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Mafia (party game)

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For the videogame, see Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven.
For other meanings, see Mafia (disambiguation)
Mafia
Players4 or more1
Setup time< 6 minutes
Playing time15-60 minutes2
ChanceLow
Age range9 and up
SkillsStrategic thought
Team play
Social skills
Roleplay
1See Basic gameplay below.
2 Varies greatly with setting; see online play.

Mafia (also known under the variant Werewolf or Village) is a party game modeling a battle between an informed minority and an uninformed majority. Mafia is usually played in groups with at least five players. During a basic game, players are divided into two teams: 'Mafia members', who know each other; and 'honest people', who know only the number of Mafia amongst them. The goal of both teams is to eliminate each other; in more complicated games with multiple factions, this generally becomes "last side standing".

History

Mafia was created by Dimma Davidoff at the Psychological Department of Moscow State University, in spring of 1986, and the first players were playing in classrooms, dorms, and summer camps of Moscow University. The game then became popular in other Soviet colleges and schools and in 1990s; it started crossing borders, first in Europe (Hungary, Poland, England, Norway) then the United States; now it is played virtually everywhere. Mafia is considered to be one of "The 50 most historically and culturally significant games published since 1800" by about.com.

Andrew Plotkin rewrote the rules with the Werewolf theme in 1997 [1] - Looney Labs have sold this version of the game as Are You a Werewolf?, as have Asmodée Éditions under the title Werewolves of Millers Hollow.

David & John Huston created a version in the theme of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos called Do You Worship Cthulhu, published by ToyVault.

A variation of Mafia was used in the movie Cry Wolf. The game involves one wolf, one shepherd, and a number of sheep, with no day and night phases.

Adam Gopnik devotes a chapter to describing the game in "Through the The Children's Gate: at home in New York" ( Knopf, 2006)

Basic gameplay

Roles

Players make themselves comfortable in a space such that every player can see every other player. Roles are assigned by a method which is both confidential and verifiable, often by dealing cards; a red or black card signifies the role as either:

  • Mafia (alternatively, Werewolves or Worshipers)
  • Innocents (alternatively, Villagers, Townspeople, or Citizens).

Other roles are possible (see Variants).

Generally, gameplay also requires a Narrator (alternatively, Dealer, Don, God, Host, Mayor, Moderator, Proctor, or Storyteller), a person not playing, but moderating the game. The Narrator knows the roles of each of the players and effectively narrates gameplay.

Night

The Narrator tells everyone to close their eyes and lower their heads ("Go to sleep...", "It is now nighttime and all the villagers are asleep...", etc.). This can optionally be accompanied by all players tapping gently to mask the sounds of player movement. On the first night, the Narrator tells the Mafia to open their eyes and acknowledge their fellow Mafia members. Variations at this point:

  • The Mafia may have a chance to kill off one of the Innocents by show of hands.
  • On the first night, the Mafia may "kill" the Narrator so that every Innocent gets a chance to participate in at least one execution decision. The Narrator then says in the Morning that he was killed and gameplay continues as usual.
  • After the first night, Mafia members must secretly communicate during the daytime and then unanimously agree to kill someone during the nighttime without opening their eyes to communicate (i.e., Narrator calls out the names of each player and Mafia must raise a hand to signify a kill). This rule is optional; if it's not included, the Mafia may kill an Innocent in the same method as they did the first night.
  • In large groups, each Mafia member can kill one person per night.

Other variant characters may have turns to open their eyes to do "business" during the night also (before or after the Mafia).

Day

The Narrator tells everyone to wake up and announces the Mafia's victim. Usually this involves the Narrator telling a story about the murder scene that the remaining players wake up to, and/or a story of how the victim was killed. This player is dead and may no longer participate in the game in any way, and is thus permitted to keep their eyes open at night.

Depending on the variant, The Narrator may reveal the identity of dead players, dead players may reveal themselves by flipping their cards face up (most common version), or the identity of dead players may be left unrevealed. Typically, prematurely revealing one's identity by flipping one's card face up while still alive is considered suicide; in single-execution-per-day variants, this may count as the execution for that day.

During the daytime phase, the players deliberate over which suspected Mafia member they wish to nominate for execution. The Innocents want to execute a Mafia member but all players are allowed to vote. Generally, The Narrator will administer the election, the nominee may be given a chance to defend themselves and a majority is required for the execution to be carried out, although voting variants abound. The same rules apply to players who are executed as to players killed by the Mafia. In some variants, multiple players may be killed during the same day.

