Social network game

A social network game is a type of online game that is played through social networks, and typically features multiplayer and asynchronous gameplay mechanics.^[1][2][3][4] Social network games are most often implemented as browser games, but can also be implemented on other platforms such as mobile devices.^[5] They are amongst the most popular games played in the world, with several products with tens of millions of players.^[6] Happy Farm,^[7] Farm Town, YoVille and Mob Wars were some of the first successful games of this genre. Mafia Wars, FarmVille, FrontierVille and CityVille are more recent examples of very popular social network games.^[8]

While they share many aspects of traditional video games, social network games often employ additional ones that make them distinct.

Companies that make social network games include market leader Zynga, 5 Minutes, Playfish, Playdom, Kabam, Crowdstar, RockYou, Booyah, etc.

Technology & Platforms

A social network video game can be created with any number of traditional video game technologies, however the majority are implemented in Adobe Flash, PHP or JavaScript. Some games may use a combination of these technologies.

A social network game is often played via a web browser, though they are distinct from browser based games in the way they leverage the player's social graph and individual user data that is hosted on the social network. With the invention of smartphone devices, social games have now also seen widespread adoption on mobile platforms such as iOS and Android^[9] devices. This is enabled through mobile social networks such as OpenFeint and through Oauth implementations by social networking sites like Facebook^[10] which allow applications on mobile devices to access a limited amount of protected user data on those sites. Through an in-app connection to these networks, users can be provided with an experience very similar to that of a web based social game.

Distinct features

A social video game may employ any of the following features: ^[11]

• Asynchronous gameplay which allows rules to be resolved without needing players to play at the same time.
• Community: One of the most distinct features of social video games is in leveraging the player's social network. Quests or game goals may only be possible if a player "shares" his game with friends (connected via the social network hosting the game) or gets them to play as well as "neighbors" or "allies".
• No victory conditions: Since most developers count on users playing their games often, there are generally no victory conditions. That is, the game never ends and no one is ever declared "winner". Instead, many casual games have "quests" or "missions" for players to complete. This is not true for board game-like social games, such as Scrabble.
• Virtual currency: Social network games use "virtual currency", which players usually must purchase with real-world money. With the in-game currency players can buy upgrades that would otherwise take much longer to earn through in-game achievements. In many cases, some upgrades are only available via the virtual currency.

Social media optimization

Social network games often leverage or promote social media optimization through either:

1. The use of social networks to recruit game allies, or
2. Game design, linking social media activity and influence to game rewards.

Examples of the former approach include FarmVille, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars. In these games a player's social network is exploited to recruit additional players and allies.^[12][13][14]

Monetization

Social network games frequently monetize based on virtual good transactions, but other games are emerging that utilize newer economic models. An example of is Empire Avenue, a virtual stock exchange where players buy and sell shares of each other's social network worth. In Empire Avenue, a player's worth is linked to his or her social media influence and activity, as well as that of the other players he or she has invested virtual currency in. This game design promotes social media interaction as a means to attaining higher value in Empire Avenue market rankings.^[15][16][17]

References

1. ^ The Social Network Game Boom by Sande Chen from Gamasutra (April 29, 2009)
2. ^ History of Social Games by Jon Radoff (May 24, 2010)
3. ^ The Odd Popularity of Mafia Wars by Lev Grossman from TIME (Nov. 16, 2009)
4. ^ Workshop: Game Design for Social Networks, Proceedings of the 13th International MindTrek Conference: Everyday Life in the Ubiquitous Era by Aki Järvinen from TIME (2009)
5. ^ Kim, Ryan (12 October 2010). "The Future of Social Games is Mobile". Gigaom. http://gigaom.com/2010/10/12/the-future-of-social-games-is-mobile/. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
6. ^ "Social network games catch the eye of computer giants" by Zoe Kleinman from BBC News (Nov. 2009)
7. ^ Kohler, Chris (December 24, 2009). "14. Happy Farm (2008)". The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade. Wired. p. 2. http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/12/the-15-most-influential-games-of-the-decade/2/. Retrieved 10 September 2011. 
8. ^ "List of popular Facebook games". http://www.gamew0rld.com/the-best-facebook-games/. 
9. ^ Empson, Rip (22 June 2011). "A New Mobile Social Games King In The U.S.? Former Facebookers Take Storm8 To 210 Million Downloads". TechCrunch. http://blog.games.com/2011/02/17/mobile-social-games-cross-platform/. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
10. ^ Luke, Shepard. "Bringing Social App Discovery to Mobile". Facebook Developer Blog. Facebook.com. http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/575/. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
11. ^ Radoff, Jon (2011). Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Media Games. Wiley. pp. 27–29, 39–40. ISBN 9780470936269. 
12. ^ "Why Social Media Gaming Is Big Business for Your Business". http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/why-social-media-gaming-is-big-business-for-your-business/. Retrieved 22 March 2011. 
13. ^ "Social Media Gaming Infographic". http://www.dreamgrow.com/social-media-gaming-infographic/. Retrieved 22 March 2011. 
14. ^ "How Big Is Social Media Gaming? How About 56 Million Strong". http://www.blogherald.com/2010/08/24/how-big-is-social-media-gaming-how-about-56-million-strong/. Retrieved 22 March 2011. 
15. ^ "Empire Avenue, the stockmarket where YOU’RE for sale". http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/07/26/empire-avenue-the-stockmarket-where-youre-for-sale-invites/. Retrieved 22 March 2011. 
16. ^ "Empire Avenue". http://www.crunchbase.com/company/empire-avenue. Retrieved 22 March 2011. 
17. ^ "Empire Avenue creates a stock market to measure your social influence". http://venturebeat.com/2010/02/24/empire-avenue-creates-a-stock-market-to-measure-your-social-influence/. Retrieved 22 March 2011. 

External links

• FoldingStory | The Group Storytelling Game