Hero is a role-playing game for Facebook from Chinese developer Hero Legend. The game previously appeared on our top 20 list of emerging Facebook games in December, about six months after its launch. After holding steady throughout the beginning of 2011, its monthly active users are again on the rise. Daily active users are another story, however. Today’s figure comes just after a recovery from a large drop, which oddly coincided with a spike in MAU.

According to our traffic tracking service, AppData, Hero currently has 948,000 monthly active users and 77,000 daily active users.

Hero’s gameplay has several elements. Players can build up a castle, take part in Mafia Wars-style quests and pass through a “Time Gate” to enter into combat with a variety of fantasy-themed foes. The game opens with a simple tutorial to teach players how to play, but a shaky translation from the original Chinese means that the game demands a certain level of familiarity with the genres involved — or at least a willingness to explore and experiment. The mechanics involved will be familiar to those who have been playing social games for some time, but the combination of genres offers something a little different to the norm.

The game’s main social elements come from recruiting other players for bonuses and gift-exchanging purposes. More experienced players are able to join guilds to take on tough challenges for useful bonuses. Players can also declare war on neighboring players’ kingdoms in an attempt to gain even more bonus items.

Hero is monetized through the sale of its premium currency, diamonds. These can be purchased via PayPal, credit card, cellphone, Ukash, Amazon Payments, Social Gold, Click and Buy or PaySafe. There’s also an offer wall provided by Tapjoy that enables players to earn diamonds by completing offers, taking surveys or trying other Facebook games. There’s also a paid monthly membership option which gives players free equipment every day plus a stipend of 4 diamonds per day. Members also get discounts in the in-game store. Currently, the game does not feature any sort of Facebook Credits integration.

We were unable to contact Hero Legend for comment on the game’s growth pattern, but it appears that game updates are somewhat sporadic, which could account for the sudden MAU uptick. Past updates seem to have revolved around revamps of the user interface, and new equipment for players to purchase in the in-game store. There was also a seasonal event around Christmas of last year where players could purchase a special Santa Claus item to heal their heroes. It’s fair to assume that the game will continue to support its community with content updates, particularly if the MAU figure continues on its upward path. If Hero Legend plans to stick around on Facebook, Facebook Credits might also be a forthcoming update as the mandatory deadline for social game integration goes into effect at the end of next month.

You can follow Hero’s progress using AppData, our traffic tracking application for social games and developers.