Top 5 Facebook Games: Summer 2010 Edition

Facebook games, called applications (apps), continue to be one of the most popular features of the social site, and a wide variety of video game developers have tossed their hat into the ring trying to produce a top Facebook game. Deciding the top 5 recommendations among the literally hundreds of options required a combination of testing and a comparison of which Facebook games I received the most amount of friend requests for - if 50% of your friends list is addicted that surely means something!

In no particular order, here are my top 5 Facebook games:

Facebook Game: FarmVille - With over 80,000,000 monthly actives according to Inside Social Games, there is no question that FarmVille is one of the top Facebook games available. Developed by Zynga, one of the leading developers for such applications, FarmVille combines item gifting from friends and bonus content for real-life money to produce an addictive quality. Users maintain their farm, harvesting crops and raising animals, to gain levels and new items.

Facebook Game: Texas HoldEm Poker - Developed by Zynga, Texas HoldEm Poker is a fantastic multiplayer app game which allows you to put your poker skills to the test against Facebook friends and strangers alike. Cute in-game items, an easy interface and contests draw in over 26,000,000 monthly actives as of March 2010. Numerous other app games from Zynga offer bonuses between the different video games, allowing you to unlock bonus content-or bonus poker chips-by playing the linked titles.

Facebook Game: Mafia Wars - My personal favorite of the top 5 Facebook games, Mafia Wars has grown to a massive amount of user participation. The app game has over 25,000,000 monthly actives according to Inside Social Games, and anyone who hasn't seen dozens of notifications from this app in their friend feed should consider themselves living under a rock. The more friends you can recruit into your "Mafia," the better; players can send items and boosts to each other, and complete missions and combat to advance in levels. Like most Zynga games, real-life money buys you bonus items.

Facebook Game: Café World - The combination of delicious-looking edibles and social interaction present in this fourth and final Zynga game is positively addictive. Convince players on your friends list to assist you as "neighbors" or send you free items, such as the daily free dish. Hiring your friends as staff can be hilarious, and app games such as this seem to bridge the gap between players who live far apart by allowing such interactions. Perhaps that is one draw, a sense of community-and yummy food.

Facebook Game: Happy Aquarium - The only app game on this list not offered by Zynga, Happy Aquarium comes from designer CrowdStar. With adorable virtual fish and the ability to visit your friends' aquariums and see their décor, Happy Aquarium is a great mix of video game fun and social interaction. With a wide variety of unlockable fish, decorations and features, there's plenty of gradual new content to keep players occupied.

Sources:
Inside Facebook, "Top 25 Facebook Games for February, 2010"