Basic Rules

In Mafia there is no concept of how to play it correctly. Here, everything is rather based on basic principles and “dances” from the functional meaning of each of the characters. Basic rules include, for example, a game plan.

The game begins at the moment when the Leader has been chosen and the cards have been dealt. At this moment, each player gets to know his character and, as a rule, begins to think through his behavior pattern and possible winning decisions within the game. The subtlety of the moment is to be able to successfully maintain composure and not lose face if you suddenly have some “interesting” role. Remember, in this city, not only you peer into every passing face, but also the other players are awake and closely watching you.

Subtleties of etiquette

If you don’t get hung up on the nuances, the basic rules of playing Mafia, even with additional character cards, are not difficult at all. Players should know the order of moves, the possible actions of the characters being played, and strictly follow the Leader’s instructions.

It should be borne in mind that if you play card Mafia with children, it is better to remove such additional characters as the Courtesan or Maniac from the “deck” if explaining the significance of their roles later poses some difficulty. Instead, you can add the number of civilians or increase the number of mafiosi per player.

Remember that voting presupposes an adequate, reasoned expression of your position. Squabbles and interruptions of other players are not welcome. Even if you are sure that the neighbor sitting next to you made an attempt on someone’s life last night, you should not unleash the dogs on him. The essence of the game is precisely in a competent and diplomatic showdown. And in the end, as in real life, the principle often works in the Mafia: “don’t judge, lest you be judged.” Who knows, perhaps you won’t survive the extra move due to your indefatigable agility, whereas it could become the main milestone of the process for you.

Tactics

There is no single universal technique in this case. Don’t forget that even if you play without masks, a mask can fit on everyone.

Your goal, if you have the fate of hunting civilians, is to blend into the crowd as much as possible, without forgetting about the main goal. Townspeople are advised to be more vigilant about the unexpected and spontaneous decisions of other players; often inexperienced mafiosi can give themselves away even with an accidentally dropped word. Additional characters, despite some privileges, sometimes have it even more difficult than Peaceful ones.

For example, in the case of the Commissioner - if you are aware of the role of a certain player, it is necessary, not to speak directly, to make it clear to others who is “evil” or who should not be touched under any circumstances. All other tricks are individual developments of each. The success of a player depends only on his personal qualities. In any case, over time, the experience necessary for victory will certainly be gained.

Game plan

The game plan presented below is the generally accepted one. Some points may change, but this is the basis. The initial conditions and whether all the characters provided in the set will be used in the Mafia game are discussed in advance. You have the right to choose both regular and Twister Mafia. The rules of the tabletop Mafia game will not complicate the process at all for any of the players, as they immediately become intuitive. Having delved into the essence of the process, you are unlikely to want to remember the time when you were still tormented by the question “How to play Mafia?” The only question that will occupy you is “When will I become a real mafia gangster?”

Phases

Dating night

As soon as the playing cards have been dealt face down, and the players have had time to familiarize themselves with their contents and have learned the roles that they will have to play during the next game, the Host announces the onset of acquaintance night. The wording he will use depends on who decides to take on this role. The only thing is that they must be understandable to all other participants and not contradict the general set of rules.

Meeting Night is designed for the Host to immediately become familiar with the personalities of each character. The order in which roles are declared does not play a special role. It looks something like this: “The Mafia is waking up. The mafia gets to know each other. Mafia members met. The mafia is falling asleep." (if there is a Don, the Don is specified here separately, who wakes up first along with all the mafiosi, and then in his own separate turn). Then the same thing happens with each of the game characters. Civilians, of course, don't count.
Usually they start with the Mafia and the Don (if there is one), then the Commissioner, Doctor, Confused and Maniac. All the other additional characters even more so come in any order. The choice of sequence is in the hands of the Leader. At the moment when one of the characters reveals his face, the eyes of all other participants should be closed; in this situation, masks are a great help.

On the same night, the Mafia gets to know each other, already at this stage choosing their first target. Their decision has not yet been confirmed.

The first day

This is the first phase of the game. Non-binding stage. As a rule, at this stage you can come up with fictitious names, professions, place of residence, etc. If the role element is not so important for your company, you can skip this stage and immediately move on to the next one.

First night

On this night, active actions begin. The Mafia chooses its first victim, and the Leader will have to wake up each of the characters. At this time, civilians are peacefully “sleeping”, pretending that nothing is happening around them. The order in which additional characters wake up from sleep is not particularly important.

The Mafia wakes up first. This is followed by the move of the remaining pieces. The Commissioner is trying to identify the Mafia, the Don is trying to identify the Commissioner, the Mistress is choosing a passion for herself, the Doctor is trying to identify a patient whom he will protect from any assassination attempts, the Maniac is mercilessly destroying any of the candidates at his discretion. If there are any other characters present, they also make their choice in the established order.

Second day

On this day, the Host announces the results of the night vendetta. As in the first, discussion and voting are held. There is often a practice when a newly retired character, if he was a representative of the civilian population, expresses his last opinion about who the mafia might be.

Night two

Night falls again. It proceeds similarly to the first. The mafia and other night activists make their choice for the second time. The order changes if one of the additional characters was “incapacitated” last night and now simply technically cannot wake up. These players are called “ghosts” for obvious reasons.

