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Every Mafia Game comes with its own story, setting, and runtime. In this list, we have ranked them all based on the length of their story.
2K’s Mafia IP is well known for its mob-centric stories and well-written characters. Even though players are familiar with the franchise as an open-world action-adventure series, the various installments, once released, distinguish themselves quite quickly from their peers with their focus on narrative and cast.
Because of this priority, every single Mafia game takes different approaches and comes with various runtimes to properly convey its gangster stories. For your convenience, we have ranked all of them from shortest to longest in this list.
Every Mafia Game Ranked Based on Its Runtime
The Mafia, both as a term and a franchise in the gaming space, is well known. Published by 2K, the Mafia games often break away from the generic open-world mold and aspire to tell heartfelt and intriguing stories about mobsters and their associated underworld.
Naturally, each entry requires a different timeframe to properly flesh out its characters and plot, which results in a dynamic catalog of runtimes across the board. Below, we have ranked each of the installments in the Mafia series based on this particular aspect, from shortest to longest.
1. Mafia The Old Country
Coming in at number 1 is 2K’s latest 2025 title, Mafia: The Old Country. The developers have made it quite clear that this title is a return to the original roots of the franchise, and it is a narrative-driven, linear experience set in a semi-open world of Sicily, Italy. Because of its story-focused nature, Old Country is one of the shortest games in the entire franchise, and gamers can easily complete its main campaign within about 12 hours.
Of course, this can still vary depending on the player’s skills and speed. However, the title remains committed to its quality-over-quantity approach and features 15 different chapters. Furthermore, each of these chapters will take somewhere around 30 to 60 minutes to complete and is filled with action set pieces, stealth levels, and cinematic eye candy.
2. Mafia 2
In theory, Mafia 2’s story spans a long time between the winter of 1945 and the summer of 1951. However, the title follows the structure of the original game in the series closely and delivers a short yet precise main campaign that lasts around 12 to 16 hours. Moreover, because of this emphasis on narrative, Mafia 2 does not offer a plethora of optional objectives and side quests and ditches the popular open-world model.
Still, the short runtime does not mean that the title lacks content or entertainment. On the contrary, Mafia 2 is a massive visual upgrade over its predecessor and does a great job of conveying its plot. However, it is not a perfect sequel since, according to many, the second entry in the Mafia franchise does not quite reach the heights of the original and falls just a little behind.
3. Mafia The City of Lost Heaven
The Mafia franchise has always taken a different approach compared to other big names in the genre, such as Grand Theft Auto, and it is perhaps most evident in Mafia The City of Lost Heaven. The title in question started the entire franchise and solidified its foundation as a narrative-focused, cinematic experience that does not emphasize the size of its world too much.
With a runtime of around 16 to 18 hours, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven mostly focuses on Tommy Angelo. Players will spend most of their time driving around the map in vehicles from the 1930s, shooting other mobsters, and enjoying the cutscenes in between. Indeed, every aspect of this game is quite old in 2025, but the various challenges it throws at you are still relevant and enjoyable to this day.
4. Mafia 3
Hangar 13 released Mafia 3 back in 2020 for players who wanted a true open-world title set in the Mafia franchise. Despite incorporating such a popular formula, the game saw mixed reactions after its release, and since then, the developers have pivoted back and completely committed to the story-first approach, as evident in Mafia The Old Country.
The game’s main campaign, mixed with its driving, action, and stealth segments, takes roughly 23 to 35 hours to complete. This makes Mafia 3 the longest game in the entire franchise, which is quite natural due to the title’s grand scale. Of course, the title features many optional content elements scattered throughout the 1968 New Bordeaux setting as well, and the quality of these largely depends on player preference.
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