Capcom's iPhone Facebook games finally named and priced (hint: they're free)

Capcom, creator of industry hits like Street Fighter and Resident Evil, has finally named two of the three Facebook-connected iPhone games the company alluded to last month. The third game is said to be a "licensed title based off a children's entertainment property" slated to release this November. Oh, and how could we forget that all three games will be free in the Apple App Store. First up is Lil' Pirates (pictured), a game that looks somewhat similar to Playfish's Pirates Ahoy set to release by the end of October. In Lil' Pirates, developed by IGUO Entertainment, players will assume the role of captain of a pirate ship, sail the seas in search for buried treasure and later battle other vessels in fiery naval combat. Players will have access to premium ship upgrades as well through paid transactions.

The second game that Capcom decided to name is Zombie Cafe. Expected to release in November, Zombie Cafe follows a mega corporation as they enslave the undead to serve in their restaurant empire. (Think a much, much more evil Cafe World.) You fortunately are one of those evil restaurant managers, directing zombies to serve customers and manage product. If you feel threatened by another cafe's success, you can always destroy them using your cadaverous wait staff and nab their secret recipes.

It's still unknown how deep the games' Facebook connectivity will be, but at the very least we expect Facebook Connect from Capcom. We'll have more details once Lil' Pirates launches this month and Zombie Cafe in November.

Digital Chocolate offers sneak peek at newest Facebook game - but what is it?

Digital Chocolate has been on an absolute roll recently, releasing three new games on Facebook just last week (two of which, Hollywood City and Vegas City, are Millionaire City clones - the third, Island God, is not). And while they haven't launched another game just yet, they are apparently going to quite soon, as this morning, we received an image from the developer detailing their newest game.

We weren't given a name, a genre, or any details other than this picture. All we know is that the game will be coming "very soon."

That being the case, help us speculate in as to what this game could be about - a WoW-style RPG? A text-based game in the same vein as Mafia Wars?

[UPDATE]: We've been given a tip as to what the title of this newest game might be, as there is an as-of-this-writing empty sub-forum on the Digital Chocolate forums that pertains to a game called "Ninjas Rising." Now, we have no official word as to whether or not this will be the actual name of the game, but in the interest of full disclosure, there it is.

Flickr creator to 'Glitch' Facebook with new social game in 2011

Stewart Butterfield actually started in the games business with Ludicorp before Flickr became his claim to fame earlier this decade. Now, Butterfield returns to gaming at probably the most opportune time on one of the most opportune platforms. Butterfield's first social game with his studio, Tiny Speck Inc., is titled "Glitch" and is set to launch on Facebook in 2011. Obviously a major departure from what made him famous and very rich, we hope, the game takes place within the imagination of 11 giants. It's already weird, we know.

According to the game's first trailer, players will become figments of these giants' imaginations, working to make their ideas bigger and better. The game seems like it will play a lot like Maple Story with side scrolling controls and similar interaction. Other things that we could deduce from the trailer? How about learning new skills, studies, making fruit juice and blue, humanoid goat creatures?

For some reason, angry crows called The Rook have attacked the 11 giants' minds to steal their imaginations. It's apparently up to you, blue goat man, to thwart their plans with juice. That last part is a complete guess, but who wouldn't like to see that happen?

I don't know about you, but that's more than enough for me to at least give it shot. Take a look at the trailer above and you'll see how Butterfield is making extremely entertaining use of his philosophy degree. According to News.com, Glitch will be made available on PC and mobile devices as well as Facebook in order to maximize its presence. Expect Glitch to release in March or April of 2011.

Facebook How-To: Discovering new games on Facebook

With the Facebook gaming world being filled with literally thousands upon thousands of different apps that any one player could potentially try, it can be incredibly difficult to find new games to play. Wanting to find out what the newest released games are? Good luck searching for titles in the Facebook Search bar, as you're likely to find apps that A) may not even exist or B) existed at one point but have been shut down, their fan pages still lingering in space.

