Game Design - Why Change When It Works?

Today I am going to focus on a general issue which affects both Mafia Wars and Mob Wars players. That subject is Game Design.

Why is it some designers keep changing the design of their games? They have millions of active players who ENJOYED their games as they were - and yet they begin changing the whole appearance of their games?

It has long ago been established that people are annoyed by the changes made to their Facebook profiles. Recently, the so-called Timeline has been a major issue with many Facebook users. You can't go back once you have activated your Timeline.

I would agree changes are good when you fix bugs in your system.

I would also agree changes are good when you increase the speed of your applications.

But when you just make changes for the change itself - that really annoys me.

What is your stand on this?

Thanks beforehand for your feedback

Crime City Collections

It never ceases to amaze me how collections gathered from laundromats in the Crime City game on Facebook are somewhat identical all the time. Just watch this:



Over 400 sweat pants - and that multi-colored t-shirt is actually the key to trading in the collection. More t-shirts certainly needed to remove this stock of incredible proportions...

Have you had similar experiences in this game - or in other games on Facebook?

About Crime City

Dear readers, I want to correct myself here. I previously said Crime City was produced by Zynga. That is wrong. The company behind Crime City is Funzio.

Zynga have created Mafia Wars and Mob Wars, but they are NOT the authors behind Crime City, and I just wanted to rectify that as soon as I discovered I had made a mistake.

Have a nice weekend everyone. :-)

Now Over 18 Million Players

Welcome to 2012, and welcome to over a million more players during the last few months. When I played the game just a few minutes ago, the number of users was listed at 18.008.519 players of Mafia Wars.

So beyond reaching level 588, it is safe to say that Mafia Wars is a game that is picking up quite a bit of momentum. You can join the fun, and I wish everyone a succesful 2012 with lots of fun playing Mafia Wars. :-)

Amazing Discovery

One big contrast between Mafia Wars and Mob Wars is fighting. In Mob Wars you can choose the amount of force you want to use. In my case, the current mob size is just under 200, but I beat a mob of 585 members by choosing a force of 9. It's true that this costs 9 stamina points, but you get a sudden increase in experience points of nearly 1K points. A highly valuable tip you can use to reach new levels more quickly when there is about 3.6K experience points between levels once you are nearing level 600.

You must ensure proper arming of your mob both attack and defence wise, but once you have the right equipment from the Inventory tab it's now possible to achieve miracles.

I thought that was a trick worth sharing, and wish you all a Happy New Year. Stay tuned for more useful tips and ideas for all games I play, e.g. Mob Wars, Mafia Wars, Cafe World, Crime City etc. :-)

Mafia Wars Finances and Areas

In Mafia Wars you need good finances to build your inventory of weapons - as I have also explained previously. To get a good solid and steady income you need to invest in buildings (by clicking the City button in the top menu). When you don't have enough money to invest in buildings, it's a good idea to put money in the bank - even though it costs you 10% to whitewash your cash deposits...

When you deposit money in the bank it can't be robbed by other mobsters. Also, joining a large mob can help you safeguard yourself from attacks in Mafia Wars. As I showed yesterday, you can click the link to join my mob, as I am looking to continue the expansion in the game - and might also join a larger mob myself. Having lots of friends joining you helps you achieve bigger attack and defense levels, so you are more than welcome to join the family. :-)

A good financial situation can be seen right here:



As regular players will already know not all areas are active anymore. The list of currently active areas to which you can travel are these:



Money you have in non-active areas can be converted into Las Vegas cash by going to your Vault (next to the cash shown at the top right), and selecting the tab Conversion. In that way you can change Cuba or Moscow cash into money you can spend developing Las Vegas in Mafia Wars.

Enjoy the game during this x-mas vacation, and stay tuned for more tips in Mafia Wars in the year ahead. :-)

Join The Fun in Mafia Wars

Join the fun in Mafia Wars. Some have asked how they can join the fun, and therefore I wanted to share the link with all readers, so you can become a part of the gameplay. I have currently reached level 580, and the more the merrier in Mafia Wars. :-)

Click right here: Join the mob in Mafia Wars.