Win condition

The game ends either when the last Mafia member is killed (Innocent victory) or the Mafia members gain a majority during the day (Mafia victory). A tie generally goes to the Mafia (because the innocents have no way of voting them off and, conceptually, because Mafia members are thought to be "stronger" when the Innocents no longer have a numerical advantage). Other variants have different victory conditions.

Note that in a situation of Mafia and Innocent left after a lynching or a morning, the Mafia character usually automatically wins.

Number of Mafia

The optimal number of each type of character depends on players' preferences for game length and Mafia win percentage. Some players prefer a game setup which gives approximately equal odds of an Innocent or Mafia victory. Other players may prefer giving a handicap to one side.

Generally, fewer players results in fewer turns, and thus less time to determine the identity of the mafia (because two players are killed every turn). Having more Mafia uniformly increases the expected Mafia win percentage although it may make it harder to identify the Mafia during the day.

For the standard game type, with only Innocents and Mafia, with the Mafia killing first, and the Mafia winning "ties" (where there are equal numbers of Mafia and Innocents during the day), the average game times and Mafia win percentages are given (see above right). These "averages" do not take into account the "skill" of the Townspeople to deduce the identity of the Mafia or the information advantage that the Mafia has during votes.

At least four players are required for Mafia to constitute a game (i.e. for both the Mafia and Innocents to have a chance at winning). If the Townspeople were allowed to kill first, three players would suffice, but gameplay would be entirely random.

The inclusion of "variant" characters or rules also changes matters. For example, the addition of a Sheriff or Doctor will decrease the expected Mafia win percentage. Most variant characters decrease the Mafia win percentage. However, variant characters are generally only used in larger games.

Allowing the Townspeople to abstain from killing on certain turns can decrease the Mafia win percentage as can variants which make it more difficult for the Mafia to achieve a kill (e.g. requiring them to agree on a victim independently). The "no kill" variant compensates to some extent for the disadvantage given to odd numbers of Townspeople. Otherwise, 2n+1 Innocents are less likely to win than 2n Innocents (for n>2) because they have decreased their odds of voting for a Mafia each turn without increasing their number of turns (resulting in ties rather than Mafia majorities).

Variations

Over the years, players have created Mafia variants which utilize alternative names for characters, additional characters, and different methods for conducting deliberation, voting and killing.

Optional roles

Due to the informal nature of the game, roles can be named differently due to cultural differences, thematic flavor, or other reasons. What follows is a general list of types of roles that can be found in Mafia and Werewolf games; it is by nature non-exhaustive.

  • Protective roles - "Guardian Angel", "Doctor", "Healer", "Archangel", "Bodyguard", "Sorcerer", "Priest", "Protector", "Highlander", etc.
Allied with the Innocents, this person can protect other roles at night. Sometimes they are allowed to protect themselves. In some games the Nurse obtains the Doctor's abilities if that role dies. Another variant is the "Bulletproof" innocent, who cannot be killed at night by anyone. (In Werewolf, for example, this person could have wolfsbane.)
  • Investigative roles - "Detective", "Commandant/Super Commandant", "Cop", "Seer", "Spy", "Angel", "Sheriff", "Psychic", "Inspector", "Cattani", "Devil", "Tracker", etc.
Allied with the Innocents, this person can detect the alignment of other players at night. Occasionally the role will be themed to reveal the role, instead of the alignment. In some variants, the Narrator may lie to the Detective by showing all players as Innocent, all as Guilty, giving reversed results, or random information; these can be termed as "Naïve", "Paranoid", "Insane", or "Random" respectively. A "Tracker" may see what someone's night action was, or the target of their action, and have to deduce information from that. When the Devil exists, he works for the Mafia/Werewolves, trying to discover Innocents with night actions (usually the Angel/investigative roles). The Commandant is equivalent to the detective, though the Super Commandant has an additional protective feature which allows the inspected person (who can be the Commandant, himself) to survive an attempted Mafia killing in the night.
  • Killing roles - "Vigilante", "Rambo", "Crazy Veteran", "Bomb", "Terrorist", "Gravedigger", "Hunter", "Village Bicycle", etc.
Aside from Mafia, Werewolves, and Serial Killers (solitary guilty parties), the Innocents may have some roles with the ability to kill at night. The method varies: the Vigilante may have one or more "bullets" for the entire game, or the Bomb/Crazy Vet may only trigger if targeted at night (not necessarily for death) by another role. Variants exist where this person can kill during the daytime cycle (eg. the Terrorist / Gravedigger), sometimes only if executed during the daytime (eg. the Hunter / Village Bicycle).
  • Alignment roles - "Miller", "Godfather", "Alpha Wolf", "Traitor", "Village Idiot", "Undercover Cop", "Rat", etc.
Some roles can fool investigations to determine their alignments: the Miller is an Innocent who appears guilty (usually because they are an outsider); the Godfather, on the other hand, appears innocent despite being the leader of the Mafia. The Alpha Wolf is analogous to the Godfather, while the Traitor works with their vote during the day cycle to protect Mafia and hamper the town. The Village Idiot's objective is to get the town to kill him. The Rat or Undercover Cop is a mole within the Mafia group.
  • Role manipulators - "Role-blocker", "Godfather", "Prostitute", "National Guardsman", "Switcher", "Bus Driver", "Thief", "Witch", "Barman", etc.
These roles can stop or alter the night actions of others; for instance, they may prevent a protection or investigation from occurring, or they may change the target. Not all of these roles will be on the side of the Innocents. The Thief may remove the person's role entirely (for instance, by stealing a Vigilante's gun). The Godfather has the ability to recruit innocent players to become Mafia under certain circumstances. This role differs from the Alignment Role of Godfather above.
  • Association roles - "Freemasons (Masons)", "Siblings", "Cult Leader and Followers", "Cupid", etc.
These roles, usually on the side of the Innocents, know who each other are and what their roles are. Freemasons (Masons) may talk at night, and confirm each other should one become the target of a murder. Siblings typically consist of one Mafia and one Innocent who are related by blood; if one dies, the other commits suicide shortly thereafter. Cult Leaders can recruit at night instead of kill; therefore they act as an independent faction from both the Innocents and Mafia, usually with the ability to talk at night. Cupid can create a Sibling-like relationship between two random players the first night of the game.

