# Have you ever played mafia/scum in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209 "2010-02-09T00:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/21 "2010-02-12T20:52:41Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Well, people can cheat in online mafia as well; the no extra-game communication thing is pretty much an honor system. Exactly. I assume this does not occur. I’ve never heard of it, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/22 "2010-02-23T00:08:36Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > So you could make someone a cop by giving them an ear-trumpet? How else would you do it? By the way, I’ve got a few spare ear-trumpets to sell, if anyone’s buying… ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/23 "2010-02-23T00:10:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Exactly. I assume this does not occur. I’ve never heard of it, anyway. In my first game of online mafia (on Idle’s board) I did this, without knowing it was against the rules. The person I sent a message to duly reported me, and I withdrew from the game. Dopers are far too upright for their own good. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/24 "2010-02-23T00:12:22Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > How else would you do it? > > By the way, I’ve got a few spare ear-trumpets to sell, if anyone’s buying… I just figured the moderator would privately (like when everyone’s heads were down) ask the cop who they wanted to investigate. The cop could submit a name and the mod could tell them (in writing maybe) if they were town or whatnot. Wouldn’t the scum notice the cop with their ear trumpet? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/25 "2010-02-23T01:31:58Z")
Sure. That’s where I’ve played it the most, really. If it’s a small group, you have just the Doctor, the Detective, and the Mafiosos. In larger groups, you can go a whole night without having a role beyond “villager”, so we add any of a half-dozen more roles (the Witch, the Lovers, the Hunter, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/26 "2010-02-23T04:24:40Z")
I play mafia on a couple of Magic: The Gathering boards a lot. Last year, a bunch of us got together IRL for the first time and played werewolf face-o-face. It was incredible to try and adjust to the wildly different strategy with people I know very well online, but not at all IRL. I hope to do it again soon. One guy, Stan, is smooth as silk online. Game one face-to-face, as soon as the day starts, I ask him if he’s scum. He pauses, stutters out “Y-no. No!” and breaks into a huge nervous grin. Bam! Easy lynch. But nope, he was town. Turns out he’s just a whole lot more nervous IRL than he is online. That showed me just how different the game is. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/27 "2010-02-23T05:09:16Z")
I learned about mafia as a theatre game in high school. It was always played as an ice breaker/bonding game early on in the rehearsal process of any show that was getting put up. It’s lots of fun in real life, and as others have said, very different. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/28 "2010-02-23T13:29:28Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Now that I’ve played online a bit I think it would be interesting to try again in person and see how much carry over I could use. Might be a fun idea for a dopefest of the mafia group. That would be entertaining. I wonder how different we would all be in an offline game. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/29 "2010-03-17T07:26:09Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > I learned about mafia as a theatre game in high school. It was always played as an ice breaker/bonding game early on in the rehearsal process of any show that was getting put up. It’s lots of fun in real life, and as others have said, very different. Curious. In the theatre group I was in, in college, we often played ‘sex in the prop room’. A much more effective bonding game, but perhaps less conducive for the whole cast. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/30 "2010-03-17T08:30:28Z")
I’ve often wondered if the real life game can use some of the complex rules and roles we’ve\* created. I could see having a lot of fun with a themed mafia. Heck, a [del]gastard[/del]bastard real life mafia would be hilarious. \*Well, you’ve. I don’t play because I’m going through crap where my brain doesn’t work reliably, and I can’t guarantee I’d be around and capable though a whole game. That’s why I think I’d prefer quick games. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/31 "2010-03-17T16:37:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Curious. In the theatre group I was in, in college, we often played ‘sex in the prop room’. A much more effective bonding game, but perhaps less conducive for the whole cast. Well, how conducive it’d be to the whole cast would depend on how many tentacles you have, now wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209/32 "2010-03-17T17:04:51Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Curious. In the theatre group I was in, in college, we often played ‘sex in the prop room’. A much more effective bonding game, but perhaps less conducive for the whole cast. High school theatre vs college theatre my friend. I participated in your type of bonding when I was going to theatre school for college. I am here to tell you it is _highly_ conducive to whole cast bonding. Large ensemble shows are particularly fun. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-played-mafia-scum-in-real-life/528209.md?page=1)