Day three

If the number of players is 6 people and the number of characters was initially reduced to a minimum, this day becomes decisive. Everything happens according to the same principle as in previous days. The number of subsequent days is usually strictly proportional to the initial number of players.

Ending the game

The game will be considered over if one of the parties uproots the other. That is: either representatives of the mafia exterminate civilians, or vice versa. In life for players, the Mafia usually never ends. Simple rules and intense gameplay are addictive.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in the Mafia. In order to plunge headlong into the process, you don’t need any special skills. Mafia is great for playing in both small and large companies and does not depend on the social, age or gender of the participants. If you play, following simple rules and understanding the simple mechanism of action, the time of each game will fly by for you. Of course, the Mafia has its drawbacks. For example, it requires some self-involvement and even a serious approach.

But this is amply compensated by the fact that you can approach it with creative enthusiasm, turning a board card game into some kind of complex multi-level role-playing game.

is a parlor team psychological turn-based role-playing game with a detective plot, simulating the struggle of members of an organized minority, informed about each other, with an unorganized majority.

Plot plot: Residents of the city, exhausted from the rampant mafia, decide to put every single mafioso in prison. In response, the mafia declares war until the complete destruction of all decent citizens.

Game description

Briefly (classic game)

The presenter distributes cards face down to the participants in the game.

Those who got the red ones form a team of “honest city residents” who do not know each other (the name “civilians” and the abbreviations “chzh”, “mzh” or “gr” are also common). One of the "honest residents" who received the red ace is a special player - the "commissar".

Players with black cards are the “mafia” team.

The gameplay is divided into two phases - “day” and “night”.

When the host announces the phase of night in the city, the players close their eyes and “sleep.” On the first night, the host allows players with black cards - the “mafia” - to open their eyes and remember their comrades - to “get acquainted”. After which the mafia “falls asleep”, and the presenter demands the commissioner to wake up. In this way, the presenter becomes aware of the layout (he finds out who is who).

When the phase of the day is announced, all residents wake up. During the day, the players discuss which of them may be “dishonest”—involved in the mafia. At the end of the discussion, the presenter announces an open vote for imprisonment (in different versions of the game this process is called lynching, hanging, murder). The most suspicious resident who gets the most votes is sent to jail (leaves the game), and the presenter reveals his card and announces the game status.

Then comes the “night” phase. At night, the mafia wakes up, silently (with gestures) “consults” and kills one of the surviving townspeople, showing the leader who exactly. The mafia is falling asleep. The commissioner wakes up and points to one of the residents whom he wants to “check” for involvement in the mafia. The presenter still silently, “on his fingers,” shows the commissioner the status of the person being inspected.

During the day, the presenter announces who was killed at night. This player leaves the game, his card (“status”) is shown to all residents.

Information about the events that took place is used by the surviving players for discussion and the next “condemnation”... The game continues until the complete victory of one of the teams, when the opponents are completely either imprisoned or killed...

The essence of the game

Researchers distinguish two types of games: competition (wrestling) and performance (masquerade). "Mafia" successfully combines features of both types. She is both a show and a struggle for survival. Unlike cards, this game has nothing to do with money, unlike golf, it does not require financial expenses, and unlike football, it does not require good physical preparation. Most importantly, it brings much-valued intellectual pleasure. The game's potential is hidden in the game's disinterested frivolity.

This game is unique. It is based, first of all, on communication, on discussions between participants. Deception and deceit, the conclusion and vile violation of treaties and alliances, constantly occur here and are actually legitimized. Discussion of the game situation takes place through a clash of opinions in incessant disputes, while some players prefer to remain silent, while others, on the contrary, participate too actively and noisily in the discussion. Thus, the game turns out to be infinitely far from the impartial duel of intellects characteristic of some board games (for example, chess, go), and this brings it closer to real life. The goal of the game is to survive with your team.

The game consists of two main components: psychological and mathematical.

Mathematical: Every “day” players need to remember who voted for whom and who the person they voted for turned out to be. At important moments, it is easy to determine that the one who voted more often for the honest ones is most likely the mafia.

Psychological: Players must have the acting ability to convince others of their honesty, as well as a strong gift for attracting others when voting for players suspected of dishonesty.

The axiom of every move is that there will be fewer living residents, some will be imprisoned, and some will be killed. The game has a paranoid atmosphere, with each move the nervousness escalates. Not a single honest resident knows for sure exactly who in the game belongs to the enemy team. Every ordinary citizen does not trust anyone and is forced to believe only in himself. Believing someone else unconditionally often means being deceived and dying.

In order to survive, each member of the mafia team has to remain in the shadows, not attract much attention from others, and skillfully dodge, masquerading as an honest citizen. The question “Are you really honest?” usual The main attribute of a mafioso is the ability to lie truthfully.

The main quality of an honest resident that commands respect and praise from others is the ability to recognize a lie in time. There are two main methods for honest residents to identify dishonest ones.

Analytical. The decision of the player-analyst, who sends a resident to jail, is based on objective data, that is, on irrefutable facts, such as, for example, self-confession (“punches”), obvious accusations of someone during a discussion, voting results.

