PopCap is sending holiday cheer with an update to the iPhone version of Plants vs Zombies. Plants vs Zombies characters will have festive hats and clothing, but there is more to this dlc. Players can now play as zombies in I, Zombie mode.

The update includes leaderboards and four new achievements: Better Off Dead, I,Win, Where the Sun don’t Shine, and Undead Space.

Also last week, Plants vs Zombies dropped the first hip hop beats.

A new study from GameHouse about women that play games just came out and everyone is focusing on what they feel is the important aspect of the study. Sex. The study surveyed 2000 US adults and shows that women that play online games have more sex than women that play games offline.

Let’s start with a few flaws that I find in the survey. One, 2000 people is not that large of a sample audience. First, they don’t qualify by what they mean with the term online gaming. Do they mean console online gaming? Or maybe PC? Is it separated by game genre? The first fact alone sets off my warning meters…according to their study, 55% of online gamers are women and 45% are men. While I would love to see the number of women gaming to continue to rise, the most recent stats from the ESA show that the number of women gamers is around 48%.

The study goes on to talk about relationship status of female online gamers versus female gamers. Most writers focusing on the stat that shows online female gamers have more sex. The other personal stats are so close with a difference of only 4% (including the sex question).

Then the most important stats I see state that female gamers actually don’t play online to be social. This is typically the reason that people think casual gamers play. They believe it’s a social outlet. But the study suggests otherwise. The issue is here, they don’t state if it’s online or offline female gamers that play for reasons other than social.

While an interesting infographic, I feel that these images still don’t tell the true story of female gamers online or offline.

Turns out, the answer was “no” to both of those questions. The game in question, “Godville”, is a zero player RPG. Yes, you read that right. You do not need to do ANYTHING to play this game. You just sign up, name your god (you) and name your follower. Then you send them off into the world to quest, make friends, fight monsters, collect treasures and level up. They generously keep a journal of all their goings on for you to read (only the last 10 events, mind you). You don’t even have to have friends to play this game, although you can invite people if you wish.

You don’t grow or build anything; there is no obsessively checking in to make sure it’s going okay. Although you CAN be involved in your follower’s life if you choose. Your follower will start off as neutral, but the alignment changes based on your interactions. You can “encourage” which heals your follower, and you can “punish” which smacks them around. As you can guess, one action turns your follower toward being good and thereby healing more easily; the other makes your follower mean and lets them do more damage to monsters.

There are other commands that can be used in game, but it’s no guarantee that your follower will get the message or listen to it. The best place for information on how the game works and what commands are useful is the Godville wiki. As you move up, you join guilds, train skills and get pets. It’s all random, but you can still try to use your influence and speak in the voice of god. Again, you don’t have to. That’s the beauty of it. Your follower will even self-resurrect after a couple days if it dies.

The game can be played through Facebook, but it does not have to be. There are apps available for free in iTunes and the Android Market. There were some kinks early on with the Apple version, particularly for the iPad, but I haven’t heard anything recently about problems. The Android app has been pretty much flawless. The publisher listed is Godville Games Unlimited, and there is a Russian version as well.

Oh, and be prepared — this game is heavy on the puns, pop culture references and humor.

I was having a late night with my one year old son, Severus, and to keep myself awake I browsed through Tumblr. When I came across yet another hilarious picture reblogged by someone I followed, a picture of the cast of the Harry Potter movies with wording over it that simply said;

Remember when we thought we’d all be addicted to Pottermore? #Awkward

And that is precisely how the experience can be summed up.

I participated in the Magic Quill trivia in August, and received beta access in September.

At first, I was put off by not being able to choose my own username, but I picked the most befitting of the options and it has grown on me since then.

I tore through the site voraciously, upon my first official log in – desperate to get to the thrilling parts of receiving my wand and being Sorted.

Both events consist of answering questions pertaining to your personality and desires. Did you want to rule with an iron fist? Did you prefer quiet walks on the beach? The way you answered the questions, determined your wand and future in Hogwarts.

