Everything about the world’s 3 most popular online games
Trends come and go, but never more so than now when the entire world is addicted to their computers. New tastes and trends may be discovered and shared instantaneously from virtually anywhere in the world, thanks to internet and social media. Gaming is one of the areas that has benefited the most from internet. Certain games have made a significant impact on our popular culture as a result of the shift to digital domain. Here is a brief
FarmVille
This agriculture simulation game, which debuted in the early days of Facebook and could be played on the mobile app as well as laptop, quickly became popular, with 83.76 million active users at its peak in March 2010. Though the original FarmVille has lost some of its lustre over the last decade (Facebook discontinued it on December 31, 2020) as the social media platform decided to stop supporting games that need the Adobe Flash Player, a key requirement for playing FarmVille. Two of its mobile-based sequels, FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3, have remained quite popular though. A virtual farming game developed by Zynga, FarmVille was available as an Adobe Flash application via the social networking platform, Facebook and Microsoft's MSN Games. For a short duration in 2010, it was accessible as a mobile app on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
How was FarmVille played?
The players started with an empty farm and a set number of Farm Coins, the game's principal currency. Players earned XP (experience points) by cultivating land or purchasing goods in the game. The player's level would rise at specified XP benchmarks. Crops and animals became available to the player as they gained more goods and progressed through different levels via the "market’’ icon where items could be purchased with Farm Coins or Farm Cash. Farm Cash could be acquired for real money or earned by levelling up or fulfilling tasks. The game was free to play, however to advance swiftly in the game, players were required to spend Farm Cash, which could be purchased with real money. Players could plough the land, grow and harvest crops and raise livestock through various icons available within the game.
Interesting trivia: FarmVille had its own list of celebrity farmers such as Americal TV and film personalities like Emma Stone, Jimmy Fallon and Mila Kunis who used to be addicted to this farming game. Moreover, FarmVille wasn’t the original name of this game. There was a debate between YoFarm and FarmerVille earlier until Farm Ville was actually finalised. The game is full of pop culture references to. For instance, players could find a character performing the popular ‘Gangnam style’ dance within the game.
Angry Birds
Another viral internet game from 2009, catapulting birds at greedy pigs was a game that gamers couldn't get enough of. Developed by a Finnish game developer, Rovio Entertainment and inspired by the game called Crush the Castle, this viral video game required a flock of birds to protect their eggs from green coloured pigs. The game became popular for its successful blend of enjoyable gameplay, funny style, simple design and affordable price.
Angry Birds was first released in December 2009 on the Apple iOS platform, and by October 2010, it had sold 12 million copies on the Apple app store. At this stage, the game was being developed for various smartphone platforms, including Android, Symbian, and Windows. The series had received over four billion downloads across all platforms such as mobile and laptops as of 2018.
How was the Angry Birds game played?
The players needed to download the game on their iPad, computer or phone with either the free or the paid version. Attempting the free version of Angry Birds allowed the users to determine whether they actually liked the game or not. In every stage of the game, players had to use a slingshot to launch the birds at the green pigs stationed in and around various buildings in the game. The aim of the players would be to destroy all the pigs within their field to move towards the game’s next level successfully. How far or near the bird flew depended on how far or near the player pulled the slingshot. New types of birds with special abilities of their own became available as players progressed through the game.
Interesting trivia: During that time, the swine flu pandemic was in the headlines, hence the game development staff opted to utilise pigs as the enemies of Angry Birds. It was even downloaded in the remotest areas of Antarctica. It became the first mobile game to be played in space at the International Space Station. In fact, the game’s popularity led to the creation of products featuring the Angry Birds characters, a 2016 feature-length animated film, a sequel, and multiple seasons of television cartoons, among others.
Pokemon Go
Pokémon Go was a 2016 iOS and Android augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed and distributed by Niantic in conjunction with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Pokémon Go is a game that detected where and when the players are in the game by using their phone's GPS and took time to make .Pokémon "appear" around them on their phone screen so that the players could go catch them. Depending on where they were and what time it is, new and more types of Pokémon surfaced as players went about playing the game. The goal was to motivate players to go out into the real world in order to catch Pokémon in the game.
How was Pokemon Go played?
The users simply needed to download the game for free from the iOs App Store or Google Play Store. The players were required to customise their avatar and choose one Pokemon out of the three available ones -- Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle as per their liking. After picking up their first Pokemon, the players had to fill their inventory with useful items to help them in other levels of the game.
Players could get things in Pokémon Go in one of two ways: by visiting PokéStops or buying them with real money (or in-game currency called coins, which can be earned by playing). Large blue indicators indicated PokéStops on the map. When the players got close enough to one, it expanded to reveal an image of the landmark it represented. Gyms are the other major locations players would see on the map. If they attained the right level, they could battle out Pokémon left behind by previous players in these spots. Eventually, the players had to swipe their fingers up from the bottom of the screen to hurl a Poké Ball at the Pokémon to catch it. It would hit the Pokémon and suck it into the Poké Ball, if done correctly.
Interesting trivia: A 2014 Google April Fool's joke in which a job ad for a Pokémon Master was posted and players were urged to explore a map catching Pokémon was the inspiration for Pokémon Go. The prank's enormous popularity prompted a concept, and this is where it took off from. In its first week of its, Pokémon Go received 15 million downloads. It also set a new record by earning $200 million in its first month, nearly tripling Clash Royale and seven times more than Candy Crush in its first month.