Choosing a game
Mafia vs Werewolf: What Changes When You Switch?
Know Mafia and want to try Werewolf? Compare the games, check role reveals and voting rules, and help your group switch without mixing up versions.
Mafia and Werewolf belong to the same family of hidden-team games. In Andrew Plotkin’s Werewolf, adapted from Mafia, secret night actions alternate with discussion and voting. Friends who know Mafia will recognize the basic idea, but they may not know the rules of the version you are playing.
For tonight, start with the game you can explain clearly. The theme can help people get interested; powers, voting procedures and revealed information determine what they actually need to learn.
What changes when you move from Mafia to Werewolf?
Avoid introducing the switch as a straight swap of every character’s name. Cover these three points instead:
| What to explain | Question for your group |
|---|---|
| The vocabulary | Which names will we use for the teams and characters? |
| The powers | What does each included role actually do, and when? |
| The procedure | How do we decide an elimination and when the game ends? |
If someone says, “That’s like the Mafia detective,” ask them to describe the power they remember. Then compare it with the role you are using. A familiar nickname can be a memory aid, but it does not establish that two powers work identically.
Our Werewolf roles guide helps you prepare the characters. For organizing their turns, see the guide to night role order.
One example: do eliminated players reveal their roles?
In Plotkin’s rules, eliminated players reveal their cards. In Stellar Factory’s Werewolf rules, the night’s victim keeps their character secret. The name “Werewolf” alone does not settle that question.
Consider this fictional situation. Alex claims to be the Seer during discussion, then is eliminated the following night.
- If the card is revealed, the group can check which role Alex held. That does not automatically verify everything Alex said during the discussion.
- If the role stays secret, the claim remains something to evaluate. Saying “Alex must have been the Seer” turns a possibility into certainty without new evidence.
Either way, separate what the group has actually seen from what a player has said. Explain the reveal rule before the first night, rather than deciding when one answer benefits a particular team.
Five things to agree before you start
- One shared reference. Choose the rules, edition or app you will follow. Avoid combining several people’s memories halfway through a game.
- Clear role descriptions. Read only the powers included in this round and explain the objectives of the teams involved.
- A defined vote. Check nominations, the required majority and what happens in a tie in your version.
- Protected information. Explain what becomes public after an elimination and what eliminated players may say or do.
- Known win conditions. Explain how the game ends before assigning roles.
To check that everyone understands, try a pretend vote before anybody has a character: “Two people have the same number of votes. What do our rules say happens next?” A shared answer is more useful than a long tour of every possible variant.
Playing Werewolf with an app
Werewolf Undercover provides narration for a group playing together in person. Find it on the App Store or Google Play, then follow the roles and instructions in your version.
Our guide to Werewolf without cards covers phone setup and keeping roles private. If some friends are completely new, the first-time hosting guide helps you welcome them without overwhelming them with powers.
If your friends mean Undercover, the word game, use our Undercover vs Werewolf comparison instead: the clues you interpret and the way you contribute are different.
