The strategy of the game "mafia" in terms of transaction analysis

In different companies in Mafia play differently. Everyone has their own troubles, for which these individual companies are often just ready to break. For example, I know a company where it is dangerous to talk a lot - it is believed that the mafia is nervous and talking. Somewhere it is necessary to look into the eyes of the interlocutor. Can "kill" for a closed pose or other partial sign, gleaned from books or serials.

But we will talk about rational arguments that arise in a situation where the players as a whole are equally psychologically savvy and do not make children's schools. The method of analyzing transactions in games helps a lot with correct balancing - so, using the example of the Mafia, it will turn out just great.

So let's start with a simple thing. A civilian is a player who is always at risk . This is the main factor determining its behavior.
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What does it mean?

The fact that a civilian is forced to move in the discussion and get to the bottom of the point, while the mafia can just wait for the end of the day and do its job. That is, an emasculated civilian (at the point of maximum effectiveness) is generally rational. If you want to survive, of course.

This means that he analyzes a lot, tries to understand what is happening, freely shares his opinion with others, specifically motivates his suspicions. As a rule, the player on average speaks more than the mafia (because there is a reason). Accordingly, its survival is to suspect everyone and everyone, and recalculate the picture after each receipt of new information. It is very important to keep in mind a holistic picture of the situation - who, what and when did and spoke, and not evaluate only the last 1-2 rounds.

A civilian will a priori die if he does not move. For this reason, he is not afraid to cause other players to conflict - yes, he may not be loved, and he may even be “put” in a fit of emotions, but if he does not express his assumptions, he will surely die. In addition, a challenge to a conflict is a chance to understand something: although it is illusory, it is still better than a deliberate lack of information.

On the other hand, the same factor of rationality of survival does not allow playing games like “you are against me, then I am against you”. Emotions are unimportant. You can get distracted by local revenge, but it will be unconstructive and harmful to survival. In general, the player is flexible because it is important for him to find the truth.

And the mafia?

On the other hand, the mafia often changes its point of view. For experienced players, a change of suspicion without sufficient justification is a sufficiently clear flag to allow a person to be suspected. The mafia can allow itself to be more passive because it is not afraid that if something is not done during the day, its survival will stop. Mafia do not need to look for a mafia, its survival does not depend on it.

With the optimal composition of 7 + 3, it is extremely unprofitable for the mafia to win to create bundles between members. That is, a mafia player should never intercede for his own, otherwise he will be next if he fails. It is mathematically more profitable to bring down our colleagues together with other civilians - and even in some parties it is extremely useful to be the first to blame the one who is obviously “burning”. This active position will allow you to pass for a civilian for some sufficient time. And it is about winning the required number of moves to win.

Strategy

From the point of view of transaction analysis, the strategy of a game for a civilian is to maintain complete system registration of what is happening. Specifically - remember who and what about who said. And analyze the change of points of view depending on the arguments. That is, to go not to the level of "I believe, I do not believe," but above - "you did it because", looking for motives of the second level.

The strategy of the mafia, ideally, is a complete copy of the strategy of a civilian. Took the map - and forgot that you are a mafia. Talk a lot, seriously analyze, show keen interest in the game, act actively. It’s good to let the civilians on the right path at first, so that they believe (the victim of another mafia is useful here), and then not be afraid to respond to attacks in the spirit: “Well, if you suspect me, bring down”.

Another important indicator trait is that a civilian will never trust an important decision to anyone but himself. By the way, it is very noticeable in a game with similar mechanics "Resistance" - there you send a rebel team to a large mission without your participation - to practically sign that you are a spy.

Everything. Now you know approximately how transaction analysis works in relation to the search for extreme situations in game models. Want to learn more about the analysis itself and its application in different life situations - look for the book “Games People Play” by Eric Berne.

And now objections

Each company has its own set of rules and principles. All this is not very important for the statistical analysis of transactions between players. If you yourself play “mafia” in your mafclub, then you will definitely want to argue with my calculations. I must say, you are completely right. This is your game, and it is always closely tied to the metagame. Very much depends on the current traditions, characters and skills of players, habits and other things. However, in general, understanding basic transactional capabilities and logical (mathematical) thinking helps a lot. The same "Resistance" in general can be almost a manual on combinatorics - some etudes from there often defy humanitarian understanding, but they have a great influence on the game as a whole. If interested, I will tell in the comments a couple of situations that work perfectly in the companies of techies, but they do not shoot at all in another environment.