How to play Mafia: rules, roles, setups for 6–16 players and a narrator that runs itself

What is Mafia (also called Werewolf)?

A town of ordinary citizens has a few mafia members hiding among them. The mafia know each other; the citizens know nobody. At night, while the town “sleeps,” the mafia secretly agree on who leaves the game. In the morning everyone wakes up, hears what happened, argues and votes on which suspect to run out of town. The town wins by finding every mafia member. The mafia wins once they are as many as the town.

You may know the same game as Werewolf: villagers instead of citizens, werewolves instead of mobsters, a seer instead of a detective. The engine is identical — an informed minority against an uninformed majority. That is why Mafia shows up at camps, college dorms, birthdays and team offsites: it takes five minutes to explain and fills a whole evening with arguments. If your group prefers lighter deception, try a bluffing party game where you lie about facts, not about yourself.

How many players you need for Mafia

Six is the practical minimum, and the game is at its best with 8 to 12. Below six, the mafia either wins on night one or loses on the first vote, so there is no tension. Above 16, the day turns into a shouting match and eliminated players wait too long.

The core ratio: roughly one mafia member for every three to four players. This is how our Mafia with an on-screen narrator deals roles when all the special roles are on (Don, Doctor and Sheriff can each be switched off in the room settings):

Competitive clubs often play a fixed 10-player setup: 7 town (one of them the sheriff) against 3 mafia (one of them the Don), with no doctor. To get the same layout, gather ten people and switch the Doctor off.

Mafia game roles explained

The Don is the sneakiest card in the deck. The Sheriff checks him, gets “not mafia,” and may even vouch for him in front of everyone. In club rules the Don also hunts for the sheriff each night; in our version he is simpler — he votes with the mafia, and his trump card is that clean check.

The Doctor may protect themselves, but never the same person two nights running, themselves included. If the mafia picked the person the Doctor protected, the morning report only says that “someone was saved” — no name, or the Doctor would be exposed instantly.

A round step by step: night, morning, day, vote

1. Role reveal. Everyone looks at their card in secret. Mafia members see their partners.
2. Night. The town sleeps. The mafia pick a target and see each other’s picks until they agree. The Doctor picks someone to protect, the Sheriff someone to check. If the mafia still disagree when night ends, the majority pick counts; on a tie, the night passes quietly.
3. Morning. The narrator tells what happened: someone left town, someone was saved, or nothing happened at all.
4. Day. Open discussion on a timer — 2, 3 or 5 minutes. Each player may nominate one suspect.
5. Vote. You vote among the nominees (if nobody was nominated, among all living players). Abstaining is allowed. A player leaves only with more votes than anyone else and more than the abstentions. A tie means a revote between the leaders; a second tie means nobody leaves today.
6. Verdict. The narrator announces the result and night falls again.

By default an eliminated player’s card stays face down, so the town never knows whether it voted right and has to keep reasoning. For a new group, turn on role reveal in the settings — it makes learning faster. Everyone sees all roles when the game ends.

Mafia without cards or a narrator: playing online

The thankless job in live Mafia is the narrator: they don’t get to play, they have to watch everyone, and they must remember who was protected and who was checked. In online Mafia on playparty.live the game does that job.

• Your phone is a secret role card and a controller. The card is face up only while your finger holds it, so nobody peeks over your shoulder.
• The TV is the stage. On the big screen a narrator tells each night’s story in your chosen theme: a sleepy town, a pirate ship, a space station or a medieval castle. If the AI is unavailable, ready-made lines play instead and the game never waits.
• Everybody gets the same night screen. Citizens also see “Town is asleep” with a pick button that does nothing, so phone activity gives nobody away.
• The narrator only knows public facts. It never sees roles, night picks or checks, so it cannot slip. The tone is family-friendly: eliminated players “leave town for good” or “go ashore at the next port.”

Setup takes a minute: open a room, send friends the link or the 4-character code, then open playparty.live/tv on the TV or a laptop and enter the same code. You need 6 to 16 real people — there are no bots in Mafia, since lying to a bot is no fun. The narrator’s lines also appear on every phone, so you can play over a video call: talk on the call, act and vote on your phones. For the TV side of things, see our guide to party games on a TV with phones.

Strategy for the town

• Be specific. “I don’t trust Jake” is not an argument. “Jake nominated Emma ten seconds into the day and defended Ryan yesterday, who we then failed to vote out” is.
• Watch votes, not speeches. Mafia members can talk smoothly, but a vote forces a choice. Who keeps saving whom is a trail.
• Don’t vote at random. Every citizen you wrongly remove brings the mafia closer to parity. Abstaining beats throwing a vote at “anyone.”
• Sheriff, be patient. Reveal yourself on day one and you will be gone that night. Wait until you have found mafia or your claim decides the vote.

Strategy for the mafia

• Don’t look like friends. Two players who defend each other all day are a giveaway. Sometimes it pays to vote against a partner who is going out anyway.
• Pick targets with a reason. Removing the sharpest citizen is good. Removing the one who just accused you is too obvious.
• Use the Don’s clean check. If the Sheriff checks the Don, he gets an alibi. The Don should be loud and steer the discussion — suspicion slides off him.
• Agree fast. The night has a time limit, and if the mafia split evenly when it ends, nobody leaves at all.

A good warm-up before Mafia is Two Truths and a Lie: ten minutes in, everyone knows who the best liar in the room is.

Playing with a human narrator: tips and house rules

Prefer the classic version around a table with cards? Great. A few habits keep the evening from falling apart:

• Agree on house rules before dealing. Can the doctor self-protect? Is the eliminated card revealed? Is there a quiet first night? (Clubs often skip the first kill.) Half of all Mafia fights are about rules, not play.
• Make noise at night. Tap the table or play music so nobody hears who is moving.
• Tell stories, not stats. “The bakery lights went out, and by morning the baker had moved to Florida” beats “Mike is dead.”
• Always use a timer. Without one, the day drags for twenty minutes and eliminated players drift to their phones.
• Write the night down. A narrator mistake breaks a game worse than any player mistake.

Clubs often add more structure: one-minute speeches in turn, penalties for interrupting, a “last word” for the eliminated player. None of that is required at home — start with the basics and add layers once your group is hooked.

FAQ

How many players do you need for Mafia?

At least 6, ideally 8 to 12, and up to 16 in our online version. Use about one mafia member per three to four players: two for 6–8 players, three for 9–12, four for 13–15 and five for 16.

Can you play Mafia without a narrator?

Yes. In online Mafia the game deals roles, collects night actions and tells the morning story, so the person who usually narrates finally gets to play.

Do you need cards to play Mafia?

No. People used to pass around slips of paper; now each role goes to a phone. Open a room, send the link and you are done. Nobody can peek — the card only shows while you hold it.

What is the difference between the Don and regular mafia?

The Don votes with the mafia but shows up as innocent when the Sheriff checks him. In club rules the Don also searches for the sheriff at night; our version has no such check.

Can you play Mafia on Zoom or a video call?

Yes. Talk on the call; roles, night actions and voting happen on phones. The narrator’s lines show on every phone, so a TV is optional.