A Better World has set a larger community goal called “Reach for the Stars,” where they hope to inspire the in-game community to do one million good deeds by January 31, 2012. After one million good deeds have been reported, the game’s creators, ToonUps, will donate $10,000 to CURE.org, which will fund operations for ten children in need. These operations will allow the children to walk — some for the first time. You can see the boys and girls that the gift will help here.

“Our new ‘Reach for the Stars’ activities have been designed to promote a sense of goodwill and camaraderie among players. At least once a quarter, we will offer an opportunity for community members to work together to achieve something positive in the real world through activities within the game,” MarySue Hansell, COO of ToonUps, creator of A Better World, explains. “Our members have told us they love the idea of doing good for others, of being a part of an online community that is uplifting and values driven.”

“We are thrilled to bring the positive emotional involvement that players love about A Better World to the real world to benefit children who have little hope of receiving the medical care they need,” Joel Worrall, Vice President, CURE.org, said.

The game offers tons of opportunities to contribute to the “Reach for the Stars” goal, starting from the very beginning in areas like the Department of Do Good.

ToonUps, who created the game, is apparently very serious about their ultimate goal of creating games that promote altruism and optimism.

“Zynga has had an undeniable impact on the gaming landscape,” said Dennis Fong, CEO of Raptr. “However, little is known about the behavior of Zynga’s players. By looking at the actual gameplay habits of real users, we’re able to get a deeper understanding of how Zynga has been able to dominate the social gaming space and command one of the highest projected IPO valuations this decade.”

As we’ve suspected for a while, core gamers and social gamers play a little differently. For instance, -Ville players log into their games for multiple quick sessions per day (averaging eight), while core gamers (your CoD and Warcraft lovers) have longer sessions less often. However, players of both games rack up equal play time. Zynga games also have a high conversion rate — over 90% of users of older games will try one of their newer ones. Zynga’s social games are also gaining traction with the console crowd, with a third of Xbox 360 players having played one of them over the past year.

The two percent of Zynga users who play the game most often tend to play over two hours a day. That’s a lot of farming, city-ing, yo-ing and…well, whatever else you do in those games.

Here’s the full report:
Zynga Report

For more, check out Raptr’s blog.

Rating

BUY

I enjoy casual gaming, most people do.  Whether it be on your phone, pc, ipod, or even your Xbox; people play casual games all the time.  I’ll admit, I carry my tablet with me everywhere and 60% of my apps are games of all genres.  Recently, I’ve become more interested in Hidden Object games.  They are fast paced, fun and challenge your mind.  At times, they can be a bit frustrating.  So, when I was given the chance to play Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock I was very excited!  This is a fun and affordable addition you can make to your pc games library.  Although the title doesn’t seem so family friendly, it really is a game that anyone of any age can enjoy with excellent content and nothing too scary.

As I said, I was really excited to play this game.  I have not had the pleasure of playing Vampire Saga: Pandora’s Box so going in, I really didn’t know what to expect.  ”Hidden object” made me assume that’s all I’d be doing.  I did not expect an engaging storyline at all.  The game surprised me and I think that is what made it so enjoyable.  Having other tasks to complete, countless puzzles and mini-games to solve along with dozens of hidden object games, made this a worthwhile experience.  It also kept the game from getting monotonous and too repetitive.

The game starts off in a bit of confusion.  The main character has had an motorcycle accident, he wakes up not knowing where he is and of course, is experiencing memory loss.  No phone, no flashlight and lost in the woods…not a good place to be.  Once you realize you need to get going and find help, the story begins.  The game is a point-and-click adventure where you choose where to go, which paths to take however, your choices do not effect the outcome of the game.  There is still the storyline and required tasks to progress but you’re free to explore and examine as you please.  The graphics are top of the line for this 2D game and I was really pleased.  I also found that there were no glitches and everything ran smooth and quick.  I always hate when there are hang ups when traveling to different locations or having to wait minutes for screens to load.  This time, not one complaint.  There are a total of 35 different locations in-game and travel is made easy by following arrows OR if you’ve taken a picture of the location with your camera, you can travel instantly.  I thought that was really neat.

“Welcome to Hill Lock, a place no one in their right mind would want to be. But then again, you’re not in your right mind.  All you can remember are moments – speeding down twisted back roads on a motorcycle; a spectral figure soaring through the night air; a piercing pain on your neck; and darkness.

You preferred the darkness to what you now see.  An abandoned town beckons you to explore its ravaged streets. Fire that reaches up through cracks in the earth threatens your life. And signs that something unnatural is stalking you have your nerves on edge. To survive, you’ll have to search for clues, gather useful items, and solve clever puzzles. If there’s a path that leads out of hell, you’ll find it, but only if you take the first step!”

Now, even though I found the game enjoyable and fun, I was a bit disappointed with the way the story goes.  I’m telling you, it’s a complete cliffhanger…you’re really left hanging on the edge.  With so many unanswered questions, no explanation of why certain tasks were given to complete and the big question, WHY?  I expected that completion of the game would reveal all to me but, it didn’t.  I was really engaged in the story and had so many questions that were not answered.  There were vampires, ghosts, creepy dolls, bugs and a whole slew of other unpleasentries.  This brought me to believe there would be an understanding by the end and that it would all make sense.  Sadly, these mysteries are never solved.  The ghosts were never explained even though they seem play some kind of role.  We learn what caused the memory loss, but not why.  I could go on but I don’t want to ruin it for you or dissuade you from giving it a try.  I’m assuming that the main focus when the game was created was of course, the hidden object and puzzles but when theres a storyline, people want answers.  I’m not saying that the game isn’t worth your time, I think it’s great but I feel strongly that there will be another addition to the Vampire Saga.

The music and ambience sounds give the game an eerie feel, it also gives you the sense that something is not right here.  There is dialogue but not much.  Many of the story cutscenes are filtered in like shots from a comic book.  I think it was a good way of making it more fast paced without the dragging on of dialogue.  I appreciated that it moved quickly through and for those of you who aren’t interested in story or dialogue, you can skip it and move on at any time.

Overall, this game is very short compared to other pc games of a similar genre.  Being that it was so enjoyable, I wish it were longer.  Maybe if it were a bit lengthier, there could have been more to the story.  Also, there are different levels of difficulty.  “Casual” and “Expert” are your choices and I believe they are very straight forward.  Although, I recommend starting out with the “Expert” setting because the “Casual” is a bit too easy.

In my opinion, this is a game anyone can and will enjoy.  It’s available for purchase on the Vampire Saga website and is currently being offered at $6.99.  You may also download a FREE 1 hour demo of the game which is always a good idea.  I hope you’ll give it a shot!

Impressions

In the beginning of the day, Things were a little overwhelming. Attendance was definitely up at Casual Connect this year.
But, while pushing through the clusters of people, an overwhelming sense of familiarity took over. It kind of felt like coming home. Though this year, I took a little different strategy to my single day of attendance. I wanted to listen to some panels and see where things sat in the industry instead of trying to meet with a bunch of people singularly. I think this worked out well, and I am anxious to share what I heard, including some of the psychology behind game development, the subtle ways they keep free social games free, and the quality and quantity of social behavior in so called social games.

I did meet with a couple of people singularly and am happy with what I learned. Whereas in previous years, it seemed like there was a big separation and traditional casual games were starting to have to compete with flash games, social games, and mobile games. Now it looks like they are starting to become a cohesive unit and work together interchangeably across multiple platforms. I also saw some exciting new developments in new ways to play with new technologies that work with smart TV’s.

I will say that it did seem like there was a lot of focus placed on monetization and different ways to take payments, etc. There were more and more booths and companies dedicated to this side of the business, which has some importance in a conference of this type, geared toward more industry professionals and prospective industry professionals. But from a consumer perspective, it’s not something I want to see such a big presence from.

