social part of a series onvideo games platforms arcade game console game game console home console electronic game audio game electronic handheld handheld game handheld console mobile game online game social network game pc game linux mac genres action beat em up fighting platform shooter survival actionadventure stealth survival horror adventure interactive fiction interactive movie visual novel roleplaying action roleplaying tactical roleplaying simulation construction and management life simulation sports vehicle strategy multiplayer online battle arena realtime strategy realtime tactics turnbased strategy turnbased tactics massively multiplayer online lists arcade video games bestselling video games bestselling video game franchises highestgrossing video game franchises mostplayed video games by player count mostplayed mobile games by player count highestgrossing arcade games video games considered among the best game of the year awards video games notable for negative reception development game ai game design interaction design game programming level design video game art video game design video game graphics video game music vte a socialnetwork game is a type of online game that is played through social networks while they share many aspects of traditional video games socialnetwork games often employ additional ones that make them distinct traditionally they are oriented to be casual games the first crossplatform facebooktomobile socialnetwork game was developed in 2011 by a finnish company star arcade major companies that made or published socialnetwork games include zynga wooga bigpoint games gameforge goodgame studios megazebra 5 minutes playfish plinga playdom kabam crowdstar rockyou and booyah demographics as of 2010 it was reported that 55 percent of the social network gaming demographic in the united states consisted of women while in the united kingdom women made up nearly 60 percent of the demographic in addition most social gamers were around the 30 to 59 age range with the average social gamer being 43 years old it has been suggested that the reason why social games may appeal more to the older demographic is because it is free easier to grasp and advance through in a short period of time and does not involve as much violence as traditional video games technology and platforms a social network video game is a clientserver application the client in the web era was implemented with a mix of web technologies like flash html5 php and javascript when mobile games moved to mobile social game front ends were developed using mobile platform technologies like java objectivec swift and c the backend was a mix of programming languages and systems including php ruby c and go where social network video games diverged from traditional game development was the combination of realtime analyticsto continuously optimize game mechanics to drive growth revenue and engagement distinct features a social video game may employ any of the following features asynchronous gameplay which allows rules to be resolved without needing players to play at the same time community one of the most distinct features of social video games is in leveraging the players social network quests or game goals may only be possible if a player shares his game with friends connected by the social network hosting the game or gets them to play as well as neighbors or allies no victory conditions since most developers count on users playing their games often there are generally no victory conditions that is the game never ends and no one is ever declared winner instead many casual games have quests or missions for players to complete this is not true for board gamelike social games such as scrabble virtual currency social network games use virtual currency which players usually must purchase with realworld money with the ingame currency players can buy upgrades that would otherwise take much longer to earn through ingame achievements in many cases some upgrades are only available with the virtual currency the following table outlines common characteristics of social games mentioned by bjrk at the 2010 gco games convention online characteristic potential enablers consequences examples public player statistics information regarding players game instances are publicly available static relations ephemeral events global high score lists friend lists social status mafia wars icy tower social empires persistent game worlds game state is independent from individual players game and play sessions static relations spontaneity fiction tickbased games frontierville lifesocialgame tickbased games game time progresses according to real time but in discrete steps persistent game worlds asynchronicity asynchronous games downtime encouraged return farmville parking wars lifesocialgame events timed to real world game play events initiated by specific real time events occurring tickbased games ephemeral events evolving game play design encouraged return visits mafia wars lifesocialgame evolving gameplay design rules of a game instance change as gameplay takes place events timed to real world ephemeral events encouraged return visits exploration red queen dilemma mafia wars farmville parking wars normic encouraged return visits players are encouraged to return frequently to a certain part of game space catching ephemeral events continuous goals riskreward tickbased games grinding parking wars lifesocialgame grinding the need to perform a certain task considered easy repeatedly difficulty and punishments encouraged return visits pottering farmville lifesocialgame kantai collection dropindropout designed support to handle players entering and leaving ongoing game sessions asynchronicity persistent game worlds spontaneity ephemeral events pet societies lego star wars private game spaces parts of the game space that only a single player can manipulate directly difficulty and punishments narrativity persistent game worlds dropindropout construction visits massively singleplayer games farmville puerto rico kantai collection massively singleplayer online games games making use of other players game instances to provide input to the game state asynchronicity private game spaces construction changing or rearranging game elements to form more complex structures fiction narrativity private game spaces pottering mafia wars farmville lifesocialgame