Unless you use iSwifter on your iPad or take a laptop with you wherever you go, there’s really no way to play Facebook games on the go. But thankfully a number of developers have attempted to remedy this by making iPhone-exclusive versions of popular social games. They may be smaller, but most of them are just as fun. And as a bonus, there are a handful of cross-platform games that you can play across both Facebook and iOS, too.
Unless you use iSwifter on your iPad or take a laptop with you wherever you go, there’s really no way to play Facebook games on the go. But thankfully a number of developers have attempted to remedy this by making iPhone-exclusive versions of popular social games. They may be smaller, but most of them are just as fun. And as a bonus, there are a handful of cross-platform games that you can play across both Facebook and iOS, too.
CityVille Hometown – while the goal of CityVille is to build a bustling metropolis, Hometown is much more modest. You’re building a small town, which is not only a great fit for the iPhone’s smaller screen, but also means that the game puts a larger focus on people. There are more characters in Hometown and you’ll learn more about them than you would in the big city, as things move at a much more laid back pace.
Pet Society Vacation – with this game, you get just what the title promises: a vacation for your Pet Society pet. That means it’s the same basic game as the Facebook version (you can even take the same pet along for the ride) except it takes place on a tropical island with new items to collect and a great mini-game that lets you scubadive for treasure. You’ll even be able to unlock additional content by linking up the two versions of the game.
Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition – this mobile version doesn’t connect with the main Restaurant City, nor does it offer much in the way of new gameplay. Instead, it’s simply a scaled back version of the restaurant management game designed specifically with the iPhone in mind. And since the original game is quite good, we couldn’t ask for much more.
Monster Galaxy: The Zodiac Islands – Monster Galaxy brough Pokemon-style monster collecting to Facebook, and The Zodiac Islands does the same thing for the iPhone. With simple but addictive combat, plentiful monsters to collect and islands to explore, and a fun, goofy storyline to follow there’s a lot to like in this game. A large part of the appeal of Pokemon is that you can play it on the go, and now the same can be said for Monster Galaxy.
It Girl – though it launched last year, It Girl is still one of the best role playing games on Facebook. And thanks to the magic of Facebook Connect you can now play a companion version of the same game on your phone. You can spend diamonds instead of Facebook credits and there are plenty of exlusive items to collect in this mobile game.
FarmVille – we’ve all been there. You plant some new crops but before you can get back to the computer to harvest them, they’ve withered away. Well, with the iPhone version of FarmVille that’s a thing of the past, as you can set the game to give you push notifications, letting you know exactly when that wheat is going to spoil.
Buddy Rush – now this is a game that’s truly crossplatform. The iPhone version isn’t similar to the Facebook version, it’s identical. In this charming action RPG that means you can play a quest on your computer and then pick up right where you left off on your phone. The game looks and plays the same on both platforms, so etither way you’re in for a great experience.
Order & Chaos Online – this massively multiplayer RPG actually debuted on the iPhone, but now you can play it on Facebook as well. Unfortunately, the two versions of the game, despite playing the same, put players on different servers, so you won’t be able to create a character in one version and then continue on from a different platform. But even still, Order & Chaos Online provides a surprisingly World of Warcraft-style experience that you can’t find anywhere else on Facebook or the iPhone.
Words With Friends – like Buddy Rush, this one is fully cross-platform. The Scrabble-like game lets players compete agianst one another asynchronously no matter what platform they’re on. So you can start a game on your phone on the way to work and then continue on Facebook when you should actually be getting some stuff done. Words With Friends is a threat to productivity no matter where you are.
