My Shops on Facebook: Why build just one store, when you can build them all?

While there are plenty of Facebook games that allow you to start managing a single kind of business or store (a restaurant, a clothing store, electronics store, and so on), what if you were instead given a game where you could create an entire "Shopping Street," rather than just a single store? Pretty Simple Games will allow you to make that hypothetical scenario into a reality, with their Facebook game My Shops.

The game launched in the middle of November, and has since grown to almost 140,000 users - not bad for a game from a little-known developer, in a genre that is already quite full. If you'd like to see what it takes to run more than one business at once, then meet us behind the break for more details about this up-and-coming business management sim.

My Shops begins with a basic tutorial in your first shop - a Bakery. The game's street view is presented much like the Street View in Restaurant City, for those that are familiar, as it is a flat image that can be scrolled through left and right to see your various buildings, or even open new ones.

Through the tutorial, you'll learn that the game is filled with a large variety of customers, each of which has different demands represented by thought bubbles. These thought bubbles contain images of what a customer wants to help you keep track. Via these thought bubbles, you'll be able to keep track of which items will be hot sellers, and can then order goods from the shipping menu accordingly. To start, at your Bakery you'll meet customers that want either bread or croissants, so you'll need to order both kinds of goods to be delivered on a delivery truck.

This is where the game's timer comes in, as you'll need to wait for the delivery trucks to arrive, with different travel times being available for the different items that you could purchase. You'll need to be on-hand to accept the delivery when it does arrive (increasing the incentive for repeat returns on a daily basis), and from there, your shop will automatically go about the business of selling goods. Your total stock is represented as meters in the bottom left corner of the gameplay screen, and you'll be able to see when a good will sell out based on how many hours that stock will last given the store's current popularity.

With your stores supplied, you'll be able to tackle a series of missions (upgrade your buildings, add certain decorations, and so on) or you can choose to upgrade your customers. In terms of customer upgrading, when a customer leaves your store satisfied, they will have a red heart appear above their head. Clicking on this heart earns your business a recommendation, and when enough of the same variety of customer recommend your business, you'll be able to unlock new kinds of customers, with entirely different sets of demands.

These customers may wish to purchase items you don't have in stock, which either means you can unlock them from the game's store (in the case of entirely new items), or you can simply wait for your current stock of items to empty and then order more of that particular item in the next Delivery Truck.

As you go along, you can increase the popularity of your shops by increasing their "Beauty," or adding decorations. Considering the time of year, there are some incredibly adorable Holiday decorations currently available, for those that are interested in that sort of thing. Otherwise, you can choose from decorative baskets, flower pots, street lamps, trees, bicycles and more, to make each individual building on your street look customized and unique (you'll need to customize stores for missions, but you can do this voluntarily as well).

Of course, your buildings can also be upgraded in terms of size (allowing you to hold more goods in your stock), with starter upgrades being available for coins, so that the average user can upgrade their Starter Bakery twice without running out of their beginning stock of coins, which is appreciated. Delivery Trucks can also be upgraded, but this requires you to collect building parts.

Since the game is all about opening up additional shops, it seems odd that you won't be able to do so without at least reaching level five. Not that this is an incredibly difficult milestone to reach in terms of gameplay, but levels do see to take a bit longer to complete than in other games of this type (that being the business-management sim). Once you start leveling up, you'll be able to get your hands on new shops like Pet Shops, Cake Shops, and more.

All in all, though, we're definitely pleased with what My Shops has to offer so far. If you're willing to climb your way to level 5 and finally start unlocking additional shop locations, then we'd suggest giving this one a look.

UNO Boost on Facebook: A goofy, give-and-take twist on the original

The fast track, scream-inducing card game, UNO, has reintroduced itself to Facebook with a new look and feel. UNO Boost puts the classic in unique, new packaging that publisher Game House hopes will spur virtual goods purchases and that UNO fans will appreciate. Game House took the original Facebook card game and... didn't do much to it.

Well, aside from taking Boost cards, turning them into both a strategic tactic and a commodity, and apparently removing what made the original so enjoyable. UNO Boost, while introducing an element that could launch its fun and strategy levels into the stratosphere, inexplicably removed the live play feature found in the original Facebook rendition. Game House giveth new features and taketh away defining ones.

