Notes
- The single detective publishes a large list of innocents, and asks to be lynched to guarantee its veracity (under the standard rules in which the detective's role is revealed after she is killed, no strategic interference from the Mafia is possible): Braverman, M.; Etesami, O.; Mossel, E. (2008). "Mafia: A Theoretical Study of Players and Coalitions in a Partial Information Environment". Annals of Applied Probability. 18 (3): 12. arXiv:math/0609534. Bibcode:2006math......9534B. doi:10.1214/07-aap456. S2CID 14668989.
- As of November 2007, five card-based versions of this game are sold, and all require one player to become a Seer. The "Do you worship Cthulhu Deck Setup". Archived from the original on 27 January 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2007. specifies that a Seer card be dealt to someone even with the (minimum) five players. Similarly, the Lupus in Tabula Preparation calls for the Seer card to be dealt to somebody even if the game is played with the minimum number of players (eight). Getting Started with Ultimate Werewolf Role Selection advises that even the introductory game should include the Seer (with further optional roles being added in addition to the seer in later games). Werewolves of Millers hollow uses the Fortune Teller name for the Detective but the role is identical to the standard seer/angel/detective, and is again mandatory, having its own phase of the night in the basic rules. (As does the Seer in Are You a Werewolf? – though it is after the werewolves' phase.)
- For example, "The Mafia rules (MIT)"., from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are very simple, and specify roles for 7–20 players, always including at least one Detective. Andrew Plotkin's original Werewolf always includes a Villager (Seer), and he mentions that in 1997 Mafia was played in the National Puzzlers' League convention with a Knight Commandant. (The role of the Knight Commandant or Knight is described in detail as having the standard Detective powers in: "National Puzzlers' League – 1997 Convention Reports". Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.) Plotkin describes Davidoff's original game (which had no Detective) as well off the current average. A rare modern rule-set with No Inspector is: Engstrom, Vegard (1999). "The Game Player Constellations". Retrieved 15 June 2010.[permanent dead link] but only when starting with five, larger groups get at least one inspector.
- For example, Vigilante in the "Princeton rules".
- For example, The Oracle in Werewolf chooses one person to investigate every night, and are shown their card, unless they pick the Master Werewolf – when the Oracle is shown an (innocent) villager card.
- For example, as described on Ultimate Werewolf's Little Girl Card, and in the first non-introductory role suggested by Wired: The Child spies at night when the werewolves are killing, and only when the werewolves are killing, by opening her eyes ever so slightly
- Depending on the variant, they may know the identities of the Mafia, but this isn't required; they usually indicate the player to protect in a separate phase of gameplay (a separate part of the night) than the Mafia's killing phase. The Mafia-Doctor is a mafioso, and a more obscure variant role, with the opposite power (from the Doctor) of protecting the guilty from attack during the day.
- The protected player gains complete invulnerability during the night they are visited by the Doctor or Bodyguard. The Mafia do not usually know the identity of the protected player, nor get a chance to select another victim, so this attack is wasted if the Mafia target a protected player (e.g., "Bodyguard, Lupus in Tabula". Archived from the original on 24 December 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2007.).
- For example, see the 2+2 rule-set describing the Nurse: "Mafia rules".
- For example, the Witch in Werewolves of Miller's Hollow has only one use of her protective potion. She is allowed to see who was killed by the werewolves before applying the protective potion, so this character is more typical of the reanimation than the protective type.
- "Do you worship Cthulu Roles and Quick Reference Script". Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2007.. This makes the vigilante as lethal as the entire Mafia, potentially overbalancing the game, which has led to the introduction of roles that limit his effectiveness, such as the Walrus role-blocker.
- The Hunter appears in Werewolves of Miller's Hollow, for example. The Woodcutter is a (less common) equivalent name for the role. Wired recommends including the hunter in even the most basic games: "Original Werewolf characters". Wired UK. January 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- The Godfather role is played differently between variants. If immunity to detection is the Godfather's only power, his leadership of the Mafia need only be nominal: "Name: Godfather". Archived from the original on 27 February 2007.
- The thief's action usually applies for a single night, as in: "Mafia Game: IRC Version". Archived from the original on 15 December 2007.. The thief sometimes has a purely investigative function – being only able to determine the roles from stolen items."Thief". Archived from the original on 27 February 2007.
- Bennet, J. "Mafia: Advanced rules" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2011. In other variants, the mafia can't kill anyone else on the night this power is used. The potential existence of a Yakuza makes innocents with protective roles less inclined to reveal their roles for fear of being converted (or more inclined to reveal themselves if they expect the Mafia to win and wish to be converted).
