Mafia

Also Known as...

Gangster

Similar to...

Drug Dealer

Players
5+

Equipment
Deck of Cards, Booze

Intoxication Level

Low

Setup

The game is best with a large group of people. One person is designated to be the "narrator" for one game, with narrators switching out between games. The number of Cards used is equal to the number of players. Including one Ace, one King, and one Queen.

The narrator passes out cards to players, who may only look at their own cards, making sure not to allow other players to see their cards. Even the narrator might not know the roles until the people assigned roles are called upon.

Regular cards (2-Jack) are townspeople. Ace is Mafia. King is detective. Queen is doctor.

At the beginning of a round, after everyone has gotten their card (and their role), the narrator instructs everyone to "go to sleep" (close their eyes).

Gameplay

The Narator will then ask only the Mafia to "wake up" (open their eyes), so that the player with the Ace is the only player with their eyes open (other than the Narator). Then he asks who the Mafia wants to "kill", and that person will silently indicate (point to) which person is to be "wacked" (killed). After that, the "Mafia" will close their eyes again.

Then the narrator will ask for the detective (player with the King) to wake up and indicate who they want to "check". The detective will silently indicate one person, and the narrator will either nod or shake his head to indicate whether or not that person is the "Mafia". Then the detective goes back to sleep.

Then the narrator calls upon the doctor (person with the Queen) to wake up and select who they want to "save". If the player they chose is the same as the person the Mafia chose to be killed off in that round, the player will not be "killed off" it will simply be called a "close call".

Then the narrator asks everyone to "wake up", and the narrator tells the story about what happened making sure not to give away the identity of the players. The surviving players get five minutes to vote on who to "put in jail" (who they think is the Mafia). If the incorrect person is put in jail, they are out of the game, everyone drinks and the game continues. Everyone who is killed or put in jail must drink.

The game continues until either everyone is killed off/ put in jail or the townspeople or the detective manage to catch the Mafia. Then a new game may begin with a new narrator who re-deals.

Narrator Draw (Variation A)

Some play that one Joker or Jack is dealt in the deck and the Narator is chosen by who draws the Joker or Jack. In which case the drawing player immediately announces that they are the Narrator, shows, and discards the card. Then play begins as normal.

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