Along with the downright massive Easter-themed mission set that's now available in Cafe World, you can also complete Amelia's Great Egg Hunt Catering Order. In fact, "can" is a bit of a light word, as you'll absolutely need to complete this order if you want to finish the last of those Egg Hunt goals.
Either way, you'll be able to jump into this Catering Order as you have all others: by heading to the back of the Catering Business menu and accepting the job on your account from the pop-up menu that appears. This Catering Order is on a short time limit, but the requirements are anything but easy, requiring you to cook three dishes and collect two different items from friends.
For the cooking portion of this order, you'll need to serve Egg Hunt Carrot Cake (a one hour dish) 260 times, Delicious Chocolate Cake (a 14 hour dish) 225 times, and Milk Chocolate Bunny (a 10 minute dish) 100 times. Sure, the Carrot Cakes and Bunnies (recipes only available by completing the Egg Hunt goals - check out our guide) may have short cooking times, but they are required in such quantities that it will take very dedicated chefs to serve enough in the three day time limit for a three-star rating. Not to mention, if you don't have the time to frequently come back to the game (say, if you work full-time or go to school), you'll be that much more likely to come back to a cafe full of rotten food, which is never fun.
Either way, while you're cooking dishes with your friends (up to 18 can join you on this order), you'll also need to collect 28 collectibles: 14 Party Hats and 14 Party Streamers. All of these items are earned via individual gift requests that you'll need to send to friends that you think would be most likely to help you. Again, if you can complete all five of these tasks within three days, you'll receive three-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 6,300 Cafe Points, 75000 coins and the Egg Hunt Sugar Cookies recipe, and exclusive recipe that you can only receive by completing this order.
If you finish after three days, but within the first five days of beginning, you'll receive two-stars, eight Catering Points, 4500 Cafe Points, and 50000 coins, while simply finishing the order at any time after the first five days earns you a single star, four Catering Points, 2700 Cafe Points and 30000 coins. While those still aren't bad rewards for simply finishing the order at all, if you're like most cooks, you likely won't settle until you've receive your exclusive recipe, and frankly I can't blame you.
Check out the rest of our Easter 2011 coverage and guides right here.
What do you think of this Catering Order? Are the requirements too difficult, since they require you to unlock recipes before starting?
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Cafe World Spring Fling Catering Order: Finish in time to receive Crab Spring Roll recipe
Do you live in a climate that's still receiving snow and other winter weather? Wish that you could throw on some shorts and flip-flops and hit the beach? Well, you can, at least virtually via Cafe World's Spring Fling Catering Order. Don't get confused - this order has nothing to do with the two Easter-themed events that have also recently launched in the game (the Egg Hunt Catering Order, and the Egg Hunt Goals - both of which have guides here on Games.com - The Blog!) - this is a completely separate order that will see you unlocking a new recipe for your cookbook, if you can complete it in time.
This order is a fairly complex one, and fairly difficult as well, requiring you to cook three dishes, along with collecting three items from your friends. You'll have five days as your starter time limit, which does give you more time to accomplish these six tasks, but don't say I didn't warn you - this one's a toughie.
To start, you'll be spending most of your time cooking three dishes. You'll need to serve Lemon Butter Lobster (a two-hour dish) a whopping 550 times, Seafood Paella (a 14-hour dish) 250 times, and Sirius Sorbet (a 30-minute dish) 150 times. Sure, the Sirius Sorbet and Seafood Paella may not take high-level chefs long to complete, but 550 Lemon Butter Lobsters? Good luck to all of us with that one.
You'll be able to bring 13 of your friends in on this mission with you (for a total Catering Crew of 14 people), but you'll be on your own with collecting the three collectible items: 19 Plastic Cups, 10 Beach Towels, and 9 Suntan Lotions. Is it just me, or does this catering order seem more like a Summer-themed one than Spring? Anyway, you'll be able to gather these items by simply sending out individual gift requests to your friends asking for them.
If you can manage to complete everything within five days, you'll receive the three-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 6,300 Cafe Points, 175,000 coins and the Crab Spring Roll recipe. If you can't manage it within five days, but still finish within a week after starting, you'll receive two stars, eight Catering Points, 4,500 Cafe Points and 125,000 coins. Finally, if you finish the mission at any time after the first week, you'll receive a single star, four Catering Points, 2,700 Cafe Points, and 75,000 coins.
Luckily, this catering order doesn't seem to be time-specific, in terms of how long it will be available to complete, so if you'd rather wait until a later time to attempt it (say, when you can outfit your cafe with more Lightning Stoves), go right ahead. Just keep in mind that your best chance of finishing is right at the start, since most of your friends will be working on it / close to finishing it already as well.
What do you think of the requirements for this Catering Order? Is the Lemon Butter Lobster requirement too high?
This order is a fairly complex one, and fairly difficult as well, requiring you to cook three dishes, along with collecting three items from your friends. You'll have five days as your starter time limit, which does give you more time to accomplish these six tasks, but don't say I didn't warn you - this one's a toughie.
To start, you'll be spending most of your time cooking three dishes. You'll need to serve Lemon Butter Lobster (a two-hour dish) a whopping 550 times, Seafood Paella (a 14-hour dish) 250 times, and Sirius Sorbet (a 30-minute dish) 150 times. Sure, the Sirius Sorbet and Seafood Paella may not take high-level chefs long to complete, but 550 Lemon Butter Lobsters? Good luck to all of us with that one.
You'll be able to bring 13 of your friends in on this mission with you (for a total Catering Crew of 14 people), but you'll be on your own with collecting the three collectible items: 19 Plastic Cups, 10 Beach Towels, and 9 Suntan Lotions. Is it just me, or does this catering order seem more like a Summer-themed one than Spring? Anyway, you'll be able to gather these items by simply sending out individual gift requests to your friends asking for them.
If you can manage to complete everything within five days, you'll receive the three-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 6,300 Cafe Points, 175,000 coins and the Crab Spring Roll recipe. If you can't manage it within five days, but still finish within a week after starting, you'll receive two stars, eight Catering Points, 4,500 Cafe Points and 125,000 coins. Finally, if you finish the mission at any time after the first week, you'll receive a single star, four Catering Points, 2,700 Cafe Points, and 75,000 coins.
Luckily, this catering order doesn't seem to be time-specific, in terms of how long it will be available to complete, so if you'd rather wait until a later time to attempt it (say, when you can outfit your cafe with more Lightning Stoves), go right ahead. Just keep in mind that your best chance of finishing is right at the start, since most of your friends will be working on it / close to finishing it already as well.
What do you think of the requirements for this Catering Order? Is the Lemon Butter Lobster requirement too high?
FrontierVille Water Well Collection offers Watermill and XP as rewards
As many of you have already figured out (and probably started working on), a new Water Well is now available to "discover" and build in FrontierVille. And, as usual, with any new building comes a new collection. This newest collect is called the Water Well Collection, and, appropriately, it is filled with items related to water that you'll need to collect before you can turn it in.
The five items can be found by either whacking on the Wellspring as you try to construct the frame of your Well, or by collecting the Bonus from a finished Well on your Homestead. For finishing this collection, you'll receive a Watermill and 50 experience points. Here's what to keep an eye out for:
Waterskin
Rubber Duckie
Mineral Water
Towel
Dipper
This collection is a rather interesting one, due to the fact that a completed Well can only be collected from (in terms of receiving bonuses) ten times before "drying up." At that point, you'll have to go through the process of finding another Wellspring, which takes time, so you may have to wait quite a while before you're able to turn this collection in, unless you're simply inherently lucky. If that's the case, share some luck over this way, will ya? There's plenty of items I could use on my Homestead!
What do you think of the Water Well collection? Do you like this new water-centric theme the game has taken on over the weekend?
The five items can be found by either whacking on the Wellspring as you try to construct the frame of your Well, or by collecting the Bonus from a finished Well on your Homestead. For finishing this collection, you'll receive a Watermill and 50 experience points. Here's what to keep an eye out for:
Waterskin
Rubber Duckie
Mineral Water
Towel
Dipper
This collection is a rather interesting one, due to the fact that a completed Well can only be collected from (in terms of receiving bonuses) ten times before "drying up." At that point, you'll have to go through the process of finding another Wellspring, which takes time, so you may have to wait quite a while before you're able to turn this collection in, unless you're simply inherently lucky. If that's the case, share some luck over this way, will ya? There's plenty of items I could use on my Homestead!
What do you think of the Water Well collection? Do you like this new water-centric theme the game has taken on over the weekend?
Official FarmVille Podcast (04/25/2011): Rotate animal buildings, store more bushels
In this week's official FarmVille Podcast, FarmVille Community Manager Lexilicious was on-hand to give us a sneak peek of some coming attractions to the game. First, animal collectors will be very happy to learn that rotation will soon be added to many of the game's animal storage buildings including the Chicken Coop, Dairy Barn, Pig Pen, Turkey Roost, Duck Pond, and Animal Trough.
In another future update, we'll be able to expand the amount of crop Bushels we can hold on our farms simply by adding more Market Stalls to our land. The ratio will be 25 new Bushels added to your maximum capacity for every one Market Stall you add to your land, after your first Market Stall (which can be thought of as providing the current 100 slots).
All in all, this wasn't a very informative podcast, but we're definitely happy with the coming ability to rotate our animal buildings, so giving the full podcast a listen definitely wasn't a waste of time.
What do you think of the two announcements revealed in this week's podcast?
In another future update, we'll be able to expand the amount of crop Bushels we can hold on our farms simply by adding more Market Stalls to our land. The ratio will be 25 new Bushels added to your maximum capacity for every one Market Stall you add to your land, after your first Market Stall (which can be thought of as providing the current 100 slots).
All in all, this wasn't a very informative podcast, but we're definitely happy with the coming ability to rotate our animal buildings, so giving the full podcast a listen definitely wasn't a waste of time.
What do you think of the two announcements revealed in this week's podcast?
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Stop Scout from flushing her toys in Mr. Rooter advergame on Facebook
Ok, this has to be one of the most "out-there" advergames I've seen released on Facebook to date. The people at Mr. Rooter plumbing have taken a humorous look at clogged drain with "Scout's Game," available to play by liking the company's Facebook page.
Scout's Game asks you to stop a young girl named Scout from flushing her toys down the toilet, thus clogging the drain. This arcade-style game isn't really the traditional Facebook game, being played in short sessions of a minute or less, requiring you to work on your own, rather than anything social. Still, there's a humor here that can't be matched. Scout will throw items towards the toilet, and you'll need to simply click on them with your mouse before they land in the bowl. Once the toilet overflows or you run out of time, you'll need to "call Mr. Rooter," ending the game.
You'll have power-ups to watch out for as you play, including plungers that lower the toilet's current clog level, along with those that make the toys bigger or slow them down, thus making them easier to hit. There are even leaderboards to submit your scores to. Will this game attract a mass audience, or even come close to competing with the big boys? Probably not, but if you're in for a humorous few minutes of fun on Facebook, you could do much worse.
Play Mr. Rooter's Scout's Game on Facebook -->
Have you tried Mr. Rooter's Scout's Game?
Scout's Game asks you to stop a young girl named Scout from flushing her toys down the toilet, thus clogging the drain. This arcade-style game isn't really the traditional Facebook game, being played in short sessions of a minute or less, requiring you to work on your own, rather than anything social. Still, there's a humor here that can't be matched. Scout will throw items towards the toilet, and you'll need to simply click on them with your mouse before they land in the bowl. Once the toilet overflows or you run out of time, you'll need to "call Mr. Rooter," ending the game.
You'll have power-ups to watch out for as you play, including plungers that lower the toilet's current clog level, along with those that make the toys bigger or slow them down, thus making them easier to hit. There are even leaderboards to submit your scores to. Will this game attract a mass audience, or even come close to competing with the big boys? Probably not, but if you're in for a humorous few minutes of fun on Facebook, you could do much worse.
Play Mr. Rooter's Scout's Game on Facebook -->
Have you tried Mr. Rooter's Scout's Game?
Zynga's Empires & Allies: It's Risk meets CityVille -- and it works
When we first about Empire & Allies, Zynga's newest Facebook game since CityVille, we were admittedly expecting a "hardcore" strategy Facebook game knock-off. (Come on, the company's track record doesn't fail our expectations.) So, consider us pleasantly surprised by what the company intends with Empires & Allies, slated for a June 1 release in 12 languages, a first for any social game. Thanks to a demo event with executive producer Amer Ajami, the new game looks "hardcore," it may even feel as such. But Zynga has cleverly made it so anyone--even your mother--should be able to jump in and start blowing up their (friends and) enemies.
Empires and Allies Land Battle
Farming, property management, even deeper character development--it's all there. But what makes Empires & Allies work so well is, surprisingly, asynchronous gameplay. It may not be where the technology is at now, but the people still expect this type of experience from a social game, and Zynga not only knows that, but has hopefully succeeded in making that interesting. As you build a combination of resource-gathering (players can trade rare resources like metal ores as well), industrial and military buildings in your island city--it must be balanced between industry and military for defensive purposes--you will also create military units of three classes: Air, Navy and Infantry.
Admittedly, all three classes do the same thing. However, each unit within each class is more effective at defeating another specific unit. For instance, at least one Infantry unit will be able to take out Bi-planes while those same Bi-planes from the Air class are deadly to at least one Infantry unit. This system creates a deep level of Rock, Paper, Scissors that fans of the StarCraft or Risk games might be familiar with. However, when you're attacking a friend or foe's base, the type of units that they will retaliate with (controlled by AI, of course) depend on the exact area of the opponent's map you attacked, so prepare your units wisely before going into battle.
Gallery: Empires and Allies for Facebook
Once in combat, blows are exchanged in a turn-based fashion, allowing the attacker and defender each their chance to turn the tides of battle. All of this seemingly fun, strategic combat takes place in either a sprawling, story-driven single player campaign or online with your Facebook friends. However, attacking your friends will raise your Infamy level, represented by a black heart. Though, you can help friends a la' CityVille to increase your Honor, represented by the familiar red heart. Reaching certain milestones in Honor or Infamy will unlock combat skills--Infamy leads to offensive skills while Honor leads to defensive skills.
All in all, the game is downright charming. The struggle between the Dark Alliance and the Allies has been laid out in such a way that it looks like the story will provide a major hook. Not to mention the cutesy military leaders look like something out of 1940s-era propaganda materials. Say what you will about Zynga in the innovation department, but the company knows how to make recognizable characters on par with the Peggle Masters in PopCap's Peggle.
Empires and Allies Air Battle
Empires & Allies is clearly an attempt to combat the growing "hardcore" strategy games market on Facebook, namely the upcoming Civilization for Facebook, but the game does so in such a way that's genuine and will hopefully prove appealing to a much larger audience. Regardless, our productivity is going down the tubes come June 1--at least for, what, a few days?
Click here to play Empires & Allies on Facebook Now >
Check out the rest of our Empires & Allies Cheats & Tips right here.
Got any tips on how to get ahead in Empires & Allies? Or, just looking for friends to play the game with?
Empires and Allies Land Battle
Farming, property management, even deeper character development--it's all there. But what makes Empires & Allies work so well is, surprisingly, asynchronous gameplay. It may not be where the technology is at now, but the people still expect this type of experience from a social game, and Zynga not only knows that, but has hopefully succeeded in making that interesting. As you build a combination of resource-gathering (players can trade rare resources like metal ores as well), industrial and military buildings in your island city--it must be balanced between industry and military for defensive purposes--you will also create military units of three classes: Air, Navy and Infantry.
Admittedly, all three classes do the same thing. However, each unit within each class is more effective at defeating another specific unit. For instance, at least one Infantry unit will be able to take out Bi-planes while those same Bi-planes from the Air class are deadly to at least one Infantry unit. This system creates a deep level of Rock, Paper, Scissors that fans of the StarCraft or Risk games might be familiar with. However, when you're attacking a friend or foe's base, the type of units that they will retaliate with (controlled by AI, of course) depend on the exact area of the opponent's map you attacked, so prepare your units wisely before going into battle.
Gallery: Empires and Allies for Facebook
Once in combat, blows are exchanged in a turn-based fashion, allowing the attacker and defender each their chance to turn the tides of battle. All of this seemingly fun, strategic combat takes place in either a sprawling, story-driven single player campaign or online with your Facebook friends. However, attacking your friends will raise your Infamy level, represented by a black heart. Though, you can help friends a la' CityVille to increase your Honor, represented by the familiar red heart. Reaching certain milestones in Honor or Infamy will unlock combat skills--Infamy leads to offensive skills while Honor leads to defensive skills.
