I think I've figured out my frustration over this game: it tends to be random initially, which then eliminates possible avenues of strategy that put you either behind or ahead from the start.
It kinda reminds me a bit of playing Monopoly, if that's too much of a stretch. The two most important things in Monopoly that determine success and/or failure is who succeeds in gaining and building up the first monopoly, and then which player bankrupts first - and to whom that player's assets revert to.
WRT Mafia, it all depends on determining who is who before you lose too many villagers/villains, and then it becomes attrition. Unfortunately, there's no adequate way of determining who is who without revealing who YOU might really be.
That's the frustration of the game - you need to really roleplay at the start to figure out who's who - before you start losing people. Equating that to my Monopoly example: you need to start buying up properties right away, then trade and deal to get properties you need, realizing some are more valuable than others. Just letting things go randomly will cause you to lose, especially after the villain side makes its first move.
