How to Play Mafia, the Party Game
Mafia is the classic party game of hidden identities, sneaky villains and wild accusations. Mafia.Party runs the whole game for you: everyone joins on their own phone, roles are dealt in secret, and a narrator voices the night. Here's everything you need to know before your first game.
What you need
- 3 or more players; the game really sings with 5 to 12.
- A phone each, all in the same room. No app, no sign-up.
- Optional but great: a TV or laptop joined as a shared Display. It shows the public game board and gives the narration a stage of its own.
Setting up a game
- One player opens playmafia.party and taps Start a new game. They're the Host: the game runs on their phone, and they play too.
- The Host's screen shows a 4-letter room code. Everyone else taps Join with a code and types it in.
- Putting the game on a TV? Open playmafia.party on it and join the same code as a Display.
- When everyone's in the Lobby, the Host starts the game and the app deals a secret role to every player's phone.
The secret roles
Most players are honest Citizens, but a few are secretly the Mafia. Depending on how many of you there are, the deal may also include a Doctor, a Detective and Cupid. Your role is yours alone: peek at your phone, keep your best poker face, and see the full roles guide for what each one does.
Night falls
The narrator sends the whole city to sleep: everyone locks eyes on their own phone and stays quiet. One by one, the special roles are called awake to act in secret:
- The Mafia silently agree on one player to take out of the game.
- The Doctor picks someone to protect for the night.
- The Detective investigates one player and learns whether they're Mafia.
Nobody else knows who was called, or what was chosen. That's the delicious part.
Morning in the city
The city wakes to the news: either someone is out of the game, or the Doctor guessed right and everyone's fine. Then the real game begins: talk. Accuse, defend, bluff, form alliances, notice who's a little too quiet. When the arguing peaks, everyone votes on their phone. It takes a true majority, more than half the city, to send someone out, and their role is revealed for all to see. The city can also agree to skip the vote… but every quiet day is a gift to the Mafia.
Players who are out aren't bored, either: they watch the rest of the drama unfold from the Ghost View, a ghost's-eye copy of the public board that shows exactly what the city sees.
How you win
- Citizens win when every last Mafia has been voted out.
- The Mafia win the moment they're no longer outnumbered: at equal numbers, the villains control every vote.
Night and day repeat (sleep, wake, argue, vote) until one side takes the city. A typical round lasts 15 to 30 minutes, and the "one more game" pull is strong.
Tips for a great first game
- Sit in a rough circle so everyone can see everyone's face. Faces are the game.
- If you're Mafia, don't go quiet; silence is the classic tell.
- If you're a Citizen, watch the votes: who piles on late, who deflects, who never gets suspected at all.
- Let the narrator's night script do its theatrical thing. Commit to the bit.