I played mafia on the xkcd forums for a while (and it’s restarting on the new xkcd forums: https://ramenchef.net/nxf/viewforum.php?f=6 ) and I quickly came to realise that I wanted to have fun, and attempting to do everything optimally to have the best chance of winning wasn’t necessarily the most fun (because it has a huge cost in reading pages and pages of game content).
I enjoy the logic puzzle aspect (how to best use powers/resources, what can contradict each other, etc) but not the social deduction. Same with other games I play, like SH or The Resistence.
So in the end, I don’t take it too seriously. I have fun, I play my way, because of the vibe on the xkcd forums the people there accept my attitude (or are frustrated by it, but in a friendly way?), and it’s a kind of win-win situation. When logic puzzle stuff becomes possible I hook in on that and try to work things out.
Mostly I find I enjoy moderating (running) games, and am currently modding one which is having a really good reception.
So yeah, my advice is to think about what you find fun and do more of that. Mafia isn’t meant to be a chore. If you find a particular type of analysis fun, do it.
I would recommend forum mafia as a pasttime to people, it’s chill and there’s a great sense of community/comeraderie.
I played mafia on the xkcd forums for a while (and it’s restarting on the new xkcd forums: https://ramenchef.net/nxf/viewforum.php?f=6 ) and I quickly came to realise that I wanted to have fun, and attempting to do everything optimally to have the best chance of winning wasn’t necessarily the most fun (because it has a huge cost in reading pages and pages of game content).
I enjoy the logic puzzle aspect (how to best use powers/resources, what can contradict each other, etc) but not the social deduction. Same with other games I play, like SH or The Resistence.
So in the end, I don’t take it too seriously. I have fun, I play my way, because of the vibe on the xkcd forums the people there accept my attitude (or are frustrated by it, but in a friendly way?), and it’s a kind of win-win situation. When logic puzzle stuff becomes possible I hook in on that and try to work things out.
Mostly I find I enjoy moderating (running) games, and am currently modding one which is having a really good reception.
So yeah, my advice is to think about what you find fun and do more of that. Mafia isn’t meant to be a chore. If you find a particular type of analysis fun, do it.
I would recommend forum mafia as a pasttime to people, it’s chill and there’s a great sense of community/comeraderie.