Professionals and supporters alike have clamored for social game developers to use the rallying powers of Facebook to create interesting interactive experiences that spur players to change the world around them. A noble cause, sure, but the struggle has always been the fun factor. Can you spur people's desire to change their abysmal environment without them knowing that they're doing it? After playing America 2049, a Facebook game by Breakthrough (a company that uses popular culture and media to raise awareness to severe social issues), it's beginning to seem as if that's impossible.
Don't worry, this isn't some bash session: America 2049 is a finely-designed game with a start-studded cast of characters like Harold Perrineau of Lost, Victor Garber from Alias, Cherry Jones of 24, Rent's Anthony Rapp, and comedian Margaret Cho. In other words, Breakthrough spent a lot of money to not only garner some notoriety for its game, but for its creation as well. America 2049 looks fantastic, and while it is just a series of menus and maps, those are damned beautiful menus and maps.
America 2049 Clue
The game starts with an immense premise: You are a new member of the Council on American Heritage and the country has collapsed. It's up to you to find out what went wrong and reclaim the American culture for good use in the future. You must follow a series of clues by commanding "operatives" to uncover spots on a map. These spots may or may not hide clues to the puzzle squares, which normally amount to word puzzles or code cracking.
Of course, these actions all consume Energy, which will replenish over time or recharged with capsules you'll find in otherwise empty squares. Unfortunately, it's all as boring as it sounds. However, playing the game for longer than a few minutes will unlock some seriously intriguing stuff. Breakthrough has created an entire alternate reality through mock news websites, blogs and even a website representing "your organization," the Council on American Heritage. Eventually you must use this crafty little alternate-reality to find answers to the games more difficult puzzles.
America 2049 Information Reward
While set almost half a century into the future, it's all a clever way to raise awareness to the scars on the face of America and other developed countries today. It most definitely is galvanizing to be reminded of societal plagues like violence, division and corruption with such a perspective albeit fictional. America 2049 is a success in its mission, but the lack of engaging gameplay might bring the excitement to change the face of America to lukewarm temperatures.
Click here to play America 2049 on Facebook Now>
Have you tried America 2049 yet? What do you think of social games built around the goal of social change?
Earn money by clicking ads- Paid since 2008
Showing posts with label preview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preview. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Little Cave Hero on Facebook mines for fun, strikes gold
Who remembers Dig Dug? You know, that classic 2D arcade game in which you dig through blocks of dirt, avoid obstacles and hunt underground monsters? (Maybe Mr. Driller rings a bell?) Play Little Cave Hero for about five minutes and the similarities become unmistakable, but trust us, this is a good thing. Developed and published by Chile-based Atakama Labs, Little Cave Hero embodies exactly what made those classic arcade games so nostalgic, while introducing interesting social features.
Upon logging into the game, its adorable pixelated graphics hearken back to a time when games delivered a sense of awe to your 6-year-old self. You are a miner, one of many who the mayor of a miscellaneous town has enlisted to help rebuild his city in ruins. To make it happen, you must venture into a series of small mines to dredge up resources and treasure. And like most social games these days, your day-to-day activities are guided through quests.
The Town ... and Mayor
But Atakama Labs decided to alleviate the monotony with a dash of humor. In fact, your interactions with the mayor will probably make for the funniest quest dialog you've ever read in a social game. The mayor essentially breaks the fourth wall with every chance he gets, making quips at the more obscure aspects of not just social games, but video game culture in general. All in all, it makes completing a seemingly endless amount of fetch quests a chuckle-worthy experience.
Atakama Labs isn't above borrowing the concepts that work in social games. Free gifts are aplenty, as are buildings, crafting materials and paid currency (known as Crowns). Little Cave Hero achieves that ultimate social game balance: Players gather resources to create new buildings; players use these buildings to create new tools to find better items and resources; finally, players use those resources and treasures to build even more grandiose buildings. And the cycle continues.
Gallery: Little Cave Hero
The crux of Little Cave Hero is how you find those resources and buried treasure, and it's brilliant. It's quite simple, really. Just click on the blocks in the direction of where the treasure chest is, busting through soil, gravel and sometimes rare gems. Of course, each block destroyed, key acquired and chest opened consumes one Energy point, which leads to what ultimately makes this game so refreshing.
Each mining mission is graded on a scoring system based on the amount of Energy you use to get from the origin point to the ever-present treasure chest. However, certain blocks will require more than one whack to destroy, so you must choose your moves wisely and plan ahead. The less Energy you use, the higher your score will be by the end of it all, which results in more coins and more XP to level up with. Read this paragraph again and see if it clicks: Atakama Labs wants you to play for as long as possible without spending money.
Little Cave Hero score
In fact, it's challenging you to do just that. Never have I heard of a developer do this, and it makes for one of the most admirable games you'll have played in a long time. So, go on and see how many A+ ratings you can score--just cancel any appointments you might have for the next hour.
Click here to play Little Cave Hero on Facebook Now >
Have you tried this game on Facebook yet? What do you think of Atakama's approach to the Energy system?
Upon logging into the game, its adorable pixelated graphics hearken back to a time when games delivered a sense of awe to your 6-year-old self. You are a miner, one of many who the mayor of a miscellaneous town has enlisted to help rebuild his city in ruins. To make it happen, you must venture into a series of small mines to dredge up resources and treasure. And like most social games these days, your day-to-day activities are guided through quests.
The Town ... and Mayor
But Atakama Labs decided to alleviate the monotony with a dash of humor. In fact, your interactions with the mayor will probably make for the funniest quest dialog you've ever read in a social game. The mayor essentially breaks the fourth wall with every chance he gets, making quips at the more obscure aspects of not just social games, but video game culture in general. All in all, it makes completing a seemingly endless amount of fetch quests a chuckle-worthy experience.
Atakama Labs isn't above borrowing the concepts that work in social games. Free gifts are aplenty, as are buildings, crafting materials and paid currency (known as Crowns). Little Cave Hero achieves that ultimate social game balance: Players gather resources to create new buildings; players use these buildings to create new tools to find better items and resources; finally, players use those resources and treasures to build even more grandiose buildings. And the cycle continues.
Gallery: Little Cave Hero
The crux of Little Cave Hero is how you find those resources and buried treasure, and it's brilliant. It's quite simple, really. Just click on the blocks in the direction of where the treasure chest is, busting through soil, gravel and sometimes rare gems. Of course, each block destroyed, key acquired and chest opened consumes one Energy point, which leads to what ultimately makes this game so refreshing.
Each mining mission is graded on a scoring system based on the amount of Energy you use to get from the origin point to the ever-present treasure chest. However, certain blocks will require more than one whack to destroy, so you must choose your moves wisely and plan ahead. The less Energy you use, the higher your score will be by the end of it all, which results in more coins and more XP to level up with. Read this paragraph again and see if it clicks: Atakama Labs wants you to play for as long as possible without spending money.
Little Cave Hero score
In fact, it's challenging you to do just that. Never have I heard of a developer do this, and it makes for one of the most admirable games you'll have played in a long time. So, go on and see how many A+ ratings you can score--just cancel any appointments you might have for the next hour.
Click here to play Little Cave Hero on Facebook Now >
Have you tried this game on Facebook yet? What do you think of Atakama's approach to the Energy system?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)