All in all, the game is downright charming. The struggle between the Dark Alliance and the Allies has been laid out in such a way that it looks like the story will provide a major hook. Not to mention the cutesy military leaders look like something out of 1940s-era propaganda materials. Say what you will about Zynga in the innovation department, but the company knows how to make recognizable characters on par with the Peggle Masters in PopCap's Peggle.
Empires and Allies Air Battle
Empires & Allies is clearly an attempt to combat the growing "hardcore" strategy games market on Facebook, namely the upcoming Civilization for Facebook, but the game does so in such a way that's genuine and will hopefully prove appealing to a much larger audience. Regardless, our productivity is going down the tubes come June 1--at least for, what, a few days?
Click here to play Empires & Allies on Facebook Now >
Check out the rest of our Empires & Allies Cheats & Tips right here.
Got any tips on how to get ahead in Empires & Allies? Or, just looking for friends to play the game with?
Former EA Montreal GM Alain Tascan creates social games company
This week, former EA Montreal general manager Alain Tascan has announced the launch of SAVA Transmedia, a new social games company also based out of Montreal. This new development studio looks to "redefine the future of social games" by allowing players to connect with each other "on every screen," or presumably across platforms.
While no game projects have been officially announced, we know that SAVA will work to create games for Facebook, iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. Tascan hopes to grow the company to at least 50 designers in the first year, and up to 200 employees over the next five years.
While the video game industry is certainly no longer at a loss for social game developers, Tascan's experience with console titles does give us something to go on (EA Montreal worked on retail titles like Army of Two and Boogie for home consoles). Could this be another developer that looks to create hardcore game experiences for the casual audience? We'll make sure to keep an eye on SAVA Transmedia as things develop, and we'll let you know which direction their games end up going.
Do you think the social game industry needs more "hardcore" games, or are only the most casual of social games those that will really succeed?
While no game projects have been officially announced, we know that SAVA will work to create games for Facebook, iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. Tascan hopes to grow the company to at least 50 designers in the first year, and up to 200 employees over the next five years.
While the video game industry is certainly no longer at a loss for social game developers, Tascan's experience with console titles does give us something to go on (EA Montreal worked on retail titles like Army of Two and Boogie for home consoles). Could this be another developer that looks to create hardcore game experiences for the casual audience? We'll make sure to keep an eye on SAVA Transmedia as things develop, and we'll let you know which direction their games end up going.
Do you think the social game industry needs more "hardcore" games, or are only the most casual of social games those that will really succeed?
FrontierVille: Big Barn invisibility glitch under investigation
Fear not FrontierVille pioneers! If you're having trouble doing, well, anything with your Big Barn (whether it be storing animals inside it, feeding those already inside the Barn, collecting its Daily Bonus and so on), and are finding that the Barn has either disappeared completely from your land, or is halfway see-through, help is on the way.
While there do seem to be two workarounds for this bug, Zynga has marked this troublesome bug as "under investigation." Sure, it could still be a matter of days before the issue is fixed entirely, but at least you know Zynga has put the item towards the top of its to-do list, which is definitely better than never acknowledging it at all. Note: Some users aren't having any problems, while others (like myself - I'm so lucky), are still having tons of issues with the building.
How can you finish the related goals in the meantime? Two suggestions: Either refresh the game like man until it eventually works, or clear your browser's cache and try loading the game again. Both of these solutions are limited to a "your mileage may vary" guarantee, but they're worth a shot while you wait. Here's hoping this glitch is fixed sooner, rather than later, and we can start fully enjoying everything this new animal storage building has to offer.
Has your Big Barn performed a disappearing act on your Homestead? Have you been able to store animals in your Barn without issues?
While there do seem to be two workarounds for this bug, Zynga has marked this troublesome bug as "under investigation." Sure, it could still be a matter of days before the issue is fixed entirely, but at least you know Zynga has put the item towards the top of its to-do list, which is definitely better than never acknowledging it at all. Note: Some users aren't having any problems, while others (like myself - I'm so lucky), are still having tons of issues with the building.
How can you finish the related goals in the meantime? Two suggestions: Either refresh the game like man until it eventually works, or clear your browser's cache and try loading the game again. Both of these solutions are limited to a "your mileage may vary" guarantee, but they're worth a shot while you wait. Here's hoping this glitch is fixed sooner, rather than later, and we can start fully enjoying everything this new animal storage building has to offer.
Has your Big Barn performed a disappearing act on your Homestead? Have you been able to store animals in your Barn without issues?
FrontierVille Cheats: Earn every Big Barn badge (and the rewards) in minutes
Along with the release of the Big Barn upgrade in FrontierVille came the ability to unlock one of four new badges in the game. These badges reward you with large amounts of XP, coins, and even food items or decorations for completing them, and luckily, you can finish all four badges in a matter of minutes (I'd wager under 10 minutes for the average pioneer, depending on your current stockpile of adult animals).
First and foremost, simply store every adult Ox, Cow, Horse and Mule in your Big Barn by using the Store cursor in the menu (where you'd choose to change your cursor to sell or move). While storing just a single Ox, Cow, Horse and Mule will unlock the first of these four badges, if you haven't stored 50 adult animals by this point, you'll really be able to take advantage of this strategy.
Simply enter into your Big Barn's menu, and click to remove the animal that you have the most of at the time. For example, say you have 25 Oxen in your Big Barn. Remove all 25 (luckily, you can rapidly click on your land to place each without having to reload the menu), and then re-store them into the Big Barn. The game doesn't make the distinction that you're storing the exact same animals all over again, so your badge progress moves on.
Repeat the process until you've unlocked all four badges and voila! You'll walk away with almost 2,000 XP, three Dinners, a 7 Course Feast, an Aluminum Water Trough decoration, 100 Food and over 6,000 coins! Not a bad haul for a few minutes work, wouldn't you agree?
If you've yet to earn these four badges through our method or otherwise, I'd actually take the time to knock them out sooner, rather than later. It's possible that Zynga will remove this exploit by forcing you to have 200 animals inside the Big Barn simultaneously, so you'll want to make sure to earn these badges before that happens.
First and foremost, simply store every adult Ox, Cow, Horse and Mule in your Big Barn by using the Store cursor in the menu (where you'd choose to change your cursor to sell or move). While storing just a single Ox, Cow, Horse and Mule will unlock the first of these four badges, if you haven't stored 50 adult animals by this point, you'll really be able to take advantage of this strategy.
Simply enter into your Big Barn's menu, and click to remove the animal that you have the most of at the time. For example, say you have 25 Oxen in your Big Barn. Remove all 25 (luckily, you can rapidly click on your land to place each without having to reload the menu), and then re-store them into the Big Barn. The game doesn't make the distinction that you're storing the exact same animals all over again, so your badge progress moves on.
Repeat the process until you've unlocked all four badges and voila! You'll walk away with almost 2,000 XP, three Dinners, a 7 Course Feast, an Aluminum Water Trough decoration, 100 Food and over 6,000 coins! Not a bad haul for a few minutes work, wouldn't you agree?
If you've yet to earn these four badges through our method or otherwise, I'd actually take the time to knock them out sooner, rather than later. It's possible that Zynga will remove this exploit by forcing you to have 200 animals inside the Big Barn simultaneously, so you'll want to make sure to earn these badges before that happens.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Millionaire Boss: New Digital Chocolate game puts you in charge
Digital Chocolate have quite the growing arsenal of successful Facebook games, including Millionaire City, Zombie Lane, and Army Attack. A new title has just debuted and it just might be good enough to join them in their ranks. Millionaire Boss is a new office sim game along the familiar lines of Office Wars (a Broken Bulb Studios title that closed down in February) and Ponzi (which closed last summer).
In Millionaire Boss, you are in charge of running your own company. You place workdesks that are staffed with employees (your friends) and assign them tasks in order to earn money and XP. Building desks for Managers requires the help of your friends (or real money) but Managers improve the skills of all employees that are within their Influence (giving you more coins). Influence is indicated by a blue square around the Manager's desk while the desk is being placed. The goal of Millionaire Boss is then to increase the amount of employees you can have by purchasing "perks", staffing up the desks, and assigning jobs to your workers to bring in revenue and increase the size of your company. Decorations can also be added to bring in more money for each task.
Visiting friends is standard fare in Millionaire Boss. You can stop in to check out your friend's offices, and while there you can motivate up to 5 employees for some extra XP and money. Socially, there is one intriguing feature in Millionaire Boss. When you are choosing employees to work at your company, friends who don't already play Millionaire Boss are free to recruit, while friends who already play cost money to pick. This is one purely viral feature that might be an innovative way to keep Millionaire Boss growing in a crowded social game platform.
Millionaire Boss is an interesting little game, as instead of being all about a fantasy life it caters to real world scenarios. In the same way that Game Dev Story is a satirical piece about working in the video game industry, Millionaire Boss pokes fun at the corporate world. The game is also teasing the ability to own a mansion and a car, grow a family, and travel around the world. It could be that Millionaire Boss will be going head-to-head with EA's new Sims game that is coming soon.
Play Millionaire Boss on Facebook >
In Millionaire Boss, you are in charge of running your own company. You place workdesks that are staffed with employees (your friends) and assign them tasks in order to earn money and XP. Building desks for Managers requires the help of your friends (or real money) but Managers improve the skills of all employees that are within their Influence (giving you more coins). Influence is indicated by a blue square around the Manager's desk while the desk is being placed. The goal of Millionaire Boss is then to increase the amount of employees you can have by purchasing "perks", staffing up the desks, and assigning jobs to your workers to bring in revenue and increase the size of your company. Decorations can also be added to bring in more money for each task.
Visiting friends is standard fare in Millionaire Boss. You can stop in to check out your friend's offices, and while there you can motivate up to 5 employees for some extra XP and money. Socially, there is one intriguing feature in Millionaire Boss. When you are choosing employees to work at your company, friends who don't already play Millionaire Boss are free to recruit, while friends who already play cost money to pick. This is one purely viral feature that might be an innovative way to keep Millionaire Boss growing in a crowded social game platform.
Millionaire Boss is an interesting little game, as instead of being all about a fantasy life it caters to real world scenarios. In the same way that Game Dev Story is a satirical piece about working in the video game industry, Millionaire Boss pokes fun at the corporate world. The game is also teasing the ability to own a mansion and a car, grow a family, and travel around the world. It could be that Millionaire Boss will be going head-to-head with EA's new Sims game that is coming soon.
Play Millionaire Boss on Facebook >
Civilzation creator Sid Meier: CivWorld is 'where it needs to be'
So, does that mean the CivWorld "Beta" tag is going away soon? In a lengthy interview with Gamasutra, Civilization creator Sid Meier (pictured in-game) revealed much about the blood, sweat and carpal tunnel that went into creating CivWorld.
The game launched in an open beta recently, and has since enjoyed mixed reviews, some of which deeming the game too complex with a clunky interface. However, Mr. Meier doesn't seem too spooked about it.
"If we're only finding out at this stage, then there's something wrong with our development process," Meier replied when asked about how Firaxis will use metrics to improve its game. "We think we have a game that's pretty close to where it needs to be. I think the analytics are maybe about financing or figuring out kind of additional directions to go." In fact, Meier admitted to not recording much of the analytic data that other social game companies live for such as measuring clicks.
That seems to imply that CivWorld will not enjoy as many tweaks or fixes as most social games experience almost daily. That's because most social games release first and make changes later, thus the absurdly lengthy "Beta" periods. For instance, Zynga just recently removed the "Beta" tag from its most iconic game, FarmVille. The game released two years ago. And if you think that CivWorld is too different from other Facebook games, that was kind of the point.
"It was really not our goal to re-create or copy other Facebook games around there," Meier told Gamasutra. "I think we're very early in the whole cycle of social gaming, and there's a lot of space to be explored, not just the games that are already out there." CivWorld currently has over 15 thousand monthly players, but is actually losing players since launching into open beta, according to AppData. We'll see soon enough how that strategy worked out.
[Image Credit: Firaxis]
What do you think of CivWorld so far? Do you think this game has a chance against the established competition?
The game launched in an open beta recently, and has since enjoyed mixed reviews, some of which deeming the game too complex with a clunky interface. However, Mr. Meier doesn't seem too spooked about it.
"If we're only finding out at this stage, then there's something wrong with our development process," Meier replied when asked about how Firaxis will use metrics to improve its game. "We think we have a game that's pretty close to where it needs to be. I think the analytics are maybe about financing or figuring out kind of additional directions to go." In fact, Meier admitted to not recording much of the analytic data that other social game companies live for such as measuring clicks.
That seems to imply that CivWorld will not enjoy as many tweaks or fixes as most social games experience almost daily. That's because most social games release first and make changes later, thus the absurdly lengthy "Beta" periods. For instance, Zynga just recently removed the "Beta" tag from its most iconic game, FarmVille. The game released two years ago. And if you think that CivWorld is too different from other Facebook games, that was kind of the point.
"It was really not our goal to re-create or copy other Facebook games around there," Meier told Gamasutra. "I think we're very early in the whole cycle of social gaming, and there's a lot of space to be explored, not just the games that are already out there." CivWorld currently has over 15 thousand monthly players, but is actually losing players since launching into open beta, according to AppData. We'll see soon enough how that strategy worked out.
[Image Credit: Firaxis]
What do you think of CivWorld so far? Do you think this game has a chance against the established competition?
Nintendo DS gamers leaving for Facebook? Not a chance, Iwata says
And still the doubting masses refused to shut up. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told investors recently that Facebook and mobile games have not hurt usage of the Nintendo DS handheld console, and he has the data to prove it, Gamasutra reports. The Nintendo chief presented his investors with two internal surveys to support his claim.
The first of which covers Japanese networks Gree and Mobage's effect on the Nintendo DS, and after polling 3,035 Tokyo and Osaka residents found some interesting results. According to the survey, over 75 percent of paying Mobage and Gree players are more likely than any other group questioned to still actively use their DS.
Of course, this is quite contrary to the belief that mobile and social games are gobbling up a market once dominated by traditional handheld games. However, the US is another story entirely.
After polling 4,385 people, Nintendo found that, while Facebook gamers are more likely to be active DS gamers than any type of DS player, the percentage of active DS players is much lower overall in the states than in Japan. And, with gaming already the most popular use of smartphones, that percentage is bound to drop ... eventually. So, are DS gamers leaving for Facebook and the iPhone? No, it's simpler than that: There are over 100 million more Facebook gamers than Nintendo DS systems have been sold since its launch.
Nintendo study
[Image Credit: Gamasutra]
Do you think the Nintendo DS can survive against the growing mobile and social games markets? How will Iwata answer to Facebook and the iPhone as they continue to grow?
The first of which covers Japanese networks Gree and Mobage's effect on the Nintendo DS, and after polling 3,035 Tokyo and Osaka residents found some interesting results. According to the survey, over 75 percent of paying Mobage and Gree players are more likely than any other group questioned to still actively use their DS.
Of course, this is quite contrary to the belief that mobile and social games are gobbling up a market once dominated by traditional handheld games. However, the US is another story entirely.
After polling 4,385 people, Nintendo found that, while Facebook gamers are more likely to be active DS gamers than any type of DS player, the percentage of active DS players is much lower overall in the states than in Japan. And, with gaming already the most popular use of smartphones, that percentage is bound to drop ... eventually. So, are DS gamers leaving for Facebook and the iPhone? No, it's simpler than that: There are over 100 million more Facebook gamers than Nintendo DS systems have been sold since its launch.
Nintendo study
[Image Credit: Gamasutra]
Do you think the Nintendo DS can survive against the growing mobile and social games markets? How will Iwata answer to Facebook and the iPhone as they continue to grow?
CityVille College Library Upgrades: Everything you need to know
Another interesting set of upgrades has been launched in CityVille, after a morning filled with Clerk's Office upgrades. This time, you can upgrade the College Library, which is a fairly standard community building. These upgrades will only increase the building's support for a higher population, so if you have no current need for more citizens or a higher population cap, feel free to skip them (for now).
To upgrade from the base at Level 1, you'll first need to be at least level 27 and have 1800 or more citizens in your town. Once that's done, you can begin the actual upgrade process by inviting additional crew members to work in what will be a larger building. You'll need to invite ten new crew members, or pay City Cash to fill the crew positions instantly. At Level 2, the College Library will support 750 citizens, up from the original number of 600.
Is 750 not enough? If not, you can upgrade yet again to Level 3. Before beginning the crew member process yet again (yes, you'll need to add an additional 10 crew members to the Library), you'll need to have at least 3200 citizens in your town. Those requirements out of the way, you'll be left with a totally transformed College Library (that is, one that is incredibly different visually) that supports 1,000 citizens in your city. Whether or not the additional 400 citizens slots will be worth asking 20 friends to help you, however, will be up to you.
Do you like completing Community Building upgrades, or do you just upgrade businesses instead? How far have you made it into your College Library upgrades so far?
