Age of Champions on Facebook doesn't cry over spilled blood

Battle in Age of Champions
Fantasy social games are almost dime a dozen, but what are they missing? Why, half naked men spilling the blood of goblins and other beasts, of course. In Age of Champions on Facebook, players take the role of one of three races: a human, an elf or a minotaur as they vie for the throne of an emperor who recently kicked the can. As it turns out, so is everyone else. After choosing which of the three warring factions that you'll be siding with in this sprawling conflict, you'll be launched into battle with a band of goblins, your warriors sprinting across a green, war-torn field, bronze daggers flailing. After witnessing the green, gooey bloodshed as your avatar guts the goblin leader, you realize that this is not standard fantasy fare on Facebook.

Find out more about Age of Champions and our impressions after the break.

Defeating the Orge
If you hadn't noticed by now, this game isn't necessarily for the little ones. There will be blood in Age of Champions, lots of it. Developed by Sacramento, CA-based studio KlickNation, this game's primary focus is on two important things: story and gameplay. Absolutely filled to the brim with quest text designed to give purpose to otherwise mundane tasks, Age of Champions contains a plot that weaves throughout the game's primary mode of spending Energy--a social game staple--quests.

However, Energy is plentiful in Age of Champions' early levels as opposed to other social games. You'll frequently level up through questing, restoring your Energy each time. (However, the game does offer Blue Crystals, a paid currency, to replenish Energy and Stamina.) Quests are completed through the Travel menu, which opens up the game's story in a book-shaped menu, offering the plot in chapters that almost always contain at least one session on the battlefield and one boss monster to defeat. Rewards from quests are normally the standard gold coins, which are used to hire more soldiers and outfit your army with weapons and armor, and experience points. Leveling up also rewards players with points to enhance their primary character's Energy, Attack strength, Stamina (used to battle other players) and Health. While Energy and Stamina will allow you to play the game for longer sessions without having to pay up for more, Attack and Health are extremely important in combat.

Questing Book
Ah, yes, the meat and potatoes of Age of Champions. Combat scenarios are somewhat rare treats, but are most definitely not to be underestimated. These special quests are marked with an icon shaped like a shield adorned with two swords. Clicking on "Go to Battle" will open up the battlefield. While battles play out automatically based on the size of your army compared to the enemy's, it all happens in real time and takes equipment statistics into account as well. It's not until all of your units fall that your main avatar will rush into the fray, duking it out with the opposing commander. In the early stages of the game, your army will almost always be wiped out, but that doesn't mean you lose them forever. However, improving their equipment by buying quantities of armor and weapons that match your squad's numbers will increase their lasting power. There is the option to skip each battle sequence, but why would you want to do that?

While combat and questing are plenty entertaining, Age of Champions does include some fairly deep social elements. Throughout the game, players can attempt to craft items that are more powerful than what can be bought in the store, but some of the ingredients can only be found through Gifting. Thankfully, social interaction goes deeper than that with Raids, or massive enemies that require cooperation from friends to defeat. Furthermore, players can join Guilds, which are groups of friends within the game that can collaborate without the need of being Facebook friends. In other words, you won't find too many request-athons here, but more teamwork through the game's Raid bosses and Battle system.

Raid on the Ice Dragon
With an interesting albeit violent approach to combat, an engaging story for those who take the time to read it and social features similar to other, more current social games like Knights of the Crystals and Legacy of a Thousand Suns, Age of Champions delivers on nearly all fronts aside from a few annoying bugs such as losing access to the top of game screen at times. Just ignore the fact that your avatar will be without pants for quite a while and you should have a grand time.

Facebook games are kind of like pinball machines, game designer says

Are social gamers more like pinball wizards? UK-based Simple Lifeforms CCO Tadhg Kelly makes exactly that in a recent editorial on Inside Social Games. Rather than his previous analogy of Facebook games to slot machines, Kelly believes that the game mechanics and reward systems behind most social games bear striking resemblance to pinball. The game designer goes into detail, explaining his understanding of the systems within both social games and pinball, but the major takeaway is his thoughts on their similarities.

"Playing a game on Facebook is like standing in an amusement arcade," Kelly writes. "Pinball is primarily available at arcades, and each pinball machine has to fight for its right to be seen and heard by being louder, more visual and more immediately fun than its competitors."

He goes on to size up the instant reward systems of both games as short bursts of enjoyment. More importantly, he touches on the fact that both require players to inevitably pay more quarters or virtual cash to play for long periods of time. Bingo. I think this guy might be onto something here. However, Kelly's chief concern is the importance of environment in game design.


    Just as there is no room for an absorbing game like The Legend of Zelda at the arcades, the environment of social games restricts their ability to be deep. What social game makers have realized is that Facebook is so loaded with distraction that deep gameplay is almost impossible to achieve. So the game you are playing has to keep things light, fast and fun because the rest of the player's social graph is only a Notification Request away.

