Free lesson · Level 1 of 10 · Beginner
How each side wins
Under ordinary play, town wins when all mafia are eliminated. Mafia win as soon as their living count equals or exceeds the town count. Tournament foul sanctions are a separate way a result can be decided.
So count what each side has to do in ordinary play. Town must eliminate every mafia player; mafia only need to close the gap until their living count matches or passes town. They already know their teammates, and every night can remove one town player.
That nightly removal is why time is not neutral here. On day one the room talks, and the day ends with an ordinary town player voted out. The three did nothing whatever, and still finished the day two players closer to level: one at the vote, and one in the night that followed.
So a quiet day is not automatically safe: whenever a vote and the night that follows both take a town player, the gap closes twice. Before you raise your hand, count both sides and ask how this vote changes the path to either win condition.
What’s next: the same arithmetic from the other side — what the three are counting while you count votes.
Source: The rules of sport Mafia (1 February 2026), §1.4 — victory conditions · our rules page