To upgrade from the base at Level 1, you'll first need to be at least level 27 and have 1800 or more citizens in your town. Once that's done, you can begin the actual upgrade process by inviting additional crew members to work in what will be a larger building. You'll need to invite ten new crew members, or pay City Cash to fill the crew positions instantly. At Level 2, the College Library will support 750 citizens, up from the original number of 600.
Is 750 not enough? If not, you can upgrade yet again to Level 3. Before beginning the crew member process yet again (yes, you'll need to add an additional 10 crew members to the Library), you'll need to have at least 3200 citizens in your town. Those requirements out of the way, you'll be left with a totally transformed College Library (that is, one that is incredibly different visually) that supports 1,000 citizens in your city. Whether or not the additional 400 citizens slots will be worth asking 20 friends to help you, however, will be up to you.
Do you like completing Community Building upgrades, or do you just upgrade businesses instead? How far have you made it into your College Library upgrades so far?
CityVille Hometown on iPhone: Sometimes smaller is superior
I think we just found our CityVille killer--and it's not Empires & Allies. When we first heard word of CityVille Hometown for iOS devices, we were skeptic due to its lack of true Facebook Connect. As it turns out, I can do without a mobile extension of my CityVille web game. Why, you ask? CityVille Hometown is, simply put, a better game.
It's faster, looks far better through an iPhone 4's Retina Display graphics, has essentially all of the features its web counterpart and it's with you at all times. While the game has some issues connecting to alternate Facebook accounts and some crashes to take care of, CityVille Hometown will wow you.
Since the lot of you are already familiar with the CityVille web game, let's not bore you with the details of exactly how CityVille Hometown is played, but rather focus on what's changed. It may sound silly, but you'll notice that everything in Hometown takes less time to do than it does on the web. Strawberries ripen in 30 seconds, buildings only take two to three whacks and there are little to no pop-ups.
The game lends itself to those 15-minute play sessions that have become the norm in mobile gaming. That's also thanks to the game's slick interface that makes use of every last pixel on your 4 or 10-inch screen. Hometown's primary focus right now is on cultivating your town where everybody knows your name.
Gallery: CityVille Hometown Preview
Each house you create in this miniature CityVille will be home to someone with a name, and someone with a purpose. Most businesses and community buildings you create in the game must be staffed by these characters that have moved into your small town. This creates a balance between population and businesses that has all but failed in CityVille for Facebook, because of its immense scale.
As for the elephant in the room, friend interaction in CityVille Hometown is certainly limited, but not by as much as you might think. Thanks to (limited) Facebook Connect, users can send their friends gifts that play either version of the game and likewise receive them. And when a community building is erected, you'll need to ask your friends for materials--just like in the original, but across both games. However, that's about as far as friend interaction goes in the game right now, though an upcoming train feature will allow players to visit their friends' mobile towns.
CityVille Hometown in action
In a nutshell, CityVille Hometown will pretty much replace my time spent in the web game. This version runs more smoothly, is prettier to look at and has much better balance than its web counterpart. While it certainly won't be a full replacement for most CityVille web players right now, it very well could be as Zynga Mobile continues to update the game. CityVille has found a shiny new home on iPhone, and so have our thumbs.
It's faster, looks far better through an iPhone 4's Retina Display graphics, has essentially all of the features its web counterpart and it's with you at all times. While the game has some issues connecting to alternate Facebook accounts and some crashes to take care of, CityVille Hometown will wow you.
Since the lot of you are already familiar with the CityVille web game, let's not bore you with the details of exactly how CityVille Hometown is played, but rather focus on what's changed. It may sound silly, but you'll notice that everything in Hometown takes less time to do than it does on the web. Strawberries ripen in 30 seconds, buildings only take two to three whacks and there are little to no pop-ups.
The game lends itself to those 15-minute play sessions that have become the norm in mobile gaming. That's also thanks to the game's slick interface that makes use of every last pixel on your 4 or 10-inch screen. Hometown's primary focus right now is on cultivating your town where everybody knows your name.
Gallery: CityVille Hometown Preview
Each house you create in this miniature CityVille will be home to someone with a name, and someone with a purpose. Most businesses and community buildings you create in the game must be staffed by these characters that have moved into your small town. This creates a balance between population and businesses that has all but failed in CityVille for Facebook, because of its immense scale.
As for the elephant in the room, friend interaction in CityVille Hometown is certainly limited, but not by as much as you might think. Thanks to (limited) Facebook Connect, users can send their friends gifts that play either version of the game and likewise receive them. And when a community building is erected, you'll need to ask your friends for materials--just like in the original, but across both games. However, that's about as far as friend interaction goes in the game right now, though an upcoming train feature will allow players to visit their friends' mobile towns.
CityVille Hometown in action
In a nutshell, CityVille Hometown will pretty much replace my time spent in the web game. This version runs more smoothly, is prettier to look at and has much better balance than its web counterpart. While it certainly won't be a full replacement for most CityVille web players right now, it very well could be as Zynga Mobile continues to update the game. CityVille has found a shiny new home on iPhone, and so have our thumbs.
CityVille: New summertime items are all available for coins
I'm almost speechless here, folks (almost). A new set of summer-themed items has been released in CityVille and, believe it or not, none of them are premium; they can all be purchased for coins! There's a single new business here: the Jet Ski Shop, which is such a cute building that I'm thrilled I don't have to spend any City Cash to add it to my town. It costs 9,000 coins, and requires 140 Goods to operate. By default, the payout is 700 coins, but remember, you can earn more if you boost that payout percentage with decorations.
Speaking of, there are three new decorations here as well. One, the Kids' Ball Pit, costs 10,000 coins, but also provides a 4% payout bonus, which isn't bad. Likewise, a Drummers item costs the same amount, and also offers the 4% bonus. Finally, a small Metal Detector decorative citizen is available for 1,000 coins. As you might expect, this low price equals a low bonus of just 1%.
Rounding out this release is the Beach Hut, a new home that's available for 10,000 coins. The home starts with a population of 120 citizens, but that can be increased to 250 via random upgrades in the future. In terms of rent, this one is a fast-payout, although the profits are small: 15 coins every five minutes.
Luckily, none of these items comes with time limits, so if you've yet to start setting aside an area of your town for these summer-themed items, you'll at least have plenty of time to do so in the future. Since all of these items were available for coins, does it mean that Zynga is finally listening to users who were complaining about too many City Cash items / features, or is this a coincidence? We can only hope this is a new positive trend, but we'll make sure to let you know either way.
[Image Credit: Zynga]
What do you think of today's summertime item release? Are you happy to see nothing but coin items here, or are you fine spending City Cash for new decorations and items?
Speaking of, there are three new decorations here as well. One, the Kids' Ball Pit, costs 10,000 coins, but also provides a 4% payout bonus, which isn't bad. Likewise, a Drummers item costs the same amount, and also offers the 4% bonus. Finally, a small Metal Detector decorative citizen is available for 1,000 coins. As you might expect, this low price equals a low bonus of just 1%.
Rounding out this release is the Beach Hut, a new home that's available for 10,000 coins. The home starts with a population of 120 citizens, but that can be increased to 250 via random upgrades in the future. In terms of rent, this one is a fast-payout, although the profits are small: 15 coins every five minutes.
Luckily, none of these items comes with time limits, so if you've yet to start setting aside an area of your town for these summer-themed items, you'll at least have plenty of time to do so in the future. Since all of these items were available for coins, does it mean that Zynga is finally listening to users who were complaining about too many City Cash items / features, or is this a coincidence? We can only hope this is a new positive trend, but we'll make sure to let you know either way.
[Image Credit: Zynga]
What do you think of today's summertime item release? Are you happy to see nothing but coin items here, or are you fine spending City Cash for new decorations and items?
Empires & Allies Navy Research Labs: Upgrade your dominance on the high seas
Back at the end of June, Zynga released the Research Lab feature in Empires & Allies. These Research Labs allow you to upgrade existing land units to have better accuracy, deal more damage, and all sorts of other helpful boosts, but in upgrading these units your military might have become a bit one-sided. Helping to balance this out is the introduction of the Navy Research Lab, which (as the name suggests) allows you to enter into the same unit upgrading process with all of your battleships, gunboats and carriers.
Luckily, you'll be given your first Navy Research Lab for free. From there, the system should seem fairly familiar. Just choose the type of unit that you'd like to upgrade, and then ask your friends to send you the items necessary to complete the process. Let's say, for example, you wanted to upgrade your Vintage Carriers. First, you'd select it from the starting menu inside the Navy Research Lab, and would then need to collect six items to finish the upgrade research: two each of Upgrade Blueprints, Mission Maps and Blast Shields, as seen below. Each unit type requires different items to be collected, with the Upgrade Blueprints being constant.
From there, you'll unlock the expected upgrade tree that will show you the costs, in resources and time, of actually applying each upgrade (increased damage, reduction to build duration or cost, etc.) to that particular unit. These upgrades will affect each unit you already own, along with all that you build in the future. That being the case, this is one of those features that most players should at least casually pursue, as upgrades mean a better chance of victory not only over the game's AI story characters, but also your friends.
Check out the rest of our Empires & Allies Cheats and Tips right here.
Have you already researched many of the land unit upgrades in your Empires & Allies game? Will you do the same in these new Navy Research Labs? Which units will you work on upgrading first?
Luckily, you'll be given your first Navy Research Lab for free. From there, the system should seem fairly familiar. Just choose the type of unit that you'd like to upgrade, and then ask your friends to send you the items necessary to complete the process. Let's say, for example, you wanted to upgrade your Vintage Carriers. First, you'd select it from the starting menu inside the Navy Research Lab, and would then need to collect six items to finish the upgrade research: two each of Upgrade Blueprints, Mission Maps and Blast Shields, as seen below. Each unit type requires different items to be collected, with the Upgrade Blueprints being constant.
From there, you'll unlock the expected upgrade tree that will show you the costs, in resources and time, of actually applying each upgrade (increased damage, reduction to build duration or cost, etc.) to that particular unit. These upgrades will affect each unit you already own, along with all that you build in the future. That being the case, this is one of those features that most players should at least casually pursue, as upgrades mean a better chance of victory not only over the game's AI story characters, but also your friends.
Check out the rest of our Empires & Allies Cheats and Tips right here.
Have you already researched many of the land unit upgrades in your Empires & Allies game? Will you do the same in these new Navy Research Labs? Which units will you work on upgrading first?
Cafe World Becky Barista and Beverly Bartender: Everything you need to know
Upon checking into Cafe World today, you might have noticed the Now Hiring signs that have appeared above your Drink Bar and Coffee Machine. For months now, many users have been begging for Zynga to release an automatic dispense system for drinks and coffee when patrons enter your cafe (that is, so they don't have to waste time clicking on guests individually), and these Now Hiring signs will help that wish become a reality. You see, Becky and Beverly are looking for work. These sisters share a passion for drinks, and you'll be able to hire Becky to work at your Coffee Machine, while Beverly takes over bartending at the Drink Bar.
Hiring these girls, however, is something a bit more complicated than just wishing it, as you'll need to collect tons of building ingredients, along with completing a series of goals to do so. The Becky the Barista goals come in five parts, but you'll be able to unlock new, exclusive recipes for completing them (like Biscotti). The first goal has you simply building the Coffee Machine if you haven't already, along with serving 40 Jammin' Jelly Donuts and actually hiring Becky.
The latter task can be done by clicking on your Coffee Bar and clicking on the new "Get Barista!" tab. From there, you'll need to collect a series of four ingredients to hire her: three Coffee Grinders, five Aprons, eight Sugar Packets, and ten Coffee Stirrers.
Likewise, the process for hiring Beverly the Bartender is incredibly similar, save for the fact that Becky doesn't seem to have her own goal set, as of this writing. To hire Beverly, head into your Drink Bar, click on the Get Bartender! tab and then ask your friends to send you five Drink Books, five Bottle Openers, eight Blenders, and ten Toothpick Umbrellas.
Once either girl has been hired, you'll no longer have to click on guests to serve them drinks or coffee (depending on which you've hired, if not both). Some users on the Cafe World forums are reporting that some initial bugs are present here, in that you may not be able to create any future drinks after serving the first batch, as the game things there are still servings remaining. This seems to be only a glitch, however, so we assume Zynga will fix it rather quickly.
While we may have wanted a new way to automatically serve our drinks, does that convenience really justify two entirely new building projects and a new goal series? That much remains to be seen (that is, whether or not users will even take the time to complete them, or will just continue as normal). Should the hiring process become any easier, however, we'll make sure to let you know.
Have you started work on hiring Beverly or Becky in your Cafe? Do you think hiring these two girls will make your life easier, or will the lack of the ability to manually serve your guests actually remove some of the fun you have with the game?
Hiring these girls, however, is something a bit more complicated than just wishing it, as you'll need to collect tons of building ingredients, along with completing a series of goals to do so. The Becky the Barista goals come in five parts, but you'll be able to unlock new, exclusive recipes for completing them (like Biscotti). The first goal has you simply building the Coffee Machine if you haven't already, along with serving 40 Jammin' Jelly Donuts and actually hiring Becky.
The latter task can be done by clicking on your Coffee Bar and clicking on the new "Get Barista!" tab. From there, you'll need to collect a series of four ingredients to hire her: three Coffee Grinders, five Aprons, eight Sugar Packets, and ten Coffee Stirrers.
Likewise, the process for hiring Beverly the Bartender is incredibly similar, save for the fact that Becky doesn't seem to have her own goal set, as of this writing. To hire Beverly, head into your Drink Bar, click on the Get Bartender! tab and then ask your friends to send you five Drink Books, five Bottle Openers, eight Blenders, and ten Toothpick Umbrellas.
Once either girl has been hired, you'll no longer have to click on guests to serve them drinks or coffee (depending on which you've hired, if not both). Some users on the Cafe World forums are reporting that some initial bugs are present here, in that you may not be able to create any future drinks after serving the first batch, as the game things there are still servings remaining. This seems to be only a glitch, however, so we assume Zynga will fix it rather quickly.
While we may have wanted a new way to automatically serve our drinks, does that convenience really justify two entirely new building projects and a new goal series? That much remains to be seen (that is, whether or not users will even take the time to complete them, or will just continue as normal). Should the hiring process become any easier, however, we'll make sure to let you know.
Have you started work on hiring Beverly or Becky in your Cafe? Do you think hiring these two girls will make your life easier, or will the lack of the ability to manually serve your guests actually remove some of the fun you have with the game?
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Google+ Games: The good, the great and the glaring flaw
Earlier this month, the social games ... game changed forever. Google unleashed Google+ Games, and even if it turns out to be unsuccessful, it has already validated the grip social games have on the industry. More importantly, Google's competing social games platform is likely the first at many attempts from big league web companies to combat Facebook, which all but ensures that this nascent genre will live on for years to come.
However, after nearly two weeks with Google+ Games, it's clear what has been done right with the platform, and, more importantly, what still needs to be done. So, let's take a look at the good, the great and the glaring flaw in Google+ Games.
The Good
While your eyes might glaze over at the sight of percentages and numbers (like mine), the fact that Google is taking just a 5 percent cut--news outlets are reporting that this is promotional--from developers' revenues through micro-transactions is a good, good thing. Namely, this because it will (and already has) attract a flock of social game developers looking to escape Facebook's 30 percent cut through Facebook Credits. This, of course, means more games. And, as of right now, Google has the support of some of the biggest names in social games from Zynga to PopCap and Wooga, and we doubt they'll be done anytime soon.
Google+ Games featured games
Probably even better is the fact that Google+ Game even exists inherently creates competition, one of the ultimate motivators (besides the obvious, which has already been made evident by Facebook). And competition leads to, well, more robust platforms for us, the gamers. And we've already seen this in action, as Facebook recently announced a number of improvements to its games platform, many of which seem quite similar to Google+. These competitively-fueled changes will almost certainly continue within both platforms, which will inevitably give players the choice between two appealing options for where to play their games. Speaking of which ...
The Grrreat!
While the selection of games on Google+ is tiny, it's nothing short of impressive. But what's even more impressive is how the games are presented. Until Facebook's changes finally go live (at least for me), Google+ makes better use of the average laptop's screen real estate. Perhaps this is thanks to lack of ads on the screen or much of anything aside from the games, though I haven't done pixel-to-pixel comparisons. Regardless, Google's no-nonsense approach to social games is something we can only hope remains a staple.
And just look at how quickly these games load! Is it just me, or are the same games offered on Facebook far faster on Google+? Games on Facebook take minutes to load at times (ahem, FrontierVill--er, Pioneer Trail), while on Google+ I'm seconds away from flinging furious fowl or blowing up shiny gems. Not only that, but the games appear to run more smoothly than their Facebook counterparts. However, this could change as more players turn their backs on Facebook to try Google+, at least for a little while.
