Adam Gopnik's essay on Mafia
January 15, 2008 9:19 AM Subscribe
Anyone know where online I can find the Adam Gopnik essay on playing the game Mafia? It's from the book "Through the Children's Gate," but I need an electronic version, not a hard copy.
Or, if anyone has a great first-person account of playing Mafia/Werewolf, I'd love to hear it. I can't quite get a handle on how to play.
Or, if anyone has a great first-person account of playing Mafia/Werewolf, I'd love to hear it. I can't quite get a handle on how to play.
Response by poster: I'm curious--do players walk around a room, make deals, whisper, talk? Or is it played sitting at a table? how do players decide who to kill? is it just random?
posted by Ollie at 9:52 AM on January 15, 2008
posted by Ollie at 9:52 AM on January 15, 2008
I've played Werewolf for about 3 hours last year at Origins. Prior to origins I had read about it, read session reports, etc... and never quite understood, not until playing it.
Ollie, in the games that I played in and Observed, all the players sat in a circle, mostly just talking regarding the decisions. The game progressed as such:
Everyone received a card that had their role, we were playing with Looney Labs printing, included 2 werewolfs and 1 Seer.
Everyone closes their eyes, and pats a leg (to hide any noise the werewolfs/seer make).
The first time this happens, the wolves are identifying each other, and the moderator. The moderator tells the wolves to sleep, and the Seer raises their head to indicate to the moderator that they are the seer. Once this has been done the moderator wakes the town.... describing a murder of a "non playing character" - that way the entire town gets to decide who to lynch the first day.
At this point just about any decsion is random. After the town reaches a majority decision, someone is lynched, in hopes that it is a werewolf, if it is- it's probably a lucky kill.
The moderator has everyone go to sleep (heads down, slapping your leg) and has the werewolves decide on who to kill. The wolves must agree on someone to kill by pointing at someone, the moderator acknowledges the kill, and the wolves go back to sleep. The moderator wakes the seer who then points at someone (hoping to discover who the werewolves are), the moderator gives a thumbs up or thumbs down, and the seer goes back to sleep. The Moderator wakes the town again, and informs them of who was killed by the werewolves during the night. That player exits the game, never to be heard from again.
Rinse and repeat, as folks are eliminated it's easier to make logical decisions. Most of the conversation is accusing others and making a case for yourself, either as a seer, or not a werewolf... there's some strategy involved that I didn't quite get, but that's the gist. Either the townfolk lynch both werewolves, or the werewolves lynch the entire town....
posted by TuxHeDoh at 10:08 AM on January 15, 2008
Ollie, in the games that I played in and Observed, all the players sat in a circle, mostly just talking regarding the decisions. The game progressed as such:
Everyone received a card that had their role, we were playing with Looney Labs printing, included 2 werewolfs and 1 Seer.
Everyone closes their eyes, and pats a leg (to hide any noise the werewolfs/seer make).
The first time this happens, the wolves are identifying each other, and the moderator. The moderator tells the wolves to sleep, and the Seer raises their head to indicate to the moderator that they are the seer. Once this has been done the moderator wakes the town.... describing a murder of a "non playing character" - that way the entire town gets to decide who to lynch the first day.
At this point just about any decsion is random. After the town reaches a majority decision, someone is lynched, in hopes that it is a werewolf, if it is- it's probably a lucky kill.
The moderator has everyone go to sleep (heads down, slapping your leg) and has the werewolves decide on who to kill. The wolves must agree on someone to kill by pointing at someone, the moderator acknowledges the kill, and the wolves go back to sleep. The moderator wakes the seer who then points at someone (hoping to discover who the werewolves are), the moderator gives a thumbs up or thumbs down, and the seer goes back to sleep. The Moderator wakes the town again, and informs them of who was killed by the werewolves during the night. That player exits the game, never to be heard from again.
Rinse and repeat, as folks are eliminated it's easier to make logical decisions. Most of the conversation is accusing others and making a case for yourself, either as a seer, or not a werewolf... there's some strategy involved that I didn't quite get, but that's the gist. Either the townfolk lynch both werewolves, or the werewolves lynch the entire town....
posted by TuxHeDoh at 10:08 AM on January 15, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks for this. I guess the fun lies in story-telling/accusing others/defending yourself?
posted by Ollie at 10:10 AM on January 15, 2008
posted by Ollie at 10:10 AM on January 15, 2008
I played in a game with a particularly rambunctious guy that would always start by accusing someone for some reason such as being bald, and everyone knows that bald people are obviously suscipicious.....and as soon as people decide to go along with him, either because he's making sense, or just making up a good story... the bald guy has to defend themselves... or they'll be lynched on the first day.
