For the last few months i’ve been reviewing Facebook Games mostly and I’ve kind of neglected some important Facebook developer tools. This particular service falls mostly under the Facebook marketing tools category, but im going to write a quick review on it as i’ve heard some positive things about on the grapevine. AgoraPulse is basically a Marketing/CRM suite designed to help Facebook page owners and marketers to manage thier facebook related activities, increase thier fan base and increase engagement with thier users. In addition it can also manage and analyze Facebook traffic and qualify opt-in leads.

The primary features of AgoraPulse are white label Facebook marketing apps (ie. Coupons, Quiz, Sweepstakes, Instant wins and Contests), fan ranking and qualifications (I especially like the ability to download the entire fanbase in one .csv – a critically important feature for marketers). Automated wall moderations with post scheduling and realtime email notifications. Robust analytics features help make sense of all the data and in short allow you to glean important insights about your Facebook marketing activities. There are quite a few more features, but i’m not going to go over every single one.

Compared to some of the other competitors in this neiche (ie. Buddy Media, Wildfire, Involver, etc. etc.) this particular suite seems to cover almost all the bases. In my opinion the main advantage AgoraPulse has over the competiton is that everything is in one place and you don’t need to use multiple services and its much more affordable then other ‘all-in-one’ solutions which can cost several hundred dollars per month. While this service does seem more suited to long-tail audiences then big budget marketing departments, it does deliver on its promises.

Well, now it’s possible thanks to a new application called “Jointly TV”. This is actually a personalized TV channel with an endless stream of videos that friends have shared on Facebook. If I’m bored with it, I can simply press the “I’m bored” button. The application informs my friends that I am bored, and they are asked to send me videos to watch. If the video is not interesting, I can skip to the next video (it’s an infinite channel). After each clip I can also rate it to give feedback.

Jointly.TV – watch TV online in Facebook

The trick is to regularly alternate between Altitude, Sunlight and Moisture to achieve optimal growth conditions in the 1min 20secs game duration.
In less than three weeks since launch, ‘Arabica Bean Blitz’ has proved remarkably sticky with a whopping 15 minutes average time spent on the site – enough for 11 plays. Of those that have played the game once, 77% return for another crack. It is proving as addictive as the brewed bean itself.  Check it out this caffeine fueled arcade game.

https://apps.facebook.com/beanblitz/

Squaretron is a fast-paced and addictive arcade game where ally and enemy squares fly from all directions. The goal of Squaretron is to maneuver the hero square and catch as many ally squares as possible while avoiding enemy squares at any cost. Power-ups give your various abilities and help you increase your score but watch out for power-downs too. Squaretron is all about fast moving squares, plenty of squares. The white rotating square is the hero of the game, in other words you, the player. You can move the white square with your mouse. Ally squares are cyan and enemy squares are fuchsia. A collision with an ally square gives you points, while a contact with the enemy square takes your life. You start the game with three lives but you can get more as you progress with the game. How? It’s very simple. Throughout the game, you will see power-ups coming. One of the power-ups gives you an extra life. Speaking of power-ups, there are plenty of them in Squaretron (discussed shortly). Some of them are more useful than others. It’s up to you to decide which power-ups you catch and which you just let go. It’s not always reasonable to chase a power-up. Power-downs do just the opposite. They make Squaretron difficult to play. Avoid power-downs as much as you can. As you keep catching ally squares, your bonus score bar increases. If you manage to fill the bar, you get a bonus score. During the time when you don’t catch ally squares, your bonus bar gets depleted. So, you better act fast. Bonus score is 3,000 points. You start Squaretron at Level 1, which is rather slow. In every 15 seconds or so a new level begins. Every new level is faster and faster until the game gets really fast. Once you exhaust your lives, the game is over.

Power-ups

Squaretron features a number of exciting power-ups.

+1000 – simply gives you an extra thousand points.

Slow Down – decreases the speed of the game. This power-up is especially useful at higher levels when the speed of the game is really high.

Mini Square – decreases the size of your square. A smaller square helps you avoid enemy squares. The downside is that catching ally squares becomes difficult too. This power-up is useful when there more enemy squares on the screen.

Floor – is an extremely useful power-up. When you get this power-up, a floor appears. Enemy squares pass through the floor while ally squares don’t. This means that all ally squares falling from top are conveniently collected on the floor and you can catch ‘em all easily.

Freeze – stops all movement for three seconds. Nice power-up but be careful. Even though the squares are stopped, a contact with an enemy square will still take your life.

Shield – this power-up makes your square invincible. While you have the shield, you can touch enemy squares.

Extra Life – this power-up gives you an extra life.

Power-downs

Power-downs are opposite of power-ups. They make Squaretron difficult to play. Luckily, there are fewer power-downs than power-ups in Squaretron. Try to avoid power-downs. Just in case you catch one of them, below is the list of all power-downs and what harm each causes you.

-1000 – deducts 1000 points from your score.

Speed Up – increases game speed.

Mega Square – increase your square size. This power-down makes your square larger and thus more vulnerable. On the good side, larger square helps you catch ally squares easily. So, this power-down is not that bad.

