Rating and calibration

The rating shows how well you play compared with others. It changes only after a rated game, and the first 10 games are calibration: the number is still hidden.

What it is. The rating is a single number showing how well you play compared with others. It takes into account which side you got (the mafia and the town don't always find it equally easy to win) and how strong your opponents are. You see your own number next to your nickname in the profile and on the victory screen, the leaderboard under the “Rating” menu item, and someone else's rating in that player's public profile.

Tables aren't picked by rating, and the host doesn't get a rating.

When a game is rated. Only a finished game played by the rules from start to end changes the rating:

• it was played through to a winner;
• there are enough players at the table (how many exactly is written under the leaderboard);
• the host didn't remove players by hand: they're out only through a mafia shot or a vote;
• the host wasn't changed in the middle of the game, and no living players were kicked;
• the winner was announced correctly, not too early.

The rules are the same for the automatic host and a live host, and password-protected rooms count too. An unrated game doesn't change the rating, but stays in the statistics and achievements. The victory screen shows the reason in a “Not a rated game” line.

What changes the number.

• The result: a team's win adds rating, a loss takes it away.
• How surprising it was: an upset win gives more than an expected one, and an upset loss takes more.
• A citizen killed by the mafia at night: the change is smaller, and the earlier they were killed, the smaller it gets, though never by more than half.

Only the game's outcome counts: votes, checks and other individual actions don't affect the rating. The change is shown on the victory screen: “Rating 1012 → 1024 +12”.

Calibration and the leaderboard. The rating is counted from the first rated game, but for the first 10 it isn't shown as a number: in the profile and on the victory screen it says “Calibrating 4/10”, and the leaderboard shows how many games are left until you're on it. That way a few lucky games don't put a newcomer above the veterans. After the last calibration game the victory screen shows “Calibration complete” and your first number.

The leaderboard has the top hundred: place, avatar, nickname, rating and the number of rated games. Your row is highlighted, and if you're outside the hundred it's pinned at the bottom. You get into the table only after calibration.