There are a handful of superhero games on Facebook already, but none like Marvel: Avengers Alliance, which gives players the opportunity to fight alongside their favorite Marvel superheroes in RPG-style combat against a series of iconic villains.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance is currently undergoing private beta testing with a final release to the public coming “very soon” according to developer Playdom. The game will be launching with a substantial amount of content, including a total of 28 recruitable Marvel heroes for players to add to their team and fight alongside, as well as a wide range of missions pitting the player’s team against well-known Marvel villains such as Dr. Doom, Loki and Green Goblin.

Players start the game by designing their own avatar, which does not have to share the name and gender of their Facebook profile. This character, known as “The Agent” throughout the course of the game, becomes a member of the Marvel “S.H.I.E.L.D” espionage and peace-keeping organization despite having no discernible superpowers at the outset of their career. Despite this, The Agent is the most customizable of the characters the player will take control of throughout the course of the game, with a wide variety of weapons, armor, special equipment and skills available, allowing players to take full ownership over their character’s development.

By following a series of story-based missions, players will recruit their first Marvel heroes into their team, including Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow. The game’s basic concepts are gradually introduced, starting with the turn-based RPG-style combat which makes up the bulk of the game. The Agent and up to two additional heroes are sent into battle against various opponents in an attempt to work their way across various maps, culminating in a boss fight against a Marvel villain. Combat strategy is based on a system of character classes, where certain types of character are particularly strong and weak against others, meaning as the player’s team expands, heroes must be selected with greater care. Performance in battle is scored according to how quickly the conflict was resolved and how well the player’s team survived, with higher scores contributing to higher “mission mastery” ratings. Higher masteries lead to bigger rewards, which can then be spent on new equipment, training and consumable items.

The game involves little in the way of direct social interaction until after the first few missions, at which point a player-vs-player facility becomes unlocked, allowing players to pit their teams of heroes against one another. Alongside this, players are also able to visit their friends’ cities to “help” with missions by clicking on locations to recover money and items. Players are also able to recover “call for backup” items from friends, too, which can subsequently be used in difficult battles to even the odds somewhat.

Progression in the game will require players to either spend money or recruit friends due to the necessity of acquiring “S.H.I.E.L.D” points for training and researching new equipment. These can be procured either by requesting from friends or by purchasing with the game’s hard currency. Without them, players may still continue through the story, but will be unable to level up Marvel heroes or unlock new equipment for purchase in the in-game store.

There are a lot of things to like about Marvel: Avengers Alliance. The art style evokes the atmosphere of its source material well; the story is simple comic-book fun with some entertaining dialog; and the gameplay itself is straightforward to understand while offering enough depth and challenge to attract more hardcore players. There are a few niggling little flaws which detract slightly from the experience, however — for example, some game terminology is used inconsistently, with “Stamina” and “AP” being used interchangeably in a number of situations, leading to confusion. Likewise, comic book fans will be sure to pick up on the illogical fact that it’s possible to call Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) for backup during combat even when Iron Man is already in the active battle party. The fact the game switches out of full-screen mode when sharing an achievement with friends — even when the post is created frictionlessly — is also a little frustrating, particularly at times when it’s impossible to immediately switch back to full-screen mode, such as during tutorial messages.

These flaws aside, Marvel: Avengers Alliance will likely attract a broad audience thanks to its deep gameplay and cast of recognizable characters. It also looks as if the game is set to be just the first step in a range of interconnected Marvel games known as “Marvel XP.” Details on this are slim at the time of writing, but the game will offer the facility to sign up for the service via a player’s Facebook account, with progression in Avengers Alliance potentially affecting progress in subsequent games.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance is set to launch on Facebook “very soon,” according to the developer. You’ll be able to follow its progress using AppData, our traffic tracking application for social games and developers.

Play

The official Marvel license will help this well-produced game find a large audience among comic book fans on Facebook.

Ubisoft’s Rabbids series — originally a spinoff from the company’s Rayman franchise — is well-known for its irreverent, lavatorial humor and has invaded a wide variety of platforms over the course of the last few years. The small, insane, rabbit-like creatures have finally hit Facebook this month in the form of Rabbids Invasion.