Intuitive. The decision of the intuitive player is subjective, based on assumptions and interpretation of the discussion by interpreting verbal statements (including slips), intonation, facial expressions, and gestures. Intuition, for example, cannot distinguish a mafia member from a commissioner. Intuitive sees only the “glow of status” - a special state of internal superiority that appears among high-status players (mafiosi, commissar...), outwardly expressed by a disdainful attitude towards ordinary honest residents.

The psychology and “interest” of the game “Mafia” lies in solving the problem of which team will achieve victory. Mafia, where members of the group, knowing each other, are not inclined to allow voting for their own imprisonment, and which has the opportunity to accurately eliminate a member of someone else’s team every turn? Or a team of honest residents who don’t know each other, who can get rid of the mafiosi only through a general vote with the mafia, often by eliminating themselves?

Rules of the game

Number of players

Optimal: 8-16 people.

Possible: from 2 to 30.

With a small number of players, the game quickly ends; with a large number, it loses its meaning due to the general noise and division into groups of discussants.

You can play together, dealing three cards, one of which is face down. Players either decide which of them is the mafia, or the mafia is a hole card. Then, if they vote for a hole card, and if it is fair, the mafia wins, and if it is a mafia, the mafia loses. Or one of the players convinces the other that he himself is honest, and the other is the mafia and reveals a hole card. If it is mafia, the mafia wins.

Formula for calculating the number of mafia members: , where is the number of mafiosi, is the total number of players, is the calculated coefficient.

The result of the calculation is rounded down modulo to the nearest whole number.

For playing “live” - in salons (offline, in “real life”), in IRC and chats, it varies from 3 to 4. That is approximately.

In network games with a delay of the turn - PBEM and forum variants, games on blogs and social networks - an increased value for is usually taken.

For example, in PBEM, the reasons for this are:

Neutralization of “spoons” - this is the name given to people who have signed up for the game, but do not enter into in-game correspondence; Spoons are usually taken out of the game by autokill.

Amateur version of playing cards of the St. Petersburg branch of Kozanostra

Distribution of statuses

Cards: uncrumpled, unmarked, “honest” - red (diamonds or hearts), “mafia” - black (spades or clubs), “Commissar” - ace of diamonds (hearts), or the king of the same suits.

Possible: any small objects of two types - coins, plastic eggs from Kinder Surprises, pebbles on the beach (by color or cracks), shells... Example: you cannot deal cards with 6s from the preference deck - it is desirable that the backs are the same .

The presenter carefully shuffles the cards and goes around everyone else, giving out cards to choose from from the face-down cards fanned out. When receiving a card, you need to look at it unnoticed by your neighbors and put it in your pocket. Possible: After shuffling, the deck is passed around the circle, everyone takes out one card and passes it on. Minus - cards may fall. If the cards are wrinkled or have different backs, the presenter may ask the players to close their eyes before dealing, after which the players hide the cards in their pockets or under themselves.

Reaction to the hand: Many players, finding themselves in the mafia, lose at the time of the hand if they are being watched. Inexperienced and novice players, when receiving a mafia card, rejoice - “you don’t need to determine who is honest and who is the mafia - spank everyone.” By their joy one can understand their mafia affiliation. Experienced players do not show joy, but often have some habits - when they find themselves in the mafia, they begin to: swing on a chair, rub their hands, scratch their heads, take something from the table and start chewing.

First night

The host (usually one of the experienced players) asks if everyone has looked at their cards. Then he commands: “Everyone closed their eyes, night came.” All players close their eyes. The presenter says: “The mafia has opened its eyes and is getting acquainted.” Players with black cards (mafia) open their eyes and begin to look around in search of awake players (other members of the mafia). The presenter at this time can say: “I’m counting to 5. One, two, three, four, five. All. The mafia met and fell asleep. Morning has come. Everyone woke up."

Mafia on the first night: The mafia is required to wake up on the first night to meet. Anyone who has not woken up is breaking the rules of the game - later, when discussing during the day, members of the mafia will rely on incorrect data. It is necessary to get acquainted as carefully and silently as possible.

Honest on the first night and subsequent ones: One of the options (for beginners) is to sit as quietly as possible and listen to who is moving and where, whether chairs and beds are creaking, whether someone’s neck is cracking in search of friends. But this is not a game of better hearing, it is not forbidden to make noise, move and even talk - explaining: “It’s me in a dream...”. In critical situations - there are 1-2 more honest ones - the best option is to sit quietly. It is not prohibited, but it is not customary to hold your neighbors’ hands or close your eyes - the game is not about how you can point at someone with your knee.

The way the host speaks on the first night is one of the topics of discussion for the first day. Therefore, it is better not to turn your head from side to side and speak at the same time - if you are in the mafia. However, you can always say that he turned his head on purpose.

First day

The players exchange information: about the reaction to the hand, how the presenter led it, what was heard at night, how the mood of the players changed during the night. The conversation can proceed in any way: “Only he is the only one with glasses - that means the mafia.” “She was moving all night.” “Vasya drank tea at night and didn’t wet himself—that means he’s a mafia.” “The presenter at night said - and the mafia is 3, - but I thought 4.” Both honest and mafia can use honest and dishonest arguments, both true and false information, to convince others that they are right. On the first day, novice players are easily seated - mafiosi, delighted at the distribution, or uncomfortably seated at night and forced to make noisy introductions. Experienced players, finding themselves in the mafia together, sometimes start laughing merrily after the first night, hoping to win easily - this is what lets them down. They often kill on the first day in a single impulse: an experienced player holds his hand up for someone for a long time, persuading everyone to kill this comrade.

