10 Things You Didn’t know about Town of Salem

Town of Salem is a browser game in which players lie while seeking to pick out other players’ lies. Each round is capable of accommodating between 7 and 15 players, meaning that it is well-suited for large gatherings. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Town of Salem:

1. Named for the Salem Witch-Trials

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Town of Salem is named for the Salem Witch-Trials. For those who are unfamiliar with them, the Salem Witch-Trials were a series of prosecutions of people who had been accused of performing witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts, which remain the single most infamous example of mass hysteria in that particular place and that particular period.

2. It Is a Browser Game

Town of Salem is a browser game, meaning that it can be played on a browser. This tends to be very convenient because it means that it can be played using a wide range of platforms via browsers. Something that non-browser games can’t match with ease.

3. It Is Available on Other Platforms

With that said, Town of Salem is available to interested individuals through other platforms as well. For example, it can be found on Steam. Furthermore, it can be found through both the App Store and Google Play. Not to mention the developer BlankMediaGames’s own website.

4. Has a Card Version As Well

On a related note, Town of Salem even has a physical card version. This makes sense because while the browser game has much to offer to interested individuals, it is simple enough that the basic mechanics can be transferred to a physical card game with minimal issues. With that said, getting enough people together to play the game tends to be much easier with the online version than with the physical card version.

5. Funded Using Kickstarter

Town of Salem was funded using a Kickstarter campaign. This has become a rather common funding strategy for video game developers in modern times. However, while some video game developers have used it to great success, the same can’t be said for the others. Luckily, BlankMediaGames is an example of the first, as shown by the fact that Town of Salem has been out for some time.

6. There Are Three Factions

In total, there are three factions in each round of Town of Salem. First, there is the Town faction. Second, there is the Mafia faction. Third, there is the Neutral faction.

7. Each Faction Has Its Own Win Condition

Each of the three factions has its own win condition. For example, the Town faction needs to eliminate every player who isn’t a member of said faction. In contrast, the Mafia faction just needs to eliminate the Town faction. As for the Neutral faction, well, suffice to say that most of them are effectively factions of one, meaning that their winning conditions can see a fair amount of variation depending on their role.

8. There Are Roles

Speaking of which, each player has a role. For example, a Town faction player can be either support, investigative, killing, or protective. Similarly, a Mafia faction player can be either deception, killing, or support. Finally, Neutral faction players can be either benign, evil, or killing.

9. Can Hold Trials

It is possible for the players to hold trials of other players. In short, a trial starts up when a third of the players vote to try someone. After which, the player being tried has 30 seconds in which to defend themselves. Once they have made their defense, the other players will vote to kill or not to kill, which passes based on a simple majority. In total, three trials can be held in each day phase of the game’s day-night cycle.

10. Players Can Leave Last Wills

Players can leave last wills containing information that they want to be passed on to other players. Naturally, last wills aren’t revealed until a player has been “killed” in the game, though depending on the exact information contained within them, said revelations can have a significant impact on the course of the game thereafter. Some players with a killing role will leave death notes as well, which can provide the rest of the players with even more information about what is happening.