After a few games, you start to recognize tells, and whether people have changed the way they're playing this game compared to last game... then you know that somethings different this game...not sure what.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 10:29 AM on January 15, 2008
After a few games, you start to recognize tells, and whether people have changed the way they're playing this game compared to last game... then you know that somethings different this game...not sure what.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 10:29 AM on January 15, 2008
The first time our family played mafia, we stayed up later than 4:00 AM. My aunt and uncle postponed their morning flight so we could continue with the game. My dad and uncle are both very talkative people, but they take the game seriously. I think part of the challenge lies in getting a group of adults to play pretend.
I've never heard the leg patting version that TuxHeDoh mentioned. We usually sleep in silence and listen carefully for sounds. The first round often consists of:
"The mafia killed Joe because Greg would be the kind of person to eliminate Joe first. Joe talks a lot, and that intimidates Greg."
"No way! I would've killed Joan, if anything, because I know Joe will cause confusion. People who talk a lot help the mafia because their accusations spread the confusion."
"Hey, wait, what do you have to say about all of this, Alice? You usually talk a lot, is this your mafia strategy? Why have you been so silent?"
Very often in the first round, someone mentions that they heard some kind of movement or whispers during the night. Sometimes, the person's argument is dismissed. However, we've lynched people with as little evidence as "I thought I heard suchandsuch from this side of the room."
Usually, by the second or third round, solid arguments and inconsistencies emerge. Eventually, someone always calculates the remaining rounds: "If we kill a villager this round, then we need to correctly identify the mafia for the next two rounds."
If the game's very quiet, someone will ask the guardian angel to reveal (him,her)self. This is usually followed up with "Well, you don't have to reveal yourself right now, but realize that there's a 25% chance that the mafia will kill you next round."
We played mafia over Christmas with some family friends. After finishing a couple pieces of chocolate, my ten year old brother was wide awake, and he had already used up his computer time. To humor him, we allowed him to play. Turns out I'm mafia, and he's my partner.
Turns out he's a kickass mafia player. He pretends to be the guardian angel, accuses me. When the moderator announces that the village has, indeed, killed a mafia member, they're ready to trust my brother till the end.
A true mafia, my little brother. Killed me first, and then wiped out my family. Goddamn.
posted by theiconoclast31 at 5:05 PM on January 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
I've never heard the leg patting version that TuxHeDoh mentioned. We usually sleep in silence and listen carefully for sounds. The first round often consists of:
"The mafia killed Joe because Greg would be the kind of person to eliminate Joe first. Joe talks a lot, and that intimidates Greg."
"No way! I would've killed Joan, if anything, because I know Joe will cause confusion. People who talk a lot help the mafia because their accusations spread the confusion."
"Hey, wait, what do you have to say about all of this, Alice? You usually talk a lot, is this your mafia strategy? Why have you been so silent?"
Very often in the first round, someone mentions that they heard some kind of movement or whispers during the night. Sometimes, the person's argument is dismissed. However, we've lynched people with as little evidence as "I thought I heard suchandsuch from this side of the room."
Usually, by the second or third round, solid arguments and inconsistencies emerge. Eventually, someone always calculates the remaining rounds: "If we kill a villager this round, then we need to correctly identify the mafia for the next two rounds."
If the game's very quiet, someone will ask the guardian angel to reveal (him,her)self. This is usually followed up with "Well, you don't have to reveal yourself right now, but realize that there's a 25% chance that the mafia will kill you next round."
We played mafia over Christmas with some family friends. After finishing a couple pieces of chocolate, my ten year old brother was wide awake, and he had already used up his computer time. To humor him, we allowed him to play. Turns out I'm mafia, and he's my partner.
Turns out he's a kickass mafia player. He pretends to be the guardian angel, accuses me. When the moderator announces that the village has, indeed, killed a mafia member, they're ready to trust my brother till the end.
A true mafia, my little brother. Killed me first, and then wiped out my family. Goddamn.
posted by theiconoclast31 at 5:05 PM on January 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
I've played literally hundreds of games of Mafia with teens ages 13-19. I think (of course) that my version is best, but it's a little long winded. I will try to sum it up, but anyone is welcome to contact me via mefimail for more informations.
