2 player mafia rules
*new 3 player rules added

I recently joked to a friend about playing 2 player Mafia. Mafia is a social game that requires a lot of people so the idea of a 2 player game is ridiculous.
Then (as often happens to me) I couldn't fully concentrate on anything other than concocting the rules. I think I came up with something fun, but it has yet to be play tested so I really have no idea. email me if you actually play it. The rules are pretty simple.
 
There are five cards.
2 townsperson, 2 mafia, 1 cop. (you can make your own cards or use a regular deck - (jacks are mafia, 6's are townspeople and the queen of spades is the cop)
The cards are shuffled and placed in a row between the two players. Each player picks one card from the row, alternating who picks first each round.
You'd need a timer to time the 2 minute rounds. Preferably the timer has audio so you know it's stopped. Here's an egg timer widget that will do the trick if you're stuck but have a mac.
 
During the 2 minutes either person can kill the other. If you are a townsperson or the cop, you want to kill the mafia. If you are a mafia, you want to kill the townsperson or cop. Players are to use whatever methods they wish* to determine the identification of the other until a kill is made or the time has expired. Once a person is killed the round ends and you flip the cards. Only the words "I kill you" triggers a hit.
If two minutes are up and nobody has voted to kill anyone then nobody dies and you flip the cards.  Players may agree not to kill one another before the end of the two minutes with a handshake (a handshake means the same as the timer expiring). Rounds will be quick and plentiful.
If you declare that you are the cop you can look at one of the unpicked cards (you may not show it to your opponent). Of course you don't actually have to be the cop to declare that you are the cop, however, if you are killed there will be extra consequences. If you have the cop card you may remain under cover and not declare yourself as the cop if you wish.
Only one person may declare that they are the cop per round on a first come first serve basis.
Anyone can kill anyone at any time, even while the cop is looking at the card.
If both players say "I kill you" at the same time then an argument ensues. The killer the first to get out the whole phrase, not start it. If the players cannot decide who said "I kill you" first, then you are both dead and nothing happens (bodies never found) - a new round begins, and both bonuses (see below) go back to 0.
 
*This game is intended as a verbal and cerebral contest. Players wishing to take the game into a physical realm do so at their own risk.

scoring

If a townsperson or mafia falsely declare themselves as a cop, they don't score as a cop. Undercover cops still get full cop points for being a cop, even if they chose not to declare. Consequently, killing an undercover cop counts the same as killing a disclosed cop.

The Bonus Multiplier rule
Each player has a bonus multiplier that rewards winning streaks. The bonus starts at 0. Each round you either win (correctly kill your opponent) or die unjustly (get killed by your same kind) your bonus goes up 1. Conversely if you kill someone you shouldn't, or are killed by your opposite kind your bonus goes back to 0. If both parties live through the round then both bonuses go up 1. If both parties die (in an tie) both bonuses revert to 0.
Score for each round is calculated by multiplying the points earned by the player's bonus number.

good kills - killing your enemies
Mafia kills Townsperson +1 bonus 2 points times bonus
Townsperson kills Mafia  +1 bonus 3 points times bonus
Mafi kills Townsperson pretending to be the cop +1 bonus 4 points times bonus
Mafia kills cop +1 bonus 5 points times bonus
Townsperson kills Mafia pretending to be the cop +1 bonus 5 points times bonus
Cop kills Mafia +1 bonus 5 points times bonus
Cop kills Mafia pretending to be the cop +1 bonus 6 points times bonus
In all of the above cases the dead person's bonus reverts to 0


Bad kills - killing your friends
Townsperson kills Townsperson pretending to be the cop bonus reverts to 0  - 3 points
Cop kills Townsperson pretending to be the cop bonus reverts to 0 - 4 points
Townsperson kills Townsperson bonus reverts to 0 - 5 points
Townsperson kills Cop bonus reverts to 0 - 8 points
Cop kills Townsperson bonus reverts to 0 -10 points
Mafia kills Mafia bonus reverts to 0 -12 points
Mafia kills Mafia pretending to be the cop bonus reverts to 0 -20 points
In all of the above cases the dead person's bonus goes up 1
There is no extra punishment for killing your friends while pretending to be the cop.

