If you're looking for a way to earn extra coins, XP and Zoning Permits in CityVille, and you have a lot of friends that are always willing to help you out, you might be interested in the new "Campaign Committee" goal that was launched this week in the game. This feature is open to users that are at least level 15 and have at least one City Hall building in their town. As of right now, this is a one-time only feature, and instead of showing up on the left-hand side of your screen as other goals appear, this one must be activated by you by collecting from your City Hall when it's ready.
The next time you collect your profits from your City Hall, you'll see a new menu, asking you whether or not you'd like to start this new goal. You'll have just 24 hours to collect as much help from your City Hall staff members as you plan your campaign for your run for Governor. There are three levels of prizes associated with this goal, with more upgraded City Halls unlocking better prizes, and the amount of friends that ultimately help you also affecting your rewards. For a Level 2 City Hall, the three level of rewards are 10,000 coins, 40 XP and 3 Zoning Permits.
Once you start the goal (remember, it's a manual start - you can choose to do so whenever you're ready), you'll be able to post wall posts to your friends' walls asking them to come help you out. If you happen to have many spaces filled by Samantha or just blank staff positions, you can fill those by asking friends as well. When a friend responds to your call for help, you'll see a green check mark appear next to their name on the list. After the 24 hour period has passed, you'll receive whatever prizes you've received for your current level (note: you can track your current status on prizes by looking inside the goal's menu, as seen below).
Again, this Campaign Committee goal is a one-time-only activity for your town. Perhaps if it goes over well enough with users, we'll see another opportunity to ask our friends for help with campaign "donations," but for now, just focus all of your efforts on earning the most rewards from this feature while you can.
What do you think of the Campaign Committee feature in CityVille? Would you like to see this be an ongoing feature in your town? Sound off in the comments.
Legit site to earn money from home
Friday, September 30, 2011
Clarins looks to beautify Facebook with Spa Life, its first social game
Is it only a matter time now before mom pants get their own Facebook game? Clarins, a well-known French brand of beauty products, recently released its own Facebook game, Spa Life. The game doesn't stray far away from games like Cafe World or Restaurant City, but applies the same principles to managing a spa rather than an eatery. Developed by Freshplanet, Spa Life has players managing an influx of customers looking for everything from a "mani-pedi" to facials and more.
Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.
According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."
Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.
For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.
Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >
Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.
According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."
Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.
For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.
Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >
Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, "finally?" During a panel named "The Rise of Social Games" at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we've come to love.
Honestly, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn't get into why it's taken this long for Disney to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer--and we enjoyed quite a bit--peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company's name, according to Pleasants. "We think it's an advantage, if you put game play first," Pleasants said.
It's comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam's Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]
Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we've come to love.
Honestly, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn't get into why it's taken this long for Disney to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer--and we enjoyed quite a bit--peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company's name, according to Pleasants. "We think it's an advantage, if you put game play first," Pleasants said.
It's comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam's Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]
Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
New Pioneer Trail World Map: Are four more expansions on the way?
Pioneer Trail World Map
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The CityVille French Riviera Casino: Everything you need to know
Nearly a year after the game's release, it's finally time to unlock the first CityVille Wonder: The Eiffel Tower. We've guided you through building both the Sailboat Hotel and the Tonga Tower, and now Zynga has released the French Riviera Casino to the game. It's the third and final building required to access CityVille's first Wonder, and follows about the same pattern as its predecessors. But that doesn't make it any simpler of a task, so here's everything you need to know:
Players must be at least Level 30 to access the French Riviera Casino. Once you reach that point, you'll come across a new Goal from Edgar. It simply asks that you place the foundation for the building, and rewards you 2 XP for doing so. Keep in mind that you don't have to complete the Sailboat Hotel and Tonga Tower to access this Goal.
However, you will have to finish all three to access the Eiffel Tower. Once you place the new building, it will appear complete with massive tarps, scaffolding and a giant crane. Click on it again to reveal the next giant steps in constructing this massive building in a window featuring three tasks.
Unlock French Riviera Casino
Unlock the French Riviera Casino
* Gather parts to Unlock
* Upgrade one French Business to Level 2
* Master one French Crop to Level 2
Like most buildings in CityVille, you must ask your friends for a list of items, though this time that list is more like a litany. You must ask friends for 12 of each of these items: Roulette Wheel, Dice, Slot Machine, Deck of Cards and Poker Chip. Once you receive one of each, you can place them on your Wish List to possibly make this part pass by more quickly.
Of the French Businesses listed in the Goal, we recommend upgrading the French Restaurant, as it costs the least at 4,500 Coins and holds just 110 Goods, meaning it will be open for collection more often and thus more upgrade points. Choosing the best French crop to upgrade is easy: Go with what's cheapest. That would be the Sun Flowers, which cost just 51 Coins and take 15 hours to harvest.