The site loaded very quickly, though by following the #pottermore hashtag on Twitter, I could see that many more people were also receiving access at the same time. I anticipated a site crash was imminent, so I kind of half assed my way past everything after I was given my wand; an unyielding black walnut with dragon core, because you want to know.

I had already heard a few laments about the Sorting process, so I was most eager to get to this for a few reasons and I was smugly triumphant when the page loaded after I’d answered all of the questions. I was Sorted into Slytherin, as I knew I would be.

I love the way it’s set up, not everyone gets asked the same questions and you can choose answers that obviously lean towards one House so you CAN cheat the system if you really wanted to, to be in the House that you prefer. But why not see where you’d really belong?

My favorite part is that it does not ask you, ever, which House you’d WANT to be placed into. It is the most genuine Sorting one can experience with Hogwarts not being a real place (and I feel this bears repeating: Hogwarts is not a real place, where you are Sorted does not matter in real life, if you shed actual tears over not being placed in Hufflepuff – those of us with a firm grip on reality WILL laugh at you.) and I think it’s essential that it stays that way.

Upon completion of the Sorting, and a celebratory dance, I entered the jaded Common Room. Aside from the informative links directing to more information on your House ghost and founder, there was not much I cared about here, so I continued on with the story.

Or, at least I tried. The site crashed and refused to load again until a few days later.

Pottermore is extremely interactive, though lacking its trademark soundtrack, which is a bummer. I don’t know about you guys, but I like to hum along and am way too lazy to have the soundtrack on deck in my Spotify playlist. The artwork? Dark and magnificently well executed.

As you progress through the familiar territory, you pick up little nuggets along the way; Chocolate Frog Cards, Potion making supplies, Galleons and such. You open up exclusive content that delves further into characters and scenarios and in that regard Pottermore lives up to its name. As you go forward and participate in what Pottermore has to offer, you also collect House points which – as they do in the series – are added to your House’s total.

On the downside, I find the playability is low; Potion making is horrendous and frustrating – you can see the list of things you’ll need to make each potion, but you have to go into Diagon Alley to buy them and then find your way back into the Potion making area. It’s a tedious process. I find no enjoyment in learning spells for wizarding duels (though if you accept friends, like I have decided not to do, you may have more fun dueling with them).

Once I’m finally allowed to move along from my restricted point and finish up all the books and the cherished chapters within, I’m not sure I’ll ever log into Pottermore again – it’s not like I won’t be able to find all of the information on the Harry Potter Wiki eventually.

A plea in advance; Wait.

The site will undoubtedly buckle, and frequently – as not only will it be open for public consumption, but those of us with beta access will finally be able to move past The Sorcerer’s Stone. They only let in a handful an interval for beta, and for days after they were given access, I got the purple screen of death so many times it was emblazoned in my eyelids, and when I didn’t get the purple screen of death there was the equally obnoxious “This page has vanished” notification.

Complaints will rain down en masse, people will lose their place in Sorting and have to start all over again with different questions, potions will not brew correctly, the confusion and delay will be rampant.

And infuriating.

The hype will die down, and that would be the best time to truly feel Pottermore’s fluidity as you embark on your magical journey.

If you’ve followed the series to this point, Pottermore is a gift. I decided not to add friends because – quite frankly (and ironically) people have ruined every social media interaction I’ve had and this is probably the last time I’ll experience the magic of Harry Potter, and I want it to remain unsullied.

One day, during a round of going between almost every Zynga game in existence, I realized that my toddler son (then about two and a half) kept tugging on my arms and climbing on my lap. At first, I was annoyed by the constant badgering, but then it occurred to me that he was bored, asking for my attention, and I was ignoring him for a fake farm.

Not my proudest Mom Moment.

I came close to just not playing any Facebook games at all because it was obviously causing issues in my relationship with my child. Not huge issues, I realize, but since I already worked 40 hours and went to school, my time at home was precious, and this was not how I really wanted to spend it.

