What would happen if you took Legend of Zelda and turned it into a social game? You might get something like Zynga‘s newest game, Adventure World.
The makers of FarmVille, CityVille and Words With Friends plan to launch their latest game in the next two weeks. It’s the first game from Zynga Boston, a division of the company created through its acquisition of Conduit Labs and expanded by its acquisition of Floodgate Entertainment.
Adventure World includes many of the characteristic social elements that have made Zynga’s games multi-billion dollar successes (and positioned the company for a $25 billion+ IPO). However, it’s a departure from FarmVille and Zynga’s other games. Adventure World is the most expansive game the company has ever created, focusing on exploration, storylines and puzzles.
I met with Nabeel Hyatt, the general manager of Zynga Boston, at Zynga’s San Francisco headquarters to take a deeper look at the game. We discussed key aspects of Adventure World and what makes it unique from previous Zynga releases.
Adventure World: Screenshots
Adventure World Loading Screen
This is the loading screen for Adventure World.
Map Screen
This is where you choose which map you want to visit.
Adventure World Jungle Map
The maps in Adventure World are some of the most expansive Zynga has ever built.
More Jungle
Your goal is to traverse each map. The game is about exploration.
Traps
If you're not careful, a trap can hurt your character. Fortunately, there is always a way to solve a puzzle or defeat a trap.
Snake!
Your character will have to battle snakes, rams and other enemies. However, you can always avoid them or trick them into a trap.
Mountain Map
Adventure World has different types of maps for mountains, jungles, temples and more. Each map has different animations, music and puzzles.
Rams
You will have to avoid or kill the rams.
Temple Map
Temples typically don't have enemies, but they do have puzzles.
Adventure World Has Large Maps
There's a lot of exploration on each map. With 30 maps in the first chapter alone, the user will be kept busy for a while.
Solving a Puzzle with Friends
Users can "hire" their friends to help them solve puzzles. In this case, the user has hired a friend to stand on a switch so he can reach a necessary item.
Building a Social Adventure
“Adventure World is a different type of game,” Hyatt says. “This game is about exploring.”
At first glance, Adventure World looks similar to other Zynga games. It integrates lighthearted design with concepts such as energy that should be familiar to FarmVille players. However, the game isn’t about building a city or a farm. Instead, your goal is to find the lost city of El Dorado and unlock its secrets.
Adventure World is 40 times larger than any of the company’s previous games. The first chapter alone contains 30 maps, 200 quests, 20,000 objects and 1,000 different art assets. Zynga wanted to create a game where you had to traverse different maps, solve different puzzles and progress through a story the company promises will get more chapters for continued exploration. The second chapter will take place in Egypt.
“Zelda was our largest inspiration for the gameplay,” Hyatt says. Like Zelda, the game features traps, enemies and puzzles. To complete a map, you may need to retrieve items or push blocks to activate buttons to reveal stairs. Solving puzzles or getting hit by traps use up energy. You can only recover by waiting, buying energy or asking for your friends’ help. The resemblance to the Legend of Zelda is even apparent when you get an item. The character lifts it over his or her head, as Link does when he retrieves an object from a treasure chest.
Although the game is primarily a single-player experience, it wouldn’t be a Zynga game without social gameplay. In Adventure World, you can ask your friends to join your crew. Up to 12 friends then appear as silhouettes on the map. If you get stuck or simply want to breeze past a puzzle, you can “hire” a friend to dispatch enemies or help solve a puzzle. Friends can also visit each other’s base camps, which Hyatt compares to a trophy case where you can display your accomplishments in the game, as well as prepare for the next journey.
The expansive maps and different gameplay mechanics required the Zynga Boston team to build a new Flash engine, so the game wouldn’t crash everyone’s computers. The new engine allowed the team to build a Flash experience with higher frame rates, faster performance, and stronger 3D graphics and animation. The result is a more interactive game with more quirks and surprises.
Will FarmVille players latch onto a game that doesn’t let you build a farm, city or empire? Will fans of open-ended aventure games take a liking to Adventure World‘s linear game design? We won’t know the answer for a while, but it’s clear Zynga is trying out different game mechanics in order to entice a wider array of users. While the game maker’s revenues are booming, user growth is flat. It will need games like Adventure World to attract new audiences if Zynga wants to sustain its multi-billion dollar operation.
