Social games

I decided to look at games for Facebook and other social games, seeing as the PS Vita has internet access through 3G and Wi-Fi I could incorporate some kind of social interaction within my PlayStation mini.

Pocket God (Facebook version)

·         Customize tribe

·         View friends island/tribe

·         See friends level and social interactions

·         Send gifts to friends also playing

·         Kill the tribe in various ways by clicking various things and performing certain actions such as drag and flick

·         Male and Female audience

·         Help your tribe by giving them food and other various ways

·         Xp system is used to level up, when you level up you earn the ability to more ways and interaction to kill your tribe

Pocket god for Facebook uses simple click and gesture mechanics with the mouse to kill your tribe. This is unique in social gaming as they usual just point and click so this has a bit of variation. The game is based off a IOS game of the same name. It also use logistical gameplay by gaining XP to level and gain new powers to use against or for your tribe. Theres also a more and energy system where you can buy items within in game or real money that either give you energy or customize your island and tribe, this is a good way of making money in social games that are free to play.The bright colours and art style helps to make the game appeal to a mixed genre audience.

Dexter a slice of life

·         Based on the newest series of Dexter

·         Interact with crimes and solve case in a way similar to a story mode

·         Hunt and kill your friends and other players using dark passenger mode

·         Directed at fans of the series mainly

·         Various locations to travel between

·         Own liar that you can customize and share with friends, you can also vist your friends liar

·         Use of blood slides to buy in game items

·         Mask used to perform actions, when mask is gone you can’t perform any more actions for a certain amount of time

·         Mostly male audience

This is a fairly new social game on facebook that was designed to tie in to the latest series of dexter in america. The game works as a point and click adventure and has 2 modes that the player can change to hunt other people. This is a great way to add social elements into a game as it allows you to meet other people with a interest in the same show. The game is designed mainly for fans but not entirely, however this still narrows the audience a bit as it uses familiar locations and characters that fans recognize but not other people. The art style looks similar to the Sims but more realistic.

Farmville

·         Grow and harvest crops within your farm by planting seed and tending to the ground

·         Visit other friends farms and help them with certain tasks

·         Level up by harvesting items within your farm

·         Earn money by harvesting

·         Male and female audience

·         Leave signs for friends in their farms

·         Customize your farm using in game cash and credits bought with real money

Farmville uses logistical gameplay to its advantage create highly addictive gameplay that makes you want to play more by narrowing your use of the game for a certain amount of time. This is a good idea as it makes the player want to play again to carry on their progress and brings them back again, however this would only work in a social game not playstation mini. The game uses real money to be able to buy unique items which as with pocket god is a good way to make money in a free to play game as these aren't necessary but can be bought of the players free will