Inside French Riviera Casino
Once you completed all three daunting tasks, click "Finish Building" to unveil the French Riviera Casino. Of course, the building is functional, but operates much like a standard Hotel. Click on the building to supply it with a whopping 500 Goods. Click it again, and a menu similar to the Hotels will appear. While your city's residents will populate the French Riviera Casino, you can invite friends to boost the building's payout up to three times the normal value.
You can even invite friends as VIP guests after the Casino is ready to be collected. Just click on the hovering VIP icon to select five VIP friends. This is the final building to unlock the Eiffel Tower, so go on and build the first Wonder ever to hit CityVille.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you finished all three buildings to unlock the Eiffel Tower yet? What do you think of how Zynga has handled this new set of buildings? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments
Players must be at least Level 30 to access the French Riviera Casino. Once you reach that point, you'll come across a new Goal from Edgar. It simply asks that you place the foundation for the building, and rewards you 2 XP for doing so. Keep in mind that you don't have to complete the Sailboat Hotel and Tonga Tower to access this Goal.
However, you will have to finish all three to access the Eiffel Tower. Once you place the new building, it will appear complete with massive tarps, scaffolding and a giant crane. Click on it again to reveal the next giant steps in constructing this massive building in a window featuring three tasks.
Unlock French Riviera Casino
Unlock the French Riviera Casino
* Gather parts to Unlock
* Upgrade one French Business to Level 2
* Master one French Crop to Level 2
Like most buildings in CityVille, you must ask your friends for a list of items, though this time that list is more like a litany. You must ask friends for 12 of each of these items: Roulette Wheel, Dice, Slot Machine, Deck of Cards and Poker Chip. Once you receive one of each, you can place them on your Wish List to possibly make this part pass by more quickly.
Of the French Businesses listed in the Goal, we recommend upgrading the French Restaurant, as it costs the least at 4,500 Coins and holds just 110 Goods, meaning it will be open for collection more often and thus more upgrade points. Choosing the best French crop to upgrade is easy: Go with what's cheapest. That would be the Sun Flowers, which cost just 51 Coins and take 15 hours to harvest.
Inside French Riviera Casino
Once you completed all three daunting tasks, click "Finish Building" to unveil the French Riviera Casino. Of course, the building is functional, but operates much like a standard Hotel. Click on the building to supply it with a whopping 500 Goods. Click it again, and a menu similar to the Hotels will appear. While your city's residents will populate the French Riviera Casino, you can invite friends to boost the building's payout up to three times the normal value.
You can even invite friends as VIP guests after the Casino is ready to be collected. Just click on the hovering VIP icon to select five VIP friends. This is the final building to unlock the Eiffel Tower, so go on and build the first Wonder ever to hit CityVille.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you finished all three buildings to unlock the Eiffel Tower yet? What do you think of how Zynga has handled this new set of buildings? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Earn 4 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Capital One promotion
At this rate, perhaps we should just rename FarmVille "Capital OneVille." Why? Yet another cross-promotional activity has launched in the game, allowing users to walk away with 4 free Farm Cash. Unlike the Capital One farm and goat, or even the Capital One free gift that can be sent to friends, this promotion is found where most other free Farm Cash promotions are located: underneath the FarmVille gameplay area.
This promotion is a fairly lengthy one. Once you launch the activity window, you'll need to watch a full Capital One trailer, and can then answer some quiz and survey about what you've seen or the Capital One brand in general. Don't worry - these "quiz" questions are incredibly easy, and if I had to make a guess, it likely wouldn't matter which way you answered; you'd still likely get the Farm Cash at the end.
After manually answering one fill-in-the-blank question, the activity will finally be complete, and you'll be the proud owner of 4 free Farm Cash. This is double the amount of Farm Cash we normally see released in such promotions, so at least it excuses a bit of the additional time it takes to complete this particular activity. As usual, you'll want to complete this promotion as soon as you see it pop-up underneath your game; there's no telling when it will expire, and you will have missed your chance.
Have you seen the Capital One promotion appear under your gameplay area in FarmVille? What will you do with your four free Farm Cash? Sound off in the comments.
This promotion is a fairly lengthy one. Once you launch the activity window, you'll need to watch a full Capital One trailer, and can then answer some quiz and survey about what you've seen or the Capital One brand in general. Don't worry - these "quiz" questions are incredibly easy, and if I had to make a guess, it likely wouldn't matter which way you answered; you'd still likely get the Farm Cash at the end.