Then I thought, “Wait. He likes watching me play, and he asks a ton of questions. He recognizes all the animals. He’s learning about money in a way. Maybe I can find games he will really enjoy, and we can play them together.” That is what the below games are about — toddler-safe games that my son had a great time watching me play (and even helping me play by telling me what to do!) and that I thought were fun as well. YMMV, of course.

1. Lucky Train (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucky-Train/123005897752167)

This game is similar in nature and function to your typical sim game except that the entire premise is your town is built around a train station. You build structures to get passengers which earn you money, and you use your neighbors to make connections for sending trains out. There is an easily collectible currency that allows you to buy most everything, and there is the obligatory special currency that you can buy with real money. My son loves trains, so he really enjoys this one.

2. Happy Aquarium (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Happy-Aquarium/181543998551269)

There are a few different aquarium games available on Facebook, but I chose this one over the other that I have played (Zynga’s Fishville) because the fish DO NOT DIE. They just disappear. One thing I did not want to explain to my toddler was the fish skeletons that you had to clean out of your tank in Fishville if you forgot to feed your fish in time. In Happy Aquarium, your tank gets dirty, you have to feed your fish, and there are lots of crazy extra animals and decorations that are really entertaining. But you never have to deal with fish skeletons. Yick.

My tank has been replaced by my husband’s tank because he has had WAY too much time on his hands. It is a showcase of crazy with dancers, SCUBA divers, sharks, turtles, and everything else. Again, an easy currency and one you can collect slowly or buy outright.

3. SuperPoke! Pets (http://www.facebook.com/sppets)

You pick out a baby animal. They are all really cute and range from cats and dogs to sheep and pandas. You can pick various backgrounds and decorate the scenes to your heart’s content. You can also plant a garden and grow plants that bloom into more stuff for your rooms. Caring for your pet involves feeding it, tickling it, keeping it clean, and playing with it. One of the best parts is that you can go through your friends’ pets and have your pet play with them which comes with some cute little visuals of pets on swings, slides, trampolines, etc. My son outgrew this one a little quickly, but it’s still on my list as being toddler-safe and adorable.

Please note: This game now links to an external website, but I still consider it primarily a FB games since it does link back and uses your Friends List.

4. Farmville (http://apps.facebook.com/onthefarm/index.php)

Maybe this selection is just me trying to justify my time spent on the game, but I really enjoyed playing it with my son. He loves animals, so he was always telling me which ones to collect from. (“Do the cows, Mommy!”) He loved the animal noises and the various decorations, and he was always telling me where things should go. I used it as an opportunity to educate him on various animals and their sounds as well as all the fruits, vegetables and flowers you could grow. I do not play it much anymore since he seems to have outgrown it, but we had a lot of fun with it when it was still holding his interest.

5. Dog Show Friends (http://apps.facebook.com/dogshowfriends)

Another cute pet game, but this one is sponsored by the National Dog Show, which is where I heard about it. You pick out a puppy, and then you feed it, teach it tricks, and let it sleep. They are freaking adorable, and my son got to help name the second one, and he loved telling me what tricks to teach it. I wish the dogs were more like the ones in the Nintendo game where we could actually see them do the tricks, but honestly, my son did not care. He just wanted me to feed them and see the outside of their doghouses. You can decorate the houses and dig up prizes on a daily basis, and again, special currency and normal currency is available.

My son also loved watching me play just about any game that had a nice interface with bright colors and items he could easily identify or relate to. He’s almost five now, so I will soon be looking for more educational games, but I like being able to spend time with him and share something I like doing. As long as he is having fun with me, I think it’s a good time.

I got a surprise the other day when checking out one of the newer features of Facebook. While playing one game, I looked over at my games feed and saw someone who usually sticks to PopCap Facebook games had started playing a game called “Pig Up.” Intrigued, I searched it, and what I found was pretty awesome…

Right now on Facebook, there is a preview available of a new PopCap creation called Pig Up. Finally, the long time dream of pigs to take to the skies is coming to reality. Launch your pig from the pickup truck cannon with his little makeshift wooden wings and flap to cover major distance and earn some pig pence. Of course it’s not a game without a challenge, so bring in the mean bees. Bees hover with their stingers out and then charge, taking away precious flaps. But, eat some apples along the way to gain them back. Click over now to see how far you can go!