Google+ Games sharing
The sharing in Google+ Games is also smooth, and allows players to pick and choose who they share updates with. If the player just decides to go public with their high score, it will appear in a special Games Stream. This means that even if you share something publicly, it only appears in a stream of news updates beneath the Featured Games tab, thus showing the message to fellow gamers. The issues of accidentally telling everyone you know of your triumphs over your gaming friends are through.
The Glaring Flaw
For everything that Google+ Games has going for it, is bears one obvious imperfection. Namely, there is no community element to the platform whatsoever. Facebook gamers are a fervent audience that like to have their voices heard (just check out our Facebook page and see). This is normally done through Facebook games' official fan pages, those which Google+ doesn't have yet. For instance, PopCap always throws time-sensitive events for Bejeweled Blitz players, and it rallies the players through its Facebook fan page, and those who have 'Liked' the page are notified immediately.
Google+ Games Stream
This is simply not possible on Google+ Games at the moment, because companies have no presence there ... yet. While Google would be silly not to introduce brands and companies in the mix, they're not there when it counts: the beginning. Aside from simple events, players opt to find new friends through the Facebook fan pages of their favorite games, another thing that won't happen on Google+ Games anytime soon. (And besides, Facebook gamers like a place to complain ... where's that on Google+?) The sooner the search giant introduces a way for developers and players to communicate outside of technical support links, the better chance it will have at growing into a games giant, too.
Have you tried games on Google+ yet? What would you say is great about Google+ Games, and what would you change?
However, after nearly two weeks with Google+ Games, it's clear what has been done right with the platform, and, more importantly, what still needs to be done. So, let's take a look at the good, the great and the glaring flaw in Google+ Games.
The Good
While your eyes might glaze over at the sight of percentages and numbers (like mine), the fact that Google is taking just a 5 percent cut--news outlets are reporting that this is promotional--from developers' revenues through micro-transactions is a good, good thing. Namely, this because it will (and already has) attract a flock of social game developers looking to escape Facebook's 30 percent cut through Facebook Credits. This, of course, means more games. And, as of right now, Google has the support of some of the biggest names in social games from Zynga to PopCap and Wooga, and we doubt they'll be done anytime soon.
Google+ Games featured games
Probably even better is the fact that Google+ Game even exists inherently creates competition, one of the ultimate motivators (besides the obvious, which has already been made evident by Facebook). And competition leads to, well, more robust platforms for us, the gamers. And we've already seen this in action, as Facebook recently announced a number of improvements to its games platform, many of which seem quite similar to Google+. These competitively-fueled changes will almost certainly continue within both platforms, which will inevitably give players the choice between two appealing options for where to play their games. Speaking of which ...
The Grrreat!
While the selection of games on Google+ is tiny, it's nothing short of impressive. But what's even more impressive is how the games are presented. Until Facebook's changes finally go live (at least for me), Google+ makes better use of the average laptop's screen real estate. Perhaps this is thanks to lack of ads on the screen or much of anything aside from the games, though I haven't done pixel-to-pixel comparisons. Regardless, Google's no-nonsense approach to social games is something we can only hope remains a staple.
And just look at how quickly these games load! Is it just me, or are the same games offered on Facebook far faster on Google+? Games on Facebook take minutes to load at times (ahem, FrontierVill--er, Pioneer Trail), while on Google+ I'm seconds away from flinging furious fowl or blowing up shiny gems. Not only that, but the games appear to run more smoothly than their Facebook counterparts. However, this could change as more players turn their backs on Facebook to try Google+, at least for a little while.
Google+ Games sharing
The sharing in Google+ Games is also smooth, and allows players to pick and choose who they share updates with. If the player just decides to go public with their high score, it will appear in a special Games Stream. This means that even if you share something publicly, it only appears in a stream of news updates beneath the Featured Games tab, thus showing the message to fellow gamers. The issues of accidentally telling everyone you know of your triumphs over your gaming friends are through.
The Glaring Flaw
For everything that Google+ Games has going for it, is bears one obvious imperfection. Namely, there is no community element to the platform whatsoever. Facebook gamers are a fervent audience that like to have their voices heard (just check out our Facebook page and see). This is normally done through Facebook games' official fan pages, those which Google+ doesn't have yet. For instance, PopCap always throws time-sensitive events for Bejeweled Blitz players, and it rallies the players through its Facebook fan page, and those who have 'Liked' the page are notified immediately.
Google+ Games Stream
This is simply not possible on Google+ Games at the moment, because companies have no presence there ... yet. While Google would be silly not to introduce brands and companies in the mix, they're not there when it counts: the beginning. Aside from simple events, players opt to find new friends through the Facebook fan pages of their favorite games, another thing that won't happen on Google+ Games anytime soon. (And besides, Facebook gamers like a place to complain ... where's that on Google+?) The sooner the search giant introduces a way for developers and players to communicate outside of technical support links, the better chance it will have at growing into a games giant, too.
Have you tried games on Google+ yet? What would you say is great about Google+ Games, and what would you change?
Orbitz 50 Faves Facebook 'game' offers luxury vacations giveaway
Is Orbitz 50 Faves really a game? Every press release out there certainly says so, but I beg to differ. What we've got instead is a Facebook app that has you coming back daily, making you nag your friends to help out so you can unlock new areas and gain points for bids. I know what you're thinking -- that does sound suspiciously like a Facebook game, doesn't it? But Orbitz 50 Faves isn't so much a game as it is a glorious raffle board.
Social games are so huge right now that even banks and TV broadcasters are adding Facebook games to their official fan pages and creating games portals. So, it's understandable if they want to bring more attention to an app by labeling it as a "game". Moreover, this approach works, because it's certainly caught our attention.
Orbitz Games Hovernaut
Before we turn away, it seems this internet travel company does indulge in social games. Orbitz.com launched Orbitz Games in 2001, before making it a standalone website in 2005. Now it comes complete with Facebook integration and carries a large selection of simple games. Currently, the top 5 games on the site are Shuffleboard (on a cruise ship background), Orbuku (a travel-themed Sudoku), Home Run Hero (a baseball game), 8-Ball (a pool game), and Air Dog (snowboarding). But you've also got weirder titles such as Hovernaut (pilot a hovercraft), Where's My Hotel? (a spatial game), and Shove Your Love ("Give family members a loving shove down the street and try to outscore your opponent!").
Orbitz Games Where's My Hotel?
But none of these Orbitz Games are going to let you win up to a $15,000 luxury dream vacation to places like Dubai, Cancun, Rome, Fiji, and the list goes on. Given this, I think most of us could care less about Orbitz calling their app a "game."
Orbitz 50 Faves destinations on Facebook
Click here to start 'playing' Orbitz 50 Faves and get your shot at one of 50 dream vacations! This "game" will last until Sept 18.
[Source: Orbitz Blog]
Are you going to participate in Orbitz's 50 Faves game? Have you ever played through an advergame on Facebook?
Social games are so huge right now that even banks and TV broadcasters are adding Facebook games to their official fan pages and creating games portals. So, it's understandable if they want to bring more attention to an app by labeling it as a "game". Moreover, this approach works, because it's certainly caught our attention.
Orbitz Games Hovernaut
Before we turn away, it seems this internet travel company does indulge in social games. Orbitz.com launched Orbitz Games in 2001, before making it a standalone website in 2005. Now it comes complete with Facebook integration and carries a large selection of simple games. Currently, the top 5 games on the site are Shuffleboard (on a cruise ship background), Orbuku (a travel-themed Sudoku), Home Run Hero (a baseball game), 8-Ball (a pool game), and Air Dog (snowboarding). But you've also got weirder titles such as Hovernaut (pilot a hovercraft), Where's My Hotel? (a spatial game), and Shove Your Love ("Give family members a loving shove down the street and try to outscore your opponent!").
Orbitz Games Where's My Hotel?
But none of these Orbitz Games are going to let you win up to a $15,000 luxury dream vacation to places like Dubai, Cancun, Rome, Fiji, and the list goes on. Given this, I think most of us could care less about Orbitz calling their app a "game."
Orbitz 50 Faves destinations on Facebook
Click here to start 'playing' Orbitz 50 Faves and get your shot at one of 50 dream vacations! This "game" will last until Sept 18.
[Source: Orbitz Blog]
Are you going to participate in Orbitz's 50 Faves game? Have you ever played through an advergame on Facebook?
1 vs 100 on Facebook: Can the next Episode air, like, now?
It must have rained when 1 vs 100, an Xbox Live game inspired by the classic '90s game show, was canceled. But those (possibly exaggerated) clouds have finally parted, as the game has found new life on Facebook. Brought to you by iWin, known for Facebook renditions of popular game shows like Family Feud and Deal or No Deal, 1 vs 100 follows the formula of the game show almost exactly, but turns your Facebook friends into The Mob.
But, of course, they're not actually playing. The core of the game is answering trivia questions, and for every question you answer correctly, you'll score cash for every member of the mob that got it wrong. However, the number of Mob members that answer questions incorrectly seems to be completely random, as they're simply representations of your Facebook friends--gamers or not.
As The Mob dwindles, the cash value for each Mob member you eliminate increases, which you're reminded of with full voice over work that drives the game show feeling home. Once you eliminate at least 50 Mob members, which isn't terribly difficult, the game changes slightly. While before then you simply wouldn't collect the cash on incorrectly-answered questions, the game becomes instant elimination. Answer one question wrong and it's game over for you, though you'll walk away with a small portion of what you earned up to that point (but more on that later).
Gallery: 1 vs 100 on Facebook
Luckily, you have some lifelines in 1 vs 100, which can be used at any time with no penalty to your score. (However, you can only use these so many times per Episode.) The first of which is Ask the Mob, which simply eliminates an incorrect answer from the three possible choices. Second is Poll the Mob, which allows you to choose one answer to see how many Mob members chose that response. Finally, Trust the Mob locks in your answer with the one chose by the most Mob members.
But back to losing, which is where iWin put the "social" in this social game, oddly enough. In the event that you're knocked out during the elimination rounds, you'll have the option to ask your friends to "Right My Wrong." This mini game of sorts challenges your friends to answer the question you got wrong correctly and then one more. If your friend succeeds, you will split the total of what you would have earned up until that point with your friend. It makes for an interesting dynamic--turning loss into an extension of the game through your friends.
1 vs 100 the Facebook Mob
Of course, there are friend-driven weekly and all-time leaderboards in 1 vs 100. But iWin introduced a more subtle, but powerful social feature: Every Facebook friend of yours in The Mob that is a 1 vs 100 player is worth more cash than normal Mob members. Players can also send each other extra lifelines through the Free Gifts page, but not Episodes, it seems. Episodes are essentially what Energy is to most social games. You're only given two upon starting the game, and these seem to refill over time. It should be expected that they're (along with more lifelines) available for Facebook Credits, but leveling up rewards you with Episodes, too. (But levels don't seem to have much more purpose than this.)
1 vs 100 on Facebook successfully recreates the excitement of the game show with its full voice work and slick, smoothly animated presentation. (But, oh, what we wouldn't do for a live Mob again like on Xbox Live.) However, even with Right My Wrong, we can't help but feel its social features are a bit limited. More importantly, Episodes are terribly few and far in between--surely you can understand why, but that doesn't make it any better. At any rate, iWin's take on 1 vs 100 successfully revives the franchise right where we are every day. And will you look at that, the sun's out again.
Click here to play 1 vs 100 on Facebook Now >
Were you a fan of the game while it was on Xbox Live, or even just a fan of the show? What do you think of this social version of 1 vs 100 so far?
But, of course, they're not actually playing. The core of the game is answering trivia questions, and for every question you answer correctly, you'll score cash for every member of the mob that got it wrong. However, the number of Mob members that answer questions incorrectly seems to be completely random, as they're simply representations of your Facebook friends--gamers or not.
As The Mob dwindles, the cash value for each Mob member you eliminate increases, which you're reminded of with full voice over work that drives the game show feeling home. Once you eliminate at least 50 Mob members, which isn't terribly difficult, the game changes slightly. While before then you simply wouldn't collect the cash on incorrectly-answered questions, the game becomes instant elimination. Answer one question wrong and it's game over for you, though you'll walk away with a small portion of what you earned up to that point (but more on that later).
Gallery: 1 vs 100 on Facebook
Luckily, you have some lifelines in 1 vs 100, which can be used at any time with no penalty to your score. (However, you can only use these so many times per Episode.) The first of which is Ask the Mob, which simply eliminates an incorrect answer from the three possible choices. Second is Poll the Mob, which allows you to choose one answer to see how many Mob members chose that response. Finally, Trust the Mob locks in your answer with the one chose by the most Mob members.
But back to losing, which is where iWin put the "social" in this social game, oddly enough. In the event that you're knocked out during the elimination rounds, you'll have the option to ask your friends to "Right My Wrong." This mini game of sorts challenges your friends to answer the question you got wrong correctly and then one more. If your friend succeeds, you will split the total of what you would have earned up until that point with your friend. It makes for an interesting dynamic--turning loss into an extension of the game through your friends.
1 vs 100 the Facebook Mob
Of course, there are friend-driven weekly and all-time leaderboards in 1 vs 100. But iWin introduced a more subtle, but powerful social feature: Every Facebook friend of yours in The Mob that is a 1 vs 100 player is worth more cash than normal Mob members. Players can also send each other extra lifelines through the Free Gifts page, but not Episodes, it seems. Episodes are essentially what Energy is to most social games. You're only given two upon starting the game, and these seem to refill over time. It should be expected that they're (along with more lifelines) available for Facebook Credits, but leveling up rewards you with Episodes, too. (But levels don't seem to have much more purpose than this.)
1 vs 100 on Facebook successfully recreates the excitement of the game show with its full voice work and slick, smoothly animated presentation. (But, oh, what we wouldn't do for a live Mob again like on Xbox Live.) However, even with Right My Wrong, we can't help but feel its social features are a bit limited. More importantly, Episodes are terribly few and far in between--surely you can understand why, but that doesn't make it any better. At any rate, iWin's take on 1 vs 100 successfully revives the franchise right where we are every day. And will you look at that, the sun's out again.
Click here to play 1 vs 100 on Facebook Now >
Were you a fan of the game while it was on Xbox Live, or even just a fan of the show? What do you think of this social version of 1 vs 100 so far?
Everyone Connects Open House: Like Cafe World for Ramadan with prizes
So far, in the land of Facebook, we've got an Old Testament game (which is as close to Judaism as we can get right now), a Christian game and a Catholic game. I guess we were due for a game that celebrates the youngest of the Abrahamic faiths: Islam.
This story begins a little over a year ago when Telekom Malaysia, a major Malaysian telecommunications provider, funded a youth-oriented advertising campaign called Everyone Connects with the tagline of "Getting people to communicate & collaborate because when everyone is connected, anything is possible." This was a very high profile and well-polished campaign. I mean, check out the music video that came out of it.
Last week, Everyone Connects expanded its outreach with a Facebook game called Everyone Connects Open House, which pays respect to the last three days of Ramadan, an Islamic holiday known as Eid ul-Fitr. In Malayisa, they host "Hari Raya", or open houses where people are invited to break their fast by hanging out for meals in each other's homes.
Everyone Connects Open House by Yusrizan Mohamed
EC Open House lets players decorate a room and serve traditional foods and drinks consumed during the holiday, such as Ketupat (a packed rice dumpling), Lontong (like the Ketupat, but with a creamy soup), Lemang (glutinous rice and coconut milk), and a generic brand of Coca-Cola (you can thank globalization for that one).
EC Open House dishes
Just like in Zynga's Cafe World, players earn coins and experience points when they cook foods and buy furniture. Unlike Cafe World, however, EC Open House is a temporary endeavor with quite limited play. Seriously, if you play any restaurant management games on Facebook, you might be frustrated by how limited the options are in this one. This game will also only be running until September 11th, 2011.
EC Open House badges
Another thing that's different from Cafe World is that you can win real world prizes for playing well. Nabbing a ton of XP can help you rise in rank and make you eligible for the following prizes: a 16GB iPad, a Sony digicam, an iPod Shuffle and a Team Malaysia Jersey with a prepaid iTalk phone card (with 30 ringgi t-- Malaysian currency -- on it). Unfortunately, you'll also have to be a Malaysian citizen to qualify to win.
Everyone Connects Open House prizes
I guess for a game with such big prizes, most of the people playing aren't looking for much a challenge. But if Everyone Connects puts a bit more thought into it, they can attract international players and overseas Muslims. Personally, I feel we need more games like this on Facebook. I learned a ton about Malaysian foods and Ramadan eating habits just by playing EC Open House for an hour. There's no easier way for cultural engagement than through games.
