To me, the simple glory of Mafia Wars (and, to some extent, of the rest of the early social media gaming) resided in its pen-and-paper roots. Just like D&D in the last century, Mafia Wars conjured up a world of dramatic twists and narrative experiences, using little more than illustrated tables of elaborate statistics; Like what solid gameplay and a few pictures can really go a long way.
On the Chicago installment of the franchise, I was asked to design 2D icons and thumbnails for weapons, tools, loot, vehicles and non-player characters. Here are a few selected samples.
Another nice touch was the creation of archetypal NPCs for the different chapters of the installment: hitmen, vixens, mob bosses... Each represented in a dramatic portrait.
IN-GAME VIEW
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Mafia Wars © Zynga
