Social Gaming, A medium looked down upon...

I have also been thinking about social gaming a lot. It's a fledgling medium for gaming, but it's one that we can't ignore. I believe it's poor taste to look down upon people who participate in social games, it's a natural evolution of how games (in their current sense) are becoming more a part the norm in our society. As a person who could be described as a "gamer" and an "adventurer" within the forested realm of Game Design, I am happy that more people can be exposed to something that I have loved since I was a child.

However it's also hard for me to ignore that many of the criticisms against social gaming are true. Games in the social media lack the polish and forethought of their PC and console brethren. There aren't enough games that would attract gamers and so-called "non-gamers" (a silly description, because they're obviously playing games) alike. There needs to be more "play" in these games and less busy work, and perhaps making it slightly less about the money would be nice, I find that it's been corrupting the mechanics of many Facebook games, making them less likely to be played by people.

I'd also like to note that we, as Game Designers, will go nowhere by looking down upon any of the gaming populace, any person could be one of our customers, one of those who will experience something we've made. Just think about how valuable it is that someone would take as much time out of their busy lives to play something you've designed, there are not only other games that they could be playing, but other important things they could be doing.

Social Games: Card Games

I just realized that the Social Gaming stage is a wonderful ground for Trading Card Games. Trading Card Games are turn-based by nature, and the social aspect of trading card games is built in. I believe that if a good trading card system was made for a social networking site like Facebook, I think it would definitely do well. I'll definitely have to think more on the specific system I want to implement. I believe it would be best to have a system that allowed for easy drop and pick up card games.

For a Social Game, I believe one of two systems should be used. First it could be a game that is easily interrupted and a turn can be filled with actions, allowing enough complexity to make singular turns without an actively playing opponent to still be engaging and fun. Or a Second concept would be that games are short enough to be played easily and simply together, with your friends or a matchmaking system, much more like an arcade game.