| Zynga Bingo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Zynga |
| Composer(s) | Brian L. Schmidt [1] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Social network game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Zynga Bingo is a social network game developed by Zynga and released on Facebook in February 2012. The game is part of a larger franchise called Zynga Casino, which was announced in October 2011 at the company's Unleashed event, and also includes Zynga Poker . [2]
During the game, numbers are called out randomly as players try to score five numbers in a row, or all four corners on their card to win a “bingo”. Players are able to chat with other players as they compete against each other. [3]
Players earn coins, cards, and keys to move up levels and unlock themed rooms within the game and may have up to six Bingo cards at any given time. [4]
The games take place in themed rooms, including Vegas Lights, where the bingo balls shoot out of a classic Cadillac; Pirate's Paradise, which features a pirate map, golden coins, and a treasure chest; and FarmVille Bounty, where users are able to play inside scenes from Zynga's popular game FarmVille . As a bonus, players earn coins and tickets that can be used to unlock hidden rooms. [3]
Each player is able to see how many current players there are for a particular room, the top available prize, and how many tickets it will cost to play. [5] Players can also challenge friends to a race to see who can get Bingo first. [6]
Players can buy Power-Ups to accelerate the game. Each Power-Up is different. Some Power-Ups supply the player with mystery crates and keys while others contain a free daub. Some have the ability to charge up power-ups that can be used at any time thereafter. These power-ups may add piles of coins to the board, or automatically daub different numbers, if the player is struggling to achieve Bingo.
Friend Boost Power-Up allows a player to ask friends to help. Friends can offer help even when they're not signed in, and their Facebook profile picture will substitute as a Bingo chip on the board. [7]
In the United States and Canada, bingo is a game of chance in which each player matches the numbers printed in different arrangements on cards. The game host draws balls at random, marking the selected numbers with tiles. When a player finds that the selected numbers are arranged on their card in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, they call out "Bingo!" to alert all participants to a winning card, which prompts the game host to examine the card for verification of the win. Players compete against one another to be the first to have a winning arrangement for the prize or jackpot. After a winner is declared, the players clear their number cards of the tiles and the game host begins a new round of play.
Online bingo is the game of bingo played on the Internet and its estimated launch was in 1996. It is estimated that the global gross gaming yield of bingo was US$500 million in 2006, and it is forecasted to grow to $1 billion by 2010.
Zynga Inc. is an American developer running social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile and social networking platforms. Zynga states its mission as "connecting the world through games".
Bingo is a game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers. Bingo, previously known in the UK as Housey-Housey, became increasingly popular across the UK following the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 with more purpose-built bingo halls opened every year until 2005. Since 2005, bingo halls have seen a marked decline in revenues and the closure of many halls. The number of bingo clubs in Britain has dropped from nearly 600 in 2005 to under 400 as of January 2014. These closures are blamed on high taxes, the smoking ban, and the rise in online gambling, amongst other things.
FarmVille is a series of agriculture-simulation social network games developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to Happy Farm and Farm Town. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plowing land, planting, growing, and harvesting crops, harvesting trees and raising livestock. The sequels FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3 were released in September 2012 and November 2021, respectively.
FishVille is a defunct real-time aquarium simulation game developed by Zynga, it was available as an application on the social-networking website Facebook. The game allowed members of Facebook to manage virtual aquariums by rearing fish. As of October 2011, FishVille had 1.6 million monthly active users. The game was discontinued on December 5, 2012.
Treasure Isle is a defunct browser-based video game by Zynga for Facebook, launched in April 2010. It allowed users to dig for treasure on various islands. The game was discontinued on December 5, 2012.
Facebook Credits was a virtual currency that enabled people to purchase items in games and non-gaming applications on the Facebook Platform. One U.S. dollar was the equivalent of 10 Facebook Credits. Facebook Credits were available in 15 currencies including U.S. dollars, pound sterling, euros, and Danish kroner. Facebook was hoping eventually to expand Credits into a micropayment system open to any Facebook application, whether a game or a media company application. Facebook deprecated Credits in favour of users' local currencies.
CityVille was a casual social city-building game developed by Zynga, and released in December 2010.
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Words with Friends is a multiplayer computer word game developed by Newtoy. Players take turns building words crossword-puzzle style in a manner similar to the classic board game Scrabble. The rules of the two games are similar, but Words with Friends is not associated with the Scrabble brand. Up to 40 games can be played simultaneously using push notifications to alert players when it is their turn. Players may look up friends either by username or through Facebook, or be randomly assigned an opponent through "Smart Match". Players can also find potential opponents using Community Match.
RewardVille is Zynga’s defunct virtual in-game currency and rewards program. Launched in March 2011 and retired on 5 December 2012, the program allowed players to earn exclusive Zynga-specific points and coins that could be spent within Zynga games or used to unlock virtual goods for use in the games or to gift to other players. Players collected “zCoins” currency and “zPoints”, which could be used to upgrade a user's Zynga status. Players could earn as many as 80 zPoints per game or 300 zPoints total in one day, by playing Zynga games.
Empires & Allies was a social network game that was Zynga's first combat and strategy game. The game, the first release by Zynga's Los Angeles studio, launched in twelve languages on June 1, 2011. G4TV.com writer Jake Gaskill called the release the "biggest launch of any Zynga title to date". Empires & Allies became the fourth most popular game on Facebook within weeks after launch, reaching 33 million monthly active users by the third week of June. The game was a freemium game, meaning there was no cost to play but players had the option of purchasing premium content. The game was taken offline on June 17, 2013.
CastleVille is a defunct social network game made by Zynga's Dallas studio and was released in November 2011. It combined a number of elements from the company's other "Ville" range of games. On launch it had received a million "likes" on Facebook. By the end of its first month, it had become the fifth most popular game on Facebook with 26.5 million players. The game was a freemium game, meaning there is no cost to play but players have the option of purchasing premium content.
Zynga Slingo is a defunct social casino game developed by Zynga and released on Facebook in February 2012. It was Zynga's first licensed game and a partnership with classic gambling game Slingo.
Bubble Safari is a defunct tile-matching social network game by Zynga. The object is to help a monkey named Bubbles reconnect with his friends. Following its May 2012 release, Bubble Safari became the fastest-growing Facebook game, with 1.9 million active users for the week of July 9. PC Magazine ranked Bubble Safari as no. 5 on its Best Facebook Games list. Arcade game designer Mark Turmell, noted for such games as NBA Jam, received credit for Bubble Safari’s development. Bubble Safari is Zynga’s first arcade game, the first Zynga game released on Zynga.com and Facebook simultaneously, and the first game from Zynga San Diego.
ChefVille is a defunct multiplayer restaurant simulation social network game created by Zynga. The game was announced at Zynga's June 2012 Unleashed event, debuted August 2012 on Facebook, and was released October 3, 2012 on Zynga.com. Within the first month of its release, ChefVille had become the No. 1 Facebook game. As of early October 2012, ChefVille had more than 4.8 million daily active users (DAU) and more than 45 million monthly active users (MAU).
CityVille 2 is a defunct casual social city-building simulation game developed by Zynga and released globally on Facebook November 1, 2012. CityVille 2 was a 3D game that was story-based, with a mystery that unfolds as the player’s city evolves and it was a sequel to CityVille. The game was free, though players had the option to purchase premium content.
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