SimCity Social

SimCity Social
SimCity Social
Developer(s)	Playfish
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	SimCity
Platform(s)	Facebook
Release	June 25, 2012
Genre(s)	City-building game

Last updated February 07, 2024

SimCity Social is a defunct online social game for the Facebook social network where users create their own city and interact with cities of their Facebook friends.^[1] The game was developed by Playfish ^[2] and published by Electronic Arts. The game was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012, during EA's press conference on June 4, 2012,^[2] and released on June 25, 2012.^[3]

Objective

Like its forebear, SimCity , the objective is to design and build a city without specific goals although in SimCity Social, optional goals are introduced in the form of quests.

Gameplay

This is a resource-based game. Players must collect various resources which are then consumed to develop or maintain the city. Development is performed by clicking directly on city buildings or surrounding undeveloped land, accessing a menu where resources can be purchased or manipulated (and some resources temporarily stored) or through a series of online dialogues that form quests. Some resources replenish over time while other resources are obtained for direct actions with buildings, visiting neighbors or requesting resources from them, or can be purchased with credit card or PayPal from the developer's online store.

Additional themed quests that are only available for a limited amount of time, such as a week or two, regularly appear. Completion of these quests unlock exclusive buildings not available at any other time. With new quests, new buildings and new collectibles are introduced.

Resources

Energy is a resource needed for many actions. It recovers at the rate of one energy every three minutes. It can be purchased as batteries which can be used to replenish energy later in the game. Energy can also be donated by other players (it does not reduce a donor's own energy resources), and can be earned by visiting neighboring cities and performing actions. Energy is fully replenished when a player reaches the next level of experience.
Diamonds are also earned on certain quests and every time the player (as mayor) increases a level of experience. Diamonds are required to purchase premium content, but can also be used to skip quests, collectible requirements, and wait time.
Simoleons are the in-game currency. They are accumulated mainly by interacting with businesses, but also from farms and student jobs.
Materials are used to build and upgrade many structures. They are accumulated by interacting with factories or sending trains from the station.
Fame develops as the player interacts with neighboring territories. Fame can be used for a variety of special purchases.
Experience (XP) appears as turquoise stars and builds a player's level. When experience reaches 100%, there is a reward of simoleons, one diamond, and full energy replenishment.
Collectibles are items that are released by interacting with structures. These are used in developing structures after they have been bought or completing quests. Many collectibles are connected specifically with the type of building they can be released from, such as ticket stubs from attractions or x-ray plates from hospitals.
Population increases unlock specific quests or buildings. It also increases the level of the mayor's house.
Neighbors (other players which are befriended through Facebook) can also staff your structures when necessary, for instance facilities and farms both need a specific complement of avatars from SimCity Social friends to be fully operational. Interaction with neighbors' buildings also provide specific "friend/foe" collectibles and a more developed relationship (either positively or negatively) increases the likelihood of their appearance.

City building

Building can only take place on flat, solid land where trees have been bulldozed. All player constructions can be moved at no cost during game play providing the structure has reached a minimum level of development. Some existing game structures may be developed by the player, Some of these require expending purple diamonds to move. The initial city is on a small central area of developable land and a player must purchase more land for expansion using simoleons and collectible land permits.

Structures fall into ten categories, some of which require a minimum city population to unlock:

Roads - connect buildings together. They have no cost to build and no cost to remove. Many developments that are unconnected by roads will not function appropriately.
Homes - cost one energy unit and 100 simoleons to build. They generate population as they develop, and their development depends on distance to the waterfront as well as other buildings in the locality. There is no direct way for a player to directly affect the population of a building - only indirectly by the placement of homes or population-increasing structures. The maximum population for a 2 x 2 tile home is 660, but can be upgraded up to 1600.
Farms - The two farm types, vegetable and animal, are purchased using simoleons and generate simoleons as crops/goods mature. Unlike businesses, the amount of time to produce (and therefore the amount of simoleons produced) are variable, but crops can rot and therefore return less simoleons if not collected soon after they are ready.
Businesses - There are several different types of businesses. Most businesses are simply bought, though some business are the result of quests, or require either diamonds or fame to acquire. Businesses generate simoleons on a regular basis, and can produce more when upgraded.
Factories - Factories have a similar range of diversity as businesses, and are obtained in the same way. Factories generate materials on a regular basis, but may also create a pollution cloud, which negates or blocks the structure it is on until it is cleaned at the cost of one energy unit.
Attractions - Attractions increase the population of housing nearby. The effect and range increase with upgrades, as well as their appearance.
Decorations - These include statues, billboards, trees, grass, flowers, pavement, and small entertainment structures such as Ferris wheels or playgrounds. These small structures increase population in nearby housing, or can boost the output of businesses and factories by a certain percentage.
Facilities - Hospitals, fire and police stations all cost simoleons and materials to construct. When they are active in the city, vehicles leave the facilities to control fires, crimes or medical emergencies. Upgrades increase the number of vehicles, and therefore the effectiveness of these facilities.
Landmarks - Large structures that have a substantial impact on population increase in local housing. Landmarks can be accessed through quests, or purchase by simoleons, diamonds, materials or fame.
Friend or foe - These can only be purchased with fame, and most require "friend/foe" collectibles to be built. They act as landmarks do.

Awards

During the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded SimCity Social with "Web Based Game of the Year".^[5]

Related Research Articles

AdventureQuest is an online Flash-based single-player role-playing video game started in 2002 and currently developed by Artix Entertainment.

