MouseHunt is probably one of the most famous games in Facebook. In fact, it has approximately 450 thousand active users monthly!
The game is set in the Town of Gnawnia. The role of players is to help the king get rid of these numerous mice. To do that, players use cheese and traps. Players receive gold from the king for catching mice and get their names in the hunter ranks. The gold may be used to purchase better cheese or traps. The goal of the game is to be the best mouse hunter.
There are many kinds of mice, including the abominable snow mice and the giant snail mice. There are also many kinds of cheese for the different types of mice. For example, it is said that moon cheese is great for catching Lycan mice. Expectedly, there are many kinds of traps, too. Traps include those that smash mice, drop them into a bottomless pit, and those that relocate mice into a fantasy world of unlimited cheese.
Occasionally, there are special events. The most recent is the crashing of the festive comet at the Town of Gnawnia. This signaled the beginning of the Great Winter Hunt which started last 12th of December. When players catch mice at the crash site, he or she may get the “12 Days ’til Christmas” items. The items were available at the site until the 24th. Players who were able to find all 12 items will be able to exchange them for the special “Christmas Cracker Trap”. Players who were not able to complete the set can still exchange the items for Brie, a special cheese that attracts mice better than any other cheese.
So what are you waiting for? Join the craze by going to their app site (http://apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/index.php).
Poker fanatics invade Facebook with its social-gaming app called the Texas Hold em’. As of December 1, 2009, the online Poker game ranks no. 7 with 19.7 million users, earning approximately $100 million.
Before playing Texas Hold em’, a player-to-be must log into Facebook. Once logged in, the user can now try his luck in the game. Basically, Texas Hold em’ has the same principles as the usual poker game. You can choose to fold, check, call, or raise, after two players put in the small blind and the big blind. By clicking on “Log in to Texas Hold em’ Poker” button, you will be asked to set up your privacy settings and to click the “Add Texas Hold Em’ Poker” button. Right after signing up to play, you will be given virtual chips for betting. The virtual chip represents play money, so you do not have to worry about spending the real thing. The game provides an option for players to try their hands on a tournament by clicking on the “tournaments” button or just enjoy a game with your friends by clicking on the “create table” button.
One of the best things about this is that the people playing this game do not lose real money. Additionally, players are given a fresh batch of virtual chips every day, and a player can also earn bonus chips by inviting friends to play. This way, players never experience being virtually broke! Texas Hold em’ also provides a “leader Board” which indicates the level of the player, the chips required to attain that position and the award given.
Texas Hold em’ will let you have a feel of the real thing without losing real money. Start betting!
Almost everybody knows that the British economy has been affected tremendously by the recession. They also continue to have a hard time getting back on their feet. Unexpectedly, one of the things that are helping this economy is the unprecedented growth of mobile phone and social networking apps.
Facebook is one of those social networking sites that help the British economy. How? Facebook is open to third party developers. So people who are not working for the social networking site can create applications that will be used for there. The apps are free to use but the developers profit from this through online purchases of their gaming items and currency. Currently, the site is probably the best gaming platform for 2009. This is due to the fact that they have approximately 350 million users worldwide and about one fifth of the users play online games.
The British company, Playfish, is one of the third party developers who create apps for the social networking site. They have been made famous by developing games like “Restaurant City”, “Country Story”, “World Challenge”, “Crazy Planets”, and “Bowling Buddies”. However, its most famous Facebook apps are “Pet Society” and “Who has the Biggest Brain?”. In November, they profited $275 million or £172 million when the Electronic Arts, a big videogame company, acquired them.
Another British company, Mind Candy, became very popular worldwide with their Facebook app, Moshi Monsters. Recently, they have gained about 16,000 monthly active Facebook users. This game allows players to adopt their very own pet monster.
Profit from these apps may reach $1 billion before the year ends. This number is expected to balloon up to $1.6 billion next year. The British will definitely have a part of this huge profit.
Many people had been negatively affected by the recession. Because of this, people curbed their spending habits, and sales in malls and other stores had gone down. However, there is one place where sales have skyrocketed: the world of virtual reality.