Vote. Voting is a process when live players raise their hands to seat someone and hold them for some time (5 seconds or more). If a player is sent to prison - more than half of the players held their hands for more than 5 seconds, he does not have any "last word". If his exclamations convince some of the players to give up, then he may or may not have the “last word.” “The last word” is not part of the game, it is one of the ways to save your life during the discussion. After voting, the player reveals his card, all discussion ends, players try to remember who voted for and against. If the player is honest, then those who imprisoned him are under suspicion; if they are mafiosi, then those who did not vote are suspected.

Subsequent events

Night. The presenter announces: “Everyone has fallen asleep. The mafia has woken up and is choosing a victim.” At this time, the mafia players consult with their eyes and show, for example, with their fingers, who to kill. Or the presenter points one by one at the sleeping people, and the mafia waves their head affirmatively. The mafia tries to kill the most experienced players who can identify its members, or those who make very convincing excuses and who are difficult to imprison during the day, those who expressed suspicions against the mafia the previous day. However, for an interesting game of equal strength, they usually don’t kill experienced players - this is what novice mafiosi do, so it’s easy to identify them later. The one who expressed suspicions is not always killed - before the night they say: “Well, that’s it. I figured out the mafia - it's you, you and you. Now this night they will kill me.” That's why he is left alive. The best option is to kill the commissioner. You can also kill a member of the mafia (usually in a non-critical situation), when everyone is sure that he belongs to the mafia team, and he will definitely be killed during the day. The presenter tries not to speak at night, constantly watching the mafia so as not to give it away. The player is considered killed during the night if all mafia members agree. At night, the mafia must agree who they actually take out of the game with their shot.

Morning. The presenter announces: “The mafia has chosen its victim. The mafia fell asleep. The commissioner woke up." The commissioner wakes up and chooses who to check. Only one player can be checked. The Commissioner points to someone. The presenter silently nods: “Yes, mafia,” or waves his head: “No, honest.” If the commissioner is killed that night, even before checking him, the presenter shows crossed arms - this means that the commissioner is killed, but the commissioner still has the right to check one player. If the commissioner points at a player, and he has just been killed, then the presenter also shows crossed arms - the “corpse” cannot be honest or mafia. The commissioner checks the players who cause him the most suspicion, or who are absolutely honest, so that it is clear who to rely on during the discussion. If the game is played with a non-team maniac playing for himself, then in response to the commissioner’s question the presenter twirls his finger at his temple, indicating that the player being tested is a “maniac” (and not the commissioner – an idiot).

Day. The presenter says: “The commissioner checked. I found out everything. Asleep. Everyone woke up. And only Petya did not wake up. And Petya was an honest resident...” The murdered man’s card is revealed. If the commissioner is killed during the day, then the presenter then skips the morning of the commissioner. On the second and all subsequent days there is a huge amount of information: who voted for whom and when, what happened and who was killed at night, who behaved how, who was checked by the commissioner, how many mafiosi remained. Players try to make chains: “If Misha is in the mafia, then who else? Masha and Vanya." Everyone makes their own lists of suspects. Voting occurs when players do not receive half the votes. Voting lists are compiled (oral) - like: “Alla, Petya, Vanya were proposed. Let's vote for Alla."

Game situations

The commissioner, who decides to “reveal himself” to honest residents without revealing his card (usually explicit revealing of cards by living players is prohibited), announces: “At night I checked Kolya, and he turned out to be a mafia. Who is for Kolya? If such a “appearance of Christ to the people” is critical for the survival of the mafia, then one of the mafia members often decides to “false commissarship” and says “Ha! Commissioner, however, here I am! And I checked the honest resident Yulia! It is convenient for the mafia to report that their fake commissioner checked everyone who was subsequently killed. Also, sometimes after a night a simple honest man says this, if in front of him a real commissar whispers in his ear all the information he has, and then he is killed.

With an even number of players (in some variants of the game), the corpse has a “half-voice”. But he has the right to vote only if the number of honest residents and the mafia is equal - that is, in critical situations. However, he can only raise his hand at the time of voting and has no right to take part in the discussion. In order to find out the opinion of the “half-corpse”, if it is not possible to get half the votes, and the honest ones are confident in the knowledge of the half-corpse, living players vote for all the living ones in turn, raising exactly 1 hand less than the required number. If suddenly someone raises an extra hand, honest players immediately give up and the main suspicion falls on the one who raised his hand.

You can’t call your card, like “I have 6 diamonds again.” The game is not about determining the card, but about honesty or mafia. If an inexperienced player, or an experienced one, says so, there should immediately be someone who has the same card.

When playing, most often the same people get mafia or honest cards, and it also often happens that during several games the commissioner is the same person. Therefore, a player who refers to the theory of probability most often belongs to the mafia.

Experienced players often split into pairs - on the very first day they start accusing each other of being a mafia and calling for votes for “well, an obvious maf!”, but at the same time they do not vote themselves. In the following days, the charges are usually dropped.

"The corpses are silent." Killed players do not have the right to speak during the discussion, give out any information to the living, or in any way influence the course of the game: “Well, it’s already clear. Hurry up". The leader monitors the peace of the dead and imprisoned.

