Publisher-disclosed game comparison
Games like Mafia Wars: find your next crime RPG
Miss the jobs, recruiting and return-tomorrow rhythm of Mafia Wars? Compare four current crime RPGs by the parts of that loop they actually keep.
What part of Mafia Wars are you trying to replace?
The old Facebook Mafia Wars drew people back to do jobs, grow a character, recruit other people into a mob and test that strength against rivals. A replacement can keep the short-session crime rhythm without reproducing its Facebook friends, item math or exact missions. Choose the part you actually miss before signing up elsewhere.
- Jobs and timers: do a few actions now, then return when resources or opportunities recover.
- Social recruitment: friends or teammates matter to combat, group jobs or shared ambitions.
- Long-term progress: levels, equipment, property or relationships still matter tomorrow.
- Access and spending: a browser, a phone app and optional purchases are materially different choices.
This is a different question from choosing a broad Torn alternative. The Torn comparison looks at persistent RPG depth and economy across a wider set of systems. Here the test is whether a current game replaces the Mafia Wars habit of jobs, mob recruiting and short social check-ins.
Four current options, compared
| Game | Jobs and social play | Progress | Where to play | Optional payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Street Crime | Crimes and boss missions; crews coordinate organised crime and turf competition. | A continuing character and shared world between sessions. | Desktop and mobile browser; no native app advertised. | Free character; optional memberships and credits with live terms at checkout. |
| Mob Wars: LCN | Energy-based jobs; recruited mobsters affect fights, while syndicates compete together. | Kano says linked accounts keep their progress when Facebook Canvas access ends; a general reset policy was not established here. | Kano browser site and iOS/Android apps. | Favor Points can be earned or bought for items, hired mobsters and refills. |
| Gangster Nation | Crimes, heists and families; competitive player conflict. | Rounds usually last 15 weeks and the playing field resets for the next round. | Desktop/mobile browser and mobile apps. | Credits can be bought for temporary boosts and a premium upgrade; some are traded in-game. |
| The Fifth Family | Crimes, training, family ranks and coordinated jobs; stat-driven player combat. | Publisher describes a persistent world and weekly Arena seasons; its reviewed pages do not establish a full-world reset policy. | Desktop/mobile browser plus optional iOS/Android apps. | Free core play with optional cosmetics, crates and time savers; not all purchases are cosmetic. |
Scroll across the comparison on smaller screens. Keyboard users can focus the table and use the arrow keys.
Publisher sources checked 24 September 2026
- Kano retrospective — original Mafia Wars history (competitor-published) - checked
- Mob Wars: LCN — jobs, syndicates and browser play - checked
- Kano — job energy and rewards - checked
- Kano — mobsters and fight contribution - checked
- Kano — Favor Points and what they can buy - checked
- Kano — browser, app and linked account continuity - checked
- Gangster Nation — current features and platforms - checked
- Gangster Nation — 15-week rounds and fresh starts - checked
- Gangster Nation — credit store and upgrades - checked
- The Fifth Family — browser, apps, families, persistence and purchases - checked
- The Fifth Family — its Mafia Wars comparison (publisher promotional context) - checked
- Street Crime — world and core systems - checked
- Street Crime — crews and organised crime - checked
- Street Crime — memberships and credits - checked
Mob Wars: LCN if the size of your mob matters
Kano's Mob Wars: La Cosa Nostra is the clearest match here for people who want recruited mobsters to change fights. Its help pages say jobs use Energy and can reward experience, cash and items; a job may require items or a mob of a certain size. Recruited mobsters bring equipment into fights, and syndicates provide a separate group layer for wars and shared competition.
Kano offers browser play and mobile apps. Its Facebook Canvas closure notice says linked Kano accounts preserve character progress, but that notice concerns Kano players, not old Zynga Mafia Wars accounts. Favor Points are earnable or purchasable and can buy items, hired mobsters and refills. Read the current shop before assuming the paid effects are cosmetic.
Gangster Nation if you want a fresh competitive round
Gangster Nation includes crimes, vehicle theft, heists, families, stocks and player shooting. Its publisher says rounds usually last 15 weeks, then the playing field resets. That is a real tradeoff: a newer player can contest a fresh round, while a player looking for one permanent character may prefer another game.
It runs in desktop and mobile browsers and also offers mobile apps. The official credit store describes purchasable upgrades such as temporary double experience and vehicle searches, plus a weekly premium package; credits can also circulate between players. Do not treat the word free as meaning identical progression speed for paying and non-paying accounts.
The Fifth Family if you want a phone-first family RPG
The Fifth Family publishes a persistent mafia world with crimes, stat training, families, coordinated jobs, a player item market and real-time player combat. It works in a browser and offers optional native iOS and Android apps. Weekly Arena seasons are an additional competition; the pages reviewed here do not establish whether the full world ever resets.
The publisher describes free core play and optional purchases including cosmetics, crates and time savers. Some purchases are not cosmetic, so inspect the live offer if competitive spending matters to you. Its own Mafia Wars replacement article is useful context but is promotional material from one of the games in this comparison, not an independent ranking.
Street Crime if you want your crew and empire to persist
Street Crime keeps the return-tomorrow rhythm: choose crimes with visible chances and Heat, steal vehicles, take boss missions, climb ranks and work with other players. A crew recruits members and coordinates five-player organised crime, while city trading, turf and businesses give the character things to build and defend in a continuing world. You can begin free in a desktop or mobile browser without an app download.
What Street Crime does not copy
Street Crime has crews, but it does not claim Mafia Wars' Facebook friend-to-mob system or a matching mob-size combat multiplier. Its crimes and boss missions are its own activities, not imported Mafia Wars jobs or mastery tiers. There is no Zynga account link, inventory transfer or shared publisher. If reproducing the original interface or keeping your old character is the requirement, Street Crime cannot do that.
Street Crime also has no advertised native phone app. It is browser play on desktop and mobile. Its free character can progress without a purchase, but optional memberships and credits exist. The live purchase screen, not a guide, controls the current benefits and prices. This matters if you are comparing a long-term character investment across games.
Before you make a new character
- Choose whether a continuing character or a scheduled reset sounds better for your time.
- Decide whether recruitment must increase your personal fight power or whether coordinating with a crew is enough.
- Open each publisher's current payment page and check the specific boosts, limits and expiry terms.
- Check mobile access: a browser page, an optional native app and a Facebook login are not interchangeable.
- If Street Crime sounds right, create a free character, try the first crimes and read the crew guide before applying to a group.
Is this the original Mafia Wars?
No. The games above are separate products from Zynga's retired Mafia Wars. The comparison is about similar habits and mechanics, not a continuation, official sequel, identical rules or account transfer.
What if I want more crime RPGs to compare?
This guide stays focused on the old Mafia Wars job-and-mob loop. For an unranked, source-dated map of sixteen browser crime RPGs, use the Street Crime census. It has its own review dates and inclusion rules; being listed there does not mean a game duplicates Mafia Wars.
Last reviewed 24 September 2026 by Street Crime team.