Find the rest of our impressions of UNO Boost after the break.

UNO Boost in actions
All things considered, the core gameplay of UNO in UNO Boost remains unchanged. The color switching, number matching and quick turning still remains, but Game House turned Boost cards into more of a conscious decision than ever. While players can still draw Skip, Draw and Wild Cards, they can also replace cards in their hand with Boost Cards at will. These Boost Cards come from a pool that will recharge once daily, but can also be purchased using Coins. This currency, which accumulates from matches won, can be purchased from within the game using several methods including credit cards (but no Facebook Credits yet, sorry folks).

Boost CardsAlso found in the store are new characters to play against, individual Boost Cards and Boost Packs. Notice my use of the word "characters." These are the guys who have seemingly replaced your friends in UNO Boost (the ability to add friends is currently bugged in my experience). The personally-adored live play feature (complete with chat room) in the original UNO for Facebook is, hopefully for now, no more. Imagine the possibilities of being able to play Boost Cards against your friends in real time, shifting the playing field in an instant under your control. Sure, things would get crazy quickly, but that's what UNO is all about, right?

Instead, your friends are merely people to compare scores with this time around as you play characters like Kevin the Coach and Oog, a cave man. Opponents increase in difficulty level as you increase in player level, which is determined by how badly you defeat opponents in matches. Your experience points earned for each successful match is a combination of the numbers on his cards multiplied by the character's difficulty level and other factors. Basically, the more cards your opponent has in his hand when you win, the more experience points you gain for winning.

UNO Boost is a fun way to waste some time thanks to the brand new Boost Card system, but without the live play feature of the original it could loose steam quickly. Hopefully this is added to the game at a later time, because Boost Cards plus live play and chat could make for a huge success.

Farmerama's Bigpoint knows how badly Zynga wants out of Facebook

Facebook locked
"Oh they desperately want to," Bigpoint chief games officer Philip Resiberger told GamesIndustry.biz. "They have plans, they've had plans for the last two years. Everyone wants to reduce their dependence on Facebook I think." That's what everyone has said, but even the FarmVille maker's upcoming Project Z is tied rather intrinsically to Facebook, so what gives?

"Eventually it will come, but as some attempts have shown in the past, it's not as easy to understand the world outside Facebook because it's a totally different world," Reisberger elaborated during an interview with GI.biz "That's why Bigpoint is in a very good position: we're not just the ones developing, we've mastered, to a certain degree, the distribution."

But Bigpoint's (known best for Facebook-less social games like Farmerama and Skyrama) Resiberger goes on to compliment Zynga on its innovations in social games. Of course, it's safe to take Reisberger's earlier comments with a grain of salt: He works with a company that creates social games outside of Facebook--crazy, we know. And that company is doing quite well for itself, with 250 million registered players on Bigpoint, according to Reisberger.

It makes you wonder, however, is Zynga really drawing in new players, or are meteoric launches like CastleVille more thanks to its existing players than new ones? Most would go with the former, at least for the time being. Will Project Z and zTags finally help the CityVille creator bring in new players from throughout the web? Stay tuned for 2012.

Do you think Zynga relies too much on its existing player base for successful games? Would you rather play social games on Facebook or elsewhere?

Digital Chocolate's Galaxy Life on Facebook has quite a deceiving title

When you hear the words "Galaxy Life," what do you think? We don't know about you, but that sure sounds like living out life across the galaxy. No one ever said anything about epic intergalactic battles against friends and "the sinister dark forces." Nevertheless, that's what you'll be up to in Digital Chocolate's new strategy game game for Facebook and web, Galaxy Life.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based social game developer, best known for games like Millionaire City and Zombie Lane, launched the game simultaneously on Facebook and its own website in an effort to increase its reach. Galaxy Life lets players become leader of a colony of aliens called Starlings that look to create a peaceful planet amidst sinister (and ambiguous) dark forces. Players will vie for dominance over the new found territory amongst friends, or frenemies, both known and anonymous.

