How to play Mafia: rules, roles and an online version
By EggVerse · · 6 min read
Mafia is a hidden role party game. A few players are secretly the mafia and everyone else is the town. The game swaps between night, when the mafia quietly choose someone to eliminate, and day, when the whole group argues and votes one person out. The town wins by voting out every mafia member. The mafia wins once they equal or outnumber the town.
You need at least six or seven people plus a narrator, and it tends to get better with more. There is no board and nothing to buy. A deck of playing cards is enough to hand out secret roles.
The roles
| Role | Side | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Narrator | Neither | Runs the game, wakes each role at night and announces what happened. Does not vote. |
| Mafia | Mafia | Wake together at night and silently agree on one player to eliminate. |
| Detective | Town | Points at one player each night; the narrator nods if that player is mafia. |
| Doctor | Town | Points at one player each night to protect. If the mafia chose that player, nobody dies. |
| Townsperson | Town | Sleeps through the night. Their power is their voice and their vote. |
A common rule of thumb is about one mafia member for every three or four players: two in a game of seven to nine, three in a game of ten to twelve. Too few, and one lucky guess ends it; too many, and the town never recovers. To deal roles with cards, pick one card per role (say, two black kings for the mafia, a red queen for the doctor, a red jack for the detective) and fill the rest with number cards.
How a night works
- The narrator says “Everyone, close your eyes.” Many groups tap their knees so small sounds do not give anyone away.
- “Mafia, open your eyes.” The mafia see who their partners are, point at a target until they agree, then close their eyes.
- “Doctor, open your eyes.” The doctor points at someone to save, then sleeps.
- “Detective, open your eyes.” The detective points at a suspect, the narrator nods or shakes their head, and the detective sleeps.
- “Everyone, wake up.”
How a day works
The narrator announces who was eliminated in the night, often with a short dramatic story, or that the doctor saved them. Eliminated players are out and stay silent for the rest of the game.
Then everyone talks: accuse, defend, claim a role if you dare. When someone is nominated and another player seconds it, the group votes. In most games a majority of living players is needed to eliminate someone; some groups accept whoever has the most votes. Many groups reveal the eliminated player’s role, while others keep it hidden so the town learns less. Then night falls again, and the cycle repeats until one side wins.
Variants, including Werewolf
- Werewolf: the same game with a village theme. Werewolves take the place of the mafia, and a Seer usually does the detective’s job.
- Extra roles: a Bodyguard who protects someone, a Vigilante who can eliminate one player once, or a Jester who wins by getting voted out.
- Day start: some groups begin with a day and a vote before anyone is eliminated, which makes the first vote pure guesswork.
- Closed setup: the narrator does not say which roles are in the game, so nobody can be sure a doctor exists.
- Small groups: with five or six players, use one mafia member and drop the doctor or the detective.
Tips for a first game
Town players learn more from votes than from speeches. Watch who pushes hard for an elimination and who quietly follows. Mafia players do best by voting with the crowd most of the time and defending a partner only a little. A detective who reveals too early usually becomes the next night’s target, so wait until the information can actually swing a vote.
Playing a Mafia style game online
Over a video call, Mafia is awkward: someone has to narrate and nobody can point. Bad Egg on EggVerse keeps the core of Mafia, a hidden traitor and a group that has to argue and vote, but the game does the narrating. It is free in the browser for four to eight players, who join from a link or a room code on a phone, tablet or computer.
How Bad Egg differs from Mafia
- One traitor: every round has exactly one bad egg, not a mafia team.
- No night: everyone walks around a house at the same time. The bad egg can crack an egg standing close by in the same room, then waits for a cooldown before the next one.
- Chores: every crew egg has three chores in different rooms. If the crew finishes them all, the crew wins even if nobody catches the bad egg. Cracked eggs become ghosts who can still do chores but cannot vote.
- Sabotage: the bad egg can put the lights out for 45 seconds. Nobody can finish a chore until someone repairs the power box in the garage.
- Meetings: walking near a cracked egg reports it automatically, and each egg can ring the living room bell once for an emergency meeting. A crew discussion chat opens, then everyone has 20 seconds to vote. A tie or a skip sends nobody out, and an ejected egg’s role is revealed.
- A clock: the bad egg wins if it gets down to one crew egg left, or if eight minutes of house time run out. Meetings pause that clock.
There is also a way to learn without an audience. Solo practice puts you in the house with five bots, and you choose whether to play the crew or the bad egg. A house tour with no bad egg lets you try the chores at your own pace first. On a computer you walk with WASD or the arrow keys and press M for the map; on a phone you use the thumb stick.
Questions people ask about Mafia
How many people do you need to play Mafia?
At least six or seven plus a narrator. Around ten to fifteen gives the most discussion. With five or six, use one mafia member and fewer special roles.
What is the difference between Mafia and Werewolf?
Mostly the theme. Werewolf swaps the mafia for werewolves and the town for a village, and the detective is usually called the Seer. Many Werewolf versions add more special roles.
Can you play Mafia without a narrator?
Not easily on paper, because someone has to run the night. Online versions do the narrating for you, so everyone can play.
Can three people play Bad Egg?
Not in a friends room: it needs four to eight players. With fewer, you can still practise solo against five bots.
Want more games where somebody is lying? See our party games page, or read about games like Among Us that run in a browser.