Rabbids Invasion offers a twist on standard citybuilding gameplay: the city is already there. However, the city in question was built by humans and as such, the Rabbids are unable to avail themselves of all its facilities. In order to do so, the Rabbids must “invade” the existing buildings and take them over. In doing so, the drab, brown art becomes wildly colorful and often takes on humorous, surreal characteristics. Invading a house, for example, might cover it in toilet paper. Invading a farmhouse might redesign it to look like a giant cow. And invading a log cabin simply burns it down and turns it into an enormous bonfire.

Progress in the game is determined by a number of factors: the number of Rabbids available to invade buildings, the soft currency the player has on hand to purchase and invade buildings and cans of food that are required to supply businesses. Additional Rabbids can be acquired by invading public buildings such as post offices, and this then allows for more structures to be acquired, in turn leading to greater income of soft currency and experience points. Food, meanwhile, comes from harvesting strange crops such as roast chickens from fields.

The player is led through the basics of invading and building through a series of quests, all of which are presented in a somewhat sarcastic manner with numerous pop culture references. Early gameplay revolves around taking over buildings, building up stockpiles of food and currency and then expanding the borders of the Rabbids’ invasion by using a sausage so spicy it causes a Rabbid to explode, taking a boundary fence with it.

Social features are fairly standard for the citybuilding genre. The public buildings used to acquire additional Rabbids must be staffed by friends (or “Fake Friends” purchased through the game’s hard currency) and a number of quests require the procurement of items through the assistance of friends. Players are also able to visit their friends’ territories and send tourist groups of Rabbids in order to collect coins and experience. It’s also possible to set fire to friends’ Rabbids that are wandering around the map.

Once the novelty of the irreverent humor and the invasion mechanic wears off, there’s a fairly predictable citybuilding game underneath. It’s competently handled, though, and progression is rarely halted due to friend-gating. It feels like the Rabbids license is somewhat underused, however — in its previous incarnations, the Rabbids found themselves in a variety of ludicrous situations and it was generally up to the player to either help them out or punish them in one way or another through a series of very silly minigames. There’s nothing like that in Rabbids Invasion at this time, which feels like a missed opportunity. There’s nothing stopping Ubisoft adding something like this at a later date, however.

The game is solidly monetized, offering a wide range of premium items  for players to purchase using hard currency. The most expensive of these costs an equivalent of almost $100 and provides a significant gameplay benefit, doubling the soft currency payout of all nearby buildings. There are plenty of smaller items available for purchase, however, and in the early stages the game is quite generous with the provision of hard currency to help speed up early progress.

Rabbids Invasion currently has 10,000 monthly active users and 5,000 daily active users, but has only been available for less than a week at the time of writing. The Rabbids series is a well known brand among casual gamers, and Ubisoft is likely counting on this to assist with user acquisition, along with the game’s frictionless wall posting facility for virality. To follow the game’s progress, check out AppData, our traffic tracking application for social games and developers.

Play

Strong brand recognition, good design and an irreverent sense of humor will help make this relatively straightforward citybuilder a big success.

Mystic Guardians from DJArts Games is a title that wears its inspiration on its sleeve. Those who have played Nintendo’s popular Pokemon titles for Game Boy and DS will immediately recognize the formula — players are given one of three monsters (here called “Guardians”) to train before embarking on a lengthy journey to collect badges from local superstars of the training circuit. DJArts’ take on the well-established format is a mostly polished, entertaining and well-structured experience rather than a cheap clone.

Gameplay proceeds much as a traditional Pokemon adventure would. Players control their custom-designed avatar from a top-down perspective and guide them through their adventure, clicking on people to interact with them and on searchable objects to reveal either items or Guardians to battle. During the course of their travels, players will receive quests from certain characters, challenging them to complete a variety of tasks ranging from training Guardians up to a specific level to finding hidden items. The game’s story is largely told through these quests, but players are free to roam the world to battle and capture wild Guardians at any time they please.

During battle, players send their Guardians into one-on-one combat against a rival trainer’s team or a wild Guardian. Guardians then take it in turns to use one of their moves, which are generally either a direct attack, a “debuff” reducing the enemy’s capabilities, or a “buff” increasing their own abilities. Wild Guardians can be captured using “Capture Disc” items and added to the player’s team, while rival trainers are there for players to test their skills and earn experience points for their Guardians. Like Pokemon, all Guardians who participated in a battle receive experience points, allowing for players to level weak Guardians simply by letting them start in battle and then immediately switching to a stronger alternative.

