FaceBook Games that had something of interest

Just a quick list I made.

FarmVille (by Zynga)- http://apps.facebook.com/onthefarm/

Other than the fact that is likely the most profitable game on FB now.

As a sandbox game, it has no real objectives other than to earn the ability to decorate your virtual farm with more options.

It has led to numerous clones, including clones made by Zynga themselves like CafeWorld, YoVille, etc. It was also a clone of another similar farming game.



Mafia Wars (by Zynga) - http://apps.facebook.com/inthemafia/

Instead of using Flash, it only uses HTML. Some of its more interesting features include achievements, trading, collecting, frequent new content. It has also inspired a lot of clones which are all very similliar.



Castle Age (by Jelsoft Enterprises) - http://apps.facebook.com/castle_age/

One of the better clones of Mafia Wars. It added cooperative play against limited duration enemies which sometimes involved over 200 friend and friends-of-friends.



WarStorm (by Challenge Games) - http://apps.facebook.com/warstorm/

A collectible card game on FB using Flash.



Who has the Biggest Brain? (by PlayFish, Electronic Arts) - http://apps.facebook.com/biggestbrain/

Make nice use of Flash to create a "brain training" game.



MindJolt Games (by MindJolt Games) - http://apps.facebook.com/mindjolt/

Quite a large collection on flash games that are integrated with FB to challenge friends' high scores.



Whirled Games (by Whirled Games) - http://apps.facebook.com/whirled/

Another collection of simple flash games.



Battlestations (by TYLER Projects) - http://apps.facebook.com/battlestations/

Singapore's first Facebook MMO, with a monthly sales of over $50,000.



Any others that you think that are worth mentioning?

Interview of 4 social game developers

Four social game developers (from Zynga, Playfish, Playdom and Crowdstar) were interviewed during the Flash Games Summit on March 8, 2010.

Here are some excerpts that I found interesting:

"Moderator: What are four words that are the keys to successful social games?

Playfish: Social - provide a context for meaningful interaction, Relatable, pick themes and mechanics that are understandable and aspirational; Rewarding, emotionally rewarding and socially, reinforcement schedules to keep players engaged, Emergent gameplay, easy to pick up but emergent complexity and depth

Zynga: Mass Market - if it doesn't appeal to enough ppl, it won't be as successful as you want; Invest - ppl need to be excited about investing their time in it, Express - needs to be a game that ppl want to express themselves in; Relationships - allow ppl to create new relationships or nurture existing relationships



Moderator: Why do you think those casual game companies don't experience the same success on FB?

Zynga: Guild of Heroes was a Diablo 2 clone - I joined the company as it was finishing up. The question was how is it social - and it wasn't. The team thinking was that they'd add the social afterward. And it doesn't work. Needs to built from ground up.

Playdom: I agree. So many examples of that. Lots of examples of games on FB that would be big if they weren't on FB. FB games need to be social from the ground up. Also, lots of the users in the social gaming space are REALLY casual, so Bejeweled did it right with short play sessions, accessibility. Notifications have gone away. FB is moving away from one-to-many notifications and toward more deliberate, one-to-one notifications. User to User, App to User.

Crowdstar: I think this is a pretty profound change. Makes it increasingly difficult for other companies to reach the same success we have. Will be very difficult for other companies to get where we have. Changes way you're going to distribute your game. For business people, it's something they need to look at closely to see how they're going to grow their game. You're going to have to spend more money to launch something.



Moderator: Most of you have two currencies, right?

Playdom: We have a couple PHDs helpding to manage our economies.

Crowdstar: I heard one of the Playfish guys saying they deal with a billion pieces of data a day(?).

Zynga: Zynga collects 5TB of data per day and we have a team that turns that into reports we can track.

Playdom: Very different from any other industry I've seen. I came from Google and YouTube and thought those were data driven companies, but this is way beyond that. You can make valuable decisions within minutes because everyone is logged in all the time and the quality of the info is so much higher than worrying about cookies, etc."



Moderator: Aren't these games just sophisticated slot machines?

Zynga: Farmville brings families together. Moms play with their 4 year olds, etc.


[Source: freetoplay.biz]

As mentioned, the removal of FaceBook Notifications (from apps), which is to reduce spam, will make it a lot harder for new applications to become popular without external advertising.

Kaotik Puzzle

From Xbox Live Indie Games, comes a tetris/puzzle fighter clone with a nice twist.

