TBC Youth Group

This is a bizarre game; how it ended up here on a blog for a Christian Youth Group is a mystery. But here we are.

Mafia is a complex game, but one that the kids generally like (with one caveat, that will be mentioned below). The first step is to divide everyone up into the following characters:

• Mafia
• Doctors
• Detectives
• Civilians

In addition, there is a Storyteller, who is usually in charge of the whole thing. The best way to assign everyone their character is to get some slips of paper, and write down these characters on them. (When we play, with our 15–20 people, we normally have 2 Mafia, 2 doctors, 2 detectives, and make everyone else a civilian, but depending on the size of your group, you may decide to alter those numbers.) Fold the slips of paper up, put them in a hat, and have everyone draw out a slip of paper. It’s important, however, that they keep their character secret.

Once this is set up, have everyone sit in a circle (if you haven’t already). The Storyteller will then tell everyone to close their eyes. This is the caveat: If everyone is willing to play along, and keep their eyes closed during this part, the game will be fun. If they’re not, the game will be ruined, and everyone will think that it’s stupid.

Once everyone has closed their eyes, the Storyteller will have the Mafia open their eyes. They are then to pick someone that they want to kill. (You see why it’s strange for this game to be on this blog?) Of course, they have to do this by pointing silently—and they both have to agree—so that others in the circle won’t realize who the Mafia are. They then have to close their eyes again.

The Storyteller next has the doctors open their eyes. They are to choose someone—again, by pointing silently—that they want to save. (Doctors are allowed to save themselves.) They then close their eyes again.

Finally, the Storyteller has the detectives open their eyes. They are to choose someone who they think might be the Mafia. The Storyteller will indicate to them (by nodding or shaking his/her head) if they are correct in their guess. They are then to close their eyes.

Once all of this is done, everyone can re-open their eyes. The Storyteller now has to tell a story, in the course of which the person that the Mafia killed will die. (The more amusing the story, the better everyone will enjoy the game, so you want someone inventive to be the Storyteller.) Unless the person that the doctors chose to save also happens to be the person that the Mafia killed, in which case the person will not be killed in the story, but will instead be saved.

For example, if the Mafia choose to kill a person in the circle named David, then the Storyteller will tell a story in which David dies. But if the Mafia choose to kill David, and the doctors also happen to choose to save David, then the Storyteller will tell a story in which David almost dies, but is saved at the last minute.

After the story, you should ask the person who died what their character was. (Assuming that someone actually died; if the doctors saved the person, then nobody reveals their identity.) Then it’s time for everyone in the circle to try and decide who the Mafia is. They discuss it for a few minutes, and then put it to a vote, and vote off a person that they think might be the Mafia. If the detectives happened to guess correctly about who the Mafia is, then they should really try and lead the conversation, to get people to vote that person off. (Of course, they shouldn’t be too obvious about it, or else the remaining Mafia are likely to kill them the next round! If the Mafia can eliminate the detectives, it’s probably much better for them.) When someone is voted off, they should also reveal their character.

Once you’re done, you have everyone close their eyes, except for the person who was killed and the person who was voted off, and go for another round. The idea is for the people to find and vote out the Mafia before they kill everyone.