It goes without saying that gangsters live exciting lives, what with all the racketeering, drug dealing, gang violence, fast money, cars, and women, it’s enough to make your head spin.
In real life, the consequences of joining up with a crime family can be not only dangerous but outright fatal; however, in a video game, the world is yours for the taking.
In this list, we’ll highlight the best mafia games on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch that let you step into the shoes of mobsters, thugs, and other criminals.
This includes the very best open-world mafia games, beat ‘em ups, and management sims about running your own organized crime operation.
With that said, let’s get started!
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Fallen Aces
Platform: Windows
Released by New Blood Interactive, Fallen Aces is a captivating first-person shooter with a graphic novel visual and noir-influenced narrative.
Spanning three episodes with dozens of levels and fully voiced cutscenes, the game presents a gritty crime saga about heroes, villains, corruption, and betrayal.
Taking on the role of a rogue gangster, you’ll make your way around the non-linear world of Switchblade City beating down rival mobsters using anything you can get your hands on.
Pixel Gangsters: Mafia Manager
Platform: Windows
Now, if you’ve ever dreamt of running your own gang of mobsters, Pixel Gangsters: Mafia Manager is the perfect game for you.
Developed and published by Gidlib Games, this indie strategy sim sees you building your mafia empire from the ground up by recruiting low-level thugs and turning them into powerful wise guys.
Doing so unlocks new weapons, vehicles, properties, and rackets for you to make money from and leverage against rival gangs across the city.
Mafia Series
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One
If you’re reading this list, there’s a good chance you’ve already played at least the first Mafia game as it was originally released during the early 2000s.
Spanning three main games, the Mafia series is best experienced these days through each entry’s Definitive Edition with updated graphics, audio, and story elements.
As far as open-world mafia games are concerned, this is going to be your best option as it really captures the complicated lives of gangsters from the 1930s through to the late 1960s.
Serial Cleaners
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
Sometimes gangsters are expected to roll up their sleeves and get dirty in order to dispose of evidence, especially dead bodies.
Such is the premise of Serial Cleaners, a top-down stealth-action game cleaning up bloody messes for the mob in 1990s New York.
Alternating between four characters, you’ll play out scenarios that task you with hiding bodies, vacuuming up blood, and avoiding law enforcement.
Body of Evidence
Platforms: Windows, Switch
Body of Evidence is another mafia game that revolves around cleaning up crime scenes for the mob but rather than top-down, this game is played from a first-person perspective.
There’s a bigger emphasis on completing tasks quickly, as you only have a certain amount of time before the cops show up to investigate.
As such, each mission can be tackled in several ways by leveraging every tool at your disposal to hide, dump, or otherwise dispose of bodies away from prying eyes.
Adios
Platforms: Windows
Of course, not everyone who works for the mob is content to do so, particularly those with a firm ethical backbone such as the pig farmer in Adios.
Having spent decades disposing of bodies for the mob by feeding them to his livestock, the protagonist tries to back out of the business, much to the dismay of his mobster contact.
What ensues is a brief yet cinematic walking sim wherein the farmer lays out his dilemma and reflects on life while taking the hitman on a tour of his land.
Empire of Sin
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mac
Next up on our list is Empire of Sin, a crime management strategy RPG that comes courtesy of Romero Games and Paradox Interactive.
Set in 1920s Prohibition-era Chicago, the game has you assuming control of real mob bosses like Al Capone, Stephanie St. Clair, or Goldie Garneau to assemble rag-tag gangs.
Navigating a ruthless criminal underworld, you’ll build and manage your empire using hustle, charm, intimidation, and violence when necessary to defend your turf or prove a point.
City of Gangsters
Platform: Windows
City of Gangsters is another strategy game that has you managing resources in hopes of turning your fledgling crime op into a well-oiled money-making machine.
Along the way, you’ll have to build speakeasies and illegal distilleries, manage production chains and distribution, and keep an eye out for the competition.
Rival gangs and law enforcement will try to get in your way but can be won over through the use of favors, money, and when all else fails, a bullet in the head.
Company of Crime
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Keeping with the theme, Company of Crime is a tactical turn-based strategy RPG that drops you in the heart of 1960s London.
