Most gamers cringe at the thought of playing games on Facebook, and who can blame them? After years spent scrubbing their walls of incessant requests for bales of hay -- or doing the farm-spamming themselves -- they've grown wary of signing up for yet another Facebook clickfest.

The good news is that a handful of newer Facebook games deliver plenty of fun without requiring that you ruin your relationships. Better yet, some actually offer gameplay deep enough to warrant an hour or two of your time each day. If you're looking for new Facebook game pal, start with these five.

Twenty years after revolutionizing gaming, the iconic Wolfenstein 3D is back. And it won't cost you a dime to enjoy it.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first first-person shooter, id Software and its parent company Bethesda Softworks have released a free-to-play web version of the game that runs right out of your web browser. For folks who prefer their gaming on the go, the developer will also offer Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum free to iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners for a limited time.

The Force is, well, a little tepid with Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Electronic Arts' much ballyhooed massively-multiplayer game set in George Lucas's celebrated universe is bleeding customers, losing some 400,000 in the fourth quarter -- a number much worse than anyone was expecting.

This is The Elder Scrolls...Picture it: you're deep within an ancient Dwarven ruin, trusty blade in hand, your flickering torch casting ominous shadows on the mysterious steampunk architecture.  Squinting into the semi-darkness, you make out movement ahead.  Tensing, you creep forward, and behold…

…a half-dozen wood elves jumping up and down like Adderall-deprived 8-year-olds, with big glowing names like GRINDURBONZE and MOMMAZBOY, yelling things like 'LOL, bards R overpowered' and 'hey d00d wanna duel?'

Kills the mood a bit, doesn't it?  This is the nightmare scenario some fans of The Elder Scrolls — one of the last truly great single-player role-playing series — are dreading with the recently-announced The Elder Scrolls Online, the franchise's first foray into the world of massively-multiplayer online gaming.

Once the belle of the mobile gaming ball, smash hit Draw Something appears to be running out of ink.

A recent report by Appdata shows an alarming drop in players of the blockbuster social drawing game, with the number of Daily Active Users plummeting from 14.3 million in April to 9.2 million as of May 7 (Note: Appdata tracks Facebook logins, not total users.)

After a week of speculation, Microsoft has formally announced plans to offer a subscription-based Xbox 360/Kinect bundle requiring a two-year paid commitment.

Customers will pay $99 for a 4 GB Xbox 360 and Kinect up front, then will pay $15 per month for the next two years. They'll enjoy an Xbox Live Gold subscription during that time period, but no additional functionality in the service.

(Credit: AP / Farah Abdi Warsameh)

By Abdi Guled, Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Inside a hot, cramped room in the Somali capital, 10 sweating children sat on wooden desks, not unlike those found in schools. These boys, though, were not in class. They were staring at a small TV and tightly gripping video-game controllers.

Video games are the new rage in Somalia, a first-world entertainment option for teenage boys that wasn't permitted when ultraconservative al-Shabab militants controlled the capital. The insurgents — who were pushed out of Mogadishu last year byAfrican Union and Somali troops — banned recreational pleasures like movies and Nintendo.

With the militants gone, Somali teens and boys are bingeing on entertainment systems like Sony's PlayStation, a development with both positive and negative aspects.

By Tarmo Virki, Reuters | Mon May 7, 2012 8:21am EDT

Credit: Reuters/Georgina Prodhan(Reuters) - Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment said sales jumped tenfold to $100 million last year as gamers flocked to download its titles, adding business was now strong enough for a stock market listing.

The Finnish startup making Angry Birds games -- in which players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the birds' eggs -- has been valued by analysts at up to $9 billion, just short of that of struggling world No.2 phonemaker Nokia.