A mathematical model of the Mafia game · HackerPapers discussions

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — mentioned by stared

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 23:19:29 GMT

In voting parity matters. In some cases, effects are interesting - like in some cases if the mafia/werewolf game, when adding a citizen/villager decreses their winning chance by sqrt(pi/2), vide https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1031 When it comes to the wisdom of crowds, see https://egtheory.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/two-heads-are-bett...

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — mentioned by stared

Wed, 21 May 2025 13:57:23 GMT

Saw that! Sometimes it makes things simpler (quite a a lot of things in combinatorics), other times it is a tools for nice tricks (I have no idea how I would solved these equations if it were not for generating functions, see the appendix from a Mafia game paper, https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1031).

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — HN submission

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 17:34:53 GMT

A mathematical model of the Mafia game (2013)

2 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — HN submission

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 15:40:48 GMT

A mathematical model of the Mafia game (2013)

2 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — HN submission

Sun, 25 Apr 2021 15:33:06 GMT

A mathematical model of the Mafia game (2013)

1 point; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — mentioned by stared

Sun, 25 Apr 2021 10:04:31 GMT

I miss Mafia. I used to play it in high school on some math camps, then during my first year of undergraduate. Later - not so much. I would love to participate in a conference and "being killed by Mafia". I loved the game so much that my Bachelor's thesis was "A mathematical model of the Mafia game" (took some time to find a professor willing to accept such an unusual topic). https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1031 Funny fact: you get PI/2 ratio for winning chances ratio depending if the number of players is odd or even.

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — mentioned by stared

Sun, 19 Mar 2017 16:21:25 GMT

Out of geeky (but impractical) things, here is my "A mathematical model of the Mafia game": https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1031 :)

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A mathematical model of the Mafia game — HN submission

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 19:14:34 GMT

A mathematical model of the Mafia (aka Werewolf) game

2 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — mentioned by stared

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 19:12:17 GMT

The game of mafia (aka Werewolf) is linked to PI (my paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1031, for a summary: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1157558/polish-paper-werewol...), also via the Wallis formula. But so what? Pi appears in physics roughly as often as 2 in finance. Even to describe the simples quantum states (ground states of the harmonic potential) you use Pi (as a normalization factor).

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

A mathematical model of the Mafia game — HN submission

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 14:15:59 GMT

A mathematical model of the Mafia game (2013)

3 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.