It all started one Friday night, when we were hosting youth group at our home. After worship and the discussion, we decided to play a game of Mafia.
I’ve always been intrigued by Mafia, the bluffing and negotiation party game. Each person is given a role. The villagers try to vote off the Mafia, and the Mafia try to kill off the villagers. This is a simple but amazing complex game.
After we’d played a few rounds of Mafia that night, I figured it would be helpful to have designated cards for the roles, instead of using regular playing cards. That way people wouldn’t constantly ask what the ace of spades represents, or what the Vigilante does.
I started to work on the cards. Fooling around on Google Drawings, I created a simple picture of a fellow with overalls. It looked pretty good. Using that figure as a template, I designed a set of roles. Putting them into card form, each with a description, I printed them up. I used a paper cutter to slice them into cards. The process was tedious. Finally, I sent the paper cards through the laminator and cut them again, also quite tedious. But it was finished. I finally had a set of Mafia Cards.
A littler bit later, it was my birthday party. At least thirty people came. I decided to narrate, which means I would co-ordinate rather than play.
The game was hectic. It’s hard when you have tons of players. Despite the lack of orderliness, I enjoyed using the Mafia Cards.
Sometime later, the idea of marketing my creation came to me. I set up a digital form and painstakingly prepared the decks. Mom did a Facebook post. When all the decks were sold, I had probably made a hundred dollars. Not bad for a random hobby.
However, the cards were far from perfect. There was a little confusion about some of the cards, and the sizes were not uniform. But the biggest problem was the amount of time it took to make one deck.
That’s when I came out with Edition 2. Instead of cutting laminating sheets, I would purchase card-sized sleeves, ready to go after sealing. I would still have to print and cut the paper cards, but now I could slip them into individual sheets. It saved quite a bit of time, and the Mafia cards had a far cleaner look. I didn’t sell as many of these as I had hoped, but I did make a little money.
Then I discovered a revolutionary website. It would allow me to custom design and order my own playing cards. Using Canva to edit the cards to perfection, I gave the cards a fresh look, while maintaining the original designs. With the help of my dad, I ordered two decks from the website and waited expectantly.
When the Mafia cards finally arrived, I wasn’t disappointed. The game cards were great, and Edition 3 was finally ready.
Once my Etsy shop was set up, I was ready to begin selling. It was a month or so before Christmas, so I figured I would have plenty of time to receive and prep my cards. After I order ten or so decks, I noticed a little warning banner on the main site. The company was massively backed up, and it would be at least a month until the cards were shipped. I looked at the date. The card decks wouldn’t be here in time for Christmas.
In late January, I received a package. It was the cards! Of course, it wasn’t the gift shopping season, but at least I had what I needed. I listed them on Etsy, and they are available now.
Hopefully this post has been an enjoyable read. Please consider purchasing the Mafia game cards for yourself or as a gift for a friend. Thanks!