If nobody dies
Mafia +1 bonus + 2 points (no bonus multiplier)
Cop +1 bonus - 2 points (no bonus multiplier)
Townsperson +1 bonus 0 points



Sample Game: Lenny vs Karl

round 1

Lenny shuffles the cards and spreads them out on the table. Karl picks one, then Lenny. They start the timer and look at their own cards. Lenny's card says Mafia and Karl's says townsperson. Lenny and Karl have a conversation. Becasue there are more townspeople (if you include the cop) than mafia, both take on the roll of townspeople in the conversation. Karl thinks, however, that there's something fishy about Lenny and says "I kill you", killing Lenny instantly. It's a good kill for Karl.
scoring round 1
Fisrt, Karl's bonus goes up to 1
Second he gets 3 points (killing the mafia as townsperson) times his bonus (1) for a total of 3 points.
Lenny's bonus stays at 0

round 2

The cards are shuffled, re-delt, looked at, and the timer is started.
Again Karl is a townsperson and Leny is mafia.
This time Lenny decides to take the initiative and declare himself the cop. This is a risky move for Lenny because there are big points awarded for killing mafia pretending to be a cop. However, there's a lot to gain too. If Lenny turns a card and sees mafia then he knows that he can kill because Karl hast to be either a townsperson or a cop. Lenny picks a card and looks at it -the card says "cop". This is good and bad nesw for Lenny.  There's a 2to1 chance that Karl is a townsperson, but the punishment for killing a fellow mafia is -12 and the reward would only be 2 points (it would be higher if Karl had more bonus). Then again if Karl IS mafia then there's big points to be made if Karl tries to kill him becasue Karl would go down 20 and lose his bonus.
Just before time expires Karl (who has been watching Lenny try to calculate the odd in his head) kills Lenny. It's a good kill for Karl.
scoring for round 2
Fisrt, Karl's bonus goes up to 2
He gets 5 points for killing a mafia pretending to be a cop times his bonus (2) for 10 points.
His new total is 13 points (10 + 3 from the first round)
round 3

This time Karl is the cop and Lenny is a townsperson.
Karl, drunk with the power of cop and his big bonus stockplie, declares himself the cop and looks at a card. It says townsperson. Instantly, (and with the odds in his favor) he kills lenny. This round takes 10 seconds.
scoring for round 3
First, karl's bonus goes back to 0
Karl loses 10 points for killing a townsperson as a cop (with great power comes great responsibility)
Karl' new total is 3
Lenny's bonus goes up 1 and is now 1
3 player variation

the 3 palyer game is largley the same with a few key changes.
there are 7 cards, not 5 - 3 townsperson 3 mafia and 1 cop.  The gameplay is the same there's a 3 minute timer and anyone can kill either other person during those three minutes. When the first person dies their card is not revealed, and they must remain silent until the end of the round. The two finalists square off in the time remainig. When the final round is over the score is tabulated for the first death, and then the second.
special cop rule - if the cop declaes themselves in the first round and looks at a card they may (if they are still alive) look at a second card after the fist death.
in the first round one person must be the killer, there is no sharing responsibility for a killing.

It is concievable that time will run out and nobody has died, or there is a 3 way handshake.

 If all three live (same as 2player game).
Mafia +1 bonus + 2 points (no bonus multiplier)
Cop +1 bonus - 2 points (no bonus multiplier)
Townsperson +1 bonus 0 points

however, if two people live and one person dies the outcome is different.
outcome result 1
 result 2
townsperson - townsperson townsperson + 2 points (no bonus multiplier) townsperson + 2 points (no bonus multiplier)
townsperson - cop townsperson + 2 points (no bonus multiplier) cop + 3 points (no bonus multiplier)
cop - mafia cop 0 points mafia 0 points
mafia mafia mafia + 8 points (no bonus multiplier) mafia + 8 points (no bonus multiplier)
mafia - townsperson townsperson 0 points mafia + 4 points (no bonus multiplier)
all the above get + 1 bonus

Created by Joe Mckay, 2007