''CastleVille'' is a defunct

social network game A social network game (sometimes simply referred to as a social media game, social gaming, social video game or online social game) is a type of online game that is played through social networks or social media. They typically feature multiplayer ...

made by

Zynga 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 missio ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

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 Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. 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 Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (o ...

game, meaning there is no cost to play but players have the option of purchasing premium content. Zynga created a sequel called ''CastleVille Legends'' in early 2013. ''CastleVille'' shut down on 30 April 2016.

Gameplay

Set in a medieval world, the game allows players to build their land up with castle elements, and craft armor, art and trade items. The objective is to explore the unknown land around the starting territory and expand the player's empire into it. The character's avatar can be customized, and the world features peasants, pirates, princesses and Vikings. A new

reputation system Reputation systems are programs or algorithms that allow users to rate each other in online communities in order to build trust through reputation. Some common uses of these systems can be found on E-commerce websites such as eBay, Amazon.com, and ...

was developed to encourage players to be social within the game in order to unlock new items and actions such as trading.

Production

The game was produced by

Zynga Dallas Zynga Dallas (formerly Bonfire Studios) was a video game development company based in Dallas, Texas. After Ensemble Studios was shut down by Microsoft in 2009, Bonfire Studios was one of four companies founded by former Ensemble employees. Bonfir ...

, (formerly known as Bonfire Studios), which was purchased by Zynga in October 2010 for an undisclosed sum. It is the Dallas studio's first release under Zynga management, and the first social game to feature its own orchestral and choir soundtrack. Originally announced in October 2011, it was launched in seventeen languages. It was released a couple of weeks prior to Zynga's stock market launch. The production team's aim was to take the best elements of the other Zynga "Ville" games and combine them into one package. Storytelling features were brought from ''

The Pioneer Trail ''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 ...

'' (formerly known as ''FrontierVille''), while ''

CityVille ''CityVille'' is a defunct casual gaming, casual social network game, social city-building game, city-building game developed by Zynga, and released in December 2010. A sequel, ''CityVille 2'', was released in December 2012. It was closed down on ...

'' and ''

FarmVille ''FarmVille'' is a series of agriculture-simulation social network game 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 l ...

'' provided the inspiration for city building and self-expression, respectively. The game's Creative Director, Bill Jackson, said that it was aimed to be a deep online game like ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

''.

Reception

At launch in November 2011, an official page on Facebook for ''CastleVille'' had already received a million "likes". It had gained five million players by 21 November, compared to the top rated game, ''

'', which had only reached 3.2 million players after five days. Within a month, ''CastleVille'' was ranked #5 on the most popular Facebook games, having accumulated 26.5 million players. Its entry into the top twenty games came at a cost to its own creators: ''CastleVille'' forced an older Zynga game, ''

'', out of the list. Jon Swartz previewed the game for ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', thought the game had similarities in design to the ''Shrek'' franchise, but described it as Zynga's crown jewel. Andrew Webster, reviewing ''CastleVille'' for Gamezebo, said that the release wouldn't "revolutionize social gaming", but because of "arguably the best visual and audio experience on Facebook", it was still one of the best games on Facebook. He gave the game four and a half stars of five.

References

External links

CastleVille Website
{{Portal bar, Video games 2011 video games Facebook games Flash games Video games developed in the United States Zynga Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games set in castles