Maxis and Electronic Arts have unleashed yet another way to find yourself mysteriously losing time on Facebook. SimCity Social has launched on the social network in "open beta," letting everyone build their own virtual cities.

As with most Facebook games, the experience is free-to-play, meaning you won't have to buy any in-game currency to make progress through the game. However, be prepared to be bombarded with a number of social tie-ins, such as hiring friends to become researchers, or your town's fire chief.

And, as with many Zynga games, you'll be limited to a certain number of actions per day, unless you buy diamonds. Many in-game items are also locked unless you meet certain requirements, or purchase them with diamonds. 12 diamonds will go for $2, while 900 will go for $100.

Although it's technically an "open beta," EA reassures fans that "any progress, Diamonds or relationships" you earn will not be reset during any downtime the game may face during open beta.