Tag: Games with Friends »

Zynga has launched the latest in their series of Games with Friends. Following their adaptations of Scrabble and Hangman, their latest is Scramble with Friends, their take on Boggle. How this works in a multiplayer context is that players take turns with 2 minute sessions on a 4-by-4 grid of letters, trying to form words from tiles that are adjacent or diagonal from each other. Each letter is worth a certain amount, with extra points given for word length. As well, later rounds introduce special bonus tiles. The player with the highest combined score after 3 rounds wins the match. Similar to other Zynga Games with Friends titles, the game comes in free ad-supported and paid ad-free flavors, and has a token system for using powerups such as hints, and a board rotator. Tokens are required in order to play some moves, with free "bonus tokens" that the game hands out. Naturally, tokens can be bought through in-app purchases as well. Scramble with Friends, Apple's Game of the Week in the US, is available now.

In the least clever pun we could think of Zynga has got themselves a new toy by announcing today that they have acquired Newtoy Studios. Newtoy is most famous for producing Words with Friends, Chess with Friends, and We Rule for ngmoco:). While Zynga is of course the company which brought us Farmville. Newtoy has been rebranded Zynga with Friends and will continue working out of their Texas-based headquarters.

The new entity will also retain the same management, with Newtoy CEO and co-founder Paul Bettner assuming the role of VP and GM of the Zynga With Friends studio. "We're reinventing the way people are social on their mobile devices," Bettner. "The Zynga With Friends studio will build on the Newtoy legacy of creating approachable, highly social games that are accessible to anyone from anywhere." His brother and co-founder, David will be working as studio director, and Michael Chow will continue his role as director of operations. So it would seem that the day-to-day work around the office will remain pretty much in place and all the familiar faces will stay in place, all that's changing is the sign on the door. That's all probably for the best, as there's no reason to mess up a good thing.

So what is Zynga planning to do with the new Zynga with Friends studio? No specific plans were set but Mark Pincus, founder and CEO said, "The Games With Friends franchise is the best social game experience available on mobile today and we are excited to welcome the Newtoy team to the Zynga family. The Zynga With Friends Studio will continue to invent great mobile social game experiences for Zynga users everywhere."

Of course we'll keep you posted of any news coming out of the Zynga with Friends studio, but for now we'll just say congrats to both companies and best of luck.