I have always written in my guides and tips on what may be the best strategy to take. I figured that it would be helpful to go through my common approach to social game efficiency. If you happen to play a game that I do not, at least you can have an idea on what are the best things to build or go for.
I will use some in-game examples from various Social games that I have played. If you have not played the games, just note the ideas behind them.
1. Suit Your Life Style
Many of the games nowadays have growing time or prep time. The best strategy should always be tailored to your own life style and game play personality. Do you play once a day? Do you play once every hour? Depending on your playing style and your current status in game, you will derive different strategies.
My style for Cityville is pretty straight forward. I play twice per day. So I only grow the crops that take the most time to mature which is three days (peas). I then overgrow them so that I will always have crops to harvest and goods to restock my stores. I may not level up the fastest, however, I have the time to focus on some other games and blog about them.
2. Derive Game Play Ratios
I love ratios, I believe that ratios are golden in Facebook social games. No matter whatever game you play, you should always calculate these ratios: Profit to Time, Profit to Energy (for those games with limited energy), Profit to Land if land is limited. Only with these profit ratios calculated, you can then compare the effectiveness of different buildings, farms, business, or whatever they call it in game.
For example in Frontierville, you typically get more food out of the money you spend from the higher growth time crops. Therefore, as you progress in game, you should build out your village with those crops to get the most out of your money.
3. Quantity versus Quality
Typically speaking, at the beginning of the game, you should go for quantity where you will fully use up all your energy and available land at the lowest cost possible. As you progress through in game, you should aim to optimize and start going for quality. Depending on your in-game stage, the “Best” can be defined differently.
This idea works such as that at the beginning of the game when you have low money and low land, you usually go for the 5 minutes growth crops or buildings to turn around your money fast. However, as you progress, you will go for bigger things that generate better return at the cost of time.
4. Practicality
The Best strategy in your Facebook social game is a practical one. In my discussions with Market Street, the best way to get lots of EXP within a short amount of time is by selling and cleaning the 5 minutes items. It is still the case even with all the additions of new products and new floors.
Yet, it is not practical to play nonstop for 10 hours restocking and cleaning shelves. It is not practical for social game players. The Best should also be designed such that you can play casually while able to achieve your goals.
5. Cash
Although I do touch a little bit about how to spend your cash in game if you do decide to spend real money, I am not a big promoter of it. The way I calculate the “Best” is usually without spending real life money. However, if you do calculate the “Best” yourself, you should take into consideration of your own life situation. If you can afford to spend real money on a Facebook social game, by all means you should spend the money to achieve your goals faster and easier.
6. Neighbors
Neighbors should not be a part of the equation if you want to take Social games seriously. Do not let not having enough friends a factor that prohibit your game play. The “Best” should not be limited to the numbers of neighbors that you have. Go to the fan pages and official pages to get as many new friends as you can! Have fun with the Social game and add new people to your Facebook list!
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