Mystery, Magic, and Mayhem
Why Witch-Themed Mafia is the Perfect Game for your Halloween Party
This past weekend my friends and I hosted a Halloween party (where we served this delicious Roasted Tomato Soup I posted about earlier this week). Besides the food and decor, the thing that really tied the whole thing together was this game of Mafia that we played.
If you aren’t familiar, Mafia is a social deduction party game where players assume hidden roles and work together to uncover the "mafia" (or in this case, witches) lurking among them. The game is divided into two teams: the majority are innocent villagers, while a few are secretly part of the mafia (or witches).
Each night, the mafia selects someone to eliminate, while the villagers try to survive and identify the mafia members during the day. The game alternates between "night" phases, where the mafia acts in secret, and "day" phases, where the entire group discusses, accuses, and votes to eliminate suspected mafia members. The game continues until all mafia members are eliminated or the mafia outnumbers the villagers, resulting in a mafia victory.
Our dinner was called ‘Witch Trials’, so with the help of ChatGPT I was able to transform Mafia into something far more Halloween-y. You don’t need that many things to play either, especially with this PDF of the version I made as a guide:
Other than that, all you need to play is:
Slips of paper with roles on them
Your phone (to set a 2 minute discussion timer)
A group of friends with a sense of imagination
Activities at dinner parties can go one of two ways, either people are really invested, or they would rather be yapping and not playing. What I found is that this game is perfect, with the added flair of screaming ‘BURN THE WITCH’ to choose who is burned at the stake, some ambient sounds to set the mood, and dramatic retellings of who is killed each night, you have the perfect game awaiting you!