Free lesson · Level 1 of 10 · Beginner
A name, then a hand
Anybody may put a name up during the day, and at the end the table raises hands once for each name, in the order those names were given. Putting a name up is called a nomination. It is not an accusation you must prove later — it is a request that the player explain themselves, and you may make it only in your own minute, once a day. The host is the person who runs the game. They read the names back in order, hands go up for one name at a time, and whoever collects the most leaves the table.
Two things here surprise beginners. On the first day, if only one name went up, there is no vote at all and that player stays. And when a single name is left and the host asks for the remaining hands, sitting it out is not a free choice: an unraised hand still counts, against the one name left standing.
That same rule about sitting it out reaches further than just the last name left. Whenever a hand does not go up for any nominee at all, that non-vote is not free either. It counts against whichever name was called last, even with several candidates still standing. So watch the names as they arrive, because the last one named quietly becomes the one every unraised hand in the room just voted for.
That order plays out with real numbers: seat two is nominated first and seat nine fourth. Hands go up for seat two first, and each player may vote against only one name. So by the time seat nine is called, most of the room has already spent its hand — the order of the names decides as much as the speeches do.
Tonight, write the order down as the names arrive, and decide where your hand is going before the count starts.
In the school: one idea per lesson, its questions, and a table or a puzzle to try it on.
Open this lesson in the school — free
Source: The rules of Mafia (Russian, 1 February 2026), §4.4.1–§4.4.11 — nominations and the count; §4.4.8: a hand that stays down counts against the last name · our rules page