by Mona Gallagher

Created on: September 20, 2009   Last Updated: September 30, 2009

Got a grudge? Feeling mean? Mafia Wars is a good way to settle a score with your enemies with your mafia family members backing you up with their arsenal of weaponry. Mafia Wars is intuitive and experienced gamers are able to play Mafia Wars from the moment they enter the game, but for all others, Zynga, the game originator, provides a tutorial with basics of "How to play Mafia Wars" on Facebook.

Beginners start with no operating funds and must recruit other members to join their mafia family. It's not uncommon to see mafia families with more than a thousand members and recruiting is pursued aggressively. To strengthen your network, you're able to join clans that will help fight off attacks and participate in mafia wars. It's all for fun and even if you get "iced", you live to fight another day.

Payout comes from completing crime jobs, from properties, and from fighting other mafia. As you move up in the ranks, the payouts increase to where players can easily amass a few billion dollars. Expenses are part of the game too as you purchase inventory to complete the crime jobs. The bank also takes a ten percent laundering fee, but it's still easy money.

The object of the game is to move up through the mob ranks by building a large (strong) mafia family, obtaining weaponry, amassing a fortune, and earning achievement awards. With each completed job, players receive experience points and a pay out.

As of this writing, crime jobs are done in the New York, Cuba, and MOSCOW. Coming soon are Hong Kong, and Western U.S. All beginners start in New York as street thugs and complete all nine levels. In Cuba, players start at the El Soldado level and move through 6 ranks to El Cacique. Russia is new.

Starting out:

Players make the preliminary selection of personal mafia identities and read the short tutorial.

Starting at level 1 in New York, players are assigned the rank of Street Thug. Money, rank, and job experience increase as crime jobs are performed. Crime jobs are listed with description, payout, and specific items needed to complete the job.

Each crime job provides a payout and a predetermined number of experience points. Jobs require a special weapons, loot, or collection items. Zynga keeps track of your inventory and makes it accessible.

After the player accumulates the required number of experience points he moves up one level. Skill points are awarded as players move up through the ranks.

Mafia Wars provides a bank, where your deposits are subject to a 10 percent

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