Both field actions such as searching objects and battles cost Energy to perform. When this runs out, players can continue to walk around, talk to characters and shop but must either purchase additional Energy or wait for it to regenerate before they are able to battle or search any further items. Each time the player character levels up — a separate statistic from their Guardians’ levels — the maximum Energy limit is increased, allowing for dedicated, experienced players to enjoy longer play sessions.

Social features incorporated in the game are largely optional. Players can proceed through the adventure without assistance from friends, though there are a number of treasure chests scattered throughout the world which require either friends’ cooperation or the spending of the game’s hard currency to open. This hard currency may also be spent on certain items in the game’s stores, rare Guardians which cannot be captured through normal means and providing bonuses to Guardians’ statistics on level up. Sales of hard currency and premium items aren’t pushed hard throughout the course of the game, which may prove to be a mixed blessing to the developers — lack of “nag” screens will mean the game will appeal more to the “core” market, but it may hurt profitability in the long run.

The game is well-presented, with attractive, clear and distinctive visuals and a varied musical soundtrack — a far cry from the 30-second loops many Facebook games fall back on. It does suffer from occasionally long loading breaks upon the first visit to a new area, but subsequent visits are much quicker. The frame rate also takes an occasional hit when scrolling around, even on a powerful computer, but the nature of the gameplay means that this does not adversely affect the experience too much.

For the most part, Mystic Guardians is a well put together game that will entertain fans of Pokemon-like games for a considerable period of time. The game currently has 12 areas to explore and 40 Guardians to capture, with more on the way — DJArts is currently working on the second major content update since launch.

Mystic Guardians currently has 100,000 monthly active users and 10,000 daily active users. So long as the game continues to have regular infusions of new content and its user acquisition efforts focus on leveraging (and monetizing) the enormous Pokemon fanbase around the world, DJArts has the potential for a successful game on its hands. To follow its progress, check out AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

Play

A game unashamed to wear its inspiration proudly on its sleeve, Mystic Guardians is one of the better Pokemon-likes on Facebook — though its potential profitability remains to be seen.

Prom Week, a game developed by a team of students and faculty at the University of California Santa Cruz, is now available on Facebook. The game is a simulation of social interactions between high school students based on a sophisticated artificial intelligence system. None of the stories which the player can experience in the game are pre-scripted, leading to a wide variety of potential outcomes.

Prom Week’s gameplay initially seems very similar to The Sims Social, with players choosing various actions for the on-screen characters to perform and then watching the outcome. Unlike The Sims Social, however, all available activities involve interactions between two characters, and rather than simply playing a short animation, a short scene — complete with procedurally-generated text-based dialog — is played out in front of the player. The player is then given a summary of the outcome of the action, which may affect three “relationship” statistics tracking how characters feel about one another as well as providing more short term feelings.

The structured part of the game revolves around selecting a character and having to fulfill a series of goals by the end of the school’s prom night. The player has a limited number of “turns” in which to accomplish these goals, but they can be completed by taking command of any characters present in the scene, not just the one who is ostensibly the “protagonist” of the story. In fact, many characters’ goals require the subtle social manipulation of other characters in order to accomplish tasks — in the story where the “geek” character wants to become Prom King, for example, he doesn’t stand a chance of befriending the head of the Prom Royalty Committee unless he shows he is enemies with her big rival.

Prom Week is based on a set of 5,000 social considerations or “rules” that govern the characters’ behavior in various situations. The team at UC Santa Cruz studied social interactions in movies and television shows, so the game’s social model is skewed towards popular media’s depiction of what high school life is like, not necessarily reality. This does, however, mean that most players who have seen movies and TV shows such as “Mean Girls” or “Sex and the City” will be familiar with the way these situations work — and the game also includes an “energy” mechanic for predicting and manipulating characters’ responses to various interactions, allowing for scenes to play out in wildly different ways with a bit of nudging from the player.

The game is a fascinating demonstration of what is possible with the use of artificial intelligence. Despite being Facebook-based and revolving around the concept of social interactions, however, the game features no viral social features outside of posting to the Games news ticker when players are playing, and nor does it feature any monetization. It does, however, serve as a bold advertisement for the possibilities on offer at UC Santa Cruz’s Games and Playable Media and Expressive Intelligence Studio departments, both of whom display prominent logos on the game’s canvas.

