Well you had to know it was coming.
Get it out of you system now....
“Ugh, I can’t believe they’re reviewing a Facebook games.”
You can’t deny the success and popularity of games on Facebook.
You may not like it, you might not choose to play them, and you have every right to
feel that way.
But just because a game is on Facebook, doesn’t mean it’s not well made, doesn’t mean
someone won’t enjoy it and doesn’t mean it should go unnoticed.
For the first one I thought of maybe reviewing one of the most popular ones, but then I thought
I’d rather pick one I’ve actually enjoyed a lot and wanted to share my thoughts on.
This is Castleville on Facebook.
Developed by Facebook game giants Zynga, Castleville puts you in the role of the ruler of your
very own kingdom.
It’s your job to clean it up, and build it up and banish the gloom and nasty beasties
while you’re at it.
So at it’s core it’s a city building simulation game.
There are quests you can complete which give you a little direction but you’re free to
create your kingdom however you like.
People familiar with these types of games know there are usually a few different kinds
of currency, and different meters you need to concern yourself with.
In Castleville, you’ll have coins, crowns and reputation points and you have an energy
meter, castle level, and experience level.
Coins are the most basic and easiest to gain in game, crowns are much more rare and are
the currency you’ll need to fork over real money for with micro-transactions in order
to really take advantage of them and they are needed if you want progress your game
play beyond the limited energy meter you have that allows you to perform actions.
Rep is earned by visiting friends’ kingdoms and helping them out while you’re there.
Castle level is gained by building certain structures and is needed mostly for exploring
into different areas covered in gloom which will expand your kingdom.
Any action you do that requires energy will award XP and higher levels will unlock more
things you can buy in the market.
So that’s sort of the basics of the game.
If you don’t want to spend any cash and just want to play the game for free, that’s
fine for about 20 minutes and then you’ll have wait, do something that doesn’t use
energy, which isn’t much, or I don’t know play another Facebook game while you wait
for your energy to refill.
And this is where Castleville goes from a regular game to something you find on Facebook.
In a quote/unquote real game, you could sit there playing as long as you like, completing
every quest, making as much coin as you can, exploring and banishing beasties all day long
if you wanted.
But because of the energy mechanic, you can’t do that....
You’re forced to pace yourself and that’s what gamers don’t like about these kinds
of games.
They want to play their games when they want, how they want and for as long as they want.
On the other hand, someone who wants to sit down for five to ten minutes and play a fun
simple little game after scrolling through their news feed, these games are perfect for.
Another large aspect of the game is having other Facebook friends that play too and visiting
their kingdoms.
The more friends you have playing with you the more you’ll get to play since the energy
spent there are bonus and doesn’t take away from energy used at your own kingdom.
Now I’d never suggest this game is going to take you away from your Xbox or Playstation
by any means.
But I do think it’s fun and enjoyable in little coffee break doses.
I choose Castleville because I think it’s a lot of fun.
I like the medieval/fantasy setting.
The style is really well done and polished, the game looks great.
Even the background music is nice and doesn’t get old or too repetitive while you’re playing.
There is a lot to do also.
A bunch of levels to unlock new items.
A large map to explore.
Tons of things to craft.
There’s even a little storyline with some evil wizard that’s bugging everyone and
has covered the land in gloom.
Having said all that however, I definitely prefer a version that didn’t have limited
play time or request me to hassle my friends and spam their Facebook walls to get some
item I need to finish a quest or build another tower.
So flame away if you like for covering a Facebook game.
That’s what the Internet is all about right?
I hope at least you’ll try Castleville before you do though.
Now if you’ll excuse me my energy is full and I’ve got taxes to collect, trees to
chop down and, a magic land to explore.