Town of Salem began as a simple kickstarter and has gone on to become an online phenomenon. Based on several in-person party games I was quickly hooked. I had played a similar game once at a party, and was introduced to this title based on my interest in the concept. What started as playing a few games here and there eventually turned into one of my longest running online gaming addictions. There’s a reason I’ve poured hundreds of hours into this title; it’s well designed, dynamic, and a load of fun. Today I’m here to tell you why it’s so darn engrossing and addictive, and perhaps talk you into playing the game yourself.
Starting out is simple. You log in (or sign up for free), join a game, choose a nickname, and are assigned a role (each has their own abilities to assist the team). The basic premise is that you and fourteen other players must play a game of whodunit over the course of several in-game days (and nights) which last around a minute apiece. By day the town members gather and you and the other players can discuss your findings, make accusations, etc. Each day you’re given the opportunity to vote to lynch players, and when a specific number of votes are met (which changes depending on how many players are in the game) you can lynch them thus sending the person to the graveyard and out of play. Dead players can still chat with each other however, and if you stay in the game and your team comes out on top you still win.
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| This here wheel is what determines your role. |
You have two basic factions; town and mafia as well as a third group of neutral roles that each has their own wacky objectives. Roles are specific to each group, and offer a variety of effects which I will go into detail about later. Town and mafia are at odds throughout the game with both groups trying to eliminate the other (mafia kills one player a night, and town outnumbers mafia and so can vote up and lynch players more easily) in order to win. While town is the biggest faction mafia has its own advantages (you can see who the other mafia members are, and chat privately at night to strategize) while town scrambles to figure out which side each player is on. Neutral roles are a different beast entirely with a variety of different objectives, but for the most part each player in this faction plays independently from everyone else. Mafia and town are pretty evenly matched, but neutral roles could use a little more balancing due to the overwhelming odds against most of them.
This brings us to the roles which are the bread and butter of the experience. The game offers 32 different roles each of which feature unique abilities in the game to assist in overcoming the enemy faction. Town has the most of the three groups with fifteen separate ‘jobs’ if you will, while there are nine roles for both mafia and neutral groups. Because a large part of the game is focused around finding out which players belong to the mafia town features a number of different investigative roles. These include one jailor per game (who can jail, interrogate, and execute one other player during each night), investigators (who determine one of three roles any one player could be each night), Sheriffs (who investigate a player at night to determine if they’re a mafia member), Spies (these can listen in on whispers, mafia chat, and see who the mafia visited), Lookouts (who look out on a specific player to see if anyone else visits them at night) etc. Additionally you have the town support roles with a variety of other abilities. These include mediums (can speak with the dead players at night), escorts (distracts one player at night preventing them from using their ability), retributionists (can revive one dead player per game), transporters (switch two players thus re-directing any potential attacks on them), and the mayor (gets three votes instead of one in town lynchings). This leads me to the most fun town roles; town killing. These roles allow a player to wreak havoc on others, and include the vigilante (can shoot one player a night, but commits suicide if they kill a town member), and veteran (can go on alert at night and kill any of their visitors).
Mafia is set up a little differently however. Every game features a godfather (who has final say on the target player to kill every night) and mafioso (can vote on who to kill, but automatically kills the godfather’s target. The third (or sometimes fourth) mafia roles in each game are chosen at random from a pool of team specific jobs. These include the blackmailer (can prevent a player from participating in chat for one day, and read everyone’s whispers), consigliere (finds out the exact role of one player each night), consort (the mafia version of the escort with identical abilities), disguiser (disguises as another player when they are killed), forger (can edit the last will of one player per night), framer (makes one player look like a member of the mafia to anyone investigating them for one night) and the janitor (deletes the role and will of a player killed). These are fairly dynamic roles with some unique abilities, but I’ve always preferred playing as town to be honest because it’s more fun to investigate rather than kill indiscriminately. This is the only weak part of the game in my opinion; the developers should really make playing mafia more interesting because it’s just not as captivating.
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| A typical day in the life in Town of Salem. |
The neutral faction is all over the place. Well, ‘faction’ isn’t exactly the correct term because the neutral roles are independent from one another, and are generally one man teams trying to get by amidst the town’s investigations and mafia’s murders. You have roles focused around killing everyone that isn’t them which include serial killer, arsonist, and werewolf. From here things get weird. You have vampires which can convert another player to their coven every other night, witches that control another person, survivors which just need to make it to the end without being killed, jesters that win by getting themselves lynched, executioners that win when their target player (chosen at random) is lynched by the town, and the amnesiac that can become one of the roles of someone that has perished in the game. The neutrals are really what keeps the game interesting and keep players on their toes the most. The differing abilities and goals add a lot of interesting dynamics to the experience.
So what makes Town of Salem so fun? The answer is simple; the dynamic range of experiences. Sure you’ll find some of the other players to be racist or otherwise offensive (there’s a handy Report button in-game for these cases) but you’ll get a different experience every time you play. The long list of roles (and the random element of it) keeps the game exceptionally fresh. What’s more is that it’s just plain fun. Coming up with strategies based around the different abilities of each role is a rewarding and entertaining experience and others’ reactions can be a real riot. Lying and scheming your way out of getting lynched (or executed by the jailor) when playing evil roles makes for some of the most harrowing and nerve wracking moments I’ve ever experienced in a video game. The social real life interaction ensures that there’s never a dull moment. The learning curve is pretty steep to be honest, but once you start to get the hang of it I’m sure you’ll have just as tough a time as I do when it comes to putting it down. You don’t have much to lose either way; it’s free to play in your browser and only costs $5 when purchased via Steam (and you get a few bonuses such as no ads and automatic in-game currency via this method). For this wary of any title with in-game currency have no fear; Town of Salem can be fully enjoyed without ever bothering with it.
