Murder in the Dark (akin to Mafia)

Materials Required:

• A deck of cards
• An area with controllable or no lights (bring a light source if there are no lights)

Setup:

1. Distribute one card for each player from the deck. Red cards signify murderers, while black cards indicate innocents/villagers. You should ideally have a ratio of one murderer for every group of 4-5 players.

2. Set a boundary for the playing area. The game works best in indoor spaces with lights or dark locations.

3. Determine the roles of players by distributing cards. Also, appoint a game master to oversee the game and control the lights.

Objective:

The aim for villagers is to vote out all the murderers before they are eliminated.

Rules:

1. Inspect your card privately to ascertain if you're a murderer or villager. Keep your card hidden to prevent revealing your identity.

2. The game encompasses two time settings: day and night. During the daytime phase, villagers convene to discuss and vote to eliminate suspects.

3. At nighttime, lights are switched off. Murderers can then stealthily draw an "X" on other players' backs. Players with an "X" on their back should pause for 3-5 seconds before settling down on the ground. If a murderer tries to "kill" another murderer, the attempt should be ignored.

4. Night ends when someone discovers a "body" and shouts "Murder in the dark!". This cues to turn on the lights again, transitioning to day for discussions and voting.

5. The game concludes when either all murderers are ousted by the villagers or when the murderers eliminate or outnumber the villagers.

Tip: A smaller playing area is typically more conducive for gameplay.