More About: Adventure World, social gaming, trending, ZyngaFor more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:00:08 +0000 at http://mashable.com/2011/09/01/adventure-world-game/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/09/01/adventure-world-game/#comments
The makers of FarmVille, CityVille and Words With Friends plan to launch their latest game in the next two weeks. It’s the first game from Zynga Boston, a division of the company created through its acquisition of Conduit Labs and expanded by its acquisition of Floodgate Entertainment.
Adventure World includes many of the characteristic social elements that have made Zynga’s games multi-billion dollar successes (and positioned the company for a $25 billion+ IPO). However, it’s a departure from FarmVille and Zynga’s other games. Adventure World is the most expansive game the company has ever created, focusing on exploration, storylines and puzzles.
I met with Nabeel Hyatt, the general manager of Zynga Boston, at Zynga’s San Francisco headquarters to take a deeper look at the game. We discussed key aspects of Adventure World and what makes it unique from previous Zynga releases.
Adventure World: Screenshots
Adventure World Loading Screen
This is the loading screen for Adventure World.
Map Screen
This is where you choose which map you want to visit.
Adventure World Jungle Map
The maps in Adventure World are some of the most expansive Zynga has ever built.
More Jungle
Your goal is to traverse each map. The game is about exploration.
Traps
If you're not careful, a trap can hurt your character. Fortunately, there is always a way to solve a puzzle or defeat a trap.
Snake!
Your character will have to battle snakes, rams and other enemies. However, you can always avoid them or trick them into a trap.
Mountain Map
Adventure World has different types of maps for mountains, jungles, temples and more. Each map has different animations, music and puzzles.
Rams
You will have to avoid or kill the rams.
Temple Map
Temples typically don't have enemies, but they do have puzzles.
Adventure World Has Large Maps
There's a lot of exploration on each map. With 30 maps in the first chapter alone, the user will be kept busy for a while.
Solving a Puzzle with Friends
Users can "hire" their friends to help them solve puzzles. In this case, the user has hired a friend to stand on a switch so he can reach a necessary item.
Building a Social Adventure
“Adventure World is a different type of game,” Hyatt says. “This game is about exploring.”
At first glance, Adventure World looks similar to other Zynga games. It integrates lighthearted design with concepts such as energy that should be familiar to FarmVille players. However, the game isn’t about building a city or a farm. Instead, your goal is to find the lost city of El Dorado and unlock its secrets.
Adventure World is 40 times larger than any of the company’s previous games. The first chapter alone contains 30 maps, 200 quests, 20,000 objects and 1,000 different art assets. Zynga wanted to create a game where you had to traverse different maps, solve different puzzles and progress through a story the company promises will get more chapters for continued exploration. The second chapter will take place in Egypt.
“Zelda was our largest inspiration for the gameplay,” Hyatt says. Like Zelda, the game features traps, enemies and puzzles. To complete a map, you may need to retrieve items or push blocks to activate buttons to reveal stairs. Solving puzzles or getting hit by traps use up energy. You can only recover by waiting, buying energy or asking for your friends’ help. The resemblance to the Legend of Zelda is even apparent when you get an item. The character lifts it over his or her head, as Link does when he retrieves an object from a treasure chest.
Although the game is primarily a single-player experience, it wouldn’t be a Zynga game without social gameplay. In Adventure World, you can ask your friends to join your crew. Up to 12 friends then appear as silhouettes on the map. If you get stuck or simply want to breeze past a puzzle, you can “hire” a friend to dispatch enemies or help solve a puzzle. Friends can also visit each other’s base camps, which Hyatt compares to a trophy case where you can display your accomplishments in the game, as well as prepare for the next journey.
The expansive maps and different gameplay mechanics required the Zynga Boston team to build a new Flash engine, so the game wouldn’t crash everyone’s computers. The new engine allowed the team to build a Flash experience with higher frame rates, faster performance, and stronger 3D graphics and animation. The result is a more interactive game with more quirks and surprises.
Will FarmVille players latch onto a game that doesn’t let you build a farm, city or empire? Will fans of open-ended aventure games take a liking to Adventure World‘s linear game design? We won’t know the answer for a while, but it’s clear Zynga is trying out different game mechanics in order to entice a wider array of users. While the game maker’s revenues are booming, user growth is flat. It will need games like Adventure World to attract new audiences if Zynga wants to sustain its multi-billion dollar operation.
More About: Adventure World, social gaming, trending, ZyngaFor more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:00:08 +0000 at http://mashable.com/2011/09/01/adventure-world-game/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/09/01/adventure-world-game/#comments