Mafia Wars

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For the party game known as Mafia, see Mafia (party game).

Mafia Wars
Developer(s)	Zynga
Publisher(s)	Zynga
Platform(s)	PC, Mac OS, iPhone
Genre(s)	Multiplayer Browser Games
Input methods	Mouse, Touch

Mafia Wars is a multiplayer browser game created by Zynga. It was the 2009 Webby Award People's Voice Winner in the Games category.^[1] It is on several social networking sites and on the iPhone.
In June 2010, it was reported that Ted Field and Radar Pictures had picked up the film rights for a "crime thriller based on the popular video game".^[2]

Contents [hide] 1 Platforms 2 Gameplay 3 Updating and server issues 4 Lawsuit 5 Trademark dispute 6 Charity 7 Film Adaptation 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Platforms

Mafia Wars is available on Facebook, Tagged, Sonico, Yahoo!.^[3] and as an iPhone App.^[4]
On Facebook, as of October 2009, Mafia Wars has 25.9 million monthly active accounts.^[5] Some players and clans create multiple accounts to utilize the benefits of the three basic character builds (Fearless, Maniac, and Mogul).

[edit] Gameplay

A screenshot of the first New York job tier on Mafia Wars on Facebook

Mafia Wars is set in New York City and Little Italy, with the option for players to travel between New York, Cuba (level 35+), Moscow (level 70+) and Bangkok (upon unlocking items from New York levels, level 18+). In 2010, Paris, London and South Africa are introduced as challenge missions (which are available for a limited time). Las Vegas is released in July 28th as the fifth city available. The game revolves around doing and mastering jobs to earn cash and experience, with the goal of establishing and advancing one's criminal empire.^[6] Players create mafias by recruiting players and using reward points to hire extra mafia members. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Friendster allow players to recruit from friends to build their mafia and fight against other players.^[6][7] Players can also improve their stats by visiting the Godfather (ie, making a micropayment).^[6]
Gameplay revolves around timers: players have limited energy (for doing jobs), and health and stamina meters (for fighting other players), in a manner similar to an RPG(role playing game),^[8] which slowly recharges over time. With the help of other mafia members that have been recruited, players can eventually fight other players, which may or may not result in the theft of cash, "icing", or "death" of the other player. The game operates on a level up basis. The player earns experience points by completing jobs. Players who manage to complete special tasks (for example, winning fights against bigger mafias or winning fifteen fights in a row) are labeled as having accomplished an "achievement", resulting in a bonus for the player. As they level up, more jobs and features become available, such as the ability to visit Cuba to expand their criminal empire.
After a significant in-game marketing blitz, Zynga added a new city, Moscow, on September 24, 2009.^[9] Once a player reaches level 70, they are granted access to Moscow, and they get to choose between the Thieves in Law Vory or the Russian Mafiya. On January 20, 2010, Bangkok Beta was released with some players being granted acess to it, but some not. This is to prevent too many people from going to Bangkok which may cause the system to crash.^[10] In Bangkok, players will be able to choose from the Triad and the Yakuza. The upcoming region Las Vegas, came out June 23 2010 as a beta, and July 21, 2010 out of beta.^[11] The ranks and episodes are: Street Thug, Associate, Soldier, Enforcer, Hitman, Capo, Consigliere, Underboss, and Boss in New York; El Soldado, El Capitan, El Jefe, El Patron, El Padrino, and El Cacique in Cuba; Baklany, Boets, Brigadir, Avtoritet, Vor, and Pakhan in Moscow; Brawler, Criminal, Pirate, Commandant, Oyabun, Dragon Head, Saboteur and Assassin in Bangkok.
Character Classes
There are three classes that a player has to choose from when they first start the game. Each class offers a reduced amount of recharge time to one of the three timers. The three classes are:
Maniac: This class has an energy recharge timer of three minutes, unlike the other two classes which have a timer of five minutes. Also the Buttonman position is only available for Maniacs
Mogul: This class gets 40% more money from jobs in all cities. Also, the Top Mafia Bagman position is only for Moguls.
Fearless: This class receives a stamina recharge time reduction (every 3 minutes as opposed to the usual 5). Also, only Fearless players can be a Wheelman in a person's Top Mafia

Character class can be changed by the user by buying a preferred class for 15 Godfather points.