The social game roundup

By Joe Blancato


As web technology improves, games are spreading into places you'd expect, as well as places you wouldn't. Facebook is practically a console, the definition of MMOG is changing and Raph Koster's Metaplace may very well turn everything on the web into a play space.

Tadgh Kelly at Simple Lifeforms was good enough to take inventory of the social games enjoying popularity today. He breaks the scene into eight categories:

  • Social RPGs
  • Sports RPGs
  • Casual games
  • Word games
  • Virtual villages, or mini virtual worlds
  • Casino games
  • Just for laughs, or silly games like the versus games on Facebook
  • Ownership games

Kelly provides a bunch of examples for each category, and definitely makes for good reading, especially as the media through which games can be played evolve.

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