CitizenМирный
Red · townMost of the table. No special power and no information — only what people say and how they say it. The hardest role, and the one that wins the game.
Ten people. Three of them are lying.
Mafia is a conversation with a secret in it. Most of the table are ordinary citizens who do not know who anyone is. A few are the Mafia, who know each other, and who quietly remove one person every night. Everyone talks; everyone votes; the room decides.
You do not need to have played. The game master explains everything before the first hand is dealt, and the first game is the lesson.
A round
Every round is the same two halves, repeated until one side is gone.
NIGHT
The table puts on masks
Going to sleep here means a mask, not trusting everyone to keep their eyes shut. The game master wakes each role in turn. The Mafia agree on someone. The Sheriff checks one person. The Doctor protects one person. Nobody sees anyone else act — you only hear the game master's voice.
DAY
The table argues
The game master says who did not survive the night. Then everyone speaks in turn, one minute each, and says what they think. This is the whole game: what you say, what you claim to be, and who believes you.
VOTE
Somebody goes
The table nominates and votes. Whoever takes the most votes is out, and their card is turned face up for everyone to see. A tie means nobody goes. Then night falls again.
The cards
Seven roles. You are dealt one face down at the start and you never say which — unless lying about it helps.
SheriffШериф
Red · townChecks one player each night and learns whether they are Mafia. Knowing is the easy part; being believed without being shot for it is the role.
DoctorДоктор
Red · townProtects one player each night from being killed. Cannot protect the same person two nights running, so a guess that worked once cannot simply be repeated.
LoverЛюбовница
Red · townSpends the night with one player, who is then out of the game for it — whatever they were going to do does not happen. Same no-repeat rule as the Doctor.
MafiaМафия
Black · mafiaWakes with the others and agrees on one person to remove. Knows exactly who the other Mafia are, and has to spend the day pretending not to.
Mafia DonДон
Black · mafiaRuns the Mafia, and checks one player each night to find the Sheriff. The one person at the table hunting a specific card rather than a side.
ManiacМаньяк
AloneKills one person each night and belongs to nobody. Wins only by being the last one left with a single townsperson — which means helping both sides and neither.
House rules
The parts every club does slightly differently. These are ours.
One minute each, in turn. Every living player gets exactly a minute to speak. The speaking order rotates by one seat each round, so nobody is permanently first or last.
Fouls cost you your speech, then your seat. Interrupting, talking at night, showing your card, misnaming a player or saying “a hundred percent” earns a foul. At three you sit out a speech. At four the game master asks you to leave the game.
A tied vote means nobody leaves. The table failed to decide, and the game moves on.
Immunity is for the night only. From the second game of an evening the game master may hand out up to two immunity cards. Immunity stops a night kill. It does not stop a vote, and it does not stop the Lover.
Mafia win by parity. When the Mafia equal the rest of the living table, they have won — the vote can no longer go against them.