That being said, there actually is a way to look at all of the new applications and games that have been added to Facebook, but this app listing's location can be a bit hard to find. In fact, unless you are particularly searching for it, it's unlikely that you'd just stumble into finding it.

That being the case, in the interest of helping you guys find all of the new games that you might want to play on Facebook, we've put together a Facebook How-To, detailing the exact steps you'll need to go through to look at the games directory, and how to do so by looking at the newest games before all else. This is all done within Facebook proper - you just have to know where to look.

Meet us behind the break for a full guide on how to find new apps. To start, you'll need to head to a page that might not sound intuitive when it comes to finding new games to play, as you'll be going to a page that houses requests for those you've already installed and currently enjoy. You'll need to click on the "Game Requests" page on the left side of the screen - the same place that you go to accept all of your game gift requests.

Next, you'll need to scroll down to the very bottom of this page - past all of your gift requests, past the game-centric view of news feed items, past the list of your friends' installed games - the very bottom. There, almost hidden, you'll see a link called "Games Directory." Click on this, as seen below:

This will take you to the "All Applications > Games" page, where you'll see a list of game recommendations (which can be helpful in their own right), and a list of the most popular Facebook games on the site, in terms of monthly active users. While you are more than welcome to browse through any and all apps from this page, including those that are recommended to you, in the interest of finding the very newest apps on the site, you'll need to click on the "See All" button that is placed in the "Popular" games section of the menu. Note: You can click on "Recently Added" as well, but this shows you just a very limited list of the recently added games on Facebook, so it's not recommendable.

Only after you click on "See All," which brings up a 20 page list of the most popular apps, should you click on the "Recently Added" link. This then resorts the newest applications, and shows you a whopping 20 pages of the newest applications added to Facebook. These games come from all sorts of genres, and may not even be in your native language (for instance, as seen below, their is an App called "Citta d'Europa" listed at the top of the Recently Added page, but we doubt most English speakers would be interested in it).

In this way, you'll be able to search out the newest games on the service, or, if you choose to stick with the "popular" sorting, you can browse through the entire application directory (including non-games - using the links at the far left of the page as seen in the screenshot below) to find applications and games you may not have even known existed, but which your friends might already be playing.

Clicking on a game's name will take you to the game's page on Facebook, where you can install the game as usual, or see if any of your friends are actively playing it.

We wish that Facebook made this app directory easier to find, but for those willing to do a little bit of clicking, you too can access this incredibly convenient feature on the site. With apps being added all of the time (on a daily basis), using these few, simple steps will ensure that you stay on top of all of the latest happenings on Facebook - along with checking in with Games.com - The Blog, of course.

More Like 'Team FarmVille 2': Portal creator sets Steam Trading loose

If you hadn't noticed, Portal creator Valve's Steam service and store is slowly becoming more and more like ... FarmVille. I know, it sounds strange, but true. The maker of some of the most hardcore, intense shooter games of all time like Half Life and Team Fortress has released the final version of Steam Trading. This new feature was released in a beta test last month, but now is ready for everyone. Better yet, the feature is available for two more games, at that: Portal 2 and Sega's Spiral Knights.

This feature allows Steam users to trade and gift items to their friends regardless of whether they're logged into their game of choice. Now, players can trade items or (new, never-played) games with friends for whatever they feel is an equal exchange. For instance, a Team Fortress 2 player can trade the hat she found while playing with a friend who has a nifty shield that she wants for her Spiral Knight.

However, players must be friends over Steam (or be in a Group Chat) to trade or give items to one another. Hmm, that sounds vaguely familiar, no? From offering free-to-play multiplayer games earlier this year like Spiral Knights to now allowing players to give each other items through a friends list, Steam has slowly become more and more like Facebook as a games platform. While its far from Facebook and its games, and likely always will be, the influence is undeniable. All we're waiting for is the day it takes Energy to fire bullets in Team Fortress 2. (Fat chance ... we hope.)

