Casual Game News

The press surrounding Zynga’s acquisition of Draw Something developer OMGPOP hasn’t always been the most optimistic. In fact, some have argued Zynga made a huge mistake.  That might be true (or it might not be), but we’re not here to talk about doom and gloom. Zynga has released an infographic detailing Draw Something’s performance in its first year on the market, and it’s full of interesting statistics. Care to know how many times Lady Gaga has been drawn? Read on!

When it comes time to crank up the creepiness, most games take the supernatural route and introduce haunted houses, abandoned asylums, or dark forests with eerie shadows. We won't argue that being chased by Slenderman isn't terrifying, but Ben4View is promising something uniquely unsettling with its upcoming adventure horror game Stranded Deep.

We cover plenty of new games here at Gamezebo every week, but the number of games we’ve already covered that show up on new platforms?  It’s staggering.  This Wednesday (ok, we’re a day late) and every Wednesday, Gamezebo is rounding up the games that aren’t quite new, but might be new to you depending on your platform of choice.  And who doesn't love new(ish) games?

Who says piracy has to be a bad thing? Sean Hogan, co-designer of retro RPG Anodyne, has revealed in a blog post that promoting the game on The Pirate Bay’s homepage yielded its best sales numbers yet.

If you harbor any concerns as to whether or not your computer can handle Kentucky Route Zero, you should probably download Limits and Demonstrations. And if you’ve already played through Kentucky Route Zero’s first act (and enjoyed it), you should still probably download Limits and Demonstrations. It’s free, and functions as both a graphics card test for the uninitiated and companion piece for the fans. Everybody wins!

Buzz Lightyear, being the enigmatic space ranger he is, has just informed Disney Interactive via transmission that a new Toy Story game is arriving soon on mobile devices. He opted to go the mysterious route and not divulge any concrete details about said game, but he was kind enough to send along a screenshot. 

We spend a lot of time looking at games here at Gamezebo. You’d expect as much – heck, it’s in our name! But have you ever wondered which games the Gamezebo staff are really passionate about? The ones we can’t personally wait to get our hands on?

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: you can never have too many action-adventure games, especially ones that take place on a colorful, tropical island! Project Cornerstone is an open world action-adventure game with an emphasis on environmental physics puzzles, and from what we know about the game so far, it looks to do the genre proud. The game is currently in development for PC, Mac, and Linux platforms, and seeking funding from fans on its Kickstarter page.

After being available just five days in locations like New Zealand and Australia, Real Racing 3 has been updated to include less wait times and freemium hooks. The change was made in response to several negative reviews on the game’s App Store page, nearly all of which are complaints about its perceived abuse of the free-to-play model.

The OUYA’s Kickstarter campaign hit its lofty $950,000 goal in only eight hours. The Gamestick, a competitor to the OUYA, had no trouble reaching its goal, either. Not long after, both Valve and Nvidia announced they would be releasing devices that simplified the process of playing PC games on a TV. Change is coming soon to the console market, and based on everything mentioned above, it’s clear microconsoles will be leading the charge. To learn more about what we as consumers can expect in the months and years ahead, we reached out to Tadhg Kelly, author of the What Games Are blog and creative director at Jawfish Games.

Popular anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is coming to PC in the form of a free-to-play first person shooter. The announcement came from Nexon, a company specializing in F2P games, which is like best known for its 2D browser-based MMO MapleStory.

Zynga and EA have reached a settlement in their ongoing lawsuit, Inside Social Games is reporting. For those who don’t recall (it began half a year ago, after all), the impetus for this legal battle was EA’s belief that Zynga stole several concepts from The Sims Social for use in The Ville. 

In their ongoing quest to dominate the world of PC-based game distribution, powerhouse Half-Life creator and hardware developer Valve has announced that the company’s popular Steam client is now available on Linux. Steam can be downloaded for free through the Ubuntu Software Center, which has proven to be the most popular distribution method for Linux users in the past.

I didn’t have the best of luck when it came to dating in high school and throughout most of college. I was always the shy kid, content with sitting in the corner at parties, wearing my graphic band tees and fiddling around on my flip phone. That’s why the idea of a social dating game like Flirt Planet that caters towards shy people seems so cool, and so long overdue! Where was this game when I was in high school?!

Free-to-play games, whether downloadable, web-based, or mobile, have become a predominant force in the market that’s here to stay.  After several years of growth and expansion in this area, I think we’ve finally reached a point where no one is disputing this.  And with growing success comes a growing number of developers eager to get in on the action – including some whose previous work lies in AAA home console games.

Bundles and sales and freebies, oh my!  This weekend there are more sales than you could shake a stick at – though why you’d want to shake a stick at them is anyone’s guess.

Timo Dries, Product Manager at Wooga, believes that love, passion, and creativity are important ingredients to a good social game. If utilized correctly, they can the hook the player in ways a game defined by metrics and statistics never could. Dries gave a talk on the subject at this year's Casual Connect Europe.

Do you hear that sound? It’s the whoosh of Cupid’s arrows soaring gracefully through the air. The poor baby-faced god is being forced to work overtime today, and he’ll no doubt want some time to relax once the clock strikes midnight. He can do whatever he wants, being a god and all, but we recommend he (and you!) spend some time playing the games in Indie Royale’s Valentines Bundle 2.0.

Valentine’s Day is all about love, and I LOVE saving money.  And besides, it wouldn’t be much of a holiday without a sale, now would it?  

Roses are red, violets are blue, I spent most of my morning pinning Valentines for you!  That’s right folks, the season of love it upon us once again – and what would Valentine’s Day be without Valentine’s cards?