Tuesday, April 9, 2013

MixiMobile's First "Real" Citybuilder Costs Players Billions

Social game "city-builders" like Zynga's popular Farmville, and Cityville are among a long-storied genre of games dating back to 2250 B.C. when Sargon the Great vanquished his foes to found the empire of Mesopotamia.

However, more recent entries into the genre rely on colorful digital representations of buildings and animals, placed around a fictional world in order to create the illusion of a booming metropolis, customized to players' taste. Many such games are funded by relatively inexpensive "in-app purchases," costing even players who choose to "monetize" only a couple of dollars during their entire time playing the game.

MixiMobile believes it has the answer to this. CTO, Flan Yazzer explains.

"We believe that fun comes from risk, and risk is something we are putting back into the equation for players. Our player wants a highly immersive experience."

To that end, MixiMobile has partnered with three major nationwide realtors and eight rental property managers to provide players real-world access to undeveloped land, raw materials, foreclosed homes, timeshares and waterfront views. Of course, all of this comes with a price tag.

"The first thing a player does when they open our game is remortgage their home. This provides an initial burst of PigiPoints with which they will buy a small plot of marshland paradise."

"Players will then clock in and begin working at one of our factories to earn additional PigiPoints for decorations, plants and eventually security systems to protect their treasures from real-world burglars. By the end of the tutorial, players will have adopted a cat and visibly aged."

The formula is working. "MixiTown" is boasts incredibly high player retention as participants begin to acquire household electronics and cement yard decorations.

"Some players even choose to make this a fashion-focused game, buying custom garments and maintaining expensive hairstyles in order to impress their friends."

No matter how you choose to play MixiTown one thing is clear, "There has never been a better time to buy beachfront property."

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