Prom Week is unlikely to enjoy widespread, mainstream success or profitability for the reasons outlined above. However, what it does show is the exciting possibilities artificial intelligence provides to online games. There’s no reason why elements of Prom Week’s innovative mechanics couldn’t be incorporated into a properly monetized, virally promoted social game, and for that reason alone, it’s very much worth the time it takes to explore.

At the time of writing, Prom Week has just 200 monthly active users and 200 daily active users. It only launched on February 16, however, so it will be interesting to see how the general community takes to it. To follow the game’s progress and observe its usage trends, be sure to check out our AppData traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

Play

A lack of monetization and social features mean Prom Week is unlikely to be profitable or find a wide audience, but it demonstrates some highly intriguing possibilities for possible implementation in future games.

Lucky Cruise is a new Facebook game published by 6waves and developed by Large Animal Games. It’s the second collaboration between the two companies following their recent Spartacus: Vengeance tie-in. The game has been showing steady growth since its launch in late January, and provides an original take on the increasingly common slot machine genre.

Lucky Cruise combines elements of slot machine sims and time management games to produce a game with an addictive quality and a strong sense of progression.

Players are placed in charge of ensuring a cruise ship gets to its destination on time. This isn’t just any cruise ship, however — it’s a cruise ship that runs on luck. As such, it’s up to the player to help earn the luck necessary to reach various worldwide destinations and, upon arrival, to acquire various rewards for their hard work through playing a chance-based tile-flipping minigame.

Luck can be acquired in several ways. The main means through which players earn luck is simply by playing the game’s slot machines, all of which are based on WMS Gaming’s various video slots products. Playing a machine earns luck every time the reels are spun, with higher-stake machines earning more luck per spin. Players must also keep track of their chips, since running out means they’ll be unable to play any more, though these are replenished every few hours and can also be topped up by spending Facebook Credits.

Players also have a number of powerups including reel nudges, holds and re-spins which can be acquired either with Facebook Credits or won during the minigame at the ship’s destination. Causing a win after using one of these powerups earns the player a certain quantity of the game’s other currency Emeralds, which are used to purchase additional machines for the cruise ship’s casino.

When not playing the slots themselves, players see a representation of the inside of the cruise ship, and avatars representing the player’s friends — even those who are not currently playing the game — show up regularly. Assigning these avatars to the available machines allows players to earn Friend points, and upon reaching a certain threshold of these points, a Friend Frenzy is triggered. During this time, players must correctly assign friends to their favorite machines, with appropriate assignments resulting in large Luck rewards, offering a degree of variety to gameplay besides simply staring at the slots. The more friends a player has actually playing the game, the greater the rewards from Friend Frenzies. Friend points can also be earned simply by winning on the slots, so Friend Frenzies become a regular — but optional — part of gameplay.

The game also features a leveling system allowing for the gradual unlocking of new machines and new destinations for the cruise ship. Higher level items result in greater rewards for the player, though those who do not wish to grind for experience may unlock these items early in exchange for Facebook Credits.

Like many video slots games, Lucky Cruise assumes that players are already familiar with how the machines work, and as such the only tutorial the game features demonstrates its own unique mechanics such as Friend Frenzies and the powerups on offer. This may prove a barrier to entry for those unfamiliar with the genre, but the machines introduced at the outset of the game are simple enough to pick up easily, and the player is rarely overwhelmed with on-screen information.

Lucky Cruise provides a user-friendly and original take on video slots that distinguishes it from its numerous competitors. If its growth continues at its current rate, 6waves and Large Animal Games look set to have a modest success on their hands.

According to our traffic tracking service AppData, Lucky Cruise currently has 690,000 monthly active users and 110,000 daily active users.

Play

A worthwhile take on video slots that doesn’t daunt newcomers and offers some pleasing variety to its gameplay.

Social Empires developer Social Point has completely revamped and rebranded its Facebook-based strategy game Men Vs Women, which we first looked at back in December, and dubbed it Social Wars.

