Social deduction
Each player is secretly given a role, and a few are traitors trying to take out the rest without being found out. You talk, accuse and vote on whom to throw out, so you win by reasoning from the clues and by knowing how to lie or how to spot a liar.
Also known as: social deduction game, hidden role game, Mafia-like, Werewolf-like
This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.
History
- 2003OriginSpace Station 13
It was born off-screen, in parlour games such as Mafia (1986), also known as Werewolf. Space Station 13 (2003) is among the first video games in the genre.
Social deduction game (Wikipedia) - 2018Among Us
Innersloth's Among Us comes out. In 2020 it becomes a phenomenon during the pandemic and adds to the Mafia formula tasks that crewmates must complete while hunting for the impostor.
Social deduction game (Wikipedia)
Reference games
2003
Space Station 13
A free round-based game in which each player does a job aboard a space station seen from above, while some are secretly traitors. It runs on the BYOND engine and now exists in many community-maintained versions, several of them open source.
2018
Among Us
Almost everyone is a crewmate doing tasks around the ship, but a few are impostors who secretly kill them. After each body is found, players discuss and vote on whom to throw out. It is inspired by the party game Mafia.