Social Network Gaming: The Plan

Now that I have learned a bit about social network gaming it's time to decide how I spend my month.

Here are my goals as follows:

1. Play at least one game in each of the following social network game genre's: 
1. Asynchronous competitive
2. Simulation
3. Casual role playing
2. Games should encorporate one of the following gameplay elements:
1. Asynhronous gameplay
2. Community
3. No victory conditions
4. Virtual currency
3. Play at least 2-4 hours a week total for 4 weeks
4. Purchase virtual currency
5. Games should be playable/managble on a mobile device (iPhone 4) if possible
6. Games will be connected to the same social network, Facebook

Based upon these goals, I have selected the following games to play over the next month:

Name: Farmville
Developer: Zynga
Genre: Simulation
Social Network Gameplay Elements: Asynchronous Gameplay, Community, No Victory Conditions, Virtual Currency

FarmVille, in my opinion, made social network gaming mainstream. Grow fruits and veggies and raise animals on your own farm. A very simple concept that earned Zynga more than just money.

Name: Mafia Wars

Developer: Zynga

Genre: Casual Role Playing

Social Network Gameplay Elements: Asynchronous Gameplay, Community, No Victory Conditions, Virtual Currency

Set in New York City, Mafia Wars allows players to be a gangster and build their own mafia. 

Name: Words With Friends

Developer: Zynga

Genre: Asynchronous Competitive

Social Network Gameplay Elements: Asynchronous Gameplay, Community

Based upon the Hasbro game Scrabble, Words With Friends allows you to duke it out with your friends old school and see who has the greater vocabulary.

Name: Bejeweled Blitz

Developer: PopCap

Genre: Asynchronous Competitive

Social Network Gameplay Elements: Asynchronous Gameplay, Community, No Victory Conditions

PopCap turned their classic puzzler into a social network smash. 60 seconds to get as many points as you can. Your goal is to get a higher score than your friends. It is like an arcade machine online.

Name: FrontierVille

Developer: Zynga

Genre: Simulation

Social Network Gameplay Elements: Asynchronous Gameplay, Community, No Victory Conditions, Virtual Currency

Built off of all the things that made FarmVille so successful, you are a frontier in the early days of America trying to make your way through the rough world. Build a shack, buy some pigs, clobber some snakes, and watch the money roll in.

Name: City of Wonder

Developer: Playdom

Genre: 

Simulation

Social Network Gameplay Elements: 

Asynchronous Gameplay, Community, No Victory Conditions, Virtual Currency

In this Age of Empires meets Civilization game, you quite literally build a civilization from the ground up.