Rather than basing the game on a literal “battle of the sexes” as before, men and women now live together in harmony and cooperate to conquer an alien threat. The game has been gaining rapid traction since its rebrand and is the seventh fastest growing Facebook game by MAU this week. According to a post on the official forums, the change in the game was not because Social Point considered it to be sexist — rather, it was an attempt to add more action and interest to the title. The new thematic elements — particularly the Orc antagonists — also strongly resemble Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe, adding a degree of recognizable appeal to the game’s setting.

Social Wars is a real-time strategy game in which players build up a base and its defenses, train a variety of attacking and defensive units and then fend of the invading Orc armies in a series of missions. Alongside this, players are also able to challenge other players to battles and take on a series of self-contained challenge missions on special maps.

The game superficially resembles titles like Zynga’s Empires & Allies, but gameplay is actually more reminiscent of popular PC real-time strategy titles such as StarCraft and the Command & Conquer series. Players are able to give direct orders to their forces on the map, moving and arranging them as they see fit. At the same time, the enemy forces are also moving, meaning that careful tactical placement and movement is key to success. In many situations, simply charging in all guns blazing will result in defeat, particularly when attacking a fortified enemy base. Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence that determines the paths by which the player’s units will move does not make the best decisions at times, often splitting forces too thinly across two alternative routes, wandering off in strange directions or inadvertently getting the attention of the enemy too early. Players’ units will fight back if attacked, but their prioritizing of targets is sometimes frustratingly bizarre. This means that combat in the game requires a frustrating and unnecessary degree of micromanagement at times, which may put off more casual players.

The game structure is arranged in such a way that there is always something to do. “Chapter” missions take place on the island upon which the player’s base is located and revolve around completing a specific objective in the local area. These may include fending off invading forces, rescuing prisoners or a variety of other tasks. Upon completing a Chapter, there is a four hour delay before the next one starts, but during that period players are able to take on a Weekly Challenge mission as well as make use of a “Harbor” structure to transport their forces to a self-contained mission map. Once players reach level 8, they are also able to launch assaults on nearby human-controlled bases — but conversely, they are also open to attack, making the building of defensive structures such as turrets essential.

The game features a comprehensive suite of social features with more to come in the future. At the present time, players are able to send gifts to one another; visit each others’ bases and help out; and engage in real-time chat. The game will shortly be adding an Alliance facility, allowing players to team up against common foes. Players gain additional rewards for having more friends playing, but the game is a little too pushy with the pop-up windows encouraging players to invite friends — especially as the appearance of this window often causes the game to break out of full-screen mode.

Social Wars is off to a strong start thus far. This is likely due to several factors: its gameplay offers a little more depth than other base-building fare; the real-time strategy elements make it likely to appeal to more “core” gamers; and the game’s monetization allows more impatient players to progress quicker by having stronger, more effective units. However, the degree of micromanagement required thanks to the game’s poor artificial intelligence will be off-putting to casual players, who may find it too difficult, and the game lacks a degree of polish, with a large number of spelling and grammatical errors in interface elements and notification/share windows blocking animated cutscenes at times. The “invite friends” popups could also do with being a little less obtrusive.

Social Wars currently has 3,500,000 monthly active users and 720,000 daily active users. You can follow its progress with AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

Play

Needs some refinement, but players are already taking to Social Wars in droves. Social Point have the potential for a big hit on their hands.

Green Farm is Gameloft’s second release on Google+ after GT Racing: Motor Academy, and the first farming sim to hit the social network. The game itself isn’t new, however — it’s been available on Facebook since September 2010, reaching a peak MAU figure just shy of 550,000 shortly after launch, though this has now declined to around the 20,000 mark. There is also a free iOS version available, along with a paid Java edition for feature phones.

Predictably, gameplay is very similar to Zynga’s FarmVille and its ilk, with players initially designing their own avatar (which can be named and gendered differently from the player’s G+ account if they desire) and running through a short tutorial introducing the basic game concepts. Early gameplay largely revolves around plowing plots of land, planting seeds in them and then harvesting them to earn coins. Animals may also be placed around the farm, grown to maturity and then sold. Players are able to take ownership of these animals by renaming them whatever they wish.

