Zynga: Social Game Leader

I have both a MySpace account and a Facebook account, and I find that which ever one I'm using at the time, I'm playing a lot of different applications. There are a ton of neat apps to choose from - from playing a vampire, to playing a mobster, to running a farm, to running a restaurant. You can also play arcade, casino, and puzzle games, like Tetris, Pool, Solitaire, Asteroids, Blackjack, dice games like Farkle, and Slots. I discovered that most of the apps I play on MySpace are made by Zynga, as are some of the ones I play on Facebook.

Zynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus. The inspiration for company name and logo was Mark's 13-year-old American Bulldog, Zinga, whose name came from Enzinga, the Swahili name for an African Warrior Princess. Zinga passed away in 2008. Dedicated to connecting the world with fun, social games, Zynga has 20 different games ranging in genres available on 6 different social networks, plus on the Iphone. You're likely to find a game you love on a network you aleady use. Find out more about Zynga and the people who make it great at Zynga.com.

Dragon Wars is one of my favorites on MySpace. In it, you play a medieval knight. There are five stats that you can increase when you level up: attack, defense, energy, health, and stamina. Energy, health, and stamina will automatically replenish over time if they are low. You can complete quests for gold and experience by using energy, and some quests have a chance of giving special loot. Different quests may require certain weapons, armor, or dragons before you can complete them. You can battle other players for gold and experience by using stamina, and sometimes you can find loot during battles. Also, having the best items will help you in battles. Your friends can join your alliance, and each member of your alliance (up to 501 alliance members in battle) can use one weapon, one armor, and one dragon in battle. Battles are won by dealing more damage to your enemy than you take. You can heal yourself by buying a drink in the tavern. You can also buy different plots of land that will automatically generate gold each hour, while you are out adventuring. Lastly, you can earn or purchase favor points, which you can use to get certain favors, like more alliance members or health refills, from the Gods.

The newest app I've tried on Facebook is Cafe World. First, cook up a tasty recipe on the stoves. Bacon cheeseburgers and super chunk fruit salad are some of the first recipes you have available. Different recipes take more or less time to cook, and make more or less servings. When it's ready, move it over to one of the serving plates. Each serving plate can hold more than one recipe worth of food, but only one type of recipe. Hire a friend as a server, and when the customers start rolling in, so does the dough! Your friend will take food from the serving plates over to the tables, and clear the plates afterwards. Don't let the number of servings run out, or your customers won't be happy and your rating will go down. Serve them promptly, and your ratings will go up! You can decorate the cafe any way you like, with different floor tiles, wallpapers, windows and doors, as well as plants and other decor. You can also purchase more stoves and serving plates, and hire more servers, as you level up. Expansions become available as you add neighbors, or as you purchase previous expansions. The next expansion will always be available, but you'll pay extra if you don't have the neighbors.

After all, you're on the social network to connect with friends; why not play games with them too? Most apps will be more enjoyable the more friends you have playing it. A lot of games on Facebook (at least the ones I've played) call these neighbors; your friend not only has to play the game (or at least have the app), but also has to accept your neighbor request. Some games will count any friends who have the app as your neighbor, or part of your friend-group (alliance, team, mafia, or whatever the particular app calls it). Having more friends join in the fun allows you to complete more jobs or quests, or unlocks new expansions or other features. This goes for Zynga apps, as well as apps by other publishers.

Here is a complete list of all Zynga's current apps, and where you can currently find them:
Blackjack - Friendster, Bebo, Facebook
Cafe World - Facebook
Dragon Wars - MySpace, Facebook
Farmville - Facebook
Fashion Wars - MySpace, Facebook
Live Poker - iphone
Mafia Wars - MyYahoo, Tagged, MySpace, Facebook
Mafia Wars Iphone - iphone
Pathwords - Facebook
Pirates - MySpace, Facebook
Scramble - Facebook
Scramble 2 - iphone
Special Forces - MySpace, Facebook
Street Racing - MySpace, Facebook
Sudoku - Facebook
Vampires - MySpace, Facebook
Vampires Bloodlust - iphone
Word Twist - Facebook
Yoville - Tagged, MySpace, Facebook
Zynga Poker - MyYahoo, Tagged, Bebo, MySpace, Facebook