14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook has announced that the best social game of 2011 was Gardens of Time from Playdom after an evaluation which took into account the satisfaction of player and not the actual number of gamers engaged with each title.
Facebook is quickly becoming one of the most important gaming platform in the world, with early frontrunner Zynga now facing competition from a number of smaller companies and already established publishers like Electronic Arts.
More complex and well marketed experiences built around the social mechanics of Facebook are expected to launch in 2012.
The most popular Facebook games of 2011 are:
1. Gardens of Time - Playdom 2. The Sims Social - By Electronic Arts 3. Cityville - Zynga 4. DoubleDown Casino - DoubleDown Interactive 5. Indiana Jones Adventure World - Zynga 6. Words With Friends - Zynga 7. Bingo Blitz - Buffalo Studios 8. Empires & Allies - Zynga 9. Slotomania-Slot Machines - Playtika 10. Diamond Dash -By wooga
Top Up-and-coming games include:
1. Battle Pirates - Kixeye 2. Dragons of Atlantis - Kabam 3. Gourmet Ranch - Rock You!
Facebook added that the best game with between 50 and 100,000 players was Super Slot Machines, created by Davy Campano, David Livingston Kirby and Robby Campano, while Zynga Power was the best casino game of the year.
When it comes to sports the winner was TopEleven – Be a Football Manager from Nordeus while the fashion niche was dominated by Mall World, from 50 Cubes.
A statement from Facebook about its game related offerings says, "The average game player on Facebook played more than three different gaming titles each month and played more than half the days they visited the site. The list shows that innovation in the space is reaching Silicon Valley and beyond. Apps were built by developers around the world from Seattle, Santa Monica, Canada, Germany, Japan, Serbia, and Prague.”