Full guide: civilian and mafia roles, detective and doctor, night kills, day debates and voting, win conditions and controls on muta.pro.
Mafia is a game of trust and deception, where the town is split into two teams. Civilians don’t know who is who and must expose and execute the entire mafia in the daytime votes. Mafia knows its own and secretly removes townsfolk at night — its task is to hold out until the mafiosi number the same as the rest. The game goes in «night — day» rounds until one of the sides wins.
Roles are dealt in secret: at night the mafia “kills,” by day the town votes on a suspect.
At the start of the game each player is secretly given one of the roles. You see your own card on the panel «Your role» on the right; other players’ roles are hidden and revealed only after a player dies.
The majority at the table. Has no night actions — their strength is in the discussion: by day they spot the mafia by behaviour and vote for a suspect.
Knows the other mafiosi. Each night the mafia team together chooses one victim from among the townsfolk. By day they pose as a civilian and deflect suspicion.
A special civilian role. At night they check one player and learn whether they are mafia or not. The main challenge is to get the truth across to the town without giving themselves away.
A special civilian role. At night they choose whom to protect. If the mafia attacks exactly that player, they survive that night.
Gather a group from 6 to 16 people: create a room and invite friends by code. On muta.pro the host role is taken on by an automatic narrator — it deals out the roles itself, switches phases, announces the night results and keeps the event log. The game has the mafia, civilians and special roles — the detective and the doctor. The role line-up is visible to everyone in the panel «Roles in the game», while the specific cards remain a secret.
The narrator secretly deals out the cards. Reveal yours on the «Your role» panel on the right, memorise it and hide it again so your neighbours don’t peek.
The town «falls asleep», the chat closes. The mafia silently conspires and chooses a townsperson to eliminate before dawn.
That same night the detective checks one player for mafia membership, while the doctor chooses whom to shield from attack.
The town wakes up and learns who died in the night (and whom the doctor saved). The arguments begin: look for inconsistencies, catch the lies, defend yourself against accusations.
The town picks one suspect and sends them to execution. The executed player’s role is revealed to everyone.
Nights and days follow one another. Each round there are fewer survivors and more suspicions, until one of the sides wins.
A four-player table as an example. The mafiosi are marked with a red border (only the mafia sees it), the special roles with the 🕵️ and ⚕️ badges. This is how the key moments of one round play out.
The town winswhen not a single mafioso remains alive — the whole mafia has been exposed and executed. The mafia winswhen the mafiosi number no fewer than the remaining living players: at that moment the town can no longer outvote them, and control passes to the mafia. After every execution and every night kill the narrator checks the balance of the sides and, when one of the conditions is met, declares the end of the game.
There are no cards or dice here — people are given away by pauses, inconsistencies and overly confident defences. Listen to who is making excuses and how.
By revealing yourself too early, you become the mafia’s first target at night. Reveal your checks carefully and in measured doses.
A hasty execution driven by emotion more often removes a civilian. Demand arguments before raising your hand for a suspect.
Playing as the mafia, behave like an active civilian: accuse, investigate, vote — passive silence is suspicious.
Every role has its own winning line, and each plays differently. The townsperson presses with logic, the mafia with calm and a cover story, the special roles decide the game through the precise use of their night action. Let's break down how to squeeze the most out of every card.
One check per night is scarce. On the first night, check the most active or the quietest player, not your neighbour. Having found the mafia, don't blurt it out at once: first gently steer the town toward the right vote, revealing yourself only when a townsperson is about to be executed without your word.
Don't save yourself every night — the mafia works around a predictable doctor. Cover the one who loudly "outed" himself as the detective or is leading the discussion: that's exactly who the mafia will want to remove before dawn. The same shield twice in a row is a risk.
Passivity gives you away faster than a lie. Accuse, build theories, vote with the town — and now and then "get it wrong," steering an execution onto a townsperson. Throw your own under the bus in measured doses: a leaked partner in exchange for trust often pays off.
Without a night action your strength is in memory and voice. Keep track of who defended and accused whom, and don't hide behind the majority: a silent townsperson is useless to the town and convenient for the mafia.
There are no cards or dice here — the information hides in behaviour. The mafia knows the truth and therefore plays a touch more carefully than the rest; the townsperson is genuinely confused. Learn to catch that difference.
P2 was the first to name the day's victim confidently, though he gave no arguments — the main candidate for a check is marked in gold.
A player who too smoothly steers the crowd onto a "convenient" suspect is often the mafia itself: it profits from spending the town's days on townspeople.
Watch the first seconds after the victim is announced. A genuine townsperson is surprised; the mafia is already ready with a theory of "who did it."
Note who changed their mind without new facts. A sharp about-turn under pressure is a marker that the person is defending not logic, but themselves.
The base set of roles — mafia, townspeople, detective and doctor — works for any group, but the depth of the game is set by the table size and the balance of sides. Match the line-up to the number of players so it's neither boring nor hopeless.
One or two mafia, a detective and a doctor. Games are fast and nervy: every vote is worth its weight in gold, and one wrong execution sharply shifts the balance. Perfect for getting to know the game.
Two or three mafia give room for bluffing and team play. There's space for a long intrigue, false detective "reveals" and cunning exchanges of trust.
Three or more mafia, noisy and wordy days. Here discussion discipline decides: without structure the town drowns in arguments and hands out votes blindly.
General rule of ratio: there should be roughly four to five times fewer mafia than total players. More mafia — a tilt in its favour; fewer — the town figures it out too easily.
Most lost games aren't down to a brilliant mafia, but to the town's blunders. Here's what most often costs the townspeople the win.