Arkadium and PCHGames.com have launched a new online Bingo game that puts players more in the driver’s seat and changes the pace of this “church basement classic.” Bingo Charms features all the fun of Bingo with the help of Charms, that can bring additional points, currency, and luck to your game. This adds a little bit of strategy to an otherwise destiny-dependent game, making it more intriguing and appealing. To top it off, each day eligible players can win instantly up to $500 or in-game currency thanks to Publishers Clearing House.

“We are moving aggressively in response to our customer feedback to provide more winning opportunities online and through social media,” said Josh Glantz, vice president and general manager of PCH Online. “Bingo Charms is a fun way for us to engage Facebook fans and introduce them to our sweepstakes and PCHGames.com.”

Bingo Charms works much like any other Facebook game in that it helps to have friends who also play the game, enabling additional card slots, free numbers, and faster level climbing. You can post your achievements on your wall, but I don’t feel the same limitations (so far) as I do in other games where so many of my friends aren’t playing (yet) and I am not paying for content. That’s something that’s important to me. I want to share games with people, not feel like I have to force games onto them. I am more drawn to games like Bingo Charms for that reason.

“Playing Bingo has always been a very a social experience and we’re excited about this game’s potential on Facebook. The innovations we’ve added will really set it apart from the competition,” said Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO of Arkadium. “The best part about Bingo Charms is the player’s ability to improve their luck during a game.”

Publishers Clearing House Online has integrated messaging into the game that links back to PCHGames.com and allows players to also enter to win cash and other prizes daily.

Come play with me!

Arkadium’s Facebook Favorite adaption of the popular tile matching genre, Mahjongg Dimensions, is now available for cash tournament play at GSN.com. Mahjongg Dimensions twists up this tile-matching classic pitting players against not only one another, but the one minute stop clock, rotating 360 degree character, season, bamboo, wind, dragon, and circle-coated cubes to make as many matches as possible. Infinite tile set-ups, test players’ speed, creativity and memory, challenging them to clear the cube to get to the top or the leaderboard. Now (that is, starting today), GSN’s unique approach to adopting popular casual games into cash competitions allows players to compete with not only their friends, but challenging new worthy opponents and offers real cash prizes.

Visit GSN.com orWorldWinner.com to start matching for cash!

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Arkadium has added 10 new premium games to its ever growing library at their online game site, GreatDayGames.com.
Here’s a brief look at the 10 new games:

• Picture Pieces – Challenge your eyes to put the pieces of the larger puzzle together from a selection of smaller pieces when the puzzle image is already there.

• Cat Fight – Cats and water don’t mix, so get your water weapons together and prepare to match wits with rival kitties in this strategy matching game.

• Dethtris – Cheat death as you jump and run navigating torrential terrain, and dodge crushing blows from falling blocks in this adventure game.

• Dice Dice Baby –Match these falling and rotating dice to clear the board and score points.

• Golf Challenge – Choose your clubs, courses, and sceneries as you swing for your hole in one.

• Hoagie Hero – Become your own sandwich artist as you race against the clock to fill orders and collecting tips.

• Bridge – Bid with your computerized partner to trump those opponents and take your over tricks!

• Mixology – Match up ingredients to put together tasty, juicy beverages for thirsty customers.

• Sport Fishing – Reel in marine monsters big and small from the comfort (and safety) of your home or home.

• Stylistas – A manic-matching fashion game encourages players to harness their inner stylist as they aim to quickly create chic outfits before time runs out.

Look for more from Arkadium heading toward Facebook sometime in the near future as well!

This back-to-school season, moms steal some time for themselves and try out more than 20 new casual card, puzzle, arcade, word, and strategy games at CafeMom.com as they partner up with Arkadium to launch a new games section on their site.

“In our recent Digital Mom research study with Razorfish, we confirmed that more than half of moms are playing games regularly. Those are the same women spending time on our site,” said Paul Bannister, EVP, CafeMom.com. “The games section launched just in time for back to school season as moms take a deep breath and look for ways to unwind and relax. Games, leader boards, gaming groups and player profiles keep moms interacting and connected with one another on the site.”

“With the launch of games on CafeMom, Arkadium is now the largest provider of casual games to sites targeting women,” said Jessica Rovello, co-founder and president of Arkadium. “Being a mom, I understand how little time mothers often have for themselves. Games provide a fun escape packed into a few minutes – perfect for the busy women on CafeMom.”

Check out CafeMom.com now for games like Mah Jongg, Youda Sushi Chef, and Diner Dash

I had the opportunity a while ago to speak with Jessica Rovello, the President and co founder of Arkadium about the growth of their company, and the casual games market.

Arkadium, and their subsidiary game site, Great Day Games, were founded in 2001 by a husband and wife team with their own 401K and a little bit of “elbow grease.” This means that they have no one (i.e. investors) to answer to in terms of design, process, or product.

They specialize in making custom advergames – a term which describes a broad group of games such as a focus around which advertisements are built, or games that are advertisements themselves. They are great tools for advertisers because people stay with the ad longer when it’s a game.

