Facebook gaming is all the rage these days, partly because these games are often really good, and partly because you can play with your friends and spam people share your achievements, etc.
And while there are some very well known games out there such as CityVille and Empires & Allies; in Facebook as in life, it is not necessarily the best games that are the the most popular.
This post will list 10 excellent free (or freemium) Facebook games that are less well known than some of the more famous games, but in many cases are even better.
Here’s the list (and number of active users as of Oct 11th 2011). The games were ranked based on the number of monthly active users.
- Pool Live Tour: top notch pool game with a social twist
- EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars: Real football & soccer: first class soccer management sim
- Army Attack: turn based strategy comes to Facebook
- Airport City: addictive airport management sim
- Shadow Fight: beat up your Facebook friends
- Edgeworld: terrific space themed RTS experience
- UberStrike: a brilliant team based multiplayer 3D first person shooter
- My Country: the best city simulator on Facebook
- PGATour Golf Challenge: 3D golfing action
- Kobe’s Basketball Academy: quirky Basketball management sim
1.Pool Live Tour: top notch pool game with a social twist
Pool games are popular on Facebook, but Pool Live Tour has to be one of the best out there.
Aside from chatting and playing with friends, Pool Live Tour can match you with thousands of real Facebook users ready for a challenge. It is also one of the only ones that lets you purchase/upgrade items such as
Star Rating 4.6 | Monthly active users: 2,960,115 (as of 11/10/2011).
2. EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars: Real football & soccer: first class soccer management sim
A first rate football (soccer) management sim that is highly playable and addictive. Manage your players and their performance as well as your team’s finances; compete against your Facebook friends as they manage other teams in the same 
league.
All I can say is: if you haven’t played this type of football management game before it is time to start; you will not be disappointed.
Star rating 4.5 | Monthly active users: 2,478,771 (as of 11/10/2011).
3. Army Attack
: turn based strategy comes to Facebook
A turn based strategy game of map domination. Compete against the enemy over territory and resources in this very engaging game.
You cannot play against your friends; however, those friends who play this game can share some of their resources with you to lend a helping hand (from their own, separate gaming sessions).
Star rating 4.9 | Monthly active users: 2,298,326 (as of 11/10/2011).
4. Airport City: addictive airport management sim
Excellent game alert! Airport City is an airport-building simulation game that manages to (a) offer a significant game of complexity, and (b) keep you engaged for a vey long time.
As in CityVille, your Facebook friends are incent
ivized to visit your airport and check out the wonderful progress that you made, giving this game the kind of social dimension that Facebook can deliver so well.
Star rating 4.7 | Monthly active users: 2,172,533 (as of 11/10/2011).
5.Shadow Fight: beat up your Facebook friends
Ever wanted to beat up your Facebook ‘friends’? Well now is your chance. Shadow Fight is a very well built Kung Fu fighting game that employs moves triggered by keyboard combinations.
Fight against your friends or against CPU monsters in order to build up experience and earn coins, etc. Coins earned can be used to buy weapons and other items, or (of course) you can purchase these items for real world money.
Star rating 5.0 (although based on a tiny sample of 5 reviewers) | Monthly active users: 1,802,627 (as of 11/10/2011).
6. Edgeworld
: terrific space themed RTS experience
Grab resources and build up your base in this space themed isometric Real Time Strategy game. You can fight and compete against other players that are not on your friends’ list. You can chat with other players to agree on a non-aggression stance between the two of you, for example. One neat feature is the way your forces evolve over the course of the game (see video below).
Stick with this one past level 7 and you will find it becoming exponentially more rewarding.
Star rating 4.3 | Monthly active users: 1,500,000 (as of 11/10/2011).
7. UberStrike: a brilliant team based multiplayer 3D first person shooter
A Facebook-based 3D first person shooter that kicks a**. UberStrike is a Counter Strike-influenced team based multiplayer played with other Facebook users. Play this game fullscreen (via by pressing Alt+F), for the best experience.
As you might expect, progressing through levels accumulates coins that can be used to purchase advanced weapons, armor, and other items, etc.
Star rating 4.1 | Monthly active users: 890,267 (as of 11/10/2011).
8. My Country
: the best city simulator on Facebook
CityVille may be the most popular game on Facebook, but gamers who want something more serious and in-depth will find ‘My Country’ to be the better game of the two, and certainly the more realistic.
As in CityVille, you can compete against your friends and show off your urban creations. Definitely check this one out.
Star rating 4.7 | Monthly active users: 631,337 (as of 11/10/2011).
9. PGATour Golf Challenge: 3D golfing action
Tired of all the sports management games? Then try this game for some 3D golfing action..
The first thing you notice about this one is that the objects and 3D environment are just so well modeled. The next you you notice is that it is just pure plain fun!
Star rating 3.8 | Monthly active users: 102,251 (as of 11/10/2011).
: quirky Basketball management sim
The second sports management sim in this post , Kobe’s Basketball Academy is a first rate sports management simulator, this time for readers whose imagination is captured by Basketball rather than soccer.
Kobe’s Basketball Academy’s objective is to take charge of a your team of students and progress through the leagues. Kobe himself will guide and help you along the way via video snippets scattered throughout the game.
Star rating 4.4 | Monthly active users: 72,426 (as of 11/10/2011).
Thanks go to Alaa K for doing most of the research for this article. Have other Facebook games that people need to know about? Let us know in the comments section.
