Irish Mafia

Irish Mafia Classic 12 is the club's own format, built on the procedures of Sport Mafia. The city, an Irish gang and an Italian gang sit at one table. No side has the full picture. The winner is not the one who accuses the loudest, but the one who manages information, risk and numbers best.

How to play in short

1. There are 12 players at the table: 7 civilians, the Sheriff, the Irish Boss and Gangster, and the Italian Don and Mafioso.
2. The game starts with a day: speeches, nominations and a vote under the club's Sport Mafia rules. Only after that does the first night begin.
3. At night the Sheriff checks players and learns who they are: the city, the Irish mafia or the Italian mafia. The Boss and the Don look for the Sheriff. Each gang chooses a target.
4. The shot of one of the gangs counts, following a hidden queue. If both gangs choose the same player, that player dies in any case.
5. The roles of eliminated players are not revealed until the end of the game.
6. The city wins when all four mafia players have been removed. A gang wins if the other gang is destroyed and it has at least as many players as there are living citizens. Details are on the page about victory and draw.

Sections

• Rules of the gameThe approved mechanics of Irish Mafia: the line-up, the day phase, the nights, losing a leader, hidden roles and the limits of the rulebook.
• Victory and drawHow the city wins, how a gang wins and when the game ends in a draw, with a review of endings by the number of players left.
• RolesThe six roles of Irish Mafia: the civilian, the Sheriff, the Irish Boss and Gangster, and the Italian Don and Mafioso. What each role knows.
• StrategyHow to think in a game with three sides: the method, asymmetry of information, cross tactics and tools for reviewing a game.
• ScenariosStudy situations: the first day, the nights, a reveal and a counter-reveal. What each side knows, which decisions are possible and how it ends.
• Rating and the referee's reviewWhat is recorded in Irish Mafia games, how to separate a breach of the rulebook from a strategic mistake, and why points are not yet assigned.

The idea of the game

There are eight participants in the city, including the Sheriff. Two Irish and two Italian players act as separate teams. Each gang knows only its own partner. Its members do not know which other players belong to the rival gang and which to the city. The civilians know nobody except their own role. The Sheriff learns the affiliation of the players they check at night, but their information does not automatically become known to the table.

Why this is not ordinary Sport Mafia

An ordinary mafioso can convincingly expose a real mafioso from the other gang. A civilian may mistake this for proof of their innocence. An Irish player may defend an Italian one not out of alliance but to keep a convenient target for a later vote. Every action must be analysed with three possible interests in mind.

A principle for the player

Separate reliable knowledge, a public statement and your own hypothesis. Even a logical version does not become a fact without checking. A strong player revises their assessment after every speech, vote and night.

How to read these materials

A "rule" is a mandatory mechanic of the game. A "strategy" is a possible approach, not a guaranteed path to victory. A "scenario" is a study example, not an instruction for the host to change the rulebook.