Happy Pets Pet Park feature brings live chat and real time showboating

Happy Pets Pet Park
CrowdStar introduced a new feature to Happy Pets that will make the social element of its game that much more prominent in the Pet Park. This feature allows players to take their pets from their home into one of four park areas that feature live chat with other Happy Pets players.

Everyone's pet is displayed in real time and will automatically make buddy-buddy with other players' pets in Central Park, the first available live park. There are several chat rooms within each park that you can enter, with each room holding about 10 players. Players can join existing rooms or make their own, which is a bit scary as its only a matter of time before some of the more sketchy online game chat rooms are created. Hopefully in the future some privacy or protection measures are introduced in this feature as live chat can easily get dangerous for the little ones.

You also have the option to dig with your pet and others for buried treasure, which will lead to unlocked trophies and other goodies. Unfortunately, the Pet Park is still a bit buggy as it was just added over the weekend, so try to bear with the crashes as things smooth out. Until then, enjoy making friends in real time and finding some new doodads for your place.

CrowdStar's Social Girl: An iOS game that is neither Top Girl nor social

Confusing, we know. CrowdStar recently released Social Girl for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. And no, this isn't an update for the developer's existing iOS and Android social game, Top Girl. This is a brand new game challenges players to become to most popular girl in town by making virtual friends and creating the boy toy of their dreams.

How this is any different from previous "Girl" games by CrowdStar, we haven't in the slightest. Nevertheless, Social Girl is the developer's most successful mobile game to date, garnering over 1 million downloads in the past week. Such numbers helped the girly game become the sixth most grossing game on the App Store this week, displacing the almighty Angry Birds.

In Social Girl, players befriend different cliques of up to 25 virtual friends and unlock new and special outfits for unique dates with a boyfriend of their own creation. Still, we're not seeing the differences. At any rate, this take on CrowdStar's successful "Girl" franchise seems to focus far less on social (that's strange) play between friends and more on a self-engineered experience.
Social Girl in action

The game is another phase in CrowdStar's Project Trident, its mission to gain foothold on Facebook, mobile and global platforms. But at first glance, Social Girl doesn't seem to live up to its title: The only remotely social feature found within is Game Center achievements. Perhaps these will come in a future update, but Social Girl could have used a more fitting name.

Click here to download Social Girl for Free Now >

Have you tried out Social Girl yet? What do you think of the game compare to previous "Girl" games from CrowdStar?

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day: Play our Top Five pirate Facebook games

Is there any other way to being this feature than with a hearty "Yarrgg?" Probably not. (In fact, let's use this entire introduction to talk like pirates, eh?) In case ye hadn't noticed, mate, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So, I ask ye landlubbers, what better way to honor this joyous, silly holiday than with five of the best pirate games around on Facebook?

Avast, ye swabs! Look no further than right here for the five best seafarin' and land lootin' games on Facebook. Oh, right, and remember to click on the headers to jump off the plank right into each Facebook game:

Mighty Pirates
This release (pictured below) by CrowdStar explores the two most important things in a pirate's life: exploring and fighting. Players create, maintain and upgrade their very own vessel of piracy. And it's all in the name of surviving your next fight with your fellow pirate.

Mighty Pirates handles battles in turn-based affairs that add a bit of strategy to burning your enemies to the blue depths. In your off time, explore islands to dig up buried treasure and other resources to boost your ship with.
Mighty Pirates
Treasure Isle
While it may not directly involve pirates, the swashbucklers have invaded the shores of Zynga's island exploration game more times than not. In fact, players can even embark on Voyages with their own vessels, though simply to explore even more. Treasure Isle has players aiming to complete island maps by digging and digging ... and digging. But judging from more experienced players' islands, it certainly pays off. (In other words, there's lots and lots of treasure in it for you.)

Battle Pirates
Want a more ... serious approach to high seas fighting and looting? Then Kixeye certainly has that in spades with Battle Pirates, its strategy Facebook game centered around modern day piracy. (You know, like those bad dudes off the coast of Somalia?) The game plays much like the developer's previous strategy offerings, giving you a week to prepare your base for incoming attack from anyone playing the game. If you want a pirate game that puts the battle first, then look no further.
Battle Pirates
Pirates Saga
In this take on everyone's favorite sea-faring antiheroes, Can't Stop Games focuses almost entirely on your ship. More importantly, it's concerned with how you navigate it through the deep blue sea ... and away from enemy gunfire. Another battle-focused pirates game, Pirates Saga allows players to interact with each other in real time. As you transport cargo and fight back the forces of the infamous Blackbeard, be wary at all times of opposing ships that may or may not be fellow players.
Pirates Saga
Pirate Legacy
A somewhat smaller game than the rest in terms of monthly players, this game by 6waves and Paprika Lab throws a heavy RPG (role-playing game) layer onto the pirate game aesthetic. Pirate Legacy enlists you, a new corsair, to explore the ocean around your home port and hunt for monsters like giant serpents and ghost ships to acquire materials for contractors. Everything about the game is turn-based, giving it an impressive layer of strategy that's a little lighter on the action.
Pirate Legacy
[Lead Image Credit: Disney]

How are you honoring this most awesome Talk Like a Pirate Day? Which of these pirate-themed Facebook games do you like most, and do you know of any you'd personally recommend?

CrowdStar's Top Girl gets fancy on Android (and friendly with Amazon)

Android-admiring ladies, your game has arrived. It Girl creator CrowdStar has released its mobile version, Top Girl, to Android devices. However, you can only get it for free on Amazon's Appstore for the next two weeks. This makes CrowdStar's hugely popular girly game one of the first mobile social games to hit Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablet, according to the company.

