作者：Joel Brodie

Zynga不久前邀请媒体参观了公司的新办公场所，并且稍微透露了即将发布的游戏和项目。

此前该公司声称将围绕Project Z（游戏邦注：某个基于Facebook的社交游戏网络）发布游戏《CastleVille》（游戏邦注：该游戏被称为《CityVille》与RPG、《怪物史莱克》元素的合体）、许多博彩类游戏和手机游戏，而《Hidden Chronicles》则是Zynga初次尝试隐藏物品题材游戏的作品。

《Hidden Chronicles》对隐藏物品游戏的影响可能会像当初《FarmVille》对战略和模拟游戏的影响一样，使隐藏物品题材成为最为流行的休闲游戏题材。

hidden_chronicles(from bbgsite.com)

隐藏物品游戏（游戏邦注：下文简称“HOG”）已经成为PC和Mac上最为流行的休闲游戏，其在iPad之类平板电脑上的地位也逐渐提升。Big Fish Games是休闲游戏领域的主要发行商，你会看到该公司每周发布的游戏中至少有4到5款是HOG。

更为突出的是，HOG是这个领域惟一一种以预付费方式出售的游戏。尽管休闲游戏的平均售价为7美元甚至更低，但是HOG发布时的定价都会介于10到20美元之间。毫无疑问，大多数休闲游戏开发商都已经停止制作时间管理、战略和解谜游戏，将全部注意力放在HOG上。

到目前为止，隐藏物品题材是惟一甚少受到Facebook和社交手机平台的免费增值和付费游戏影响的游戏题材。

这种情况现在或许会发生改变：

*Facebook游戏主管Sean Ryan比任何人都了解休闲游戏。他已正式声明自己也希望在Facebook上看到更多的HOG。这对许多开发商来说是个信号，如果你开发HOG，Facebook将会帮助推广游戏。

*Playdom已经证实HOG可以在Facebook上成功运行。自从今年初发布之日起，《Gardens of Time》已经吸引了1400万的月活跃用户。现在它是Playdom旗下最为流行的社交游戏。

*看看Zynga的动向。Zynga总是努力在寻求突破，但是他们更愿意看着其他开发商冒新游戏题材的风险，然后自己将其做得更好。他们在《Social City》出来后，开发了《CityVille》。《DoubleDown Casino》成功的结果就是Zynga Bingo游戏。《Pocket Zoo》是基于《Tap Zoo》的成功而衍生出的产物。现在，Playdom凭借HOG获得了巨大的成功，于是就出现了《Hidden Chronicles》。

通过雇佣HOG资深开发人士，Zynga正在复制Playdom所取得的辉煌。《Gardens of Time》由前iWin开发者制作而成，《Hidden Chronicles》的主要开发者则是Cara Ely，他是许多iPlay旗下热门HOG（游戏邦注：包括《Dream Day》和《Women’s Murder Club》系列作品）的设计师和创意总监。

尽管我还未玩过《Hidden Chronicles》，但是我已经见到过。我可以告诉你的是，该游戏图像和产品价值至少可以同《Mystery Case Files》相媲美。游戏使用现实主义风格的图片，有着大量的动画，音效质量也很棒。游戏的内容同众多HOG相似。你被召集到Ramsey Manor，在那里你见到了各种各样的角色，帮助你发现隐藏在神秘背后的真相（游戏邦注：HOG粉丝或许会觉得这一幕很熟悉）。

当然，游戏将关注社交性，这或许会让某些HOG粉丝感到失望。玩家之间将就完成某个关卡与他们的好友比赛。曾有评论家表示，这种模式根本不适用于解谜游戏《宝石迷阵》，但是现在玩《宝石迷阵》的最流行方式就是Facebook。HOG身上也可能发生同样的情况。

而且，最为重要的是，这类游戏对多数玩家来说将是免费的。

Zynga有充足的资金，他们计划为游戏更新大量免费关卡。他们也计划通过现有的玩家网络（游戏邦注：多数是适合玩HOG的中老年女性）和数百万美元的广告投入（游戏邦注：公司每次发布新游戏都会采取的方法）来营销这款游戏。

如果《Gardens of Time》可以吸引到1400万MAU的话，那么《Hidden Chronicles》没准能在1个月之内吸引到2500万的MAU。就个人而言，我认为这款游戏将成为Zynga的又一款《FarmVille》式开拓性巨作，比更迷人更惊险的《CastleVille》有更好的表现。

这么说是否就意味着我认为HOG市场将不再需要下载模式？答案很显然是否定的。许多HOG粉丝不会去玩《Hidden Chronicles》，因为他们错误地认为使用Facebook对他们的隐私不利（互联网确实比较危险），他们宁愿预先付费下载游戏，而不是在Facebook中支付1美元获得游戏进展的线索。而且重要的是，HOG粉丝希望能有多样性。HOG之所以能成为如此流行的休闲游戏题材，部分原因在于不少公司每周都会发布许多款不同的HOG。它简直就像是个游戏集而不是游戏题材。

但是，许多HOG粉丝也会被《Hidden Chronicles》吸引，因为它将会成为网络上最棒的HOG之一，而且对多数玩家来说可以免费玩游戏。

《Hidden Chronicles》的面世并不意味着下载领域的HOG就此终结，但是肯定会对后者产生影响。

对于Big Fish Games和东欧、俄罗斯开发商等专注于HOG的休闲游戏公司（游戏邦注：这透露出一个事实，即多数HOG并非在美国本土开发），这究竟意味着什么呢？

我要提出的首个建议是：不要惊慌。正如之前提到的那样，这并非标志着HOG下载业务的终结。

但是，你需要尽量关注Zynga的游戏测试计划，对《Hidden Chronicles》有所了解。《Hidden Chronicles》并不会终结开发商的HOG业务，但是如果开发商忽视了这款游戏，就会面临风险。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Monday Morning Quarterback: Will the next FarmVille-style hit be a Hidden Object Game?