All Enemy Squares – this power-down makes all squares enemy. In other words, any contact with any square takes your life. Luckily, this lasts only 6 seconds or so.

Definitely worth checking out as this game is addicting as hell!  Better clear up your afternoon.  Here is the link to the app:  http://apps.facebook.com/squaretron/

The main goal of the game is to collect as many swords as you can. You will also be able to turn in your swords for all kinds of different quests. The players are able to interact with their friends, and help each other by hammering or trading with each other. They will also be able to compete with each other by comparing the number of swords saved.

The art graphic for the game is also a big reason why people love Sword Quest so much. All the swords are drawn realistically with detailed info of its origin and background. Yet, all the characters and background design are drawn in cute fashion, where both guys and girls will like its style.

A recent upgrade to the game includes 70+ new swords, and more materials and quests for our players.

I’ve also been informed by the developer that there is going to be an expansion released shortly. This expansion is named “Adventure System” where players will be able to equip the swords they make and fight different monsters in different dungeons.  Sounds great, and I’m looking forward to checking it out.

No video editing skills required and completely free.

Bring to life your album photos in a stunning video with Slidemotion VideoExpress – http://apps.facebook.com/video-express

 How does it work?

Slidemotion VideoExpress picks photos from user’s Facebook photo album of choice and automatically produces an unforgettable video with attractive visual effects and music. After only couple of minutes, a fresh video masterpiece is ready to be shared with Facebook friends. Only three clicks, no hassle, no hard choices.  Even total beginners can produce catchy and engaging videos with music.  But here is more. Photo enthusiasts that want a tiny bit more control over a video just created with Slidemotion VideoExpress Facebook application, but still don’t want to be bothered with video editing, will find their video automatically imported to Slidemotion’s web service, accessible at www.slidemotion.com.

There they can easily rearrange photos, add some video clips, insert funny comments, change or add multiple music tracks from Slidemotion’s extensive free music library in just a few clicks, download the video, share it with friends or embed it into the blog.

What makes it innovative and useful?

3-clicks is all you need to revive your FB albums in a stunning video with music.

Slidemotion VideoExpress Facebook application is a no-brainer and ready for everyday users to revive Facebook albums in a video with music. Creating unlimited number of videos is FREE. Accessible at http://apps.facebook.com/video-express/

What makes us stand out?

Application itself is similar to Timeline MovieMaker which makes a video in couple of clicks however different since we offer much more.

User can:

- User has ability to choose an album to make the video of

- Every video can be enriched / re-edited since video created with VideoExpress is automatically transferred to http://www.slidemotion.com where it waits for the user to add new photos or video clips, and add multiple music tracks

- And of course downloaded for personal memory or shared to friends on Facebook, Twitter or Google +, or even embedded to the blog to attract more visitors

Most importantly Facebook users do not need to click on each particular photo anymore to revive the memories, they can view them in a video with music

The best part about this poker app is that all game play on the website is totally free.  It is true that you can purchase chips, but you can play with the chips you start with and earn more by either playing at the tables or by taking part in mini-games and receiving chips from friends. 

Whether you like to play cash games or tournaments, you can find plenty of action on Zynga Poker.  Cash game tables are available either five-handed or a full nine-handed ring game format.  Limits range from $1-$2 all the way to $4 Million -$8 Million. Tournaments on the site include special weekly tournaments and single table Sit-N-Go’s  The limits for these games range from $20 buy-ins, all the way to $5 Million chip buy-ins.

You can play against other players on the Zynga network, or you can invite your friends to play at the tables.  In addition, while you are at the tables, you can spend part of you winnings to purchase virtual prizes such as drinks, sunglasses, etc.  These are prizes that you can interact with in the game, not in real life.

Real money online poker is in a precarious spot at present.  The largest online sites for real money are facing huge penalties and the owners are facing jail time.  However, those that play on Facebook have nothing to fear since they are playing for play money.  As such, you can feel free to gamble it up.   If you are looking for a fun way to pass some time or a new place to play online poker, then you need to check out Texas HoldEm Poker by Zynga.

The game encourages players to tell short, real-life stories about how their friends improve the world around them. (Example: “Jenny, you did a great job organizing the company fundraiser for orphans in Haiti…”)

A key part of the game is rewarding others with karma points in specific ‘good deed’ categories. These points let players earn badges like Earth-Saver, Do-Gooder, Mentor, etc. Good deed badges and levels are prominently displayed throughout the game, adding a competitive element that encourages doing more good deeds. (Example: Jenny is a Level 14 Earth-Saver, Level 5 Problem Solver, and Level 12 Super Friend)

Aside from the karma points you start out with, the only way to get more karma points is for your friends give you some of their own for doing a real-world good deed. If you run out of karma points to give to your friends, the game lets you buy a karma refill. Consistent with the theme of doing good deeds for the world, BetterScape will donate 90% of the revenue from the sale of virtual karma refills to a different set of high-impact 501c(3) non-profits every month.

We’re just getting going with the game and would love some help getting the word out.  We’d love it if you would help us turn social gaming into a force for good!