Video Games | Kaotik Puzzle | Launch Gameplay HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Google I/O 2009 - Writing Real-Time Games for Android

Skip the first 14.5 mins which is mostly introduction and a game demo, but I recommend to watch the rest.

Unreal Development Kit

The Unreal Development Kit (UDK) can be downloaded and used to make games using the Unreal Engine 3. However, there is a licensing fee if you release the games for profit which is supposed to be affordable even for independent developers.

November 5, 2009 - "Epic Games, Inc. announces the launch of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the award-winning toolset like never before. This software release is available to anyone interested in using 3D game engine technology, including game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations and simulations, and digital filmmakers. Anyone can start working with the industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 toolset by downloading UDK at www.udk.com, where detailed product features, technical documentation, commercial licensing terms, support resources and more are also available.

An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world-class tools and technology used by many of the world’s best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.

There is no charge for noncommercial or educational use of UDK. Over 100 academic campuses currently use Unreal Technology as part of teaching game development-related courses, and colleges with plans to incorporate UDK into their curricula include the University of Pennsylvania, North Carolina State University, The Art Institute system of schools, Drexel University, Westwood College, DeVry University and Atlantic College, with many others to be announced.

Individuals and companies wishing to develop software for commercial purposes should refer to licensing terms at www.udk.com/licensing. Commercial terms have been structured to make it easy for independent developers, start-up firms and seasoned professionals to use UDK with minimal financial barrier from concept to deployment. UDK is currently for PC use only, although console support is under consideration. Developers approved to make games for Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 may inquire for more information by emailing udklicensing@epicgames.com."

[Source: udk.com]

They even have a 74 page PDF document on how they created a simple game called Whizzle (vertical scrolling puzzle game) using only the UDK.

[Event] 'Doing Business in Singapore' @ Tampines Regional Library

Going indie means you will need to probably consider setting up a company.

Well, I have no idea. Hopefully I will know more after November 7. *sigh* It's a Saturday.

"

'Doing Business in Singapore' at Tampines Regional Library on 7 November 2009
		12 October 2009 Thinking of starting a business? Planning to be an entrepreneur? Here is an opportunity to know more about being your own boss at an upcoming talk of the popular ACRA@Heartlands series. Jointly organised by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and National Library Board (NLB), the talk on ‘Doing Business in Singapore’ will provide you with information and useful tips on starting a business. To register, please log on to http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg/Event.aspx?EventID=30320 Date : Saturday, 7 November 2009 Time : 1.30pm to 4.30pm Venue : Auditorium, Tampines Regional Library Jointly organised by ACRA and NLB

" - [Source: acra.gov.sg]

Registration is absolutely free.

Review: Battleships Forever

Battleships Forever is a game in development by 22 year old Singaporean poly grad and indie game developer, Sean "th15" Chan. It was a IGF 2008 Finalist where it received a "Design Innovation Award".

"I like games that have depth and strategy to them and as such I try to make intelligent games. As far as possible, my design philosophy is to keep the player engaged all the time and to have a good reason for everything that exists in the game. Every gimmick, every unit, every mechanic is there to encourage a particular play style. When I make games, I think about specific scenarios that I think would be exciting." - Sean

During an interview by GameDev.net, Sean mentions that he initially started making custom maps for Warcraft 3 and then progressed to using Game Maker.

Battleships Forever is a 2D real-time strategy (although it is more tactical, with no resource gathering or diplomacy) where you control multiple spaceships and fight other spaceships. The main feature of it is that each spaceship is built from multiple modules like: turrets with fixed firing arcs, deflector shields, linking structure, etc and each can be individually destroyed. Thus, positioning is very important and you will have to decide between facing your offensive modules or protective modules towards the enemy.

There are currently 17 pre-designed spaceships that you can control and over 50 enemy designs, each with their own weakness and strength. Also, you can create your own custom designs. [Download: wyrdysm.com]





Sean has said that Battleships Forever is inspired by and loosely based on Warning Forever by Hikoza.T.Ohkubo, where the each round had only one boss which evolved based on how you killed it the previous round. [Download: cnet.com]






If you like the concept where spaceships are modularized, then you may wish to also check out another indie game, Captain Forever (US$15) which puts you in control of a single ship that you need to upgrade in battle using part from destroyed enemy spaceships.