The Android release of Top Girl looks to be the same game available to iPhone and iPad gamers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the game, players must amass new outfits and model them off for cash to climb the social ladder. Of course, ladies looking for love can find a virtual boyfriend that will lavish their characters with gifts. This is basically a Cosmo reader's dream in your Android phone or tablet.
Top Girl Kindle Fire
Top Girl on Android also marks the beginning of CrowdStar's quest for 1 billion players through its Project Trident initiative. "CrowdStar is entirely focused on Project Trident this year and Top Girl's Android launch is representative of that," CrowdStar studio head Blair Hamilton said in a release. "Now our 'Girl' social gaming franchise is thriving on Facebook, iOS, and Android."

And "thriving" might be a fine way of describing the "Girl" franchise: It has reportedly been downloaded over 4 million times on the iOS App Store. Players are apparently paying up, too, as CrowdStar said that Top Girl toppled both Angry Birds and Zynga Poker as the top-grossing game for iOS when launched earlier this spring. And who said girls don't play games?

Click here to download Top Girl for Android for Free Now >

Are you a Top Girl fan? Where would you like to see the franchise, or CrowdStar in general, go next?

CrowdStar CEO: We want to create a game that reaches a billion people

The question is, however, can it be done? Speaking at this week's HTML5 Dev Conference in San Francisco, YouWeb chairman and CrowdStar--It Girl, anyone?--CEO Peter Relan (obviously not pictured) said, "We want to create the game that reaches a billion people." VentureBeat reports that the general consensus of the event was that HTML5 is the future of social and mobile gaming.

HTML5 is a web-based coding language that, in theory, will allow game creators to develop a single game that could be played across multiple devices through web browsers without a change in the experience. Currently, however, HTML5 isn't looking so hot as a gaming platform--HTML5 games aren't as sophisticated yet as even FarmVille on iPhone--but it's gaining steam.

"We sense that web 3.0 is here," Relan said during a panel at the conference. "Mobile devices will get to six billion people. They will become pervasive. We greatly overestimate what we can do with a technology in two years, and greatly underestimate what we can do in 10 years." Relan is confident that, from arcade-style games, HTML5 games will evolve into more complex experiences, citing games on the iPhone as an example.

And Relan shares this sentiment with a number of folks in the space. Rovio marketing exec Peter Vesterbacka has already mentioned his company's goals of reaching 1 billion players with the Angry Birds franchise. Even EA CEO John Riccitiello sees his company topping 1 billion players worldwide. And the mighty Zynga, despite being less than bullish on this whole dang-fangled HTML5 thing, is rumored to be working with Facebook on its not-so-secret Project Spartan.

But wait a tick--we're talking 1 billion players of a single game, no? To do that, it's going to take not only the right technology, but a game with enough widespread appeal to hit critical mass. If anything, the number one challenge game creators will face in this effort isn't whether it is possible, but whether they can craft characters that folks of any background can fall in love with.

Do you think any of these companies could create a game that will reach 1 billion players or downloads? What do you think it will take to accomplish such a feat. Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment There may not be another Zynga game in which Energy is more important than in Adventure World. Every switch thrown, every puzzle solved and beastie whacked costs you the Facebook game juice. Players often find themselves without Energy minutes into an Expedition. But this isn't the time for whining--it's time to show you the value of upgrading your Tools and how to do it.

Tools: The Game Changer
If you noticed, each piece of debris and monster has a life bar, and normally take multiple hits with your Whip or Machete to whittle down. This, of course, quickly becomes a waste in later Expeditions purely due to the amount of obstacles in your path. But increasing the amount of damage your various Tools inflict against said baddies could considerably reduce the Energy spend in-game.

For instance, say a Snake has three hit points and is Level 5. Since monsters can hit back in this game, it could take three to five Energy before an enemy goes down. Now, imagine if you had upgraded your Whip to Level 2. Offing that Snake would take just two to four Energy with a beefier Whip. The same situation applies to Tools like the Machete.
Adventure World Tool Shop inside
And Now For Your How-To
Adventure World Tool Shop outsideUpgrading your Tools in Adventure World is simple. All you need to do is head back to Base Camp from an Expedition, and look for a makeshift hut that should already be in place in your headquarters. When you click on the Tool Shop, a window will appear featuring all the Tools you've found thus far on your journeys. Click on the Tool you wish to upgrade.

Once you click on a Tool to upgrade, you'll notice that each Tool costs Coins to upgrade. That's it--no asking friends to help you out with materials or farming certain crops for special items. Just the goods you find during your travels in search of El Dorado. However, Coins are actually quite rare in this game, so you'll need to save and spend wisely.

When you have enough Coins for an upgrade, just click on the appropriate icon to pay up. Tool upgrades are also level-locked, meaning you must reach a certain level for most Tools before being able to upgrade them using Coins. If you're feeling impatient, you could always unlock access to those higher level Tools early using Adventure Cash.

Just One Small Catch...
However, some Tool upgrades do require an extra boost: your Tool Shop. Yes, the building itself can be upgraded, too. And this time, you will need items from your friends. (Just think of how things work in CityVille.) Luckily, you only have to do this about twice to unlock access to all of the game's Tools. Then, it's back onto leveling up to access new upgrades for Coins.
Adventure World Tool Shop Upgrade
Upgraded Tools are hands-down the way to go, if you want to save precious Energy for the good stuff, that is. You know, exploring ... uncovering the secrets of El Dorado? That kind of stuff. Your wallet might thank us later.

Click here to find all of our Adventure World Tips in one spot >

[Source: Zynga]

Have you upgraded your Tools in Adventure World yet? What other Energy-saving tips might you have for your fellow adventurers? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment