Taxonomy
Monkwerks
Monkwerks is a game about spelling, about taxing your vocabulary. That its title is (presumably deliberately) misspelled should tell you all you need to know before you even load it in your browser. This is an excellent example of how to take a simple, appealing concept and run it completely into the ground through fundamentally bad and lazy implementation.
Spore Islands
Spore Islands takes the species-creation idea of the hit PC game Spore and sets it loose in a science experiment type environment. What would happen if I tweaked their diets? What if I reduced their defences? What if I introduced two more species into their world? Spore Islands is a god game in the truest sense of the word. Create creatures, tweak their existence, and let them run amok to see what happens.
Roller Coaster Kingdom
Ask any veteran of Roller Coaster Tycoon or Thrillville and they'll tell you the same -- managing a theme park is hard work. At least it used to be. Roller Coaster Kingdom takes a trip down easy street and strips the traditionally deep theme park management genre of all of its detail and nuance, delivering a social game from Zynga that feels surprisingly underwhelming.
Farkle
Dice games have been around for thousands of years, yet our fascination with them has never waxed or waned. Sic bo has been played in the east for millennia. We've been playing craps in the west since the time of the Crusades. Even well into the 20th century, new games were being developed that depended heavily on dice. Where would Monopoly or Dungeons and Dragons be without them? Now, in this modern age of social networking, the dice game has been re-invented again with Farkle.
Lexulous
Lexulous may not be a name that is on the tip of your tongue, but say Scrabulous to any old school Facebook fan and you'll see their eyes light up with excitement. After a long and drawn out legal battle with Hasbro, Facebook's first Scrabble simulation has returned with a new name and a few new twists. But with a name-brand Scrabble game on Facebook now too, does Lexulous have what it takes to stand up to the big boys of word-building?
Faunasphere rolls out new content for Thanksgiving
The team at Faunasphere, Big Fish Games' browser-based causal MMO, gave Gamezebo an early peak at some brand new Thanksgiving-themed content that's scheduled to roll out next week. Keep reading for a look at the new content, and to read our mini-interview with Faunasphere's Lead Designer Toby Ragaini.
Castle Age
Castle Age is exactly what would happen if the makers of Mafia Wars spent their teenage years playing Dungeons & Dragons instead of watching Scorcese flicks. Instead of a mob you'll have an army. Instead of committing crimes you'll be completing quests. Rival bosses are replaced with orcs, different territories with lands of adventure... you get the idea. Yes, Castle Age is the latest casual MMO to get caught up in the "wars" phenomenon on Facebook - but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun.
FarmVille
Currently the most popular game on Facebook, Zynga's FarmVille lets you grow crops and raise animals on a virtual farm. You'll start off with a small plot of land that you can use to grow into rows of fruit trees or fields of veggies, or even add animated farm animals that can roam about freely or within the confines of their pens.
First Look: Quick Hit Football
If there are genres that don't seem like they belong together, it's probably safe to say that casual, RPG, and sports titles are close to the top of the Bizarre Combination list. It's an odd grouping, to say the least, but it's one that the developers behind Quick Hit Football -a new casual sport are banking on. It's an ambitious goal, but it's one that could very well pay off, thanks in large part to some quality work by a development team composed of people who have worked at illustrious studios like 2K Sports, EA Sports, and Turbine Studios.
Bejeweled Blitz
Turning the traditionally solitary match-3 experience into a competitive social game was a stroke of genius that only PopCap could perfect. Little touches like achievements and tournaments provide a decent incentive to keep playing, but seeing where you sit on your friends leaderboard is the perfect carrot on a stick. It's next to impossible to walk away before your high score knocks a friend down a ranking, and when it does you're going to love breaking out the smack talk.
