How to Play as a Red (Civilian)
Author: Vitaly - mr. Koteo (Brisbane Mafia Club)
Being a Red player in Sports Mafia looks simple from the outside: you have no night action, no secret powers, no extra information.
But in real games, Reds decide the result more often than anyone else.
If Reds treat the goal as “stay alive”, they usually lose. If Reds treat the goal as “help the team win”, they become dangerous even if they die on Day 1.
This chapter is about how to be a useful Red player from your very first games.
Your Objective
As a Red player:
Your team: all Red players + the Sheriff
Enemy team: all Dark players + the Don
Your real goal: Red team victory, not “I personally survived”.
You can:
die first,
still give a good speech and a strong last word,
and your team can absolutely win.
Survival is not an objective. It’s only valuable if it helps your team find and remove Dark players. If you survive but never help the team, you’re effectively playing against your colour.
In a standard 10-player Sports Mafia game there are three Dark players. As Red, you should try to build a mental picture of three mafias at the table:
not two,
not four,
but three.
Later in the game, there will be fewer than three left, of course. But while there are 7 or more players at the table, you should assume the worst:
“There can still be 3 Dark players here. Which three could fit together?”
Your main task as a Red is:
To find two “teams” at the table and decide which one is Red and which one is Dark.
You do this by watching:
how people play together (vote, nominate, protect, push),
how they group around versions.
Dark players and Don already know who is who; their task is to build fake pictures and fake “teams” — we’ll talk about that in the mafia chapters. For now, you only need to think as a Red trying to sort reality from illusion.
Your job is also to:
pull as much information to the table as possible,
encourage people to:
explain their votes,
answer questions,
take clear positions.
The more people speak and commit, the more chances your team has to catch mistakes, contradictions, and Dark coordination.
How to Think Like a Red
You start with no hard information. So your thinking must be structured.
A simple approach:
1. Assume anyone can be anyone
At the beginning:
Anyone (except you) can be Dark or Don.
Anyone can be Sheriff.
“I like how they talk” ≠ “They are Red”.
Good Dark players sound nice. That’s their job.
2. Look for teams, not just “one bad guy”
Don’t focus only on “Who is mafia?”. Ask:
Who plays together?
Who defends whom in speeches?
Who nominates the same people?
Who keeps avoiding voting each other?
You are trying to see two clusters forming over time. Your main question becomes:
“Which cluster looks more like a logical Red team, and which one looks like a coordinated Dark team?”
Also, try not to accidentally start a war with another Red:
If someone calls you Dark, don’t instantly attack them back.
Instead, ask “Why?” — in words or with a question-mark gesture:
Why do they think that?
What in your speech or vote looked Dark to them?
This pulls more information to the table. Remember: other Reds can be wrong too. They don’t know roles either; they are just trying to solve the game from their point of view.
3. Keep a simple, flexible “version”
You don’t need a huge map. Use something like:
More Red-ish – people you don’t want to vote now.
Neutral – you don’t understand them yet.
More Dark-ish – people whose play doesn’t fit with speeches / votes / checks.
Update it continuously:
New information? Move people between groups.
Sheriff reveals? Rebuild around the checks.
Weird vote or nomination? Move someone closer to “suspicious”.
4. Actively create information
Good Reds don’t just sit and “feel” the game; they generate information.
During the day:
Focus on speeches, but also use gestures:
question mark gesture to ask “who?” or “why?”,
colour gestures (Red/Dark) to show who you trust / suspect,
Sheriff/Don gestures when relevant.
Don’t wait passively for your turn:
ask short, clear questions with gestures,
answer others’ gesture questions.
Before the Sheriff reveals, you can also:
gesture to the table that you’d like the Sheriff (whoever they are) to check a specific player at night,
watch who else is asking to check whom.
Later this becomes very useful information:
Which players were pushing checks on someone?
Did the Sheriff actually follow those requests?
Important: do all this without talking over people. You still listen to speeches while communicating with gestures.
5. Use the night to think
Night is not “fun break time” for Reds.
You sit in silence with a mask on — that’s your chance to:
replay key speeches in your head,
remember who nominated and who voted for whom,
test different versions:
“If #4 is Dark, who are the other two?”
“If #4 is Red, how does that change things?”
This is quiet time where no one distracts you. Use it to clean up your mental picture instead of just enjoying the music.
6. Remember votes and nominations
One of the strongest habits you can build:
Who nominated whom?
Who voted for whom on important days?
Who suddenly changed their vote from one player to another?
Votes and nominations are often more honest than speeches. A Dark can talk beautifully, but they still must vote in a way that helps their team.
Basic Mistakes
Here are classic Red errors that cost games.
Mistake 1 — Treating survival as the goal
If your internal goal is:
“I just don’t want to be voted out.”
you will:
avoid responsibility,
avoid strong pushes,
hide behind other people’s opinions.
This usually leads to Dark victory, even if you personally survive.
Correct mindset:
“I play for Red victory, even if my chair is sacrificed.”
