The Social Gaming weekly roundup: Desktop Defender, Urban Rivals, Mafia Wars, Farmville and more
Round Seven
You may have noticed a distinct lack of the Social Gaming Feature last Friday. This will have undoubtedly caused you to lose all faith in humanity, and rightly so.
As if the pressure of Christmas wasn’t enough, the denial of the social gaming column would’ve soiled what has otherwise been a good year.
Ultimately the culmination of the Pocket Gamer Christmas party, a heavy intake of alcohol and little in the way of sleep was to blame.
We did, however, feel that a late Christmas instalment actually some made sense, because it won’t be till January that this piece will next appear on the site. So think of it as a belated present, only without the ribbon, the box, and possibly the joy.
For this episode, I decided to have a look at some slightly different experiences in social gaming alongside the ‘regulars’. After all, there's more to this area of gaming than looking after fish, planting crops or maintaining a healthy pet.
No, really.
Desktop Defender (Facebook)You’ve probably played some incarnation of the tower and castle defence genre at some point in your life. The name of the game is to stop the invaders or ‘creeps’ from reaching the other side, using a few different towers, cunning ‘mazes’ and of course some good old fashioned patience.
However, none I have come across is quite like Desktop Defender - which is good news.
Whilst the gameplay is very similar to other tower defence games, Desktop Defender has something up its sleeve that gives it a slightly original flavour, and that flavour is levelling-up.
This brings me onto the next point: The difficulty. Currently there are five levels, ranging from Easy Peasy to Madness, with the latter costing a fair whack of gold to play.
Another interesting aspect was the ability to earn 500 coins from getting friends to play, and also the 50 coins a day you receive for each friend you currently have in your friend list.
Okay, so most developers do this to try to increase their player base, but the changes to accommodate a more friend-oriented tower defence experience make it that bit more appealing, and should provide some extra longevity.
Urban Rivals (iPhone)
Urban Rivals is basically a massively multiplayer online game involving battles against other players with trading cards. It does sound like an odd combination, and one that's perhaps most akin to the Pokemon card game that swept the world and is still doing so.
Don’t dismiss it just yet, though. Pokemon was a massive sensation for a reason; it was massively addictive, and with a total of 7 million players and 50,000 daily before the iPhone app Urban Rivals looks to have something good going on.
How does it work? Once you’ve downloaded the free app, you choose a clan to join, check out your starter deck comprising eight cards and get fighting against others. As you win battles (or lose in my case) your ranking will change, so there is a competitive incentive to keep on trucking.
Should you may fancy some different cards for your collection, and no doubt you will should Urban Rivals hook you, there's the option to trade cards on an online market. You can also purchase three new cards (randomly picked we assume) for $0.99/£0.59.
I have to say the game looks rather impressive. Each of the 500 or so cards has some real cartoony visual character, and it would seem Urban Rivals has that addictive collect-'em-up appeal that Pokemon was so notorious for.
Just remember to set a limit on how many cards you purchase once addicted. Your wallet will no doubt thank you.
An Xbox 360 can also be won, which is a great prize. However, I couldn’t help but think that it’s quite a small present for such a popular game. Surely Zynga could’ve stretched the budget somewhat?
You can also gift fellow mafia members with a selection of presents as well, ranging from the more usual Candy Cane and Snowball to the slightly odd Mistletoe Launcher and Black Roses.
Oh, and there's now a Mafia Wars toolbar, so you needn't ever lose touch with the happenings in your glorious Mafia. You can also post a direct link to your profile for all to see.
Rounding off this week’s Mafia Wars coverage is a nod towards some of the charitable offers Mafia Wars has been promoting. Perhaps after the Zynga advertising shenanigans they’ve decided to look a bit more ‘ethical’ and caring, but for whatever reason it’s commendable.
Farmville (Facebook)As we m
entioned previously Farmville is more festive than Christmas itself. Every farm I have seen is awash with snow, decorations, piles of presents under their trees and the obligatory reindeer.
Not to be outdone as the ultimate Christmas social gaming experience, new light arrangements and signs have been added. There can’t be many more things left to add can there?
In terms of gameplay, fertilising has been changed somewhat. You can now fertilise plowed and fully grown plots as opposed to just plots of growing seeds. The ability to thank friendly farmers for ‘travelling’ and fertilising your seeds (steady) to your farm can also be done.
Fishville (Facebook)Not much to report here for all you fish fanatics. Like with other Zynga games, becoming a fan has benefits. In Fishville’s case you can receive the latest news, free gifts, and you can unlock the Blue Mandarin fish.
So that's it for this year my friends. I hope you've enjoyed this years instalments, and in the New Year we look forward to bringing you more in the way of social gaming.
Until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
