This year at Casual Connect Seattle, I was fortunate enough to sit down with some of the folks from PopCap and talk industry trends, social gaming in general, and more specifically, the much anticipated Zuma Blitz. Overall, it seemed like they were in sync with the opinion that there is and has been a pretty obvious shift in the casual gaming space toward social gaming, but still respect the notion that sometimes, we do still want to just sit down and enjoy a game without the pressure of beating each others’ scores or getting in all of our good moves in under a minute. So, there is talk of integrating social feature into their existing games, giving players the freedom of playing solo, or send some smack talk to their friends, getting into the competitive spirit.

Having said that, the main topic of conversation was the upcoming speedy, completely social, competitive version of our favorite ball blasting frog hopping bonanza, Zuma Blitz. Here’s what I found out… They weren’t just inspired by the success of their first Facebook Bejeweled Blitz, they learned from its journey as well, and plan to send Zuma Blitz off on a similar one. It’s all about the gradual. Zuma Blitz is set to start rolling out on Facebook in the next couple of weeks. It will roll out little by little to more and more people over a few weeks to help ensure continuity (how do we get to the front of the line?). In addition to the progressive release, the gameplay will start players off steadily as well, so as to get used to a couple of different power-ups at a time before introducing new ones, using an ‘experience points’ system to unlock features and and “a ‘treasure chest’ virtual currency-based system for obtaining in-game power-ups. The more you play, the better you can score.

Zuma Blitz is played just like previous incarnations of Zuma, with players shooting colorful balls at a creeping snakelike composition of other colored balls to blast groupsof three or more of the same color, trying to keep from being swallowed up. However it wouldn’t be called Zuma Blitz without a time limit… So, you get a minute. However, taking the blitz a bit farther, there are opportunities to make the right match for additional 5 second increments. Now, not only are players fighting to stay alive, but also to not run out of time. Brilliant!

I had the opportunity to play a few rounds at level 2, which included some familiar power-ups and challenges. But the added complexity of also trying to extend the time without the hope of “finishing” the level actually creates a new, more focused Blitzy state of being. The level I got to play was one of the final levels from Zuma’s Revenge. But, along with the regular Blitz weekly tournaments, where they reset the scores and conduct their prize drawing, they will be changing up the actual level we play every couple of weeks as well. Genius! That sounds like the perfect way to keep it fresh and keep our Blitz mojo flowing. I had to stop myself after playing twice, both recognizing and respecting the full extent of the addictive nature of the Blitz. Zuma Blitz is no exception. I can’t wait!

What do you think about the increasing emphasis gaming companies are putting on the social aspect of gaming? Are you looking forward to playing Zuma Blitz?