Mafia is a social deduction card game in which players are secretly divided into opposing teams — typically Civilians (Town) and Mafia.
At the beginning of the game, each player receives a hidden role card. The Civilians usually do not know the roles of other players, while members of the Mafia know their teammates. Depending on the ruleset, the game may also include special roles such as the Sheriff/Detective, Doctor, Don, Maniac, and others.
The game alternates between day and night phases.
During the day, players discuss what happened, analyze each other's behavior and statements, share suspicions, defend themselves, and try to determine who is secretly playing for the Mafia. Players then vote to eliminate someone they believe is a Mafia member.
During the night, Mafia members secretly choose a player to eliminate. Players with special roles may also perform their abilities, such as investigating, protecting, or interacting with other players.
The Civilians' goal is to identify and eliminate all members of the Mafia. The Mafia's goal is to remain hidden, mislead the other players, eliminate Civilians, and eventually gain control of the vote.
Mafia is primarily a game of social deduction, logic, psychology, communication, bluffing, strategy, and teamwork. Players must make decisions with incomplete information, recognize contradictions, build convincing arguments, read other players, and determine whom they can trust.
There are many variations of Mafia. These range from casual or traditional (“city”) Mafia, which may feature different numbers of players and a variety of additional roles, to competitive or Sports Mafia, which uses standardized roles, structured discussions, timed speeches, formal voting procedures, referees, tournament scoring, and organized competitions.
This category is intended to bring together all forms of Mafia as a social deduction card game, including casual games, city Mafia, Sports Mafia, tournaments, leagues, live games, commentary, and game analysis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(party_game)