Scoring
There is no score. There is who is still in.
- A night death
- Says who, never what they were
- A vote-out
- Says who, and their role if the host has reveal on
- Dead players
- Watch the day, see the vote, cannot vote
Every member of the winning side is recorded as a winner, so a game of Mafia sits in the standings beside every other game.
A worked game
Seven players: Alice, Ben, Cara, Dev, Eve, Finn and Gus. The host deals two killers, a detective and a doctor, so three villagers. Unknown to the table, Ben and Eve are the killers, Cara the detective, Dev the doctor.
- Night 1
- Alice dies
- Ben and Eve both choose Alice; Dev covers Finn; Cara checks Ben and is told killer
- Day 1
- Ben 3, Cara 2, one abstains
- Six in. Cara says Ben. Ben, Cara, Dev, Eve, Finn and Gus vote at once
- The vote
- Ben goes
- Cara, Dev and Finn on Ben; Ben and Eve on Cara; Gus abstains
- Night 2
- Nobody dies
- Eve alone chooses Cara; Dev covers Cara; Cara checks Finn and is told not a killer
- Day 2
- Eve 3, Finn 1, Gus 1
- Five in. A quiet night points at whoever Eve wanted gone
- The vote
- Eve goes
- Cara, Dev and Finn on Eve; Eve on Gus; Gus on Finn
Eve was the last killer, so the town wins the moment she is out — Cara, Dev, Finn, Gus and Alice too, dead since the first night. With reveal on, the table saw Ben's role when he went, which is why Cara's word carried on day 2; with it off, day 2 would have been an argument.
It could have gone the other way on one vote. Had Finn gone instead of Eve on day 2, four would have been left, one of them a killer. A death on night 3 makes it one killer against two; one more mistaken vote after that leaves Eve level with the last villager, and the killers win the moment they are as many as everyone else still in.
Ending
The town wins the moment the last killer is out. The killers win the moment they are as many as everyone else still in. Every member of the winning side wins, dead or alive — a killer voted out on day one still wins if their partner survives.
Strategy
For the villagers
You know nothing, so listen. The killers are the players who steer the vote away from themselves and towards somebody harmless; watch who proposes a name first and who agrees a little too quickly. Count. If two killers were dealt and one has gone, the vote is looking for one person, not a gang. Vote every day rather than abstaining, because an abstention is a free day for the killers, and a table that sends nobody home has lost a day's information and gained nothing.
For the killers
Be an ordinary villager by day. Agree with the table, vote with the table, and never be the one who names a name unless the name is already in the air. At night, choose the person who was closest to finding you — a loud accuser, or somebody who counted the votes carefully — but not so obviously that the pattern gives you away; a player who dies the night after accusing you was right, and the table will notice. If your partner is caught, do not defend them. Vote with the crowd and mourn.
For the detective
Check the quiet ones, because loud players show themselves by day without your help. Your one result a night is the most valuable fact in the game, and the killers know it, so say it only when it wins a vote: an accusation that carries on day two is worth more than one that gets you killed on night two. If you find a killer, put the name forward with reasons a villager could have found, so the table follows you without knowing why you are sure.
For the doctor
Cover whoever the killers most want dead. On the first night nobody knows anything, so cover a player who talks a lot; after that, cover whoever led the vote against a killer, because they are the next target. You cannot cover the same person two nights running, so a player you saved once has to be left open the next night — say nothing about it, and let the killers wonder why the kill failed.
Variations
Werewolf
The same game with the killers as werewolves, the detective a seer and the doctor a healer or bodyguard, and the town a village. The host can rename the roles between games, so a table that grew up on Werewolf can play under those names; what a role does never changes.
No doctor
At five or six players a doctor makes the killers' job too hard, so many tables deal killers, one detective and villagers only. The host sets the counts before Start, and a role with a count of nought is simply not dealt.
The jester
A paper-and-moderator variant: one extra town card whose holder wins alone if the town votes them out, so a player making themselves look guilty is either a killer or a jester. It is not one of the four roles here and is played by hand.
A quiet first night
Some tables play a first night in which the killers meet but pick nobody, so the first day is a talk with no death and everyone starts equal. Here every night is a full one, so a table wanting a quiet start agrees it out loud and the killers choose to pick nobody they mind losing.
Majority, not most
The player voted out must have more than half the living votes, not merely the most; a vote that reaches nobody sends nobody. It favours the killers, who only need a split, and suits a big table where plurality can send somebody home on two votes. Here the rule is most votes, with a revote between the tied.
FAQs
How many players do you need for Mafia?
Five is the smallest table that works — two killers against three is a coin toss, one killer against four is a hunt — and it is at its best between seven and ten. Twelve is the most the app seats. Below five there is nowhere for a killer to hide.
How many mafia should there be?
About a quarter to a third of the table: two killers at seven or eight, three at ten or eleven. With a detective and a doctor dealt as well, the town needs at least two plain villagers, and the app will not deal a table with fewer.
Can you play Mafia without a moderator?
Yes, with the app. It deals the roles to each phone, wakes each role in turn at night, tells the detective the answer, resolves the kill against the doctor's cover and counts a sealed vote by day. Nobody sits out.
What does the detective find out?
One thing a night about one player: killer, or not. Nothing about the doctor or any other role. The answer is shown to the detective alone, and it is up to them how and when to tell the table.
Can the doctor save themselves?
Yes. The doctor may cover anyone, themselves included, but not the same person two nights running. If the killers chose the covered player, nobody dies that night and the app says so.
What happens if the vote is a tie?
The tied players are voted on again, and only them. If that vote ties as well, nobody is sent out and night falls. Abstaining is allowed and counts for nobody, which is why a tie usually means somebody did not vote.
Do dead players still win?
Yes. Everyone on the winning side wins, alive or dead — a villager killed on the first night wins with the town, and a killer voted out on day one wins if a partner survives to the end. Dead players watch the day and see the vote, but cannot vote or act at night.
Is Mafia the same as Werewolf?
Yes. Werewolf is Mafia with the killers as werewolves and the detective as a seer; the boxed versions add roles on top of these four. The host can use either set of names here.