This story begins a little over a year ago when Telekom Malaysia, a major Malaysian telecommunications provider, funded a youth-oriented advertising campaign called Everyone Connects with the tagline of "Getting people to communicate & collaborate because when everyone is connected, anything is possible." This was a very high profile and well-polished campaign. I mean, check out the music video that came out of it.
Last week, Everyone Connects expanded its outreach with a Facebook game called Everyone Connects Open House, which pays respect to the last three days of Ramadan, an Islamic holiday known as Eid ul-Fitr. In Malayisa, they host "Hari Raya", or open houses where people are invited to break their fast by hanging out for meals in each other's homes.
Everyone Connects Open House by Yusrizan Mohamed
EC Open House lets players decorate a room and serve traditional foods and drinks consumed during the holiday, such as Ketupat (a packed rice dumpling), Lontong (like the Ketupat, but with a creamy soup), Lemang (glutinous rice and coconut milk), and a generic brand of Coca-Cola (you can thank globalization for that one).
EC Open House dishes
Just like in Zynga's Cafe World, players earn coins and experience points when they cook foods and buy furniture. Unlike Cafe World, however, EC Open House is a temporary endeavor with quite limited play. Seriously, if you play any restaurant management games on Facebook, you might be frustrated by how limited the options are in this one. This game will also only be running until September 11th, 2011.
EC Open House badges
Another thing that's different from Cafe World is that you can win real world prizes for playing well. Nabbing a ton of XP can help you rise in rank and make you eligible for the following prizes: a 16GB iPad, a Sony digicam, an iPod Shuffle and a Team Malaysia Jersey with a prepaid iTalk phone card (with 30 ringgi t-- Malaysian currency -- on it). Unfortunately, you'll also have to be a Malaysian citizen to qualify to win.
Everyone Connects Open House prizes
I guess for a game with such big prizes, most of the people playing aren't looking for much a challenge. But if Everyone Connects puts a bit more thought into it, they can attract international players and overseas Muslims. Personally, I feel we need more games like this on Facebook. I learned a ton about Malaysian foods and Ramadan eating habits just by playing EC Open House for an hour. There's no easier way for cultural engagement than through games.
PopCap looks to cure its Extreme Fever with Peggle HD for iPad
Still waiting with bated breath for PopCap to bring Peggle to Facebook? (Keep holding it, then.) So are we, but until then, perhaps Peggle in HD will hold you over. The creator of Bejeweled announced that its mega hit pachinko-meets-Breakout game is now available for the iPad under the title--what else?--Peggle HD.
The game, which has already been downloaded 30 million times since its original release on the PC in March 2007, is available now in the App Store for an introductory price of $2.99. Once in the game, players can purchase Peggle Nights, the full-blown expansion to the original, for $.99. Of course, the prices will hike up once this promotion ends (which we imagine will be soon) to $4.99 and $1.99, respectively.
While this is essentially the same Peggle about 30 million of you have played before, this version comes with Game Center support at launch. And yes, that means this "HD" edition of the ultimate pachinko also features Achievements--29 of them, to be exact.
Extreme Fever Peggle
So, not only can you witness Extreme Fever--when every last peg is destroyed in a level--on your purrty 10-inch touchscreen, but brag about it to your friends. Yep, that just might keep me occupied until, you know, I can score free balls like a champ on Facebook.
Might you be one of the few who has yet to play Peggle? If so, do you have an aversion to awesome? Those in the know: Do you agree that Facebook needs some Peggle action?
The game, which has already been downloaded 30 million times since its original release on the PC in March 2007, is available now in the App Store for an introductory price of $2.99. Once in the game, players can purchase Peggle Nights, the full-blown expansion to the original, for $.99. Of course, the prices will hike up once this promotion ends (which we imagine will be soon) to $4.99 and $1.99, respectively.
While this is essentially the same Peggle about 30 million of you have played before, this version comes with Game Center support at launch. And yes, that means this "HD" edition of the ultimate pachinko also features Achievements--29 of them, to be exact.
Extreme Fever Peggle
So, not only can you witness Extreme Fever--when every last peg is destroyed in a level--on your purrty 10-inch touchscreen, but brag about it to your friends. Yep, that just might keep me occupied until, you know, I can score free balls like a champ on Facebook.
Might you be one of the few who has yet to play Peggle? If so, do you have an aversion to awesome? Those in the know: Do you agree that Facebook needs some Peggle action?
Pioneer Trail Cheats & Tips: Finish the Bridge in Beaver Valley using a single friend
For everyone that has attempted to complete the Beaver Valley portion of the Pioneer Trail, you might have found rebuilding the bridge at the end of the section to be a bit time consuming, or at least troublesome. With the choice of either pounding on the bridge to repair it manually 100 times or continually asking tons of friends to do the work for you, it's a task that will slow you down at least temporarily, to say the very least. What if there was a way to finish building the bridge in less than 10 minutes, without spending Horseshoes, without wasting dozens of Rations, and without continually pestering your friends? Well, thanks to an exploit we've discovered, there actually is!
Now, there is a bit of a disclaimer to go along with this. For one, this is an exploit - not a design choice by Zynga, not a hack, and not anything that's technically *illegal* within the game. Sure, Zynga may frown upon you doing it, but it also doesn't seem like there's any way for them to tell what you've done. For justification, think of this as simply using a part of the game in a way that's unadvertised (and unintended), but does actually work (we've completed this exploit on multiple accounts just to test it). That all being the case, remember that if/when Zynga catches on, the developer might pull the plug, but for now, here's a way to complete the bridge building project in just a matter of minutes.
Note: We must advise that you complete this exploit at your own risk. We haven't received any punishment from the big Z for undertaking it ourselves, but we also can't guarantee that it won't happen to you.
The biggest portion of this exploit is in the set-up. It sounds a bit complicated, but with the help of a single active friend, you'll be able to pull this off without a hitch. First, pick one of your friends that is an active member of your team; that is, this person must be your Carpenter, Hunter or Doctor, and can't just be a friend that comes by to help with your bridge temporarily. This prevents the friend from disappearing from the game once they've started to "help" you.
Step 1: Have that friend visit your trail, and complete their visiting tasks. Make sure the first task they complete is whacking your bridge, and that all tasks after that go to something else (clearing debris, chopping trees, etc.).
Step 2: Accept the friend's help in your own game. Wait for them to finish whacking the bridge (look to make sure your total increases at the top of the page) and immediately click on the X button (the large red X in the bottom right corner of the gameplay menu) to stop their work. Since they are an active member on your team that can't disappear (as we mentioned above), they'll simply stop where they are standing and won't vanish.
Step 3: Click on them again to accept their help. They'll start from the very beginning, whacking the bridge as though you had never accepted their help before. If you know where we're going with this, you'll just need to continually accept their help and X out their action queue as soon as they've added a point to your bridge completion.
You can continue this cycle until you've reached 100 whacks, finishing your bridge once and for all. At this point, it's incredibly likely that your game will experience a "Blasted Internet" pop-up and will refresh. Your bridge should retain around 94-95 of its whacks upon reloading the Pioneer Trail, leaving you to spend just 5-6 of your own Rations to finish it off. Sure, you won't walk away from this building project without spending any of your own supplies, but I think we can all agree that 5 or 6 Rations is far, far better than 100.
And there you have it! An admittedly complex way of finishing the bridge in Beaver Valley in a single sitting. Again, while it might sound complicated in writing, in practice it's actually incredibly simple and a definite time saver. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm all about saving time, so this is one exploit I'm willing to take the risk of employing!
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille / Pioneer Trail cheats, guides and tips right here. >
Have you already completed the bridge in Beaver Valley, or will you use this "glitch" to help yourself finish the bridge in just a few minutes? Do you think users should be punished for using such exploits?
Now, there is a bit of a disclaimer to go along with this. For one, this is an exploit - not a design choice by Zynga, not a hack, and not anything that's technically *illegal* within the game. Sure, Zynga may frown upon you doing it, but it also doesn't seem like there's any way for them to tell what you've done. For justification, think of this as simply using a part of the game in a way that's unadvertised (and unintended), but does actually work (we've completed this exploit on multiple accounts just to test it). That all being the case, remember that if/when Zynga catches on, the developer might pull the plug, but for now, here's a way to complete the bridge building project in just a matter of minutes.
Note: We must advise that you complete this exploit at your own risk. We haven't received any punishment from the big Z for undertaking it ourselves, but we also can't guarantee that it won't happen to you.
The biggest portion of this exploit is in the set-up. It sounds a bit complicated, but with the help of a single active friend, you'll be able to pull this off without a hitch. First, pick one of your friends that is an active member of your team; that is, this person must be your Carpenter, Hunter or Doctor, and can't just be a friend that comes by to help with your bridge temporarily. This prevents the friend from disappearing from the game once they've started to "help" you.
Step 1: Have that friend visit your trail, and complete their visiting tasks. Make sure the first task they complete is whacking your bridge, and that all tasks after that go to something else (clearing debris, chopping trees, etc.).
Step 2: Accept the friend's help in your own game. Wait for them to finish whacking the bridge (look to make sure your total increases at the top of the page) and immediately click on the X button (the large red X in the bottom right corner of the gameplay menu) to stop their work. Since they are an active member on your team that can't disappear (as we mentioned above), they'll simply stop where they are standing and won't vanish.
Step 3: Click on them again to accept their help. They'll start from the very beginning, whacking the bridge as though you had never accepted their help before. If you know where we're going with this, you'll just need to continually accept their help and X out their action queue as soon as they've added a point to your bridge completion.
You can continue this cycle until you've reached 100 whacks, finishing your bridge once and for all. At this point, it's incredibly likely that your game will experience a "Blasted Internet" pop-up and will refresh. Your bridge should retain around 94-95 of its whacks upon reloading the Pioneer Trail, leaving you to spend just 5-6 of your own Rations to finish it off. Sure, you won't walk away from this building project without spending any of your own supplies, but I think we can all agree that 5 or 6 Rations is far, far better than 100.
And there you have it! An admittedly complex way of finishing the bridge in Beaver Valley in a single sitting. Again, while it might sound complicated in writing, in practice it's actually incredibly simple and a definite time saver. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm all about saving time, so this is one exploit I'm willing to take the risk of employing!
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille / Pioneer Trail cheats, guides and tips right here. >
Have you already completed the bridge in Beaver Valley, or will you use this "glitch" to help yourself finish the bridge in just a few minutes? Do you think users should be punished for using such exploits?
Zynga warns against scammers with a giant flashing cupcake [Video]
You heard that right - flashing cupcakes! What's better than a cupcake? A cupcake filled with a flashing marquee, that's what! Ok, so I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. This cupcake, along with some words of warning, comes to us from the folks at Zynga, as the company has released a new video detailing the many fake or otherwise fraudulent accounts and websites that will try and steal your Facebook information, your billing information, or even your Farm Cash and other premium currency in its games.
It warns against the users that have started posing as members of Zynga's security team, and offers some tips to avoid falling victim to various phishing scams. While these tips are basic, they outline never entering your Facebook password on a third party site, even if it looks like its run by Zynga, Facebook or both, and to never click on something that looks "too good to be true," even if it the request looks to come from a friend. There's also the reminder that we should never accept a free premium cash offer (like one for free Farm Cash in FarmVille or free Cafe Cash in Cafe World) via a third party, as they simply don't have the authority to do so.
Again, these tips are fairly self-explanatory, but they do come wrapped in a clever package (did I mention there's a flashing cupcake?), and are worth giving at least a single look via the video here, even if only for the clever animated characters ripped straight from Zynga's many games on Facebook.
Did Zynga's privacy / security video teach you anything you didn't already know? Do you know anyone that has fallen victim to a phishing scam or other fraud on Facebook?
It warns against the users that have started posing as members of Zynga's security team, and offers some tips to avoid falling victim to various phishing scams. While these tips are basic, they outline never entering your Facebook password on a third party site, even if it looks like its run by Zynga, Facebook or both, and to never click on something that looks "too good to be true," even if it the request looks to come from a friend. There's also the reminder that we should never accept a free premium cash offer (like one for free Farm Cash in FarmVille or free Cafe Cash in Cafe World) via a third party, as they simply don't have the authority to do so.
Again, these tips are fairly self-explanatory, but they do come wrapped in a clever package (did I mention there's a flashing cupcake?), and are worth giving at least a single look via the video here, even if only for the clever animated characters ripped straight from Zynga's many games on Facebook.
Did Zynga's privacy / security video teach you anything you didn't already know? Do you know anyone that has fallen victim to a phishing scam or other fraud on Facebook?
CityVille: Run off and join the circus in the comfort of your own town
Ever have the wild thought of running away and joining the circus? Why not have the circus come to you? You can do just that this week, as circus / amusement items have come to CityVille. With most of these items expiring in less than one week, you've got your work cut out for you to collect them all (especially since most, unfortunately, cost City Cash). Here's a complete run-down of what's available.
Fun House (Home) - 25,000 coins - 200-380 population - 188 coins every four hours
Animal House (Home) - 50 City Cash - 620-1230 population - 20 coins every five minutes
Carousel Cottage (Home) - 70 City Cash - 1180-2360 population - 401 coins every four hours
The Far Out Freak Show (Business) - 35 City Cash - 165 Goods; 999 coins in earnings
Circus Snack Shack - 12,500 coins - 253 Goods; 1413 coins in earnings
Clown Costumes (Citizen Clothing) - 1,000 coins
Fountain of Mirth (Decoration) - 6% bonus payout
Daring Diver (Decoration) - 5,000 coins - 4% bonus
For the Fountain of Mirth and Daring Diver, you'll receive an extra 6% and 4% bonus to surrounding structures, respectively, so long as those buildings are in the circus theme.
Additionally, you also have the option of purchasing a Circus Mystery Crate for 35 City Cash each, which gives you the chance of winning a Carousel Cottage, Far Out Freak Show or Animal House, along with another home - the Clown Alley, which offers 900-1800 population when placed in your town. So long as you're not concerned which of the four items you end up with, the 35 City Cash price is definitely a better deal than purchasing these items individually, but remember, after the first crate you have a chance of receiving duplicate items if you purchase more.
Remember, all of these items (save for the Clown Costumes for your town's citizens) will expire in a week, so shop fast if you want to create an entirely circus-themed area in your town! The caravan won't be around for long!
Will you purchase any of these Circus-themed items for your cities in CityVille? If you splurged on a Mystery Crate, which item did you end up with?
Fun House (Home) - 25,000 coins - 200-380 population - 188 coins every four hours
Animal House (Home) - 50 City Cash - 620-1230 population - 20 coins every five minutes
Carousel Cottage (Home) - 70 City Cash - 1180-2360 population - 401 coins every four hours
The Far Out Freak Show (Business) - 35 City Cash - 165 Goods; 999 coins in earnings
Circus Snack Shack - 12,500 coins - 253 Goods; 1413 coins in earnings
Clown Costumes (Citizen Clothing) - 1,000 coins
Fountain of Mirth (Decoration) - 6% bonus payout
Daring Diver (Decoration) - 5,000 coins - 4% bonus
For the Fountain of Mirth and Daring Diver, you'll receive an extra 6% and 4% bonus to surrounding structures, respectively, so long as those buildings are in the circus theme.
Additionally, you also have the option of purchasing a Circus Mystery Crate for 35 City Cash each, which gives you the chance of winning a Carousel Cottage, Far Out Freak Show or Animal House, along with another home - the Clown Alley, which offers 900-1800 population when placed in your town. So long as you're not concerned which of the four items you end up with, the 35 City Cash price is definitely a better deal than purchasing these items individually, but remember, after the first crate you have a chance of receiving duplicate items if you purchase more.
Remember, all of these items (save for the Clown Costumes for your town's citizens) will expire in a week, so shop fast if you want to create an entirely circus-themed area in your town! The caravan won't be around for long!
Will you purchase any of these Circus-themed items for your cities in CityVille? If you splurged on a Mystery Crate, which item did you end up with?
Building the Dam in CityVille: Everything you need to know
Slowly but surely, the Dam feature has started rolling out to users in CityVille, but watch out: You need to be at least level 50 to receive this new source of hydroelectric power. Once you've received the Dam, you'll need to start the lengthy process of building it. First and foremost, there's only one particular portion of the river (to the right of your town) that the Dam can sit on, and you must have your town already touching this square in order to build it. That's right, you might be looking at expanding your city before you can ever build your Dam, as seen below.
