How to play Mafia online with friends: rules, roles and the moderator

To play Mafia online with friends, all you need is a video call and everyone's phones. One person opens a room on a laptop and shares it in the call; everyone else joins from their phone with the room code. Roles arrive secretly on each phone, an app does the moderator's job, and the rest is classic Mafia: the mafia pick a victim at night, the town argues and votes by day.

Below: the rules in short, the roles, how many players you need, how to deal roles fairly and how to survive as the mafia. At the end — how it all works in Roomzy's Mafia.

Play Mafia with your friends

How to play Mafia: the rules in short

Mafia is a game of bluffing and deduction. Players split into two teams: the town (civilians) and the mafia. The mafia know each other; the town knows nobody. The town wins by voting out every mafioso; the mafia win once they are at least as many as the town.

The game runs in a loop:

• Night. “The town falls asleep” — everyone closes their eyes. The mafia wake up and silently pick a victim. Then the special roles wake: the detective checks someone, the doctor heals someone.
• Morning. The moderator announces who died in the night. That player is out.
• Day. Everyone argues about who looks like mafia, then votes. The player with the most votes is out.

Then night falls again — until one side wins. Players who are out no longer act or vote, but keep watching — quietly. A hint from the dead ruins a game faster than any mistake.

The game is generally credited to Dmitry Davidoff, who came up with it in the mid-1980s as a psychology student at Moscow State University. In 1997 Andrew Plotkin gave it a werewolf theme, which is why many groups know the same game as Werewolf. Every group has its own house rules: whether to reveal the role of a player who's out, what to do on a tied vote, whether there's a maniac. Settle them before the first night.

Mafia roles: who does what

You only need two roles — civilian and mafia. The rest come in as the group grows and you want more twists. The most common extras are the detective and the doctor.

That's how these roles work in Roomzy's Mafia — groups playing in person often tweak the details and the names. In Werewolf, the player who checks others is usually the Seer; in tournament Mafia, the sheriff.

Roomzy also has three more town roles:

• Sergeant — knows the Detective and sees their checks; takes over if the Detective is out;
• Bodyguard — guards a player: if they're attacked, the Bodyguard dies instead;
• Journalist — compares two players: same team or not.

The room owner picks which roles are in play in the room settings.

How many players do you need for Mafia?

In person, you usually need at least six players, plus one more person to moderate. Tournament Mafia always seats ten: seven town, including the sheriff, and three mafia, including the don. With an app running the game, four is enough: Roomzy's Mafia takes 4 to 16 players.

A rule of thumb: about one player in three or four is mafia. The one hard rule — the mafia must be fewer than half, or the town has lost before the game even starts. Here's how Roomzy's Auto setting counts the mafia, shown with the default special roles, Detective and Doctor:

The Don, if in play, counts as one of the mafia. You can also set the mafia count by hand, from one to five. Every special role needs a player of its own, so how many people you need to start depends on the roles — the screen will tell you.

How to deal roles fairly

In person, roles go out as cards: the moderator shuffles, everyone draws one and peeks. Online there are no cards, so the moderator usually sends roles in private messages. It works, but the moderator knows every role and can't play, and at night they have to message everyone back and forth — slowly.

Let an app deal instead. In Roomzy, roles are dealt at random straight to each phone. Nobody sees anyone else's role — not the shared screen, not the room owner, so the owner plays like everyone else. The mafia see each other right away, and the Detective and the Sergeant (if in play) know each other.

Why Mafia needs a moderator — and how to play without one

The moderator is the referee and the storyteller. They deal the roles, wake players at night, count votes, announce who died and keep time. They know every role, so they don't play.

A good moderator makes the night: they draw out “the town falls asleep”, crack jokes, keep the pace. But a human moderator comes at a price. One friend sits out the whole evening, and a careless pause or tone of voice can give a role away. Online there's one more cost: night moves have to be collected over chat.

Without a human moderator, an app does the job. In Roomzy's Mafia, the moderator is a narrator voice on the shared screen: it explains the rules, announces each phase and the results of every night and vote. The room owner picks the narrator in the Mode setting:

• Family — for playing with kids, nothing rude;
• Normal — jokes and dark humor;
• 18+ — with swearing, only if everyone is 18 or older.

Timers and vote counts are handled for you, and the room owner can skip the wait when everyone is ready.

How to play Mafia online when everyone is somewhere else

Get on a video call and open the room on one screen. Faces and voices stay in the call; secret roles and moves stay on the phones. You don't need a separate voice chat — you argue in the same call.

1. One person creates a room on a laptop and shares that tab in the call — Zoom works, and so do Telemost and VK Calls.
2. Everyone else opens roomzy.pro on their phone and types the four-character room code from the screen. Or scans the QR code.
3. The narrator explains the rules, everyone checks their role — and the town falls asleep.