pottering the management of game resources for its own sake difficulty and punishment grinding construction static relations juiciness frontierville the sims kantai collection visits temporary access to other players private game spaces inherent sociability private game spaces ephemeral events massively singleplayer games farmville puerto rico lifesocialgame altruistic actions actions that have only explicit benefits for somebody else than is performing the action inherent sociability free gift inventories visits nonplayer help collaboration expected reciprocity farmville dd tiny adventures nonplayer help players can receive help in games by actions from those not playing broadcasting ephemeral events altruistic actions symbolic physicality extragame event broadcasting farmville who wants to be a millionaire invites the use of inviting new players to a game as game actions inherent sociability static relations dropindropout nonplayer help extragame event broadcasting mafia wars farmville lifesocialgame extragame event broadcasting game events are broadcast in a medium where others can perceive them achievements invites nonplayer help broadcasting ephemeral events mafia wars collaborative actions compound actions that require several players to perform actions inherent sociability altruistic actions construction symbolic physicality cooperation delayed reciprocity purchasable game advantages farmville pandemic lifesocialgame delayed reciprocity players perform actions to help others under the assumption that they later will be helped in return inherent sociability altruistic actions collaborative actions guilting frontierville lifesocialgame guilting trying to influence another placers actions based upon moral grounds ephemeral events inherent sociability delayed reciprocity frontierville intrigue purchasable game advantages players can pay real currency to gain some ingame advantage difficulty and punishment collaborative actions social status fishville frontierville entropia universe kantai collection extragame consequences some actions within a game has predefined effects outside the game system inherent sociability altruistic actions purchasable game advantages static relations social status lil green patch farmville engagement strategies since social network games are often less challenging than console games and they have relatively shorter game play they use different techniques to stretch game play and tools to retain users continuous goals the games assign specific goals for users to achieve as they advance in the game the goals become more challenging and timeconsuming they also provide frequent feedback with their performance every action will translate towards a certain goal that will be used to attain higher gaming capitals gaming capitals players are encouraged to earn different badges trophies and accolades that indicate their progress and accomplishments some achievements are unlocked just by advancing in the game while others may significantly alter the rationale behind the game and require extensive investment from players the ways of gaining gaming capital are not limited to playing games but the gamesrelated productive activities that are appreciated in the players social circle too by accumulating gaming capitals they provide an intrinsic benefit to gamers as there is an avenue to boost their accomplishment and showcase their expertise of the game the achievements are visible to their network of friends gaming capitals are a way for developers to increase replay value provides extended play time and players get more value from the game motivation for collecting gaming capitals 1 legitimization refers to societys willingness to approve or condone certain behavior collecting is about channeling ones materialistic desires into more meaningful pursuits game achievements serve a similar purpose allowing players to justify the hours spent playing the game 2 selfextension gathering and controlling meaningful objects or experiences can work to gain one an improved sense of self the collectors goal to complete a collection is symbolically about completing the self too events timed to real world popular games such as dragon city and wild ones require users to wait a certain time period before their energy bars replenish without energy they are unable to conduct any form of action gamers are forced to wait and return after their energy replenishes to continue playing monetization social network games frequently monetize based on virtual good transactions but other games are emerging that utilize newer economic models an example of is empire avenue a virtual stock exchange where players buy and sell shares of each others social network worth in empire avenue a players worth is linked to his or her social media influence and activity as well as that of the other players he or she has invested virtual currency in this game design promotes social media interaction as a means to attaining higher value in empire avenue market rankings virtual goods gamers will be able to purchase in game items like powerups avatar accessories or decorative items users purchase within the game itself this is realized by monetize products that dont technically exist virtual goods account for over 90 of all revenue generated by the worlds top social game developers designers optimize user experience through additional gameplay missions and quests without having to worry about overhead or unused stock advertising the following are common ways of advertising in social network games banner advertisements as banner ads within social networks tend to be where ad response is low they tend to be priced at bottomofthebarrel cpms of around 2 however because social games generate so many page views they are the biggest part of advertising revenue for the social gaming industry video ads videos are the ad format with the most revenue per view they tend to be higherpriced either by cpms 35 cpm in social games or costpercompletedview according to studies video ads result in highest brand recall thus a good return on investment for advertisers video ads are shown either in ingame interstitials eg when the game is loading a new screen or through incentivebased advertising ie you will get either an ingame reward or facebook credits for watching an advertisement product placement a brand or product will