Viral or Social Friends? : "I want to build relationships while playing a game. I want to meet real people."

Since 2008 there has been a rapid rise of casual games on social networking platforms such as Facebook. There are now games based on popular television shows such as CSI and sports, ESPN College Town, as well as the familiar farming and decorating games. As the user base for social networks continues to expand so does the number of casual game players. The purpose of this study was to observe social and viral exchanges between casual game players to determine how these players define friendship and interaction. The results show that the average Facebook game player finds a stronger bond of friendship with players in games with in-game social interaction over games with heavy viral interaction. Data also shows that games where players feel a stronger social bond with other players have a higher sticky factor and avoid the heavy churn rate of some more popular games.