The popularity of social networking sites, like Facebook, is one factor in this boom. Facebook, alone, has about 70 million users worldwide. Because connecting with friends and relatives is so much easier through such sites, many people show off in these sites, too. In addition, gift giving during the holidays is made easier and cheaper through these sites.
Spending in social networking games is also a big factor in this boom. Many are encouraged to spend in these free games because upgrading their membership, for example, will let them play more games or earn or earn more points. Buying extra credits can also let them get special items that help them succeed easier in the games.
Virtual reality goods usually cost less than a dollar to two dollars. So, people’s avatars can wear clothes owners cannot normally wear because these clothes are too expensive; their virtual homes can be fully furnished with the latest appliances and furniture, unlike their real homes — and for just a few dollars! Although each item is very cheap, when added together, these are expected to reach $1 billion by the end of this year and may go up to $1.6 billion in 2010.
Have you ever tried playing Monopoly or Millionaires Game? Isn’t it fun when you get to own huge properties and earn lots of play money while laughing at your opponent’s loss? Well, Virtonomics has the same effect. However, the principles of the game are a little more complex than the board games mentioned.
Virtonomics is a multi-player turn-based online business game integrated in Facebook. The online game allows players to build their corporation and develop businesses. It also lets players interact with other gamers through competition.
Currently, the multi-player online game has 17 economic sectors and 100 kinds of products. It’s a simulation of the business world with different countries available for trading, agriculture, banking or commerce to name a few. One may think that the game is complicated. Surprisingly though, Virtonomics provides easy to understand instructions and rules. Players do not have to be degree holders of economics or the likes to participate in this exciting online game. To play, just log into Facebook and go to the app’s page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virtonomicscom/178660510050?v=info).
Other than learning the principles of economics and enjoying a good strategy game, players are given an opportunity to earn real money. To earn, players can enter into contests in the game, special campaigns, referral programs, and game tender. There are also prizes for top players. Now where else can you find a game that is free and gives you real money while enjoying?
It is public knowledge that Facebook received several lawsuits due to scams performed through their game ads. In addition, some users, non-gamers in particular, have become quite irritated by “push notifications” that appear in the notification channel saying who has fertilized someone’s farm or who has chased away the crows.
To address these issues, game platform manager, Gareth Davis, stated that Facebook is working on the Game Dashboard. The Game Dashboard hopes to make it easier for the users to go to recently played games and look for new games. It also has Game News which will let the players know his or her ranking in games being played, as well as what his or her friends are playing.
Moreover, this Facebook feature will provide game notification differently. Instead of push notifications, it can send game announcements via email. This particular feature benefits the non-gaming members of social networking site because they will no longer see the said announcements in the notification channel.
Facebook Game Dashboard intends to satisfy the needs of non-gamers, gamers, and the game developers. The results are still uncertain whether the Game Dashboard would boost the website’s traffic or the other way around. For the meantime, it is a wait–and–see situation. Hopefully, in its launch on January 2010, it will yield positive results.
Last week, 16 December 2009, a new Facebook app became available to its users: Frosmo. This new app provides tournaments where Facebook users can play games to improve their ranks and win prizes. Prizes include its own virtual money, Frollars; real cash; as well as virtual and real gifts. In most tournaments, one needs the currency to join. Frollars can also be bought using PayPal or credit cards.
To play, Facebook users can invite friends to come together and form teams. This is not the same as teams in Mafia Wars, for example. In this Facebook app, team members can actually interact with each other and their team’s rank is dependent on how well each team member plays the games.
Because of the unusual attraction that the app provides, players find it rewarding to use the app. This, in turn, brings more users to Facebook and stay in the site longer.
The app earns by encouraging users to purchase Frollars and to upgrade their memberships for a limited time. Newbies are automatically bronze members. Bronze membership can access a limited number of games. Advanced memberships, like gold and platinum, can access more games and receive double or triple the regular amount of Frollars earned per game.