From there, you'll need to collect quite a few building materials to actually set the Dam into motion:
14 Rotors
14 Flood Gates
14 Turbines
14 Canal Locks
14 Generators
After this has been done, you'll still need to "whack" your Dam 15 times to finish the building process. In this way, we're actually looking at a reverse of the normal business process, where you whack the frame and then collect items, but I digress. Once you complete the 15 whacks, you'll instantly receive 31 free energy, launching you back up to a full bar to make up for the trouble. This extra point brings your current maximum energy total to 31, but there's a catch.
Overall, the Dam can be thought of as a sort of long-term business, without the customers. You'll need to routinely supply the Dam - at least once every 48 hours - to keep your boosted energy cap, or else you'll lose your bonus. To be specific, for each day after the first 48 hours of supplying you fail to re-supply the Dam, you'll lose a point, eventually dropping you all the way back down to the original maximum energy of 30. It should be noted that your energy level will never, ever decrease below 30; instead, the range of 31-37 energy points is the fluid portion.
Finally, if you're a daily active player, once you reach the current new maximum of 37 energy points, if you continue to resupply the Dam (as often as every 12 hours), you'll simply maintain the boosted cap. Unfortunately, it won't increase any higher than 37, no matter how much we may want it to.
As I can expect this fluidity to the maximum energy cap to frustrate some players, we'll make sure to keep an eye on things, to make sure Zynga doesn't pull a switch and change the feature. Also, this is a slow roll-out to users, so if you don't have the Dam in your city yet, don't be alarmed. Just make sure you have plenty of Gift Requests ready for the day, so you can ask for those parts as soon as you receive it.
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Dam in CityVille? Do you like the fact that the energy bonus can go away, as a reminder for you to play daily, or would you rather the boosts be permanent?
From there, you'll need to collect quite a few building materials to actually set the Dam into motion:
14 Rotors
14 Flood Gates
14 Turbines
14 Canal Locks
14 Generators
After this has been done, you'll still need to "whack" your Dam 15 times to finish the building process. In this way, we're actually looking at a reverse of the normal business process, where you whack the frame and then collect items, but I digress. Once you complete the 15 whacks, you'll instantly receive 31 free energy, launching you back up to a full bar to make up for the trouble. This extra point brings your current maximum energy total to 31, but there's a catch.
Overall, the Dam can be thought of as a sort of long-term business, without the customers. You'll need to routinely supply the Dam - at least once every 48 hours - to keep your boosted energy cap, or else you'll lose your bonus. To be specific, for each day after the first 48 hours of supplying you fail to re-supply the Dam, you'll lose a point, eventually dropping you all the way back down to the original maximum energy of 30. It should be noted that your energy level will never, ever decrease below 30; instead, the range of 31-37 energy points is the fluid portion.
Finally, if you're a daily active player, once you reach the current new maximum of 37 energy points, if you continue to resupply the Dam (as often as every 12 hours), you'll simply maintain the boosted cap. Unfortunately, it won't increase any higher than 37, no matter how much we may want it to.
As I can expect this fluidity to the maximum energy cap to frustrate some players, we'll make sure to keep an eye on things, to make sure Zynga doesn't pull a switch and change the feature. Also, this is a slow roll-out to users, so if you don't have the Dam in your city yet, don't be alarmed. Just make sure you have plenty of Gift Requests ready for the day, so you can ask for those parts as soon as you receive it.
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Dam in CityVille? Do you like the fact that the energy bonus can go away, as a reminder for you to play daily, or would you rather the boosts be permanent?
Empires & Allies Prism Power Packs: Everything you need to know
Have you ever wished you could have rainbow-colored units in Empires & Allies to better reflect your personality? Wouldn't you just love to see a line of purple tanks smashing your enemies into a haze? Ok, maybe that's just me, but you now all have the option to do so anyway, as Zynga has launched two new sets of items into the store under the heading of Prism Power Packs. To be especially clear, these multi-colored units are entirely new items that you'll need to purchase in the store, but you do have the option for a permanent unlock as well, allowing to build more in the future, long after they've expired from the store.
To be specific, you can now purchase one of six colored Sherman Tanks or six Mustang air units. For most of the Tanks, they go for a price of 9 Empire Points for a single unit, and come with a strength of 180 points. The Red Tank, however, is the odd (strong) man out, as it comes with 250 points of strength. For a permanent unlock, these Tanks go for 54 Empire Points, which sees you rewarded with a free unit as well.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs go for around 5-15 Empire Points each, which their strength sitting around the 150 point mark, depending on the color you choose. Again, the Red Mustang is overpowered, having 275 points instead. If you want to unlock the ability to build a specific color of these Mustangs in your Hangers, you can do so for Empire Points as well, with the Green Mustang costing 30 Empire Points and the Orange Mustang costing 90 Empire Points, as examples of the range.
These "Prism Power Packs" will only be available for a limited time of a little more than 10 days, as of this writing. There's no telling if or when these colored units will fly or drive their way back into the store, so make sure to think long and hard about purchasing them before they expire.
Will you purchase any of these colorful Tanks or Mustangs? Which color(s) will you choose, and of which item?
To be specific, you can now purchase one of six colored Sherman Tanks or six Mustang air units. For most of the Tanks, they go for a price of 9 Empire Points for a single unit, and come with a strength of 180 points. The Red Tank, however, is the odd (strong) man out, as it comes with 250 points of strength. For a permanent unlock, these Tanks go for 54 Empire Points, which sees you rewarded with a free unit as well.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs go for around 5-15 Empire Points each, which their strength sitting around the 150 point mark, depending on the color you choose. Again, the Red Mustang is overpowered, having 275 points instead. If you want to unlock the ability to build a specific color of these Mustangs in your Hangers, you can do so for Empire Points as well, with the Green Mustang costing 30 Empire Points and the Orange Mustang costing 90 Empire Points, as examples of the range.
These "Prism Power Packs" will only be available for a limited time of a little more than 10 days, as of this writing. There's no telling if or when these colored units will fly or drive their way back into the store, so make sure to think long and hard about purchasing them before they expire.
Will you purchase any of these colorful Tanks or Mustangs? Which color(s) will you choose, and of which item?
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Frogger may be 30 years old, but he's leaping onto the iPhone for free
Look, for an amphibian that insists on leaping into oncoming traffic, Frogger is damn old. But Frogger turns 30 this year, and he's determined to ring in the milestone with a bang. Konami has released Frogger Free for iOS on the App Store, a Facebook-connected version of the classic (with three new modes, mind you) for the ultimate price of zero dollars and zero cents.
For ultimate nostalgia trip, players can enjoy Frogger in all its retro glory with multiple control styles including swipe, touch and tilt. Those control options extend into the game's three new gameplay modes: Turbo, Nighttime and Inferno. Turbo we imagine simply sends those cars and trucks into overdrive, while Nighttime seems to simply change the color scheme. Inferno, however, leaves a trail of flames in Frogger's wake that limits players' moves as they lead more frogs across the highway.
This version of Frogger features and Facebook Connect, meaning players can share their accomplishments with their friends across local, friendly and global leaderboards. The game also features 10 achievements for players to collect, but we all know none will be as prestigious as surpassing the ultimate high score: 896,980 points. This game follows Frogger's first original game on Facebook, Frogger Pinball. With two new, free ways to celebrate how Frogger's miraculous survival of 30 years of jay-hopping, you pretty much have no excuse.
Click here to download Frogger Free for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >
Are you still a Frogger fanatic after all these years? Where can the frog go from here?
For ultimate nostalgia trip, players can enjoy Frogger in all its retro glory with multiple control styles including swipe, touch and tilt. Those control options extend into the game's three new gameplay modes: Turbo, Nighttime and Inferno. Turbo we imagine simply sends those cars and trucks into overdrive, while Nighttime seems to simply change the color scheme. Inferno, however, leaves a trail of flames in Frogger's wake that limits players' moves as they lead more frogs across the highway.
This version of Frogger features and Facebook Connect, meaning players can share their accomplishments with their friends across local, friendly and global leaderboards. The game also features 10 achievements for players to collect, but we all know none will be as prestigious as surpassing the ultimate high score: 896,980 points. This game follows Frogger's first original game on Facebook, Frogger Pinball. With two new, free ways to celebrate how Frogger's miraculous survival of 30 years of jay-hopping, you pretty much have no excuse.
Click here to download Frogger Free for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >
Are you still a Frogger fanatic after all these years? Where can the frog go from here?
Will the Ultima maker's new social game appeal to all forms of gamer?
That's sounds pretty ... ambitious (to say the least), but that seems to be what game designer Richard Garriott is going for. During a recent interview with IndustryGamers, Ultima creator Garriott somehow revealed his master plan for how he's going to change social gaming without revealing anything specific, really. While it's too early to make serious judgment calls, his idea sounds downright awesome.
At least on paper, it sounds as if players will be able to carve out their own role in a fantasy world that rewards several different types of play. Basically, members of a group of friends can each take on different roles--be it farmer, shop owner or even adventurer--and somehow contribute to the overall world both in real time and asynchronously.
"And allowing it to be asynchronous interaction as well as synchronous interaction," Garriott told IndustryGamers. "So if you're the farmer, and you're playing your FarmVille style of gameplay, and that's what you like, that's fine, and you can either sell it on your produce stand or come over to my cafe and sell it to me directly, but either way, if you're offline, me or my chef can come over to your farm stand or to you personally if you're online, and buy the produce we need, and in either case we're gonna sell meals to the adventurer that just came through and might be bringing back the special dragon egg to make the greatest omelet that's ever been made in the history of the world! I can now make it in my cafe based on the stuff the adventurer brought back."
In essence, Garriott's Lord British's New Britannia (working title) will somehow allow the FarmVille player, the Cafe World fan and the Skyrim fanatic to all play the same game in their own way and help one another. If developer Portalarium can live up to these ambitions, then count us in.
[Image Credit: CollectSpace]
Does this make you excited for the designer's first full social game? More importantly, can a game like this be what it takes to usurp the Zynga throne?
At least on paper, it sounds as if players will be able to carve out their own role in a fantasy world that rewards several different types of play. Basically, members of a group of friends can each take on different roles--be it farmer, shop owner or even adventurer--and somehow contribute to the overall world both in real time and asynchronously.
"And allowing it to be asynchronous interaction as well as synchronous interaction," Garriott told IndustryGamers. "So if you're the farmer, and you're playing your FarmVille style of gameplay, and that's what you like, that's fine, and you can either sell it on your produce stand or come over to my cafe and sell it to me directly, but either way, if you're offline, me or my chef can come over to your farm stand or to you personally if you're online, and buy the produce we need, and in either case we're gonna sell meals to the adventurer that just came through and might be bringing back the special dragon egg to make the greatest omelet that's ever been made in the history of the world! I can now make it in my cafe based on the stuff the adventurer brought back."
In essence, Garriott's Lord British's New Britannia (working title) will somehow allow the FarmVille player, the Cafe World fan and the Skyrim fanatic to all play the same game in their own way and help one another. If developer Portalarium can live up to these ambitions, then count us in.
[Image Credit: CollectSpace]
Does this make you excited for the designer's first full social game? More importantly, can a game like this be what it takes to usurp the Zynga throne?
Play the other football on Thanksgiving with Top Eleven on iOS
Sorry, friends around the world, but we only say that because Thanksgiving is originally an American holiday, after all. Nordeus has finally released its hit football/soccer game Top Eleven on iPhone and iPad for the fine price of free. Based on a brief description of the game provided by Nordeus, this looks to be simply a port of the Android version released in October.
A port this game may be, but one that will likely expand the game's player base. Just like before, players can create their own football clubs and take on nearly every aspect of the process as manager. And when we say "every aspect," we mean everything from training players to getting sponsorship for the team. More importantly, however, is that Top Eleven veterans can access their existing football clubs from Facebook, iPhone or Android and interact with their friends on any said platform.
"We aim to provide a seamless gaming experience for our Top Eleven fans no matter what device you're using." Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinović said in a release. "You can kick off a Top Eleven game on a desktop, and if you have to pop out at half-time you can now continue to follow your game on your iPhone."
Top Eleven iPhone in action
According to the developer, the Top Eleven is enjoyed by 3.5 million monthly players since its Android release last month, and Nordeus clearly looks to see that number grow through the App Store. So, now you can play football while watching football tomorrow ... just don't tell the rabid NFL fans in your life when they come to visit.
Click here to download Top Eleven for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >
Are you a Top Eleven fan? What games are you going to spend Thanksgiving playing tomorrow?
A port this game may be, but one that will likely expand the game's player base. Just like before, players can create their own football clubs and take on nearly every aspect of the process as manager. And when we say "every aspect," we mean everything from training players to getting sponsorship for the team. More importantly, however, is that Top Eleven veterans can access their existing football clubs from Facebook, iPhone or Android and interact with their friends on any said platform.
"We aim to provide a seamless gaming experience for our Top Eleven fans no matter what device you're using." Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinović said in a release. "You can kick off a Top Eleven game on a desktop, and if you have to pop out at half-time you can now continue to follow your game on your iPhone."
Top Eleven iPhone in action
According to the developer, the Top Eleven is enjoyed by 3.5 million monthly players since its Android release last month, and Nordeus clearly looks to see that number grow through the App Store. So, now you can play football while watching football tomorrow ... just don't tell the rabid NFL fans in your life when they come to visit.
Click here to download Top Eleven for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >
Are you a Top Eleven fan? What games are you going to spend Thanksgiving playing tomorrow?
Nexon's next social game, Zombie Misfits, looks for brains on Facebook
Alright, we thought it too: "Another zombie game?" But hold on just a second there, naysayers. Nexon's new Facebook game, Zombie Misfits, takes the whole zombie craze in a decidedly different direction. Co-developed by Canadian studio Antic Entertainment, this social take on what's quickly becoming a tired trend turns is a side-scrolling tower defense game.
Wait, according to a release, it's a "cartoon-style apocalyptic tower defense game with an RPG flare." Does that sound different enough for you? And if you ask us, the game's art style looks like something you'd easily find on Cartoon Network.
Ever since Nexon struck gold with MapleStory Adventures, the company has been bullish on Facebook games, but has taken its sweet time. (The publisher likely could have thrown its name on a number of Facebook games this year, but didn't.)
But back to the brain bustin'. Zombie Misfits has players defend survivors of the zombie apocalypse in two-dimensional zones against wave after wave of walking cadavers. To do so, you must place Defenders in key, predefined points in each level to kill off the walkers (thanks, The Walking Dead) before they reach the hovel of "breathers", as tutorial character Slim calls them.
The game features a number of different defenders like the Biker, a club-wielding badass type, and the pistol-toting Trooper--all of which can be modified and upgraded. Of course, you'll need to strategize which Defenders to place as you unlock them to fight the numerous types of zombies. And players can enlist the help of their friends, as per usual. But really, nothing beats the feeling of taking a giant chain saw to a morose mob of undead mouth-breathers.
Click here to play Zombie Misfits on Facebook Now >
Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.
Do you think there's room for another zombie game on Facebook? What do you think of the zombie craze overall--is it just a fad?
Wait, according to a release, it's a "cartoon-style apocalyptic tower defense game with an RPG flare." Does that sound different enough for you? And if you ask us, the game's art style looks like something you'd easily find on Cartoon Network.
Ever since Nexon struck gold with MapleStory Adventures, the company has been bullish on Facebook games, but has taken its sweet time. (The publisher likely could have thrown its name on a number of Facebook games this year, but didn't.)
But back to the brain bustin'. Zombie Misfits has players defend survivors of the zombie apocalypse in two-dimensional zones against wave after wave of walking cadavers. To do so, you must place Defenders in key, predefined points in each level to kill off the walkers (thanks, The Walking Dead) before they reach the hovel of "breathers", as tutorial character Slim calls them.
The game features a number of different defenders like the Biker, a club-wielding badass type, and the pistol-toting Trooper--all of which can be modified and upgraded. Of course, you'll need to strategize which Defenders to place as you unlock them to fight the numerous types of zombies. And players can enlist the help of their friends, as per usual. But really, nothing beats the feeling of taking a giant chain saw to a morose mob of undead mouth-breathers.
Click here to play Zombie Misfits on Facebook Now >
Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.
Do you think there's room for another zombie game on Facebook? What do you think of the zombie craze overall--is it just a fad?
Play the other football on Thanksgiving with Top Eleven on iOS
Sorry, friends around the world, but we only say that because Thanksgiving is originally an American holiday, after all. Nordeus has finally released its hit football/soccer game Top Eleven on iPhone and iPad for the fine price of free. Based on a brief description of the game provided by Nordeus, this looks to be simply a port of the Android version released in October.
A port this game may be, but one that will likely expand the game's player base. Just like before, players can create their own football clubs and take on nearly every aspect of the process as manager. And when we say "every aspect," we mean everything from training players to getting sponsorship for the team. More importantly, however, is that Top Eleven veterans can access their existing football clubs from Facebook, iPhone or Android and interact with their friends on any said platform.
