CastleVille passes FarmVille to become second biggest game on Facebook

Watch out CityVille, there's another contender coming for your title as top Facebook game! Luckily, this new kid on the block is in the same staple, as Zynga can lay claim to both CityVille and rising star CastleVille. According to the latest stats on AppData, CastleVille has rocketed to 37 million monthly active players, passing FarmVille with its almost 34 million players to become the second most played game (currently) on Facebook.

But wait - where's EA / Playfish's the Sims Social? The game still sits as the number five game on the service, but it has lost players (around 1.7 million) even since we threw out some advice that Playfish should try to help the game climb back up the ranks. And that was just a week ago!

Either way, does CastleVille have what it takes to finally topple CityVille as the number one game on Facebook? It still has 12.5 million more players to go (and that's if CityVille does nothing but lose between now and then). Still, it will be interesting to watch as the competition develops further (or doesn't) between these two games, and you can be sure that we'll let you know if Facebook finally receives a new king to the castle if and when that does happen.

Do you think CastleVille can take over the number one game spot on Facebook, or is CityVille still too mighty a beast to defeat? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Bookmark this site!

View the original article here

Rovio's Angry Birds become authors with a ... cookbook about eggs?

by Joe Osborne, Posted Jun 10th 2011 12:25PM

Hey man, you write what you know. Rovio announced recently that it will publish its first Angry Birds book: a family cookbook filled with recipes that include eggs. According to paidContent, Rovio is self-publishing the book in print and as an app in the coming weeks. Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio's Mighty Eagle and head of marketing, said at the Open Mobile Summit in London that the company has had talks with Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble to distribute the book.

Rovio has gone absolutely bonkers over turning Angry Birds into the next Mickey Mouse with clothing, board games, stuffed animals, a possible film and a TV show. And most of that is because, well, the video games aren't making as much money as we think they might be, according to paidContent. (Though I find this hard to believe.)

Because mobile advertising is hard to sell, Vesterbacka reiterated at the summit that Rovio is not just a video game developer, but an entertainment company. So, expect plenty more from where the Angry Birds board game came from. But you have to wonder, shouldn't the cookbook revolve around pork and not their offspring?

[Image Credit: Spacemonkeydr]

Do you plan on picking up the Angry Birds cookbook? How do you feel about the Angry Birds merchandise explosion? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

Bookmark this site!

Tags: angry birds, angry birds cookbook, angry birds merchandise, angry+birds+games, AngryBirds, angrybirdsgames, cookbook angry birds, PaidContent, rovio, rovio angry birds

View the original article here

Cafe World Hints – Secrets To Become The #1 Chef In Cafe World

Do you want hints to help you level up quicker and gain more coins more easily? Well if you want to level up fast and be able to get coins quickly, you must keep two things in mind:

- What food items to cook 
- When to cook these food items

Hint #1 ' What Food Items To Cook

Food is the heart of the game, so there is no surprise that you must know what food items to cook to help you level up quicker and gain coins.

Different food items have different costs and vary in times that they take to finish. To maximize your gain in experience points and coins per serving, you must know what foods will give you the most return on your investment.

For example the spitfire roasted chicken takes an entire day to cook, serves 800 people and will cost you 600 coins and earns your 3200 in sales. So our return on investment for the spitfire chicken will be (3200-600)/600 = 4.33 or 4.33%.

Hint #2 ' When To Cook Your Food

Knowing when to cook your food is also a big part of the game. If you want to become the #1 chef, you must never have spoiled food.

In order to stop your food from spoiling, learn to cook around a schedule. By making a cooking schedule, you will be able to control when your food will be ready for serving.

A cooking schedule should revolve around the time you are on the internet. For example, if you use the internet frequently, cook foods that require less time to cook, but make these foods repeatedly. If you don't use the internet often, cook foods that take longer to finish, but you must remember to come back online after it is done cooking.

Want to know some real Cafe World Secrets that no one else knows?

Dominate Cafe World Quickly And Easily With The Secret Cafe World Domination Guide

Have you ever wondered how the top chefs have so many expensive decorations and leveled up so fast? They all have one thing in common ' they used the secrets within the Cafe World Domination Guide.

This guide is compiled of all the secrets that Zynga does not want you to know. Why do they not want you to know? Well because these secrets within the guide are fool proof tricks to help you build an ultimate cafe and to dominate Cafe World.

View the original article here

Wooga surpasses Playdom, PopCap to become number four studio

by Joe Osborne, Posted Apr 12th 2011 6:20PM

Who saw this one coming? No one, that's who. Wooga announced on its company blog that it is officially the fourth most popular social game studio in the world, according to AppData. At 20.4 million monthly players, the Berlin-based developer is now more popular than both Playdom and PopCap of Social City and Bejeweled Blitz fame, respectively. And Wooga, who recently released a social puzzler called Diamond Dash, isn't stopping anytime soon.

"Capturing 20 million active Users in just 20 months and surpassing Playdom to become number four in the world is a stunning accomplishment," said Jens Begemann, Wooga founder & CEO. "We will remain focused on producing high quality games with a unique game experience for the future. With our ambitious team, we aim to become number two by the end of this year."

To add insult to injury put things into perspective, Wooga went to mention that it has just 70 employees compared to Playdom's 300 plus, not to mention that its owned by Disney. A little cocky, and rightfully so, Wooga is quickly becoming a powerful force in the social gaming industry. What's even more exciting is to see how PopCap and Playdom will respond. As the competition comes to a head, it's only a matter of time before one of these developers truly disrupts Zynga's choke hold on the market.

[Image Credit: Wooga]

Are you a fan of Wooga's games on Facebook? Do you think the company can take the number two spot by the end of 2011? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
Bookmark this site!

Tags: appdata, bejeweled blitz, diamond dash, disney, growth, playdom, popcap, social city, wooga, zynga

View the original article here