Mafia Game
Every Mafia Game role explained: Mafia, Villager, Detective, Doctor, plus Mastermind, Jester, Serial Killer and Lookout. Powers, teams and how to play each.
Understanding the Mafia Game roles is the difference between a confused first session and a tense, perfectly-run game. There are 8 roles in total across three teams: Village, Mafia, and Neutral. The four core roles ship in every game; the four optional roles add a layer of chaos for experienced groups.
This guide covers every Mafia Game role, what it does, which team it belongs to, how the app handles it, and how to play it well.
Play the free Mafia Game →, the app auto-assigns balanced roles for your group size.
Before diving into individual roles, understand the team structure:
| Team | Goal | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Village | Eliminate all Mafia (and neutral killers) | Villager, Detective, Doctor |
| Mafia | Reach parity with the village | Mafia, Mastermind |
| Neutral | Personal win condition | Jester, Serial Killer, Lookout |
The Lookout is a Village-aligned neutral, their information helps the town, but they win only if the Village wins.
These four roles appear in every Mafia Game, regardless of player count.
Team: Mafia Night action: Choose one player to eliminate Win condition: Mafia numbers equal or exceed surviving villagers
The Mafia are the secret killers. At the start of the game, Mafia members see each other's identities on the role reveal screen, they know their allies, everyone else does not. During the Night Phase, the narrator wakes the Mafia and they silently point at one player to eliminate. By day they must blend in, accuse others convincingly, deflect suspicion, and protect their teammates without being obvious about it.
How to play Mafia well: Never defend a teammate too quickly. Agree with some accusations against other Mafia members early in the game (without letting them get voted out) to build credibility. Eliminate the Detective or Doctor first, removing their night powers is usually more valuable than removing a Villager.
Team: Village Night action: None Win condition: All Mafia (and neutral killers) eliminated
Villagers are the majority, but they have no special power. Their only tools are observation, logic, and the day vote. A skilled villager listens to how people argue, watches who defends whom, and builds a case across multiple rounds before committing to an accusation.
How to play Villager well: Speak clearly and be easy to read. If you are too quiet, the town will suspect you. If you are too aggressive, you become a target. Find the middle ground, share observations, ask questions, and build coalition votes rather than solo accusations.
Team: Village Night action: Investigate one player (learns if they are Mafia or not) Win condition: All Mafia eliminated
The Detective is the town's most powerful information role. Each night, the Detective silently points at one player to investigate. The app shows the narrator a private result: Mafia or Not Mafia. The narrator gives a discreet silent signal (a nod or a shake of the head) that only the Detective sees. No one else in the room knows what happened.
The Detective must decide: when and how to share this information. Reveal too early and the Mafia targets you the very next night. Stay silent too long and your information is wasted.
How to play Detective well: Wait until you have investigated 2–3 players before making any claims. Share your results anonymously at first ("I have strong reason to believe X is Mafia") and only reveal yourself as the Detective when you need the town to trust a claim urgently, or when you have the numbers to survive a Mafia retaliation.
Note with Mastermind: If the game includes the Mastermind role, one Mafia player will read as innocent to your investigation. Don't assume your first "clean" result is fully reliable.
Team: Village Night action: Choose one player to protect (including yourself) Win condition: All Mafia eliminated
The Doctor silently points at one player each night. If the Mafia targets the same player the Doctor protects, that player survives the night, the app resolves the save automatically. The Doctor can protect themselves once per game (house rule: most groups allow one self-save).
How to play Doctor well: On night one, protect yourself, you are valuable and a common Mafia target once suspected. From night two onward, protect whoever seems most likely to be targeted: an active Detective or a vocal leader who has been making strong accusations. Never announce you are the Doctor until the very end of the game, you become the Mafia's top priority the moment they know.
These four roles are toggled on in the setup screen. Each extra role replaces one Villager in the deck.
Team: Mafia Night action: None (passive) Special power: Reads as innocent (Not Mafia) to the Detective Win condition: Mafia numbers equal or exceed surviving villagers
The Mastermind is a Mafia member with one devastating passive ability: if the Detective investigates them, the result comes back innocent. This directly undermines the town's most reliable information source and can cause the Detective to publicly vouch for a Mafia player.
How to play Mastermind well: You are the Mafia's insurance policy against a confident Detective. Let yourself be investigated if you suspect the Detective is watching you. Then sit back and wait for the Detective to clear your name publicly, you become untouchable.
