House Mafia is a mobile-first, multiplayer social-deduction party game from Stratos Games. It is Mafia and Werewolf reframed as a house party — the rules you already know, paced for the way people actually play games together: 4 to 8 players, 3 to 5 minute rounds, one tap to join. Web-first, no install required. Currently in active development; the public web beta is the next milestone.
Quick facts
- Genre: Party / social deduction / multiplayer
- Players: 4 to 8
- Round length: 3 to 5 minutes
- Platforms: Web (in development), Android + iOS (planned)
- Price: Free
- Studio: Stratos Games
- Status: In active development — public web beta is the next milestone
Why House Mafia exists
The Mafia and Werewolf families have been around for decades because they nail something rare — a multiplayer game that turns five people in a room into a story. The problem is, the existing apps and party games don’t fit how friends actually play in 2026. Some of them require half an hour and a long rules explanation. Some of them require a moderator. Some of them require everyone to install the same app, sign up, and wait.
House Mafia trims it down. Three to five minute rounds. Four to eight players. One URL to join. The rules are the rules you already know — there is a hidden role, the role does something, the table tries to figure out who. We add the lightness on top: the setting is a house party, the copy is funny, the pace is closer to Among Us than to a tabletop RPG.
How House Mafia plays
The host opens the game on their phone. They get a room URL or short code. They share it in their group chat. Four to seven friends tap the URL on their own phones and they are in the lobby — no install, no account, no friend graph required.
When everyone is ready, the round starts. Roles are assigned secretly. Each player sees their own role on their own phone — phones do not get passed around. The round goes through three short phases:
- Night — the hidden role acts (mafia picks a target, host sees a clue). Other players see the room go dark on their screen.
- Day — the timer runs, players talk in person about who they suspect. Phones display the timer and the public state.
- Vote — each player taps the suspect on their phone. The vote tallies. One player goes out.
The round ends when one side wins. Three to five minutes, start to finish. You can run another one immediately with the same lobby — no rejoining required.
What House Mafia gets right
- Mobile-native. Every interaction is built for a phone. No “open this on a laptop” step.
- No install. Web-first. The first time someone joins, they tap a URL. That is the entire onboarding.
- No moderator. The game is the moderator. The night phase, the timer, the vote tally, all handled by the game.
- Short rounds. Three to five minutes is the right length to keep playing instead of dropping out.
- Designed for groups. Four to eight is the sweet spot — small enough that everyone is in every round, big enough to have hidden information.
- Plays at the table. You are looking at the people you are playing with, not staring into your phone the whole game. The phone shows you what only you should see; the room handles everything else.
Roadmap
The first public milestone is the web beta — a stable, multiplayer, party-tested web build that any group of four to eight friends can play from a phone. After the web beta, the order is:
- Web beta → public.
- Capacitor wrap to Android, then iOS.
- Custom rule sets — variant Mafia rules, custom role mixes, time-attack mode.
- Persistent rooms for repeat groups (your weekly D&D crew gets a permanent lobby).
We are deliberately not adding monetization to House Mafia at the web-beta stage. The game has to be fun before it has to make money. Once the round-completion rate and the group-replay rate hit our targets, we will add cosmetic unlocks and an optional rewarded-ads path — never anything that gates the game.
Be among the first to play
The web beta is invite-only today. To get on the list, email admin@stratos.games with the subject “House Mafia beta” and we will send the lobby URL when the build hits the next milestone. No sign-up form, no spam — one email when it is ready.
FAQ
How many players do I need for House Mafia? Four to eight. Four is the floor below which social deduction stops working. Eight is the ceiling above which rounds get unwieldy.
How long is a round? Three to five minutes, start to finish. You can run back-to-back rounds in the same lobby.
Do I need to install an app? No. House Mafia is web-first — players join from a URL on any phone. Native Android and iOS apps come later, after the web beta is stable.
What roles are in House Mafia? The base game ships with the Mafia / Werewolf classics — mafia, host, civilian — with a few twists tuned for short rounds. Variant rule sets and custom role mixes are on the roadmap.
Is House Mafia free? Yes. The plan is to keep the core game free forever. Cosmetic unlocks and optional rewarded-ad rewards may come post-launch; nothing will gate the actual game.
Who makes House Mafia? House Mafia is made by Stratos Games, the indie studio co-founded by Sahil Modi and Shahariar Mody.