All Features List

Gamezebo recently had a chat with Andrew Lum, CEO of Fugazo, to learn more about the studio that made Fashion Fits, Cooking Academy, Fishco and Kitchen Brigade. Read more»

Realore (makers of such casual games as Turtle Odyssey and Jane's Hotel) have just celebrated their seventh anniversary in the business. We sat down with the company's head of business development, Natalia Matveeva, to chat about some of the highlights of those first seven years, and what Realore has in store for the future. Read more»

We've interviewed some cool people here at Gamezebo, but it was truly an honor to chat with Steve Lanoce, an NYPD Bomb Squad detective who received the Medal of Valor for heroism during 9/11. Steve and his bomb-sniffing canine, Duke, are starring in Merscom's upcoming hidden object game Bomb Squad: NY, where players jump into the role of the newest bomb squad recruit sent on assignment to hunt down the culprits responsible for planting bombs all over the city. Read more»

Founded in 1999, industry veteran WildTangent and seen and done it all in casual games. Its latest incarnation, however, is perhaps its most revolutionary. WildTangent’s platform is bundled with most PCs sold in North America and its WildGames network attracts 1.5 million users monthly. Its patent-pending Wild Coins platform allows players to play for free, rent to own, and purchase casual games and enables advertisers to sponsor free game sessions seemingly.

We spoke with Sean Vanderdasson, WildTangent's VP of Marketing, about the company’s wild past, Wild coins, and the wild changes that are taking place in the casual games industry.

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Based in Vologda, Russia, Playrix Entertainment is best known for puzzle games 4 Elements, Around the World in 80 Days, the Atlantis series, and Fishdom. Recently the company expanded its catalogue with a hidden object game, Fishdom H20: Hidden Odyssey. Gamezebo spoke with Playrix Co-Founder and COO Igor Bukhman to learn more about the studio, the making of Fishdom H2O, and the company's upcoming projects. Read more»

George Fan is the mastermind behind PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies, a game that's often been described as "crazy." (Crazy good, crazy addictive... or just plain crazy. It's all accurate.) We spoke to George about Plants vs. Zombies, his previous PopCap project Insaniquarium, and what kind of hidden object game he would make if he could. Read more»

Alawar Entertainment is a company on a roll - especially in its native country, Russia, where it owns more than 80 percent of the casual gaming marketshare. After absorbing five studios over the past two years, the company boasted during Casual Connect in Hamburg that it planned to release 50 titles in 2009. Gamezebo spoke with Kirill Plotnikov, Alawar's VP of Publishing, to get the scoop on what kind of impact the company is having on casual games in Russia, Eastern Europe and beyond. Read more»

If you thought busting tables and milking cows were the only ways to satiate your inner foodie in games, get ready for Winemaker Extraordinaire, the latest strategy game from Merscom. After her grandfather’s passing, an over-worked city girl named Maria embarks on a journey to save his Tuscan winery and single-handedly reunite the world’s most important winemakers into their secret guild. Maria earns their respect by making wines that dazzle their palates.

We sat down with Merscom Chief Customer Officer Lloyd Melnick, who developed the concept, to discuss the vinous appeal for gamers and a possible future cheese pairing. We learned that Melnick is a bit of a wine enthusiast (his favorites hail from Georgia, in Eastern Europe). Read more»

Mari Baker took over as CEO of PlayFirst back in late February after the departure of founder John Welch, and Gamezebo is thrilled to be one of the very first to interview her in her new position. Mari spoke with us about the company's plans to expand beyond PC download casual games, what might be next for the Dash series, and whether Diner Dash: Hometown Hero's experiment with micro-transactions has paid off (among other things). Read more»

When John Barbour was announced as president of RealNetworks' Games Division in October 2008, I was intrigued:  One, John is a toys industry veteran and I’m fascinated by the convergence of toys and games; two, John is an outsider joining the casual games industry at a critical juncture.

Gamezebo sat down with John to discuss the similarities and differences between casual games and toys, the impact of the dreaded “R” word on casual games (OK, I’ll say the word, recession, and it’s not so dreaded), and his plans for RealGames in the next 12 months and beyond. Read more»