CityVille

CityVille
Developer(s)	Zynga
Platform(s)	Internet
Release date(s)	Facebook December 2, 2010[1] Google+ September 26, 2011
Genre(s)	City-building, construction and management simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player with multiplayer interaction
Media/distribution	Web browser

Screenshot from CityVille

CityVille is a casual social city-building simulation game developed by Zynga, and released in December 2010^[2][3].

The game is very similar to SimCity and Farmville,^[4]. The goal is to develop a city by farming, constructing buildings, and collecting rent. The game is a freemium game, meaning there is no cost to play but players have the option of purchasing premium content.

History

It was announced on November 18, 2010, but the launch date was adjusted to December to allow Zynga to make adjustments to the game.^[2][3]

The game had 100,000 players on its launch day making it Zynga's largest launch ever at the time of its release.^[5] On January 2, 2011, it reached the most monthly active users for an application ever on Facebook, beating Farmville's previous record although numbers may drop as its release date was exactly a month prior.^[6] Within its first 50 days, CityVille grew to 61 million monthly active users.^[7]

CityVille became available as a game on Google+ late September 2011, as announced on the Google mainpage the 26th of September, 2011.

Gameplay

The game allows players to become the mayor of a virtual city and to oversee its development into a large metropolis. Players can perform tasks, which include farming, construction, and rent collection in their city using energy points. The amount of energy available increases as the user gains in experience levels, up to a maximum of 30, or 37 with the dam addition. ^[8] The energy points are replenished automatically at a constant rate.

The player can also visit their neighbor's city and perform up to 5 different jobs every 12 hours. This gives the user reputation points which provides the user with a free goods bonus and one or two heart requests with each reputation level-up and increases the amount of energy, XP and coins bonuses available on a daily basis. Players can send other players gifts and help them in some of the goals. The main task of the game is to complete goals, which can be seen on the top left corner of the screen and earn City Coins and purchase all current items for some. Players can also buy goods, sell goods,(supply goods to other players cities if their business branches are on their cities) and produce their own goods by farming and shipping. This virtual game had 80 experience levels,which has been increased to 90 experience levels and currently increased to 125 experience levels with different names for your city every level you reach.

CityVille: Hometown

Zynga has also developed a mobile version of the game, which is available for download to iPhones. The mobile game is, however, not connected to the web game.

Currency

The main currencies in CityVille are citycash and coins. Players buy citycash or earn it by leveling up. Currency can be used to purchase special items.

Partnerships

Due to the high popularity of CityVille among Facebook users, two major music artists promoted their albums using CityVille. Lady Gaga items were available via RewardVille for a limited time. Enrique Iglesias also made his CityVille appearance in October 2011 giving players a task to build an Euphoria arena which is an Attraction in CityVille and an avatar of Enrique can be seen performing while it's open.^[9]

Business franchises like Capital One, Best Buy, Coca-Cola and McDonald's also appeared in CityVille, allowing players to build replica shops for fixed periods of time.

References

1. ^ Newscore (2010-12-02). "CityVille Game Launches on Facebook". myFOXphoenix.com. KSAZ-TV. http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpps/news/cityville-game-launches-on-facebook-dpgonc-20101202-gc_10905744. Retrieved 9 December 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Kincaid, Jason (2010-12-06). "Zynga’s CityVille Springs To A Metropolis Overnight (Surprised?)". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/06/zynga-cityville-stats/. Retrieved December 9, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} MacMillan, Douglas (2010-11-17). "How Zynga Is Polishing CityVille". Businessweek. Bloomberg. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_48/b4205047555118.htm. Retrieved December 9, 2010. 
4. ^ First Look: Zynga Takes On Rivals With CityVille, A Casual Virtual Metropolis
5. ^ Chalk, Andy (December 7, 2010). "Zynga Scores Its Biggest Hit Yet With CityVille". The Escapist. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105921-Zynga-Scores-Its-Biggest-Hit-Yet-With-CityVille. Retrieved December 8, 2010. 
6. ^ Caoili, Eric (January 2, 2011). "Cityville has largest Facebook audience ever,it now has over 20,000,000 players". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32231/CityVille_Has_Largest_Facebook_Audience_Ever.php. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
7. ^ "FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Website. July 1, 2011. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1439404/000119312511180285/ds1.htm. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 
8. ^ Zynga support site
9. ^ Enrique Iglesias spices up Zynga's 'CityVille'

External links

• CityVille official website