Zynga Rolls Out New Facebook Game: 'Ruby Blast'

Zynga released its newest arcade title for Facebook Tuesday. Ruby Blast is a match-three game that invites players to excavate a gem mine to beat their friends' high scores.

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This is Zynga's third foray into the arcade genre, and it helps them broaden their reach beyond the popular Ville games that are their bread and butter. Their first arcade release, Bubble Safari, is now the top game on Facebook's App Store with 100 million installs.

Ruby Blast is the first game from the Zynga Seattle studios, and their take on the oft-reinvented match-three subgenre of puzzle games. Notable examples already exist, such as Bejeweled (and Ruby Blast feels similar to that title's 'Diamond Mine' mode on iOS devices), Meteos and Puzzle Quest. Players not only have to match groups of three or more like colors, but use them to dig deeper into a mine, extending the game clock and finding gems that boost their level.

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But Jonathan Grant, design director at Zynga Seattle, said they wanted 'an experience that was familiar to players but also redefined it.'

'We wanted it playable by as many people as possible,' Grant said. 'My grandma can play. As she improves and gains experience, she still has new wrinkles to master.'

Grant said Ruby Blast also differentiates itself by bringing high-level graphics to Facebook. The game uses Adobe's Flash 11 player to bring an extra visual pop to the game's variety of power ups.

There is also a unique social hook to Ruby Blast: Photos of friends also playing the game appear in the stacks of gems. Blow them up for a bonus in the game. Players also get bonuses for beating the high scores of their friends, and appearing at the top of their social leaderboard.

The game still has touches of Zynga's freemium backbone. If you're running low on gems, which power special moves, more can be purchased from the app.

What do you think of Zynga's new expansions into the arcade category? Let us know in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.



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