How do you play the early game?

[Fluminator]

1. Talk to everyone socially about non-game related things for a few pm chains to establish yourself as a non-gamebot.

2. After that ask them "what are your thoughts on everyone else so far". Keep things entirely positive towards other players at this stage since things will leak. Not mentioning another player is code for "I'm fine voting them out"

3. Look at your conglomerate of "thoughts on other players" and find the person who wasn't mentioned by anyone else.

4. Agree with your other players to vote out that person and make an official alliance sometime in this stage.

[Fluminator]

New players should also look at idol locations in previous games to get an idea of what to look for. They affect the game enough you should be aware.

Also expect lots of swaps. This means to never give up if you're in a bad spot, and try to maintain as many positive connections as possible for future situations so you can adapt with who you're with.
But never expect tribal lines to be a thing after a swap, and the eventual majority alliance at merge will likely not be based on tribe lines.

Always assume what you're saying will leak.

Everyone always downplays how close they are to other players. It's really important to read between the lines to get a grasp on how they really view the game.