Mistake 2 — Forgetting the team aspect
Sports Mafia is a team game.
If you play like:
“I don’t care what others think, I vote alone.”
“I don’t listen to last words; I only trust my feelings.”
you break structure and make it easier for Dark players to win.
You should always ask:
“How does my decision affect the whole Red team’s chances, not just my ego?”
Mistake 3 — Ignoring splits and breaking the split
(We’ll talk more deeply about splits later, but you should at least know they exist.)
In some votes, the table may agree on a split vote:
part of the table on one candidate,
part of the table on another.
Splits are used to get information and control risk. Breaking the split without a clear reason can:
accidentally save a Dark player,
accidentally eliminate a key Red,
or simply give control to the Dark team.
You must understand when there is a split, who agreed to it, and who breaks it.
Mistake 4 — Not using your full minute
Saying “pass” or talking for 5 seconds when you have a full minute is almost always a waste.
Your minute is a chance to give the table more structure.
It’s also a chance for others to silently think and prepare for the vote.
Even if you repeat some points or keep it simple, use your whole minute.
Mistake 5 — Collecting warnings for nothing
You can receive warnings for various rule violations:
talking outside your turn,
influencing voting with illegal phrases,
influencing voting when the voting process already started,
arguing with the judge,
and other types of warnings...
At 4 warnings you are out of the game without a last word. That’s one Red chair lost, and it can be fatal for your team.
At night, especially:
As a Red player you do not move at all.
No gestures, no scratching, no hints.
Any night signalling is a serious violation and can lead to disqualification.
If you want to help your team, stay clean and stay in the game.
How to Help Your Team
1. Make your minute count
You don’t need a long intro. On most days, skip “hi everyone” and go straight to content.
A simple structure:
Who’s speech you liked / disliked
Not the person, but the speech.
“I liked #2’s speech because it matched their vote yesterday.”
“I disliked #7’s speech; they changed version without explaining why.”
Your current version
“More Red-ish: #2, #5.”
“Neutral: #1, #9.”
“More Dark-ish: #7, maybe #4.”
Your voting plan
“Right now I’m ready to vote between #4 and #7.”
“I don’t plan to vote #2 today, unless something major changes (for example, a Sheriff check against them).”
Avoid 100% statements like “I will never vote #2 under any condition.” Red players almost never have 100% certainty. If someone always speaks in absolutes, it’s often overconfidence or Dark play.
Also, try not to explode on Reds who suspect you. Instead of “How can you call me Dark, you’re stupid!”, go:
“Okay, why do you think I’m Dark?”
“What exactly in my speech or vote looked Dark for you?”
This gives others more information and often calms the table.
2. Be ready for the vote (you cannot “skip”)
Voting in FIIM-style Sports Mafia is done with your fist/thumbs-up:
Players who want to vote against the candidate put a vertical fist on the table and keep it there.
You cannot “not vote”:
If you sit and do nothing, your vote will still count for the last nominated player.
This can be terrible for your team if you weren’t paying attention.
So before the vote, be mentally ready:
“If the ballot is between #4 and #7, I will put my fist on #7, because …”
“If #2 appears on the ballot, I probably won’t vote there today, unless there is a strong new reason.”
Voting is not optional. It’s better to make a conscious choice than to donate your vote by accident.
3. Working with the Sheriff (one Sheriff vs two Sheriffs)
When there is only one Sheriff revealed at the table (no counter-claims yet):
You must treat this Sheriff as real.
Their checks become your hard information:
“Sheriff says #5 is Red → for me #5 is Red now.”
“Sheriff says #7 is Dark → #7 is Dark in my version.”
Before reveal, remember:
some players may have been asking the unknown Sheriff (with gestures) to check specific people,
after reveal, compare:
who asked for which checks,
and what the Sheriff actually did.
If later a second Sheriff appears:
You now have to decide which Sheriff you believe.
This usually becomes critical when there are few players left — one wrong decision can lose the game.
For your personal logic:
If a Sheriff says you are a Dark check, then for you personally that Sheriff is automatically Dark, and the other Sheriff automatically becomes the real, Red Sheriff in your structure. (You know your own colour.)
Then you look at:
Who they checked and why they claim they checked them,
Whether those checks are logical (for example, checking the most obviously Red player on Night 2 might be suspicious),
Who was asking for those checks earlier with gestures,
How their checks fit with speeches and votes,
How the table behaves around each Sheriff.
Sometimes the pattern of illogical checks is the strongest sign that a Sheriff is fake.
4. Count players and recognise critical rounds
You should always have a rough count in your head:
How many players are left?
How many Dark players can realistically still be in the game?
Around 7–8 players left, the game often becomes critical:
There is a high chance that 3 of them are Dark at the start of that phase.
If a Red is voted out at 7, it can mean instant or almost guaranteed loss for the Red team.
By the time you approach a critical round you want:
at least one candidate you are >50% confident is Dark,
a plan for nominations and eliminations.
If you reach a critical round and you are truly lost:
Ask for help from the table, including with gestures:
“Who are we voting this round?”