"Honest but stupid." For an experienced (honest) player, an inexperienced and honest one is often more dangerous than the mafia, since he rarely gives in to persuasion and votes randomly, or according to the principle: “But he didn’t give me a chocolate bar just now.” Therefore, it also makes sense to vote for such people during the day. There are also “quiet” honest ones (usually girls), with pacifist inclinations, who do not vote for anyone, even if they are involved in a mafia group. These also need to be killed early, as they cannot be identified, and not voting often delays the game very much. There are also “loud” honest people who, having become convinced that someone is a mafia, do not change their opinion until their death or his death, convincing others of this. There are “touchy” honest ones who say, “me again, and what is this again? Vasya, you are a fool. I won’t play with you anymore...” sometimes ending up in the ranks of the mafia. You can't play like that.

Tactics in the game

"Honesty"

“Gang of Siskins” (used mainly in chats and IRC).

This tactic consists in forming a group of honest residents (in gaming slang, “siskins”) against the mafia, who know the commissioner (sometimes also the doctor and the maniac). As a rule, its education begins with an inspection by the commissioner of one “siskin” to whom he identifies himself. Uniting in a gang allows the “siskins” to sharply reduce the mafia’s ability to exterminate citizens during daytime voting. If the mafia is discovered at night, one of the “siskins” begins a vote against him during the day, which is supported by everyone else. One of the mafia members, posing as a commissioner, can also start forming a gang of “siskins”. After checking his accomplice at night, he tells one of the other participants that he is a maf, and he, accordingly, is a commissioner. After unanimously voting for an accomplice (who, naturally, turns out to be a mafia), the victim of deception usually has no doubt that the commissioner is the one who pointed him to the “mafioso.” A real commissioner is forced to create a parallel gang and check at night those whom his chosen confidant points to - in order to prove that he is a real commissioner. In addition to creating a gang with a false commissioner, the main tactic of the mafia against the “siskins” is not the destruction of the “siskins” themselves (players verified by the commissioner), but the search for the commissioner. If the mafia manages to kill him at night, then the chances of the “siskins” to win drop sharply, only if the game has not gone so far that there are already a lot of “siskins” and they can destroy all “suspicious” (unverified) citizens during the day.

"Bullhorn" (applicable only in PBEM)

An honest resident killed or imprisoned in the first move becomes a “mouthpiece” - a connecting (between the commissioner with his assistants and unverified citizens) and an advisory (between the commissioner, his assistants and verified honest residents) link. In the morning, the mouthpiece sets the tone of the discussion, asking citizens for candidates for possible mafiosi and/or offering to speak out about someone, and in the evening it summarizes the city’s opinion and, after consultation with the commissioner, gives the city a recommendation (“order”) to imprisonment.

"Setup"

It is used by the mafia and consists of deliberately voting against one of the partners, or committing any other deliberate actions that contribute to the disclosure of his role. This tactic is undertaken in order to divert suspicion from the framing members of the mafia at the expense of the framing member. In the classic version, it is a vote against an accomplice who has not been checked, and further appeals to the community that the mafia does not reveal its own.

"False commissarship"

It consists in the fact that at the beginning of the game one of the honest residents introduces himself to the city as a commissioner, exposing himself to the mafia's shot, but protecting the real commissioner, giving him the right to live and check for at least an extra day.

"Spoonboy"

The practice of eliminating silent players (“spoons”) not only pushes players to play more actively, but also does not allow high-status players to remain quiet.

1) Preparing for the game

A leader is selected, usually one of the experienced players. Then you need to decide which characters and modifications will be in the game. This directly depends on the number of players participating. To get maximum interest, we recommend playing with the lineups listed below, but perhaps you will find more interesting combinations for your company.

▪ 3-5 players: one mafia, a doctor, a prostitute, the rest are civilians. It is advisable to play with the modifications “Without a leader” and “Game with a drug addict”. Don't add extra. characters.
▪ 6-8 players: two mafias, a doctor, a prostitute, a commissioner, and the rest of the civilians. Modifications and extras characters as desired.
▪ 9-10 players: three mafias, a doctor, a prostitute, a commissioner, and the rest of the civilians. Modifications and extras characters as desired.
▪ 11-14 players: four mafias, a doctor, a prostitute, a commissioner, and the rest of the civilians. Modifications and extras characters as desired.
▪ 13 or more players: mafia (calculate its number by dividing the number of players by three), doctor, prostitute, commissar, the rest are civilians. Modifications and extras characters as desired.

Having decided on the cast of characters, they are mixed and distributed so that no one sees other people's roles.

2) Night

The host announces the onset of night, everyone must close their eyes. Next, the presenter announces the characters’ moves in the order indicated below. The named character opens his eyes and performs actions corresponding to his role, after which he falls asleep again.

Order of moves at night:
1. Mafia
2. Doctor
3. Prostitute
4. Commissioner
Note: add. characters go to the queue indicated in their description.
After all the characters have fulfilled their role, the presenter announces the onset of morning.

3) Morning

Everyone opens their eyes. The presenter announces who did not survive this night. At the same time, he does not tell any details about what happened at night (who was treated, who was shot at, who was checked, etc.). Dead players are eliminated from the game without their roles being announced.

