The Official Guide to Game Development

Chapter 8 Social Games: “you’ve got to have friends”

Key Chapter Questions ■ What elements make a game a social game? ■ Can a single-player game be social? ■ How do social media games connect to each another? ■ How does GameSalad Creator add social components to a game? ■ What game genres make viable social games?

Meet Me at the Gaming Tables Image courtesy of Kimberly Unger. Games are inherently social constructs, with most forms of traditional games requiring two or more people to play. When games moved into the virtual, players increasingly pitted their wits against the computer as opposed to human opponents— but the desire to play against other human minds eventually made its way back in.

Meet Me at the Gaming Tables Source Google. Zynga Poker

Asynchronous Gameplay Social Design Asynchronous Gameplay Source Games Press. Scrabble

Social Design Community Word Carnivale Image courtesy of PlayScreen, LLC. Image courtesy of PlayScreen, LLC. Word Carnivale

Social Design Endless Play Source Apple Inc. DragonVale

Social Design Virtual Currency Too Fat to Fly Image courtesy of GameSalad®. Too Fat to Fly

Social Design Reciprocity FarmVille 2 Source Zynga. Image courtesy of Kimberly Unger. FarmVille 2

Social Design Drop In/Drop Out Bubble Safari Source Zynga. Image courtesy of Kimberly Unger. Bubble Safari

Battle Legend Infinity Social Design Buyouts Image courtesy of GameSalad®. Battle Legend Infinity

Ice Cap Games: Black Jack Social Design Advertising Image courtesy of GameSalad®. Image courtesy of GameSalad®. Shred Neffland Ice Cap Games: Black Jack

Summary ■ Meet Me at the Gaming Tables ■ Social Design ■ Hive Mind