Pawn Stars: The Game on Facebook: Buy and flip your way to riches

Hit History Channel television series Pawn Stars has been transformed into a social experience, in the form of a Facebook game appropriately titled Pawn Stars: The Game. For those fans of the show, which follows the happenings of a family-run pawn shop in Las Vegas, you can now create your very own Pawn Shop, interact with the stars of the show, buy merchandise and then try to sell it for a profit.

All of the elements surrounding the television show seem to be here. Customers will enter the store in groups (limiting the length of any one play session, but more customers can be purchased for Facebook Credits), and each will have one item they'd like to sell.

Each customer has a particular price in mind for the product, and you'll be able to read some true-to-life facts about these items, including their date of creation, country of origin, expected rarity and so on, where applicable. If you've been watching the show since it launched on television in 2009, you'll likely recognize many of these items as those that have appeared on the show in the past - classic war memorabilia, sports rings, antique toys and electronics, and so on. Just like in the show, you'll be able to counter each customer's request for their sell price. That is, if a customer is trying to sell you an antique gold coin for $1500, you could counter with a price that you think is more reasonable. All transactions you take part in either add to or take away from your overall bank account.

In order to give yourself a better idea of what to offer for items, you can pay small portions of your funds to experts who can give you a better idea as to each item's real worth - or they can also let you know if the item is a fake or reproduction. At any time, you can pass on items that you'd rather not purchase, or you can offer a counter-offer to the customer. They'll likely lower their price to somewhere in the middle of the two extremes, and it will once again be up to you as to how much you'd like to offer. Customers can and will leave if they are unsatisfied with all of your offers, or you can simply send them away if you don't have enough money to purchase their goods.

Once you buy items, you'll be able to either store them as part of your collection in the game's "Stock Room," or you can try to turn the items around for a profit by selling them in your store, pricing them at whatever price you see fit (of course, you would try to make as much of a profit as possible). As you level up, you'll be able to earn enough money to purchase more item slots in your store, so you can sell more items at one time, and you'll also unlock the ability to "clean" items, or restore them, and increase their overall value.

Items will either sell or not sell over a period of time. The cheaper the item is, the less time it will take to find a potential buyer, and vice versa. This allows you to leave the game, while your shop stays open for business. If your items sell, you instantly gain a profit, but if they don't, you can lower the price of the items and try again.

In terms of social features, you can visit your friends' Pawn Shops and make their awaiting customers more happy by clicking on them. Happier customers are more willing to haggle, while those that are bored or impatient will likely hold firm at their starting asking price for their item. In your own Pawn Shop, you can also bribe (raise) customers' moods by offering them pieces of candy.

For being an entirely static title (the game is almost entirely devoid of animation), the gameplay here is actually fairly solid. While fans of the television series will undoubtedly get more out of this than those who are unfamiliar, A&E Television Networks promises that further features and enhancements will be coming in the future, hopefully to learn in those players who've never even heard of the Pawn Stars name.

Think you have what it takes to be the ultimate Pawn Star?