Feed your Linsanity with this flash game -- it's a slam dunk every time

And we mean that both literally and figuratively. Gonzo Games has created a Jeremy Lin flash game where you get to play as Lin, as he tries to shoot as many baskets as possible within 60 seconds. Since Lin's got perfect aim, your job is to decide when he shoots and to maneuver him around the court for power-ups (score multipliers; time extension) and avoiding trick ups: Kaboom! (subtracts 10 points off your score) and Troll Face (knocks you back down to earning 1 point per shot). The highest score so far is over 200. Think you can do better? Click here or scroll down to play "Linsanity" below!



Have you been swept up by Linsanity yet? What's your highest score in this game?

Blackwood & Bell Mysteries on Facebook puts a magnifier on story

Playdom helped jump start the hidden-object genre on Facebook, and now it looks to keep it rolling. The Disney-owned developer announced Blackwood & Bell Mysteries on Facebook, its next seek-and-find game on the platform set to launch on Feb. 22. Blackwood & Bell aims to evolve the hidden-object genre by injecting more story into the play with a "darker Victorian mood," according to Playdom.

The game follows two detectives in that era, James Blackwood and Catherine Bell, as they team up to solve various mysteries and wicked crimes. (The former is British while the latter is American, which we imagine will somehow play into the story.) Across four chapters initially, players will piece together the objects they find and recreate the scenes of the crimes in their evidence yard, which looks similar to to property management hook in Gardens of Time.

Players will venture deep into abandoned ghost ships and haunted Victorian mansions to--what else?--find hidden objects. But with features like an evidence yard, we imagine players will use said objects as clues to solve the crimes at hand. Like games in the genre before it, players can send challenges to one another. But Playdom claims to offer a wide variety of play modes in the Headquarters tab of Blackwood & Bell.
Blackwood & Bell on Facebook
Zynga's recently echoed the hidden-object trend on Facebook with Hidden Chronicles, which is now the third most popular game on the network. That said, it's tough not to see Blackwood & Bell as Playdom and Disney's attempt to reinstate its position as top hidden-object game developer on Facebook. See for yourself whether that's the case starting Feb. 22.

Click here to play Blackwood & Bell Mysteries on Facebook Now >

Are you psyched for another hidden-object game from Playdom? Do you think this could help Playdom reclaim the top spot in the genre on Facebook?

Poll: How do you pay up for your favorite social and casual games?

Credit cards
Paying for games or for goodies within games using plastic isn't so popular anymore. (Well, at least personal plastic.) A study by research firm NewZoo found that consumers paying up for games with credit cards fell to 20 percent last year. In 2010, 26 percent of gamers used a credit card to pay for new games. MCV reports that the amount spent on prepaid cards, at least in the UK, had jumped from £90m in 2010 to £125m in 2011.

And Ukash, a prepaid card specialist, came to a similar conclusion. The prepayment provider found that nine out of 10 of its customers preferred cash alternatives over credit when buying things. While you'd expect the customers of such a service to prefer that method, it does raise an interesting question: Just how do you pay for your games and in-game content (i.e. virtual goods, like energy or power-ups)?

You'd think that more gamers would use credit cards, the easier and near-frictionless alternative to hitting up the local game store every once in a while to pick up some Facebook Credits or what have you. Then again, increasing concerns of privacy and security could be reason enough to avoid credit cards online as much as possible, So, we ask you:

How do you pay up for social & casual games?
It depends on the game, really.I use prepaid cards only for security reasons.I use a credit card. It's too easy not to!I don't have a credit card, so prepaid for me.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

[Via IndustryGamers]

Have something unique to add to the discussion?

The Sims Social survey ponders Madmen, Gothic, Circus themes et al

Want to know what's coming in The Sims Social? Well, you can't. What you can do, however, is help decide where the game goes with future themes. Playfish recently released a survey on its Facebook fan page asking players to chime in on what should come to the game next. And boy, is Playfish thinking up some goofy stuff way across the pond.

The survey describes potential themes to hit The Sims Social with a general name for each and five bullet points detailing specifics of the theme. Players are asked whether they think "not interested," "there's potential" or "LOVE!" (Their emphasis, not ours.) For instance, the "Fantasy" theme would be a "fairy tale twist on the middle ages" with knights in shining armor and unicorns. But sadly, no dragons were mentioned.

