LIVE ACTION MAFIA

1. Choose a moderator who has played the game before. The moderator’s job is to tell a story throughout the game. You can choose a theme or scene to help keep the story cohesive. The moderator should make up stories for when people are “killed.”

2. Sit in a circle and assign these roles to people randomly and secretly:

   1. Mafia (1-2 people depending on the size of your group)

   2. Doctor

   3. Detective

3. Ask everyone to close their eyes.

4. Tell the doctor to open their eyes and have them point to someone in the room that they would like to save in the event that they would be killed by the mafia (they can also choose themselves). Tell the doctor to close their eyes.

5. Tell the detective to open their eyes and ask them to point to someone that they think is the mafia. Give a simple nod of the head to indicate whether or not they are correct. Ask the detective to close their eyes.

6. Ask everyone to stand up and turn off the lights.

7. Have everyone walk around the room while the Mafia randomly chooses one person to kill. Have them touch that person’s shoulders/back and whisper in their ear (you’re dead). That person should fall silently to the ground.

8. When someone notices that someone has fallen to the ground they should shout “dead body!” and the lights should be turned on.

   1. If the doctor chose this person to save, the moderator should embellish the story so that this person has a miraculous recovery.

9. Then the “townspeople” should offer theories on who is the Mafia. Give the accused a chance to defend themselves and take a vote by the townspeople.

10. The person with the most votes should be “killed.” The moderator should let the townspeople know whether or not they made the right choice.

11. The game continues until the Mafia is killed or only the Mafia remain.

Submitted by Young Mi Ueda and the Los Angeles, CA Youth Ministry