Yoostar Playground on Facebook: Viral videos in your control

Just about anyone who watched The Oscars this year would agree the funniest part of the evening was as Anne Hathaway and James Franco frolicked through scenes of Oscar-nominated flicks. With Yoostar 2 for Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Eye by Blitz Games and Yoostar Entertainment Group, players can insert themselves into scenes from classic movies like 300 and The Godfather and ad lib like the pros. But it's only through Yoostar Playground on Facebook that your 30-second clips have the potential to go viral.
Yoostar Playground video gallery

Your ProgressYoostar Playground, developed internally by its publisher, allows players of the console games to upload their ad libbed video clips to the web application and share them with the existing player base. Then, the audience can browse the litany of videos by several different parameters like "Most Popular" or "Top Awarded," and watch away. However, you can then rate those videos through a star system and grant them awards like "Best Script Flip" and of course "Best Actor."

As these videos get rated, they can gain notoriety throughout the community on the full-screen app's home page in the "Featured Videos" section. Players can also share these videos through Facebook and Twitter for friends outside of Yoostar Playground, giving them the potential to go viral. As users view, rate and award videos, their level will increase (pictured right), which increases their renown and their stash of Yoobucks. This in-game currency isn't available for use yet nor can it be bought, but it allows players to gain levels more quickly and boost their notoriety on Yoostar.

Many of the videos on Yoostar Playground are available for public use, meaning other users can take their friends' videos and create a series of scenes through the Video Mashup tool. Say you want to make a "Best of" compilation of the greatest King Leonidas impressions on Yoostar--this is exactly what Video Mashup is for. Users can then take those Mashups and share them for their fellow players to rate and award.

While we've yet to play Yoostar 2 for consoles (or the PC or Mac), the Yoostar Playground companion app is definitely a blast. Players can use the app right now to view and share videos, but we'd imagine creating your own and sharing them through the console games would be far more entertaining.

Click here to check out Yoostar Playground on Facebook Now>

Have you played Yoostar on either Facebook or the consoles? What do you think of the viral potential behind Yoostar videos through Yoostar Playground?

Zynga, well, drops Drop7 Free on iOS, ad-free $2.99 version available

Since Zynga acquired NewToy in late 2010, the developer behind Words with Friends, it has been serious about mobile gaming. This is the company's next major release, and its not FrontierVille Mobile--it's Drop7. Both a color and number-matching puzzler, Drop7 lives in a strange world where Tetris and Bejeweled are just best friends. The game features three difficulty levels, public leader boards and automatically saves your state when closed through the Home button. The free version, of course, contains ads, though the company offers an ad-free version for $2.99. Does this mean a future in original, (possibly non-social) mobile games from Zynga? If that depends on this critically-acclaimed title, then yes, most likely.

[Image Credit: iTunes; Zynga]

Have you played Drop7 on your iOS device yet? What do you think about Zynga's mobile efforts thus far?

Zynga dominates social games market with 38 percent share

Surprised? If Zynga were a person, he'd probably be Daddy Warbucks, or maybe even Uncle Pennybags. IHS Screen Digest reports that Zynga, who brought in $554 million in revenue in 2010, now holds 38.1 percent of the overall social games market share. That's almost a 5 percent increase from the previous year's 33.9 percent. This means that not only is the creator of FarmVille and CityVille filthy rich (it's estimated to be worth $9 to $10 billion), it's also very, very powerful. At least when it comes to social games, anyway.

According to PCMag, the report goes on to reveal that EA, the second place social game publisher and owner of Playfish, recorded a mere estimated $90 million in revenue, or 6.5 percent of the market. And the third place publisher and developer team, Disney and Playdom, hold just 5.5 percent of the market with an estimated $77 million in revenue.

But Zynga's power isn't just it's money, but what that money allows it to do. When it wants to enter a new market, create a game with a new feature or on a new platform, it just buys companies with an existing presence or expertise there. Regardless of whether its methods are 'borrowed' from weaker companies, when Zynga introduces a relatively new feature to its games, the entire industry takes notes.

Just look at the questing system first released by Zynga through FrontierVille. Sure, it could have been picked up from another company, but look at every single social game you play now. (Does it have quests? We thought so.) While we're all looking for innovation from these smaller, more fearless social game companies, it's Zynga that will bring that innovation to the forefront regardless of where it comes from, legitimate or not.

