Final Performance: Mafia

For our final project we chose to play "Mafia" as an exercise in communication. In this game the participants have to discuss with one another who they think is the mafia. It could be anything from a funny  look, to an intuition.  This also tied into our conversations about information. What constitutes information? We were curious with this game to see what our classmates would chose as information to decide who they were going to accuse. I found it interesting that the people who were more vocal about their accusations were also most likely to be accused by the majority.

We also thought this game tied into questions of identity. The three "mafia" had to try to hide their true identity and perform their "innocence."   I found it interesting that in the group that I moderated the people who were the mafia stayed pretty quiet. Their strategy seemed to be to try and draw as little attention to themselves as possible. In the world of role playing games, this one is quite watered down, but I think it provides an opportunity to act in ways you normally wouldn't in group discussions. In this way it reflects an internet chat group where people can create alternate identities.