Admittedly, I've never thought of it that way. If Kelly is right, then perhaps there is no hope for the up and coming Facebook MMOs, but no one said anything about 3D.

Dragons of Atlantis for Facebook unleashes the Dragons' Attack

Dragons of Atlantis
Alright, so it's not a Kraken, but no one can deny the cool factor of dragons. Kabam, the Redwood City, Calif.-based social game developer behind Kingdoms of Camelot, has released a brand new feature to its most recent game, Dragons of Atlantis. Called "Dragon Attack," this new option allows players to specifically target which of their enemies gets the extra crispy treatment from our favorite fire-breathers.

Dragons of Atlantis embodies Kabam's recent strategic (no pun intended) focus on massively multiplayer strategy games on Facebook. Like its previous games, players in Dragons of Atlantis are given one week in real time to build their kingdoms and their armies for an all out war for control of Atlantis against their fellow players. The linchpin of your defense in the game has always been the dragons, but with the new Dragon Attack, you can take dragons to the enemy before they know what hit them.

"Dragons of Atlantis is a dynamic world where player choice affects how the fight for Atlantis will unfold," said Andrew Sheppard, Kabam CPO. "The game design reflects Kabam's commitment to developing massively multiplayer social games on social networks by combining deep, immersive gameplay with the social connectivity and interaction provided by social platforms."

For the uninitiated, Dragons of Atlantis is surely an impressive feat on Facebook with large-scale battles occurring in real time against other players. But be prepared for a literal week's worth of preparation before you can leap into the fray. If you're already a fan of Dragons of Atlantis, executive producer Nathan Germish hints at city outposts and a new class of dragon that are on the way.

Draw My Thing on Facebook: More awesome than Pictionary

draw my thing facebook
Open any game on Facebook and you're sure to see energy bars, neighbors, and free gifts. Whether set in a city, farm, restaurant, or the wild west, most games on Facebook simply fail to stray from the game formula Zynga made so popular. As a result, these similar Facebook games are all starting to feel a little stale. But there are a few games that depart from that model entirely. OMGPOP's Facebook game, Draw My Thing, is one of those incredibly fresh games.
Draw my thing facebookCan you guess what it is?

Draw My Thing
Draw My Thing basically brings Pictionary to Facebook, and it's never been so awesome. At the main menu screen, click Play Now and Draw My Thing will place you into a game. Players take turns drawing pictures, while the others attempt to guess what it is. When it becomes your turn, you will be assigned a word and have one minute to draw using a variety of brush sizes and colors. While you draw, the other players will be trying to figure out what your masterpiece might be, and blurting out their guesses in the chat.
draw my thing facebook
The scoring system is just as simple. The first person to guess correctly is awarded three points and everyone after that one point. The artist of the masterpiece is awarded two points if anyone manages to guess correctly. The winner is the person with the highest score at the end of the round.
draw my thing facebookSadly, no one was able to guess this one...

Fine art abound
In Draw My Thing you'll see words like 'Harry Potter' or 'Lightning', harder words like 'Driving', and tricky words like 'Circle'. Some words may be much harder to draw than others, but one thing holds true every turn: drawing with the computer mouse is not easy. Most of the pictures I've seen are hilariously bad (including my own), and bring to mind something a kindergartner might hang on their fridge. You don't need any drawing skills to play, just a little creativity and some quick thinking. In Draw My Thing, you'll spend hours and hours drawing, guessing, and laughing with your friends at some no-doubt remarkably goofy works of art.

Actually play with your friends
Draw My Thing is one of the few Facebook games that actually allows you play with friends in real time (rather than visit their farms, cities, etc). At the home screen, click Choose Friends to set up a game for you and up to six buddies. To invite your friends, click one of the Invite buttons. Then in Facebook Chat or an Instant Message, paste the automatically copied link. When your friends click the link, they'll appear in your game, ready to draw and let the good times roll.

Fun with no gimmicks
Like other Facebook games, Draw My Thing allows you to buy things with Facebook Credits. However, this game can be fully played without spending a dime. Should you decide to spend some Facebook Credits, there's plenty of neat extras to buy on that can help you step up your game.
draw my thing facebook
New drawing tools can be purchased that extend your drawing time or let you to draw perfect circles. You can buy Word Swaps that allow you to pick a different word at the start of your turn. You can even buy Hints to help you guess correctly. And unlike CityVille, Draw My Thing will never require you to spam your friends to progress in the game (but it will allow you to share your finest works).
draw my thing facebook
Draw your thing
So while you can spend Facebook Credits or play with strangers, that's not what Draw My Thing is all about. Draw My Thing is a social game meant to be enjoyed by you and your friends. And while it does have some issues such as a lack of leaderboards and stats, we can look past that. Most importantly, Draw My Thing reminds us that it is possible to have a blast playing with your friends on Facebook; and no, fertilizing your friends' crops is neither "fun" nor "playing with your friends".