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Mafia Roles Explained: Doctor, Police, Mafia Helper and Jester

By House Party Games · 29 October 2026

Mafia (or Werewolf) is only as good as its roles. Too few and the town has nothing to go on; too many and nobody remembers who does what. Here is what each classic role does, how to play it well, and which ones to use for your group size.

The two teams

Every game of Mafia is the town against the Mafia. The Mafia know each other and kill one player each night. The town doesn't know who anyone is, and votes one player out each day. The town wins when no Mafia are left. The Mafia win when they are at least as many as everyone else. A few special roles bend those rules, and that is where the fun is.

The rules below are how roles work in Mafia on House Party Games, where the app is the narrator. Most groups play the classic roles the same way, so they work for paper games too.

Mafia 🕶️

Team: Mafia. At night: pick one player to kill. With more than one Mafia, they choose together: on everyone's phones they must all pick the same player; on one phone, the last Mafia's pick counts.

By day, act like a worried citizen. The best Mafia players vote with the crowd, ask reasonable questions and never defend a teammate too hard. If your partner is about to be voted out, sometimes the right move is to vote for them too.

How many: 1 for 5–7 players, 2 for 8–11, 3 for 12 or more. The Mafia team must stay smaller than half of the players, or the game is over before it starts.

Citizen 🏠

Team: town. At night: nothing that matters. In our app, Citizens answer a decoy question ("Who do you suspect most?") on the same screen as everyone else, so nobody can tell roles apart by how long someone holds the phone.

Citizens win the game by talking. Ask why people voted the way they did, keep track of who accused whom, and don't stay quiet: a silent town is easy prey.

Doctor 🩺

Team: town. At night: save one player. If the Mafia pick that player, nobody dies.

The Doctor may save themselves, but not the same player two nights in a row. That one rule stops the game from stalling on one protected player. Good Doctors don't reveal themselves early: once the Mafia know who the Doctor is, the Doctor is the next target.

Police 🚓

Team: town. At night: check one player and learn whether they are Mafia. (Many groups call this role the Detective, the Sheriff or the Seer.)

The Police have the most information in the game and the hardest choice: when to share it. Reveal too early and the Mafia kill you that night. Wait too long and the town votes out the wrong people. A common move is to stay hidden until you have found a Mafia, then say so loudly.

Mafia helper 🎭

Team: Mafia, with a twist. The helper wins with the Mafia but doesn't know who they are, and the Mafia don't know who the helper is. When the Police check the helper, they see "not Mafia".

The helper's job is to cause confusion by day: defend people at random, push suspicion onto confirmed townsfolk, or even claim to be the Police. For the win check, the helper counts as one of the town, so if every Mafia is out, the town wins, helper alive or not. Off by default; add it for 10 or more players.

Jester 🃏

Team: none. The Jester wins alone, at once, if the town votes them out by day. Killed at night, they just die. The Police see them as "not Mafia".

Play the Jester as suspicious, but not too suspicious: a player who begs to be voted out is easy to read. The Jester changes how the whole town plays, because every vote now carries a risk. Off by default; it shines with 8 or more players.

Which roles to use

Players	Mafia	Town specials	Extras
5–7	1	Doctor, Police	None
8–11	2	Doctor, Police	Jester
12–16	3	Doctor, Police	Jester, Mafia helper

For a first game, keep it to Mafia, Doctor and Police. Add one new role at a time, so everyone learns it together.

Roles from other versions

Mafia and Werewolf have hundreds of fan-made roles. A few you may meet: the Bodyguard (a Doctor who dies in your place), the Vigilante (a citizen who can kill once), the Cupid (links two lovers who die together) and the Godfather (Mafia who looks innocent to the Police). Our app keeps to the classic set for now, so every game stays easy to explain. If your group loves big role lists, the boxed game One Night Ultimate Werewolf and its expansions are excellent.

Fair-play rules for every role

Never show your screen or card. Saying "I'm the Doctor" is a bluff you are allowed; showing proof is not.
The dead stay quiet. Eliminated players can watch, but not hint.
Vote out loud. Who voted for whom is the best clue in the game.

Ready to try them? Start a game of Mafia on one phone or everyone's phones, or read how to play Mafia without a narrator.