The Mafia party game was invented in 1986 by Dimitry Davidoff, then a psychology student at Moscow State University. Davidoff himself dates the first game to spring 1987, played at the university’s Psychology Department. From there it spread through Soviet schools and colleges, reached Europe and the United States in the 1990s, and was rethemed as Werewolf by Andrew Plotkin in 1997.
All of the facts below come from Wikipedia’s article on Mafia (party game), which cites the original sources.
Dimitry Davidoff and the first game #
Wikipedia describes Davidoff as the game’s generally acknowledged creator. He built the game while at Moscow State University, and Wikipedia says his aim was to combine psychology research with his work teaching high school students.
That background shows in the design. Mafia is a controlled experiment in group behaviour: a small informed group tries to steer a larger uninformed one, and everyone has to judge who’s telling the truth from what people say and how they vote. Wikipedia sums up the game as a conflict between “an informed minority” and “an uninformed majority.”
The article gives two dates:
- 1986. The game’s creation, while Davidoff was a psychology student.
- Spring 1987. The first game, as Davidoff dates it, at the Psychology Department of Moscow State University.
Both are right. It’s the difference between inventing a game and getting a group together to play it.
Why “Mafia”? #
Wikipedia notes that the game became popular in Soviet colleges and schools and was often linked with La Piovra, a hugely popular Italian TV series about the Mafia that first aired in 1986. The Sicilian Mafia gave the game a ready-made story: a secret organisation hidden among ordinary citizens.
How the game spread #
- Late 1980s. Mafia spread from Moscow State University to other colleges and schools in the Soviet Union.
- 1990s. It began to be played in other parts of Europe. In some countries it went by the name “City of Palermo.”
- Later in the 1990s. It reached the United States.
Because Mafia needs no equipment, it spread by word of mouth, one group teaching the next. That’s also why rules vary so much between groups today. There was never a single rulebook.
1997: Andrew Plotkin turns Mafia into Werewolf #
In 1997, Andrew Plotkin (known online as Zarf) added the werewolf theme. The mechanics stayed the same, but the Mafia became werewolves and the town became a village. Plotkin felt the werewolf theme suited the game better, and it gave the game a folklore flavour that later card sets built on.
Plotkin also had a view on balance. Wikipedia records that he recommended exactly two Mafia (or wolves) in any game, while Davidoff’s original rules called for a third of the players, rounded to the nearest whole number. Most groups today land between the two: roughly one evil player per three or four players, with power roles for the town. We turn that into a table in how many Mafia for 10 players.
The two themes are compared side by side in Mafia vs Werewolf.
From folk game to board games and apps #
Once the game was popular, publishers and developers built on it:
| Year | Version | What it added |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow | A boxed card game from French designers Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly, nominated for the 2003 Spiel des Jahres |
| 2008 | Ultimate Werewolf | Ted Alspach’s card game for 5 to 75 players, from Bezier Games |
| Later | One Night Ultimate Werewolf | A 10-minute variant with no moderator and no elimination |
| 2022 | Blood on the Clocktower | Steven Medway’s game in which dead players keep talking and voting, funded by a Kickstarter that began in 2018 |
Online versions followed too, including Town of Salem, a browser game with Mafia-style teams. The whole family of games is now called social deduction. We explain the genre in what is a social deduction game.
Why the design has lasted #
Nearly four decades on, the core of Davidoff’s design hasn’t changed: night kills, day votes, and a moderator who keeps the secrets. It works because it runs on conversation. The rules take two minutes to explain, and the game after that is about people.
The moderator’s job hasn’t changed either. It’s still the hardest seat at the table. Mafia Helper is our app for that seat: it deals roles on one phone, walks the moderator through each night in wake order, and works out who died and who was saved. If you want to try the original game, our how to play Mafia guide has a first-game setup.
Frequently asked questions #
Who created the Mafia game? #
Dimitry Davidoff, a psychology student at Moscow State University. Wikipedia says he created it in 1986 and dates the first game to spring 1987 at the university’s Psychology Department.
When was Mafia invented? #
In 1986, according to Wikipedia. The first game Davidoff describes took place in spring 1987.
Who invented Werewolf? #
Andrew Plotkin, also known as Zarf, created the Werewolf theme in 1997 by rethemeing Mafia. The rules stayed the same, with werewolves replacing the Mafia and a village replacing the town.
Why is the game called Mafia? #
Its creators gave the hidden team the identity of a crime family secretly operating inside an ordinary town. In the Soviet Union the game was often linked to La Piovra, a popular Italian TV series about the Mafia that first aired in 1986.