Montreal, Canada — Hibernum Creations, a developer of unique gaming experiences, announced on August 21, 2012 that their hit action-puzzle game, Blockolicious, is now available to play for free on Facebook.

Appropriate for players of all ages, Blockolicious  for Facebook is published in cooperation with KONAMI and includes new socially-connected leaderboards that really juice up the competition across every version of the game.

Fromthe massive chains of Marathon Mode to the heart-pounding rush of Sprint Mode, players everywhere can have a taste of Blockolicious’ arcade action in their favorite browser today at apps.facebook.com/blockolicious/.

“Blockolicious was a big hit with players on the App Store, and we can’t wait to see what Facebook users think of the new version,” saidLouis-Rene Auclair, Chief Brand Officer at Hibernum Creations. “We’ve seen our early testers develop an extremely competitive, score-chasing attitude across the mobile and online versionswhen they’re up against their friends, so I can’t wait to see thingsreally heat up onour weekly social leaderboards.”

Blockoliciousfor Facebook features:

• Power Aid – Act fast to match up Fruit Blocks and form explosive Juice Bombs that can clear the board. Fill up the juice meter in one color, and you’ll be able to click on your animal buddies to unleash block-busting powers.
• Strategic Squishing – Good scores require both quick thinking and creativity to rack up major combos and set up board-clearing explosions.
• Unlockables Aplenty – Collect coins to buy new animal pals (there are six in all) and elevate your game.
• Fierce Multiplayer – With cross-platform leaderboard support, mobile and Facebook players can go head-to-head with their friends on the weekly leaderboards.

To view the trailer for Blockolicious and learn more about the game, visit http://www.blockolicious.com. Start playing today at apps.facebook.com/blockolicious/.

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Kentucky, U.S.A. – The Jockey Club have announced the release of Thoroughbred World, its first social and mobile game. Thoroughbred World provides an unmatched, authentic Thoroughbred horse training and breeding experience from building the first paddock to entering the Winners’ Circle. The game is available now on Facebook, and coming to iOS in the early fall.

Thoroughbred World combines the best gameplay elements of a sim builder and a resource manager. Players create the ultimate beautiful racehorse in custom training facilities, improving agility, balance, stamina and speed through a series of mini-games. Once their dream horse is prepared, players enter races against other players to win in-game currency and other items.

“For over a century The Jockey Club has worked to improve Thoroughbred racing and breeding,” explained Jason Wilson, vice president of business development at The Jockey Club. “Thoroughbred World is part of our evolving strategy announced last year to help promote the sport to the mass market by adapting to technological changes and reaching fans through new media. We’re very excited about this new era.”

Key features of the game:

• Use action points to nurture and train beautiful horses, then enter them in competitive races against other players
• Purchase Thoroughbreds from the system and from other players using in-game and real-life currency …
• … Or breed them yourself using realistic coat colors to produce beautiful and unique horses
• Use Coins and Thoroughbucks to upgrade your training center and equip horses, trainers and jockeys
• Earn in-game currency by winning races, selling horses or contracting out breeding services
• Play every day to earn loyalty bonuses and chances to compete in special VIP races for Thoroughbucks, Coins and high-end game items

Play Thoroughbred World  on Facebook today!

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One of the newest of the Facebook games, SimCity Social, has all of the favorites for fans of the Sims and Facebook. The free online game has content similar to previous Sims games but also features new developments that are made just for Facebook and that come from the newest and upcoming Sim game.

In SimCity Social, the focus is on socializing and city-building according to All Things Digital. The city-building is similar to previous Sim games and to Facebook games such as CityVille and FarmVille. However, unlike the Sims there is no need to take care of the utilities within the city and there are no taxes.

The city-building in the game happens through using one’s resources wisely. The game currency is called simoleans, which can be used to buy things like houses. Diamonds are also used as currency but they are normally used for upgrading factories or larger projects. Players can buy game diamonds with real money in order to get a boost in the game. Some of the things players can buy include things that one could consider advertisements, such as Dunkin’ Donuts or a billboard advertising a Mercedes.

The game has several features, including 3D graphics and even more creative freedom than in previous Sim games according to IBN Live. There are no set paths, although players can gain experience points from completing certain tasks and building new things in their cities in order to reach the next mayor level.

SimCity Social provides the players with real social issues to deal with spontaneously such as natural disasters and climate change. Players can also experience different scenery depending on whether they choose to be in German, British, or French style neighborhoods.

SimCity Social, even more than city-building, is about socializing with friends. Within SimCity Social, players can interact with their friends and send gifts to each other – much like in FarmVille. Players can hire each other for certain tasks and can become allies or enemies with different cities. A player can also visit a friend’s city in order to get an energy boost and can receive more resources and higher property values if a friend visits his or her city.