Zynga sends Mafia Wars on the warpath with 'Declare War' revamp

If there is one shining light in Mafia Wars' list of features, it's the focus on competitive collaboration. However, Zynga decided that its relatively new Declare War feature, sort of a mob-wide extension of standard fights, was in dire need of a upgrade. While the new Declare War operates much like the original, it's the little things that count. However, only a few of the imminent changes are live now, but let's take a look at what Zynga has in store for this fixer-upper.

These are all the features teased by Zynga as either in the game right now or coming soon:

    Healing wounded friends (Coming Soon)
    Splash damage effects
    New Achievements
    Live Chat (Coming Soon)


First of all, we should point out that not much has changed in the general flow of the Declare War feature--at least not yet. Wars still last eight hours or until one mob falls, and players still need to ask fellow mob members to attack individual players. But soon, players will be able to heal their wounded friends when in War, extending their survivability in combat.

However, Zynga added something called "Splash Damage" to balance that out. When you eliminate an enemy, some extra damage will be applied to an adjacent opponent, signified with a single line rather than an "X." This will make your friends' lives easier and, if your mob is fast, could create a potentially unstoppable chain effect of damage that your opponents might not be able to keep up with.

Mafia Wars Declare War Achievements
There are new Achievements to be hoarded in the new Declare War feature. And while they're all either hidden or not yet released, we do know how to get them: collect loot. It's that simple, really. There are 16 rewards in total, and some can only be acquired by leading a War or helping in one. So, to get the new Achievements you'll have to play multiple roles.

Last but most certainly not least, Zynga will soon add a Live Chat function to Mafia Wars. This will allow players who are online at the same time to, well, chat. But more importantly, it will make coordinating attacks or defense during War that much easier. Not to mention the implications it has for cooperative Missions, Jobs and Fights. Could it be that Mafia Wars is about to become truly social? We'll reserve our judgment for when it officially releases, but we sure as hell hope so.

HBO, Game of Thrones sing a Song of Ice and Fire on Facebook

We're starting to get the impression that fans of epic fantasy TV series just might like Facebook games too. At least major cable TV networks like HBO (and Starz) are making that gamble with Battle for the Iron Throne. The game, which will launch its levels in phases of mini games over the coming weeks as the show builds steam, is an adaptation of Game of Thrones, which is an adaptation of the popular novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. So, consider this Facebook game an adaptation twice removed.

The first phase of the game contains three stages: Skill, Strategy and Knowledge. The first, Skill, involves a first-person encounter with a knight in training, as you strike him with your wooden sword as accurately and powerfully as possible. The next is Strategy, which a top-down army-building mini game tasks players with spending coins on the correct troops to take down the opposing captain and his squad.

Battle for the Iron Throne
The final mini game, Knowledge, tests exactly that: your knowledge of the Game of Thrones universe. Let's just say this game might be for fans only. Regardless, it's one of the more polished advergames we've seen in a long time, and we're hopeful to see how it shapes up in the coming weeks.

Click here to play Battle for the Iron Throne on Facebook Now >

Are you a fan of the TV show or novel series? What do you think of HBO turning the franchise into a social game?

Civilization World on Facebook in two minutes [Video]

Now you can color us convinced: If anything, Sid Meier's Civilization World on Facebook is going to be massive. Firaxis and 2K Games have posted a two-minute long video describing the basics of the game, which is in alpha testing. The studio's Pete Murray does a fine job of describing the basics of the game, which seems to be grounded in having lots of friends. (Some things on Facebook never change.)

And while each session is persistent, players can contribute as little or as much as they like. You can pop in to harvest some crops or do some research on break, or you can stick around until you finish off that major development. This is the first footage most of you are seeing of the game, so enjoy the sneak peek.

Are you lucky enough to be part of the Civ World alpha test? What are you excited most about when it comes to this game?