Additional variations exist, sometimes with even more specialized or complicated abilities.

Optional rules

  • Mafia killing methods - some variants require all Mafia members to choose the same victim independently for a kill to succeed. Theoretically, this requires them to "communicate" in some way during the daytime and thus increases the chances of detection. This can be achieved either by waking the Mafia members up separately or by having them write their kills. Under this variant, Innocent players write the word 'honest' on a piece of paper; Mafia members write down the name of a player for elimination. If all the mafia notes have the same name on them, that player is considered killed by the Mafia. In some online versions of the game, a particular player (the Godfather, or a designated member of the group) must send in or execute the kill.
  • Voting variants - some variants have a more complicated process of selecting players to be executed. One variant allows multiple simultaneous nominations and only requires a plurality. Another requires the vote to be unanimous but allows multiple players to be added to the execution queue to ensure unanimity.
  • "No lynch" or "No kill" - sometimes the Innocents are allowed to vote not to kill anyone on a particular daytime cycle. In general, although the Townspeople will often feel they do not have enough information to kill someone, this is a bad choice because the Townspeople are more likely to vote off a Mafia member than the Mafia are to kill a Mafia member. Furthermore, because a player's role is generally revealed when that player is executed, it provides the Townspeople with reliable and irrefutable information. However, when there are an even number of Townspeople, this can be a good choice. For example, when there are four Townspeople remaining (including one Mafia), voting not to kill someone will result in a 1/3 chance to kill the Mafia the next day as opposed to a 1/4 chance. Note that voting incorrectly in either situation will end the game (resulting in a 1 Mafia/1 Innocent standoff, which is almost always resolved by the Narrator in favor of the Mafia).
  • Random narrator - to eliminate the inconvenience (especially in large games) of being killed on the first day, this variant has the Innocent who is killed on the first night become the Narrator. The Mafia, of course, has to find a way of informing this person that they are dead without revealing their identities. The writing variant works best. Some players complain that this variant is biased toward eliminating those who are skilled at narrating.
  • Multiple families - this variant has multiple Mafia families (or a Mafia group and a Werewolf group) who act and win independently of each other. This allows more kills and thus a faster gameplay and also creates the potential for "cross-fire" between the factions.
  • Imprisonment - this variant allows players to be sent to prison as an alternative to execution. Depending on the variant they can either be sent there by vote or at the discretion of an optional character. Players in prison exist in the separate room possibly with a separate narrator. Murders can happen in prison and certain roles or events have the ability to bring characters back from prison.
  • Wrath of God - this variant allows the Narrator to select in a random and verifiable manner one or more Innocents, (depending on how many total players are in the game) to carry a cost for their death(s). If for example, the Mafia selects said Innocent during the night round, then the Mafia who selected the "protected" player will also die as a result. If during the day round any player leads an accusation towards the "protected" player and that player is voted out, then the original accusor shall die as well. This variant adds to the confusion by allowing players to claim "divine protection" and also makes selecting players to die during the day or night a much more cautious process.
  • Plague - this variant allows the Narrator to select in a random and verifiable manner one player who dies of plague in the morning. This can occur at set time intervals, or at random, and the player killed in this manner is revealed at the beginning of the next day. A player who targets the plagued player at night may then become plagued as a result of the contact.
  • Punishment - this variant is generally used as a drinking or risk based game. When a person is killed in the game they are made to take a punishment. In Drinking circles this may be a shot of a spirit such as Gin or Vodka. The punishment is usually decided at the start of the game. A Final punishment could also be added for the losing team too.