4) Day

The presenter announces the trial. The players begin to exchange information: what was heard at night, how the mood of the players changed during the night, and any other facts justifying or blaming other players. The conversation can proceed in any way: to convince others that you are right, honest and dishonest arguments, both true and false information, are used. When everyone has expressed their opinion, the preliminary voting can begin.
Every surviving player is required to vote. You cannot vote against two or more players at once. After the preliminary vote, the accused try to justify themselves and everyone begins to challenge each other's votes. When the players have no more arguments left, they can proceed to the final vote. It is not necessary to vote against the same players in the final vote. You cannot change your vote based on the final vote. The player against whom the majority votes goes to prison and is eliminated from the game without announcing his role. In a situation where the votes are equally divided, it is considered a “vote drain.” It plays into the hands of the mafia, but sometimes it makes sense to be.
Night falls again. The game continues until the last eliminated mafioso says that there is no more mafia in the game, and civilians have won, or until only mafiosi remain in the game.

RULES OF ETIQUETTE

1. Explicit disclosure of one’s role is prohibited. You can only try to convince people that you are this or that character, although completely open games are not interesting, moreover, you risk being quickly killed.
2. Retired players must silently observe the game process and not show their emotions to those still playing.
3. The presenter should not obviously address the acting characters at night, thereby giving them away. You should always speak in one direction, or, on the contrary, randomly change the direction of your head.
4. Create comfortable conditions for all players to operate unhindered at night.
5. The point of the game is not in winning, but in the process: by spying at night, you ruin the game for yourself and others.
6. It is welcomed when the presenter does not dryly announce the characters’ moves, but verbally plays out what is happening, setting the mood of the game.

MODIFICATIONS

It should be clear that most modifications, add. characters and statuses cannot be used in the game at the same time, otherwise the status content of the party will exceed a certain limit of psychological sensitivity, after which the thread of the game will be lost, its psychologism will disappear. And “Mafia”, as a team psychological game, cannot lose one of its foundations. But still, many modifications are worth trying.

"Openly". Eliminated players show their card. You can also agree that the presenter will talk about all the details of the night (who was treated, who was shot at, etc.).

Without a leader. This modification is useful if there are not many people with you, but you still want to play. A game in which the presenter, like everyone else, gets a role, falls asleep at night and votes during the day. At the same time, the presenter still announces the order of moves at night and controls the voting process. Pointers are required to play. Anything can serve as pointers (toothpicks, forks, matches, etc.), but it is important that everyone has the same pointers. Before the night, all players place one hand so that any other player can easily reach it. At night, the characters touch their targets with a pointer, and the target, in turn, remembers who interacted with it. When morning comes, everyone says whether he is alive or dead, without giving any details. After the first player leaves the game, he can become the leader.

For an extra hand. At the preparation stage, it is necessary to take one more role than the number of players, distribute it, and put the remaining role aside so that no one sees it. The modification creates additional intrigue in the game. There must be at least two mafiosi in such a game.

Game with a drug addict. A game in which there may not be a mafia. Be sure to play with the modification “without a leader” and “with an extra hand” (but with one mafioso). At night everything happens as usual. If none of the players in the morning says that he died, then the player who was not shot by the mafia, but was treated by the doctor, understands that there is no mafia in the game (otherwise there would be victims) and becomes a drug addict. No one except him knows whether there is a mafia in the game or a drug addict has appeared. You can become a drug addict only on the first morning; all subsequent single treatments by the doctor do not turn people into drug addicts. The drug addict ceases to fulfill his former role, and from now on will wake up instead of the mafia and act in its turn. All the victims of the drug addict die, just like the victims of the mafia. The doctor continues to treat according to all the rules, regardless of whether he is killed by a drug addict or the mafia. The goal of the drug addict is to kill the doctor, who in turn must carefully hide. The drug addict will lose if he or the doctor is sent to prison. The goal of civilians is to guess as quickly as possible whether there is a mafia in the game or a drug addict has appeared and imprison the killer. In this modification, the drug addict and the doctor are required to reveal their card after being eliminated from the game.

Name in blood. After declaring the player dead, he names the alleged killer. This vote counts towards the final vote. There is no need to leave your name in blood.

Mayor of the city. On the first morning, players choose the mayor of the city. The mayor's vote is equal to two votes. If the mayor is killed or imprisoned, a new mayor is elected. If the votes are divided when electing a mayor, the elections are postponed to the next morning.

Blind mafia. Modification for experienced players. Mafiosi agree on who to kill exclusively during the day using secret signs and gestures. You cannot play with the “without a leader” modification. The mafia only wakes up on the first night. The facilitator gives them time to get to know each other and agree on plans. On all subsequent nights on their turn, the mafia does not open its eyes, the host names all the players in order and the mafia raises its hand to kill or not (you can only raise your hand once). The one for whom the mafia raised more hands is considered killed by the mafia. If the mafia votes are evenly divided, then the murder does not occur.

Three-way game. A game in which there is another mafia group, the Yakuza. Either “Mafia” or “Yakuza” or “Civilians” can win. Taking special roles into the game is encouraged. You cannot take more than one special role for each group.

On our website www.skvirl.ru you can see other modifications, additional characters, specialized roles and a lot of interesting information about the game “Mafia”.

