Mafia game roles
A table of ten has four cards: civilian, sheriff, mafia and the don. Seven players play for the town and three against it, and only two of them — the sheriff and the don — are asked a private question at night.
Sheriff
The one red player who, from the second night, checks somebody and learns which side that player is on.
Don
The leader of the three against the town. Checks one player a night and learns only whether that player is the sheriff.
Mafia
Two players against the town who know each other and the don from the start, and shoot together at night.
Civilian
The commonest card: six of the ten seats. No ability, no secret — you talk in your minute and you vote.
Who knows whom
The three players against the town were shown to each other before anybody spoke, so they never have to look for partners. The sheriff and the six civilians know only their own card. That gap is where the whole game lives: everything a civilian hears at the table is somebody’s reasoning, not a fact.
What each role does at night
The first night is silent and nobody is removed; the three against the town spend it learning who is who and agreeing how they will choose a target. From the second night the three choose one player to remove, the don checks whether one player is the sheriff, and the sheriff checks which side one player is on. Six civilians sleep through it.
The four hand signs
At a club table a civilian shows a thumb up, mafia a thumb down, the sheriff a ring made with the thumb and index finger, and the don the thumb touching the ring finger. These are a shared habit, not part of the rulebook, and some rooms use a different set.
More cards at some clubs
Many clubs add a card or two — usually one that protects somebody, or one that acts alone. Our own table plays the four cards above; if you sit down at a club table, ask which extra cards are in play before you count anything. When there are more than four cards
All free lessons
- Ten people, and three of them are lying
- How each side wins
- Who is actually sitting there
- What each card can actually do
- The evening has a rhythm, and it repeats
- The first night, before anything has happened
- A name, then a hand
- When the votes split evenly
- Four fouls, and your game is over
- The four sentences a new player needs
- Your first game: what to actually do
- Three names from the first player shot
- When there are more than four cards
- Reading a player by their normal, not by one quiet round
- A second sheriff claim (one of the two is lying)
- A sheriff claim nobody has challenged
Keep learning
- Who is actually sitting there
- What each card can actually do
- How to play Mafia: the rules
- Hand signs at a club table