There are five main geographical regions in the game; Little Italy (controlled by the Corleone family), Brooklyn (controlled by the Tattaglia family), New Jersey (controlled by the Stracci family), Hell's Kitchen (controlled by the Cuneo family) and Midtown (controlled by the Barzini family). At the start of the game, the entire map is available for the player to explore, but the game encourages the player to remain in Little Italy, as it is the easiest area of which to gain control. To completely control an area, the player must extort all business and rackets owned by the other families, and take over their warehouses and hubs. Many businesses serve as fronts to rackets, which can be taken over in a similar manner to the front, although in the case of a racket, the player has the option of simply buying the racket boss out. Controlling rackets yield the player more money than extorting businesses.