Considering how big a part social networking platforms play in internet users' everyday lives, it would seem a reasonable proposition to say that tailored Free2Play gaming represents a major opportunity for developers to engage with massive static audiences. Unfortunately, anyone releasing Facebook games are invariably faced with the stigma of how a good deal of users view Farmville (still a great game though) or those goddawful recruitment based games that lead only to endlessly banal updates polluting your feed. Amazingly, not everyone cares about what crops your growing in your imaginary world there, friend: maybe keep the updates to yourself. But, there are games available on Facebook that are genuinely entertaining, and which offer an alternative to staring blankly at your feed until someone updates about what their cat had for tea. Or how incredible it is to be a parent...
10. Adventure World
The first Zynga game to feature on this list is a sort of Indiana Jones variant, inviting players to take on adventures and expeditions across five frankly massive worlds with the overall objective of finding the Lost City of Gold. In comparison to other social networking games, Adventure World id enormous, which fits the genre, and it's also the least direct of Zynga's stable of games. Rather than adopting a purely literal approach to tasks, Adventure World instead encourages a new level of immersion, with players expected to learn from experiences within the game to take on specific tasks and unlock bonuses.
9.Cafe World
It's difficult to resist or ignore the vast amount of sim games available on the social networking platform - with most relying on the same sort of engines and hooks, with the themes and settings varied, and initially I thought I'd happily get through my life without ever playing something like Cafe World. A few months on and I take pride in my little restaurant empire, and meeting the needs of the customer - something I was never bothered about when I worked in an actual restaurant for two months when I was about 16. But then what else can restauranteurs expect when they play Dolly Parton's greatest hits on a loop forever? Anyway, taking a lead from Playfish's Restaurant City, Cafe World asks players to create restaurants, cook wares and feed clients, taking limited specific features from the Sims world and playing on everyone's inner attraction to capitalism and servitude in equal measures. All philosophising aside, it's simple and hugely effective.
8. Mafia Wars
One of the most infamous Facebook games, thanks to that afore-mentioned annoying tendency to create multiple annoying status updates and recruitment notifications, Mafia Wars is nevertheless a good game, based on building a criminal empire and reputation and recruiting to your ranks from the real world. Very basically, the game demands the player does jobs and fights rivals to gain cash, items and experience, and to level up - much like a traditional RPG, though minus the actual sandbox, and with a purer dependency on inventory and experience gained through time spent in the game over in-game skill per se. So successful there's now a sequel, and a roaring trade in linked merchandise. So crime does pay then.
7. Go Fishing
Simple but incredibly addictive fishing game that takes all of the bad parts of fishing - the waiting around damp in a river that you're sure has more rusty cars and used condoms than actual fish in - and emphasises all the fun parts. Like being able to actually catch a fish. The mechanics of the game are delightfully simple - cast, wait and watch for movement on the fly and then pull the fish in without overloading the rod by keeping within the green areas of the charge bar. Extra strength can be gained through close calls to the overload zones, which can help pull in larger fish quicker. It's beautifully addictive - and throw in quests and collectibles, as well as changeable environments and conditions and you've got a game that actually demands you stick with it.
6. Games on Mindjolt
Run by ex-MySpace supremo Chris DeWolfe, Mindjolt is actually a hub of games - a massive number - which has the benefit of variety thanks to the number of titles included, broken down into easily digestible morsels. The key indicator of the collections success is how long its possible to hop from game to game within the collection without leaving for other pastures, and in personal experience, that's a long time.
5. Happy Aquarium
Keeping fish is all well and good, but the slippery little blighters have a horrible habit of dying and leaving everyone heart-broken (especially when that death is at the fins of a cannibalistic fellow fish owned by your big sister - I'm not bitter), but CrowdStar have taken away all of the sadness by launching an oddly irresistible aquarium sim game in which the "player" is charged with taking care of a selection of exotic fish. Doesn't exactly sound thrilling, but it works on exactly the same basis that made Tamagotchis so popular back in the day - you get to genuinely care about the sprite fish in your care, while the game offers the opportunity to level up and collect rewards to keep interest from fading when you realise what you're actually spending your time doing!
4. Texas HoldEm Poker
A seriously giant concern - rumoured to be worth about $15 to $20 billion to Zynga, with 35 million monthly players, which is about as much proof as anyone would need that
online gambling games are big business: but Zynga's success is down not only to the sometimes relentlessly addictive grip of poker itself but also a slick set-up and game design that makes it simple for n00bs to enjoy handing their virtual money over to the sharks. Social aspects are remarkably well designed, with rewards for bringing friends in like Hand Strength Meters and other such add-ons that pros won't need, but which makes the whole poker world more accessible for the new-comers. Even just writing about it, I've just played a few hands, in my usual gung-ho manner, losing my entire pot within about three minutes. I am by no means any good at this.
3. Bejeweled Blitz
I defy anyone to come up with anything this simple that is as hugely entertaining as a disposable gaming experience - Bejeweled is the Tetris of this generation, based on nothing more complex than matching colourful shapes in sets of three, four or five - each one being rewarded with points and for the latter two a special jewel that carries an extra kick. It's simple, episodic entertainment, and the longevity of the game (and the fact that it wasn't invented specifically for Facebook) is its own proof.
2. FarmVille
An absolute juggernaut of a game, with around 11 million DAILY users - and another massive winner for Zynga. I don't play it myself, but I know its particular values, and I know the irresistible hold the game can have over its millions upon millions of players. FarmVille charges players with cultivating their farms by plowing, planting and harvesting crops and trees, as well as caring for their farm animals and enjoying the crops and livestock produced.
1. The Sims Social
Developed by Playfish and EA, this social networking addition to the massive Sims franchise ports over the same perfect features from those other titles, honed over many many series additions. The interface has been stripped back, so the user experience is far more simple, but that means a lot of features have had to be trimmed back as well. But it is still the simulation title of choice - the Bentley of the simulation game market.