One of the well-known party games is the Mafia game, which gained popularity for its simplicity and the requirement of minimal resources, needing only a game master to facilitate.
A board game that can be considered the precursor to the Mafia game is “Lupus in Tabula,” originally titled in Latin as “Lupus in Tabula.”
“Lupus in Tabula” (Wolves of Tabula):
Released by “DV Giochi” in 2001, “Lupus in Tabula” is a board game that adds roles to the werewolf genre, serving as a prototype for numerous Mafia games.
The game revolves around the confrontation between the werewolves threatening the Tabula Village and the villagers opposing them. It can be enjoyed by a minimum of 8 players and up to a maximum of 24.
Similar to the Mafia Game:
Being a predecessor to the Mafia game, “Lupus in Tabula” closely follows the same format. Players are divided into villagers and werewolves. Each night, werewolves eliminate one villager, and during the day, the villagers, through a discussion, select someone to be executed, suspecting them to be a werewolf.
This cycle of night and day continues until one side prevails.
Characters in Lupus in Tabula:
Similar to the Mafia game, Lupus in Tabula features various characters with unique traits. The basic characters include:
Basic Characters:
- Human: A character with no special abilities (can vote for the target of the day’s execution).
- Werewolf: A character opposing the villagers (can choose one target to eliminate during the night).
- Seer: Starting from the second night, the Seer can identify whether a chosen person is a werewolf or not.
Special Characters:
Special characters are introduced when the player count exceeds 9. Their active abilities come into play from the second night onwards. The number in parentheses indicates the required player count for these characters.
- Medium (9): A villager who, at night, learns whether the lynched person from that day was a werewolf.
- Possessed (10): A werewolf-aligned character with no special abilities, winning if the werewolves win.
- Bodyguard (11): A villager who can protect one player each night from werewolf attacks.
- Owl Man (12): A villager who, after selecting someone at night, influences the second-day suspicion vote.
- Freemasons (14): Villagers who, once determined on the first night, confirm each other’s identities.
- Werehamster (15): A third-party character with the goal of being the last survivor, immune to werewolf attacks.
- Mythomaniac (16): Selects a person on the second night; if the chosen one is not a Seer or Werewolf, becomes a normal villager.
- Notary (14): A villager collecting the last wills of deceased players, revealing them when the Notary dies.
- El Diablo (12): A third-party character with immunity to werewolf attacks, winning if targeted by werewolves and lynched by villagers.
- Santa Claus (8): A special rotating card given to the youngest player, allowing them to choose and reveal another player’s role.
You can find “Lupus in Tabula” on Coupang: Link