Why it changes the game: With a Mastermind in play, the Detective must hold their results with more doubt. Even a "not Mafia" investigation result is no longer a guarantee.
Team: Neutral Night action: None Special power: Cannot be eliminated at night by the Mafia (the app skips their kill if they pick the Jester) Win condition: Gets voted out by the town during a day vote
The Jester is the most chaotic role in the Mafia Game. They win not by surviving, but by getting the town to vote them out. They are not Mafia. They are not a Villager. They are a chaos agent who needs to look suspicious enough to die at the polls, but not so obviously suspicious that the Mafia never targets them (note: the app does let the Mafia try to kill the Jester, they just do not die at night).
How to play Jester well: Act guilty. Deflect weirdly. Make half-arguments that seem like a cover. But don't go so over the top that experienced players recognise the Jester act, a good town will simply not vote you out to avoid giving you the win. The meta-game of the Jester is about reading how sophisticated your group is and calibrating accordingly.
Team: Neutral (solo) Night action: Eliminate one player (independently of the Mafia) Win condition: Last player standing, alone
The Serial Killer is a third faction entirely. They operate like a one-person Mafia, choosing one player to kill each night, but they win only if every other player is dead and they are the last one standing. They must eliminate both the Village and the Mafia.
How to play Serial Killer well: Blend in as a Villager during the day. Prioritise eliminating Mafia members at night early in the game, once the Village is dealing with the Mafia threat, you are less suspicious. Switch to eliminating Villagers once the Mafia is weakened. The endgame is you versus whoever is left.
Warning for the town: If players keep dying at night even after the apparent Mafia is voted out, a Serial Killer may still be active. The win condition check will catch it, the app knows.
Team: Village-aligned Neutral Night action: Watch one player, learn who visited them overnight Win condition: Village wins (all Mafia and killers eliminated)
The Lookout watches one player each night and the app tells the narrator who visited that player: a Mafia kill attempt, a Detective investigation, or a Doctor save. This is not a direct result (the Lookout does not learn roles), they learn movement. If the Lookout watched Player A and Player B visited, that is meaningful circumstantial evidence.
How to play Lookout well: Cross-reference your observations with the Detective's claims and the night death pattern. If you watched a player who was never visited and they keep dying on nights you did not watch, or surviving on nights you noticed a Doctor visit, you can build a strong case. Share information cautiously: revealing yourself makes you a Mafia target.
| Players | Recommended setup |
|---|---|
| 4–5 | 1 Mafia, 1 Detective, rest Villagers |
| 6–7 | 1 Mafia, 1 Detective, 1 Doctor, rest Villagers |
| 8–10 | 2 Mafia, 1 Detective, 1 Doctor, rest Villagers |
| 11–12 | 2–3 Mafia, 1 Detective, 1 Doctor, 1 extra role, rest Villagers |
| 13–15 | 3 Mafia, 1 Detective, 1 Doctor, 2 extra roles, rest Villagers |
The Mafia Game app auto-suggests a balanced count when you enter your player names, you can always tweak it in the setup screen.
Q: What is the most powerful role in the Mafia Game? A: The Detective has the highest information value for the Village. The Mastermind is the strongest counter-role for the Mafia side. In neutral roles, a well-played Serial Killer can single-handedly win a game.
Q: Can the Mafia kill the Jester? A: They can try, but our app protects the Jester from night eliminations. The Jester can only lose the game (by surviving to the end without being voted out).
Q: Can the Doctor save themselves every night? A: Most groups play with one self-save per game. The app does not enforce this mechanically, it is a house rule you agree on before starting.
Q: Does the Mastermind know they are the Mastermind? A: Yes. The role reveal screen shows the player they are the Mastermind and explains their passive ability. They know to let themselves be investigated.
Q: What happens if the Serial Killer and Mafia are the last two factions? A: The game continues. The Mafia will try to eliminate the Serial Killer at night; the Serial Killer tries to eliminate Mafia. The town (if any remain) can swing the balance. The app tracks all three factions.
Q: How many extra roles can I add at once? A: The setup screen lets you add any combination of the four extra roles, subject to minimum player counts. Adding all four at once with a small group can unbalance the game, the app warns you if the balance looks off.
Now that you know every Mafia Game role, you are ready to play. The app deals all roles secretly, runs the narrator dashboard, and handles every edge case, so you can focus on reading people, not managing logistics.
Also try: How to Play Mafia Game · Mafia Game Narrator Script · Advanced Mafia Game Roles