Mafia (game) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Mafia is a party game of intrigue, backstabbing, and lies. Mafia is best played in large groups with at least six or seven players and a narrator. During a round, the narrator chooses a set number of players to be mafia (typically one-third or one-fourth). Each person receives a playing card or slip of paper that tells them their role. Those who are not mafia are townspeople. (Alternately, the Narrator may choose roles by announcing each role in turn, then walking around the circle and touching the heads of the players chosen for that role).The mafia's goal is to kill enough townspeople to gain a majority, and the townspeople's objective is to eliminate all of the mafia.
The game is also known as 'werewolf'; when played under this name, the mafia characters are called 'werewolves', townspeople are 'villagers' and the sheriff (see below) is called the 'seer'.
=Gameplay=
The narrator begins the game by having everyone close their eyes and "go to sleep." This phase of the game is referred to as night. Night takes place in four steps:
- The narrator then tells the mafia to look up. This reveals to the mafia who their partners in crime are.
- The mafia chooses someone to kill by pointing, then go back to sleep
- The narrator wakes up people who have special roles (see next section) in turn. Those people act, and the narrator provides them with information (or does not), according to their roles.
- After this, the narrator wakes everyone up and announces who has been killed (or who has avoided a murder attempt, if that is the case; see "Doctor" in special roles below), beginning the daytime phase. Variants differ on whether the special role of a killed player is revealed.
When a decision is reached, the lynched player is out of the game. In many, but not all, variants, it is revealed if the player was a member of the mafia. In some variants, the player's secret role may be revealed by the narrator at this time no matter what their role is.
After the lynching, night falls again. The cycle of night and day repeats until either the mafia have a majority or the townspeople have killed all of the mafia.
Most games have roles that go beyond the basic townsperson/mafia roles. Some are on the side of the townspeople and some are on the side of the mafia. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and many narrators may invent their own special roles. These are just the most common. Also, these jobs can have different names; for example, the role listed under "Doctor" is often called the "Gaurdian Angel"
The Doctor is on the side of the townspeople. During the night, he chooses one person to save. If this same person is a mafia target, he survives the night, and the narrator announces the next morning that there was an unsuccessful attempt on the person's life. Some narrators allow the Doctor to save himself; others do not.
The Guardian Angel is a townsperson to whom the narrator secretly reveals the identity of all mafia members. During the daytime, the guardian angel tries to inform the townspeople of who the mafia are without arousing suspicion and being killed. This role introduces another complication to the game because a member of the mafia may publicly claim to be the guardian angel and try to lead the townspeople to lynch innocents.
The Sheriff is also a townsperson role. Each night, the Sheriff may investigate one person by pointing to that person. The narrator will inform the Sheriff whether that person is mafia, unless...
The Godfather is a member of the mafia who is immune to investigation. If the Godfather is investigated, he will come up innocent.
The Miller is the opposite of the Godfather, a townsperson who will come up guilty if investigated. This role is a little less common than the first four.
The Devil's Advocate is the opposite of the Sheriff, investigating people each night in an attempt to figure out who the Sheriff is. Since they are on the mafia's team, they then try to kill the Sheriff either through lynching or informing the mafia of their identity. If investigated by the Sheriff, the Devil's Advocate will come up innocent.
The Little Girl can "peek" during the killing phase. She is found in Werewolf-themed games.
Some of the larger games have Masons and Serial Killers. Masons are townspeople who know each other. They can work together because they know for sure that the other ones are innocent. Serial Killers operate on their own. They win only if they are the last one left. They get one kill a night in the same way that mafia do.
There are a wide variety of other possible roles and ways to play the game. Some narrators give clues pointing to the members of the mafia. Sometimes everyone has a special role of some sort, but no one knows what all the roles are. Although mafia is usually played face to face with large groups, some enthusiasts play online using bulletin boards. 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.
=External links=
This is an Article on Mafia (game). Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Mafia (game) Special Roles