"We aim to provide a seamless gaming experience for our Top Eleven fans no matter what device you're using." Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinović said in a release. "You can kick off a Top Eleven game on a desktop, and if you have to pop out at half-time you can now continue to follow your game on your iPhone."
Top Eleven iPhone in action
According to the developer, the Top Eleven is enjoyed by 3.5 million monthly players since its Android release last month, and Nordeus clearly looks to see that number grow through the App Store. So, now you can play football while watching football tomorrow ... just don't tell the rabid NFL fans in your life when they come to visit.
Click here to download Top Eleven for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >
Are you a Top Eleven fan? What games are you going to spend Thanksgiving playing tomorrow?
A port this game may be, but one that will likely expand the game's player base. Just like before, players can create their own football clubs and take on nearly every aspect of the process as manager. And when we say "every aspect," we mean everything from training players to getting sponsorship for the team. More importantly, however, is that Top Eleven veterans can access their existing football clubs from Facebook, iPhone or Android and interact with their friends on any said platform.
"We aim to provide a seamless gaming experience for our Top Eleven fans no matter what device you're using." Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinović said in a release. "You can kick off a Top Eleven game on a desktop, and if you have to pop out at half-time you can now continue to follow your game on your iPhone."
Top Eleven iPhone in action
According to the developer, the Top Eleven is enjoyed by 3.5 million monthly players since its Android release last month, and Nordeus clearly looks to see that number grow through the App Store. So, now you can play football while watching football tomorrow ... just don't tell the rabid NFL fans in your life when they come to visit.
Click here to download Top Eleven for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >
Are you a Top Eleven fan? What games are you going to spend Thanksgiving playing tomorrow?
Monday, December 12, 2011
Infographic: 35 percent of social gamers never played video games
STFU NOOB
First, it's understood that social games are dominated by soap-loving casual gamers. Then, we find that the amount of hardcore gamers on Facebook are growing. After that, it's found that a large amount of social game fans actually own game consoles. Now, an infographic by Mashable reports that a whopping "35 percent of social gamers have no previous gaming experience."
If anything, we now know that social game fans are the most diverse group of gamers the industry has ever seen. Well, it's either that or at least one of the upteen studies, infographics or surveys on the topic is completely wrong. Mashable's Zachary Sniderman also found in his research, titled "The Economics of Social Gaming," that one in every five Americans over the age of six has played a social game. That figure amounts to nearly 60 million Americans.
Of course, the infographic finds that Facebook is the dominant social game platform, with 83 percent of social gamers using the social network to get their daily farming fix. What's most interesting is the finding that 28 percent of U.S. and UK-based social game fans have paid real money for virtual currency. This is leaps and bounds beyond usual the 3 to 5 percent figure thrown around to estimate the amount of paying social gamers
Keep in mind while reading this fancy-looking infographic that the term "social gamer" could mean anything from fans of free-to-play games like MapleStory to Facebook games and perhaps even mobile social games. At this point, what's important to take away is that social game fans could very well be the most diverse type of gamer from demographics to play habits.
What do you think of these new numbers compared to studies released in the past? Are you part of the 35 percent that has never played a traditional game before social games?
First, it's understood that social games are dominated by soap-loving casual gamers. Then, we find that the amount of hardcore gamers on Facebook are growing. After that, it's found that a large amount of social game fans actually own game consoles. Now, an infographic by Mashable reports that a whopping "35 percent of social gamers have no previous gaming experience."
If anything, we now know that social game fans are the most diverse group of gamers the industry has ever seen. Well, it's either that or at least one of the upteen studies, infographics or surveys on the topic is completely wrong. Mashable's Zachary Sniderman also found in his research, titled "The Economics of Social Gaming," that one in every five Americans over the age of six has played a social game. That figure amounts to nearly 60 million Americans.
Of course, the infographic finds that Facebook is the dominant social game platform, with 83 percent of social gamers using the social network to get their daily farming fix. What's most interesting is the finding that 28 percent of U.S. and UK-based social game fans have paid real money for virtual currency. This is leaps and bounds beyond usual the 3 to 5 percent figure thrown around to estimate the amount of paying social gamers
Keep in mind while reading this fancy-looking infographic that the term "social gamer" could mean anything from fans of free-to-play games like MapleStory to Facebook games and perhaps even mobile social games. At this point, what's important to take away is that social game fans could very well be the most diverse type of gamer from demographics to play habits.
What do you think of these new numbers compared to studies released in the past? Are you part of the 35 percent that has never played a traditional game before social games?
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Autumn arrives on Martrano's farm
Today's featured farm is a prime example of why I love the fall. After the hot summer, the cooler temperatures, the peaceful mood, and of course the colorful leaves are all a refreshing change. With its fall colors, its simple layout, and its Halloween-themed goodies, I think Martrano's farm perfectly embraces the changing of the seasons.
Best of all, Martrano provided a few extra images so we can all get a better look at the splendor of this FarmVille design. Obviously Martrano's most impressive feat is the staggering amount of trees on the farm. It must have taken months to collect the amount of trees for this design to be possible. But I think we can agree it was definitely worth it. But make sure you don't overlook the equally impressive gnome collection and the assortment of Halloween goodies to the south and north respectively.
Though Martrano wasn't available for comment, I'm sure this design took a huge amount of time. So do the farm artist a favor and take a closer look at this handsome FarmVille design below.
Click the images to make them larger!
farmville martrano featured farm halloween farmville martrano featured farm halloween
farmville martrano featured farm halloween farmville martrano featured farm halloween
Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.
What do you think of Martrano's autumn farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Best of all, Martrano provided a few extra images so we can all get a better look at the splendor of this FarmVille design. Obviously Martrano's most impressive feat is the staggering amount of trees on the farm. It must have taken months to collect the amount of trees for this design to be possible. But I think we can agree it was definitely worth it. But make sure you don't overlook the equally impressive gnome collection and the assortment of Halloween goodies to the south and north respectively.
Though Martrano wasn't available for comment, I'm sure this design took a huge amount of time. So do the farm artist a favor and take a closer look at this handsome FarmVille design below.
Click the images to make them larger!
farmville martrano featured farm halloween farmville martrano featured farm halloween
farmville martrano featured farm halloween farmville martrano featured farm halloween
Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.
What do you think of Martrano's autumn farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Lady Gaga says gaga-game over to Moshi Monsters' Lady Goo Goo
Lady Gaga has finally seen the Lady Goo Goo music video that garnered millions of views on YouTube, and she didn't like it. Developer Mind Candy announced that Lady Gaga slapped the Moshi Monsters creator with an injunction over "The Moshi Dance," preventing the song's release as a single on iTunes through Mind Candy's new Moshi Music division.
Lady Gaga's lawyers were granted the injunction during an Oct. 10 hearing at the New Rolls building in London, England. More specifically, the injunction keeps Mind Candy from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance OR any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon," according to a release.
Mind Candy says that the lawyer's basis for the injunction was that kids may not be able to tell the difference between the cartoon Lady Goo Goo and the very real Lady Gaga. "This court ruling is a huge disappointment," Mind Candy founder and CEO Michael Acton Smith said in a release. "It's pretty obvious that kids will be able to tell the difference between the two characters. The shame is that millions of kids fell in love with Lady Goo Goo's debut single on YouTube and now won't be able to enjoy her musical exploits. It was all done in the name of fun and we would have thought that Lady Gaga could have seen the humour behind this parody."
Well, we can certainly understand Mind Candy's reasoning: There is no way kids would mistake this terribly annoying song (this writer is also much older than seven) for the real Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (also fairly unbearable). However, it's clear that Mind Candy looked to turn a profit from the parody, which is right about when the lawyers swoop down in any situation. In other news, Moshi Monsters has over 50 million players with plans for yet another Nintendo DS game--they're doing just fine.
Were you a fan of Lady Goo Goo's "The Moshi Dance"? Do you think Lady Gaga's lawyers were right in ordering for an injunction against Mind Candy over the parody?
Lady Gaga's lawyers were granted the injunction during an Oct. 10 hearing at the New Rolls building in London, England. More specifically, the injunction keeps Mind Candy from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance OR any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon," according to a release.
Mind Candy says that the lawyer's basis for the injunction was that kids may not be able to tell the difference between the cartoon Lady Goo Goo and the very real Lady Gaga. "This court ruling is a huge disappointment," Mind Candy founder and CEO Michael Acton Smith said in a release. "It's pretty obvious that kids will be able to tell the difference between the two characters. The shame is that millions of kids fell in love with Lady Goo Goo's debut single on YouTube and now won't be able to enjoy her musical exploits. It was all done in the name of fun and we would have thought that Lady Gaga could have seen the humour behind this parody."
Well, we can certainly understand Mind Candy's reasoning: There is no way kids would mistake this terribly annoying song (this writer is also much older than seven) for the real Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (also fairly unbearable). However, it's clear that Mind Candy looked to turn a profit from the parody, which is right about when the lawyers swoop down in any situation. In other news, Moshi Monsters has over 50 million players with plans for yet another Nintendo DS game--they're doing just fine.
Were you a fan of Lady Goo Goo's "The Moshi Dance"? Do you think Lady Gaga's lawyers were right in ordering for an injunction against Mind Candy over the parody?
Cafe World Remy's Menu Goals: Everything you need to know
Way back in May of this year, we were introduced to a chef named Remy in Cafe World. Well, calling Remy a fully-fledged chef is a bit of a stretch - he's more of a Sous Chef. However, in the months since being introduced to you through Sous Chef goals, Remy has been studying every book he can find, and has come up with some ideas for new dishes. If you're willing to help him through a new eight-part goal series, those dishes can be yours.
Note: This looks like yet another goal series where the dishes you'll need to cook will be different from those listed here. In the end, your total cooking time across all goals should balance out, however.
Remy's Menu 1
Ask for 5 Remy's Menus
Serve 15 Veggie Sushi
Serve 15 Gem Cakes
Asking for Remy's Menus can be done once every four hours via a general news item posted on your wall.
Remy's Menu 2
Ask for 6 Jalapeno Peppers
Serve 25 Filipino Paellas
Ask for 8 Ripe Bananas
Regardless of the dishes you're required to cook here, you should be asked to collect the same ingredients, in the same quantities. Why? Well, they go into a new "Jalapeno Banana Mash" recipe that you'll receive for finishing this goal.
Remy's Menu 3
Ask for 7 Cooking Magazines
Serve 12 Luigi's Linguini
Serve 20 Creamy Corn Soup
Again, you'll need to ask for the Cooking Magazines regardless, but you may have to cook different kinds of soup, or even different dishes entirely to finish this one off.
Remy's Menu 4
Ask for 7 Plump Eggplants
Serve 30 Antipasto
Ask for 8 Bags of Corn Meal
After asking for these two ingredients, you'll receive another recipe: Eggplant Enchiladas. With this and Jalapeno Banana Mash, I have to give Remy one thing - his dishes certainly are creative.
Remy's Menu 5
Serve Ginger Ale 12 Times
Serve 18 Watermelon Gazpacho
Master Jalapeno Banana Mash to level 1
Ginger Ale is available to serve from your Drink Bar (on the Basics tab of the menu), and it costs 22 energy to create a single batch. You'll receive six servings in each batch, so at least this goal comes out evenly.
Remy's Menu 6
Master Eggplant Enchiladas to Level 1
Serve 20 Taste Lab dishes with White Rice
Spice 5 of your Dishes
It doesn't seem to matter which type of spice you use, so feel free to use Salts and Peppers if you have a ton of those lying around. As for the White Rice / Taste Lab requirement, this requires you to have completed the DishMaster to unlock Signature Dishes. White Rise is a base ingredient in new recipes, so if you create just a single dish containing White Rice and then serve it 20 times, you'll finish this task.
Remy's Menu 7
Ask for 8 Maple Bacon
Serve 30 Crackling Peking Ducks
Ask for 9 Cartons of Eggs
For finishing this goal, you'll receive perhaps the most ...interesting dish yet: Bacon Meringue Pie. Yum? Whether this truly tastes good or not, you'll need to serve this dish for the final goal, so let's get started.
Remy's Menu 8
Master Jalapeno Banana Mash to Level 2
Master Eggplant Enchiladas to Level 2
Serve Bacon Meringue Pie 14 Times
Again, by the time you reach the end of this particular goal series, your total cooking time should have evened out across all players, regardless of which particular dishes you were asked to cook throughout. That is, if you cooked a 30 minute dish for one goal, and your friend had to cook a two-hour dish, you will have to cook a longer dish later on to make up for it. We apologize that there's no way for us to predict each user's own dishes, but if Zynga ever decides to stop relying on such a "random" goal setup, we'll definitely let you know.
What do you think of these eight "Remy's Menu" goals, and the dishes you win within?
Note: This looks like yet another goal series where the dishes you'll need to cook will be different from those listed here. In the end, your total cooking time across all goals should balance out, however.
Remy's Menu 1
Ask for 5 Remy's Menus
Serve 15 Veggie Sushi
Serve 15 Gem Cakes
Asking for Remy's Menus can be done once every four hours via a general news item posted on your wall.
Remy's Menu 2
Ask for 6 Jalapeno Peppers
Serve 25 Filipino Paellas
Ask for 8 Ripe Bananas
Regardless of the dishes you're required to cook here, you should be asked to collect the same ingredients, in the same quantities. Why? Well, they go into a new "Jalapeno Banana Mash" recipe that you'll receive for finishing this goal.
Remy's Menu 3
Ask for 7 Cooking Magazines
Serve 12 Luigi's Linguini
Serve 20 Creamy Corn Soup
Again, you'll need to ask for the Cooking Magazines regardless, but you may have to cook different kinds of soup, or even different dishes entirely to finish this one off.
Remy's Menu 4
Ask for 7 Plump Eggplants
Serve 30 Antipasto
Ask for 8 Bags of Corn Meal
After asking for these two ingredients, you'll receive another recipe: Eggplant Enchiladas. With this and Jalapeno Banana Mash, I have to give Remy one thing - his dishes certainly are creative.
Remy's Menu 5
Serve Ginger Ale 12 Times
Serve 18 Watermelon Gazpacho
Master Jalapeno Banana Mash to level 1
Ginger Ale is available to serve from your Drink Bar (on the Basics tab of the menu), and it costs 22 energy to create a single batch. You'll receive six servings in each batch, so at least this goal comes out evenly.
Remy's Menu 6
Master Eggplant Enchiladas to Level 1
Serve 20 Taste Lab dishes with White Rice
Spice 5 of your Dishes
It doesn't seem to matter which type of spice you use, so feel free to use Salts and Peppers if you have a ton of those lying around. As for the White Rice / Taste Lab requirement, this requires you to have completed the DishMaster to unlock Signature Dishes. White Rise is a base ingredient in new recipes, so if you create just a single dish containing White Rice and then serve it 20 times, you'll finish this task.
Remy's Menu 7
Ask for 8 Maple Bacon
Serve 30 Crackling Peking Ducks
Ask for 9 Cartons of Eggs
For finishing this goal, you'll receive perhaps the most ...interesting dish yet: Bacon Meringue Pie. Yum? Whether this truly tastes good or not, you'll need to serve this dish for the final goal, so let's get started.
Remy's Menu 8
Master Jalapeno Banana Mash to Level 2
Master Eggplant Enchiladas to Level 2
Serve Bacon Meringue Pie 14 Times
Again, by the time you reach the end of this particular goal series, your total cooking time should have evened out across all players, regardless of which particular dishes you were asked to cook throughout. That is, if you cooked a 30 minute dish for one goal, and your friend had to cook a two-hour dish, you will have to cook a longer dish later on to make up for it. We apologize that there's no way for us to predict each user's own dishes, but if Zynga ever decides to stop relying on such a "random" goal setup, we'll definitely let you know.
What do you think of these eight "Remy's Menu" goals, and the dishes you win within?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Quote of the Moment: 'People will get burnt out on' today's social games
Better prepare your last words, CityVille. Alright, so the top Facebook game might have longer than that in it, but Glitch developer and Tiny Speck founder Stewart Butterfield says that games designed like Zynga's best can't last forever. Speck, best known for creating Flickr, made the projection during an in-depth interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
"People will get burnt out on this," Butterfield told GI.biz. "Maybe some of them will last for a very long time, but I feel like the easy successes have been taken already, and that won't work in the long run. I mean, I could be wrong about that, and I hope I am, because that would be a lame future for games."
The social game rookie is speaking to how the majority of, if not all, popular Facebook games are designed: the Energy system. Butterfield thinks that social gamers will eventually grow tired of being forced to either wait to progress in a game after their Energy is spent or put up a buck to keep going. (Only it's slowly becoming more like $5.)
