Showing posts with label pioneer trail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pioneer trail. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Pioneer Trail survey reveals possible storylines involving... pirates?

Yes, you read that correctly - pirates. They may be coming to the Pioneer Trail in the future, if a recent fan survey (released by the big Z itself on the Pioneer Trail fan page) comes true. We've been given quite a few options to toss around in this new survey, but unfortunately, we're not told if these are story ideas that would pertain to Pioneer Trail itself (either the Homestead or actual Pioneer Trail portion of the game), or if this is just a general survey about future game ideas that Zynga is exploring. As it stands, no other fan page, as of this writing, has linked to the survey, which does give some weight to the former idea above.

As for this pirate story itself, we're told that we could "set sail for Booty Island," and play pirates with a full crew. We'll plunder ships and neighbors' islands, and can match up friends with others (this portion is lacking in fine details) for either love or "pirate mischief." If that isn't a wild enough storyline, then how about heading into space? In this storyline, we'd find ourselves crash-landing on an "uncharted planet," where we're forced to build a farm using alien plants or creatures (that is, instead of Cows or other traditional farm animals).

When it comes to this space storyline, I'm reminded of Astro Ranch on iPhone, which is a space-themed farming game allowing you to grow crops and livestock with the help of aliens. As we all know Zynga likes to cop---err, draw inspiration from other titles, could this be a definite game in Zynga's development cycle?

As with all things, we're left to speculate about which of these storylines/game ideas (or lack thereof) will actually come to light, but if you see something in the survey that you're more excited about than others, make sure to give it your vote. Who knows? Your vote could be the deciding factor between playing pirates and launching off into outer space, whether we do so with our Pioneer Trail characters, or in a whole new game.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Pioneer Trail survey reveals possible storylines involving... pirates?

Yes, you read that correctly - pirates. They may be coming to the Pioneer Trail in the future, if a recent fan survey (released by the big Z itself on the Pioneer Trail fan page) comes true. We've been given quite a few options to toss around in this new survey, but unfortunately, we're not told if these are story ideas that would pertain to Pioneer Trail itself (either the Homestead or actual Pioneer Trail portion of the game), or if this is just a general survey about future game ideas that Zynga is exploring. As it stands, no other fan page, as of this writing, has linked to the survey, which does give some weight to the former idea above.

As for this pirate story itself, we're told that we could "set sail for Booty Island," and play pirates with a full crew. We'll plunder ships and neighbors' islands, and can match up friends with others (this portion is lacking in fine details) for either love or "pirate mischief." If that isn't a wild enough storyline, then how about heading into space? In this storyline, we'd find ourselves crash-landing on an "uncharted planet," where we're forced to build a farm using alien plants or creatures (that is, instead of Cows or other traditional farm animals).

When it comes to this space storyline, I'm reminded of Astro Ranch on iPhone, which is a space-themed farming game allowing you to grow crops and livestock with the help of aliens. As we all know Zynga likes to cop---err, draw inspiration from other titles, could this be a definite game in Zynga's development cycle?

As with all things, we're left to speculate about which of these storylines/game ideas (or lack thereof) will actually come to light, but if you see something in the survey that you're more excited about than others, make sure to give it your vote. Who knows? Your vote could be the deciding factor between playing pirates and launching off into outer space, whether we do so with our Pioneer Trail characters, or in a whole new game.

What do you think of these new storyline ideas? Which ones did you vote for? Let us know in the comments.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Top 25 Facebook Games - September 2011: Rise of The Sims Social

Will Zynga finally be dethroned? August saw one of the biggest upsets in Facebook gaming history, as EA and Playfish released The Sims Social. Short after its shoddy release in the middle of the month, the game has skyrocketed to third place this month with over 7.5 million daily players and fifth place on the monthly player charts with over 24 million players. While CityVille, Empires & Allies, Zynga Poker and FarmVille are on top of the charts yet again, all four games have suffered declines.

If this doesn't stir the pot a bit in the Facebook gaming world, nothing will. But The Sims Social isn't the only new game to upset the charts and displace a few hit games. Zynga's The Pioneer Trail expansion hit the monthly chart just under The Sims Social in sixth place at a healthy 19.7 million players. Words with Friends, the Facebook version of the popular mobile game, released in August to over 11.5 million monthly players, while Ubisoft set The Smurfs and Co. loose to over 8.6 million rabid fans and hit 16th place.

The casualties for this month include August's last five spot holders: Treasure Isle, Zombie Lane, Happy Aquarium, Mall World and Crime City. These games weren't just displaced because of the influx of new games hitting top spots, but all five were already on a decline. This allowed new additions like the Bubble and Ninja Sagas in the 21 and 22 spots at 6.6 million and 6.2 million monthly players, respectively.

Top 25 Facebook Games September
But look more closely at this month's chart, and you'll notice that each and every one of these brand new games to upset the charts is backed by a massive, recognizable brand. Perhaps this is what it takes to disrupt the status quo in Facebook games. And with ambitious branded games like Dexter Slice of Life on the way, our guess is that you'll be seeing a lot more from where The Sims Social and The Smurfs and Co. came from.

[Source and Image Credit: Inside Social Games]

What do you think of the charts this month? Do you think these branded games will continue to upset the Facebook games world? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.