Later, players are able to purchase machinery which automates many of the processes on their farm, including plowing, seeding, harvesting, fertilizing and cleaning up overgrown plants. Some of these are purchasable immediately using hard currency, while others may be purchased through earning sufficient soft currency. The very best machines which can be purchased through soft currency are also level-locked, meaning players must prove their dedication to their farm before being able to use them. All machines share a single energy bar which is gradually depleted as they complete their tasks. When this runs out, players are able to continue completing tasks manually using their avatar, but must either wait for energy to refill (at the rate of 1 point every 5 minutes) or purchase an instant refill to continue using their machines.

There are a wide variety of seeds for players to plant on their farms from the outset of the game, with each varying in the amount of time it takes to grow to maturity. Crops can be grown quicker with one type of fertilizer, or encouraged to grow to “super size” with a different kind. A number of organic crops are also available for players to plant, and harvesting these carries a chance of providing free seeds, making them a good choice for those hoping to make their farm more self-sufficient.

Organic produce is just one of the many eco-friendly aspects of the game which give the game its “Green” title. Players are able to purchase a variety of eco-friendly buildings to put on their farm, some of which produce profits over time, while some save money on energy costs for machinery.

Missions that pop up at the side of the screen are largely concerned with encouraging players to play socially — the very first mission given is to add three neighbors, for example, while subsequent ones task players with fertilizing friends’ crops or chasing away wild animals on neighboring farms. The nature of the missions mean that players are largely left to their own devices on how they want to develop their farm, but are also encouraged to visit friends’ farms to see the approaches they have taken. It’s a much greater degree of trust in the player’s judgement than many other social games with more lengthy tutorials provide.

While mostly technically polished and well presented, the game has one strange flaw that mars the user experience a little — when required to enter text, either to rename an animal or type into the game’s real-time chat facility, the player is forced to switch out of full screen mode. Entering text is a relatively rare activity in the game, meaning it will be an inconsequential issue for most players, but it’s still a little disappointing to see the immersion broken on those rare occasions due to a flawed interface element.

Despite this, Green Farm is a highly competent example of a social farming simulation. It doesn’t add anything revolutionary to the genre, though the eco-friendly angle is a pleasing, socially responsible twist. As the first farming simulation on Google+, too, it carries the potential to be both profitable and popular if Gameloft is willing to put some effort into user acquisition.

Play

Nothing we haven’t seen in the farming genre before, but as the first game of its type on G+, Green Farm is likely to enjoy moderate success.

It’s been a surprisingly long time coming, but Rovio’s runaway success Angry Birds has finally hit Facebook with all the force of a Mighty Eagle. After its original December 2009 release on iOS devices, the game has since seen ports to Android, the Chrome Web Store, BlackBerry, Windows, Mac OS X and numerous other platforms. It has also seen another “social” release via Google+.

For those unfamiliar with the concept behind Angry Birds, here’s a quick recap. The game is a physics-based puzzler in which players are challenged to destroy a number of green pigs who have stolen the titular Birds’ eggs. The Birds have no wings so are unable to fly, and as such it’s up to the player to help them attack the pigs using a giant slingshot. Most of the pigs hide inside structures made of various materials, and the key to high scores is in using the available birds effectively to bring these structures tumbling down in the most efficient way possible.

As the player progresses through the game, additional types of bird are introduced: some can boost their speed while in flight, some can split into smaller birds, some can explode. Players don’t get to choose the lineup of birds that is provided for them at the start of a level, so part of the game’s strategy is in using each of the birds as effectively as possible.

The Facebook version adds an additional layer of options to players, which is also how the game is monetized. Four different powerups are available in limited quantities: a Sling Scope, which assists with aiming; a Birdquake, which shakes the ground and potentially destabilizes precarious constructions; Super Seeds, which cause the current bird to grow to large size and thus make them more powerful; and the King Sling, which makes the slingshot considerably more powerful, allowing the birds to reach targets that are further away. Players also have the option, as in the iOS version, of summoning a gigantic Mighty Eagle to cause as much “one-shot” destruction as possible. Five uses of all powerups, including the Mighty Eagle, are provided to players when they first start the game, with additional bundles purchasable through the in-game shop. Players may send gifts to one another, which may include powerups, but the only reliable means to acquire a specific item is to purchase it using Facebook Credits. There is no soft currency available with which players can earn new powerups through normal gameplay.