3 groups. Mafia, civilian, informant. Lots are drawn via playing cards or, more often, taps on the head when sitting in a circle. For playing cards, aces are mafia, X face card is informant, and all numeric cards are civillians. First game, regardless of the number of people, there are 2 Mafia, 1 informant, and everyone else is a civilian. After that, mix and match. It's fun to mess w/ them. Maybe 3 or 4 mafia, maybe 2-3 informants.
I start the game explaining that if you cheat it's NO FUN, and that DEAD MEN DON'T TALK. Then I explain to them all (actually I do this before the cards) to keep their facial expressions in check and to move quietly and deliberately, because in the quiet it's easy to hear people shifting when it's their turn to peek.
Commands:
"Heads down." (Duh. Anyone caught peeking is dead and asked to leave.)
"Informant Heads Up" -(Duh. Informant picks up her head, looks around, points at 1 person. Callers choice whether or not to say (Out loud) YES that IS a mafia, or NO that is NOT a mafia. Sometimes you can shake your head YES and say NO out loud. MESS WITH THEM.
"Informant Head Up"
"Mafia Heads Up" (All mafia pick up heads, make eye contact. W/o speaking they must agree on ONE PERSON to kill. If they can't decide in 10 seconds, I decide for them.)
"Mafia Heads Down"
"Everyone Heads Up" (I generally add something dramatic here like "Everyone looks around the room as the lights come on, and are stunned to see the pretty boy with the yellow shirt, now stained crimson red where the mechanical pencil has perforated his aorta. BRIAN is DEAD." Sometimes it's fun to just say "Everyone pick up your heads. Except brian, because he's dead")
At this point, the townspeople have a chance to talk, or not, depending on what you want to do. They go around the room in a circle voting for another person. Each time you get voted for, you raise a finger. Person w/ the most votes dies. You can then tell them that persons status, or not. (mafia or otherwise.) If it's a tie, I give each person 10 seconds to defend him or herself. Everyone revotes, minus the people in the tie breaker. In subsequent rounds, the first person to vote generally moves one person to the clockwise in each round. Meaning if there are 10 people, person 1 won't be the first to vote again until the 11th round.
Rinse, repeat. It's entirely optional to tell the mafia when they've killed the informant. I usually always tell the group when they've voted to kill the informant. You can also ask people to justify their votes. I generally remind the group at the beginning that it's at the informants discretion to inform the group of their findings, and that sometimes it's better to sacrifice his or herself to kill the last informant. I then remind them that the mafia are welcome to lie and say they're the informant.
After a couple rounds the real nuances come out. People who talk a lot get fingered early because they're being quiet, or vice versa. People realize they can lie or point out other peoples "Weird" behavior and get them sacrificed. Eventually mafia will make a mistake and support someone the group has singled out who really is the other mafia and will make themselves known. Then the next round they'll wise up and cast a vote for an already executed mafia to cover their tracks.
The game is great because it's ALL about nonverbal communication and observation. Oh, and lying. But it's great because you can literally make it new each time. Make 3 mafia, or 4, or 2 informants. Make 1 Mafia. Let the Mafia kill before the informant has a chance to ask. Skip the informant. Let them talk. Don't let them say a word. Make them sit quietly for 15 seconds the first time they raise their heads just looking at each other. The mafia will generally bust themselves. Never let the people who beg to be mafia be mafia. I always pick someone completely unassuming for the first couple rounds, then someone completely obvious. You've got to keep them guessing.
Oh, I forgot. Win conditions. More mafia than people to outvote them. 4 people left, two mafia. Mafia wins since they can't be out voted. Civilians win when they kill all mafia.
There are always cheaters, especially the first round. When you yank them and make them watch from afar, they realize that it's a game that is ONLY fun if you DON'T cheat, then it's generally not a problem. People will get mad a talk "Dammit Jim! Why did you kill me!" Then the game is over, since they've just said the name of the mafia and you have to start early. Remind them that DEAD PEOPLE DON'T TALK.
posted by TomMelee at 7:27 PM on January 15, 2008
3 groups. Mafia, civilian, informant. Lots are drawn via playing cards or, more often, taps on the head when sitting in a circle. For playing cards, aces are mafia, X face card is informant, and all numeric cards are civillians. First game, regardless of the number of people, there are 2 Mafia, 1 informant, and everyone else is a civilian. After that, mix and match. It's fun to mess w/ them. Maybe 3 or 4 mafia, maybe 2-3 informants.