After manually answering one fill-in-the-blank question, the activity will finally be complete, and you'll be the proud owner of 4 free Farm Cash. This is double the amount of Farm Cash we normally see released in such promotions, so at least it excuses a bit of the additional time it takes to complete this particular activity. As usual, you'll want to complete this promotion as soon as you see it pop-up underneath your game; there's no telling when it will expire, and you will have missed your chance.
Have you seen the Capital One promotion appear under your gameplay area in FarmVille? What will you do with your four free Farm Cash? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Lighthouse Cove: Splurge on an Unwither Ring for your new farm
Even though the actual act of farming isn't the main focus of FarmVille's third farm the Lighthouse Cove (rather, the focus is on creating a resort village with buildings, trees or even animals), if you really don't want to have to worry about farming (specifically, losing your crops) ever again, you can purchase an Unwither Ring specifically for your new farm so that your new crops will never wither... ever. Even if you happen to forget you've planted crops in your new farm, or plant short-growing crops that happen to wither quicker than you imagined, this Unwither Ring will prevent all that.
Of course, just because you're purchasing one for a new farm doesn't mean the price of this luxury / convenience has gone down. A single Unwither Ring costs 250 Farm Cash, and you can either keep one for yourself, or purchase one to send to a friend (a very, very lucky friend). If the color matters, this new version of the Unwither Ring comes in a lovely purple box.
As usual, this Unwither Ring release isn't permanent, as you'll only have 12 days to purchase one for your Lighthouse Cove. While the item will permanently function on that farm, your ability to purchase is fading fast. Still, is the current equivalent of over $45 US worth the convenience of never having to worry about your crops' time limit? We'll leave that up to you to decide.
Will you purchase an Unwither Ring for your Lighthouse Cove farm? Do you have a ring on your other farms? If so, were they worth the purchase? Sound off in the comments.
Of course, just because you're purchasing one for a new farm doesn't mean the price of this luxury / convenience has gone down. A single Unwither Ring costs 250 Farm Cash, and you can either keep one for yourself, or purchase one to send to a friend (a very, very lucky friend). If the color matters, this new version of the Unwither Ring comes in a lovely purple box.
As usual, this Unwither Ring release isn't permanent, as you'll only have 12 days to purchase one for your Lighthouse Cove. While the item will permanently function on that farm, your ability to purchase is fading fast. Still, is the current equivalent of over $45 US worth the convenience of never having to worry about your crops' time limit? We'll leave that up to you to decide.
Will you purchase an Unwither Ring for your Lighthouse Cove farm? Do you have a ring on your other farms? If so, were they worth the purchase? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Lighthouse Cove: New items come with sale prices for a limited time
On top of releasing new items in the FarmVille marketplace this evening, Zynga has also given us an extra incentive to go shopping by placing (most of these) new items on sale, but only for a limited time. These items come in the Lighthouse Cove theme, which, as you'll recall means that you can either place them on your Lighthouse Cove proper, or can place them on other farms as well. Just remember that if you purchase them on your Home or English farm and then want to move them to the Lighthouse Cove, you won't be able to move them back and forth until we've been given the ability to access storage across all three farms. Without further ado, here's a look at this week's available items.
Trees
Autumn Cherry Tree - 5 Farm Cash (down from 8)
Bradford Pear Tree - 10 Farm Cash (down from 14)
The Autumn Cherry Tree is the level one tree in this equation, meaning you can earn Bradford Pear Trees for free from Mystery Seedlings. These sale prices bring the trees back down to the prices we used to see trees priced at normally, so make sure to snag one (some) if those cheaper prices are acceptable to you.
Animals
Brown Maine Coon - 8 Farm Cash (down from 10)
Brown Pinto Mini - 22 Farm Cash (down from 26)
The Brown Maine Coon is simply a brown version of the original Maine Coon that's available for 200,000 coins, permanently. It does, however, come with its own mastery sign, so you'll need to splurge on at least one if you want to be eligible to earn it. As for the Brown Pinto Mini, this is a new horse that gives you 2,600 experience points upon purchasing it.
Buildings
Fisherman's Shack - 16 Farm Cash (down from 20)
New England Inn - 30 Farm Cash
If you're taking the supposed "purpose" of Lighthouse Cove seriously (that being to create a building-centric resort town), you'll be happy to see that this Fisherman's Shack placed on sale, as you'll be able to further flesh out that building with this "home" for even cheaper than before. Interestingly, the New England Inn isn't on sale, but it's not the only one that's not been given the sale price treatment.
Decorations
Autumn Creek - 12 Farm Cash (down from 15)
October Picnic - 3 Farm Cash
Flowery Picket - 5,000 coins
Porch Swing - 50,000 coins
Tree Arch - 10,000 coins
As I said before, here's another set of items that haven't been given sale prices. While this is expected with coin items, as coins are free to come by, I am surprised that the October Picnic hasn't been priced at 1 or 2 Farm Cash instead of 3, just so it too could be "on sale." Either way, make sure to check your storage for a Tree Arch, as it's been released before in previous events. Also, while an item called the "Porch Swing" has been released before, please note that this item is different.