"Just my own reaction, the first time I saw that it was okay, the second time I saw that it was okay, and by whatever time it is now I'm like, 'I get this. It's transparent, and I don't give a shit about having a bigger building here that cost me three dollars.,'" the Glitch maker admitted to GI.biz. In other words, he's tired of the gated progress design in Facebook games. Actually, so should we after four years of putting up with it.
Are you sick of Energy in social games? What should social game makers do to change this system yet remain profitable so that they might keep making games?
"People will get burnt out on this," Butterfield told GI.biz. "Maybe some of them will last for a very long time, but I feel like the easy successes have been taken already, and that won't work in the long run. I mean, I could be wrong about that, and I hope I am, because that would be a lame future for games."
The social game rookie is speaking to how the majority of, if not all, popular Facebook games are designed: the Energy system. Butterfield thinks that social gamers will eventually grow tired of being forced to either wait to progress in a game after their Energy is spent or put up a buck to keep going. (Only it's slowly becoming more like $5.)
"Just my own reaction, the first time I saw that it was okay, the second time I saw that it was okay, and by whatever time it is now I'm like, 'I get this. It's transparent, and I don't give a shit about having a bigger building here that cost me three dollars.,'" the Glitch maker admitted to GI.biz. In other words, he's tired of the gated progress design in Facebook games. Actually, so should we after four years of putting up with it.
Are you sick of Energy in social games? What should social game makers do to change this system yet remain profitable so that they might keep making games?
Game of the Day: Bird Pax
Today's Game of the Day is a unique bird-themed card game. It combines rules from a variety of popular games and mixes them all into one addictive package. It might take some careful strategy and a bit of luck to get through all the levels. But, once you've got a grasp on the Bird Pax basics, you should be able to cruise through.
The rules of Bird Pax are a bit complicated for beginners, so I'll explain here. The object of each round is to earn as many cards as you can. You're always trying to take your opponent to the cleaners. You win cards by having better cards in each match up. The higher the number, the better the card. When cards are played from the same bird family or of the same value, a "Pax" begins. Each player risks 3 cards. The 4th card will determine who wins all the cards currently in play. If you're still a little confused, check out the full instructions in the game. Good luck!
Click here to play Bird Pax!
bird pax game of the day bird pax game of the day
What level were you able to get to in Bird Pax?
The rules of Bird Pax are a bit complicated for beginners, so I'll explain here. The object of each round is to earn as many cards as you can. You're always trying to take your opponent to the cleaners. You win cards by having better cards in each match up. The higher the number, the better the card. When cards are played from the same bird family or of the same value, a "Pax" begins. Each player risks 3 cards. The 4th card will determine who wins all the cards currently in play. If you're still a little confused, check out the full instructions in the game. Good luck!
Click here to play Bird Pax!
bird pax game of the day bird pax game of the day
What level were you able to get to in Bird Pax?
The Sims Social 'Add me' Page
Looking for new friends to play The Sims Social on Facebook with? Write 'ADD ME' in the comments below.
Note: Be sure to do ONE of the following, so other people can friend you on Facebook:
- Log in to our comments system using Facebook Connect then leave a message. [Recommended]
facebook connect comments
- Include a link to your Facebook page in your message
- Include the email you use on your Facebook account in your message.
Note: Be sure to do ONE of the following, so other people can friend you on Facebook:
- Log in to our comments system using Facebook Connect then leave a message. [Recommended]
facebook connect comments
- Include a link to your Facebook page in your message
- Include the email you use on your Facebook account in your message.
This Hess Toy Truck advergame on Facebook is actually ... fun?
But--but that means everything I've learned about advergames is a lie. That's not true. That's impossible! Ahem, anyone else remember getting a toy Hess truck every Christmas from gramps? At least this writer does, but that's not all that makes this brand new Facebook advergame a blast to play. Titled simply Hess Racer Game, the game throws players behind the wheel of digital versions of the 2011 Hess Toy Truck and Race Car.
And--get this--you don't click a single thing to play but the "Play Game" button to start. To guide either the Race Car or Toy Truck across a cityscape, mountain highway or an interstate, use either the "W" and "D" keys or the arrow keys on your keyboard. The goal of the game is to last as long as possible without hitting any cars or guard rails. The game allows you to take just a few hits.
Pressing the space bar activates turbo boost, which nets you more points but reduces your handling. Once your run is through, you can post your results to Facebook (with no confirmation). You'll earn coins from your races that you can spend on collectible, digital cards featuring throw backs to classic toy Hess vehicles from the last 47 years. Players can also challenge their Facebook friends to beat their high score for extra coins.
And once you reach around 30,000 points, boy is this game a challenge. Hess Car Racer, developed by Sticky Studios, is available for free on Facebook, iPhone and iPad right now. (An Android version is coming Dec. 2.) Sure, it's an advergame, but at least it's a fun one.
Click here to play Hess Car Racer on Facebook Now >
How do you feel about advergames on Facebook? Do you remember getting Hess trucks every Christmas as a kid?
And--get this--you don't click a single thing to play but the "Play Game" button to start. To guide either the Race Car or Toy Truck across a cityscape, mountain highway or an interstate, use either the "W" and "D" keys or the arrow keys on your keyboard. The goal of the game is to last as long as possible without hitting any cars or guard rails. The game allows you to take just a few hits.
Pressing the space bar activates turbo boost, which nets you more points but reduces your handling. Once your run is through, you can post your results to Facebook (with no confirmation). You'll earn coins from your races that you can spend on collectible, digital cards featuring throw backs to classic toy Hess vehicles from the last 47 years. Players can also challenge their Facebook friends to beat their high score for extra coins.
And once you reach around 30,000 points, boy is this game a challenge. Hess Car Racer, developed by Sticky Studios, is available for free on Facebook, iPhone and iPad right now. (An Android version is coming Dec. 2.) Sure, it's an advergame, but at least it's a fun one.
Click here to play Hess Car Racer on Facebook Now >
How do you feel about advergames on Facebook? Do you remember getting Hess trucks every Christmas as a kid?
Playfish makes it rain on The Sims Social players on the regular
Again, for no reason at all. On Thursday, Playfish made a fairly groundbreaking change to The Sims Social's Daily Bonus. Now, every fifth consecutive log-in into the game will result in a random amount of free SimCash. Players can win up to 10 SimCash from the new feature, again, every five days. There's no word of this being a promotion or an event--this is a permanent change.
The Playfish community team issued a forum poll to gauge the change's effectiveness, and an impressive 41 percent of 102 voters reported receiving 10 free SimCash as a result of the new Daily Bonus. That's pretty much a guaranteed 10 SimCash every three weeks. Now, we might say that Playfish and EA are doing this "for no reason at all," but sadly it's clear.
The Sims Social may be the second best performing Facebook game to CityVille with 33.4 million monthly players and 5.9 million daily players, but both of those figures have been in decline for almost a month now. In fact, according to AppData, it's only been in the past two days that the drop has leveled off and stabilized. So, you can imagine that a promotion like this is not only to keep things stabilized, but likely to bring daily player numbers back up too. Nothing says "Please come back?" like free stuff.
Are still enjoying The Sims Social? Do you think a promotion like this could work to turn monthly players into daily players again?
The Playfish community team issued a forum poll to gauge the change's effectiveness, and an impressive 41 percent of 102 voters reported receiving 10 free SimCash as a result of the new Daily Bonus. That's pretty much a guaranteed 10 SimCash every three weeks. Now, we might say that Playfish and EA are doing this "for no reason at all," but sadly it's clear.
The Sims Social may be the second best performing Facebook game to CityVille with 33.4 million monthly players and 5.9 million daily players, but both of those figures have been in decline for almost a month now. In fact, according to AppData, it's only been in the past two days that the drop has leveled off and stabilized. So, you can imagine that a promotion like this is not only to keep things stabilized, but likely to bring daily player numbers back up too. Nothing says "Please come back?" like free stuff.
Are still enjoying The Sims Social? Do you think a promotion like this could work to turn monthly players into daily players again?
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Modern Warfare 3 Leaked, Says Report
VentureBeat reports that a pirated copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is already being distributed illegally over the internet.
According to the article, the second disc of the PC version of Modern Warfare 3 was stolen from a shipping warehouse in Fresno California. While the article on VentureBeat doesn't clarify this, there doesn't appear to be a leak of the game on any torrent websites. Instead it seems as though multiple persons are selling illegal copies of the game.
The article says that Activision is aggressively pursuing anyone distributing the game -- as well as anyone caught playing it as one post on Craigslist warns: "Do Not Buy MWF3 Before Release Date...They Will Come Get You...(Everywhere)."
It's worth pointing out that even if one was able to get a hold of this alleged leaked copy, you can't play the game with just the second disc.
According to the article, the second disc of the PC version of Modern Warfare 3 was stolen from a shipping warehouse in Fresno California. While the article on VentureBeat doesn't clarify this, there doesn't appear to be a leak of the game on any torrent websites. Instead it seems as though multiple persons are selling illegal copies of the game.
The article says that Activision is aggressively pursuing anyone distributing the game -- as well as anyone caught playing it as one post on Craigslist warns: "Do Not Buy MWF3 Before Release Date...They Will Come Get You...(Everywhere)."
It's worth pointing out that even if one was able to get a hold of this alleged leaked copy, you can't play the game with just the second disc.
Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC)
One of the best gags from The Secret of Monkey Island placed our scrappy hero behind a wall where he got into a series of preposterous events out of view. All players could see was onomatopoeia describing his exploits while the HUD showed him using bizarre objects until he emerged several seconds later with his pockets full of random, inevitably useful items. The new point-and-click adventure, The Book of Unwritten Tales, recycles this bit. It's still funny today, but far from original. This is endemic of the game as a whole; it's a loving tribute to the genre's heyday that cribs from the best, but fails to build on them.
The story surrounds a handful of characters whose fates intertwine with an elderly archaeologist that holds knowledge of an artifact that could end an ongoing war. Initially you play as a wood elf and a restless gnome looking for adventure, but the playable cast gradually expands. Most of the time you can only control one character at a time, but specific sections later allow you to toggle between characters at will.
Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC)
It's a throwaway plot, but that's only a small part of the story. Characters are well written and exceptionally voice-acted by a European cast. One thing I really appreciated about the dialogue was that the lines you select are slightly different from what comes out the character's mouth (ala Mass Effect). It's subtle, but it makes things slightly more engaging when you've not already heard your next line verbatim.
More often than not the humor is clever with plenty of sharp satire, though there was a bit too much fourth wall breaking for my tastes and it occasionally crosses the line from homage to rip-off. Its numerous pop culture references are more akin to Shrek than The Princess Bride, but it's still nevertheless charming. My only major qualm with the script came in the last two minutes when the subtitles inexplicably reverted back to their native German before the incredibly abrupt, unsatisfying denouement.
The game looks beautiful with a smooth blend of 3D characters merged with 2D backdrops. Animations are lovely, making it especially rewarding when you crack a solution. It's a gorgeous world, too, with varied set-pieces and some creative character designs spread over its dozen-plus hour campaign.
Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC)
In many ways The Book of Forgotten Tales feels like a throwback to vintage point-and-clicks, though its puzzles play things too safe, rarely straying from the "use everything with everything else" formula. Often the best brain teasers from classic games required you to think outside the box, but there's none of that here. Most of the solutions are sensible, but too obvious. That "a-ha!" moment you get from figuring out an unusual way of using a typical household item is lacking.
Making things easier, the streamlined interface allows you to highlight objects you can interact with and all actions are handled by one button. For better or worse, you can't attempt to use inventory objects where they won't work. On one hand this makes trial and error much quicker since you can tell by whether your cursor lights up if you can do anything. Unfortunately, one of the best parts from old-school point-and-clicks was listening to characters chastise your stupider suggestions, which is missed here.
For something called The Book of Unwritten Tales, it treads awfully familiar ground; yet it does so with moxie and high production values. It's generally knowing and polished enough that it can be forgiven for not innovating a great deal. The Book of Unwritten Tales feels like a great cover of what's come before, even if it can't quite capture its forebear's magic.
The story surrounds a handful of characters whose fates intertwine with an elderly archaeologist that holds knowledge of an artifact that could end an ongoing war. Initially you play as a wood elf and a restless gnome looking for adventure, but the playable cast gradually expands. Most of the time you can only control one character at a time, but specific sections later allow you to toggle between characters at will.
Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC)
It's a throwaway plot, but that's only a small part of the story. Characters are well written and exceptionally voice-acted by a European cast. One thing I really appreciated about the dialogue was that the lines you select are slightly different from what comes out the character's mouth (ala Mass Effect). It's subtle, but it makes things slightly more engaging when you've not already heard your next line verbatim.
More often than not the humor is clever with plenty of sharp satire, though there was a bit too much fourth wall breaking for my tastes and it occasionally crosses the line from homage to rip-off. Its numerous pop culture references are more akin to Shrek than The Princess Bride, but it's still nevertheless charming. My only major qualm with the script came in the last two minutes when the subtitles inexplicably reverted back to their native German before the incredibly abrupt, unsatisfying denouement.
The game looks beautiful with a smooth blend of 3D characters merged with 2D backdrops. Animations are lovely, making it especially rewarding when you crack a solution. It's a gorgeous world, too, with varied set-pieces and some creative character designs spread over its dozen-plus hour campaign.
Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC)
In many ways The Book of Forgotten Tales feels like a throwback to vintage point-and-clicks, though its puzzles play things too safe, rarely straying from the "use everything with everything else" formula. Often the best brain teasers from classic games required you to think outside the box, but there's none of that here. Most of the solutions are sensible, but too obvious. That "a-ha!" moment you get from figuring out an unusual way of using a typical household item is lacking.
Making things easier, the streamlined interface allows you to highlight objects you can interact with and all actions are handled by one button. For better or worse, you can't attempt to use inventory objects where they won't work. On one hand this makes trial and error much quicker since you can tell by whether your cursor lights up if you can do anything. Unfortunately, one of the best parts from old-school point-and-clicks was listening to characters chastise your stupider suggestions, which is missed here.
For something called The Book of Unwritten Tales, it treads awfully familiar ground; yet it does so with moxie and high production values. It's generally knowing and polished enough that it can be forgiven for not innovating a great deal. The Book of Unwritten Tales feels like a great cover of what's come before, even if it can't quite capture its forebear's magic.
First Footage of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Film
It seems like the film is going to remain very faithful to the game, at least visually. I can appreciate that. It would be just as silly if the adaptation went in a serious, John Grisham type of direction, but boy oh boy does this movie look awful. I think that Phoenix Wright would have worked quite well as an animated series, a kind of Saturday morning cartoon Law & Order, but there are some things that don't translate into live-action. The haircuts should have been the first sign of trouble.
Monday, October 24, 2011
BioShock On PS Vita Won’t Be Infinite Or A Return To Rapture
When it comes to new hardware launches, you can always count on certain developers or publishers to pledge their support straight out the gate. Ubisoft will trot out Rabbids to make sure there’s family-friendly hilarity on the Wii U and EA’s always going to have some iteration of Madden or FIFA for the next next-gen PlayStation or Xbox.
But Irrational Games isn’t on of those companies. They’re a smaller studio and they turn smarter-than-average games, which takes longer than creating sequel after sequel. That’s why it surprised many when Irrational’s creative director Ken Levine came out during E3 to announce that he and his colleagues would be working on a Bioshock game for the PlayStation Vita. Things have been quiet since E3 but Levine recently took the time to give Joystiq an update on what not to expect from the studio’s Vita debut.
Levine says that the aim is to create an all-new experience that feels native to the vita and not just a ported, scaled-down version of something that Irrational’s already done. Joystiq quotes Levine as saying, “I’d rather do something that’s an experiment and that’s a little different. And is unique for the franchise.” He also says that, because the studio’s got a lot less manpower than other developers who develop for console and handheld, the Vita BioShock game might be the first time Irrational works with an outside entity to execute their vision.
But Irrational Games isn’t on of those companies. They’re a smaller studio and they turn smarter-than-average games, which takes longer than creating sequel after sequel. That’s why it surprised many when Irrational’s creative director Ken Levine came out during E3 to announce that he and his colleagues would be working on a Bioshock game for the PlayStation Vita. Things have been quiet since E3 but Levine recently took the time to give Joystiq an update on what not to expect from the studio’s Vita debut.
Levine says that the aim is to create an all-new experience that feels native to the vita and not just a ported, scaled-down version of something that Irrational’s already done. Joystiq quotes Levine as saying, “I’d rather do something that’s an experiment and that’s a little different. And is unique for the franchise.” He also says that, because the studio’s got a lot less manpower than other developers who develop for console and handheld, the Vita BioShock game might be the first time Irrational works with an outside entity to execute their vision.
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