Social Game Playing Strategies and Tips

Ayeah Games, Inc.’s celebrity based, free-to-play social reality game -- FanSwarm™ -- discovers a player who has earned more than 2.7 million “Stardust” points (i.e. the virtual currency within FanSwarm) since the game launched five weeks ago. Jeff Hebert, a player based in Bedford, Mass., formulated a winning strategy that earns him more than 100,000 “Stardust” per day and within a couple weeks of playing, turned his initial 2,000 “Stardust” points into a portfolio worth several million. The announcement was made today by Doug Levin, Founder and CEO of Ayeah Games. “I got hooked on FanSwarm because it wasn't just about tabloid celebrities – the game has athletes, politicians and business leaders as well,” said Hebert. “I like FanSwarm because I don't have to sit and play non-stop like a video game. I can check it first thing in the morning, at mid-day and then again after work, buying or selling shares based on who I hear about in the news that day.”

Doing his part to stimulate the FanSwarm economy, Hebert spent all of his “Stardust” earned on a daily basis to rapidly build up his portfolio. Hebert’s strategy started with seeking stars to support who were the least expensive and yielded a payout roughly equal to the initial cost, or notable public figures he could recoup his initial cost for within two days. For example, it cost Hebert 10 “Stardust” per stake in Amanda Peet and she earned him 10 “Stardust” per day; and Al Franken cost 40 “Stardust” per share and yields 22 “Stardust” per day. Currently he earns the most points through his shares in Steve Wozniak at 5,300 “Stardust” per day.

Aiding Hebert in his search for the celebrities who were the most cost effective to support were the special FanSwarm holiday-themed indexes tied to Hanukkah, Thanksgiving and Halloween. Hebert watched the rise and fall of holiday related stars as a group and made more well-informed choices about which celebrities to back during the holiday season to gain a larger number of points and achieve higher levels of influence within the game.

“Jeff's rapid success in the game is a pleasant surprise to everyone on the FanSwarm team. We are thrilled to have him share his strategies and reinforce how applicable the holiday themed indexes are to real results in the game,” said Levin. “We are eager to launch the Christmas Index on the 20th and watch how quickly Jeff levels-up again.”

Hebert also completed dozens of events like charity dinners, red carpet arrivals, beach scenes and ballet events. The prize for finishing events is earning a share in a Hot Trending celebrity as well as a share in a surprise guest. The benefit for Hebert was getting a share of a Hot Trending celebrity for less than their share price. He also carefully chooses which notable figures he wants to hold onto long term and which ones he wants to sell at the peak of their 15 minutes.

FanSwarm will continue the holiday cheer on Monday, December 20th with the release of a “Christmas Index” noting the top 50 famous figures featured in a variety of classic Christmas television shows, specials, movies, musicals and popular holiday singers (e.g. A Christmas Story, The Miracle on 34th Street, Harry Connick Jr., etc.).

FanSwarm represents the evolution of the social gaming experience by blending authentic photography, actual events and news, and all the elements of successful social game environments (e.g. graphics, game play and characters). FanSwarm is the first “social reality” game to transform current celebrity news and culture into a free-to-play game. The concept behind FanSwarm is derived from nature (i.e., insects, birds, fish, etc.) and swarming – in the context of this game – represents the quantity of responses to news and the range of positive and negative feedback. FanSwarm is instantly playable for Facebook users who are both casual and serious gamers, and is versatile enough for any time commitment.

FanSwarm can be found online at http://apps.facebook.com/FanSwarm.