If you often meet with friends and don’t know what to do, then try playing the fun and exciting game “Mafia”. Its rules are very simple, but there are some tricks that will help you win.

How did such a game come about?

The history of the Mafia game, according to researchers, goes back to 1986. Surprisingly, it was invented by a Soviet student at the Faculty of Psychology at Moscow State University, Dmitry Davydov.

At first, the games took place exclusively in university dormitories, but then, when students began to travel to different countries to receive postgraduate professional education, they spread throughout Europe, and then they learned about the “Mafia” in other parts of the world.

And now, today it is one of the most popular, and entire tournaments are organized and broadcast on television.

What will you need?

To play “Mafia” in the company of friends, you will need a deck of cards (regular or special, with all the symbols) and the players themselves. The optimal number of participants is eight people, but there may well be more.

If among your friends there are those whose honesty you doubt, then you will also need masks that do not allow light to pass through, for example, for sleeping. Then everyone will be confident that no one will spy on anyone.

The essence of the game

The rules of the game "Mafia" are very simple. All players are divided into several categories, the most basic of which are civilians and mafia. There are also some other characters in the game, and each of them performs its own specific functions. But in the end, either the mafiosi or civilians must win.

Roles

In different variations of the game "Mafia" there may be different roles. In the simplest version, there are only two categories: civilians and mafia. You will also need a presenter who will comment on the progress of the game, monitor compliance with its rules, and also announce intermediate and final results.

So, the roles could be as follows:

• Civilians. They, in fact, do not perform any functions. Their main task is to find out who the mafia is and is killing innocent citizens.
• The mafia are the main villains who kill civilians at night. There can be two, three or even more mafiosi, depending on the total number of players.
• The Doctor can treat townspeople killed by the mafia.
• Putana or Fallen Woman is an auxiliary character. This player spends the night with one of the participants in the game and thereby saves him from death if the mafiosi make an attempt on his life.
• The Commissioner or Policeman keeps order and can arrest murder suspects.
• Also in some versions there is a maniac. He can take the side of both civilians and the mafia, or simply play for himself and protect his own interests. At night, he strangles people, after which they cannot speak, but communicate using gestures.

Game process

So how do you learn to play? It's quite simple. The entire gameplay is divided into two main phases: day and night. At night, all players perform their main tasks, and during the day, discussion begins.

Main stages of the game:

1. First, all players draw cards and figure out what roles they will play. If regular cards are used, the sixes usually represent civilians, the aces the mafia. Kings can fit the roles of Commissioner and Doctor. The jack can be a Maniac, and the queen can be a Confusion. It is important that each player sees only his own card, otherwise the meaning of the game is lost.
2. Then the first day begins. Players can come up with names for themselves, get acquainted, as well as evaluate each other’s behavior and even draw their first conclusions (but they will not be taken into account).
3. Next comes the first night. Representatives of the mafia are waking up. They open their eyes, get acquainted and make a choice. This concludes the first night, because the remaining characters cannot yet guess who got what roles.
4. Second day. The host announces who was killed by the mafia. Next, a discussion begins, during which suspects are identified, and the one chosen by vote reveals his card and is automatically eliminated from the game.
5. The second night will be interesting as all the characters become active. The presenter announces the participants in a certain order, and they perform their direct functions. First, the mafia does its “dirty deeds”. Next, the Doctor comes into play and treats the supposedly injured citizen. Now Putana wakes up and decides with whom she will spend the night. Then it’s the Commissioner’s turn, and he must put in prison the one he suspects of the murders. And then a maniac may wake up, choose a victim and strangle her.
6. It's day again. The presenter announces the events that happened during the night. If the dead person was saved by the Doctor or Putana, his identity is not made public. If Putana is killed, then her “client” automatically dies. If the Commissioner made a mistake, then the presenter should also not say who he considered the killer, otherwise some cards will be revealed. The person killed is eliminated from the game, then the discussion begins again. But the strangled person does not take part in it, or rather, does not speak, but only gesticulates.

The game continues until either all the mafiosi are killed, or the criminals outnumber the law-abiding citizens.

The discussion can take place in different scenarios. The simplest is a general vote. That is, the players put forward their assumptions, consult with each other, explain their behavior or justify themselves if they are accused. Then everyone votes, and thus it is decided who is the mafia.

Voting may also have some nuances. So, all players can vote in turn, and the leader will count the votes. But candidates can also be nominated one by one, and then the counting will be simpler.

When the main suspect is identified, he can say his last word (this is not always allowed), and if someone has changed his mind, he can change his vote. A candidate can be considered selected if more players or an absolute majority vote for him. Then he reveals the card and is eliminated, and the game continues.

Subtleties and rules of etiquette

To make the game interesting, you need to consider some tips and rules:

• If the players could not decide on a suspect, and two candidates received an equal number of votes, then the discussion begins again, then the players vote only for the two candidates chosen in the first round.
• You can only vote for one player.
• It is forbidden to reveal your role, otherwise the meaning of the game will be lost.
• Eliminated players must silently and without emotion observe the progress of the game, without betraying the other participants.
• It is advisable to remove all players from each other so that they do not touch or feel movements at night, this is often confusing.
• Don't peek, then it will simply be uninteresting to play!
• If, after dealing the cards, one player finds out the role of the other, then the cards are dealt again.
• You should not make a bet, swear, or attract religious views or principles. Everyone should be on equal terms.
• During the game, carefully monitor all players, ask compromising questions and evaluate their answers and reactions.
• At night, all participants should behave as quietly as possible, since any movements can attract attention and make others suspect not the culprits, but the noisiest players.
• The presenter must keep his head straight when addressing the players at night so that the participants cannot figure out the roles based on the direction of his voice.
• What is important is not the victory, but the process itself, because it is exciting and interesting!
• If you don’t know how to lie, then try to act as calmly as possible. You should probably practice.

