Virtual Villagers Arrives on Facebook

Last Day of Work and 3 Blokes Studios have announced the launch of Virtual Villagers on Facebook. Fans of little villagers of Isola rejoice!

The game promises to bring the island world of Isola with its “island events,” explorations and discoveries to Facebook with an added democratic twist.

Players will actually be able to join together and vote on important matters (“Archipelago Events”) which will have an impact on the persistent game world for everyone.

In the words of Arthur Humphrey, founder of Last Day of Work:

“We didn’t want to just bring the [Virtual Villagers] to Facebook, we wanted to build the game specifically from the ground up, with an eye towards actual synergies between our simulation design, and features available on social networks. Rather than just the ubiquitous ‘lost puppy’ and ‘help me finish my collection’, we have added real, dynamic multiplayer storytelling that unfolds according to the actions of all the players together.”

Virtual Villagers is an extremely popular casual game franchise and it seems a perfect fit for Facebook. The developers should be commended for launching the game with an innovative new social feature.

When Facebook changed its games notification system, it said it was doing so to even the playing field and to make it easier for innovative game companies to compete with larger companies on its platform.

Virtual Villagers seems to be the poster child of a game with a strong game following and an innovative social twist. The question is, can an innovative game succeed on Facebook without a multi-million dollar ad budget? We’ll soon find out.

About Joel Brodie
Joel Brodie is the founder of casual game reviews site Gamezebo.com, a leading online magazine which offers coverage of the latest game downloads, including news and analysis on the casual game download, social gaming and free-to-play businesses.

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