The first place to start is probably a “What Have I Been Playing?” wrap-up. Here’s a couple things that have caught my interest lately:

The Sims Social: Everyone’s playing this, and there’s a reason. If you liked any of the Sims games, you’ll dig this one. It’s basically a simplified version of The Sims, where your friends are the NPCs. It’s on the spammy side, but so charming that I’ve almost forgiven it.

Empires and Allies: Zynga’s army-building game. It’s a Zynga game – it’s got the city-building you’d expect – even some crop-growing for you farmers – and a simple, well-executed rock-paper-scissors combat game on top.

Pig Up!: This is a very early preview from Popcap, so the game’s fun but simple at this stage. You shoot your pig from a cannon, click to make him flap up and down to catch power-ups and avoid enemies, and try for the longest distance. I’m enjoying it even at this early date, and can’t wait to see where it goes.

Adventure World: Zynga’s newest – think Treasure Isle with more puzzles and less tedium. It’s new but pretty polished out of the gate. Good stuff so far.

There are a bunch more I want to try, and some I want to come back to, and I’ll keep everyone posted!