Besides the powerups, the Facebook version’s interface differs from the other editions seen around the Web, most of which are fairly straight ports of the iOS original. A leaderboard is presented at the side and top of the screen, with the latter updating in real time as players achieve higher scores. The game also includes a Facebook-exclusive level pack which is available for play from the outset, so even Angry Birds veterans will have something new to challenge. Meanwhile, the game’s original episodes provide a gradual introduction to the mechanics, though Rovio’s seeming aversion to using words in their tutorials can make some explanatory diagrams a little more obtuse than they need to be.

The game makes use of Adobe Flash Player 11′s support for 3D acceleration hardware, allowing for improved visuals over previous iterations of the game, maintaining a smooth frame rate even while special effects such as lighting, smoke and explosions are filling the screen. This will have an additional effect over and above improved graphical performance. Note that with an estimated 15 million fans worldwide, Angry Birds is also an ideal showcase game for Adobe.

Angry Birds remains one of the most popular iOS titles to this day, so it’s surprising that it hasn’t hit Facebook sooner. Now it has, however, developer Rovio can look forward to having a very popular social game with a robust monetization strategy on its hands alongside all the other editions of its iconic title.

Due to the game’s recent launch, detailed MAU and DAU data is not yet available. You’ll shortly be able to track Angry Birds’ progress using AppData, our traffic tracking application for social games and developers.

Play

A solid social rethink of the immensely popular game with enough new features to attract both veterans and newcomers.

Most role-playing games, be they on Facebook, iOS, computer or console, cast the player in the role of a conquering hero gradually building up in power and amassing an arsenal of weapons with which to take on some sort of impending evil onslaught. It’s rather rare that players get the chance to see life through the eyes of a non-heroic character like a shopkeeper in one of these fantasy worlds, but that’s exactly the scenario upon which Doremi Star’s Sword Quest is based.

Players are cast in the role of a rookie smith tasked with fulfilling a variety of weaponry orders while simultaneously ensuring they have a steady income stream with which they can acquire more raw materials for crafting. The basic flow of gameplay follows players purchasing raw materials from the in-game store, arranging them on their crafting table, using an ever-expanding selection of hammers on the raw materials to affect their quality, unveiling the finished product and then either giving it to a customer or selling it for profit. For the majority of the time, the player will produce standard equipment, but as their “expertise level” with a specific material increases, they will become more and more likely to produce “Epic” items. These are higher quality, have custom graphic representations and are worth considerably more money. Three identical Epic items can also be “fused” together to produce a Legendary item, too, which is worth even more money and also unlocks a variety of comic book pages.

Alongside the core crafting gameplay, players are also able to take ownership of their workshop by purchasing decor items. Purchasing an entire “set” of these provides both an in-game trophy and a bonus to the player’s abilities. It also allows their workshop to have a distinctive appearance.

Sword Quest is a slow-paced game about experimentation. There is a lot of waiting around for materials to be prepared and swords to finish being constructed. While waiting for these real-time activities to complete, players can visit the workshops of any friends who are playing and assist them with the crafting process by using their hammers on their friends’ projects. The more friends a player has, the greater the potential bonus to the item’s quality and subsequent selling price.

The trouble is, the waiting periods for materials to prepare and swords to finish construction is so long that early progress in the game feels painfully slow, and the very limited resources with which the player begins means that there is not a lot to do in the early game. This means that following the initial tutorial, which demonstrates the use of several premium items that can speed the whole process up, those players seeking faster-paced gameplay or instant gratification may find themselves a little disappointed. Those willing to invest their time and patience into the game, however, will find a deep crafting experience that encourages experimentation.

It seems that Doremi Star is aware that there is not really enough to the game to keep players with short attention spans occupied, however, as the company has bold plans for the future.

“We are working on a big expansion for this game,” explains Alex Chiang, president and co-founder of the developer. “The biggest part of the expansion is our ‘Adventure’ system, where our players will be able to have an avatar that equips the swords they made and fight different monsters in different dungeons with their friends.”

No date has yet been given for when this expansion will arrive. As the game stands, it’s a deep, original title somewhat different from typical social game fare, its production values are high and its art is designed in such a manner to appeal to both men and women. The slow pace of the game in its early stages makes it something of a niche interest, however, which may limit its success and profitability in the long term — at least until the “Adventure” expansion arrives to give players a bit more to do, anyway.