Arkadium creates advergames for some of the bigger media conglomerates, such as NBC, Lifetime, ESPN, CBS, ABC, National Geographic, and Hearst Publications. Ad agencies approach Arkadium, wither with an idea of what they want themselves, which may work with one of the 350+ titles in their inventory, or they know what they want to achieve and the Arkadium team of programmers brainstorm and create custom games to accomplish that, be it driving up sales, membership, registration, etc.

In an economy like this, Arkadium is one company that is still growing and expanding, “I mean we have definitely been affected by it, luckily not deeply,” keeping all of their staff working – in what sounds like an extremely fun environment. .

When I asked her if she plays, she said, “Yeah, definitely. I talk to a lot of women who would never classify themselves as gamers because they don’t have a console, but may play Mahjongg for upwords of forty hours. Just because it’s Sudoku doesn’t mean it’s a game.“

They have a little gaming lounge in their office with a big couch and a big screen TV, and every console so, among other reasons, they can stay abreast of the casual games constantly being released on consoles.

When I asked how she felt about being a woman and a leader in this industry, and whether she thought that made a difference, she said, “I hope that it makes a difference. I don’t know off the top of my head if it does. I find it interesting that I am in a segment in the market that caters to women, and yet, the vast majority of CEOs or top level position holders… are generally run by men.” It’s good to know your market. And, at least in the casual game space it is a slight advantage to be a woman. “The market is still expanding. Casual gaming is breaking out of the browser.” With casual titles dominating consoles like the Wii, and crossing over more and more into the rest, it is an exciting time to be in this industry, “I’d much rather be in games than any other sector.”

Both Arkadium and Great Day Games have undergone some updating in the past month. Check out Mahjongg Dimensions, an innovative way to play – I can’t stop! Advergaming in and of itself continues to evolve and become a growing angle for companies, developers, and gamers alike. I expect we will be hearing more and more from Arkadium in the near future.

On the heels of their acquisition of competitor site, Advergame.com, Arkadium, a
premium provider of game solutions for the advergame and casual game
markets, today announced the relaunch of their gaming portal, GreatDayGames.com. This comes at a key time for Arkadium as its network continues to thrive. The company
serves more than 120 million page views each month within its game Arenas across some of the
biggest sites online including ABC, AARP, ESPN, Classmates, CBS, Good
Housekeeping, Lifetime, myYearbook, Publishers Clearing House, Cosmopolitan,
Sony and many more. GreatDayGames.com, the first to rollout the new
platform, will be followed by Publishers Clearing House’s PCHGames.com and
many others in the coming months.

“Arkadium is harnessing the under-tapped value of games as highly targeted branded experiences. While others in the industry are scampering to find new viable business models, we are taking this opportunity to own and expand on a space that has kept us profitable and is still ripe with opportunities,” said Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO of Arkadium. “The majority of display ads shown to gamers today are irrelevant to the player and worthless to the publisher. Casual gamers spend thousands of hours playing online and are highly
receptive to relevant advertisements. Our recent actions will allow us to better understand … this highly desirable audience by showing them offers that are behaviorally targeted, relevant and improve
their game play experience.”

The following new features are available to all of Arkadium’s Arena Clients:

. Loyalty system API – Clients can now extend their existing loyalty
system beyond the game areas of their site, allowing more status and incentive capabilities.
. Social capabilities let players send friend requests, receive notifications of friends’ activities, see who is online, and deliver personalized messages to a friend’s community mailboxes.
. Avatar Creator allows users to easily customize their avatars.
. Quick tab feature so users can bookmark favorite games and friends to
navigate the site with more ease.
. Improved leader boards create a sense of friendly competition.
. Updated game pages – Comprehensive game pages provide players with
more than just a landing page. Review features, share games with friends,
learn how to earn the most points and receive game recommendations based on
previous games played.

Arkadium announced the recent launch of ten new game titles. From new game concepts to updates on classics, many of the new titles have already launched on Arkadium client sites and have bounded immediately to the top most played games.

With the creation of these games, Arkadium chose to go beyond rebranding or updating, but to introduce new twists on some old favorites as well as addicting classics, including

Mahjongg Dimensions – A three-dimensional version of one of the most popular games online, this game gives players a new perspective on the traditional flat landscape and incorporates the need to shift perspectives to reach buried tiles.
*I played this game. I really like the addition of the third dimension. The pieces are beautiful, and the sound is pretty soothing. It would be nice if there was an option to play until there are no more moves left, but a 5 minute time limit makes the game really accessible and easy to fit in to any schedule.

Mahjongg Dark Dimensions – This game flips around the concept of matching tiles before time counts down and adds the additional complexity of finishing levels only by finding tiles that help add time to your clock.

Power Shot Tennis – The only tennis game online truly made for the casual game demographic, this translation of the sport has more intuitive controls, modified physics that respond to individual level of play and polished graphics.

In addition to those mentioned above, Arkadium has created and launched a number of other addictive games including Monster Mania, 5 Roll, Stackbots, Sudoku Sensei, Carniball, Table Hockey Ultra and Lando’s Crash Adventures.