NEW YORK: The creator of “FarmVille” and “FrontierVille” is ditching the “ville” suffix for its latest Facebook game, “Empires and Allies.” The game from Zynga, which launched Wednesday, is a mix of the classic strategy game “Risk” and “CityVille,” where players oversee virtual cities. Unlike the company's other games, which give points for helping neighbors, “Empires” lets Facebook users play against one another. Like Zynga's other games, “Empires” is free to play. For small amounts of money, you can buy virtual items such as battleships, submarines, army cadets and groups of rifle-wielding solders. It's Zynga's first combat strategy game.
