How it plays

Every night you pick one living player and instantly learn whether they are Mafia. The result is private. Over three or four nights you build the only hard evidence the town will ever have.

The catch is the Godfather, who always reads Not Mafia, and the Framer, who can make an innocent read Mafia for one night. A single result is strong; a pattern is stronger.

Tips

• Investigate players who are hard to read by behaviour, not the ones the town already suspects.
• Do not reveal on day one. Reveal when a confirmed Mafia is about to escape the vote, or when you are about to be killed anyway.
• When you claim, give your full list of results in order; a fake Detective rarely has a consistent history.
• If two players read Mafia in one night for the same claim, suspect a Framer at the table.

Counter-play

Mafia counter the Detective by killing likely claimants early, by running a Godfather, and by having a Killer counter-claim Detective to split the town.