How to play Mafia

Mafia is the old party game of secret roles. A few players are secretly in the mafia; everyone else is the town. Each night the mafia takes one player out of the game. Each day the town talks it over and votes someone out. The town wins when every member of the mafia is gone. The mafia wins when they are as many as everyone else.

The roles

• Mafia: you know who else is in the mafia. At night you pick a player to take. By day, blend in.
• Doctor: each night protect one player. If the mafia picked that player, nobody is taken. You may protect yourself, but not the same player two nights in a row.
• Detective: each night check one player and learn if they are mafia. Once, by day, you may reveal: the game shows everyone that you are the Detective and what you found, and from then on every new check is shown to everyone too.
• Townsperson: no night job. Watch, point and vote.

With 5 or 6 players there is one mafia player; with 7 to 9, two; with 10 or 11, three; with 12, four. There is always one Doctor and one Detective.

Night

Everyone chooses at once, and nobody sees the others. Townspeople pick the player they suspect too: it has no effect, it only hides who has a night job when everyone is tapping a phone. The mafia picks a player to take. If the mafia players choose different people, the one most of them chose is taken; in a tie, the choice of the mafia player sitting first. In the morning everyone learns who was taken and that player's role. If the Doctor protected the right player, nobody is taken. A Detective taken in the night learns nothing from that night's check.

Day

• Point: everyone points at the player they suspect, or no one. Pointing is how the computers "talk": you see where everyone pointed once all have chosen.
• Vote: then everyone votes for one player, or no one. The player with the most votes leaves the town and their role is shown.
• If two players tie for the most votes, or "no one" gets as many votes as the leading player or more, nobody leaves today.

Tips

• The mafia rarely points at each other, and a sly one may do it just for show. Players who always agree may be on the same team.
• When a player is voted out as a Townsperson, remember who voted for them.
• Whom did the night victim suspect? The mafia often takes the player who was on its trail.
• Detective: reveal when you find the mafia. It wins the day, but the mafia will come for you at night, and the Doctor cannot protect you two nights running.
• Not sure what to do? Hint picks a player and tells you why.

Today's town

The Daily Town is the same for everyone today: eight players, the same roles and the same computers. You get one try. A quick win counts most; see how you did next to everyone else and share your result without spoiling who was who.

Mafia night with family and friends

Choose Play with friends and send the link, or read out the four-letter table code. Everyone gets a secret role on their own phone, and open seats are played by the computer. Sitting in one room? Open the TV link on the TV's web browser: the town square, the night and the votes go up on the big screen, and the talking happens out loud.

Questions

How strong are the computers? You choose how well the computers on the other side play. Easy ones give themselves away, Sharp ones hide well and read the table. Your own teammates always play at Normal. At a table with friends, every computer plays the level the host picks.

What if I am out of the game? You watch to the end. Your team can still win, and every role is shown at the end.

Is this Werewolf? It is the same family of games. Mafia is the original, played at parties and camps for decades.

Do I need an account? No. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and come back.