Overview: Mafia Wars is the gold standard of Facebook role-playing games. It wasn’t the first, and it’s arguably not the best, but it’s a highly polished example of its kind with tons of content and a huge user base. Starting the game up for the first time, you get a slick little slideshow describing the troubles your Mafia family has suffered. Of course, it’s your job to make it right, starting by thumping some other thugs over the head until they leave your turf alone.

The basic game is still click-to-fill bars, but there are a lot of bells and whistles to make the repetitive job grinding more fun. Random loot drops on each tier are part of “Collections” that you can complete to get various bonuses. Boss fights are interactive turn-based challenges that give much better rewards than the normal jobs, but also carry a risk. As you gain levels, you unlock different tiers of jobs and eventually the ability to travel to different locations – you start out in New York, of course, but you can travel to Cuba, Moscow, and Bangkok. There are often limited-time events, items, or challenges to shake things up a bit. Ultimately you’re still filling progress bars, but you’ll see some interesting sights along the way.

The other half of the game is the player-vs-player side. This is also a robust, polished experience. There are a couple of different ways to get in someone else’s face. The first and simplest is the “Fight” option. This is a basic one-to-one matchup that compares your stats, equipment, and Mafia size (number of friends.) Mafia size usually ends up trumping the others, so if you’re serious about this part of the game, round up some other folks to play with you!

The second option is “robbing.” You’ll get a list of properties to hit with a max mafia size (you can try to rob them with fewer, but stand less chance of success.) You’ll get cash and experience for succeeding, as well as a chance to find collectible items that, of course, make you better at robbing. This option is less dependent on Mafia size, which is nice for people who aren’t willing to add a couple hundred people to their Facebook friends list just to stand a chance at the higher levels.

The real-money currency can be used to purchase a wide variety of powerful items (mostly helpful in player-vs-player conflicts,) energy refills, extra Mafia members, skill points. and temporary bonuses. You do get Reward Points at a steady rate, so you can get some of the neat stuff without ever paying a penny, but if you’re competitive, outfitting a full-size Mafia with top gear will cost you.

Mafia Wars is still a cornerstone of the genre. If you like leveling up and filling progress bars, this is a solid experience with regular new content made by an experienced team. It’s not the flashiest game out there, but it’s an oldie-but-goodie.