The week in gaming news: January 20, 2012 edition

It’s Friday, and you know what that means: it’s time to look back on the week in gaming. And what a week it was. Games helped save lives, launched on new platforms, and even flirted with the idea of gambling. Here’s what happened in casual games this week.

Monday

• In this week’s Monday morning editorial we did something a little different: asked you for your feedback on how to make Gamezebo even better. There’s a great discussion going on in our forums if you still want to have your voice heard.
• Dueling Blades is an exciting-looking upcoming Facebook game, and we talked to the developers at Hourblast Games to learn all about it.

Tuesday

• Words With Friends may be a lot of fun, but it also helps save lives.
• Move over Angry Birds, an Indian marriage site has launched Angry Brides on Facebook to raise awareness for dowry-related violence.
• In the latest edition of Gamezebo Cribs, we check out Broken Bulb Studios’ Arizona-based workplace.
• Art lovers and gamers can finally come together thanks to a new exhibition at the Smithsonian.
• HTML5 is gaining in popularity, and a new survey suggests that a whole lot of developers are playing around with the technology.
• Is Zynga doomed? Someone sure seems to think so.
• He may have co-founded Apple, but Steve Wozniak is a big Android fan.

Wednesday

• The galaxy is getting even bigger with a new expansion announced for Galaxy Fire 2.
• 6waves Lolapps continues to expand into mobile with the acquisition of Escalation Studios.
• Temple Run has been downloaded 20 million times on iOS, and now the game is coming to Android.
• And it’s not the only one, as the colorful Whale Trail is also on its way to Google’s mobile platform.
• Do you like Cut the Rope? Well good news, as developer Zeptolab says there’s plenty more of Om Nom on the way.
• In our latest Kickstarter Picks feature, we take a look at an interesting new puzzle game called UFHO2.

Thursday

• Just how big is the indie sensation Minecraft? The game has more than 20 million registered users.
• Gamezebo favorite Triple Town is now available on even more platforms, as developer Spry Fox has launched the puzzler on both iOS and Android.
• We’ve reported on plenty of Zynga-related acquisitions, but it turns out there were even more, as the Facebook giant secretly scooped up four mobile studios.
• Facebook game Baking Life is shutting down, and there’s not much time left, as the virtual doors will close on January 31.
• Platforming speedster Sonic is finally available on Steam.

Friday

• Super Crate Box is hard, thankfully the developers have chimed in with a few tips to make things a bit easier.
• It might be illegal, but Zynga wants in on internet gambling.
• With Baking Life shutting down at the end of the month, fans have voiced their displeasure.

Andrew Webster