ForestVille Available Now on iOS

This week Zynga launched ForestVille, the company's latest mobile social game. The title follows hot on the heels of Dream Zoo, Mafia Wars Shakedown and CityVille Holidaytown, as the social game maker continues to double down on mobile.

ForestVille's game flow shares most in common with CityVille. Players place farms to earn goods and then stock stores with said goods. Fully stocked businesses slowly earn coins over time, keeping the gameplay loop rolling.

The big twist is that instead of human occupants, your town is filled with animal residents. Players can purchase and place bear dens, beaver lodges, rabbit warrens & more to cause more animal inhabitants of that species to move in. Many businesses have animal requirements. Players can't build a Honey Pub without enough bear residents, for example.

For now, ForestVille is being monetized less aggressively than most of Zynga's more mature titles. I didn't run into any instances where I felt like I had to spend money to progress. Instead, it seems like real dough is mostly used to purchase special decorations like Ferris Wheels, or convenience items like a storage cellar that increases the amount of goods a player can store.

In my brief play time with ForestVille, I found the title to be more typical light Zynga fun. The game won't satisfy core gamers looking for deep strategy or fast action, but it's satisfying to see your forest village slowly grow in realtime. Like all Zynga titles, players are rewarded for playing socially. Sending and receiving gifts from friends will allow your town to grow much more quickly.

Generally, I think that social games from Zynga and similar developers work better on mobile devices than on Facebook, where the genre really took off. On mobile, it's easy to hop in for a few seconds, collect some money or some friend gifts, and hop right back out, wherever you may be. It feels more like the experience fits into your life, instead of the game itself dictating your schedule.

ForestVille is available now on the App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It is a free download (with in-app purchases).

Justin is Executive Editor of IGN Wireless. He has been reviewing cell phone games since the dark days of Java flip phones. You can follow him on Twitter and MyIGN.

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