Meteor Games wants to be the Nintendo of Facebook games, not just "for moms"

While Meteor Games may be a name that's foreign to most Facebook gamers, with just 1.1 million monthly active users across their entire catalog of Facebook games, that doesn't mean their games aren't successful. Just ask CEO Zac Brandenburg. According to Forbes, Meteor finds success in their Facebook games (including their most popular - Island Paradise) because they're more focused on the long-term when designing a game, rather than on instant success.

"The feature set is much more than a simple compulsion loop," says Brandenberg, "You need to have different things for players to do, centered around what the plot is going to be." In an upcoming branded game, released with Viacom, we'll apparently see that ideology in full effect. Meteor is currently working on three games that are "close to launch," but Brandenburg didn't reveal specific details about any of them, other than the fact that they may be "fantasy-themed."

We do know the company's end goal, however: to focus on the middle section of gamers. "We don't think like Kabam with hard core games and we are also not just casual games for moms. There is a middle ground - like with Nintendo. There's a huge audience in the middle. We're going to draw from the hard core elements and the super casual side." Brandenburg says that games don't need massive audiences to be successful, so long as you've given players a high quality experience that engages them over the long term. Of course, high-paying users don't hurt either.

While Brandenburg refrained from using the term "whales," Meteor apparently does have them, and in droves. In Meteor's case, whales are gamers that spend over $1,000 a year on their games, while a handful of Super Whales in each game spend over $10,000 - that's a lot of premium currency!

Even with all of that being said, Brandenburg made it clear that the company's focus isn't so much on a game's social aspects, but on making an individual user want to come back to the experience just to play the game. "You only play if you actually want to not because your friends want you to. Then you have a smaller audience but the audience may spend 50 times what another gamer (on a different game) spends. You can have a lot of success there."

When Meteor Games announces more details about their three upcoming titles (including the branded game with Viacom), we'll make sure to let you know.

Are you an active player of Meteor's games like Island Paradise and Ranch Town? Would you have more fun in a Facebook game if there was more focus on your own experience with the story, rather than on always asking for help from your friends?

Clarins looks to beautify Facebook with Spa Life, its first social game

Is it only a matter time now before mom pants get their own Facebook game? Clarins, a well-known French brand of beauty products, recently released its own Facebook game, Spa Life. The game doesn't stray far away from games like Cafe World or Restaurant City, but applies the same principles to managing a spa rather than an eatery. Developed by Freshplanet, Spa Life has players managing an influx of customers looking for everything from a "mani-pedi" to facials and more.

Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.

According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."

Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.

For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.

Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >

Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing?

Dragon Age: Legends dev becomes BioWare San Francisco; could a Mass Effect Facebook game be on the way?

EA2D may not be a readily familiar name in the social gaming space, but I bet many of you have heard of their popular Facebook game - a tie-in to the popular console game Dragon Age called Dragon Age: Legends. This past week, EA underwent some corporate changes, and a very big change has occurred with EA2D in the process: They've been absorbed into the BioWare developer group, and will be renamed BioWare San Francisco.

While no other details about the company's future games have been released, let's speculate a bit. Since Dragon Age: Legends on Facebook launched at around the same time as Dragon Age 2 on consoles, does this transition to a true BioWare development studio mean that we'll see other Facebook games based on BioWare's hugely successful console properties? With Mass Effect 3 launching next year, will we see a Facebook game tie-in that will allow users to earn rewards for the console game by playing (as was the case with Dragon Age: Legends)? As a huge Mass Effect fan, my brain is drooling at the thought of free, exclusive goodies for my console character, so if this does turn out to be the start of another tie-in (or 12) with BioWare's games on Facebook, we'll make sure to let you know.

[Via ShackNews]

Would you play a Mass Effect game on Facebook, or do you prefer to interact with the franchise's characters on your consoles only? Sound off in the comments.

Facebook vs. Google+: Social game makers ready to hang hats on big G's network

Right now, Facebook is the place to be if you want to make social games for the Web. That's great if you're, say, a big fancy company like FarmVille-creator Zynga who has millions of dollars to spend on advertising and a cushy deal with the social network.

If you're a smaller game studio, Facebook has its severe limitations, which include making it next to impossible to getting the word out about a game (not to mention the hefty 30% cut that Facebook demands from all game developers.)

