I have developed a few simple flash games and now I will develop my first social game. It will not be an easy task: I still do not have the required knowledge. However, I am determined to create this game. I have created a plan that I should follow to gain enough knowledge to create this game. Currently, I know intermediate ActionScript 3.0, how to use Adobe Flash CS4 and a bit of PHP.

To create my social game I will:

• Learn how to use Flex

I have read that Flex is a better ActionScript development software and you can develop much faster with it, especially if you need to communicate with server-side code. Social games require communication with server-side code, to save user information, for example. I have already started to learn how to use Flex and the application is much better than Flash to code.

• Create a simple flash game using Flex

This step is to train using Flex with game development. In this game, I plan to include a few basic social gaming features, like ability to post scores to Facebook and Twitter, and recommend the game to friends.

• Learn Ruby on Rails

Again, I have read that Ruby on Rails is a framework for agile web development. I have also started to learn and I am loving it!

• Learn how to integrate Ruby on Rails and Flex

As I have already said, I will need to integrate the flex application with the server-side code to create a social game.

• Learn how to connect Ruby on Rails to Facebook platform

For my game, I will be adopting the Facebook plataform, as it has many features to spread the game, like invitations and the wall.

These will be the steps I will be taking before I start to create my social games. I know, I will need some months to accomplish it, but I think the result will be very, very good.

However, a new type of games is getting very popular nowadays: social games. They are much more complex than those simple flash games. Examples of a social games are Gaia Online and Farmville.

You should be thinking “Hey! There are flash games that are 3D, have great physics, multi-player mode, … They are much more complex than Farmville!”. You are correct, if I were thinking about the game mechanics. But I am talking about something else.

A social game is better because:

• It is viral: social games are integrated with Facebook (Facebook connect from MochiLeaderboards is a start), Twitter or other friends-related websites/services. A player will invite his friends to play the game. In result, the game get more views.
• It is fun: social games usually have easy concepts (some can be quite complex too) and let people interact with their friends, making the game much more competitive.
• It is monetizable: social games can get revenue from many sources, including ads, micro-transactions (again, MochiCoins is a start to this concept), paid offers, etc.
• It is persistent: social games can be continued after a game session. Playable from many computers, requiring an account. In some games, the game continues even if the player is not present.

In my opinion, the flash game market is saturated. There are just too many games. It is hard to monetize the game. Even the big flash games (Bloons) are not like the big social games (Farmville).

In my next post I will describe how I will create a social game. Subscribe to my RSS Feed to receive posts when I publish them.

Sokobones is a flash game done in June/July 2009. It is a solo project by me, sponsored by Free Games Jungle. The game has 20 levels, done by M. Homs. The relaxing music was created by InfinityVas.

This game is a remake of the classic sokoban game. However, this time, you control a dog and have to bury your bones.

Today, after four months and two weeks on the wild, it has already received 1,364,291 views, being played on 683 websites. If you want to see more recent stats, use this mochibot link.

I am a 15 years old Brazilian student (as I’m writing this). I am interested in game development and have done a few Flash Games. Not only game development, but also some other subjects, like web design  / development, Photoshop, etc. As a student, I do not have much time to work with programming or design, but when I have some free time, I like to do these things.

Regarding the content of my blog, I will write about my accomplishments and results with game and web development (maybe some other themes after some time). I also pretend to publish my opinions and ideas concerning many topics, mostly related to technology.

Image by davestfu (http://www.flickr.com/photos/davestfu/)