A few tips for the call:

• Share just the room tab, not your whole screen: notifications and other windows stay out of the frame.
• Turn on sound sharing when you share your screen, if your call supports it, so everyone hears the narrator.
• Keep cameras on. In Mafia, half the evidence is on people's faces.
• No need to close your eyes at night: everything secret is on the phones anyway.

Guests don't sign up and play for free. Only the person who creates the room needs an account.

Tips for beginners: how to argue and how not to get caught

If you're town

• Talk. The quiet player is the first suspect, and for good reason: silence is the easiest place for the mafia to hide.
• Watch the votes. Who votes last, who jumps on someone else's idea, who switches at the last second. The mafia would rather back a suspect than name one.
• Remember who defended whom. Once a mafioso is voted out, their defenders look a lot worse — especially if roles are revealed.
• Don't out yourself for nothing. A Detective who goes public on day one is the mafia's next target. Share a check when it changes the vote.

If you're mafia

• Act like you did yesterday. Going quiet, or suddenly very loud, gets noticed.
• Don't defend your partner too hard. Sometimes voting against them buys you trust later.
• Back up your suspicions. “I just have a feeling” sounds weak. Point at people's votes and words.
• Stick to one story. Tripping over your own accusations is the fastest way to get caught.
• Agree fast at night. In Roomzy, the mafia see each other's votes. If you split, the Don decides; without a Don, the majority does; on a tie, nobody dies that night.

To keep it fun

• Argue with the reasoning, not the person. “You're lying” is about the role, not your friend.
• Don't sulk if you're out first. Watch and listen — you see the most from the sidelines.
• After the game, go over who slipped up where. In Roomzy, everyone sees all the roles at the end anyway.

How Mafia works in Roomzy

Roomzy's Mafia is classic Mafia for 4 to 16 players, and a game takes about 40 minutes. The shared screen is a TV, a laptop or a screen share in a call. Every player has a phone with their role and their moves. A narrator voice on the screen runs the game.

How a game goes:

1. Deal. Look at your role on your phone and tap “Got it”. The mafia see right away who else is mafia.
2. Night. The screen shows that the town is asleep, plus a timer. If you have a night move, pick a target on your phone — you can change your pick until the night ends. If you don't, you mark who you suspect: it doesn't affect the game, but nobody can tell from your taps who has a role. The first night can be an introduction: the mafia meet each other, and nobody dies.
3. Morning. The screen says who died. Who healed or guarded whom stays secret. Check results go to the phones of those who checked.
4. Discussion. Argue out loud while the timer runs.
5. Vote. On your phone, pick who to vote out, or abstain. Voting can be open (everyone sees who voted for whom) or secret (only the vote counts are shown).

The town wins when no mafia and no Maniac are left alive. The mafia win once they are at least as many as everyone else. The Maniac wins if only one other player is left. At the end, everyone sees all the roles, and the screen shows the results: the Detective's accuracy, the Doctor's saves and who the town suspected most. The room owner chooses: another game with the same settings or back to the lobby.

What you can set up: the roles and the mafia count, the time for night, discussion and voting, open or secret voting, what happens on a tie (a revote between the leaders, nobody leaves, or all the leaders leave) and what everyone learns about a player who's out — their role, just their team or nothing.

If your phone disconnects, open the link again — you'll be back in the game with your role. A room is free for up to 8 players, and up to 16 with Premium. Only the room owner pays; guests play for free.

The full rules are on the Mafia page. Want to try it right now? Create a room and send your friends the code.

What else to play with friends

Fancy a change of genre? Roomzy also has Exodus — an argument over who gets on the last ship off a dying planet, like Bunker but with more mechanics (how to play Bunker online). And Squiggly: you draw a word with a finger on your phone, everyone else guesses, and it works even for two. More ideas — party games on your TV and games for team events.

Got the crew? The town is about to fall asleep.

Create a Mafia room

FAQ

How many players do you need for Mafia?

In person, Mafia usually takes at least six players plus a moderator; tournament Mafia always seats exactly ten. With an app running the game, four is enough: Roomzy's Mafia takes 4 to 16 players.

Can you play Mafia online without signing up?

Yes. Guests in Roomzy don't sign up: open roomzy.pro on your phone, type the room code from the screen and you're in. Only the person who creates the room needs an account. There's nothing to install — it all runs in the browser.

How do you play Mafia without a moderator?

You need an app that deals the roles, collects the night moves and counts the votes. In Roomzy, a narrator voice on the shared screen runs the game, while roles and moves stay on each player's phone. Everyone plays, including whoever opened the room.

How do you play Mafia over Zoom?

Get everyone on a Zoom call. One person opens the room and shares that tab; everyone else joins from their phone with the code. You argue in the call and vote on your phones.

How many mafia should there be with 8 players?

Usually two. That's also what Roomzy's Auto setting picks: up to 5 players — one mafia, 6–8 — two, 9–11 — three, 12–14 — four, 15–16 — five. The mafia must be fewer than half the players, or the town loses right away.

How long does a game of Mafia take?

It depends on the number of players and the timers. A game of Roomzy's Mafia takes about 40 minutes.