None of the other social gaming platforms -- MySpace, hi5 -- have managed to come close to mimicking Facebook's social gaming success, so many social game makers are looking to Google+ to, possibly, fill that void.

Pot Farm creator and East Side Games CEO Jason Bailey says in this Gamasutra article that that all social game makers are "crossing their fingers and bowing down to the almighty G and saying, 'Please, please let this work and give us a viable second platform where we can build our games.'"

A simple way that Google+ could become 'the' next hotspot for social gaming? Instead of requiring a 30% cut from game makers (like Facebook does), let companies host games on G+ for a lower fee (or the low, low price of free!). Facebook has also done a terrible job at surfacing new and interesting games to its users -- and recently made it more difficult by pulling its app directory from the service. If Google+ can support even the most bare bones recommendation system for games on the network, that could be a big win for people who make games and those of us who like to play them.

[Image credit: Infographicsblog]

Kixeye's War Commander blasts onto Facebook for all to conquer

Hardcore gamers have established a beachhead on Facebook, and now can make their next offensive in War Commander. The next social strategy game by San Francisco-based Kixeye has entered public beta is now live and available for all would-be commanders on Facebook to dominate with. The game isn't a far cry from the studio's previous efforts, except for one thing.

Players can finally control individual units on the battle field in real time as they slaughter enemy units and demolish buildings. Clearly inspired by traditional strategy staples like Command and Conquer on the PC, War Commander continues the developer's tradition of real time gameplay with asynchronous interaction between friends ... or enemies.

Based on our time trying out the game's closed beta test, our very own Brandy Shaul found attacking and defending bases to be a largely passive experience, regardless of whether you can now directly control units. Personally, I find the choice to decide which unit gets fired at first by enemy defense turrets a strategic boost, though a small one.

Regardless, this marks Kixeye's next step in its ultimate goal to bring a true RTS (real time strategy) experience to Facebook, Kixeye CEO Will Harbin told VentureBeat. "It's the most advanced strategy game ever created for Facebook," Harbin said. "We're getting closer and closer to real-time strategy titles that you've seen on the PC."

Gallery: War Commander on Facebook
Based on my brief experience with the game, War Commander suffers from brief lag issues at the moment, with intermittent pauses during gameplay. However, Kixeye appears to be hard at work on optimizing the game already. (It is in "open beta," after all.) "We're learning from the past and optimizing the code base more and more," Harbin told VentureBeat.

While Kixeye mentioned that it's "waiting for an onslaught of competition" that it has yet to see, the company does have one worthy opponent that it has already exchanged stern words with over its most recent release, Kabam and Edgeworld. We're sure this rivalry is far from over, so why not check the latest traded blow right now?

Click here to play War Commander on Facebook Now >

Are you a fan of hardcore strategy games on Facebook? Regardless, what do you think of the growing hardcore scene on the platform traditionally dominated by mothers and other casual players? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Karma Kingdom looks to combine social good, social fun on Facebook

A Facebook game that can score us some good karma points--where do we sign up? We've seen games like FarmVille and CityVille run social good campaigns, but Singapore-based developer Asvathaa has a made an entire game of the idea. The developer just released Karma Kingdom on Facebook, a quest-driven game that looks to help you "Create Your Better World," according to its tag line.

Karma Kingdom integrates Indian mythology into modern lessons of doing good for others. It does this by allowing players to curate an island nation and maintain their citizens' happiness using the three tenants of happiness: health, community and knowledge. You will be guided by several Indian gods and goddesses in your efforts to keep the people happy through quests.

You do this through creating homes for your people to live in, and then surrounding those homes with decorations that promote Health, Community and Knowledge. It seems as if it's important to keep that balance in the decorations you place. Otherwise, your citizens will quickly become unhappy and provide less Goodwill, the resource you need to provide for your people.