Jami Laes, Vice President of Playfish Global Studios, claimed that the game provides many different options for every path a player could want to choose when interacting with his or her friends. Laes stated, “whether you… [act through] kindness by helping put out a fire or through mischievous acts like helping a criminal escape, the decisions you make with your friends will determine how the story of your city plays out.”

Currently there are around 750,000 Sims Facebook fans. The game creators have announced that if someone is playing the game and adds his or her ‘like’ to the Facebook page they can receive free access to exclusive content from the next Sims game.

SimCity Social is essentially a prototype version of the latest Sims game that will be coming out in 2013. In the newest version there will be multiplayer support and will allow up to sixteen friends to play together at once.

According to Kotaku, what SimCity Social lacks is the depth of the PC version of the game. Because the game focuses more on city-building, making it similar to Facebook games like CityVille and FarmVille, other aspects such as the collection of taxes and taking care of utilities that made the game more complicated are lost.

Kotaku states, “[it's] strategic enough to distract players from the fact that they’re caught in an endless cycle of earning enough residents to expand their city, buying new land, and starting the whole process over again…SimCity Social is a cute and capable social city-builder. It’s also a shameless attempt to capitalize on the success of Zynga’s wildly popular CityVille, slapping a powerful name on a game that could never live up to its legacy.”

However, Kotaku does admit that the upcoming PC version of SimCity Social will be much more exciting and complicated. “What’s exciting about this new Sim City is how alive it feels, how much it makes the earliest games in the series feel as static as board games. This one feels alive.”

It looks as if most fans of Facebook’s city-building games will enjoy this latest addition, but fans of previous Sims games should wait for the next PC version.

Image Courtesy of   SimCity Social

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This article is a continuation of the Best Facebook Games of 2012, exploring the most exciting and popular games on the social media site.

Fifth on the list of most popular games in 2012 is the Sims Social. Similar to the classic Sims game, users control the life of an individual and are responsible for everything he or she does. There are only nine traits that the characters in the game can have, but unlike the previous Sim games these traits can be leveled. The game also has virtual celebrities lake Lady Gaga and Elvis Presley.

Although Sims Social only had 15.7 million users in the month of June and has 2.8 million daily users, it has been an important feature of Facebook since games were released. Prior to Sims there was Yoville, a version of Sims that Facebook created before it partnered with the Sims franchise. In YoVille, the top game of 2009, users would control a character, his home, his job, and could play minigames.

In sixth place is the well-known Words With Friends. One of the most popular daily games is Words With Friends. Although it does not reach as wide a base as other games, with only 17.1 million users in the month of June, it is one of the most popular that is used daily with 7 million users; it has also been listed as one of the best Facebook games of all time by Kotaku. Words With Friends is similar to Scrabble but is online with a chat feature that allows players to leave messages for their friends.

In seventh place is the extremely popular Bubble Witch Saga that had 20.7 million users in June 2012 alone and has 6.2 million daily users. Similar to Peggle or Bubble Island the user must destroy colored bubbles by matching bubbles of the same color. Bubble Witch Saga was also listed as one of the best Facebook games of all time on Kotaku.

In eighth place is the Hidden Chronicles. In this game the user searches for a list of hidden objects in different rooms in order to solve a mystery. It has 5.1 million daily users and had 20.4 million users in the month of June.

In ninth place is the very well-known Angry Birds. Made popular through a phone app, the user throws angry birds at green pigs who have stolen the birds’ eggs. The game has been gaining in popularity and had 19.9 million users in June 2012 and has an average of 3 million users a day. Angry Birds was also on Kotaku’s top nine Facebook games of all time.

In tenth place is are two classic games that are very similar in game play: Bejeweled Blitz and Diamond Dash. Diamond Dash had 18.4 million users in June and has 4.3 million daily users. Bejeweled Blitz has an average of 3.4 million users a month and is very similar in game play. In both games the player rearranges gems to get rid of sets within a time limit.

Although these are the most popular games of 2012 the nature of the Facebook social network means that what is popular is constantly changing. Facebook has released a new Marvel: Avengers Alliance game that is a 2D fighter. It has been listed as one of the best Facebook games by Kotaku and has been climbing in Facebook popularity. Currently the game has 9.4 million users a month and has had the fourth highest gain in June with 2.1 million users.

Ultimately what is popular this year and what is popular next year may change drastically in regards to which games are being played, but it seems clear that Facebook users prefer the classics and city-building more than any other types.