I start the game explaining that if you cheat it's NO FUN, and that DEAD MEN DON'T TALK. Then I explain to them all (actually I do this before the cards) to keep their facial expressions in check and to move quietly and deliberately, because in the quiet it's easy to hear people shifting when it's their turn to peek.
Commands:
"Heads down." (Duh. Anyone caught peeking is dead and asked to leave.)
"Informant Heads Up" -(Duh. Informant picks up her head, looks around, points at 1 person. Callers choice whether or not to say (Out loud) YES that IS a mafia, or NO that is NOT a mafia. Sometimes you can shake your head YES and say NO out loud. MESS WITH THEM.
"Informant Head Up"
"Mafia Heads Up" (All mafia pick up heads, make eye contact. W/o speaking they must agree on ONE PERSON to kill. If they can't decide in 10 seconds, I decide for them.)
"Mafia Heads Down"
"Everyone Heads Up" (I generally add something dramatic here like "Everyone looks around the room as the lights come on, and are stunned to see the pretty boy with the yellow shirt, now stained crimson red where the mechanical pencil has perforated his aorta. BRIAN is DEAD." Sometimes it's fun to just say "Everyone pick up your heads. Except brian, because he's dead")
At this point, the townspeople have a chance to talk, or not, depending on what you want to do. They go around the room in a circle voting for another person. Each time you get voted for, you raise a finger. Person w/ the most votes dies. You can then tell them that persons status, or not. (mafia or otherwise.) If it's a tie, I give each person 10 seconds to defend him or herself. Everyone revotes, minus the people in the tie breaker. In subsequent rounds, the first person to vote generally moves one person to the clockwise in each round. Meaning if there are 10 people, person 1 won't be the first to vote again until the 11th round.
Rinse, repeat. It's entirely optional to tell the mafia when they've killed the informant. I usually always tell the group when they've voted to kill the informant. You can also ask people to justify their votes. I generally remind the group at the beginning that it's at the informants discretion to inform the group of their findings, and that sometimes it's better to sacrifice his or herself to kill the last informant. I then remind them that the mafia are welcome to lie and say they're the informant.
After a couple rounds the real nuances come out. People who talk a lot get fingered early because they're being quiet, or vice versa. People realize they can lie or point out other peoples "Weird" behavior and get them sacrificed. Eventually mafia will make a mistake and support someone the group has singled out who really is the other mafia and will make themselves known. Then the next round they'll wise up and cast a vote for an already executed mafia to cover their tracks.
The game is great because it's ALL about nonverbal communication and observation. Oh, and lying. But it's great because you can literally make it new each time. Make 3 mafia, or 4, or 2 informants. Make 1 Mafia. Let the Mafia kill before the informant has a chance to ask. Skip the informant. Let them talk. Don't let them say a word. Make them sit quietly for 15 seconds the first time they raise their heads just looking at each other. The mafia will generally bust themselves. Never let the people who beg to be mafia be mafia. I always pick someone completely unassuming for the first couple rounds, then someone completely obvious. You've got to keep them guessing.
Oh, I forgot. Win conditions. More mafia than people to outvote them. 4 people left, two mafia. Mafia wins since they can't be out voted. Civilians win when they kill all mafia.
There are always cheaters, especially the first round. When you yank them and make them watch from afar, they realize that it's a game that is ONLY fun if you DON'T cheat, then it's generally not a problem. People will get mad a talk "Dammit Jim! Why did you kill me!" Then the game is over, since they've just said the name of the mafia and you have to start early. Remind them that DEAD PEOPLE DON'T TALK.
posted by TomMelee at 7:27 PM on January 15, 2008
Oops. It's up to the informant to sacrifice himself to kill the last MAFIA.
posted by TomMelee at 7:31 PM on January 15, 2008
posted by TomMelee at 7:31 PM on January 15, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
BoardGameGeek has a bunch of "session reports" for Mafia/Werewolf. A lot of them are very in-depth, so you should be able to get a feel for how the game works by reading them. You can also check out the reviews section for more of an explaination of how the game works and the strategies section for some tips on how to play.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:42 AM on January 15, 2008