How to play Mafia online with friends
You do not need ten people, a moderator or an evening of organising. Open a room, send your friends one link and press Start: the empty seats are taken by bots that talk and vote like players. Here is all of it, step by step.
The rules in a minuteHow many playersBots on empty seatsStep by stepFAQ
The rules in a minute
Mafia is a game of hidden roles and talking. A table has ten players: seven red (the town, one of them the sheriff) and three black (the mafia, one of them the don). The black players know each other; the red players do not.
Night: the mafia shoot one player, the don looks for the sheriff, the sheriff checks one player. Day: everyone speaks for a minute, may nominate one player, and the table votes one player out. The town wins when no black player is left; the mafia win when they are as many as the red players.
This is the short version. The full rules, with every number and every place where we differ from the club rulebook, are on How to play Mafia.
How many players do you need
A table has ten seats. You do not have to fill them with people: a few friends — even three — are enough for a full game, and bots take the rest. Up to ten people can come, and the more real people sit down, the more it feels like a club evening.
Everyone joins from their own phone or computer, in the browser — there is nothing to install. Everyone at a table with other live people must be 18 or older.
Bots on the empty seats
Every seat nobody takes goes to a bot. A bot is an AI player with its own role: it speaks, answers, nominates and votes in its turn. Every table says that the bots are AI. That is by design, not a placeholder — it is what lets a small group play a real ten-seat game without waiting for a full house.
You choose the table language when you create the room (English, Українська or Русский), and the bots play in it.
Step by step
- Open the Room page and press Create the room. Give it a name, a time and a table language. The first 3 evenings (within 30 days) are free, with no card.
- Send your friends the link (or the room code). By default they enter with the code and a nickname, no sign-up. If you prefer, you can ask guests to sign up first.
- Friends who joined see the table and confirm a seat. A seat nobody has taken shows «seat open — a bot will take it».
- Press Start the game. The bots take every seat that is still empty, the roles are dealt, and the first night begins.
- Play. Night and day alternate as in the rules above. Fouls work as at every table: the third silences the player for a minute, the fourth removes them — automatically. Anyone can report a turn with one tap. Players do not vote anyone out of the room.
What it costs
Playing is free. A private room for friends is paid for by the host only (the paid room is not on sale yet), after the first 3 free evenings (within 30 days) — your friends always join free with the link. The current price is on the Pricing page. If you run a club, club tables have their own free allowance: see Clubs.
New to Mafia?
The free school teaches the game in short lessons, and level one is enough for a first evening: Learn it free. Wondering who is who? See the roles.
FAQ
Do my friends need an account?
No. By default they enter with the room code and a nickname. You can change that and ask guests to sign up first.
Do my friends pay?
No. Only the host pays for the room (the paid room is not on sale yet), and the first 3 evenings (within 30 days) are free with no card.
Can we play with only three people?
Yes. Empty seats go to bots, so a small group still gets a full ten-seat game.
Do we have to install anything?
No. It opens in the browser, on a phone or on a computer.
Is this the same Mafia as at a club?
It is the sport (club) Mafia: ten players, a sheriff and a don, a vote every day. Where our rules differ from the club rulebook, the rules page says so, with the reason.
What if somebody breaks the rules?
Fouls work as at every table: the third silences the player for a minute, the fourth removes them — automatically. Anyone can report a turn with one tap. Players do not vote anyone out of the room.
What if I have no friends online right now?
Sit down at a public table: the bots fill the empty seats there too, and the free school is open any time.