Players of social games like Restaurant City and Hotel City might fancy themselves savvy financial geniuses already. But those looking to learn more about financial decisions in the real world might be better off waiting for an ambitious, educational social gaming project from startup Zindagi.
Billed as "Farmville meets Mint.com" on their web site, Zindagi's current project promises to teach students about entrepreneurship through a platform "that combines some of the best aspects of social gaming, such as incentive structures, social networking, and competition, with hands-on money management experience." It's that "hands-on" part that has us really excited about this idea. Players in Zindagi's game will master budgeting and saving skills using their own money, and be rewarded with real financial rewards through their efforts.
"The concept is really simple: Instead of trying to make games more life-like, Zindagi makes use of the fact that real life is already one big game," Zindagi co-founder Jason Young said in an interview with ReadWriteStart. And that kind of real-world financial experience for students is more important than ever, given a recent survey showing that 95% of new high school graduates are financially illiterate.
Zindagi is still looking for $25,000 in funding through its Kickstarter page, and we really hope they succeed in finding it, if for no other reason than because we really need some incentive to balance our checkbooks, and their game seems like the best chance of that happening any time soon.
Great Site to Earn From Home
Friday, February 10, 2012
FarmVille New England Loading Screen: New Animal & Decoration Sneak Peek
FarmVille has added a new loading screen that features some items not yet released for their New England theme- miniature horse, black bear cub, lighthouse and stone fence.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Which item(s) are you excited about adding to your farm?
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Which item(s) are you excited about adding to your farm?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Social City raises the level cap to 60, adds new high-level contracts
Social City, Playdom's city-building game on Facebook, has raised the level cap from 40 to 60. So for those of you who have been dedicated mayors, you can keep on keeping on ... and, oh yeah, and you'll have access to new high-level contracts. Right now, only three new jobs have been added to the Contracts section of the game, but I fully expect more will be arriving shortly for players who will quickly blow past level 44 (you know who you are).
social city factory jobs
The new contracts are as follows:
Tasty Cheeses
2 Days
Cost: 5,600
Reward: 28,000, 555 XP
Ironic T-Shirts
15 minutes
Cost: 1,200 c
Reward: 2,500, 32 XP
Industrial Robots
18 hours
Cost: 32,000
Reward: 46,000, 360 XP
What do you think about the new contracts? What other cool stuff should higher level players have exclusive access to?
social city factory jobs
The new contracts are as follows:
Tasty Cheeses
2 Days
Cost: 5,600
Reward: 28,000, 555 XP
Ironic T-Shirts
15 minutes
Cost: 1,200 c
Reward: 2,500, 32 XP
Industrial Robots
18 hours
Cost: 32,000
Reward: 46,000, 360 XP
What do you think about the new contracts? What other cool stuff should higher level players have exclusive access to?
Playboy jumps into bed with BigPoint for Poisonville promotion
It's getting to the point where it would be shorter to start naming the big-name media companies that don't have some sort of interest in the social gaming space. The list already includes Disney, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, News Corp.... you know, we're kind of regretting not writing out that shorter list right about now.
Anyway, today you can add the venerable Playboy brand to that list, as the company has announced a partnership with German social game developer BigPoint Games to promote their new 3D social gang-themed title Poisonville on Playboy.com. The effort is part of a new, unnamed gaming label Playboy is aiming to have fully set up by the end of the year, according to PaidContent.
Despite the Playboy name's racy image, the new label and BigPoint partnership aren't aimed at prurient interests. "One of our core competencies involves using our brand to present quality content," Playboy Managing Director for New Digital Ventures Paul Lee told PaidContent. "Gaming is a growing, mainstream area. And part of our plan is to extend Playboy's brand into the mainstream." Playboy reportedly hasn't invested any sort of equity in BigPoint, but Lee said the company "fit the bill for what we needed to get started."
Anyway, today you can add the venerable Playboy brand to that list, as the company has announced a partnership with German social game developer BigPoint Games to promote their new 3D social gang-themed title Poisonville on Playboy.com. The effort is part of a new, unnamed gaming label Playboy is aiming to have fully set up by the end of the year, according to PaidContent.
Despite the Playboy name's racy image, the new label and BigPoint partnership aren't aimed at prurient interests. "One of our core competencies involves using our brand to present quality content," Playboy Managing Director for New Digital Ventures Paul Lee told PaidContent. "Gaming is a growing, mainstream area. And part of our plan is to extend Playboy's brand into the mainstream." Playboy reportedly hasn't invested any sort of equity in BigPoint, but Lee said the company "fit the bill for what we needed to get started."
CrowdStar's entire catalog set to hit Japan
Remember when almost every video game sold in the United States was an import from some Japanese company? These days, games played in Japan are just as likely to be imports from some of the big-name American developers. This trend looks set to extend into social games, as San Francisco's Crowdstar has announced its entire gaming catalog will soon be available on Japanese social networks.
