How to Play as Mafia
Author: Vitaly - mr. Koteo (Brisbane Mafia Club)
Playing Dark in Sports Mafia is not about being the best liar at the table. Your main job is much simpler:
Look like a solid Red citizen, while quietly helping the Dark team reach parity.
You know who the three Dark players are. The table doesn’t. Your advantage is information. Your risk is exposure.
Mafia’s Objective
Formally, Dark wins when:
the number of Dark players is equal to or greater than the number of Reds.
In practice, as a Mafia player you want:
All three Dark players alive at 7–8 players left
This is almost the ideal winning zone:
Three Dark vs 4–5 Reds.
One good elimination into Red can practically end the game.
At this stage, you often need just one Red to vote with you / your team to:
create a strong split,
or push through a decisive wrong elimination for the city.
So, your early and mid-game mindset is:
“Keep all three Dark chairs alive as long as possible.”
Sacrifice only when you are truly burnt
“Beautiful sacrifice for the team” sounds cool, but it’s situational, not a lifestyle.
You consider sacrificing yourself only when:
the entire table is already convinced you are Dark,
there is no realistic way to fix your image,
your elimination will clearly:
protect the other Dark players,
create a strong Red image for your teammate(s),
or buy them the last push they need.
In all other cases:
You fight to survive. The more Dark players are alive, the more likely and faster your victory.
Steer eliminations into Red
Day after day, you want:
Reds leaving the table, not your team,
real Reds to be doubted,
at least one Dark player to be seen as:
logical,
structured,
“one of the most Red at the table”.
Execute the Don’s plan
Don:
coordinates night shots,
searches for the Sheriff,
sets the initial agreement and deputy,
often sets the global direction.
Your job is to:
understand the agreement,
follow night shots,
support the overall strategy with your day play.
You are not playing three solo Mafia games. You are three players working under one plan.
Play as if you are Red
Everything you do at the table should look like:
“I play for Red victory. I care about structure, parity, and safe decisions.”
You:
build versions,
think about critical counts,
“worry” about instant-loss situations — just with your conclusions tilted in favour of Dark.
How to Blend In
The strongest Dark players are usually remembered as:
“He played like a good Red all game… and only at the reveal we realised he was Dark.”
That’s your standard.
Speak like a Red
Use the same basic Red structure for your minute:
Who you liked / disliked in speeches.
Your version:
more Red-ish,
neutral,
more Dark-ish.
Your voting plan:
“I’m ready to vote between #4 and #8 today.”
Example Dark minute:
“I liked #3 and #6 today — their logic is consistent with their votes from yesterday. I didn’t like #8 — they changed version without explaining why. Right now I’m ready to vote between #5 and #8.”
On the surface:
You sound like a normal Red.
You talk sense.
You care about consistency.
The difference is:
#5 and #8 are Reds,
and you’re very happy if the table eliminates one of them.
Use real facts, just bend the direction
You don’t need crazy inventions.
Good Dark information:
is based on real things:
who changed mind,
who ignored a question,
who flipped their vote,
but you:
highlight some,
ignore others,
and arrange them to make Reds look worse.
You want people to think:
“He’s wrong, but his logic is understandable.”
Not:
“He’s just making stuff up.”
Show uncertainty like a real Red
You know exactly who is Dark. If you sound like you do, you’re dead.
Avoid hard certainties early:
Bad: “#7 is absolutely Dark, I will never vote #3.”
Better: “Between #3 and #7, I’m more ready to vote #7, but I’m still listening.”
Reds:
doubt themselves,
change their minds,
adjust to new info.
Your public version must:
evolve,
be flexible,
sometimes flip on people for logical reasons.
Mafia Communication Without Words
You can’t legally talk or whisper during the game. But in real play Mafia still coordinate — both legally (agreements) and riskily (hidden signals).
Risky secret signals
If you sit next to your Don, they might sometimes use:
tapping / poking under the table.
Example:
Don taps your leg 6 times → “Tonight we shoot player #6.”
This is:
not part of official clean play,
very risky:
if the judge notices:
you’ll get a warning,
and probably be publicly exposed to the table.
So:
Yes, these things exist in real games.
But you should treat them as high-risk tools, not standard practice.
The safer, main coordination tool is the Night 1 agreement.
Agreements on Night 1
Night 1, Dark players:
open eyes together,
see each other,
Don sets the agreement:
how to shoot,
how to choose future shots,
who becomes deputy-Don.
There are two main types: static and dynamic.
Static agreement (basic, rarely encouraged)
Static agreement means:
Don shows future shot order directly with fingers.
Example:
Don shows: 1 → 10 → 3 Meaning:
Night 1: kill player #1,
Night 2: kill player #10,
Night 3: kill player #3.
Plus a generic rule:
“If misfire happens shoot the first alive Red at the table clockwise starting from player #1.”
Static agreement:
is sometimes used with complete beginners,
but generally not encouraged because:
it doesn’t react to new information,
it stops Don from steering the game properly.
Dynamic agreement (the real standard)
Dynamic agreement allows Don to use day speeches to choose future shots.
Typical pattern:
First night shot is set directly
Don shows with index finger: 1 ☝️.
Then makes shooting gesture (bending/unbending index finger upwards).
→ “First night we shoot player #1.”
Then Don encodes a “rule” for future shots
Example rule:
Don makes a mixer with palms (rotating hands) → “Then next round...”
Points to themself with index 👇 → “I.”
Shows “talking hand” (thumb tapping up the palm) 🤏 → “when I speak.”
Shows two fingers → “the second number.” ✌️
Decoded:
First night we kill #1. On future nights, during my speech, I will say numbers, and the second number I say will be the player we shoot.
Example speech next day:
“I’m playing with Mamba, but I’m not sure about #7, and I don’t mind #10.”
Numbers in order:
#7 → first,
#10 → second.
Agreement was “I talk two” → second number → #10 is the shot.
So tonight, Dark team kills player #10.
If you missed the encoded choice
If you didn’t catch which number was “the shot number”:
At any moment while other speeches are still going, look at your Don with pleading face 🥺 and using gestures ask Don:
“Who do you think is Red?”
If Don shows:
“#10 Red” → that means:
Don understood you missed the agreement,
#10 is the shot.
Use this carefully:
it’s still extra gesturing which can be noticed by other players at the table,
judge might notice if you overdo it, especially if all speeches are already over.
Deputy-Don
During agreement Don usually also:
points at the future deputy-Don,
gives that person simple direction:
how to choose shots,
what general style to follow if Don dies.
If Don points at you and you’re not ready:
show two crossed hands 🙅 → “No, I can’t.”
or accept, and then:
read the Don chapter later,
and apply the same principles if you actually become acting Don.
Important:
When judge says “Don wakes up”, only the real Don can open eyes.
Deputies never wake up on that call.
If deputy wakes up on “Don wakes up”, they will be disqualified.
Mishot / misfire
Sometimes Dark team:
misunderstand each other,
choose different numbers,
or mess up the agreement.
Result:
No kill at night — mishot / misfire.
From Dark perspective this is bad because:
Reds get an extra day,
table may reach an even number of players,
which allows safer splits and more time for Reds to think and collect info.
From your perspective as a player:
Don’t stress. It happens. Stay calm, keep pretending to be Red, follow Don’s direction, and don’t emotionally react to the misfire.
Often the panic after a misfire exposes Dark more than the misfire itself.
Daytime alignment
During the day you:
listen to Don’s speeches,
watch which players your teammates:
push,
protect,
ignore.
Your job:
often support the same direction,
but not copy everything.
If you:
always repeat your team’s opinions,
always vote together,
always defend the same people,
you look like:
“Three players from the same team.”
So:
apply common sense,
agree where it’s safe,
disagree or stay neutral sometimes,
but try to vote with your team when it’s not suicide.
Think:
“I’m an independent Red who happens to agree with Don fairly often.”
