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 laundering fee. Withdrawal is free and money, not placed in a bank, is subject to robbing from other mafia. It can also be won through fights.
Loot and collection items:
Certain crime jobs offer the opportunity to gather loot and these jobs are identified with an icon alerting the player that loots are available. However, loot is dropped at random and there is no guarantee that it will drop with each execution of the job. Beginner loot has little value in terms of attack and defense strength. As players level up, the loot has greater value and gives player an edge when fighting wars.
In addition to loot, collection items are dropped at random. Vaulting collection items gives the player a bonus in health, energy, or stamina.
These items increase in value as the player moves up, and players can gift or trade loot and collection items. The rule of etiquette (among mafia) is to give a loot gift in return when you receive one.
Moving up in the mob:
Leveling up or moving up to next level is executed when you obtain the required experience points from performing crime jobs. There are several ways to obtain the points. Each level has 3 tiers to complete before you reach the next rank in the mob.
*Crime jobs- display the number of experience points awarded with each job
*Experience points gained in assisting a mafia family member with jobs
*Fighting other mafia members
As players level up, they receive skill points that are used to increase health, energy, and stamina as well as attack and defense strength. These skills are necessary to complete jobs at higher mob ranks.
Fighting consumes stamina and health points, but energy, health, and stamina are renewed each time a player levels up. At the completion of the 3rd tier of a level players move to the next rank in the mafia and receive special items from Mafia Wars that gives them bonus points on regeneration of certain categories in health and energy and cash in New York, or stronger weapons in Cuba.
Every twenty three hours players can receive an energy pack that increases energy 25 percent allowing them to do more crime jobs and obtain more experience points.
Godfather points: Players may buy skill points, energy, special items, or crates with unknown contents from the godfather. If you run out of godfather points, you may buy them from Zynga. $5, $10, or $20 godfather points are available from Zynga using credit cards or Paypal.
Achievement Awards:
Achievement awards are bragging rights and are given when certain requirements are met. For instance, buying all four businesses in Cuba and upgrading them earns an achievement award. Vaulting a set number of collections earns an award. Members who click on your mafia name are able to see your achievements.
Mafia Wars is an enjoyable game where you can forget your cares in the real world as you fight your way up through mob ranks to become the boss. Some players find it addicting but most of us enjoy the competition and don't worry when a rival mafia robs us of all our properties and whacks us. We know we'll be back tomorrow.