Soccer Games on Facebook: Which One Should I Play?

soccer games on facebook
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and we're finding it impossible to contain our excitement. As a result, we've been searching endlessly for a great soccer game to get into on Facebook. Being the most popular sport in the world, you'd think more game developers would try to engage the passionate audience.

Despite the shortage in games, we're here to give you the low-down on the five biggest soccer titles on Facebook. We've put the games to the test. Continue reading to see which footie games made the cut.

premier football facebook
Premier Football
Features:
- Matches are presented with news ticker style commentary.
- Players use their friends to fill up their roster.
- Complete sponsorship deals to make big money.
- Players can upgrade their stadium to bring in more fans.
- Select tactics to use during the games.

Recommended: No. Premier Football is one of the many Mafia Wars clones that simply uses the same system with a new theme (soccer) pasted on top. You don't actually get to play during matches and are forced to read text updates describing the action on the pitch. The outcome is entirely dependent on your stats, forcing players to focus on training. Unfortunately, training is extremely expensive and will eventually push players to consider the advertiser sponsorship deals and their rewards. Simply put, there are better soccer games out there that are more fun and more interesting to look at.

Click to play Premier Football>


epic goal facebook
Epic Goal
Features:
- Fun, easy and compelling gameplay that lets players influence the outcome of the match.
- Training system that requires the player return to make sure the training is remembered (like withering crops in FarmVille).
- Players use their friends to create a roster.
- Set a formation and strategy based on team talent.
- Buy Epic and Boost upgrades to give your team the edge.
- Play friendlies against Facebook friends for daily experience and coins.

Recommended: Yes! Epic Goal is the perfect balance of fun and complexity. Outside the match, players can train using a straight forward system to gain an edge over rivals. During matches, soccer players will run routes automatically, and whenever possible, the player will be prompted to pass, tackle and shoot (pictured above). Although players don't have complete control over their team's actions during the game, the player is still involved with every clutch play or embarrassing misstep. This makes every victory satisfying and makes Epic Goal quite possibly the best soccer game on Facebook.

Click to play Epic Goal>


bola facebook
Bola
Features:
- Player is given full control of their team during matches through awkward control scheme.
- Temporary training system. Buy upgrades that eventually expire.
- Hire different coaches to unlock new formations and strategies.
- Send gifts such as fans, upgrades and items. to Facebook friends.

Recommended: No. Using the arrow keys to move, the space bar to switch player, A to pass and S to shoot, Bola tried to make a fully playable, action-packed Facebook soccer game. While they meant well, they didn't deliver. The game is awkward and frustrating. I consider myself quite the soccer gamer and I struggle to get the ball down the pitch skillfully. Beyond that, the game uses a similar style of management to the other soccer games, and uses purchasable temporary boosts rather than permanent training in order to give players a limited advantage over opponents. However, in the end, Bola revolves around it's core gameplay, and because it could use some improvement, the game suffers the same outcome.

Click to play Bola>


fifa superstars facebook
FIFA Superstars
Features:
- Matches are reliant on stats and are shown using non-interactive cutscenes.
- Players can fill their roster with hundreds of real world stars.
- Challenge your friends daily to gain extra experience and coins.
- Send mystery gifts containing players, coins and more.
- Straightforward training system makes has players keeping their team in top form.

Recommended: Yes! Despite not being able to actually play during matches, FIFA Superstars boasts something the other games don't: production value and quality. After putting in a few games, your only complaint will be that you simply can't get enough of FIFA Superstars. Players need match credits to play games and unfortunately, only one credit is replenished every six hours. Team management and strategy is fluid, and new players can be bought in packs like playing cards. Buying a new set is always exciting, you never know what famous footie stars you'll get. Like all Facebook soccer games it has short comings, but after giving it some time I can definitely say that I'm hooked and I expect you will be too.

Click to play FIFA Superstars>


winning goal facebook
Winning Goal
Features:
- Watch 5 on 5 matches play out from a top down perspective.
- With each victory, open a mysterious prize box containing powerups, players and more
- Scout, recruit, fire and manage real players from all over the world.
- Bet on matches to earn extra cash.
- Manager tasks such as daily goals and achievements can be completed for bonus rewards.

Recommended: Perhaps. Similar to FIFA Superstars and Premier Football, Winning Goal puts players in the position of team manager. Once they've set their strategy, players can only look on as the action unfolds. Although the visuals are more appealing than Premier Football's, the quality of FIFA Superstars is far superior. Nonetheless, a number of cool features such as betting and scouting make this a football game worth checking out.

Click to play Winning Goal>

Facebook Discover New Games Sidebar: Viral games discovery returns

The Facebook teams have been hard at work developing a way to bring games discovery back to Facebook since November, if not farther back than that. Finally, the fruits of their labor have surfaced with the Discover New Games sidebar, which Inside Facebook has a sneak peek of. The new sidebar module is currently in beta testing, but what it does is show you when your friends are playing a game that you've yet to install. This is essentially what we've awaited for months.

For example, say you're friends with a whole lot of CityVille players and you have yet to try it out (fat chance). A message will appear in your sidebar informing you that a number of your friends are playing CityVille along with images of their faces. Underneath, a link to the game's install page will appear. In other words, you're friends will tell you about that hot new Facebook game without doing anything--in theory.

This is the desired effect of the new sidebar module, but since it's still in beta we won't know how effective it is until it formally releases. While this won't restore the rampant viral growth that games enjoyed last year (which Facebook promptly stomped on), it will bring some of that back in a way that appears to be unobtrusive. A way to find new games that isn't going to piss off half of my friends? Where do I sign up?

[Image Credit: Inside Facebook]

Do you happen to be part of this beta test for the new Games Bar? Do you think this will be effective in bringing new games into the mix?

Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says

Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.