<i>Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends</i> 2006 video game

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is a science fantasy real-time strategy video game for Microsoft Windows, made by Big Huge Games, and published by Microsoft. It is a spin-off of the popular Rise of Nations, released in May 2006. However, rather than being a historical game, it is based in a fantasy world, where technology and magic co-exist. It was released on May 9, 2006 in North America and on various dates around May 26, 2006 in the rest of the world.

Construction and management simulation (CMS), sometimes also called management sim or building sim, is a subgenre of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy video games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding their project. Pure CMS games differ from strategy games, however, in that "the player's goal is not to defeat an enemy, but to build something within the context of an ongoing process." Games in this category are sometimes also called "management games".

<i>SimCity Creator</i> (Nintendo DS) 2008 video game

SimCity Creator is a city-building game for the Nintendo DS video game console. It was released in the Western world in September 2008, alongside its Wii counterpart. In Japan it was released several months ahead on March 19, 2008, as a sequel to SimCity DS under the name SimCity DS 2: Kodai kara Mirai e Tsuduku Machi.

The Sims is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.

Playfish was a developer of free-to-play social network games. Playfish was founded in 2007 by Kristian Segerstråle, Sebastien de Halleux, Sami Lababidi, and Shukri Shammas. It closed in 2013. Playfish in the past had attracted up to 55 million users a month, with over 37 million users coming from Facebook users. In October 2008, they secured US$17 million in venture capital funding from Accel Partners and Index Ventures. The company was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2009, with the last of Playfish's games being retired in 2013.

A social network game is a type of online game that is played through social networks or social media. They typically feature gamification systems with multiplayer gameplay mechanics. Social network games were originally implemented as browser games. As mobile gaming took off, the games moved to mobile as well. While they share many aspects of traditional video games, social network games often employ additional ones that make them distinct. Traditionally they are oriented to be social games and casual games.

The Pioneer Trail, formerly known as FrontierVille is a defunct simulation, role-playing video game available for play on social networking sites such as Facebook. Developed by Zynga, and launched on June 9, 2010, it was a freemium game, i.e. free to play, but with the option of purchasing premium content. The game was shut down on April 30, 2015.

Social City was a real-time city-building simulation game developed in association with American studio PushButton Labs and published by Playdom. Social City was released as an application for Facebook and the iPhone. The iPhone version was developed by Playdom in their Mountain View, CA office.

CityVille is a defunct casual social city-building game developed by Zynga, and released in December 2010.

Ravenwood Fair was a social network game on Facebook designed by John Romero and developed by Lolapps. Ravenwood Fair was launched on the Facebook platform October 19, 2010. The game closed down on July 18, 2013.

My Empire is a city building game with an ancient Greco-Roman theme. The game was developed and published by Playfish and was released via Facebook in May 2010. In 2011 My Empire became the inaugural winner of the Social Network Game category at the 2011 BAFTA Video Game Awards.

The Sims Social was a Facebook addition to the Sims series of video games. It was announced during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 press conference. As with the original Sims games, The Sims Social lets the user create their own customizable character. In this version, however, the player uses their character to interact with those of their Facebook friends. The characters can develop likes or dislikes for other Sims, creating relationships that can be publicized on the user's Facebook page.

MapleStory Adventures was a free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling social network game developed by the South Korean company Nexon for Facebook and launched in July 2011. MapleStory Adventures was a simplified version of MapleStory's basic gameplay and included creating an avatar, fighting monsters and completing quests. Although the gameplay was altered for the social networking conventions and includes freemium content, the main storyline of the game remained the same. MapleStory Adventures was free to play, but players had the option of purchasing premium content. The game was shut down and removed from Facebook on July 31, 2013.

GreenSpace is a social network game created to promote environmentalism. The game was developed by RocketOwl, Inc. and launched December 1, 2011. The game is free with in-app purchases.

The Sims FreePlay is a strategic life simulation game developed by EA Mobile and later with Firemonkeys Studios. It is a freemium version of The Sims for mobile devices; it was released for iOS on December 15, 2011, released for Android on February 15, 2012, released for BlackBerry 10 on July 31, 2013, and released for Windows Phone 8 on September 12, 2013.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a video game based on the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. It was developed by Gameloft for iOS and Android devices and is recommended at children aged 5 to 12. The game was released on November 8, 2012.

Boom Beach is a free massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game for iOS and Android, developed by Supercell. It was soft launched in Canada on 11 November 2013 and released worldwide on 26 March 2014.

Plunder Pirates is a freemium mobile MMO pirate-themed strategy video game, inspired by Clash of Clans, developed and published by Midoki. For iOS, it soft-launched in Canada and Finland on June 16, 2014, and the worldwide iOS release was on September 17, 2014. The game was one of the first to use Metal for advanced graphics in iOS 8. The Android version was released on April 22, 2015. It was originally published by Rovio Stars.

SimCity: BuildIt is a city-building mobile game. Developed by TrackTwenty and published by Electronic Arts, it was launched in late 2014. The game is part of the SimCity franchise, and is available to download from the Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore and the Apple App Store.

References

↑ "Gameplay and Review at DotMMO". Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
1 2 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/simcity-social-breaks-groun 4d-on-facebook-2012-06-04
↑ "SimCity Social now live on Facebook". Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2012-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ "SimCity Social is shutting down on June 14th - Playfish/EA Community". Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
↑ "2013 Awards Category Details Web Based Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 22 November 2023.

External links

SimCity Social (Facebook Page)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Gameplay and Review at DotMMO". Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2012-07-01.

[MarketWatch-2] 1 2 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/simcity-social-breaks-groun 4d-on-facebook-2012-06-04

[3] "SimCity Social now live on Facebook". Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2012-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[4] "SimCity Social is shutting down on June 14th - Playfish/EA Community". Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-04-15.

[5] "2013 Awards Category Details Web Based Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 22 November 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]