Of course, you'll do so by creating daunting armies and stalwart defensive structures with which to attack opposing colonies and defend your own. Players can also create alliances with fellow players--yup, this sounds like a strategy game, all right. Galaxy Life sounds like more of the same on paper, but its Facebook-connected social features are optional. If you decide to play on Digital Chocolate's website, you can build a network of friends without Facebook.
Galaxy Life in Action
"We've created a groundbreaking sci-fi game with great competitive and cooperative elements, along with fantastic characters," Digital Chocolate president Marc Metis said in a release. "Galaxy Life takes the best elements of the strategy and space genres to create an immersive game that players can engage with across different platforms."

At first glance, Galaxy Life has a ton of character, with smooth animations, fun tunes and sounds, and adorable artwork. However, the play hook doesn't seem all too different from games like Kabam's Edgeworld or Kixeye's War Commander. That said, this could change in due time. But give it a shot: This cartoon-like take on the genre could be your cup of tea.

Click here to play Galaxy Life on Facebook now >

Are you a fan of strategy games on Facebook? Do you think there's room for even more games in the genre?

E3 2011: Parking Wars 2 offers you a chance to write parking tickets later this month

While we've know that Parking Wars 2 for Facebook existed, little was known about how the game would actually play. Well, at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, I got to put all of that to rest, as we sat down with a completed version of this still unreleased game. In Parking Wars 2, you jump into a world inspired by the A&E television series (which in itself concerns the men and women of the Philadelphia Parking Authority).

You'll need to "monitor and maintain" your street by keeping track of each and every car parked on your street and ticketing them accordingly (certain parking spaces only allow cars of a certain color, for instance), and also by customizing it with new items. You'll be able to customize your street's backgrounds, and choose individual cars to populate it (you unlock more cars the longer you play the game). By adding businesses to your street, you'll also be able to earn more revenue, as each particular business (a car wash, burger joint, etc.) may charge drivers extra money to park in front of them, helping you out in the end.

Of course, as with most social games, you'll be able to visit your friends' streets, but can then personalize and share tickets with them on their profiles. You'll even be able to park your cars on your friends streets, either legally or illegally, and will earn monetary bonuses based on the amount of time you stay parked on their street. In terms of sabotage, you can steal your friends' earnings by activating tickets that they haven't yet written, or you can even do damage to some of their cars by going so far as to throw a virtual rock through one of their windows, negatively affecting that car's value. Speaking of value, you can increase the value of your vehicles by purchasing special bonus items like a new application of car wax, new tires and so on.

Unfortunately, Parking Wars 2 does rely on your to have active neighbors to visit, as a friend who has simply stopped playing the game will turn into a dead street. At that point (as of this writing) that entire street is now useless to you, but you can send a reminder to your Facebook friend for them to jump back into the game, which would reactivate the street for your use.



While Parking Wars 2 was originally slated for release last month, we're now told that the game will launch on Facebook sometime this month. A specific release date wasn't made clear, but you can keep an eye on the game's official fan page for more info as time passes.

What do you think of what you've heard about Parking Wars 2? Does this seem like a game you'd want to play with friends, or would you rather just watch the TV show that inspired it instead?

Coco Girl on Facebook: For the fervent fashionista in all of us

Alright, so the fashion game has already been done on Facebook. But Damian Harburger, CEO of Argentina-based social game developer MetroGames, thinks that it hasn't been done right. Well, until now. We know, you're used to seeing hardcore-skewed social games come from the developer like AutoHustle.

Consider this most recent release a fundamental shift for the studio. Harburger tells us that, from here on out, MetroGames will focus largely on women when it comes to Facebook games, and on the more hardcore crowd (mostly men) in its mobile efforts.

Coco Girl is a Facebook game designed for the fashionista in every girl (and guy, in this writer's very particular case). Every girl has her opinions on fashion--some are just more vocal than others, no?--and Coco Girl provides the medium through which to express them.

At every turn in Coco Girl, you're given the opportunity to voice your take on various outfits and in a multitude of situations. In fact, rating your fellow females' outfits is the basis of the game. Sure, players can visit various shops and dress their heavily customized avatar (seriously, even I spent at least 30 minutes fine-tuning my lady). But it's the ability to give other players' clothing choices your two cents, or Rubies in this case, that's the star of this fashion show.

