When I think of social games, Bingo is one of the last things that comes to mind. With the exception of the caller bellowing out the numbers, bingo halls are usually as silent as a library. People are so focussed on their own cards and their own numbers that they won't let even the simplest moment break their concentration. And yet Bingo has come to Facebook - the internet's home for everything social. Not only does Bingo embrace this social phenomenon, it does so with a tremendous degree of success.
As someone who has spent many academic hours studying human behavior I could write pages explaining why humans like slot machines. Or, I could just say, "They are really fun - particularly when you win!" Egg Breaker, a nifty little title on Facebook which has held my attention since November, curbs all of my slot machine impulses. Ok, well, most of them.
Dice games have been around for thousands of years, yet our fascination with them has never waxed or waned. Sic bo has been played in the east for millennia. We've been playing craps in the west since the time of the Crusades. Even well into the 20th century, new games were being developed that depended heavily on dice. Where would Monopoly or Dungeons and Dragons be without them? Now, in this modern age of social networking, the dice game has been re-invented again.
Exciting news! Gamehouse and Mattel have brought UNO, the card game of matching, strategy and concentration that people of all ages have been playing for nearly forty years, to Facebook. Finally, a way to play a tried and true classic in a fresh new format keeps the same rules and feel. You can play with other Facebook members all over the world, and soon you'll be able to challenge your Facebook friends to play against you as well.
Chess is one of the oldest games on the planet. It has survived thousands of years and countless civilizations. In the computer age it has endured everything from Chessmaster 5000 to long-forgotten (but oft beloved) Star Wars Chess. Now in 2009 chess faces its most challenging opponent yet - your pocket. At the time of this writing there are dozens of chess games available for the iPhone, and Chess Elite is one of them.
The Island of Catan is a happening place. It's a hopping chunk of land that's so laden with resources that it has to beat settlers off with a big stick. Everyone wants to stake their claim to a major piece of this hexagonal floating rock in a quest for supreme colonial dominance, but they'll have to plan their turf expansion and resource gathering very carefully if they want to come out ahead. Though it never quite comes to physical blows, this island competition can get pretty cutthroat in a hurry.
As an absolute trivia nerd, I met the announcement of Trivial Pursuit for the iPhone with both excitement and dread. Trivia nerds around the world agree, there are two things that Trivial Pursuit is known for; insanely difficult questions and creating a fantastic group experience. But the iPhone is aimed at keeping things simple, and generally focuses on the single player. Could EA somehow overcome these cross-purposes and make a great portable trivia experience despite this situation?
Bringing their "Family Game Night" concept to video game audiences is something that Hasbro has been trying to succeed with over the past few years, and it's met with mixed results. While games like Jenga World Tour and Operation Mania were flops, recent releases like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit have been meeting with moderate success, both critically and commercially. Could Yahtzee, a simple game that combines dice and poker rules, really offer the level of depth and replayability that so many gamers demand nowadays? Much to my surprise, the answer is a resounding yes.