Playing as either a gangster or detective, you’ll assemble a team of like-minded individuals and begin exploring the city’s seedy underbelly with the goal of seizing control or dismantling it entirely.
Neither will be easy as both rival thugs and corrupt officials will take note of your activities, increasing the amount of heat on your back and chance of having to fight your way out of trouble.
L.A. Noire
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
We’ve already touched on a lot of games that let you play as knowledgeable individuals but what about one that casts you as Johnny Law himself?
In L.A. Noire, you take on the role of patrolman-turned-detective Cole Phelps as he works his way up the ranks solving crimes while navigating corruption within his own department.
With each case, the stakes only get higher as Phelps finds himself confronting witnesses, suspects, and fellow officers with questionable motivations.
Grand Theft Auto V
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
The GTA series has always had a close connection to mafia culture, with each entry featuring an assortment of fictional crime families to align with.
Grand Theft Auto V continues this trend while having you split your time between three work-for-hire criminals contracted by various mob bosses to completely increasingly sketchy jobs.
Those looking to take their criminal escapades further can dive headfirst into GTA Online and assemble a gang of Mafiosos to take over Los Santos’ criminal underworld.
Hitman Series
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Mac, Linux
Debuting in the early 2000s, the Hitman series follows contract killer Agent 47 as he carries out assignments across the globe.
As you would expect, this has led to a handful of run-ins with the Sicilian mob, the Yakuza, the Triads, and plenty of Eastern European thugs.
This plays out across stealth action sequences that emphasize using, traps, distraction tools, and disguises to take out targets without raising suspicion.
Yakuza Series
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
Another series that’s been around since the early 2000s, Yakuza, or Ryū ga Gotoku in Japan, aims to accurately depict the drama and excitement that comes from being a gangster.
There are currently eight main games in the series and the best one for newcomers to start with is Yakuza 0, a prequel and arguably the best narrative-driven entry in the franchise.
Couple this with meaty beat ‘em up-style combat and vivid recreations of Tokyo’s Kabukicho district across multiple self-contained stories and you have the recipe for a great mob game.
Judgment Series
Platforms: Windows, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S
Serving as a standalone spin-off to Yakuza, Judgment and its follow-up sequel Lost Judgment switch sides to explore the life of lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami.
The story follows Takayuki as he sets out to investigate a case involving a killer whose calling card is to remove their victims’ eyeballs.
Takayuki’s investigation leads him to seek out answers on the rough streets of Kamurocho by interviewing witnesses, analyzing clues, and beating up thugs.
Blood u0026amp; Truth
Platform: PS4 (PSVR)
Exclusive to PlayStation VR, Blood & Truth is an on-rails cinematic first-person shooter about London mobsters.
In it, you assume control of a former Special Forces soldier fighting to save his family from a London crime boss by any means.
Essentially a cover shooter, the game still finds plenty of ways to ramp up the excitement with thrilling car chases and shootout sequences that feel straight out of a mob movie.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One
Another mobster game set in London only several hundred years further back, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is one of the more underrated entries in the Ubisoft series.
Following twin assassins Evie and Jacob Frye, you set out to clean up crime in Victorian London despite facing fierce opposition from the Templar Order.
The game really nails the atmosphere and setting while making several refinements to the series’ open-world traversal, combat, and stealth mechanics.
Sleeping Dogs
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Mac
Moving over to East Asia, Sleeping Dogs is a classic open-world action adventure that sees you infiltrating the Chinese Triad as undercover cop Wei Shen.
However, things take a turn for the worst when Wei finds himself in too deep with the triad and starts to lose sight of his mission.
The story plays out across a vibrant open world teeming with unique locations, vehicles, street shootouts, and back alley brawls.
Omerta – City of Gangsters
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Wrapping up our list we have Omerta – City of Gangsters, another tactical strategy game that puts you in charge of a mafia crime ring.
Taking place in 1920s Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it sees you expanding your empire by seizing speakeasies in XCOM-inspired turn-based battles.
Businesses you control must be managed from day to day while keeping an eye out for rival mobsters who will try to swoop in and steal from you.