Shirts

Shirts (also known as Three Player Mafia and Eyewitness) is a variation on regular Mafia, designed for 3 players and a Mod. It is often played on AIM or other suitable instant messengers, in Scum Chat, or even in the MafiaScum forums.

Setup

There are 3 players: one Murderer (effectively, a 1-man Scum group) and 2 Witnesses (the Town). One of the Witnesses is a Sane Witness and the other is a Delusional Witness. Neither witness knows whether he/she is sane or delusional.

Each player is wearing a shirt of a particular (which they are told):

• The Sane Witness saw the murder and is also told what colour shirt the Murderer is wearing.
• The Delusional Witness thinks he saw the Murderer but (unbeknownst to him) he actually saw the Sane Witness. He is told that the Murderer is wearing the colour that the Sane Witness is in fact wearing.
• The Murderer is only told the colour of his own shirt.

Variations: The game doesn't have to be based on shirt colours. The players could be from different US States, have different pets, be drinking various drinks, and so on.

Play

Players may vote and unvote at will as in a normal game of Mafia (votes and unvotes must be in bold). It takes 2 votes to eliminate. Once someone gets 2 votes, the game is over and no amount of unvoting will change that. The mod then announces the elimination, and resulting winner(s).

Players may claim the colour of their own shirt, and/or the shirt they saw, at any time. Devising a claiming strategy is a key part of the game.

However, it is usually forbidden to hint (rather than fully claim) a colour. For example, you may not say "my shirt is/is not one of the colour's of the rainbow"; or in a game with US States: "I am from the South". Claims such as this make it impossible for the Murderer to construct a fake claim and if hinting is allowed the Witnesses will always win.

Winning

The Murderer wins if a Witness is eliminated. The Witnesses both win if the Murderer is eliminated.

Variations

• One common variation is instead of using colours, use types of shirts, such as t-shirt, or football jersey. Alternatively you can use other items of clothing, ie. anything from jackets to wigs, but usually all 3 roles have a similar theme. You can also play using radical identities such as each player is driving a certain make of car, or drinking a certain cocktail.
• It is becoming less and less common, but still exists nonetheless, to announce before hand each of the 3 shirts that are being worn, but not to tell who is wearing them, or which one is being worn by the Mafia. This is perhaps a good way to introduce new players to the game. Though this appears to give the Mafia a better chance, it does not when the Mafia is being played by a sufficiently experienced/knowlegeable player. At all times in this game, the chances of either side of winning, with optimal play from all 3 players, is 50%.

Four or Five Player Games

With more than three players, you may choose to add more than Sane and Insane Witness roles. You could also add:

• Crazy Hermit - This witness is not seen by other players, and sees a color shirt that is not in play.
• Blind - This witness does not see another witness. Sort of like a Miller shirt.
• Copy Cat - This player wears the same shirt as either the murderer or one of the other witnesses.
• Mirror - This witness sees themself. (Good fake claim for scum, too)
• Multiple Chains - There could be more than one 'chain' of viewings.

And others...