All in all, there were some good things going on, good energy, interesting people, organization, cooperation, and innovation happening this year at Casual Connect. Stay tuned for more details and specifics. I can’t wait to hear some feedback as to what some of the panelists said and the direction of the industry as a whole.

Well hello there! I’m Jess! I work as an animator and illustrator from the great city of Chicago. Don’t get me wrong… there are many drawbacks to Chicago; the weather, taxes and lack of parking to name a few. Thankfully I’m able to say I do what I love for a living and I’m always striving to get better at it. A few of my passions are: cartoons, drawing, animating silly things, pretending to be a photographer, shoes, Snoopy and, of course, my husband! I also like to change song lyrics, which tends to irritate most people, because they find themselves singing about badgers sitting in soup bowls after listening to one of my solos.

I’m currently working for a company that makes Facebook and mobile games, and I love it to bits.

In all seriousness, however, I’m a passionate artist and love what I do. I can find good in nearly everything… except spiders. Those bloody things don’t have any redeeming qualities.

Geek Woman: So weird critters live in your soul. Any idea why they picked you?

Jessica Pempek: I LOVE this question (I see you found my portfolio)! I assume that before I was able to form tangible memories, I left ice cream and cookies out in hopes of attracting silly creatures to keep me entertained while I was bored doing baby things. I always saw things differently than most kids my age, and my dad used to tell me bedtime stories about the friendly dinosaurs that lived on the ceiling of my bedroom. (John, Ross and Nana Margie) I’m guessing a lot of my imagination came from him. The creatures must have loved my friendly attempts at feeding them and stuck with me! I’d like to think they chose me for my fantastic sense of humor, but I have to be honest with myself sooner or later… ice cream always trumps bad jokes.

What makes your pandas so crabby?

Lack of coffee. I’ve never seen a panda drink coffee, so I assume they’d be crabby. In all seriousness though, they ARE pandas of doom. Pandas of Pleasantry is a whole ‘nother website.

(I think you should know that I have a white and an orange Pomeranian who are overly fond of eating whole raw turnips.) I agree with you that turnips are on a whole other level than potatoes, but would you like to elaborate for us?

Turnips crack me up. The word, the shape of the veggie and the pronunciation is hilarious. I picture everyone pausing before speaking of a turnip and pronouncing it “teeeerrrrNUP.” I love that your puppies eat them too. It makes the image in my head that much more hilarious. Potatoes aren’t all that funny unless used as an adjective to describe people. Therefore, turnips are comedic gold! (To me, at least)

When did you start to see /  draw your characters?

I started very young, but I think the drawings my mom started to keep were when I was around the age of four. I’d frequently see silly characters in the patterns of everyday things that would inspire me to draw like clouds, wallpaper, tile floors, etc. Music is also a huge influence. Every sound or pattern of sound in a song makes me picture silly critters dancing or involved in some sort of epic scenario. I see cartoons/characters in almost every situation, which can be annoying at times. I often see the visual world as it is, then switch to what “I’d like it to look like [fill in the blank]” needless to say, without GPS I’d never find my way around because I’d be looking for the giant squiddy monster building or something.

What games did you work in before Toy Studio?

I worked for Ty, Inc. (Beanie Babies company) creating graphics for the web games and online world in which you could take care of your virtual pet. I also created the Snootz videos for the homepage with my coworker Marc.

Are you doing animations for any games recently?

I’ve been animating several mobile games currently in production, which are sprite based. As well as Flash based animations for the Facebook game we’re creating at Toy Studio. Not sure I can talk about that yet, as it hasn’t launched.

Still planning on making your own mobile game?

Oh I’d love to! I have many ideas that I’d like to tackle, as soon as I find the time.

When I saw you say that  ”…when it comes to code, but I will research the crap out of something until it’s working.” I thought, “That’s my definition of a geek.” Are yourself taught?