Popular Frosmo games include: Bubble Spinner, 3 Minutes on the Beach, and Blockarelli. To start playing, login to Facebook then go to the Facebook Frosmo app site (http://apps.facebook.com/frosmoworld/).
Recently, with the popularity of social networks like Facebook, a lot of its users are getting hooked on one of its most important applications: social gaming. Farmville alone continues to increase by more than 6 million active users monthly. Its users are now about 70 million.
Social gaming has simple yet interesting principles, as well as engaging activities. It lets users interact with each other via competition or through invites from other users. Unlike hardcore online games, these social games let users unwind from their usual routine.
There are many developers who create these free games because it is profitable for them. First, they earn through advertisements that go with their games. The more users play their games, the more money the games earn. Secondly, these social games encourage users to buy virtual goods through PayPal or their credit cards.
Virtual goods are items needed to have that competitive edge in the game. Some would have limited holiday-themed virtual goods. Restaurant City, for example, sells the Festive Fridge and Stove. These items allow gamers to prepare food faster. Priced exorbitantly, gamers who lack points or coins would buy more coins from the developer with real cash.
Due to these online purchases, a lot of social gaming startups earned a whopping $600.5 million this year, despite the fact that revenue went down by 36% from last year. Zynga alone earned $180 million in a deal with Digital Skies Technology.
With this hefty revenue, social gaming startups will remain solvent despite the recession. Indeed, the recession is to their advantage because more gamers now prefer the free Facebook games rather than spending a huge amount on gaming consoles and PCs.
Playing Facebook games is probably one of the biggest crazes nowadays. In fact, we get numerous invitations from friends from all over the world to join and play with them. Popular ones include: Farmville and Café World by Zynga, Pet Society and Restaurant City by Playfish, and Happy Aquarium by Crowdstar. Among these, Farmville is probably the most popular with 70 million users.
Facebook has approximately 350 million users worldwide and about one fifth of them play online games. That is okay if it is done at home. However, it has been proven that these games are also played at work.
In India alone, their Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry said that survey results revealed that about 12.5 percent of corporate sector employees’ productivity goes into playing Facebook games. That is like one hour of every employee’s 8-hour workday.
In the US, Nucleus Research, Inc. found that almost half of office staff visit the social networking site at work. So that about 1.5 percent of productivity is lost. That is like 7 minutes of work lost daily per employee working on an 8-hour shift.
Because of this loss in productivity, many companies have banned access to social networking sites. However, there are some people who think that these games are good for employees, as long as it’s not overdone.
According to Santosh Chaturvedi, a psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in Bangalore, online games are beneficial to employees because their mind gets to take a break from work. This change in mindset may allow them to concentrate better when they get back to work, thus increasing productivity.
Many people’s lives revolve around Facebook. They keep in touch with friends and family through the site. They meet new people and share information, like birthdays, phone numbers, and addresses. But the site is not entirely safe. In fact, if you are not careful, it can become a scary place.
Identity theft is rampant and this social networking site can be a crook’s heaven. Friends have access to some private information stored in the site. So indiscriminately accepting people as friends is almost like posting your personal details in a blog that can be read by the world.
Good for people who are careful about who gets their information. However, that is not the only way for thieves to steal your information. So, below are some tips to keep your information safe:
• Keep an antivirus and anti-malware software active and updated in your computer. Be sure to scan your computer often.
Many scammers can trick you into downloading viruses, Trojans, etc. which can be hidden inside applications that we download from the site. These hidden programs can retrieve private information stored in your computer (like credit card numbers).
• Use a browser that features an anti-phishing blacklist like Internet Explorer 8 or Mozilla Firefox 3.0.10 or higher. Phishing attacks are very difficult to detect without tools because they look like the real deal. These usually ask you to put your Facebook username and password so that they can get into your account.
• Change your password often and keep them to yourself.
• Read the site’s safety page (http://www.facebook.com/safety/) to get tips on how to further keep your information safe.
Keeping our information safe is not the sole responsibility of the government or the website. It starts with us. So, know how to protect yourself and your loved ones.
