Games And Apps On Facebook
Farmville has really taken the facebook gaming industry by storm. According to AppData (a service that monitors games), Farmville has over 80 million monthly players. That is a massive number. This is even more amazing when you find out just how basic the game is. It’s nothing like the 3D, highly intensive games that you buy at your local games shop. Farmville can be played by anyone with a facebook account, on any computer, and there are no fancy graphics or special effects. It is a very straightforward game where you need to build and manage a farm. For some reason, Farmville has become wildly popular since mid-2009. Farmville has a lot of things inside the game to encourage you to invite your friends to play with you. You are able to get your friends over to play the game against you, so that you can compare scores and achievements. You can even send ‘gifts’ to each other. I suppose a lot of people just like showing off the farms they made to their friends for a bit of friendly competition. As it turns out, there are a lot of players that are addicted and place a high level of importance on their in-game status, so they will gladly pay real money for virtual money. There is definitely also a big demand for a decent Farmville guide right now.
It is very interesting to research the ways in which developers of popular facebook games actually monetize their games and make profits. Well, Zynga (the company behind farmville) has had some negative press and lawsuits lately because of the way they incentivize users to fill out bogus surveys and offers in exchange for in-game items. The Chief Executive Officer of Zynga (Marcus Pincus) once admitted that they would do whatever it took to make money from users, regardless of the ethical consequences. Some other development companies monetize their games by putting in advertisements, or having a ‘buy page’ where you send real money for virtual money. Recently, a number of networks have began that promise to assist developers in making money from their games (offerpal is still the main one).
Now, you probably are curious about what games apart from Farmville are currently popular. One of them would be Yoville, which is not that big yet but certainly has the potential to become huge. In this game, you play real life in a virtual world, kind of like the Sims. In the game, you do all the same routine stuff you do in real life, like do jobs, dress yourself and perform chores. Not that may not sound like a whole lot of fun. But many people become very addicted to simple games like this. To be one of the best players in the world at Yoville and beat all your friends, you really need to pick up a good Yoville guide.
Another interesting game is Gangster City. Compared to Yoville, this game is much more hardcore. Players are able to take the role of a criminal gangster, and their objective is to sieze control of a large city. This is one of the very few games on Facebook where you might be able to see some animated violence, although compared to most professionally made games, Gangster City is very mild. Right now, it is quite difficult to get your hands on a decent Gangster City guide because the game is recent and not a lot is written about it yet. You can also just learn how to play really well yourself, without ever taking anyone elses advice (although this is usually going to take a long time).
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