Coco Girl isn't governed by an energy system or too much of a gameplay structure, though you are given daily tasks to complete and quests to embark on. The quests are simply introductory, tiny tasks designed to introduce you to the game's myriad features and customization options. Your Daily Ruby-Maker Checklist is the bread and butter of Coco Girl, and is essentially what's going to get you the Rubies you need to purchase now outfits, make-up and accessories.

Gallery: Coco Girl on Facebook
While in your character's home, you will notice a magazine called Fashion Expert. Every day, you'll open it up and rate at least 20 outfits based on whether you dig them, or whether they're appropriate for certain situations like, say, a job interview or a casting call for a horror movie. However, the amount of Rubies you earn for doing this depends directly upon whether you're opinions gel with the rest of the Coco Girl player base.

While this does well to keep you in line with "what's hot" at the moment, it has the potential to limit daring or unique fashion statements. Nevertheless this is perhaps the most elegant approach yet to having opinions play a meaningful role in a Facebook game. Players can then participate in various mini games in the Coco Carnival to add a dash of variety to simply voting on get-ups, which of course will result in precious Rubies.

The first of which is Fashion Slots, a game in which you must successfully complete an outfit that a fellow lady is looking for. You do this by stopping a spinning wheel of various clothing items in a particular category. As you continue to try and select the correct items, the wheel will spin faster. Then there is Elusive Treasures, a hidden object game that times you on how many, well, hidden objects you can spot within the time limit. The Final mini game is Love Machine, a puzzle game that has players rearranging pipes to create a direct path between two lovers.
Coco Girl Home
All three mini games offer a considerable challenge and refreshing variety to Coco Girl. More importantly, they also provide Tickets, a currency that can only be spent in Coco Carnival on more Rubies or accessories for your avatar to hold. Finally, you can create Daily Looks and Quest Looks--an important aspect of Coco Girl, if you want to be a respected fashion expert in-game.

Every look you create in the game, once saved, can and probably will be voted upon by other players--friend or not--in the Fashion Expert feature. The Daily Looks are voted upon using a star system, while Quest Looks, the outfits you create to best fit certain situations, are a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down affair. And at the end of the day in Coco Girl, it's all about the votes, it seems.

The ultimate Goal of Coco Girl is to have one of your outfits make it into the Daily Looks Hall of Fame. The get-ups that get the most positive votes are featured every day, and those that the score the most of all time get a spot and recognition forever. You can even buy those top-ranking outfits for Facebook Credits, if you want a competitive edge.

Coco Girl, on top of its detailed artwork, slick animations and varied gameplay, is all about what matters in a Facebook game about fashion: the looks and what people think about 'em, because we all have an opinion.

Click here to play Coco Girl on Facebook Now >

Have you tried Coco Girl on Facebook yet? What do you think of Facebook games directly geared towards women? Do you think any game thus far has been one that "gets it?"

Bossa Studios's Facebook debut, Monstermind, will crush your dreams

But in a good way, we promise. Like the U.S., folks in the UK are super cereal (isn't that what kids are saying these days?) about the social games movement. The Guardian reports that Shine TV has acquired London-based social game startup Bossa Studios for an undisclosed amount.

Elisabeth Murdoch's TV production company (recently bought out by daddy's News Corp) has reportedly been eying social gaming for a long time. And what do you know--her timing could not have been better.

According to The Guardian, 11-month-old Bossa Studios looks to unveil its first project, Monstermind (pictured), next week on Facebook. However, it looks like the game is available now on Facebook, though in an "open beta." (For all intents and purposes, the game is live and available for all to play.)

"We have long identified social gaming as a critical component to this strategy, and in Bossa Studios we discovered an entrepreneurial, creative team that shared our passion for creative excellence," Miss Murdoch told The Guardian. "They have bold ideas for this space which we naturally welcome and will be a significant addition to the Shine Group."

Monstermind looks to be a fresh take on the city-building genre that CityVille has done so well to popularize. Well, fresh in the sense that, in addition to building cities, you can sic giant monsters to crush your friends' towns. The game features nearly full 3D visuals and an art style that screams "The Blob meets Sim City." Check out the game's trailer below to see what we mean.



Click here to play Monstermind on Facebook Now >

Were you waiting for a new approach to city-builders on Facebook? What do you think so far of this new studio's first contribution to Facebook gaming?

