Distribution and Marketing - Game Design Essentials - page 237

Social games are growing in popularity, due mostly to the increased use of social
sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Google+, Badoo, and Friendster.
Disney, which maintains a large online presence through its websites, is push-
ing forward with more social gaming for its subscribers. One of its acquisitions,
Playdom, has created the game Gnome Town , where players can assume the role
of a gnome and save animals in an enchanted forest.
Other social online games include BittyBay , BoomBang , Second Life , IMVU ,
A Mystical Land , Warbears , World of Cars Online , Virtual Family Kingdom , and
Stardoll. Figure 10.6 shows a screenshot from the game Virtual Family Kingdom.
Unlike other social-gaming sites, this one doesn't present ads to players; the focus
is on interaction and gaming for any age group.
FiGuRe 10.6 Virtual Family Kingdom offers several areas where gamers can play and
compete with each other for points on a leader board.
The interest in social games remains strong. Many game designers approach
this type of gameplay as a casual form of an MMOG, where gamers can inter-
act with each other, play online for a short amount of time, and not have to
immerse themselves in elaborate or deep lore.