For a brief time after Treasure Isle's initial flush of glory, treasure hunting games all but choked Facebook. Now you see them less frequently, which makes seeing a fresh take on the genre like Treasure Quest HD all the more special. Treasure Quest HD combines the basic play mechanics of a Facebook treasure hunt game with the trappings of RPGs. So instead of yet another greedy island-dweller, in Treasure Quest HD you play as a wizard that's illuminating areas of a mysterious map. There are the typical gates to unlock with brightly-colored crystals, but also monsters to defeat with magic spells, NPCs to help, and quests to fulfill.
Much like Puzzle Quest before it, the upcoming Jewel Story on Facebook is attempting to spice up the Bejeweled formula with added role playing and strategy elements. You still match jewels into groups of three or more, but you'll also be venturing out on an epic fantasy adventure, taking on quests and customizing your own character.
Social farming games may be declining in popularity, but that isn't stopping developer Mail.Ru Games from attempting to kickstart the genre with the browser game Farm Kingdom. With the addition of mini-games and a intriguing storyline this isn't just another FarmVille clone.
You don't see too many point-and-click adventures that get the full-on, triple-A treatment these days, but The Book of Unwritten Tales is most definitely one of them. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, filled with oddball characters, laugh-out-loud funny moments and enough old-time adventuring to keep you busy for days. If your heart longs for the glory days of Monkey Island and King's Quest, you need to play this game.
Book of Heroes is a role playing game from Venan Entertainment for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Using the skills granted you, you'll need to take on many different types of enemies. Knowing the best strategies for taking down enemies isn't usually the easiest task, but with Gamezebo's quick start guide, you'll have all the tips, tricks and walkthroughs you'll need to be a triumphant warrior.
You know what would have made a great role playing game? He-Man. Or maybe G.I. Joe. Or how about Jem? Am I losing you on this premise? I hope not, because the folks at Mighty Rabbit Studio seem to feel the same way I do about the televised treasure of childhood in the eighties, and their shaping those feelings into playable form in the upcoming spoof/homage of eighties cartoon culture Saturday Morning RPG.
With new ways to interface with electronics come new paradigms for how games are played. Therefore, it's an exciting time for both social and mobile gaming. Fabulapps (gotta love that name) takes elements of various social games such as the original Mafia Wars, and builds on an emerging genre that isn't quite perfect, but still a meaningful step in the right direction.
Venan Entertainment is a company with a few great iOS titles under their belt. Whether we were climbing redwoods in Ninjatown: Trees of Doom or shooting asteroids in Space Miner Blast, we've had a pretty great time with everything they've had to offer so far. But when we heard their next game was going to be a freemium menu-driven RPG, it was hard not to be skittish. There were visions of text-based titles like Mafia Wars Shakedown dancing in our heads. As it turns out, Book of Heroes is nothing of the sort.