Gamasutra names Zynga's FrontierVille Best Facebook Game of 2010

Are any of you surprised? We didn't think so. Among games like Millionaire City by Digital Chocolate, CrowdStar's It Girl, Zuma Blitz by PopCap and LOLapps' Ravenwood Fair, Gamasutra named FrontierVille the number one Facebook game of 2010. The article was written by Worlds in Motion editor Eric Caoili, who chose each game based on "compelling gameplay and metrics-based design" instead of viral strategies. As a result, some of the more robust Facebook games obviously made the cut.

Some of the more interesting picks, or lack thereof, include Ravenwood Fair, which, in the number 3 spot, suffered a roller coaster of issues as a result of a certain Wall Street Journal investigation only to bounce back as one of the top Facebook games out there. Another intriguing choice is It Girl, second only to FrontierVille on this list and one of the most successful Facebook games to date geared specifically toward women (social games' largest demographic) with 6.6 million monthly players. While it hasn't even been around for a month, CityVille still managed to snag an honorable mention, which is most likely due to its insanely rapid growth.

And, of course, who could forget FrontierVille, now Zynga's third most successful game and arguably the most advanced in many ways. The game launched at a time when it was uncertain whether another game could emulate the success of FarmVille given the since debilitated modes of discovery on Facebook, but once again Zynga proved the naysayers wrong. Caoili claims that through veteran game designer Brian Reynolds, Zynga released a game that evolved the traditional farming sim with a largely different, quest-heavy focus, neighbors to visit and more features including several playable and non-playable characters, badges to earn and enemies to defeat. Don't forget the hilarious if lecherous News Feed messages, guys.

Check out the full article for more details on Caoili's choices and tell us about your Top Five Facebook Games for 2010 in the comments. Add Comment.