be injected in a game in some way due to the variety of ways in which product placement can be accomplished in any media and because the category is nascent this category is not standardized at all but some examples include branded ingame goods or even ingame quests for example in a game where you run a restaurant you might be asked to collect ingredients to make a starbucks frappuccino and receive ingame rewards for doing so as these product placement deals are nonstandard they are largely charged with a production fee which can be 350000 to 750000 depending on the type of placement and the popularity of the game lead generation offers another form of advertising that is prevalent in many social games are lead generation offers in this form of advertising companies usually from different industries aim to convince players to sign up for their goods or services and in exchange players will receive virtual gifts or advance forward in the game as a reward sponsorship white label games applications that are built once then individualized and licensed again and again developer can create a quality app focused on fun while leaving the edges of the game open for branding this allows developers to market their game to companies that can find new and interesting ways to bond with expand or sell to their audience social gaming as corporate promotion large established corporations are using social gaming to build brand awareness and engagement the walt disney companys disney animal kingdom explorers was developed to create awareness of disneys theme parks and also promote conservation the gameplay is divided evenly between two main elements finding hidden object and large assortment of animals and also includes simulation for players to build their own nature preserve players are expected to work with friends to collect the necessary materials to grow their habitat while the hidden object element set players to compete for the highest score in their social setting some large established video games developers are acquiring small operators to capitalize on the social gaming industry the walt disney company purchased social game developer playdom for 7630 million and electronic arts purchased popcap games for 7500 million in july 2011 criticism cow clicker created by ian bogost was developed to highlight social games most exploitative and abusive aspects the game requires users to click on a picture of a cow every 6 hours to earn points it also prompts users to encourage friends to join in to help their gain more points cow clicker was clearly designed to ridicule other social media games such as farmville yet fiftysix thousand users played it at its peak the community also evolved and spawned similar games garnered critical reviews and even gained a strategy guide in a study by bitdefender it was shown that social games increase spam and phishing by 50 percent in social media platforms this is made possible through hackers creating fake profiles and relying on bots to send spam messages to other users via social gaming applications many of these users who receive the messages willingly add the spammers fake profiles into their circle of friends to depend on them for additional gaming support in doing so several users have become more prone to being victims of data identity theft account hijacking and other issues the spammers action here however does not constitute as abuse since it is typically the user who adds the spammer on their end as such the spammers account cannot be suspended by a social network social networking gamers are also susceptible to unwanted charges for instance some of these games offer virtual currency if the player fills out a survey after completing the survey users are asked to type down their phone number then wait for a text message that will give them a pin to enter into a site and will finally give them their results by entering the pin into the site they are subscribed to some servicesuch as ones that provide horoscope forecastsare charged for it and may not be aware of it unless they have carefully read the fine print some critics have also claimed that social networking games have caused the numbers of fake profiles to rise creating a fake profile can be advantageous if the game for example offers rewards whenever a user introduces the game to their friends by inviting the fake profile to play the game the user can trick the games pointbased system into thinking that they are actually helping the game gain popularity and in return they may receive rewards from the game social networking sites such as facebook eliminates fake profiles if and only if these profiles are reported by other users one of the more popular genres to social games are those that imitate gambling activities which are free to play and easily accessible through a social network however the similarity these games have with gambling has also created a debate about whether or not social games need to be regulated several policymakers from various countriesaustralia belgium spain and the united kingdomhave shown concern about the potential and negative impact these games could cause vtesocial networks and social mediatypes city personal professional sexual value networks distributed social network list enterprise social networking mobile social network personal knowledge networking services list of social networking websites list of virtual communities with more than 1 million users list of virtual communities with more than 100 million active users concepts and theories assortative mixing interpersonal bridge organizational network analysis smallworld experiment social aspects of television social capital social data revolution social exchange theory social identity theory social network analysis social web structural endogamy models and processes aggregation change detection collaboration graph collaborative consumption giant global graph lateral communication social graph social network analysis software social networking potential social television structural cohesion economics collaborative finance social commerce phenomena community recognition complex contagion consequential strangers friend of a friend friendship paradox six degrees of separation social invisibility social network game social occultation tribe related topics researchers user profile viral messages virtual community 