The rest of the survey covers themes like "Madmen", "Spa", "Pop Stars" and more. These surveys aren't uncommon in social games, and almost always result in at least one of the items mentioned becoming a reality in-game. So, it might be worth your time to have a say in what hits The Sims Social next. (Unfortunately, there was no mention of neither "Cars" nor "Careers".) To take this survey while it's hot, click right here or you can dig through the Facebook fan page.

Did you participate in the survey? What themes would you like to see come to The Sims Social next?

Pirates: Tides of Fortune drags its anchor onto Facebook's shores

Following its exclusive 30-day launch on Google+ Games, the Israeli-based developer Plarium has unleashed Pirates: Tides of Fortune onto Facebook. Out of Plarium's reportedly 12 million monthly active users, 3 million of those play Pirates on Vkontke, making it the number one game in Russia's largest social network site. Since the Google+ launch, Plarium claims the game's player count is now at 5 million.

Pirates: Tides of Fortune

Available in English (not counting the "Pirate English" option), French, German, Spanish, and Russian, Plarium's game is hailed for its use of voice acting. But the only character you'll be hearing is Pirate Queen Anne O'Malley, whose sole, smothering picture is plastered on every mission notice. This isn't to say the rest of the game isn't pretty. Pirates: Tides of Fortune is a high quality package through and through. But the gameplay is as slow as a galleon weighed down with gold.

Maybe I'm just not used to social strategy games, but here's what we're dealing with: The tutorial mission tasks seem neverending. Buildings can only be built one at a time. Tasks require a combination of several resources -- primarily rum, wood, and gold -- which are dished out at different rates. If you want to send resources to someone, then it'll take you at least a minute. If you want to raid someone, then it'll take you five minutes. Another disappointment is that you won't get to see an attack. All you'll get in the end is a notice of whether you've won or lost. Kixeye's Backyard Monsters, this ain't.
Pirates: Tides of Fortune

The game seems to enjoy making things take forever. For example, nearly every little action in the game can be rushed or "boosted" with Rubies, the game's regular currency, which you can buy with Facebook credits. I can understand social strategy games being large and complex. But the amount of complexity in Plarium's game feels cumbersome and there's a mighty learning curve for the average Facebook gamer.

Click here to play Pirates: Tides of Fortune on Facebook now >

Think I'm too hard on Pirates: Tides of Fortune? Have you played it yourself?

Pioneer Trail Fanny's Baby Shower: Everything you need to know

With Fanny and Hank getting ready to have a child in Pioneer Trail, Bess has taken it upon herself to volunteer you into helping her plan a surprise Baby Shower for the new mom-to-be. This comes via the Fanny's Baby Shower event, which has four goals for your to complete. You'll earn themed rewards along the way, so let's get started!

Scrubbin' for a Shower

    Craft or Have 4 Baby Booties
    Clear 12 Skulls
    Send Invites for the Baby Shower


The Baby Booties are crafted using Knitting Wool and Tiny Bows (ask friends for those). As for the Invites system, this is a goal within a goal, asking you to collect a series of ingredients just as you would if you were constructing a building. In this particular case, you'll need to collect six Baby Shower Invites and four Well Wishes, along with crafting both a Party Favor and Teddy Bear in order to finish off the "Send Cute Invitations" task. When you finish this goal, you'll receive 250 XP, 250 coins and two Hazelnut Trees.

Bakin' and Decoratin'

    Craft or Have 120 Choco-Nut Squash
    Sell 30 Fully Grown White Peach Trees
    Do the Party Prep for Baby Shower


Again, this Party Prep task requires a slew of materials and crafting projects to complete, as you can see below. As you go along, these steps become more complex (and therefore more time consuming), but you'll need to do it all to plan the perfect baby shower for Fanny. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 500 XP, 500 coins and a Baby Shower Flower Crate.

Party Time

    Craft 4 Chocolate Chip Cookies
    Harvest 50 Flax
    Organize a Party Game at the Shower


When you complete this goal, you'll receive 750 XP, 750 coins and a Baby Shower Animal Crate.

Showered with Gifts

    Craft or Have 5 Bouquets of Roses
    Sell 20 Adult Loverly Cows
    Give Fanny her Gifts


For finishing this final goal, you'll receive 1,000 XP, 1,000 coins and a Sheep in a Cradle.

On top of these specific goal rewards, you'll also receive more rewards in the overall Fanny's Baby Shower menu: a Pink Dogwood, Black Puppy, Tabby Kitten and Brown Bear Cub. Just make sure you complete these goals sooner, rather than later, in case Zynga removes them to make room for the new baby itself in the game!

[Via and Image Credit: Zynga]

What do you think of these Baby Shower goals?

Adventure World: Finish Emily's Zoology Tent for free!

In January, Adventure World's Emily received her very own tent for your Base Camp: Emily's Zoology Tent. As a refresher, this Tent, when finished, gives you the ability to collect animals from Expeditions that you play in the future. However, it required quite a few building materials to finish. Formerly, you would need to play through the Scientific Survey maps / Expeditions to claim these items, but now, Zynga has removed all of the requirements, if you've still yet to finish it off.

To be specific, if you've yet to complete Emily's Zoology Tent, you can now login to your Base Camp to see a pop-up letting you know you can finish it for free. Sure enough, clicking on the pop-up allows you to click on "Finish Upgrade" to complete Emily's Zoology Tent automatically. You can then use the Tent as you would if you had built the structure from scratch, clicking on "Find on Map" to go to maps that contain certain animals, or clicking on "Place" to place any animals you've found onto your Base Camp, where they can then be fed (using feed you'll still need to find on maps).

While this isn't the best building that could have been automatically completed (why couldn't we have a new tool shop upgrade instead?), it is nice to have one item taken off of our plates with all of the other features the game currently contains. We'll make sure to let you know if additional buildings are given automatic completion in Adventure World, so keep checking back with us!

Had you already finished Emily's Zoology Tent, or will you take advantage of this opportunity to finish it for free?

The Godfather: Five Families on Facebook puts friendly ties to the test

The word "family" implies a lot to the average American: love, togetherness, mutual respect and support ... in-laws. But for folks, you know, in the mob, that same word holds an entirely different meaning. Soon enough, we Facebook gamers will know what "family" means all too well, and that lovey-dovey stuff isn't part of the equation. Kabam, creator most recently of sci-fi-themed strategy Facebook (and Google+) game Edgeworld, has announced The Godfather: Five Families for Facebook.

Thanks to a partnership with Paramount Digital Entertainment, the developer will pay homage to the Academy Award-winning film trilogy in the only way it knows: intense, constant competition. (And, in this case, tested friendships.) The Godfather: Five Families throws players into the Prohibition Era of our fine nation's history with the initial choice to join one of five families--just like in the movies--and vie to become the dominant family in New York.

Five Families concept art
Based on an early look at Five Families, thanks to Kabam GM Lawrence Koh and VP of Brand Marketing and Communications Ted Simon, these families look to act much like factions in previous strategy games by the developer. However, the ties that bind your family together haven't been done with the best knots, but more on that later.

When it comes to combat, the developer's old fondness for sprawling battle scenes filled with clashing swords and searing spells will give way to smaller, more meaningful conflicts and focused rivalries between families. Of course, resources like cash, food and building materials and will be at the heart of your combat operations. But even more important is your muscle, which at launch will span 10 far more down-to-earth units like Hitmen, Arsonists and Tommy Gunners.

Gallery: The Godfather: Five Families on Facebook

While--like in most Kabam games--players will have to defend their own territory known as Estates, combat will be provoked in more inventive ways in Five Families. As friends come to each others' defense in the wee hours of the morning, neutral areas known as Landmarks with rich, attractive resource bonuses will lure players into cross-family skirmishes over control. These battles over familiar locales like the Empire State Building and Times Square will quickly become ongoing struggles.

While these bloody games of King of Hill rage on, players will have that Estate to worry about. Estates will serve as the home base for all of your operations from recruiting new units to gathering resources and interacting with your family. We imagine that, like other Kabam games, you will be given a grace period to build their defense before you become a fair target. So, unless you want to be open to attack from the 70,000 players per server (a figure Kabam revealed to us), we suggest you pimp out your Estate.


And fast. As your Estate progresses, thanks to upgrades, its appearance will change and improve. Not only will this slowly increase your cred within your own family, but give you a sense of your power increasing. (Check out the nifty, interactive slider above to see how a Level 10 Estate looks compared to a Level 1 Estate.) But that's far from the only thing that will change as you progress through Five Families.

Remember this well: There can only be one "Don" ... per family. This position of power--much like the King in CivWorld--holds far more weight than you might think. While it's specific benefits weren't revealed just yet, what was is the fact that this will be a highly coveted goal for members of the same family, which will inevitably lead to tension and eventually conflict within families. Five Families will cause players to question their social connections, which speaks volumes to how ambitious this project looks thus far.

Five Families concept art victory
But you will see evidence of that almost immediately through the engrossing, scene-setting concept art littered throughout the game. When you win a battle, you'll be greeted by a dramatic scene of a mobster plodding through the streets of New York on a damp night, bodies laying motionless on the curb behind him as he totes a tommy gun. And this is just one of many vivid pieces you will come across in Five Families.

The Godfather: Five Families, with its focus on faction-based combat and intense inter-familial conflicts, looks to be Kabam's most socially inventive strategy game yet. While we were told that a heavier focus would be on combat in this game, we weren't shown enough of it to give impressions just yet. But if you want to see the combat firsthand, Kabam is now accepting registrations for a closed beta test of the game set to launch within the next several weeks.

Click here to sign up for The Godfather: Five Families Closed Beta Test Now >

Are you psyched about a Godfather game coming to Facebook? How well do you think the game will represent the films in its social strategy combat format?

Over 55 percent of gamers play to socialize, meet people, study finds

Facebook games grew into a worldwide phenomenon for something, right (and not just the dollars)? "The Future of Gaming," a study by media research consultancy Latitude, says that 56 percent of gamers today play to socialize and meet new people. The most common reason, of course, was "enjoyment" at 95 percent. Latitude surveyed 290 smartphone owners who identified themselves at least as casual gamers.

The survey goes on to find that, of these 290 folks, 84 percent use social media several times a week--you do the math. (But remember kids, correlation does not equal causation.) Of course, however, the majority of people surveyed listed smartphones as their preferred gaming platform at 81 percent, with home consoles tailing closely at 80 percent.

Even more interesting is what Latitude found regarding what players want from their social games. (In this case, we're broadly speaking to not just Facebook games, but all games that feature social interaction.) More than half of gamers want to see games better connect people in new ways. Perhaps some of these participants were referring to the supposed lack of social interaction in Facebook and other social games.

Finally, a whopping 96 percent of gamers told Latitude that they'd like to see more games that help players make a positive change in the world, if executed correctly. So far, Facebook game developers are still working on that execution part.

The bottom line here is that, regardless of whether they're played on social networks or at social gatherings, gamers want their games to be more social. Games like The Sims Social by EA are already working to finally earn that moniker, and there can only be more where that came from.

Do you, too, look for social interactions in your games more than other things? How do you think social games will improve these connections in the future?

Wooga CEO: 'I don't think the 30 percent Facebook share is an issue'

Well, I guess neither do the legions of iOS game makers. Jens Begemann, CEO of Berlin-based Diamond Dash creator Wooga, defended Facebook's 30 percent cut it takes from Facebook Credits in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. The chief of the fourth largest social games company on Facebook outright said that he doesn't think the 30 percent is an issue. (The company just released yet another Facebook game, Magic Land, with plans for mobile expansion.)

"The whole Facebook platform is free, you've got tons of communication channels, you've got lots of viral communication to users, it's an amazing platform and you have traffic that's worth millions of dollars, and you get all of that for free," Begemann told GamesIndustry.biz. "And only when you're successful do you pay your 30 per cent revenue share. So it's fair."

Wooga helped boost the recent launch of Google+ Games with ports of three of its biggest games: Bubble Island, Monster World and Diamond Dash. Begemann went on to say that Wooga's presence on Google+ Games, which currently only charges game developers 5 percent of revenues from purchased in-game goods, is not mutually exclusive. "But we remain very very committed to Facebook," he said. "We will not slow down there."

The Wooga chief had a much more ... diplomatic approach to the Facebook vs Google+ Games debate than, say, Sean Ryan of Facebook recently. The head of games partnerships at the dominant social network said, "Google is at 5% because they don't have any users," to Fortune. While that might be (a heavily exaggerated) truth, what happens when even more game creators are lured in by the tiny number?

Do you think Wooga is right in its defense of Facebook? Does Google have a chance of competing with Facebook even after its discounted revenue cut dries up?

Pokémon Trading Card Game Online inches closer to a Pokémon MMO

Come on, you know you came up with that brilliant idea years ago just like everybody else. Before we get into this incredible news, I have a confession to make. I'm a reformed Pokémon card addict--I bought hundreds of dollars worth of cards in my youth, attended tournaments and was even part of a weekly league (remember those?). Go on, commence the teasing in the comments.

So, imagine the pitch of my nerd squeal when I learned that we can now play Pokemon cards with anyone over our web browsers ... for free. The Pokémon Company just launched Pokémon Trading Card Game Online, a browser-based edition of the mega popular TCG (trading card game). But before we continue, a disclaimer: This does not mean Nintendo will get into free-to-play MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), as this is an effort by The Pokémon Company, which has a certain level of independence from Nintendo.