Beekin looks to make social games that raise $1 million for nonprofits

Social game giants like Zynga and EA raise a good amount of money for disaster relief and other charities during events. But what if that in-game event never ended? That's what former lawyer and entrepreneur Michael Fox hopes to make possible with Beekin, his upcoming New York-based social games project. According to TriplePundit, Fox hopes to raise $1 million for nonprofits in the company's first year.

While no games were announced or detailed, the company hopes to bake an infrastructure for helping nonprofits meet their goals directly into each game. "They're the FarmVille of philanthropy," Beekin founder Micheal Fox told TriplePundit. While TriplePundit says that Fox's goal of $1 million raised for nonprofits within a year is reasonable, citing the $1.3 billion the social games industry made in 2010.

However, there is an issue of exposure. Even with changes to the Ticker and other enhancements to game discovery, it's more difficult than ever to gain traction on Facebook. Well, Fox and Beekin have a plan for that: Every social game created by Beekin will be supported by a four-pillar system: major brand support, celebrity endorsements, nonprofit interest and motivated players that become aware of the social ills each game is trying to correct.

We're not too keen on that last one, but Fox's primary company, Humanitainment, has access to immense celebrity resources. If hip hop icons Kanye West and Common showed their support for the company's New Life Project, then perhaps Fox can rally other celebrities and brands to get behind Beekin. The most daunting challenge facing Beekin is whether it can create social games that can spur players to pay up.

What was your favorite social game (or social game campaign) for social good so far? Do you think these types of social games have potential to make a difference?

Ultima's Garriott: Zynga only exists because EA, Blizzard didn't step in

On the streets, we call that "finders keepers." Richard Garriott, creator of classic PC RPG (role-playing game) series Ultima and co-founder of social game maker Portalarium, said that Zynga merely beat the big time game creators to the punch. Speaking to IndustryGamers, Garriott said, "The only reason Zynga exists is because people like EA, people like Blizzard, failed to step in."

Well, we're sure the 200 million player-strong company sees this as a compliment to its industrial skills. Garriott believes that the creator of World of Warcraft--the most successful massively multiplayer game, um, ever--faces a greater threat from "the Zyngas of the world." And while Portalarium has since created casual casino games, Garriott says that its next game, Lord British's New Britannia (working title) will go straight for that audience.

"I think you'll see that the quality level that comes up through the casual games will rival the quality of traditional massively multiplayer games and then, because it's not something you have to subscribe to, because it's something that virally spreads, and especially because, as people churn out of a big MMO they've got to go somewhere," Garriott told IndustryGamers.

While that may turn out to be true, we've seen RPGs that target the core gamer flop again and again on Facebook. (Unless you're Kabam or Kixeye.) Garriott told IndustryGamers that he sees Blizzard as direct competition, which we imagine means he sees Zynga and EA in the same light. That said, it'll be interesting to see how Portalarium's first major game attracts an audience at such a scale.

[Via Massively]

Do you think the creator of WoW has anything to worry about from companies like Portalarium? Will Facebook games pose a greater threat to traditional game makers than other core game creators?

What's in a name: Playdom rebrands City of Might as City of Warfare?

Not much, apparently. Fusible reports that Gardens of Time maker Playdom filed for the trademark "City of Warfare" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Oct. 26. While the website seems to think that the developer is creating a whole new game, we're thinking that Playdom might simply be rebranding its upcoming City of Might as City of Warfare.

Regardless, the game will almost certainly center around the same premise that we caught a glimpse of at this year's E3. When we last saw City of Might, it looked to build a franchise out of Playdom's existing City of Wonder and enter new genres. However, the game appeared to be terribly reminiscent of competitors like Empires & Allies and perhaps more hardcore social strategy games.

The game was expected to launch this summer, but has yet to leave its closed beta test. Since then, Playdom has teased two more games, Galaxy of Wonder and Secret Agent X. The first of which sounds like it will take the familiar City of Wonder gameplay into a new environment, while the latter appears to entertain new gameplay ideas.

Regardless, City of Migh--er, Warfare should be close to release, if the company was willing to show it in action months ago. Fusible mentions that it nailed the Gnome Town trademark right on the nose, only for Playdom to release the game days later, so perhaps we're even closer. The developer also plans to release games focusing on Disney brands--it's about time.

