As with the Facebook game, you need to buy certain weapons to carry off certain jobs. You can retaliate against other mobsters who've attacked you while you were offline when you sign back on. You can visit the Godfather for money, extra Mafia members, energy, health and stamina refills, skill points, and the like. You can also purchase points, which is why Mafia Wars' creators fall asleep at night atop enormous fluffy piles of cash.

Unlike the Facebook version, there is no bank, no hitlists, you can't rob your opponents, and there are no job tiers and titles. Personally, I miss the hitlists. But there is a running news ticker at the bottom of the screen that keeps players apprised of who's playing.

A number of users complained on the Zynga forum and on the game's App Store page that the most recent game update made the app slow and buggy. I haven't experienced any lag or any crashes. I did notice that my health and stamina were not regenerating when I was logged off, but that problem only lasted for a couple of days.

iMobsters by Jeff Witt is different in style, but nearly identical in substance, to Mafia Wars. You have "missions" instead of "jobs," buy "real estate" instead of "properties" and "favor points" instead of "Godfather points," and commit generic crimes such as "grand theft auto" and "collect protection money" rather than the more cleverly labeled acts of theft and mayhem on Mafia Wars.

Although playable, iMobsters' interface isn't as beautiful as Mafia Wars. It's more text-heavy. There is no nifty animation of gunfire when you fight. When you complete a job or finish a fight, you get a message saying "Excellente!" or "Insuccesso." (iMobsters is very much an Italian Mafia game.)