Will City of Wonder be next on Playdom's chopping block?

Poor City of Wonder. Playdom's medieval-esque city-builder on Facebook is really struggling, sitting at just 320,000 monthly active users. While the game and its Facebook fan page are still actively updated, such low user numbers cause me to speculate: could City of Wonder be the next game Playdom shuts down?
Back in November, the company announced the closure of Social City, which fell to 270,000 monthly players before the announcement was made. Do a bit of math, and we can see that the two games are only 50,000 users apart. Could those 50,000 users be enough to save this one, or should we all start saying our farewells to another game?

Furthermore, could City of Wonder's falling popularity be the reason that City of Might / Warfare is still unavailable? The last update for that game was back in November of 2011, when we were told that Playdom was testing the game in a closed beta. Still, we first heard about the game way back in June at E3, so what's the big holdup? With City of Might being a more militarized take on City of Wonder, we can't help but think that the delay has something to do with City of Wonder's recent state.

Either way (we are just speculating after all), we'll make sure to keep an extra eye on City of Wonder (and City of Might) and will let you know if things start to look up for either game.

Are you still a fan of City of Wonder on Facebook? Did you forget that City of Might was even in development? Sound off in the comments.

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Nexon Christens Wonder Cruise on Facebook

Wonder Cruise is the latest social gaming offering from Nexon on Facebook. The title is currently in open beta, having gone live in “pre-beta” form in August of this year.

According to our traffic tracking service AppData, Wonder Cruise currently has 8,000 monthly active users and 2,000 daily active users.

Similar to Perfect World’s ailing Perfect Getaway, Wonder Cruise, players are in charge of operating a luxury cruise ship and tending to the needs of their passengers. They do this by stocking up on supplies, building attractions, and directing their passengers to them. These, in turn, pay out coins, the game’s soft currency. Supplies for the attractions become depleted and must be re-stocked. If players run out of supplies, more can be purchased. They’re also able to take their ships to new ports of call, and earn coins and experience for doing so.

The deck of the cruise ship serves as the building platform for various attractions, including food vendors, swimming pools, basketball courts, and games of chance. There are also “Wonders,” fanciful attractions such as butterfly gardens and animal habitats that can be won during gameplay or purchased using Facebook Credits. The more elaborate the attraction, the more it costs, but also the more it pays out in terms of coins. Players are also able to buy new deco items to enhance the appearance of their ships.

Helping out passengers with their needs rewards players with experience points. As they gain more, they level up and have access to more attractions and decoration items. Actions require energy, which replenishes over time or can be purchased. In addition to pointing them towards attractions, players can help their passengers in need of socializing and partying, and will see when they have passengers who’re looking to find a type of attraction they don’t yet have on their ship.

Wonder Cruise includes a standard set of social features, such as posting of accomplishments on their Walls, asking for help on the friends’ Walls, sending/receiving gifts, and adding friends in the game in order to visit their ships for bonuses.

Nexon is monetizing Wonder Cruise by offering energy, supplies, and coins in exchange for Facebook Credits. Players can also spend Credits on premium attractions, decoration items, and Wonders.

Given the game’s similarities to Perfect Getaway and Ravenwood Fair, it’ll be interesting to see if Nexon makes use of any branding or art design to make Wonder Cruise unique. So far, the South Korean MMO developer has developed or co-developed three games for Facebook and invested in two established social game developers.

You can follow Wonder Cruise’s progress using AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

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MapleStory maker Nexon sets sail on Facebook with Wonder Cruise

Clicking cute creatures in MapleStory Adventures sure was fun, but Korean MMO (massively multiplayer online game) developer Nexon is ready to tread new water on Facebook. (Well, at least new water for Nexon.) The global studio based in South Korea has released Wonder Cruise, its second Facebook game tasking players with creating a world-class cruise ship.

While Gamasutra reports that the game will launch after testing with a small audience later this month, it appears that Wonder Cruise is live now for all. So, consider this the open beta for Wonder Cruise, or as we see it: The game is live. The game comes hot off of the heels of MapleStory Adventures, a Facebook rendition of the hugely successful free-to-play MMO that has already amassed over 2.8 million monthly players.

Wonder Cruise looks an awful lot like Perfect World Entertainment's recent Perfect Getaway, but plays a bit differently. Yes, you're still stuck on the same old cruise ship while your customers see the best of what the world has to offer. But this time around, the cruises, well, actually mean something. Each cruise is timed, and once you leave port after customizing and upgrading your ship with decorations and whatnot from the money that guests throw your way, you must help as many patrons have a good time before your ETA by clicking on them.

Then, you'll be graded on how many guests you satisfied in the time limit, which matches up with a leaderboard spanning your friends. However, each time you help a guest, it consumes Energy that refills at a slow rate, like all Facebook games. This would be fine if you weren't graded on how many guests you help on a given timed cruise. Unfortunately, if you want those coveted S ranks for each trip, you'll have to either buy Energy or bug your friends.

Wonder Cruise is expected to "officially" launch on Sept. 12, Gamasutra reports. When the game releases from an open beta to most likely yet another open beta, Nexon will introduce more content (and hopefully a fix to this Energy system). As the game is testing, Nexon urges players to take a survey. Until then, keep clicking away on those guests ... at least for a minute or two.

Click here to play Wonder Cruise on Facebook Now >

Have you tried Wonder Cruise out yet on Facebook? What do you think of Nexon's approach to Facebook gaming thus far? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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