Mafia

Mafia is a game that was played on multiple occasions at Duke East Term 2 2012 and Davidson Term 2 2013. It was offered as an evening activity ("Mafia Naptime") and was also used to pass the time in the afternoons, evenings, and lazy Sunday mornings. There are two versions of playing Mafia: with cards and without them.

Basic Rules

Mafia can accommodate any number of players more than about five or six. Players sit in a circle (preferably in the middle of the road, where they're sure to get yelled at by RCs). One person is the game's Narrator - who moderates the game, rather than participating. Everyone else is dealt a card that assigns them (or is silently designated by the narrator) to their secret role as a player within the game.

Standard roles are:

• Two or more Mafia, depending on the total number of players. (who win by killing off or outnumbering townspeople)
• One Detective (a Townsperson who knows who the Mafia members are but cannot directly tell the townspeople)
• One Doctor (a Townsperson who can elect someone to save in the night)
• Any number of Townspeople

Once players' roles are assigned, Townspeople cover their eyes and the Mafia choose one person to kill. The doctor then gets to choose one person to save, and if that person is the same one picked by the mafia, they do not die. Upon the townspeoples' "awakening", the victim (if there is one) is informed of their demise and acts out a dramatic death scene. The remaining townspeople then attempt to determine who the mafia members are, and the Detective tries to convince them of the right choice without revealing their identity. Whomever is elected is then killed, and the townspeople are informed of the deceased's identity. The cycle repeats, with dead players allowed to look on while the others continue, until either all townspeople or all Mafia are left alive, thereby winning the game for their respective sides.