- The Medium function varies, for example see summarized 'Medium-enabled seance' rules from Werewolf at: "boredgamegeeks". 8 September 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2007., as opposed to the Lupus in Tabula Medium, who alone can uncover the alignment of the deceased (see: "Lupus in Tabula (English rules) Special Characters".).
- The Witch was introduced as a special character in The Werewolves of Millers Hollow, where she also has a single-use killing potion. She may be able to revive herself with the "reanimation potion", see: Original Werewolf characters
- The bulletproof effect typically applies to night-time killings and is usually temporary, for example, the Ultimate Werewolf Amulet of Protection (bulletproof vest equivalent) protects over only a single night. Rare optional roles do give permanent protection from mafia attack, such as the Lupus in Tabula Werehamster Archived 24 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
References
- Davidoff, Dimitry. "The Original Mafia Rules" (PDF).
- Braverman, M.; Etesami, O.; Mossel, E. (2008). "Mafia: A Theoretical Study of Players and Coalitions in a Partial Information Environment". Annals of Applied Probability. 18 (2): 825–846. arXiv:math/0609534. Bibcode:2006math......9534B. doi:10.1214/07-AAP456. S2CID 14668989. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.
- Robertson, Margaret (4 February 2010). "Werewolf: How a parlour game became a tech phenomenon". Wired.
- Popova, Anna (30 August 2014). "'Mafia': The internationally loved game that was invented in Russia". Gateway To Russia.
- Plotkin, Andrew. "Werewolf".
- Herkewitz, William (28 September 2019). "How a Soviet Social Experiment Became a Game for Liars". Popular Mechanics.
- Wang, Shitong (30 August 2024). "Optimal Strategy in Werewolf Game: A Game Theoretic Perspective" – via arXiv.
- Danopoulos, C. P.; Zirker, D., eds. (December 1998). The Military and Society in the Former Eastern Bloc. Boulder: Westview Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-8133-3524-7. OCLC 237326581.
The objective is to discover who these [Mafia] people are even as they speak on behalf of Latvia's welfare, and before they eliminate people who suspect who they are.
[permanent dead link] - Петров С.В., Холопова Е.Н. «Невербальная коммуникация. Развивающие ролевые игры „Мафия「 и „Убийца「». Учебно-методическое пособие – Калининград: КВШ МВД России, 1998
- "The Graduate Mafia Brotherhood at Princeton University".
- "Mafia: Game of Survival". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Monthly game profile: Werewolf (aka Mafia, Assassin)". American Library Association. 27 May 2013.
- van Sambeck, Becca (19 July 2022). "'Snake In The Grass' Will Make Viewers Want To Play, Too — Here Are Fun Games Just Like It". USA Network.
- Aloi, David (17 December 2013). "How to Play Mafia: An In-Depth Guide to the Perfect Party Game". KQED-FM.
- "Are You A Werewolf? Rules of Play". Looney Labs. 19 August 2012.
Night-Noise: When everyone closes their eyes at night, it is best for people to also start humming, tapping the table, patting a knee, or making some noise. This will cover up any sounds made accidentally by the werewolves, the seer, or the moderator
- Derivation is by recursion on decreasing numbers of players in the following round, see: Yao, E. (2008). "A Theoretical Study of Mafia Games". p. 7. arXiv:0804.0071 [math.PR].
- Migdał, Piotr (2010). "A mathematical model of the Mafia game". arXiv:1009.1031 [math.PR].
- Batcheller, Archer L.; Hilligoss, Brian; Nam, Kevin; Rader, Emilee; Rey-Babarro, Marta; Zhou, Xiaomu (2007). "Testing the technology: Playing games with video conferencing". Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 849–852. doi:10.1145/1240624.1240751. ISBN 978-1-59593-593-9. S2CID 5230409.
- McCarthy, C (24 April 2009). "Why do young techies want to be werewolves?". CNET News.
- Cross, D. (June 2005). "Mafia Party EXTRA TIPS". Vice Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008.
- Gopnik, Adam (2006). Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York. National Geographic Books. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-676-97827-8.
the emotional authenticity of the alliances, the felt pleasure of trusting another, is startlingly, frighteningly real. You and George against the Mafia – but then the quick nightly shadow intrudes: What if George is the Mafia? Yet the proper suspicions, though they rise, rarely override these instant bonds.
- Salen, K; Zimmerman, E. (October 2003). Rules of play: game design fundamentals (illustrated ed.). MIT Press. pp. 468–469. ISBN 978-0-262-24045-1.
- For example, Bezier Games' Ultimate Werewolf Sorcerer[permanent dead link] has the ability to detect the Seer role. (The sorcerer is granted different powers in other rule-sets, like Princeton University's, in which the Wizard has the ability to detect the Seer.) Whatever name this role is known by, the Detective-detector is typically aligned with the Mafia (for example, see: "9 Player Werewolf Evil team". 2005.)