The move is an expansion of an existing partnership with Japan's Drecom that has already brought two popular Crowdstar titles -- Happy Aquarium and Happy Island -- to three of Japan's biggest mobile social networks. With the expansion, Crowdstar is showing it's eager to grab even more of a Japanese social gaming market estimated to be worth $2 billion.
They're not the only ones, of course. Social gaming powerhouse Zynga recently announced they'd be forming Zynga Japan through a partnership with the country's Softbank. They'll both have to fight with Japanese companies like Square Enix, which have shown a similar eagerness to grab a piece of the social gaming pie.
Will these American exports be able to make a crack in the historically insular Japanese market? If the recent shape of the traditional gaming market is any indication, we're gonna bet that they will.
The move is an expansion of an existing partnership with Japan's Drecom that has already brought two popular Crowdstar titles -- Happy Aquarium and Happy Island -- to three of Japan's biggest mobile social networks. With the expansion, Crowdstar is showing it's eager to grab even more of a Japanese social gaming market estimated to be worth $2 billion.
They're not the only ones, of course. Social gaming powerhouse Zynga recently announced they'd be forming Zynga Japan through a partnership with the country's Softbank. They'll both have to fight with Japanese companies like Square Enix, which have shown a similar eagerness to grab a piece of the social gaming pie.
Will these American exports be able to make a crack in the historically insular Japanese market? If the recent shape of the traditional gaming market is any indication, we're gonna bet that they will.
Zynga Lotto offers players free exclusive prizes in FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and more
FarmVille zLotto Landing Page
Zynga has released an official Lottery for all its gamers to play on a newly launched website! Each Lottery ticket is valid for all of Zynga games and allows you to chose your prize coordinating with each participating game.
Lottery prizes include exclusive prizes including the Red animals for FarmVille!
To play Zynga Lotto you must register your account with a valid email address and follow the steps below.
1. Visit http://lotto.zynga.com/
2. Register your email account.
3. Confirm email validation by clicking on the link provided by Zynga within your email.
4. You get 3 chances to win a prize.
5. If a winner, select the prize that you want to claim that coordinates with the specific game (FarmVille, Mafia Wars, FrontierVille, etc.)
6. Claim your prize.
What prize did you win playing the Zynga Lottery? FarmVille zLotto Click Play To Start
FarmVille zLotto Prizes
FarmVille zLotto Scratch Off
FarmVille zLotto Claim Your Prize
FarmVille zLotto Claim Red Goat
FarmVille zLotto Here is your Prize
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Zynga has released an official Lottery for all its gamers to play on a newly launched website! Each Lottery ticket is valid for all of Zynga games and allows you to chose your prize coordinating with each participating game.
Lottery prizes include exclusive prizes including the Red animals for FarmVille!
To play Zynga Lotto you must register your account with a valid email address and follow the steps below.
1. Visit http://lotto.zynga.com/
2. Register your email account.
3. Confirm email validation by clicking on the link provided by Zynga within your email.
4. You get 3 chances to win a prize.
5. If a winner, select the prize that you want to claim that coordinates with the specific game (FarmVille, Mafia Wars, FrontierVille, etc.)
6. Claim your prize.
What prize did you win playing the Zynga Lottery? FarmVille zLotto Click Play To Start
FarmVille zLotto Prizes
FarmVille zLotto Scratch Off
FarmVille zLotto Claim Your Prize
FarmVille zLotto Claim Red Goat
FarmVille zLotto Here is your Prize
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Happy Pets Marvelous Superhero Critters are back in business
It's been nearly four months since these Happy Pets last saw action, but now they're back and at a discount! The original Iron Cat team consisted of four critters -- Nick Furry, Iron Cat, Machine Cat, and Widow Parrot -- going for 88 Facebook Credits (or $8.80 USD) each, but this time, the price has dropped to 60 FB Credits ($6.00 USD). Don't believe me? Check out the not-so hush-hush report of their debut, plus a Iron Man 2 cast matching list.
The only sad thing is that Widow Parrot seems to be out of commission. Other than that, everything's the same.
Minus the Marvel films to help with the hype, it's hard to tell how quickly they'll get snatched up. Right now, there's roughly 600 of each pet left in the store, while the original release let loose over 20,000 pets into the homes of players. All I can say is, if you've ever wanted one, don't wait.
The only sad thing is that Widow Parrot seems to be out of commission. Other than that, everything's the same.
Minus the Marvel films to help with the hype, it's hard to tell how quickly they'll get snatched up. Right now, there's roughly 600 of each pet left in the store, while the original release let loose over 20,000 pets into the homes of players. All I can say is, if you've ever wanted one, don't wait.
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