Mafia, also known as Werewolf, is a Russian social deduction game created by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986. The game models a conflict between two groups: an informed minority and an uninformed majority. At the start of the game, each player is secretly assigned a role affiliated with one of these teams. The game has two alternating phases: first, a night-phase, during which those with night-killing-powers may covertly kill other players, and second, a day-phase, in which all surviving players debate and vote to eliminate a suspect. The game continues until a faction achieves its win-condition; for the village, this usually means eliminating the evil minority, while for the minority, this usually means reaching numerical parity with the village and eliminating any rival evil groups.
Players making accusations in a game of Mafia
Players often sit in a circle
Cards for a Werewolf version of Mafia are held by the dealer at the beginning of the game.
During the "day" phase, players vote on whom to eliminate
A social deduction game is a game in which players attempt to uncover each other's hidden role or team allegiance. Commonly, these games are played with teams, with one team being considered "good" and another being "bad". During gameplay, players can use logic and deductive reasoning to try to deduce one another's roles, while other players can bluff to keep players from suspecting them.
Players making accusations in a game of Mafia
Cards from The Werewolves of Millers Hollow