Players can plant crops to provide more Goodwill, and the game doesn't seem to be governed by any energy system. (Now, that's something fresh.) But what's more important is the real goodwill Asvathaa aims to create with Karma Kingdom. The Singapore developer has promised to donate a 10 percent of its income through Facebook Credits to non-profit charities. (However, Asvathaa doesn't say which charities it will donate to exactly.)
Karma Kingdom in action
The more happiness-generating decorations you buy in the game using Facebook Credits, the more Asvathaa will donate ... somewhere. "We want to offer a personal CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) platform for every individual as the desire to give back exists in each one of us," Asvathaa CEO and founder Ashok Desai said in a release. If anything, the game looks to be a fresh take on the genre given that it doesn't limit your play time through energy, and maybe it will do some good, too.

Click here to play Karma Kingdom on Facebook Now >

Have you tried this new Facebook game yet, and what do you think of the fact that it doesn't limit you via energy? Would you ever pay up in the game, not knowing exactly where your Facebook Credits are going? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

BringIt puts games in your Facebook games, so you can ... gamble?

If you're the type who enjoys wasting their money gambling, have we got some news for you. In select Facebook games by CrowdStar, East Side Games, Sometrics and Mall World, you can wager your hard-earned, paid game currency with your friends in custom mini games by BringIt. A real-time transactional platform for social games, BringIt announced that its head-to-head competitions for virtual currency are now available in games from these developers.

According to BringIt, 8 million players have participated in these mini games within their favorite social games, and the asynchronous, head-to-head competitions will increase their number of daily players to 2.1 million. Players can wager any amount of virtual currency they choose, and post challenges to multiple friends at once. These challenges are sent to players who then can respond with their own wagers and post their scores in said games--the winner takes all.

For instance, Happy Aquarium fans can now challenge each other in a game of match-three, Aqua Blast, which is strikingly similar to Bejeweled. Using speed and various power ups, players must score as many points as possible in 60 seconds after wagering so many Pearls (the game's paid currency). Then, players can post that score to whomever's News Feed that they challenged.

If a friend responds with a wager of Pearls and a score that beats the challenger's score, they win whatever the challenger wagered. If the friend happens to score less than what the challenger did, then whoever posted the challenge wins whatever amount of Pearls that the loser wagered.

Payments are said to be posted automatically, but as of Sept. 11, there have been issues with the speed of payment, though BringIt is cataloging all payments to ensure that all winnings are met with payments. (At least this applies to Happy Aquarium.) Other BringIt partners like East Side Games, have different BringIt-powered mini games such as Gold Rush in Pot Farm.

Developers like East Side Games hope to make lots of dough from this form of in-game gambling. BringIt claims that the novelty of wagering paid currency could turn more freeloading social gamers into ones that pay up to play. And we guess it's all kosher, because the money at stake isn't "real" money. Though, if you paid for it with real cash originally, it kind of is, no?

Would you ever gamble wager your hard-earned Pearls or other paid currency in these mini games by BringIt? What are your thoughts on online wagering, generally speaking? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments

It's time to explore Adventure World, Zynga's largest Facebook game yet

Seriously, do you have a few hours to kill? Then good, because you might need it (and some Facebook Credits, in that case). Zynga has set Adventure World loose on Facebook--all 30 maps, 200 quests, over 1,000 art assets and 20,000 objects included. In this game that just so happens to be 40 times larger than previous Zynga games like FarmVille, players assume the role of an adventurer in search of the golden city of El Dorado.

You'll trek across jungles, mountains, caverns, volcanoes and finally venture into El Dorado itself, overcoming a myriad of wild beasts, lethal traps and various puzzles using your wits in search of the ultimate treasure. Developed by Zynga Boston (formerly known as Conduit Labs), Adventure World makes use of pseudo-3D, cel-shaded visuals to achieve an art style reminiscent of comic books from the '40s revolving around the golden age of exploration.

"When we joined the Zynga family a year ago, our goal was to not only create a game unlike any other in the social gaming space today, but to create a completely new genre," Zynga Boston GM Nabeel Hyatt said in a release. "We call this genre social adventure, one where players can explore, discover and team up with friends on an adventure of a lifetime."