Strategy

Strategy for an innocent

Strategy for a mafia member

Online play

Although Mafia is usually played face to face, playing it online is also common. This adds a new dimension to the game, making it last longer and allowing people to have a record of what others have said and how they have voted. There are many forms of online play: one could do so with the BYOND, where the game was implemented by "LostRealm" with multiple icons for player use. As part for the promotion of the film Cry Wolf a site was set up to play a similar game using AIM Instant Messenger, pitching wolves against sheep.

Online forum play was first known to be run on the Internet forum Grey Labyrinth by a regular poster from that site. The game requires 1 or 2 moderators to control. A sign up thread is created announcing the game. The game usually starts in the night phase with players messaging the moderator with their choices, and the mafia teams communicating via email before submitting their kill. The moderator will process the choices, write the appropriate death scene for those that were eliminated, and post a dawn scene. Then the players will vote for who they think is mafia. Generally speaking the first day of the online game is very random in nature, but as the game progresses the lynching becomes more strategic and planned.

Themes are the most common method of online play. Any group of well known characters or groups will work. The Simpsons, Hanna Barbera, The Lord of the Rings for example have been used because of their extensive character sets. In themed games, Roles tend to be more creative and relate to the scenes in which they are set. It is not uncommon for major characters to be left out of the balance of roles to allow the mafia teams to lie about who they are. Themes can also be Types - such as a Werewolf-themed game, or more extreme such as Time Travel Mafia or Deep South (a variant with no night phase).

Moderating online play generally requires you to attempt to balance the game well so any team or group has an even chance of winning. This is even more pertinent when using powerful creative roles. The balance is usually 25% mafia - so a 12 player game would entail 3 or 4 mafia depending on the balance of the remainder of the game. A brief listing of the known online variants follows (some would be near impossible to play in real life).

  1. Deep South Mafia - also known as nightless mafia. The game is broken into choice blocks which last a set amount of real life time. During a choice block, players can vote to lynch and/or submit their choices to the moderator. The moderator will action them at a set time. If a player is lynched during that time, the choice block will end immediately, and all votes are nullified and the next block begins. Choices are always made first as part of an update, and then voting. Some moderators may care to flip this rule around. Choices are made in the order received. Common roles for this variant are "Lie Detector" who can detect a lie in a role claim by a player. "Mafia/Serial Killers" who kill during the day at any time. "Advance doctors" who can protect one choice block in advance. "Chef" who can call lunch and end a choice block once.
  2. Grey Labyrinth's Designer mafia is to have all prospective players invent a role and submit it to the moderator. The moderator tones the roles down to make them playable and then shuffles them up amongst the players.
  3. Location-based games often have maps involved in which players have to travel to different destinations.
  4. MafiaScum.net Time Travel mafia allows players to alter history with their night choices. Roles are not revealed on death in this variation because players can be brought back to life at any stage. Time travelling roles are usually restricted to prevent chaos. Standard roles are "Coroner" who can investigate a corpse at night. "Blocker" who can prevent a player time travelling. "Serial Killer" who can travel back 1 or 2 nights to kill someone. One of the major changes in Time Travel mafia is that the person with the most votes at the end of a set time is lynched. This means that if a player votes and then dies on a previous night due to a history change, the vote is effectively nullified.
  5. Romanian Mafia Club's Ebony and Ivory mafia games give every player a black ebony ball and a white ivory ball which stand for votes, and the players can effectively work towards lynching or saving others, because every white ball (a vote in favor of that player) takes out a black ball (a vote against him) that he received. The end of the day brings death to the role that has the most black votes.

Mafiascum is an Internet forum where registered members can play a game of Mafia with other people over a message board. Mafiascum has been around since March 2002 and is a direct descendant of the Grey Labyrinth, an Internet forum dedicated to all types of puzzles and games; when Mafia began to dominate the site's traffic and player base, one of the administrators set up a separate forum specifically for those games. Since its creation, membership has grown and diversified, with games now played under different rulesets, in different languages, and at different skill levels. Recently the gamesite moved to an independent server to accommodate these levels of growth. Players have also contributed to a Mafia-specific wiki about game play, strategy, roles, and local players.

External links

Rules and Variants
Commercial Versions
Video of Mafia being played at

Notes

  1. ^ July 2002 archive of mafiascum.net via archive.org
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