TechnicaMag.com

Social gaming is a popular online past time, and allows people to have fun whilst they interact with each other, and make new friends in a common, interesting environment. Some of the top social games at the moment are:

• Sociotown – this is a huge 3D virtual city environment, and is one of the most sophisticated browser based social games currently online. You can have fun creating your own character, and do all kinds of urban things like buying your own apartment, shopping for clothes, visiting friends and neighbours at home in their apartments and also going to parties. There is a real time chat function, as well as dynamic speech bubbles so you can see exactly who is talking and what they are saying, and you can also listen to and even compose music.
• Rock band – the original rock band video game was a console gaming phenomenon, and in 2007 was released as an extensive community website, which was originally designed to widen the games parameters and extend its console features. The most recent version of the online game allows for leader boards, customizable band profile pages, band blogs, online forums, and customizable avatars (you can even actually order the clothes you wear in the game and real life figurines of your avatar.). Rock Band lets you perform in a virtual band playing either lead guitar, bass guitar, drums or singing vocals, using related devices that are plugged into the intermediary consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 etc).
• Secondlife – this is another game based in a virtual ‘real life’ world, and members are called ‘residents’ and can create their own avatars, which are then used to explore and interact with others in the 3D environment. Residents can take part in group activities, buy and sell virtual property and also travel around the world within the game and the 3D modeling ensures a complex and vibrant environment in which to socialize in. Second Life has its own currency the Linden Dollar (L$) which can be used to trade for goods and services, and as the popularity of the game has increased land and property had become increasingly valuable within the virtual world, and the main bonus is that you can also use your Linden dolllars to pay your subscription fees, so they have value in the real world as well.

Social sites such as Facebook also include gaming additions to encourage users to socialise and have fun, and you can compete with friends at skill games like ‘Cubes Crash’ and ‘Bricks Breaking’ or just have a quick go alone on ‘Scarab Solitaire’. Facebook games are updated daily to keep things fresh, and you can also embed your favourite games into your profile and get your friends to join in.

One of the top makers of online social gaming is Kramaley Games who are based in London, UK. They run Metropolis, which is another excellent city simulation game, but also the best thing is that they also run games with a ecological slant, such as the ‘Stop Global Warming’ game which has raised $2,600 for charities and also the ‘Flora’ game which encourages people to protect and save areas of endangered rainforest.