This week we received news from Artix Entertainment that their Pony vs Pony game had some new additions. The level cap was raised to 20 and hundreds of items were in the store.

Pony vs Pony launched two weeks ago. I’ve been under the weather the past few days, so I decided to try it out. For the online game you make your own Pony to start. Think My Little Pony meets a puzzle fighter. To battle, players match same color orbs in groups of at least four. Some orbs create protective shields and others attack.

When I created a Pony, first I noticed a limit to the types of name combinations. Not a big deal, just limiting. It appears from the dashboard that you only have so many battle points per session. I thought it was per day, but mine did not reset the second day. So….I don’t know how it resets.

For someone brand new to the game, the instructions are not entirely clear. It’s a simple enough interface, but I was very confused by what was going on. The orbs that protected versus attack isn’t explained very well in the interface. The press release states that sunshine orbs deal a damage attack, butterfly orbs cast a protective shield.

Once I understood what to do I played a few rounds. I won pretty easily repeatedly. I would advise to use a mouse instead of a touchpad because there were many times where the orbs would not highlight if I didn’t put the arrow over it in a particular spot.

Another weird thing I ran into is that my Pony had a level up sign under it, but the level is still 1. I tried clicking on the sign, clicking on the pony, and clicking on the level. I tried battling the 2nd level boss. I beat him about six times and still did not level. I tried to fight the next boss but was told that I did not have enough fights under my belt yet.

In the end, Pony vs Pony is cute and would have some potential. But the User Interface is confusing and it’s hard to know what’s really going on. The battles are also pretty easy which gets boring after awhile.

PonyvsPony is a free to play game so you can try it yourself. But I would recommend waiting until more improvements have been made. There is potential for a fun online game to play when you want to pass time, but currently it’s not there yet.

We are always looking for ways to keep our minds sharp as we get older, and Bejeweled Blitz may have just joined the ranks of crossword puzzles and Sudoku as tools to help us do that. A recent survey study of more than 10,000 U.S. adults suggests that playing Bejeweled Blitz regularly could enhance mental sharpness and pattern recognition in adults over 50.

This survey, which is the first in a series that takes a rare look at the cognitive benefits of video game playing on adults over 50, focuses on Bejeweled Blitz and the tasks the game sets on the brain, including quick decision making, visual searching, and reaction time. Sharpness in performing other tasks was the benefit seen most often – 47.2% in people over 50. Pattern recognition was reported most in adults over 65, as well as the ability to perform timed tasks more quickly.

The results were presented by PopCap Games and University of Massachusetts Amherst psychology researcher Susan K. Whitbourne, Ph.D. at this year’s American Psychological Association convention in Washington, DC., and were well received by fellow researchers attending. Dr. Walter Boot, director of the Attention and Training Lab of the Department of Psychology at Florida State University, stated “I believe the work Dr. Whitbourne and her colleagues are doing, using Bejeweled Blitz, is both critical and exciting, and that more research like this needs to be done exploring not only the types of games that bring about cognitive benefits, but also the types of games older adults are willing to play and why. The best cognitive aging intervention in the world is useless if older adults aren’t willing and able to engage in it. By investigating attitudes and perceived benefits of video game interventions, this research has the potential to discover game interventions that are both effective and enjoyable.”

It will be interesting to see what comes from the remaining surveys in the series and whether or not any of them spark more research into this potential, such as including new hands on studies with people who haven’t ever played before. But maybe that’s the next step… actually evaluating Bejeweled Blitz’s effectiveness as a tool for cognitive improvement after investigating its potential. Of course, all I really have to say is that I hope Bejeweled Blitz is still around when I am 65 .