Mafia Farm may technically be a modern game, but its plays like a mash-up of two of Facebook's oldest genres. It's FarmVille meets Mafia Wars, only it's not as interesting as either. And it's not because the two genres don't play well with one another, as the seemingly strange blend works well enough. It's that the elements of the game feel both archaic and unoriginal, with little in the way of fresh ideas.
Slowly but surely, a sense of originality is creeping into Facebook gaming. A few years ago, a game like Rise of Olympia would've been nothing more than a Travian clone. Instead, Hoolai has made a game that takes the old Travian formula and radically simplifies it down into something more digestible and RPG-like. In Rise of Olympia, you ally with one of the three Greek gods vying for the throne of Olympus, build a city, and wage war against other players. There are also story missions that let your army battle NPC foes.
CastleVille isn't the kind of release that will revolutionize social gaming. It doesn't remake the wheel or have any crazy ambitious concepts. It's a game that sits firmly in the framework already established by games like FrontierVille and Ravenskye City. But thanks to some subtle but very welcome tweaks and arguably the best visual and audio experience on Facebook, it's still a great game. It may not be the most original, but it's definitely one of the best.
Dungeon Hunter was a breakthrough when it first appeared, bringing Diablo-style gameplay to iOS devices. Dungeon Hunter Alliance, however, was pretty hit-or-miss when it was released on the PlayStation 3 this summer. Now, Gameloft's brought the action role-playing game to the Mac and has the rare opportunity to get a do-over. For better or worse, the title is pretty much the same as before: It's decent, but it just can't out-Diablo Diablo.
Zynga's CastleVille allows you to save a dying kingdom from the grips of the gloom that has overtaken it. Fight off the evil and build a beautiful kingdom just the way you want it. Decorate it with quaint cottages, productive workshops, and amazing royal buildings. Gather resources and create goods to use in your kingdom. Farm, fish, raise animals, and help your neighbors with their kingdoms as well. Create your own happy ending in this never ending fairy tale. Gamezebo's CastleVille quick start strategy guide will provide you with detailed images, tips, tricks, and hints on how to play your best game.
Facebook gaming has changed in many ways over the years, but one thing has been constant: most games are clones of other games. Any genre that gets popular always spawns a thousand clones, sometimes with nearly identical interfaces. Some older Facebook genres like the text RPG are starting to evolve, though, and Ashtaria is a good representation of this. Ashtaria in terms of gameplay is definitely a descendant of your basic Mafia Wars style text RPG, but its look and feel is very different. You actually have to play this one for awhile before it starts to feel familiar.
If there's one hard and fast rule in the world of video games, it's probably this: popular games get sequels. It should come as no surprise, then, that Gameloft moments ago announced Dungeon Hunter III for iOS and Android devices.
Do you ever wish that the adventures from The Mummy film trilogy just never ended? Well, you're in luck, as Bigpoint will soon let players explore the world on their own, going on new action-packed adventures in The Mummy Online. Set in the same world as the films, the upcoming free-to-play online game combines aspects of action and adventure games with a role playing game.