Zynga.com's games platform is now live in beta mode — and you can find it here.

The platform is launching with just five Zynga games: CityVille, CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker. When entering any of these games from the platform, the user is prompted to connect with Facebook. A quick tutorial walks new players through platform features regardless of which game a new user enters.

In the platfor, CastleVille loaded approximately in the same amount of time it takes to launch CastleVille on Facebook (from the point of clicking "Play" to the point where you're actually playing the game). Also of note, the right-hand chat and live feed bar that distinguishes gameplay between the two platforms is also apparently not viewable in full screen mode on Zynga.com.

This beginning experience on Zynga.com should be used to acclimate yourself to the site's layout, and as a way to fill out your zFriends list with plenty of new in-game neighbors so that you'll really be ready to make progress when the rest of the site's features come online.