Town of Salem is a social deduction strategy game where you work with (or against) other players trying to save a village from zany villains and murderers. Like Among Us, no one knows anyone else's role; everyone must carefully weigh their decisions to cover their tracks and "suss out" who to trust through communication and observation. It's a game that set the standard for social deduction play with a wide array of roles and objectives and balanced strategic communication.

In the small town of Salem, you are randomly assigned one of the over forty roles to play as for the duration of the game. These roles are divided into Townsfolk, Neutral, and Mafia categories (you can pay to unlock the Coven category as well). Each of these groups of roles has a different objective, whether that's the Townsfolk's goal of lynching all the villains, or the Mafia's goal of killing everyone who won't submit to them.

Throughout each game, you need to work to further your goal without people from other affiliations finding out. Play is split into day and night. At night, you use abilities and actions specific to your individual role to further your goals, be that killing someone who knows too much or bugging a person of interest's house. During the day, the last night's murders are revealed to all, and some roles also get extra information. All players then meet to discuss and vote on a player to lynch.

It's this communication that makes the game so much fun. Being careful about what useful information to reveal is crucial. You can carefully drop in a comment that will incriminate other players or maybe sabotage someone you suspect. Or perhaps you'll focus on deflecting attention from yourself to avoid suspicion. The game ends when one player or group has achieved their goals and is crowned the winner.

The result is a unique game that offers a similar premise to Among Us, Goose Goose Duck and TV shows like The Traitors and The Mole. Deducing who your friends and your enemies are before finally achieving your objective after close calls and tense moments is both hugely rewarding and entertaining, offering a unique way to play with friends across the world.