Playing games with your social network

By Dina Gerdeman

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Internet users connect with friends on social networking sites like Facebook through e-mailing, sharing photos -- and these days by playing games like Blackjack and Boggle online with one another. (If you're considering joining a social network, check out our introduction to those types of sites.)

"Gaming on social networks is the next huge thing," said Cassandra Phillipps, who produces social networking conferences and events for the San Francisco-based company Room Full of People. "If you were to go to game sites to play games, you would have to recruit your friends to sign up. On Facebook, you're already talking to them, so you can easily invite them to play a game. It’s social. You get to talk to your friends while having some fun."

Thousands of games are now available on social network sites like Facebook and MySpace, and they are drawing an increasing number of users who play a wide variety of games as another way to stay in touch and socialize. Games are also available on other social network sites such as Hi-5 -- which is especially popular in Europe, Asia and Africa -- as well as Bebo, which is big in South America.

Many online games are one-player games that people can play solo such as Solitaire. Then there are games in Facebook that let users interact with one another, like PackRat, a collectible card game where you trade and steal cards online from friends; and Friends for Sale, where you "buy and sell" your friends, and as you are traded, your value goes up.

In some games, like the now-defunct Scrabulous -- a Scrabble-like game -- users take turns and can essentially play at their leisure – or they can play the game at a designated time and chat through instant-message-like windows on their computer screens. Phillipps used to play the real board game Scrabble in her college dorm with friends, and they can now play a virtual version through Facebook even though they live far apart. With other games, such as Boggle, users compete against each other in real time in silence as they race against the clock. 
  
Facebook was the first social network to launch an application programming interface in May 2007, allowing developers to build a variety of applications on the sites, including games, Phillipps said. MySpace followed suit in early 2008. The games available on these sites are free, and there are no real-life prizes associated with winning the games. If your child is interested in playing online, be sure you know how to protect your children on social networking sites.   

Game developers will often try to woo players off the social network sites and onto game-specific sites, where there are both free and downloadable games that can be purchased, Phillips said. "They might put a simplified version of a game on a social network site, and then say, 'If you enjoyed this, you can enjoy the full version of this game at this game site," she said.

At the same time, game-dedicated Web sites are now expanding their own social offerings. This fall, for example, AddictingGames users will be able to create their own profile pages and include information about their favorite games and game levels they have created, plus they can also leave comments for each other, see who is online at the same time and invite each other to compete.

"We're about enhancing the game play and making it feel more social," said Dave Williams, senior vice president and general manager of Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group, which oversees the gaming sites AddictingGames and Shockwave. "Online gaming has always been a solitary experience, but we’re seeing a sea change right now. Social network technology is bringing play time with friends back."

Williams said the initial social functions that have been added to the sites have been successful; the amount of time users are spending on the sites has increased by 30 percent in the past four to five months since the sites enhanced their social capabilities.

"We think people are feeling more engaged on the site," he said. "There is a fundamental shift happening in online games, where people are using them as a way to connect."

Phillipps believes many people who play games on gaming sites are serious players, whereas people who play games through social networks are just looking for a different way to casually connect with friends.

"Either you're playing with strangers (on game sites) because you enjoy the game," Phillipps said, "or you’re playing with friends on social network sites as an extension of your friendship."