Be sure to try playing “Mafia” in a fun company!

The game of "Mafia" is, first of all, a collective hobby, which should model the relationship between members of a criminal organization who constitute a minority and the unorganized majority. But many people wonder how to play mafia, what are the rules of the game?

The game was invented and brought to life 30 years ago by MSU student D. Davydov. From the very beginning, it was aimed at a wide circle; it was used in dormitories and during breaks in educational institutions. Subsequently it became widespread and became known throughout the world.

Game plot

The plot is that the city residents no longer want to tolerate rampant crime and decide to get rid of all the criminals. In response, the criminal world decides to destroy every single honest citizen. A fight begins in which a winner must be determined.

The situation as it develops leads to two ways of introducing struggle, which include direct struggle and masquerade, where people in conflict with the law hide their identity from their opponents. Mafiosi easily adapt to both, while honest citizens, on the contrary, experience big problems.

This is a show and a battle for survival in one format, the process does not require any investment or physical strength. Intelligence and luck are valued first.

Mafia game rules

Here, like everything, there are established rules that you need to know before sitting down at the gaming table. To start playing, you need the number of participants to reach 8 people, the best option is when the number of players reaches 16 people.

At the beginning, cards are dealt, everyone receives their first card. It indicates the role of the person who received it, his affiliation with one of the teams, and the recipient must keep this information secret from others.

Cards come in black and red. Red means that the owner of the card is a peaceful person, black means that it is a bandit. If, for example, 10 people participate, then 7 red and 3 black cards are issued.

Players are divided into two opposing teams - gangsters and residents, who, as a rule, do not know each other. Individuals have a certain status, for example the second team has a key person, the police commissioner, and their opponents have a leader called "Don". The commissioner has the right to check the personal status of any team member at night, and, if he deems it necessary, kill the gangster

The rules prohibit players from giving or pronouncing oaths, they have no right to make any bets, or spy on the other participants. The voter has the right to choose only one candidate during the poll.

Process of playing Mafia

The passage does not contain any difficulties; simplicity and convenience highlight this way of spending time. Immediately after receiving the cards, each player recognizes the side he occupies, which only he himself knows, a leader appears, a kind of leader in everything.

The gameplay consists of two parts - open struggle during the day and secret struggle at night. The sequence of actions looks like this:

• The first night is the night when the players get to know each other.
• The host declares that night has come, both teams must put masks on their faces.
• The leader gives the command, the mafiosi wake up, recognize each other’s identities and the identity of the leader.
• The mafia men then put on masks and pretend to be asleep, at the same time the civilians wake up and recognize each other and their identities.
• After the participants showed themselves to the boss and put on their masks again.
• The day is coming again.

Types of roles in the game "Mafia"

1. There are two types of participants in the confrontation: active and passive players. As a rule, gangsters are primarily active participants.

1. The active role means that its owner wakes up at night, making his moves allowed by the existing rules. These measures are aimed at identifying enemy individuals and destroying them, everyone who is not a member of the mafia.
2. In the event of a murder, the leader announces this to members of both teams and allows the eliminated player to make a farewell speech.

1. On the contrary, the enemies of the mafiosi become more active at night, the goal of the enemies of crime is to identify the identities of all gangsters and put them to death. Gangsters during the daytime need to not give themselves away and not attract unnecessary suspicion.

1. Criminals are executed after a poll, this happens during the day. The court is announced by the presenter, and the participants in the game express their opinions about the accused. The "blacks" seek to confuse the "reds" by giving false information as the proceedings progress.
2. All participants in the game vote, both civilians and their opponents.

1. It is important for civilians not to make a mistake in their decision, otherwise an innocent person may become the victim of their mistake. Mafiosi always strive for this. If the accusation is true, then the criminals seek to overwhelm the vote by convincing as many of their opponents as possible that the accused person is not a member of the mafia. One participant is eliminated per day, after a quick vote and subsequent execution.
2. Then night falls again, the mafia chooses one victim from their team of opponents. Game continues.

Participants have the right to choose a strategy, which is an undoubted advantage of this game. But the framework defined by the rules of the game prohibits showing your cards to anyone or taking off your mask.

All this can happen only in the case when the participant lost and was removed from the game process.

Game finale

Day and night alternate as the two teams fight. Everything ends with a categorical victory for one of the parties. The presenter should sum up the results. Civilians win when all the gangsters are exterminated, this is the final goal.

Victory will be achieved when the last criminal is identified and sent to execution.

The mafia wins if its numbers are equal to the number of their enemies. If this happens, the mafiosi automatically win, which must be announced by the presenter in a timely manner.

Playing mafia has its advantages compared to other similar games. It is attractive because the players themselves decide how to play; nothing is required from the participants except resourcefulness and luck.

Video: rules of the game “Mafia”