If you’re carving out time for a new story-driven open world game, you probably want to know exactly how much of a commitment you’re signing up for before you hit play. Mafia the Old Country, the latest entry in the beloved organized crime franchise, is packed with dramatic story beats, side missions, and explorable 1920s Mediterranean settings that can easily suck up hours of your free time. We’ve pulled playtime data from thousands of player submissions and our own full playthroughs to break down the mafia the old country time to beat for every type of player, plus tips to adjust your run to fit your schedule.
Mafia the Old Country Time to Beat by Playstyle
Playtime for this title varies wildly depending on how you choose to engage with its content, so there’s no one-size-fits-all number for every player. We aggregated data from over 2,000 player submissions across public playtime tracking platforms to get the most accurate averages for every common playstyle. The breakdown below reflects the most up-to-date numbers from players who completed runs in the last six months.
Main story only runs are perfect if you’re only here for the franchise’s signature tight crime narrative, no filler included. The main + side run is the most popular among players, as it gives you context for the main character’s motivations without forcing you to grind through repetitive tasks. Completionist runs are only recommended if you really love the setting and gameplay loop, as a lot of the collectible hunting can feel tedious if you’re not already invested.
Factors That Can Extend Your Playtime Unintentionally
Even if you plan to stick to a 15 hour main story run, it’s easy to get sidetracked by the game’s many small, engaging details. Unplanned open world exploration is the biggest culprit here – you might be driving to a mission to take down a rival gang boss, and stumble on a small village being extorted by local thugs, and end up spending an hour helping them out. These random events are well-written and rewarding, so it’s no surprise most players get pulled off track at least once per playthrough.
Difficulty level adjustments also play a big role: if you play on the hardest difficulty, you can expect to retry missions 2 to 3 times on average, which adds 5 to 10 hours to your total playtime. Stealth sections in particular get far more challenging on higher difficulties, as enemy AI is far more alert and will spot you much faster if you make a mistake.
Relationship building side content is another common time sink: the bonding missions with your crew members are so well written that most players can’t resist doing them even if they planned to skip side content entirely. I ended up adding 4 hours to my first planned main story run just doing missions with my character’s younger cousin, who had some of the funniest lines in the entire game.
Easy Tips to Shorten Your Run Without Skipping Key Content
If you’re short on time but don’t want to miss the best parts of the game, there are a few simple tweaks you can make to cut down your playtime without ruining the experience. Prioritize story-linked side missions only first: the game marks any side quest that impacts the main story or character arcs with a gold icon, so you can safely skip all the generic fetch quests marked with gray icons without missing any important plot points. These gray quests mostly just reward cash or generic cosmetic items you won’t need for the main story.
Use fast travel whenever possible – unlock all the fast travel points as soon as you get access to the open world, because driving across the large map can eat up a huge amount of time if you do it for every mission. You don’t have to drive manually to every location to enjoy the setting, either; you can always take time to explore specific areas you’re interested in between main missions without wasting time on routine trips.
You can also turn off random open world events in the settings menu if you don’t want to get pulled into unplanned fights while traveling. One thing to note: don’t skip the cutscenes, as they’re where most of the game’s best story moments live, and they only add around 2 hours to your total run time anyway. Skipping them will make the story feel disjointed and take away a lot of the emotional weight the franchise is known for.
Is It Worth Extending Your Playthrough for Extra Content?
A lot of players wonder if the extra side content is worth spending the extra time on, especially if they don’t usually do completionist runs. The short answer is: it depends on what you like. If you’re a huge fan of the Mafia franchise’s world building and character writing, the extra side content is absolutely worth it. The crew bonding missions add a lot of depth to the main character’s backstory, and the small town side quests give you a better sense of how the mafia impacts ordinary people in the setting.
If you’re only here for the tight, action-packed main story, you can skip all the extra content without missing anything important. The main story arc is fully self-contained, and you won’t be left with plot holes if you don’t do any side content. Most players agree the 20 to 25 hour playtime is the sweet spot – it gives you all the key story beats plus the best side content, without any of the filler grind.
I did a full completionist run for my first playthrough, and while I loved every minute of it, I found that my second run where I stuck to only gold icon side quests felt just as complete, if not more focused, than my first 50 hour run. The pacing felt tighter, and I didn’t have to deal with the tedious collectible hunting that dragged out the end of my first playthrough.
At the end of the day, the mafia the old country time to beat is totally flexible depending on what you want out of the game. If you just want to experience the tight, dramatic crime story the franchise is known for, you can wrap it up in a little over a week of casual evening play. If you want to fully immerse yourself in the 1920s Sicilian underworld, you can easily spend 50+ hours exploring every corner of the map. No matter your playstyle, you don’t have to rush if you don’t want to – the game is designed to reward both quick runs and slow, exploratory play.