Not:
“I’m Don’s echo.”
Basic Mafia Strategy
Managing three Dark seats
Early game:
keep all three Dark players reasonably safe,
don’t let one teammate be “obviously Dark” without a good reason.
If one of your teammates:
speaks very badly,
looks extremely Dark to everyone,
sometimes the best move is to let the table remove them and:
join that vote,
look like a “hero Red” who helped eliminate a Dark.
But you do this only when:
the teammate is already beyond saving,
fighting for them will burn the whole team,
and you can give a Red explanation for voting them:
“I tried to defend #7 before, but their last speech made no sense; I’m ready to vote #7 now.”
Mid game (around 8–7 players left):
the ideal is:
three Dark still alive,
4–5 Reds remaining.
One wrong Red elimination here is great for Dark:
it pushes counts close to parity,
breaks city structure,
and can create a position where Dark just needs one more push.
Late game:
sometimes you sell a teammate who is burnt,
or let yourself be traded when you are burnt,
but always with:
a clear Red story,
and a calculated benefit for remaining Dark seats.
Voting as Mafia
Voting is one of your main tools.
As Dark you:
plan your vote before judge counts candidates:
“If it’s between #4 and #9, I vote #4.”
can sometimes:
throw your hand late as a surprise,
to save a teammate,
or to kill a key Red.
But any such “hero moment” must:
fit what you said earlier,
be explainable next day from a Red perspective.
Next day you might say:
“I switched to #4 at the last second because #8’s argument about yesterday’s vote was very strong, and suddenly #4 looked like the safer elimination for the city.”
If you can’t explain your vote logically, it often looks like Dark desperation.
When the Sheriff calls you Dark
If someone reveals as Sheriff and says:
“Player #X (you) is Dark from my check.”
Use this pattern:
Immediate reaction: shocked Red
“What??? I’m a Red citizen! Are you trying to bait me?”
Look genuinely surprised, not amused.
Ask if it’s a bait
“Is this serious or is this a bait check?”
Give them space to roll back.
If they don’t roll back → treat them as fake
Build your case:
Nominate them:
“I nominate this fake Sheriff, player #Y.”
Attack the choice of check:
“Why check me? No one asked you to check me!”
“Everyone was asking to check #7, and you suddenly ‘check’ me?”
You can even name a Dark teammate as the popular check target:
if you are likely to be voted out anyway, this makes your teammate look more Red later (“Sheriff checked the wrong guy instead of them”).
Admit a little:
“Yes, my last speech wasn’t great, but I am a Red citizen. A real Sheriff doesn’t waste a check like that.”
Play full innocent Red
tone: hurt but structured, not hysterical,
focus on:
bad check logic,
ignoring requested checks,
inconsistency with earlier gestures.
Your teammates:
quietly support suspicion or elimination of this “Sheriff”,
without obviously over-defending you.
Turning Reds Against Each Other (Advanced)
This is an advanced set of tools. Use them carefully.
Light gaslighting of “too Red” players
If someone looks very Red and is not your teammate:
everyone trusts them,
they control table direction.
You can try small distortion:
“Yesterday you said you’d never vote #5, and now you’re voting there. Why?”
Even if they didn’t say it exactly like that, you say it confidently.
If they push back:
“I never said that!”
you respond calmly:
“Maybe I mixed it up, but that’s how I remember it. Either way, your turn today still looks weird to me.”
If necessary, you can fully retreat:
“Okay, maybe I misunderstood, sorry — I thought that’s what you said.”
Goal:
make their “pure Red” image less clean,
introduce a light shadow of inconsistency,
without destroying your own trust level.
Using gestures to orchestrate Red vs Red
Use gestures to collect opinions and then plant conflicts.
Collect
Ask with gestures:
question mark + thumbs down → “Who do you think is Dark?”
If #3 (Red) shows #5 (Red) as Dark → remember this.
Plant
Later you can:
show to #5 that #3 sees them as Dark,
or say in your speech:
“There’s already tension between #3 and #5, they kind of see each other as Dark.”