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Mark Zuckerberg created the sensational Facebook as a sophomore at Harvard University. Originally just for university students around the world, Facebook opened its doors to anyone thirteen years or older on September 26, 2006. Since then the social network has been criticized for issues related to privacy settings and has even admitted that some of the cookies on Facebook could be used to track users after they leave Facebook.

But beyond all of the issues that Facebook may have it is an invaluable tool for keeping in touch friends, wasting time, and sharing photos and links. Facebook has also developed into one of the best sites to stay entertained. Since 2006 there have been quizzes and games on Facebook but recently these games have exploded in quantity and popularity.

Facebook games are constantly changing, whether current features are being updated or new features are being added. The games that are most popular are also changing every year but the ones that in the top ten are almost always from similar types of games. Most people seem to enjoy classic games – like Tetris, Bejeweled, and Angry Birds (a newer classic) – but they also love games that include strategy and building something over time – like CityVille and FarmVille.

The number one game of 2012 is CityVille with 40.9 million users a month and 6.2 million users daily according to Inside Social Games. In the game the Facebook user is the mayor of a small town. As mayor the user must perform tasks to develop and level the city including construction and collecting rent. The user’s friends can also be employed to perform tasks within the town and help the user to level his or her city. With ninety levels, users need all of the help they can get. Although CityVille was launched in 2010 there have been similar games such as FarmVille that have been around even longer.

The second place in most popular Facebook games of 2012 is Zynga’s Texas HoldEm Poker. Although not an original Facebook creation, the game demonstrates that classic games of the real world do not have to disappear with the internet. With 35 million users in June 2012 alone and 6.9 million daily users, the classic game is, not surprisingly, one of the most commonly played games on Facebook. Inside Social Games claims that Texas HoldEm Poker has a monthly average of 36.7 million users.

Prior to the creation of Texas HoldEm Poker, Bejeweled, Tetris, and many others Facebook had MindJolt Games. Mind Jolt allowed Facebook users to play classic arcade, puzzle, strategy, and sports games that users could play alone or with friends.

In third place is the 2009 game FarmVille. Prior to FarmVille there was FarmTown which was essentially the same game with a different name. FarmVille had about 21.7 million users in June 2012 and has 4.6 million daily users. FarmVille has always been one of the most popular games on Facebook, making the top ten list every year since its inception. In the game users plant crops and trees and take care of animals on his or her own farm. Harvesting crops will get the user in game money that can be used for decorations and new crops. Users can also interact with their friends who can have neighboring farms and help each other with their farms.

In fourth place is the CastleVille is one of Facebook’s more recent games, released in November 2011, and is similar to the other -ville games but includes more strategy. In CastleVille the user rules a kingdom and can do a whole range of things that include making armor, building up a castle, planting crops, and making alliances. CastleVille boasts 5.4 million daily users and 21.1 million users in the month of June 2012 alone.

To learn more see Even More of the Best Facebook Games of 2012!

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GameHouse, the gaming division of RealNetworks, announced today that the company is expanding its social game studio to a new office in Victoria, BC, where it aims to double its staff to at least 45 people by the end of 2012.

“Social-game development is the number-one priority for our company in 2012 and Victoria is an attractive area for expansion due to the city’s high caliber of talent combined with a great quality of life.” said Matt Hulett, chief gamer at GameHouse. “I believe this strategic expansion of our social-games studio in Victoria will not only grow our games portfolio, but it will also solidify our leadership position in the overall games-industry.”

The decision to expand follows the release of GameHouse’s successful Facebook games – Collapse! Blast and the recently released Bayou Blast. Both games were launched in the second half of this year and attracted nearly 400,000 daily players. With a total of 3.7 million users playing all its social games each month, GameHouse is hiring aggressively in both Seattle and Victoria and focused on getting the right people in place to make games that millions of people love to play.

Hulett confirmed that GameHouse has invested at least $10 million towards the company’s social gaming initiatives in 2011 and revenues are growing at triple-digit rates. Taking over the top floor of a building located within the Downtown Business District of Victoria, the new studio will specialize in creating popular games on Facebook, Google+, and other emerging social platforms.

“It’s a privilege to work at one of the top social game studios in the best city in the world,” said Alex Mendelev, general manager of GameHouse Canada. “Several of the best designers, developers and producers have already joined our studio for this same reason, and we intend to more than double the size of our team next year.”

GameHouse Canada takes an indie approach to game production where designers are encouraged to express their creative freedom during game development. The new downtown studio at 712 Yates, Victoria opens on January 16, 2012 and will offer its staff several perks including an open and collaborative working environment, a plush gaming and entertainment lounge, creative Fridays, and more.

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