Why do you think Playdom might rebrand City of Might as City of Warfare? Could this game give E&A and other Facebook strategy games a run for their money?

Quote of the Moment: 'There is no right way to do [social games]'

That's what Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price (pictured) said to GameSpot during an interview. The company has recently created Insomniac Click, its very own social games studio. But forming a social games wing has had deeper effects than simply making executives see green. Social gaming has apparetly permeated how the studio approaches its core game franchises like Resistance and Rachet & Clank on the PS3.

"What we are learning as we get further into social game development is the importance of on-boarding, the importance of social hooks, and reaching the broadest audience possible while delivering a AAA experience," Price told GameSpot. "These are things that we of course considered in console development, but as we are building social games we have to be even more focused on particular aspects of development, and because of that, we are learning a lot that also applies to our console games. And as a result, we are learning lessons that we probably wouldn't have learned if we were purely focused on our console games."

In other words, social games have had a visible effect on how the studio creates and maintains its existing console games. No, you won't come across farms to grow as you fend off the alien invasion, but you might "share" the fun with your friends. Price went on to say that the existence of Insomniac Click has led the studio to consider a bigger focus on community in its games. Then, the Insomniac head gets even more real for a second.

"Well, most of us are trying to figure out exactly where we want to focus in terms of making our mark in social games, because there is so much experimentation happening every day, and there is no right way to do it," Price said. "That's what is exciting about it." (And we seriously doubt Insomniac Games is alone there.)

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

What do you hope or expect will come from Insomniac Click? Do you think social games will have a lasting effect on the games business overall?

Supercell blows up on Facebook with real-time multiplayer Gunshine.net

Many seem to believe that hardcore or traditional gamers are waiting to be captivated on Facebook. Helinski, Finland based social game developer Supercell would be one of them. After five months of open beta testing, the company has formally released Gunshine.net to Facebook, an isometric, real-time multiplayer RPG (role-playing game) for the core gaming crowd.

The game already exists on the website of the same name, but this version is said to combine an open world and real-time combat with social features like hiring friends and team creation to take on daunting bosses. Gunshine.net takes place in a dystopian, sci-fi world where players do battle on an isometric map. Players arrive in a pristine island called Dreamwake, tasked with fighting off infected citizens and later uncover just what's going on here.

Ultimately, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen wants to prove that this type of social game can work successfully on Facebook. "We intend to get ahead of the curve and challenge the big guys," Paananen said in a release. "With Gunshine.net, we wanted to reach a niche group of gamers that enjoy playing a rich, MMO-style game in a sci-fi, dystopian setting, and we wanted to prove that this type of model works on Facebook. Our next step is to widen Supercell's reach by launching games that offer similar styles of rich game play, but with themes that have broader appeal."
Gunshine.net Intro
Gunshine.net currently hosts 160,000 monthly players and 20,000 daily players, according to AppData. The game certainly looks impressive, with full 3D visuals, and a heavy focus on plot before getting to the multiplayer aspects. We've yet to see traditional-style games do well on Facebook aside from the few strategy game makers, but perhaps blowing up a few zombies in an RPG is just what the doctor ordered.

Click here to play Gunshine.net on Facebook Now >

Are you excited to jump into a new Facebook RPG? Do you think a game like this will do well on Facebook, or is the audience not there?

Facebook mobile social games will grow industry at once, CTO expects

It sounds like Taylor and Facebook look to grow the mobile and social games industries all at once across all platforms including Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry. To do that, Facebook is encouraging more developers to create HTML5 or native mobile app versions of their social games that Facebook Mobile can redirect to, which is about the only way we see this method working. However, with game shares (at least for non-gamers to see) almost entirely in the Ticker--which doesn't exist on mobile--where do the new social gamers come in?

NHL Superstars coming to Facebook in October

While specific details are still lacking as to what we can exactly expect from NHL Superstars, we can't imagine EA / Playfish breaking the mold. We'll likely be able to collect cards that contain professional hockey players, and then trade those cards out to create the best team possible. Each player will likely have stats, and we'll be able to use those players in virtual hockey games against others for supremacy.