Game of the week! – Mafia Posted on: 31/07/10 Category: Birthday Party Ideas, Energisers, Team Games

Mafia is a great game – it’s simple to setup, needs no equipment, and is heaps of fun.  You need at least 7 or 8 people to play.

There are five roles people play in the game – the mafia, a medic, townspeople, and a moderator.  For a group of eleven, the ratios should be approximately:

• 2 Mafioso
• 1 Medic
• 1 Policeman
• 6 Townspeople
• 1 Moderator

The roles should be allocated secretly apart from that of the moderator.  Normally, the Moderator writes them on cards and hand them out, so no one knows what role others are playing.  The moderator should be someone who knows the game well.

In a nutshell:

• The objective of the Mafioso is to work together to assassinate all the towns people (including the police & medic)
• The objective of the town’s people is to vote out both the Mafioso

The game starts with the moderator telling everyone to close their eyes. 

Once all eyes are closed, the moderator asks the mafia to open their eyes.  As this is the first turn, each Mafioso will discover their fellow Mafioso who they will be working with.  The moderator asks the two Mafioso who they wish to kill.  They silently agree (by pointing to someone) who to ‘kill’ that turn.  Once they have selected someone, the moderator thanks them and asks them to close their eyes. 

The moderator then asks the Medic to open their eyes.  They can then choose someone to ‘save’ (more on what this means later).  Once they have selected someone to save, the moderator asks the Medic to close their eyes

Finally the moderator asks the Policeman to open his/her eyes, and select someone to accuse (of being in the mafia).  The moderator must honestly (and silently) answer the policeman with a nod or a shake of the head whether the accused is one of the assassins or not.  The policeman then closes their eyes. 

That’s the end of the first round, and the moderator then asks everyone to open their eyes.

The moderator announces to the group who was killed during the night.  The person who has been killed takes no further part in the game.  It is essential they are not allowed to talk. 

Note that if the person the mafia selected to be ‘killed’ was also the one selected by the medic, the moderator only reveals there was a failed assassination attempt (and doesn’t give any further information) so the person remains alive.

It is then up to the remaining group members to discuss amongst themselves who they think is in the mafia.  After a few minutes of discussion, the group must vote (one at a time) who they think is in the mafia. 

Given the roles have been handed out in secret; the early rounds are often full of speculation, people justifying their innocence, or explaining their suspicions.  And as the game progresses, lies, deception and strategy creep in.  When all votes have been cast, the person with the most votes is out of the game (and must also not speak again).

The game continues on this cycle, with everyone closing their eyes, the mafia again selecting someone to kill, the medic selecting someone to save, the policeman someone to accuse, the moderator announcing who was killed, then voting again. 

If the medic and/or policeman have been voted out, the moderator should continue pretending to ask them to select someone to save (or to accuse) just so the townspeople don’t know who those people are. 

If one of the two Mafioso is voted out, the game still continues with one Mafioso.

The game ends either when

• All the townspeople are killed (and therefore the mafia win)
• All of the mafia have been voted out (and the townspeople win)

As the game progresses, less and less people are in the game, and people (especially the medic and policeman) build up more and more knowledge of who the Mafioso may be.  Thus the discussions get more and more interesting. 

It’s recommended the medics and policemen keep their identity a secret in the early rounds to avoid being picked off by the assassins.  There comes a time however when it may be beneficial to reveal their role to the group, especially if the policeman has an accusation confirmed.  Whether they can convince the rest of the group they are genuinely a policeman (and not a Mafioso posing as a policeman) adds to the mystery!

Moderators need to be very careful to recite the same script each time to avoid inadvertently giving things away (e.g. "Mafia, open your eyes"  versus  "Mafioso, open your eyes" gives away that one Assassin has been killed).  If the medic has been voted out, continue pretending to ask them (and allow enough time for a pretend answer) so the group is unaware if they are still in the game or not.  Also be aware of voice projection – don’t give away roles by speaking in their direction.

Adjust the number of policemen / Mafioso according to the size of the group.  For 15 players, have two policemen, for 20, have three Mafioso, etc.

The more times you play the game, the better it gets as people get an understanding of how it all works and develop their strategies!

Enjoy