I played Mafia de Cuba with some Facebook friends (well one friend and his friends) yesterday.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/176558/mafia-de-cubaI found it much more enjoyable than the one game of regular Mafia I played. It didn't feel like the first accusation is baseless. The godfather asks questions and sorts things out trying to figure out who's lying.
I chose a getaway driver. I could tell the three people in front of me each took a token. The four missing tokens were one getaway driver, one loyal henchman, and both agents. So I knew no one stole the diamonds before me.
I won without saying a single word. This was really because the godfather was inexperienced and eager. He questioned the person in front of me who reported that she passed on 10 diamonds to me. Then he questioned the person after me who reported that she received 12 diamonds from me. Naturally, he was perplexed and knew one of those two was lying. He asked me for my opinion, and I was crafting a careful lie to support the person in front of me. I figured that if she's lying about the diamonds, she must be an agent, and I want her to get accused so we both win. Before I could answer, the godfather accused the person after me.
So the person after me turned out to be loyal. The godfather had two mulligans, and one was spent in that false accusation. I was still trying to figure out how to answer him. While the people who went after me suspected diamonds were taken early on, I knew better. I deduced that the godfather removed three diamonds since the three people in front of me each took a role. So how could I lie? He would know that nobody prior to the loyal henchman took diamonds since she reported 12. There was some table talk, and everyone knew the person before me was a liar.
Here's where the godfather's inexperience got him in trouble. He accused her. Sure enough, she was a federal agent, and I got to ride her coattails. Success! I guess. That was kind of weird. It goes to show that not everyone follows your logic. I thought for sure he would see past the lie, but he apparently forgot he removed three diamonds. Or maybe he got excited at uncovering a lie and went for the kill. Oops.
But yeah, I liked it. We couldn't say anything until the Godfather asked his first question. Then the lies and accusations would fly. This game was far shorter than it really should have been. By unveiling the loyal henchman, he should have ignored the first five players. I expected him too, and he didn't wait for my answer. I'm sure I was obligated to answer, but I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to cast doubt on the person before me. I could only hope she was loyal and win that way, but why would she lie?
The funny part we learned afterward is that she didn't mean to lie. She had fat fingers and typed 10 instead of 12. She did lie about the roles being passed, and I would have gladly supported her in that lie. That would have changed things greatly, and he wouldn't have jumped the gun in accusations.
We're starting a new one this weekend. The new godfather is less likely to be so impulsive, especially since there seems to be no rule on the number of questions asked. It would be interesting if the Godfather were allowed to ask n/2 questions before the first accusation. Then n/4 before the second. And then maybe make an accusation after every question. It seems to me that the Godfather can ask each person a question and then deduce the progression.