The Social Gaming weekly roundup: the lowdown in FarmVille, FishVille, Mafia Wars

Roll up, roll up. It's that time again, a time when we ramble on about the past week's noteworthy, social-gaming happenings, and what a week it has been.

As per usual, there have been the traditional item additions and themes for the 'big guns' of the social games world like Mafia Wars and FarmVille, but perhaps more interesting are some major changes that happened behind the scenes of a certain company which we will mention below.

The question is, are you all sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin.

We're still very much addicted to the outdoor/indoor life that is FarmVille, this being the life where we pretend to enjoy a usually athletic farmer's lifestyle whilst sat down inside clicking buttons.

In fact, some might say FarmVille is more intensive and time consuming than its real life counterpart.

This week has seen the introduction of the Thanksgiving theme, and as a result you can now enjoy two types of Maple tree, a baby turkey, two not-so-exciting leaves decorations, and a harvest table.

Most of the items are available with coins, and although it's not a worldwide celebration it's potentially more variation for your farm, so no complaints there.

You also may have noticed the Mystery Box item, which seems fairly self explanatory. Sadly, you will have to part with FarmVille cash to get the gift, though, and we have absolutely no idea what's inside.

As mentioned last week, many FarmVille addicts have taken to the artistic side of things, and an array of ever impressive pictures keep gracing the internet. Take a look.

Before you go and harvest your farm, plant some Maple trees etc, have a gander at this New York Times article, and feel happier in the knowledge that you're most definitely not alone on your love of FarmVille.

PG Tip of the week: Maintaining a 20x20 farm can be tiresome, especially if you have to be elsewhere but can't bear to leave without planting/harvesting. So, one little trick is to create a surrounding with a gate, put your farmer in there and then close the gate.

By doing so, your worker magically turns into the 'Stretch Armstrong' of the farm world, and can plant, harvest, build everything without having to move. It speeds things up nicely.

The Pocket Gamer staff has managed to ice well over 1,000 people this week - in Mafia Wars of course, and not in some mad rampage. Sadly, some of us are still chasing the boss when it comes to our level, but we are hot on his heels in a bid to take him down a peg or two.

News wise, there was a performance upgrade to help people enjoy a faster Mafia Wars experience. Sadly, it was rolled back because some users experienced problems. A shame really, but at least we know effort is being made.

The Moscow experience for level 70s and above has been adjusted too. All businesses have been unlocked and their values increased in a bid to make progressing in the campaign a lot easier.

Unfortunately, as most of us are still struggling in Cuba, we can't comment.

Yet another game to hook Facebook users, FishVille is the latest offering from Zynga, and one that boasted 875,000 users in just two days (before being suspended. See below).

FishVille is basically a virtual fish tank. You grow fish with the intention of selling them for money and experience, and as you get richer you can buy new types of fish and decoration.

It has the usual Zynga feel, so anyone familiar with any of their titles will instantly recognise the user interface.

What's it like? Well, it's a cool looking game stylistically speaking, and fish - even when in virtual form, have a nice, relaxing effect. It also seems more responsive than other Zynga titles.

Zynga can't pull the wool over our eyes, though, because FishVille is really just FarmVille in water. Instead of planting seeds, you feed the silvery critters. In fairness it's actually quite fun, but a pattern is emerging. Still if it's not broken, why change it?

The beatings have continued, and we are still astonished at how terrible we are at the game, not to mention the fact that nobody has been brave enough to take us on in a Dojo. Can't say we blame them.

* Seen those adverts on Zynga games that promise reward points? Well most of them were potentially misleading, and as a result, Zynga pulled all of their FaceBook advertising. More details here and here.
* It's official. Playfish has been bought by EA for $300 million, so expect some interesting collaborative efforts in the future. Anyone for the Sims on Facebook?
* There are even more games out for the MindJolt games on Facebook. Some are great little titles, including the comical Hell Cops and the destruction-based Bulldozer, so definitely worth a look.
* Sick of bad gaming press? A gaming group has been launched on Facebook in response to negative coverage of the industry in the mainstream media. It was created by MP Tom Watson.

That's it. In next week's installment spectacular, we shall expand on our current social gaming horizon (which means we go outside even less) to ensure you the finest social gaming news. Aren't we kind?

Over and out.