Disney Introduces Facebook Game “Goofy’s Gift Exchange”

Credit: Disney Parks Blog

On Tuesday, the Disney Parks Blog announced a new Disney Facebook game for the holidays. Goofy’s Gift Exchange allows the user to become a Disney character, add holiday decorations to a virtual door and exchange Disney Parks-theme gifts with friends on Facebook.

First, users select a Disney character to help hand out gifts. Then, users visit a Facebook friend’s house. Once at a friend’s house, users can choose to give them a traditional present or a “Goofy gift.” The friend will have the same options for gifting in return.

The gifts will then be added to the user’s collection on the “My Gifts” page. If the user receives a “Goofy gift,” he/she must spin a wheel that will determine whether they get a traditional gift or a “Goofy gift.” Users can also decorate your house with decorations for the holidays.

Users can find special codes on the Disneyland Holidays Facebook Page that unlock additional decorations. A special code (DPBLOG11) was posted on the Disney Parks Blog, so be sure to use that one!

Screenshot from Goofy's Gift Exchange (Facebook)

My Take

This is likely the first of several upcoming Facebook games from Disney. Last year, Disney acquired Playdom, one of the leading companies in online social gaming. Playdom is responsible popular games including Gardens of Time, Wild Ones and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. In an article on Insidesocialgames.com, Playdom CFO Christa Quarles explained the company’s current development structure is what she calls a “federation of startups” that contains almost a dozen different studios, each working on different projects — not all of which are Disney-branded.

I’m not a big fan of social gaming but I certainly recognize they are a huge part of the future social media. It’s good to see Disney finally use Playdom to promote their brand and I’m excited to see what will be unveiled over the next few months.