“Who do you see as Dark here?”
Yes, Dark players may try to mislead you, but:
by asking, you collect more information,
you see which “teams” push which eliminations,
and you may spot a better, more logical decision.
This is still better than pressing your fist in a completely random place.
5. Use night kills and last words
New Red players often ignore night kills. Don’t.
In most games, the player killed at night is almost always Red.
Often it’s a strong Red whose ideas were dangerous for the Dark team.
When someone is killed at night:
Listen carefully to their last word.
Ask yourself:
Why specifically were they killed?
Whom did they suspect?
What versions did they push that could have scared the Dark team?
The killed player was usually dangerous for Dark in some way. Your job is to understand how, and then continue their work if it makes sense.
They can leave:
an updated version,
hints on who looked more Red/Dark,
clear recommendations like “If I am killed, please focus on #X and #Y together.”
Treat this seriously. A good night-killed player can almost “coach” the table even after they leave.
6. Your own last word
If you are voted out:
Don’t waste your last word on anger:
“You’re all stupid, you’ll lose now!” helps nobody.
Don’t attack the table emotionally for eliminating you.
Remember: sometimes you are removed not because you “look Dark”, but because:
there are two Sheriffs,
several risky versions,
and the table decides you are the “safest” Red to lose to protect more important structures.
Use your last word to:
calmly restate who you think is more Red,
who is more Dark,
what combinations look impossible to you.
You still play for your team until your last second.
When to Push / When to Chill
Good Reds know when to be loud and when to be patient.
When to push
You should push harder when:
The table is drifting with no clear decision.
A player you strongly believe is Dark is escaping the vote.
The game is approaching or is already in a critical round, and the wrong elimination likely loses the game.
Pushing means:
clearly naming your suspect,
supporting a nomination,
explaining why one elimination is safer or more logical than another.
In other words, you play a strong Red hand: you take responsibility, you don’t hide.
Even if you’re wrong, a clear, logical push is valuable for your team.
When to chill
You should slow down when:
It’s very early (Day 1), and you genuinely have no solid basis yet.
Two strong versions are fighting and you don’t understand either.
You are tilted, offended, or emotionally unstable.
Chilling doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means:
listening more,
asking clarifying questions (including with gestures),
using your minute to organise facts instead of forcing a random elimination.
Advanced Red Plays (Preview)
There are also more strategic, advanced ways to play Red, which go beyond basic “speak–listen–vote”. They’re not required for beginner games, but it’s useful to know they exist.
Three important ideas:
1. Covering the Sheriff
Sometimes the best help you can give as Red is to make the real Sheriff less obvious.
You can:
play more active,
take more responsibility,
speak like someone who might have information,
sometimes even “tank” suspicion or votes onto yourself instead of onto the real Sheriff.
The goal is simple:
Make it harder for the Dark team to correctly guess and shoot the real Sheriff at night.
We’ll look later at concrete patterns of how Reds can protect the Sheriff without screaming “I’m covering the Sheriff!”.
2. Playing balance
“Playing balance” means keeping the game in a controlled state, especially:
when there are two Sheriffs,
when a wrong elimination could instantly lose the game,
when emotions want to push the table into a coin flip.
Balanced Reds:
keep track of player counts and critical rounds,
slow the table down from “let’s just kill someone”,
try to avoid “all-in” moves unless they clearly favour the Red team.
This is less flashy than big speeches but extremely important for winning tight games.
3. Baiting Dark players (very risky)
Another advanced tool is baiting, and it’s much riskier than the two above.
Example of a bait:
As a Red, you fake a Sheriff reveal:
You claim: “I’m the Sheriff, and #X is Dark from my check.”
You watch #X’s immediate reaction.
Then you roll it back:
You “dust off your shoulder” and say:
“Relax, that was a bait. I’m not the Sheriff.”
“But #X’s reaction was really bad / really good, and that tells me something.”
You might then say:
“Their reaction was terrible, I now strongly believe #X is Dark.”
or
“They reacted calmly and naturally, I now think #X is more Red.”
This can give strong information — but it is dangerous:
The table may now suspect you as a Dark player for a fake Sheriff reveal.
The real Sheriff might feel forced to reveal to “fix” the situation.
That, in turn, helps the Dark team find and kill the real Sheriff at night.
Because of this, baiting is an advanced and high-risk tool. New players should first learn:
solid Red fundamentals,
how to cover the Sheriff,
how to play balance,
and only then slowly experiment with baits.
These kinds of plays are powerful but also risky. We’ll talk about them in detail later in the Strategy chapters, once the basic foundations are clear.
Playing Red well is about team mentality + information discipline:
You don’t play to survive; you play for Red victory.
You help find two teams and decide which is which.
You pull as much information as possible to the table.
You use day speeches, night thinking time, gestures, votes, and last words.
You remember there are three Dark players, and you try to see which three could fit together.
And when it’s time, you can play a strong Red hand.
Do this, and even when you die early, your team will feel your impact for the rest of the game.
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