Gaming on Facebook is continuing to evolve as the platform attracts new creators and players. The social network now has more genres than ever making up its most-played and biggest-earning games, according to information from Facebook.
While Facebook, which has 260 million people playing games each month, used to be known primarily for such games as FarmVille, Dan Miller, the head of the North American Games Division at Facebook, said the top 20 grossing games are more diverse than ever. Facebook highlighted the diversity in its 2013 Games of the Year review.
See also: Gamers Around the World Are Insanely Addicted to 'FIFA 14'
"Seeing the maturation of the Facebook as a platform is really exciting," Miller said. "These new games and genres really shake up what people imagine Facebook games to be."
Miller said along with seeing more genres, he's seeing people playing games for longer periods, describing what he sees as "usage resembling core PC gameplay." He also said the biggest upticks for Facebook's gaming are in the evening during "prime time hours."
"It's interesting that play is peaking in the evening when all those other entertainment opportunities are available," Miller said. "Evenings are a precious time, when other obligations are behind you. Gamers aren't just spending 15 minutes during the day to while away the time at work."
Miller highlighted the five genres he's seeing expand rapidly at Facebook. Although he and Facebook declined to provide stats for each game's users or money earned through monetization, he said that revenue was up 18% year-over-year from the third quarter of 2012 to 2013.
1. Social Casino — This genre covers social versions of popular casino activities, where you play for in-game currency. Facebook highlighted examples like DoubleU Casino and Heart of Vegas as frontrunners in the genre, which Miller said is "very diverse."
"We have very big partners that were already big in the world of casinos bringing in successful IP from the real world, but we also have wacky startups on Europe with no experience," Miller said.
2. Match 3 — The influence of Candy Crush Saga in this puzzle genre is impossible to ignore this year, though this genre isn't exactly new to Facebook. This style of puzzle game has been endlessly reinvented for two decades. Other examples Facebook highlighted were Jelly Splash and King's Farm Heroes Saga.
3. Hidden Object — Hidden object games involve asking players to hunt down objects in a scene. Miller said Facebook's huge stand out in this genre is Criminal Case, which the company named its "Game of 2013." Developer Pretty Simple recently said the game has 100 million players.
"I'm continually impressed with how diverse the player base is," Miller said. "It's a more diverse age range than you might expect."
4. Hardcore Simulation Games — Miller pointed out that Top Eleven Be a Football Manager is one of the year's biggest successes, with 10 million players.
"It's playing in a space that we thought was core genre. You aren't playing soccer; it's a thinking, strategic game," he said.
5. Hardcore Strategy Games — Strategy games are mostly commonly associated with the PC. Miller said Kixeye's War Commander is a strong example of a real-time strategy game that requires deeply committed play. Other noteworthy strategy games Facebook chose to highlight include Wartune, King's Bounty: Legions and Soldiers Inc.
"The last 18 months show us that a company of almost any size can have a tremendous commercial success in a lot of different genres. Companies are really coming at genres from unique angles," Miller said.
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BONUS: 10 Nearly Impossible Mobile Games
Price: $4.99
Oh, you'll think Hundreds is easy at first. You'll breeze through the first 30 or so levels, struggling just enough to think you're really exceptional.
And then you'll hit level 40, and everything will change. Hundreds is a crazy difficult puzzle game in which you try to tap and grow small bubbles until they add up to 100 without touching each other.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: $2.99
Watch this game trailer and remember how long it took you to solve the simple maze on the back of your cereal box this morning. There is no winning in this game, only survival. Tortuous, fever-inducing survival.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: $0.99
You'll appreciate your brain more than ever once you start playing this infuriating sprinting game. Revitalized for mobile, this classic 100 meter dash has found new levels of clumsiness. See if you can beat the world record of 51 seconds, or, better yet, move forward at all.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: $0.99
You will not make it through this game without dying. 774 Deaths, made by Square Enix (of Final Fantasy fortune) delights itself in being murderously hard.
Be warned: If you get woozy from the site of 8-bit blood, you might not want to pick this one up.
Available on: iOS
Price: $0.99
Hey, you know what's fun and not frustrating? Traffic.
That seems to be the mentality behind the creation of this mobile game in which you direct traffic patterns on confusing, bloated maps that are based directly off of real world roads. It'll keep you up for hours and send you to bed screaming your frustrations into your pillow.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: Free
Imagine you're locked in a room and the only way to get out is to solve a complex logic puzzle. Sound like a bad Twilight Zone episode? It might be. But it's also the hook of 100 Doors 2013.
With 129 doors on the Android app, this game will push you to your limits.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: $1.99
A combination of Castlevania and Candy Crush, 10000000 is a challenging dungeon run game in which you match icons to get loot. It's a lot to get used to, but will entertain you for hours once you master it.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: $4.99
Limbo, equally beautiful as it is disturbing, is a fantastic puzzle-quest for iOS. The gruesome, haunting deaths might be a turnoff, but the challenging gameplay is enough to impress any serious gamer.
Available on: iOS
Price: $0.99
Aptly named, the impossible game has you guiding a little square in a path while avoiding little spikes. It's all very cute until you die and HAVE TO START FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL AGAIN.
The levels get longer and more challenging as you go, as levels tend to do, and you'll find yourself playing into the wee hours of the morning.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Price: $0.99
The App Store's best game of the year in 2012, The Room is a beast of a puzzle game, sending players on a quest to solve the mystery of a hyper-realistic 3D room.
Once you start playing this game you have to decide what's more important: the mystery or your sanity.
Available on: iOS, Google Play
Image: Mashable, Will Fenstermaker