Gallery: Adventure World on Facebook
Player navigate the world using unique tools like whips, grappling hooks and more that level individually as your character progresses. Speaking of which, there are over 10,000 different avatar variations at launch through its customization system. Based on an early look at the game, Adventure World looks to be Zynga's most ambitious project yet, with game mechanics that teach players rather than tell them how to navigate the game world.

But players will have the help of their friends to navigate Adventure World, too. Players can enlist up to 12 friends along the way to help them overcome obstacles like puzzles and traps more easily. And as players use the same friends more often, the stronger those friends become, fostering tight-knit groups of asynchronous adventurers.


Adventure World is already available in eight languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish and Norwegian. Zynga also points out that this is the first game to feature a pygmy princess, so if that doesn't get you to click the link below, we don't know what will.

Click here to play Adventure World on Facebook Now >

Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.

Have you tried Adventure World on Facebook yet? What do you think so far of this massive Zynga game? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments

Adventure World Prologue Quests: Everything you need to know

With the launch of Adventure World on Facebook, we see the launch of Zynga's biggest Facebook game yet, split into chapters, as you work to gain entry to the lost city of El Dorado. You'll have a base camp that serves as your supply point and an overall way to earn coins and other materials, but the majority of your time will be spend on expeditions through the game's main storyline. Right out of the gate, you're taken through the game's tutorial and Prologue section of quests.

With any new game, it can be a bit difficult getting used to the new gameplay, so we've compiled a guide to these Prologue Quests to help you acclimate as quickly as possible.

Save Malcom! Part 1

Collect the First Key Fragment
Collect the Second Key Fragment
Collect the Third Key Fragment
Your fellow adventurer Malcolm has fallen into a cave after wandering off on his own (silly boy). In order to gain access to the cave to rescue him, you'll need to collect three key pieces that are scattered around the mostly linear outdoor map. You can either navigate the map on your own, hacking shrubs to clear a path (and collecting statues for coins), or you can click on the "Show Me" button within the quest window seen above to have the camera automatically pan to where you need to go. These Key Fragments are surrounded by traps, so you'll need to pull switches (as seen below) to deactivate the trap before you're caught within them!

Save Malcolm! Part 2

Collect Your Journal
Open Cave Door
Enter the Cave

The Journal will be found right in the middle of the path, on the way into the Cave Door - you can't miss it. As for opening the door, just click on the round circular rock, standing vertically in the distance, and it will be opened for you automatically. Click on it again to go inside. Note: Once you go inside the cave, it doesn't look like you'll be able to get back out, so make sure you've collected any treasures you want before you go in.

Save Malcolm! Part 3

Get the Whip
Collect Malcolm's Canteen
Save Malcolm

Poor Malcolm - he's trapped in spider webs! You'll be given a whip in order to battle those Spiders that are guarding him, so just continue along the path until you reach Malcolm's Canteen at the right side of the screen. Unlike the shrubs and spider webs, the Spiders themselves (and other animals like Snakes) can fight back, so you'll want to make sure to take them out as soon as you can. If they attack you first, you'll lose energy points. Once you defeat the Spider(s), click on Malcolm to free him from the web.

Escape the Lost Cave!

Recover the Master Key
Use the Master Key to open the door
Use the Door to escape

Now that you've rescued Malcolm from the spiders, you'll need to escape from the cave. Conveniently enough, you'll be able to pick up the master key to opening up El Dorado while you're here. Continue along the path and you'll fight a couple of additional spiders before you can pull the Master Key from the stone. One final spider blocks the exit, but Malcolm takes care of it, allowing you both to leave and head back to Base Camp.

At this point, you will have finished the Prologue of Adventure World, and will be launched into Chapter 1. While the Master Key is a great discovery, you won't actually be able to enter El Dorado until you've replaced four lost idols to the outside of El Dorado, where they surround the Master Key's hole. You've got one heck of a journey ahead of you, adventurers! Good luck!

Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.

What do you think of Adventure World so far? Did you complete this Prologue Chapter and save Malcolm, or are you still working your way through the Lose Cave? Sound off in the comments.