Pokémon TCG Online enters "open beta" today or, in other words, it has gone live and will improve as time passes (and players complain). All you need to do is sign up for an account with The Pokémon Company, choose your deck of cards from a selection of pre-made decks and start dueling. Of course, there are plenty of interactive tutorials for the uninformed, and advanced players will be able to build their own decks.

Pokemon Trading Card Game Online
According to Kotaku, the launch of this game coincides with the most recent release of physical Pokémon cards, Pokémon TCG: Black & White Emerging Powers, which come in packs stuffed with codes to redeem special cards in the browser game. (Whoever thought this whole thing up deserves a vacation, a raise and a beefy Christmas bonus.)

The game looks to emulate the experience you'd find at a convention, but with infinitely flashier Pokémon attacks presented in a smooth interface. And, better yet, you don't have to remember every single rule--the game will execute those effects as you play. Ah, the beauty of the Internet ... and Pokémon.

Click here to play Pokémon TCG Online Now >

[Source and Image Credit: Kotaku]

How excited are you that you can now play Pokémon cards from the comfort of your parents' basement? Do you think (hope and pray) that this is the next step toward a Pokémon MMO?

Google axes Slide, takes many Facebook games down with it

In a bit of a scandalous move, Google has announced that many (OK, almost all) of Slide's products--including many Facebook games and applications--will be shut down over the coming months. Google purchased Slide, the company behind Superpoke!, last August for $182 million, but now, they've dropped the hammer on the company.

The reasoning? It apparently all boils down to the fact that Max Levchin, the founder and CEO of Slide, has decided to leave Slide and Google altogether. If the reasoning goes deeper than that, we've yet to see that announced.

As reported by TechCrunch, most of Slide's specific employees will stay on at Google, but all of their products, save for one, will close. In terms of Facebook applications, this includes apps like SuperPoke! (one of the original truly popular social applications), SuperPoke! Pets (the company's pet care-taking sim) and SPP Ranch!, a game that had what I would argue are some of the cutest graphics in a social game to date.

When adding in Slide's other Facebook applications, we're left with a figure of around 460,000 monthly active users, according to AppData. But that arguably low number still doesn't make this news any less of a disappointment to those who remember just how popular SuperPoke! was back in the day. It also doesn't include the users that may not have used Facebook Connect to sign up for games like SPP Ranch! and SuperPoke! Pets that are now hosted outside of Facebook proper.

Outside of the Facebook game arena, this announcement also shutters the new photo-sharing iPhone application Photovine, which launched just last week. This leaves us to believe that there might be something more cryptic to the Slide closure than Max Levchin leaving, but that we'll probably never know for sure. With the closure of of Slide, we've certainly reached the end of an era, and I, for one, will be sad to see the adorable SuperPoke! sheep go.

[Image Credit: SPP Addict]

Are you / were you a fan of any of Slide's Facebook / stand-alone games?

Watch out, Zynga: EA's The Sims Social is gaining on you ... and fast

Is that a drop of sweat we see on Zynga's brow? EA and Playfish's The Sims Social is already growing faster than one of the FarmVille creator's most popular games, The Pioneer Trail. Since its "open beta" release a little over two weeks ago, the game has amassed over 6 million daily players, according to AppData. That's 2 million more than Zynga's aforementioned expansion to FrontierVille, and less than 900,000 below the company's fourth-largest game, Empires & Allies.

At this rate, The Sims Social could surpass the mighty CityVille in daily players sometime in September, according to Mashable. While the game didn't explode as quickly as, say, E&A did during its June launch, these numbers are unprecedented for a non-Zynga game. The Sims Social's astronomical growth is even more significant considering the game suffered performance and connection issues right out of the gate, which would spell death for any other Facebook game.

But it seems EA nailed the dismount, and is now poised to turn The Sims Social into Facebook's most popular game. Leave it to a property like The Sims to threaten Zynga's Facebook throne, as no other type of Facebook game has come as close.

Gallery: The Sims Social on Facebook
However, it looks like the social game behemoth might already have a retaliation in the works, as the company recently registered a domain with the word "FamilyVille" in it. But regardless of how popular this rumored game becomes, it's still not The Sims. In the Facebook Thunderdome, two developers enter, one developer leaves.

Do you think The Sims Social poses a legitimate threat to Zynga and it's long-time rule of the Facebook games world? How do you think Zynga will respond to the threat?