HAHA! Yes, I’m a proud geek and I’m addicted to learning new things. I’m not fully self-taught. I have a bachelor’s in web design from the Art Institute. Thankfully, I got the foundation I needed to at least know where to begin, and if I get stuck, I know where to search. I am self-taught with animation, however.

What programs or tools do you use regularly for work?

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash are my usual programs. Coffee, audio books and Diet Coke are my tools.

And then what is coming up next for you?

I have several websites in the works as well as MORE MOBILE GAMES! I love working on mobile games because they can be completed even faster than social games. They definitely appease my creative ADD. I’m also working towards eventually getting my own gallery showing and hopefully making a name for myself.

You can check out my website at PandasofDoom.com.

Toy Studio Bio:
Founded in 2009, Toy Studio is an independent developer for Facebook and Mobile games based in Chicago, Illinois. Toy Studio’s vision is to connect people through games that encourage meaningful social interactions, the key ingredient to fun. Core to Toy Studio are the three values of Quality, Innovation and Community.

Website: ToyStudio.com
Twitter: @ToyStudioGames
Facebook: Facebook.com/ToyStudioGames

You play as Barb, a woman who never thought she’d win anything, but she did.  She is on her way to be a contestant on the game show; ThePriceisNice! She and her family have adventures going to sunny California.  The scenes deal with packing, getting to the airport on time, boarding the plane, and getting to their hotel. Once at their destination, you’ll see the beach, a ballgame and Playland Theme Park, before the part of the game helping Barb compete on her favorite game show for cash and prizes.

GSN.com recently announced it crossed a huge threshold in 2010 with some of its most popular PopCap games. Just last year alone, players were awarded $60 million playing their cash tournament adaptations of PopCap favorites like Bejeweled 2, Zuma and Chuzzle. PopCap fans (and any fans of great games) who want to get in on the fun can head to GSN.com to join in tournaments for real cash prizes.

“At GSN Digital, we strive to be the platform where users can play the titles they know and love,” states Peter Blacklow, EVP, GSN Digital. “Bejeweled 2, Zuma and Chuzzle are three great titles that are extremely popular among our players, and we’re thrilled to provide social competition where players can win real cash prizes.”

GSN Digital also offers cash prize competitions in these popular PopCap titles: Bejeweled Twist™, Bookworm™, Dynomite!™, Mystery P.I.™ and Plants vs. Zombies™.

I will say that GSN.com is where I first found some of my favorite games I still play today, including Dynomite and Zuma. It’s a great way to play against others, for those of us who have a competitive spirit, and a good alternative to other social gaming sites where you only play against people you know. You can play for cash or for fun! Head on over to GSN.com today.

Bejeweled 3 adds twice as many game modes to the simple match-3 gameplay, as well as updated sound and graphics (in high definition, of course – what other way is there to go?). The game also boasts 65 achievements (which don’t appear to be connected to your Steam account, if that’s how you’re choosing to go about buying the game) and high score lists. The game itself also has a few twists from the first two titles, including a “Quest” mode, where you seek out five lost relics by playing with multiple gameplay variants.

The four new game modes featured in Bejeweled 3 are:

- Butterflies: Match the butterfly gems to free them before they ascend the board. If they flutter all the way to the top, the spider wins!
- Poker: Make matches to create poker hands, with better hands scoring more points. Avoid “outlawed” hands as the game progresses, or only a lucky flip of the coin can save you.
- Diamond Mine: Delve deep beneath the earth by exploding gems to tunnel downward. Unearth gold, artifacts and Hypercubes to score big!
- Ice Storm: Hold back the rising ice floe in this chilling, speed-based variation. Match gems quickly to keep columns of frost at bay.

Bejeweled 3 is available at multiple retail outlets as well as online at MSN Games, Pogo.com, Steam, GameHouse and WildTangent.