Then add:
“For me, #3 and #5 look like they’re from different teams — I think one Dark is between them.”
This pushes the table to:
nominate,
and vote, between two Reds.
Let them fight, you stay half-detached
They:
defend themselves,
build cases on each other,
consume the table’s attention.
You:
don’t fully commit to either side,
keep saying:
“I don’t like that we’re tunneling between #3 and #5, but right now it’s still a good area to search.”
look like someone who just “noticed” and commented.
If later someone accuses you of stirring:
“I just pointed out what was already there between them.”
Mafia Mistakes Beginners Make
Beginner Mafia players often lose not because Reds are brilliant, but because Dark play is obviously not their best game.
Here are the most common traps.
Mistake 1 — Playing too quiet
If you:
talk for 10–15 seconds each day,
never nominate,
never take a clear position,
you become the default safe elimination.
As Dark you must:
speak structured minutes,
build versions,
act like someone who genuinely cares about city victory.
Quiet Dark = easy target.
Mistake 2 — Overacting and being “too perfect”
Opposite extreme:
overly polished logic from Day 1,
robot-like structure,
always having the “perfect” answer.
If this doesn’t match your usual Red style, the table feels:
“He’s trying too hard to look ideal.”
Aim for:
your natural Red style, just a bit more disciplined,
not a completely new persona.
Mistake 3 — Hard-defending teammates with no way to pivot
If you:
swear someone is “1000% Red”,
fight anyone who suspects them,
and then they flip Dark,
you look terrible.
Better:
defend teammates softly:
“Right now I don’t want to vote #7; their speeches still look more Red to me than #4’s.”
leave room to change your mind:
“If something major changes, I can reconsider #7, but for today I see #4 as worse.”
This allows you to pivot if your teammate becomes impossible to save.
Mistake 4 — Ignoring warnings and discipline
Common Dark mistakes:
gesturing too actively on Night 1 beyond necessary agreement,
illegal night signals,
talking outside your minute
Too many warnings, and you:
lose minutes,
or get removed from the game.
A Dark player leaving the table because of discipline is a gift to Reds.
Mistake 5 — Not understanding the agreement
If you don’t understand:
who leads the shot,
what the static/dynamic rule is,
who is deputy,
you risk:
wrong shots,
or mishots.
Misfire:
gives Reds an extra day,
can restore even player counts,
lets city split and think more.
And often:
the panic and messy reactions after the misfire expose Dark even more.
If you didn’t get the agreement on Night 1:
cross your hands 🙅 → “I didn’t understand.”
let Don repeat and simplify.
Mistake 6 — Panicking when suspected (or when Sheriff checks you)
Being suspected or checked Dark is normal.
If you:
shout,
insult,
go into emotional meltdown,
you look like a caught Dark.
Good Dark reacts like a misread Red:
“I'm red! Is this a bait?”
“I'm red player, here's fake Sheriff”
calmly answers point by point,
might even admit a weak move:
“Yes, my speech wasn't great yesterday, here’s why I said this.”
Same with Sheriff check:
you’re offended,
but structured,
and you focus on the Sheriff’s logic, not on screaming.
Mistake 7 — Misusing advanced tricks (gaslighting & Red vs Red wars)
Gaslighting and orchestrating Red vs Red wars are powerful tools, but:
if you lie too big,
if you push too hard,
if you can’t walk it back,
you get caught.
Use these tools:
lightly,
in small doses,
always with a possible “Oops, I mixed it up” escape route,
and always with a believable Red explanation.
Playing Mafia well means:
you look like a good, thinking Red,
you keep three Dark seats alive as long as possible,
you follow and understand the Don’s agreements,
you quietly steer eliminations into Reds,
you can sell or sacrifice correctly when someone is burnt,
and you stay calm through misfires, suspicion, and Sheriff checks.
Do that, and after reveals you’ll hear:
“No way. All three of them were Dark?”
That’s when your Mafia fundamentals are truly working.
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