What's Hot:

• Name Your Own Price Bundle
• The Night of the Rabbit
• Star Command
• Fez

As far as treasure-themed Facebook games go, Atlas Raider is certainly not a looker, and there was a lot about the initial gameplay that underwhelmed me right off the bat. But as I got ready to simply write the game off and do some backyard raiding of my own, I suddenly realized that several hours had gone by: and that I was actually having fun and didn’t want to stop playing. And that’s exactly the kind of game that Atlas Raider turns out to be.

Back in April, I had the good fortune of moderating a panel at the Social Casino Summit in San Francisco. The panel was about how to stand out in the crowded social casino marketplace.  It’s a topic that Michael Carpenter, CEO of Ruby Seven Studios, knows all too well.

I'm pretty sure it was Kanye West who once opined that no one man should have all that power. That's here on Earth though. Out in space, you can grab all the power you want as long as you've got the right ship and some allies to back you up. Oh, and you'll also have to be playing Pocket Galaxy, a multiplayer cross-platform space battle game getting ready to launch from Spectacle Games.

I’ve never really been a fan of fishing. I tried going a few times before with my dad, but it was always really hot and sticky outside, and I could never manage to catch anything bigger than my finger. You can’t really even talk to anyone while you’re fishing either, for fear of scaring all the fish away. Now virtual fishing, on the other hand, is definitely more my speed: where I can cast my line from the comfort of my couch and with the air conditioning on full blast as I wait for something to bite. And that’s why I’m so excited about FISHAO, which looks to bring the core concepts of fishing to the social gaming scene.

One of the first mistakes developers make when handling their own PR is emailing everyone under the sun who writes about games in any capacity. While initially that may seem like a good idea—I see you writing comments like “Isn’t that what you guys do?!”—writers are busy, and a generic pitch that isn’t in line with what they cover is a surefire way to get Marked As Spam and disappear from their inbox forever.

Sometimes originality is overrated. By that I mean it's entirely possible just to cherry pick the best ideas from previous works, add in your own clever story and dialogue and voila: you've got yourself a great game. Ecol Tactics Online almost proves my point, taking bits from JRPGs, MMOs and tactical battle games and very nearly turning them into something wonderful.

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 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?

A lot of good can come from playing video games. It can reduce stress and depression, and even improve the memory of the elderly. But there are some companies out there who wish to take it further. If playing a game can improve you as a person, why can’t it also improve the world around you? This is a question Global Gaming Initiative is hoping to answer.

All right, put down that blasted video game. It’s time to read some books. Some video game books. Storybundle.com is offering ten awesome video game-related ebooks that are worth a collective $100—but you can donate whatever denomination you think is fair. Be generous!

Iron Man is basically everywhere right now. Iron Man 3 is hitting theaters on May 3, an officially licensed game of the same name just hit the App Store (we thought it was okay), and now the character has wiggled his way into Marvel: Avengers Alliance. Superheroes sure do have a lot of energy.

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re suckers for lists around here. We chronicle each week’s major iOS releases, tell you which games we can’t wait to play, and even pick the best games released every month. And while April may not have been the most prolific month of game releases, there was still plenty to get excited about – like a new Cut the Rope!

While getting ready for launch, player testing your title is truly a tough and eye-opening experience. Every. Single. Time. You've constructed all these really simple, educating and fun levels, just to realize that players don't play the game 'as they should'. To ensure that your game is played like it is supposed to be played, you need to have a killer first-time flow.

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 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?

We love playing games, reading about games, and writing about games here at Gamezebo, but eventually all of that screen time can really put a strain on our eyes. So what do we do to unwind when we’re not glued to a monitor to give you the best content on the internet today? We read a little bit of good ol’ ink on paper fiction!

Ecol Tactics is a role-playing game developed by Games Campus. Gamezebo’s quick start strategy guide will provide you with detailed images, tips, information, and hints on how to play your best game.

The first shipments of Google Glass are being delivered to a lucky thousand few fans and developers.  And so far, the initial impressions are that this could simultaneously be as much a fad as the Segway and/or a new platform in the making like the iPad (the big VCS who formed the Glass Collective are surely betting on the latter).

Surely, games will play a big role in the success of Google Glass, and vice versa.  The question is, how?

Space pirate adventure games are as common as star-lice on the hull of a space ship, but that’s because they remain fun no matter how many times you set sail for fame and glory. Plus, space is vast and mysterious, so it’s easy enough to pen endless mythologies around it. By comparison, we already know that sea-bound pirates stole a bunch of stuff and had a problem with their teeth falling out. Exciting.

Just in case anyone misconstrues that headline, I want to reiterate that Ron Gilbert IS NOT planning on making a new Monkey Island game. He hasn’t gone so far as to say he never would, but it isn’t in the cards for the time being. A man can daydream, however, and Gilbert did just that in a recent post on his Grumpy Gamer blog.

Like many other companies, Zynga is biding its time until real money online and mobile gambling games are legalized in the United States. But by looking at the games Zynga has already introduced in places like the United Kingdom, we can get a pretty good idea of what American players can look forward to when the social gaming giant is able to roll them out on this side of the Atlantic.

18 Cadence is the latest work from interactive fiction writer Aaron A. Reed, creator of Blue Lacuna.  While not a game in any standard sense of the word, this “story kit” is an interactive experience that allows you to send more than just a high score to the world: you are enabled and encouraged to share your own story or poem with other reader-creators, and to explore what they have shared as well.  It’s a potentially endless cycle of inspiration and creation, originating from Reed’s own offerings.