- "Game: Werewolf / Mafia". Board Game Geek.
- Gopnik, Adam (2006). "Fourth Thanksgiving: Propensities". Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York. National Geographic Books. pp. 242–253. ISBN 978-0-676-97827-8.
- "Mafia (con)". Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
Knight Commandant / Sheriff – a townsperson who investigates mafia members
- Cross, D. (June 2005). "Mafia Party THE SETUP". Vice Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008.
- "Name: Naive Cop". Smogon.
- "Characters from the New Moon expansion set". Wired UK. 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- "Various Mafia Roles: Third Party Roles: Arsonist & Firefighter". Archived from the original on 20 February 2007.
- A typical Traitor-type role is the Possessed Special Character from "The LUPUS IN TABULA (2nd edition) rules". Archived from the original on 24 December 2005.
- Fraade-Blanar, L. (26 October 2001). "Mafia game indulges fantasy, avoids jail term". The Johns Hopkins News-Letter.
One person out of the circle finds themselves tapped twice, making them the stool pigeon. He must inform the townspeople, i.e. everyone who was not tapped, of the identity of the Mafia members while not being killed himself... The game shows a historical conflict between the accusers and the accused. It could well be the Europeans accusing witches
[permanent dead link] - The Witch for example has this ability in Bezier's game "Ultimate WereWolf"
- "Characters". Wired UK. January 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- The Psychiatrist can 'cure' the Serial Killer according to the Pub Game rules: "Serial Killer".. When 'the psychiatrist' is in play, the Serial Killer may be The Psychopath, as in: "Name: Psychiatrist (Various Mafia Roles: Third Party at MafiaScum.net)". Archived from the original on 27 February 2007.
- Spadaccini, S. (September 2005). The Big Book of Rules. Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-28644-3.
- As in the Mafia Games setup described by group-games.com, requiring only mafiosi, police, a doctor, and the townspeople. Or, a simple version using only citizens, mafia, and detectives, as described in: Toone, M. (July 2009). Great Games!. MVT Games. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-9798345-5-4.
The detectives now guess who they think might be one of the Mafia -no talking allowed, they simply point to one person.
- "Werewolf: Extra Materials". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
Optional rule: if the Lovers die and Cupid is still alive, Cupid chooses a new set of lovers.
- The Cupid card in Bezier Game's Ultimate Werewolf, for example.
- Alternatively, they may have a vote, but be mandated to always vote against eliminations, as is the Village Ethicist[permanent dead link]
- "Werewolf: Extra Materials". Wired UK. 29 January 2010.
- "Character references". Wired UK. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- "Mafia variant: President". described by MafiaSpiel.de, for example.
- A role introduced in Ted Alspach's 2010 Ultimate Werewolf: Classic Movie Monsters.
- "Common Mafia Roles". Retrieved 14 June 2010. – The Silencer is typically aligned with them and knows their identities, but (in some variants) in unknown to them, not participating in mafia killings.
- The Priest alone knows whether the dead were innocent in the World Boardgaming Championships game described by Bruno Wolff in "Werewolf rules". Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- Lupus in Tabula (Werewolves at the Table) card listings
- "Thing Werewolf Variant".
- Solis, Daniel. "Alien Among Us".
- "Latitude 90: The Origin". Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- Toone, M. (July 2009). Great Games!: 175 Games & Activities for Families, Groups & Children. MVT Games. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-9798345-5-4.
- "The Original Mafia Rules". 1999. Archived from the original on 2 March 1999. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
Accusations may happen any number of times during the discussion...once in a while, someone should propose to have a Mafia Night. If the majority of the players who are still in the game agrees, the Night begins.
- The random resolution is typical in academic models of Mafia. For example, see: Yao, E. (2008). "A Theoretical Study of Mafia Games". arXiv:0804.0071 [math.PR].
- That a single mafioso wins against a single surviving innocent in the day phase is a standard live-play rule, being a sub-case of the rule that a numerical equality is a Mafia victory
- The 'separate waking' method of designating victims is used in the official "Mayday". Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. rules, for example. (This is a Soviet Union-themed variant with other expanded rules, released under Creative Commons licensing.)
- "Mafia and Werewolves".
Note – This variant was performed with great success on November 12, 1998
– From the old Princeton variant rules. - 7–0–7, Jon Bennett "Mafia Advanced Rules" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2011. Additional rules created by Jon Bennett, accepted in local Mafia circles.
- "CISRA Puzzle Competition – Quantum Werewolf". Puzzle.cisra.com.au. 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
- "Train Mafia". Copenhagen Game Collective. 27 September 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
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- "Town of Salem: 5 Best Roles To Play (& 5 Worst)". TheGamer. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
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- "Reviews 1". Town of Salem 2. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
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