LOLapps' Ravenwood Fair goes for gold today with Ravenstone Mine

If you're looking for a little darkness to your social games that doesn't involve vampires, LOLapps finally launches its Ravenwood Fair expansion, Ravenstone Mine, today. VentureBeat reports that the game, led by Doom co-creator John Romero will add an underworld to game, which enjoys 11.8 million monthly players since its release in Nov. 2010. The game follows Zynga's FarmVille English Countryside in the trend of keeping relevant with a major content release.

And it's a logical step: Just like major content updates have revived MMOs like World of WarCraft for years, so why can't it do the same for social games? It's a gamble that Romero (who just opened his own studio, Loot Drop) and LOLapps are obviously willing to take. And what a gamble it is. Players will dive deep into the mines beneath the Ravenwood Fair to explore, mine new resources, uncover ruins and other mysteries.

[Video Credit: LOLapps]

Are you excited to go on another adventure in Ravenwood Fair? How successful do you think this expansion will be in breathing new life into LOLapps' lead franchise?

Facebook game lets you solve anagrams to save Canada's forests

True to its name, in order to play Donate2Play Media's first new game, you're going to have to pony up some change. Wordraiser is an anagram game that has players make as many words as possible out of one word.

If you manage to guess the key word, you get to level up. After leveling up a few times, you'll be asked to buy "Karma Points" that enable you to play more games.

Donation packages range from $1 to $20 USD, where $1 USD equals 10 Karma Points, which is good for buying one game. But right now, it seems that there's nothing stopping you from playing as much as you want. We're not sure if this is a bug, as the game just launched during the previous weekend.

While Wordraiser is supposedly free-to-play, it's also the offspring of Donate2Play's partnership with The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), a Canadian grassroots organization devoted to finding the balance between forestry jobs and preserving British Columbia's ancient woodlands (defined as tree populations that are over 120 years old). So half of the money given to Wordraiser will be split between AFA and Donate2Play.

Gallery: Wordraiser

Lastly, there's a top ten high scores leaderboard that displays players' names followed by their levels, and two of AFA's founders, TJ Watts and Ken Wu, are currently on the board in ninth and third place, respectively. According to its Facebook page, Wordraiser currently has 202 monthly users.

Keep in mind, though, that Donate2Play is doing all the heavy lifting here, with no risk or prior investment from AFA. Outreach for the game is done via automatic Facebook wall posts. Players will also receive facts about British Columbian forests during load screens and photos of these forests by TJ Watt.

Bossa Studios's Facebook debut, Monstermind, will crush your dreams

But in a good way, we promise. Like the U.S., folks in the UK are super cereal (isn't that what kids are saying these days?) about the social games movement. The Guardian reports that Shine TV has acquired London-based social game startup Bossa Studios for an undisclosed amount.

Elisabeth Murdoch's TV production company (recently bought out by daddy's News Corp) has reportedly been eying social gaming for a long time. And what do you know--her timing could not have been better.

According to The Guardian, 11-month-old Bossa Studios looks to unveil its first project, Monstermind (pictured), next week on Facebook. However, it looks like the game is available now on Facebook, though in an "open beta." (For all intents and purposes, the game is live and available for all to play.)

"We have long identified social gaming as a critical component to this strategy, and in Bossa Studios we discovered an entrepreneurial, creative team that shared our passion for creative excellence," Miss Murdoch told The Guardian. "They have bold ideas for this space which we naturally welcome and will be a significant addition to the Shine Group."

Monstermind looks to be a fresh take on the city-building genre that CityVille has done so well to popularize. Well, fresh in the sense that, in addition to building cities, you can sic giant monsters to crush your friends' towns. The game features nearly full 3D visuals and an art style that screams "The Blob meets Sim City." Check out the game's trailer below to see what we mean.



Click here to play Monstermind on Facebook Now >

Were you waiting for a new approach to city-builders on Facebook? What do you think so far of this new studio's first contribution to Facebook gaming? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment