The rules
How to play Mafia
A complete guide to RPS Mafia — the roles, the night, the argument, the vote and the two ways a game can end. These are this game's own rules, and they are what the server actually does.
The shape of it
Mafia sets an informed minority against an uninformed majority. A few players know who each other are and are trying to eliminate everyone else. Everyone else knows nothing and is trying to work out who they are before the numbers run out.
The game alternates between night, when a handful of people act in private, and day, when everyone argues in the open and votes one person out. That loop repeats until one side wins.
What you need
- Between five and twelve players. Eight is the size most groups settle on.
- Somewhere to talk. Here that is built in; away from a computer it is a room and a narrator.
- Twenty to forty minutes, depending on how much the argument runs.
There is no narrator in this game. Traditionally somebody has to sit out and read a script — waking the mafia, calling each role, remembering who did what. The server does all of it, so everybody who turns up gets to play.
The roles
Every player is dealt exactly one role, privately, before the first day. Which roles appear depends on how many of you there are — see setups by player count for the exact table.
The mafia
- Godfather — chooses the night kill, reads as town to the Detective, and cannot be shot by the Sniper.
- Mafia — an ordinary killer with no immunities, who inherits the kill if the Godfather dies.
- Dr. Lecter — the team's medic, who shields a teammate from the Sniper. Twelve-player games only.
The town
- Doctor — protects players from the night kill.
- Detective — investigates one player's alignment each night.
- Sniper — shoots at night, and dies if he shoots a townsperson.
- Die-hard — survives the first attempt on his life, whether that is a kill or a lynch.
- Citizen — no powers at all, and a vote that counts the same as everyone else's.
How a game runs
1. Role reveal
Each player privately sees their own card. The mafia do not meet yet.
2. Day zero — introductions
Everyone speaks in turn. There is no vote, because nobody has died and there is nothing to go on. It exists so that everyone has said something before anyone has a reason to lie about it.
3. Night zero — the mafia meet
The mafia learn who each other are. Nobody is killed on the first night. Every other role sleeps through it.
4. Night — the roles act
In private, and simultaneously: the mafia kill, the Doctor protects, the Detective investigates, the Sniper shoots, Dr. Lecter shields. Then everything resolves at once and the results are announced.
The mafia get exactly one kill a night, and exactly one of them is offered it. While the Godfather lives, that is always him. The other killers get an advisory pick their own team can see, which never commits anything. There is no merging of two choices and no race between two mafia.
5. Recap
A short beat where the table is told what happened — who died, and privately, what the Detective found. Nobody's role is revealed by their death.
6. The count reveal vote
Before the day, the table may be offered a vote on whether to be told how many mafia and how many townspeople are still alive. A majority yes reveals it and spends one of a limited number of reveals.
It is only offered when somebody has actually been eliminated since the last reveal, because only an elimination changes the hidden split. A Doctor save, an absorbed Die-hard hit or a tied vote changes nothing, and the offer is skipped.
7. Day — argue, then vote
Everyone alive gets a turn to speak, in an order that reshuffles each day so the same player is not always first. Then the table votes. A majority eliminates; a tie eliminates nobody and the day simply ends.
A speaker may also hand one out-of-turn reply to another player, taken immediately after their own turn — once per player per day, and it cannot be handed on again.
8. Repeat until somebody wins
How the game ends
| Side | Wins when |
|---|---|
| Town | The last mafioso is eliminated. |
| Mafia | The mafia equal everyone else in number. They do not need to be the majority — parity is enough. |
Parity is why every wrong lynch costs the town twice: one townsperson gone, and one step closer to the number the mafia need.
If you are new, start here
- Say something on day zero. Silence early is the most common tell there is, and the easiest one to avoid.
- Make observations, not accusations. "You agreed with him very fast" gives the table something to work with. "You are mafia" gives them nothing.
- Do not clear anyone on one investigation. The Godfather comes back as town, every time.
- As mafia, do not overplay innocence. The players who argue hardest that they are town are the ones the town watches.
- Watch who is quiet when it matters, not who is quiet in general.
Common questions
How many mafia are there?
One at five players, two at six and seven, three from eight through eleven, and four at twelve. Only three of the four at twelve are killers.
Can the Doctor save himself?
Yes, but not on two consecutive nights. Once he has protected himself, he cannot do it again the following night.
Does the Detective always get the truth?
The result is never a lie, but it is not always the whole truth. The Godfather returns "town" every time he is investigated.
What happens if the vote ties?
Nobody is eliminated and the day ends. A tie is a real outcome, not a re-vote.
Who wins?
The town wins the moment the last mafioso is eliminated. The mafia win the moment their number equals everyone else's.
Can I play without a narrator?
There is no narrator. The server runs the night, resolves every action and tells each player only what they are entitled to know.
Play a game
You have the rules. The fastest way to learn the rest is one game with voice on.