Mafia Newbie Guide

What is mafia?

Mafia is a game of deception and investigation. In the game, some people will be lying, and everyone else will be trying to figure out who the liars are.

The game is lead by a moderator, who assigns roles to players before the game starts. Some of these roles will be mafia (the liars), but usually most of the roles fall under the category of town (the people trying to figure out who the liars are). During the game, players post in the game thread trying to further their cause.

The game occurs in phases, known as Days and Nights. During the day, all players may vote to lynch another player. Exact rules on voting varies from game to game, but typically the player with the most votes ends up dead. The town players want to kill mafia this way, as it is often their only way to do so. Mafia wants to steer town astray while trying to look like town. During the night, special actions occur. The most common night action is a mafia kill, but usually other roles (both town or mafia) are in play that have special actions that occur at night.

The game ends when the mafia has reached a win condition (usually getting the remaining non-mafia players equal to the number of mafia), or when the town has killed off all the mafia.

How do I join a game?

Moderators take turns starting games. Once a moderator is ready to commence, they will post a sign up thread in the mafia forum. You may sign up for any game that has open slots remaining, but first you must read and respond to the forum rules. Once you have done that, post in the sign up thread for the game that has caught your eye.

If you have never played mafia before, you may want to watch a game so you get the hang of how things go. A great place to start for your first game is one of our weekly mini-mafia games. These 5-player games are simple, low pressure, and easy to understand, so you will be able to master the mechanics of mafia before moving on to our larger games.

Tips

- Have fun! It's just a game, and regardless of how players may act in game, we're all here to have fun playing a game we enjoy together.

- Don't be afraid to ask for pointers. Feel free to ask a veteran player to watch your play and give you suggestions. Check in the dead thread for games you aren't playing in, or ones in which you died. Talk to people who have played and get a feel for how you might do things differently, or areas in which you're doing really well.

- Check out our list of terminology. If you aren't sure what something means, it's a good place to start.