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If you like games (check!) and you like playing with other awesome people such as yourself (double check!) then we’re going to blow your mind tomorrow when we launch OMGPOP, a brand new multiplayer experience on Candystand.com.

Here’s what you need to know!

It’s a brand-new way to play with your friends. We’ve launched a ton of awesome games like Balloono, Putt Putt Penguin, Draw My Thing and more — all multiplayer-enabled, meaning you can play alongside thousands of other online players, for free!

You’ll want to log into your Candystand account before you play. Since the OMGPOP games need your username to identify you in each multiplayer match, we can’t let you play unless we’re able to tell you apart from the thousands of other players. You can also use your Facebook-Connected account. Once logged in, you’re all set!

Instead of earning trophies or tickets, you’ll earn coins! Coins can be used to buy powerups for games, clothing for your characters or just decorations for your profile — you can earn coins simply by playing OMGPOP games.

Look for the OMGPOP icon on games around Candystand.com. All the OMGPOP games will be listed on the OMGPOP category page, but if you’re ever browsing around for a great multiplayer game, just keep an eye out for the icon on the game’s thumbnail image.

We’re super excited to be launching these great games tomorrow morning. Check back on Candystand.com to play – you won’t miss it on the homepage, we promise

Your weekly wrap-up of Candystand gaming news. Got a news tip? Send it to robin@funtank.com!

Game Releases
Looks like a new game debuted on Candystand last night called Golfer’s Getaway. The goal is to drive as far as you can without running into trees or fire hydrants, and to get as far away from a golf club-swinging lady chasing after your car. What’s that? No, of course it has nothing to do with a certain pro golfer’s recent transgressions…

On a more serious note, our Pool Sharks beta has launched! A ton of you guys have been playing and testing our game this week, and we’ve been receiving great feedback from some players, especially on Trick Shot mode:

“It’s great, because it’s both fun to try to beat others players’ shots and create some myself. And it surely improves the fun-factor a lot.”

“It was fun to try something that I love watching others do as well as probably something I will never learn to do in real life.”

We want to make Pool Sharks the best billiards game on the web, and we need your help to do it! Test the game here, and then help us improve it here.

Community Highlights
Our holiday T-shirt giveaway is still going strong! All you need to do is answer our Daily Question on Facebook, and we’ll give one lucky random winner a sweet Candystand shirt every day. Facebook fans Sandi Flammer and Zanna Clifford Olguin have already won, and you could be next

A bunch players have been talking about Candystand games on Twitter! We love it — thanks @TMTYL, @angelstar124, @david_tag, @taz8080 and @mstatz for pimping our site!

Thanks also to the Games.com blog for writing up our Golfer’s Getaway game and to Gamezebo for a belated review of Bridgecraft.

Next week we’ll be debuting a brand-new tickets system (which means more chances for you to earn awesome prizes), an updated homepage and of course, new games. Stay tuned for previews of all three!

Did you know that one of our most popular games was developed by a high schooler? It impressed us, too — match-the-painting puzzler Copy Cat on Candystand.com launched just over a month ago and has already garnered serious praise from sites such as Jay is Games and Gamezebo. We were able to have a quick chat with the developer himself, Adam Abeshouse, in between finishing his senior year and applying to colleges. Check out the interview below!

Tell us about the development of Copy Cat. 
I started development after I came up with the idea on a college visit last February. I had been tossing around the idea of reverse-engineering something for a couple of months and all of a sudden in a car ride, the idea for Copy Cat hit me. I worked non-stop on the main game for about 5 or 6 months, then finished up the level editor in a few weeks. It was tough a lot of the time because I had to balance my school workload and it was a pretty large project.

What kinds of games inspired you to create the game?
I was heavily inspired by the reverse-engineering theme of Bart Bonte’s great Factory Balls. More abstractly, I was inspired by the trend of “physics games” to give the player a sort of sandbox environment in which anything goes to complete the puzzle. With Copy Cat, I wanted to do the same by giving the player an ultimate goal and any number of ways to get there.

What are you working on next?
Right now I’m throwing around ideas about an online board game-type puzzler (think Minesweeper) and I’m working on a game inspired by some things I’ve learned in Physics.

What are your favorite games to play?
My favorite games are of the genre “puzzle-platformer.” For the last few months I’ve been completely obsessed with Jonathan Blow’s “Braid.” I also really enjoy most things by Edmund McMillen, most recently Spewer, and I’m a big fan of so-called “art game” developers, like Jason Rohrer, Gregory Weir, and Daniel Benmergui. I have also really been into Tom Sennett and Matt Thorson’s “RunMan: Race Across the World,” and Erik Svedang’s “Blueberry Garden.”

Play Copy Cat now >

Download Copy Cat for the iPhone/iPod Touch >

Your weekly wrap-up of casual, social and video gaming news. Got a news tip? Send it to robin@funtank.com! 

Game Releases

Our crossword/paint by numbers brainteaser, Picma, launched this week! We’ve shaved a few years off our life by trying to crack the image in each of the game’s 100+ puzzles. Have you played yet? 

Move over Guitar Hero, DJ Hero’s arrived. The newest game to feature a plastic peripheral, DJ Hero lets you live out your record-spinning party-rocking dreams — with 80 mashup songs and a turntable, the only thing we’re missing is a pair of gigantic headphones to clutch while we’re bobbing our heads to the beat. 

The last episode of Grand Theft Auto IV has arrived on the Xbox Live Marketplace and retail stores. The Ballad of Gay Tony extends the storyline of the main game, following new protagonist Luis Lopez as he navigates the glitz and glamour of Liberty City. Among other things, the expansion features base-jumping and tank-driving. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. 

Racing devotees got Forza Motorsport 3 this week, a driving game featuring hyper-realistic cars, tons of customization and a built-in video editor. Decals, tuned setups and videos created can also be downloaded and shared (even sold!) with the game’s storefront. Earning money by creating content for a popular 360 game? Sounds like our life goal!

News

Mashable’s Open Web Awards are now open for nomations! You know who could use a nomination? Candystand for the ‘Most Creative Use of Facebook Connect’ category! You can vote once a day — so please do!

You might be trick-or-treating tomorrow night, but what will you do during the day? Games.com and Gamezebo’s Halloween casual game roundups might just be the thing to tie you over. 

Changes are coming to Facebook which may change the way social gamers are notified of activities in and around games such as Mafia Wars, Farmville and Pet Society. The social network’s messaging system will be used for communication between users (invitations to games, gifts, etc) while email will be used for interactions between application developers and users. Games will also get their own section on a redesigned homepage.