Sword Quest currently has 130,000 monthly active users and 20,000 daily active users. You can follow its progress with AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

Wait

An interesting original game that, in its current form, doesn’t provide players with enough to do to keep them interested.

Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution is the third incarnation of Adult Swim’s simple but addictive platform game to hit Facebook. Rather than being a straight port or reskin of the original Flash game with some rudimentary leaderboard support, however, Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution adds a significant amount of new mechanics to the game, allowing for a greater focus on monetization, viral promotion and user retention.

The basic premise of Robot Unicorn Attack is very simple, which gives the game its enduring appeal among casual and core gamers alike. Taking on the role of the titular robot unicorn, players are thrust into a randomly-generated 2D scrolling play area and tasked with jumping over gaps or using a “dash attack” move to smash through obstacles. The longer the player survives, the more points they get but the faster the scrolling becomes. Additional points can also be scored by jumping through floating butterflies or breaking star-shaped objects.

“When we originally brought Robot Unicorn Attack to Facebook, we focused on leaderboards as its social hook — playing against your friends, trying to beat their scores,” explains Chris Johnston, senior games producer at Adult Swim. “As our first Facebook game, it was an experiment and we kept it simple; we always wanted to bring more to that experience. We’d have these brainstorms of ways to expand the gameplay and its social elements, but we knew we’d have to do it in a way that made sense and kept people coming back. We partnered with Mediatonic for that effort, and they took some of those initial thoughts and ran with them in Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution.”

These new ideas for Evolution include a combo system. Smashing through four stars in succession without missing any causes an “Evolution,” whereby the background art changes and the unicorn transforms into a different animal — first a panda, then a wolf and onward into other forms depending on player skill. Missing a star causes the player to drop back down an evolution “level,” however, while maintaining a combo in the higher forms gives bonuses to score.

Evolution also adds leveling, powerups and currency to the game. Completing a level earns experience points and “Fairy Dust.” Once the player hits level 3, they unlock a powerup slot, with new powerups and additional slots becoming available with each subsequent level up. These features can also be unlocked early by spending Facebook Credits. Activating a powerup costs a certain amount of Fairy Dust each time it is used, but generally offers some sort of enhancement to the player that makes gameplay slightly easier — one slows the game down slightly, another allows the player to survive one collision with a star if they are not using the dash attack. None of these powerups significantly unbalance the game, however — it is still a very challenging experience.

Fairy Dust is earned after each level, with more earned if more friends are playing. Larger bonuses are also provided upon leveling up, and the player may purchase more using Facebook Credits if they don’t wish to grind for more.

The game also offers daily challenges, with big bonuses on offer to those who complete the challenge five days in a row. This is a feature designed for those who believe themselves to be skilled at the game, however, since trying again after an initial failure costs 1,000 Fairy Dust each time. The base game, meanwhile, can be played as much as the player wants for free, with Fairy Dust optionally being expended on powerups.

The game strikes a good balance between the simplicity, addictive nature and broad appeal of the original Flash game while adding a variety of features that will help to both promote and monetize the game. Its optional Wall posts are also all somewhat sarcastic and humorous in tone, which might appeal more to those players usually disinclined to share their game activity with friends.

“We’re promoting Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution in a number of ways: by cross-promoting with the original Robot Unicorn Attack on Facebook and on AdultSwim.com as well as on TV via advertising during the Adult Swim programming block,” says Johnston. “We’ve got some great plans for the game’s future expansion and ways to give players more ownership over their unicorns and use the Fairy Dust they’ve acquired while playing. I can’t go into specifics right now, but it will be awesome.”

2012 also looks set to be the year of Adult Swim taking bolder steps into the social games market.

“[We're] working with talented developers on new social game concepts with quirky, absurdist Adult Swim twists,” says Johnston. “Developers who find that idea enticing can contact us via game.submission@adultswim.com and get more info on pitching to us.”

Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution is, rather aptly, a well-considered evolution of the original game’s concept, well-designed for the Facebook platform and social play. The good reputation and recognizable name that its predecessors carry will likely allow the game to build up a healthy and dedicated following, in turn leading to success and profitability.

Look for the game on our traffic tracking service, AppData to track its MAU and DAU progress as the game matures. In the meantime, you can try out the game here.

Play

A much-loved Flash game gets a well thought out social overhaul.