Joel Brodie

Two weeks ago, Zynga invited the press to check out its new office and get a sneak peak on its upcoming games and projects.

Lost amidst the announcements around Project Z (a Facebook-based social games network that I am not even sure Zynga fully gets what its all about) to upcoming game launches of CastleVille (CityVille meets a RPG with a touch of Shrek, very cool) and a slew of casino style and mobile games, was the announcement around Hidden Chronicles, Zynga’s first foray into the hidden object genre.

Hidden Chronicles may do for hidden object games what FarmVille did for strategy and simulation games, making the hidden object genre the most popular casual game genre of them all.

Hidden object games (HOGs) are already the most popular genre for casual games on the PC and Mac, and increasingly, on tablets like the iPad. Go to Big Fish Games, the leading distributor publisher of casual games, and you will see that on every given week, at least 4 – 5 of the games are hidden object games.

Just as significant, hidden object games are the only games being sold as premium games. Whereas the price per the average casual game is $7 or below, the price for hidden object games at launch generally is between $10 – $20 per title. It’s no wonder that the majority of casual game developers have stopped producing time management, strategy, and puzzle games and focused entirely on HOGs.

So far the hidden object genre is the only one that has not been impacted by freemium and pay-to-play games on the Facebook and social mobile platforms.

Expect this situation to change as of right now:

Sean Ryan, head of Games at Facebook, knows casual games almost as well as anyone around. And, he has officially stated that he wants to see more hidden object games on Facebook as well. This is a sign for any developer that if you create a hidden object game, Facebook will help promote it.

Playdom has already proven that hidden object games can work on Facebook. Since its release earlier this year, Gardens of Time has attracted 14 million monthly average users (MAUs). It is now Playdom’s most popular social game online.

Enter Zynga. Zynga strives to be innovative but they are more into watching someone else take the risk on a game genre and doing it better. First came Social City, then CityVille. Zynga Bingo is a result of the success of DoubleDown Casino. Pocket Zoo is based on success of Tap Zoo. And now, Playdom scores big with hidden object games, so here comes Hidden Chronicles.

Zynga is copying Playdom’s playbook by hiring hidden object game veterens to lead their efforts. Gardens of Time is developed by ex-iWin developers. The lead developer of Hidden Chronicles is Cara Ely, a designer and creative director for many of iPlay’s hit HOGs, including the Dream Day and Women’s Murder Club series (here is a Gamezebo interview with her back from 2007).

Though I have not played Hidden Chronicles yet, I’ve seen it, and I can tell you that the graphics and production values are at least as good as Mystery Case Files, which is impressive considering that this game is Flash. The game is photo-realistic, there is tons of animation, and the sound quality is high. Even the premise is similar to the hundreds of HOGs out there. You are summoned to Ramsey Manor where you meet variety of characters who help you discover the truth behind the mystery (sound familiar, fellow HOG fans)?

Sure, the game will be social, which may turn off some HOG fans. Players will be compete to complete a level and compare with their friends. Critics said this would never work with the puzzle game Bejeweled, but now the most popular way to play Bejeweled is on Facebook. The same could happen for HOGs.

And, most importantly, it also will be free for the majority of players (Zynga admits only 1 – 3% of its players also pay per its recent S1 documents).

Zynga has tons of money and they plan on updated this game all the time with free levels. They also plan to market it like crazy through their existing network of players (which all match up perfectly with the older female demographic) and through millions of dollars in ad buys (if they follow what they do every time they launch a game).

If Gardens of Time can attract 14 million MAUs, surely Hidden Chronicles can attract 25 million MAUs within a month. Personally, I think this could be Zynga’s next FarmVille break-out hit and do better than the sexier yet riskier CastleVille.

Does that mean I believe that the HOG market will go away for downloads? The answer is positively no. Many HOG fans will never play Hidden Chronicles because they mistakenly believe that going on Facebook is bad for their privacy (the Internet is much riskier, by the way) and they would rather pay up front for a download than pay $1 for a hint along the way. Just as important, hidden object fans like variety. Part of reason hidden objects do so well as a casual game genre is that there are so many different HOGs launched each week. Its almost like a Book of the Week club than a game genre.

Nonetheless, many HOG fans will gravitate to Hidden Chronicles because it will be one of the best HOGs to play online and will be free to play for majority of players.

Hidden Chronicles will not mean that the end of hidden object games in the downloads space, but it will have an impact.

What does this mean for all the casual game companies that specialize in hidden object games, like Big Fish Games and the Eastern European and Russian developers that create them (another fact, most HOGs are developed overseas)?

My first word of advice is: don’t panic. As mentioned, this isn’t the end of the casual game download HOG.

But, do all you can to get on Zynga’s beta list to get a sneak peak of Hidden Chronicles.

Hidden Chronicles is not going to kill any developer’s hidden object business. But anyone who ignores it, does it at their own risk. (Source: Game Zebo)