As usual, all of these items are on a time limit, and will only be around for the the next 13 days. Happy farming!
Which of these items will you purchase for your farms? Have you been using these Lighthouse Cove items on other farms as simply decorations, or are you keeping them on your new farm? Sound off in the comments.
Trees
Autumn Cherry Tree - 5 Farm Cash (down from 8)
Bradford Pear Tree - 10 Farm Cash (down from 14)
The Autumn Cherry Tree is the level one tree in this equation, meaning you can earn Bradford Pear Trees for free from Mystery Seedlings. These sale prices bring the trees back down to the prices we used to see trees priced at normally, so make sure to snag one (some) if those cheaper prices are acceptable to you.
Animals
Brown Maine Coon - 8 Farm Cash (down from 10)
Brown Pinto Mini - 22 Farm Cash (down from 26)
The Brown Maine Coon is simply a brown version of the original Maine Coon that's available for 200,000 coins, permanently. It does, however, come with its own mastery sign, so you'll need to splurge on at least one if you want to be eligible to earn it. As for the Brown Pinto Mini, this is a new horse that gives you 2,600 experience points upon purchasing it.
Buildings
Fisherman's Shack - 16 Farm Cash (down from 20)
New England Inn - 30 Farm Cash
If you're taking the supposed "purpose" of Lighthouse Cove seriously (that being to create a building-centric resort town), you'll be happy to see that this Fisherman's Shack placed on sale, as you'll be able to further flesh out that building with this "home" for even cheaper than before. Interestingly, the New England Inn isn't on sale, but it's not the only one that's not been given the sale price treatment.
Decorations
Autumn Creek - 12 Farm Cash (down from 15)
October Picnic - 3 Farm Cash
Flowery Picket - 5,000 coins
Porch Swing - 50,000 coins
Tree Arch - 10,000 coins
As I said before, here's another set of items that haven't been given sale prices. While this is expected with coin items, as coins are free to come by, I am surprised that the October Picnic hasn't been priced at 1 or 2 Farm Cash instead of 3, just so it too could be "on sale." Either way, make sure to check your storage for a Tree Arch, as it's been released before in previous events. Also, while an item called the "Porch Swing" has been released before, please note that this item is different.
As usual, all of these items are on a time limit, and will only be around for the the next 13 days. Happy farming!
Which of these items will you purchase for your farms? Have you been using these Lighthouse Cove items on other farms as simply decorations, or are you keeping them on your new farm? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille: Limited edition Cows come back to the barnyard (again)
No, you're not experiencing deja vu farmers, Zynga has yet again re-released a set of cows into FarmVille, giving you guys a chance to fill your collections in anticipation of what looks to be a Cow-centric breeding habitat coming to the farm. We last saw some of these Cows back in August, when Animal Mastery hit the farm, but there are some different options for your shopping pleasure this time around.
As usual, you'll only have a week to do any shopping associated with this re-release of Cows, so here's a complete look at those that have been re-released:
Autumn Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Blue Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Robot Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Western Longhorn - 20 Farm Cash
Devon Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Mohawk Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Fairy Cow - 24 Farm Cash
Hereford Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Highland Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Chrome Cow - 24 Farm Cash
Unfortunately, there aren't any coin-only Cows in this update, so you'll have to spend some of your hard-earned Farm Cash to stock up on any of these animals. Unlike previous animal habitats, the upcoming Cow building will allow you to breed Calves, rather that duplicates of these Cows, so if you don't want to waste time waiting for those Calves to grow inside your Nursery Barn, you might want to buy these Cows as is.
We'll make sure to let you know when the next animal habitat launches in the game, and hopefully we'll be able to bring you the news very, very soon.
Will you purchase any of these Cows for your farms, even if you don't place them in a storage building? Which ones are your favorites? Sound off in the comments.
As usual, you'll only have a week to do any shopping associated with this re-release of Cows, so here's a complete look at those that have been re-released:
Autumn Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Blue Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Robot Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Western Longhorn - 20 Farm Cash
Devon Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Mohawk Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Fairy Cow - 24 Farm Cash
Hereford Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Highland Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Chrome Cow - 24 Farm Cash
Unfortunately, there aren't any coin-only Cows in this update, so you'll have to spend some of your hard-earned Farm Cash to stock up on any of these animals. Unlike previous animal habitats, the upcoming Cow building will allow you to breed Calves, rather that duplicates of these Cows, so if you don't want to waste time waiting for those Calves to grow inside your Nursery Barn, you might want to buy these Cows as is.
We'll make sure to let you know when the next animal habitat launches in the game, and hopefully we'll be able to bring you the news very, very soon.
Will you purchase any of these Cows for your farms, even if you don't place them in a storage building? Which ones are your favorites? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Cow Pasture: Everything you need to know
A fifth breeding building has started rolling out in FarmVille, and this newest animal habitat comes in the form of the Cow Pasture. Yes, I know we all probably have plenty of Dairy Farms on our farms to store cows (note: with the launch of this feature, Dairy Farms are no longer available for purchase in the market), but with these new buildings, we'll have a chance to store and breed cows even without bulls, by simply having one of a particular animal inside it. Of course, you'll need to first build your Cow Pasture before you can use it, so let's get straight into the guide.
The Cow Pasture requires 30 ingredients: 10 each of Hay Bundles, Stones and Tin Sheets. Unfortunately, these Stones are the same items you'll need to continue to repair the cove in Lighthouse Cove, so you'll need to once again decide which item is more important at the time: building this Cow Pasture, or repairing the Cove. Once the Cow Pasture is built, you'll be able to store 20 different Cows inside (perhaps you'd like to fill it with some cows that were re-released this evening). You'll also receive a free Irish Moiled Cow for completing it.
What makes this Cow Pasture different than other animal habitats is that you'll breed calves, rather than duplicate animals of those placed inside your Cow Pasture. With this comes the announcement that Calf and Foal mastery is "coming soon," so you'll want to have as many of these calves appear on your land as possible to prepare for that. While that may not give you a chance to easily stock up on fully grown Cows, I suppose you could place these extra calves in your Nursery Barn in the hopes that they eventually grow up.
Alternatively, you can click on the "Grow Up" button on your new Calves to grow them manually into adults by paying Farm Cash. Yes, this feature only costs Farm Cash and is currently unavailable for coins. The only positive that comes with this is that you won't need to collect Animal Feed, and can then use your excess Feed on the many, many babies you probably already have on your land.
For the record, it doesn't look like this Cow Pasture will do anything to your existing Dairy Farms, so feel free to keep those on your farm for easy storage of existing Cows on your farm(s).
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Cow Pasture feature? Are you looking forward to calf and foal mastery? Sound off in the comments.
The Cow Pasture requires 30 ingredients: 10 each of Hay Bundles, Stones and Tin Sheets. Unfortunately, these Stones are the same items you'll need to continue to repair the cove in Lighthouse Cove, so you'll need to once again decide which item is more important at the time: building this Cow Pasture, or repairing the Cove. Once the Cow Pasture is built, you'll be able to store 20 different Cows inside (perhaps you'd like to fill it with some cows that were re-released this evening). You'll also receive a free Irish Moiled Cow for completing it.
What makes this Cow Pasture different than other animal habitats is that you'll breed calves, rather than duplicate animals of those placed inside your Cow Pasture. With this comes the announcement that Calf and Foal mastery is "coming soon," so you'll want to have as many of these calves appear on your land as possible to prepare for that. While that may not give you a chance to easily stock up on fully grown Cows, I suppose you could place these extra calves in your Nursery Barn in the hopes that they eventually grow up.
Alternatively, you can click on the "Grow Up" button on your new Calves to grow them manually into adults by paying Farm Cash. Yes, this feature only costs Farm Cash and is currently unavailable for coins. The only positive that comes with this is that you won't need to collect Animal Feed, and can then use your excess Feed on the many, many babies you probably already have on your land.
For the record, it doesn't look like this Cow Pasture will do anything to your existing Dairy Farms, so feel free to keep those on your farm for easy storage of existing Cows on your farm(s).
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Cow Pasture feature? Are you looking forward to calf and foal mastery? Sound off in the comments.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
FarmVille: Free Crab Shack with any Farm Cash purchase
While the "free-gift-with-purchase" feature in FarmVille has continued to grow, giving users a way to stock up on extra animals that they may have missed in their original releases in the game, until recently, that's all the feature has been: a way to earn animals. Now, though, we're starting to see trees and even buildings come into the mix.
For example, the latest offering is the Crab Shack, which was originally released during the New England event way back in July of 2010, and then again in the Birthday Classics even earlier this year. Interestingly, this is one building that cost coins during its previous releases in the game, but if (for whatever reason) you never picked one up, here's a chance to earn one for as little as $1. For that price, remember you'll also earn 4 Farm Cash.
The reason this building is so significant is that it basically screams to be added to the Lighthouse Cove farm, which all players were given access to earlier this week. And since we can't (as of this writing) pull items out of storage from our others farms into the Lighthouse Cove, this is as close as you're going to get to having any of this theme on your land for the foreseeable future.
As usual, this free Crab Shack offer will only be around for a limited time, so make sure to login to your farm sooner, rather than later, if you want to take advantage of this deal.
Will you purchase a Farm Cash bundle as part of this free-gift-with-purchase giveaway? Would you pay Farm Cash to access your "other farm" storage in the Lighthouse Cove? Sound off in the comments.
For example, the latest offering is the Crab Shack, which was originally released during the New England event way back in July of 2010, and then again in the Birthday Classics even earlier this year. Interestingly, this is one building that cost coins during its previous releases in the game, but if (for whatever reason) you never picked one up, here's a chance to earn one for as little as $1. For that price, remember you'll also earn 4 Farm Cash.
The reason this building is so significant is that it basically screams to be added to the Lighthouse Cove farm, which all players were given access to earlier this week. And since we can't (as of this writing) pull items out of storage from our others farms into the Lighthouse Cove, this is as close as you're going to get to having any of this theme on your land for the foreseeable future.
As usual, this free Crab Shack offer will only be around for a limited time, so make sure to login to your farm sooner, rather than later, if you want to take advantage of this deal.
Will you purchase a Farm Cash bundle as part of this free-gift-with-purchase giveaway? Would you pay Farm Cash to access your "other farm" storage in the Lighthouse Cove? Sound off in the comments.
Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Yahoo promotion
It looks like we're seeing a change for the better in terms of free Farm Cash promotions in FarmVille, as there's another available this afternoon, from Yahoo. Technically, this promotion is encouraging users to add Yahoo! as their browser homepage, but as usual, there's a way around that (that still allows you your free Farm Cash)!
To start, you'll need to click on the sponsored link window displaying the Yahoo "Y" and then wait for the window to load (it might take a bit longer than normal, as the promotion has to decide which browser you're using to access it). From there, you're given instructions on how to make Yahoo! your homepage on that particular browser, but at the bottom of the window sits a countdown timer that starts at 30 seconds and slowly counts down (much more slowly than 30 seconds, that is). When it finally does run out, you can click on the "Finish" button to end the promotion and receive your two Farm Cash.
As usual, your Farm Cash should automatically update into your account upon closing this activity window, but if it doesn't, a simple refresh of the game should do the trick. Either way, make sure to complete this activity the very first time you see it appear under your FarmVille gameplay area, as these cross-promotions tend to be incredibly fast-moving, and may disappear even after refreshing the page.
Were you able to earn your free Farm Cash from Yahoo, or has the promotion not appeared for you yet? Sound off in the comments.
To start, you'll need to click on the sponsored link window displaying the Yahoo "Y" and then wait for the window to load (it might take a bit longer than normal, as the promotion has to decide which browser you're using to access it). From there, you're given instructions on how to make Yahoo! your homepage on that particular browser, but at the bottom of the window sits a countdown timer that starts at 30 seconds and slowly counts down (much more slowly than 30 seconds, that is). When it finally does run out, you can click on the "Finish" button to end the promotion and receive your two Farm Cash.
As usual, your Farm Cash should automatically update into your account upon closing this activity window, but if it doesn't, a simple refresh of the game should do the trick. Either way, make sure to complete this activity the very first time you see it appear under your FarmVille gameplay area, as these cross-promotions tend to be incredibly fast-moving, and may disappear even after refreshing the page.
Were you able to earn your free Farm Cash from Yahoo, or has the promotion not appeared for you yet? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Capital One Free Gift: What's inside?
If you've played FarmVille at all in the last 24 hours, you're likely aware that a Capital One cross-promotional farm has appeared in the game, giving you a chance to earn a free Capital One Goat and some "Capital One" instant grow. What you might have missed, however, is the release of a Capital One Gift on the game's free gifts page. This box can be thought of as a mystery box, as you'll never know which item you'll receive when opening one.
There are quite a few items that can be found inside each Capital One Gift, but unfortunately only a few are really "exciting." Here's a list of items that we've received from those boxes so far:
Pygmy Goat
Animal Feed
Passion Fruit Tree
Flower Sheep
Farmhand
While the Pygmy Goat and Farm Sheep are cute little animals, we've easily received an overwhelming amount of Passion Fruit Trees, and little of everything else. Whether that means those are the most common prizes, or we're just "unlucky" remains to be seen. This Capital One gift will only be available to send for the next nine days, so make sure to send some now while you still can (and ask for some in return!).
Have you received any other items from your Capital One Gifts? Let us know and we'll add them here! Sound off in the comments.
There are quite a few items that can be found inside each Capital One Gift, but unfortunately only a few are really "exciting." Here's a list of items that we've received from those boxes so far:
Pygmy Goat
Animal Feed
Passion Fruit Tree
Flower Sheep
Farmhand
While the Pygmy Goat and Farm Sheep are cute little animals, we've easily received an overwhelming amount of Passion Fruit Trees, and little of everything else. Whether that means those are the most common prizes, or we're just "unlucky" remains to be seen. This Capital One gift will only be available to send for the next nine days, so make sure to send some now while you still can (and ask for some in return!).
Have you received any other items from your Capital One Gifts? Let us know and we'll add them here! Sound off in the comments.
Facebook game lets you solve anagrams to save Canada's forests
True to its name, in order to play Donate2Play Media's first new game, Wordraiser, you're going to have to pony up some change. Wordraiser is an anagram game that has players make as many words as possible out of one word.
If you manage to guess the key word, you get to level up. After leveling up a few times, you'll be asked to buy "Karma Points" that enable you to play more games.
Donation packages range from $1 to $20 USD, where $1 USD equals 10 Karma Points, which is good for buying one game. But right now, it seems that there's nothing stopping you from playing as much as you want. We're not sure if this is a bug, as the game just launched during the previous weekend.
While Wordraiser is supposedly free-to-play, it's also the offspring of Donate2Play's partnership with The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), a Canadian grassroots organization devoted to finding the balance between forestry jobs and preserving British Columbia's ancient woodlands (defined as tree populations that are over 120 years old). So half of the money given to Wordraiser will be split between AFA and Donate2Play.
Gallery: Wordraiser
Lastly, there's a top ten high scores leaderboard that displays players' names followed by their levels, and two of AFA's founders, TJ Watts and Ken Wu, are currently on the board in ninth and third place, respectively. According to its Facebook page, Wordraiser currently has 202 monthly users.
Keep in mind, though, that Donate2Play is doing all the heavy lifting here, with no risk or prior investment from AFA. Outreach for the game is done via automatic Facebook wall posts. Players will also receive facts about British Columbian forests during load screens and photos of these forests by TJ Watt.
[Hat-tip: Times Colonist]
Click here to play Wordraiser on Facebook now >
Would you rather donate to a charity directly than through a Facebook game? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
If you manage to guess the key word, you get to level up. After leveling up a few times, you'll be asked to buy "Karma Points" that enable you to play more games.
Donation packages range from $1 to $20 USD, where $1 USD equals 10 Karma Points, which is good for buying one game. But right now, it seems that there's nothing stopping you from playing as much as you want. We're not sure if this is a bug, as the game just launched during the previous weekend.
While Wordraiser is supposedly free-to-play, it's also the offspring of Donate2Play's partnership with The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), a Canadian grassroots organization devoted to finding the balance between forestry jobs and preserving British Columbia's ancient woodlands (defined as tree populations that are over 120 years old). So half of the money given to Wordraiser will be split between AFA and Donate2Play.
Gallery: Wordraiser
Lastly, there's a top ten high scores leaderboard that displays players' names followed by their levels, and two of AFA's founders, TJ Watts and Ken Wu, are currently on the board in ninth and third place, respectively. According to its Facebook page, Wordraiser currently has 202 monthly users.
Keep in mind, though, that Donate2Play is doing all the heavy lifting here, with no risk or prior investment from AFA. Outreach for the game is done via automatic Facebook wall posts. Players will also receive facts about British Columbian forests during load screens and photos of these forests by TJ Watt.
[Hat-tip: Times Colonist]
Click here to play Wordraiser on Facebook now >
Would you rather donate to a charity directly than through a Facebook game? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Adventure World: Redeem a Zynga Game Card for 15 free energy packs
If you've become a fan of Zynga's newest Facebook game Adventure World (now Adventure World - An Indiana Jones Game), and are ready to lay down some real-world money in the game, you now have some extra incentive to do so. For every Game Card redeemed in the game, you'll receive 15 Energy Packs.
Unfortunately, we're not sure exactly what that means. We'd love for it to mean 15 full energy refills, but if you look inside the game, a 30 Energy pot of coffee costs a whopping 30 Adventure Cash. Now, I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like something Zynga would just give away for free, especially in bulk. This leaves us with another option, the single cup of coffee, which gives you just five energy points. This would be a decent boost, since we're talking about a "free" prize after all, but even then, it still likely won't take you long to burn through all of those bonus energy points.
What's worse, there's yet another option for energy refills: a Bolt that gives you just one energy point. Surely this isn't the "Energy Packs" Zynga is talking about, but it's something to keep in mind all the same. We're working on discovering just which kind of "Energy Pack" you'll receive when redeeming a Zynga Game Card, but for now, why not take a look at our tools upgrade guide, so you'll be able to upgrade your tools to do more work for less energy to make all of your points go that much further.
Will you redeem a Zynga Game Card to earn 15 free Energy Packs? If you have, which specific kind of pack did you receive? Sound off in the comments.
Unfortunately, we're not sure exactly what that means. We'd love for it to mean 15 full energy refills, but if you look inside the game, a 30 Energy pot of coffee costs a whopping 30 Adventure Cash. Now, I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like something Zynga would just give away for free, especially in bulk. This leaves us with another option, the single cup of coffee, which gives you just five energy points. This would be a decent boost, since we're talking about a "free" prize after all, but even then, it still likely won't take you long to burn through all of those bonus energy points.
What's worse, there's yet another option for energy refills: a Bolt that gives you just one energy point. Surely this isn't the "Energy Packs" Zynga is talking about, but it's something to keep in mind all the same. We're working on discovering just which kind of "Energy Pack" you'll receive when redeeming a Zynga Game Card, but for now, why not take a look at our tools upgrade guide, so you'll be able to upgrade your tools to do more work for less energy to make all of your points go that much further.
Will you redeem a Zynga Game Card to earn 15 free Energy Packs? If you have, which specific kind of pack did you receive? Sound off in the comments.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
It's Talk Like a Pirate Day: Play our Top Five pirate Facebook games
Is there any other way to being this feature than with a hearty "Yarrgg?" Probably not. (In fact, let's use this entire introduction to talk like pirates, eh?) In case ye hadn't noticed, mate, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So, I ask ye landlubbers, what better way to honor this joyous, silly holiday than with five of the best pirate games around on Facebook?
Avast, ye swabs! Look no further than right here for the five best seafarin' and land lootin' games on Facebook. Oh, right, and remember to click on the headers to jump off the plank right into each Facebook game:
Mighty Pirates
This release (pictured below) by CrowdStar explores the two most important things in a pirate's life: exploring and fighting. Players create, maintain and upgrade their very own vessel of piracy. And it's all in the name of surviving your next fight with your fellow pirate.
Mighty Pirates handles battles in turn-based affairs that add a bit of strategy to burning your enemies to the blue depths. In your off time, explore islands to dig up buried treasure and other resources to boost your ship with.
Mighty Pirates
Treasure Isle
While it may not directly involve pirates, the swashbucklers have invaded the shores of Zynga's island exploration game more times than not. In fact, players can even embark on Voyages with their own vessels, though simply to explore even more. Treasure Isle has players aiming to complete island maps by digging and digging ... and digging. But judging from more experienced players' islands, it certainly pays off. (In other words, there's lots and lots of treasure in it for you.)
Battle Pirates
Want a more ... serious approach to high seas fighting and looting? Then Kixeye certainly has that in spades with Battle Pirates, its strategy Facebook game centered around modern day piracy. (You know, like those bad dudes off the coast of Somalia?) The game plays much like the developer's previous strategy offerings, giving you a week to prepare your base for incoming attack from anyone playing the game. If you want a pirate game that puts the battle first, then look no further.
Battle Pirates
Pirates Saga
In this take on everyone's favorite sea-faring antiheroes, Can't Stop Games focuses almost entirely on your ship. More importantly, it's concerned with how you navigate it through the deep blue sea ... and away from enemy gunfire. Another battle-focused pirates game, Pirates Saga allows players to interact with each other in real time. As you transport cargo and fight back the forces of the infamous Blackbeard, be wary at all times of opposing ships that may or may not be fellow players.
Pirates Saga
Pirate Legacy
A somewhat smaller game than the rest in terms of monthly players, this game by 6waves and Paprika Lab throws a heavy RPG (role-playing game) layer onto the pirate game aesthetic. Pirate Legacy enlists you, a new corsair, to explore the ocean around your home port and hunt for monsters like giant serpents and ghost ships to acquire materials for contractors. Everything about the game is turn-based, giving it an impressive layer of strategy that's a little lighter on the action.
Pirate Legacy
[Lead Image Credit: Disney]
How are you honoring this most awesome Talk Like a Pirate Day? Which of these pirate-themed Facebook games do you like most, and do you know of any you'd personally recommend? Share with us in the comments. 1 Comment
Avast, ye swabs! Look no further than right here for the five best seafarin' and land lootin' games on Facebook. Oh, right, and remember to click on the headers to jump off the plank right into each Facebook game:
Mighty Pirates
This release (pictured below) by CrowdStar explores the two most important things in a pirate's life: exploring and fighting. Players create, maintain and upgrade their very own vessel of piracy. And it's all in the name of surviving your next fight with your fellow pirate.
Mighty Pirates handles battles in turn-based affairs that add a bit of strategy to burning your enemies to the blue depths. In your off time, explore islands to dig up buried treasure and other resources to boost your ship with.
Mighty Pirates
Treasure Isle
While it may not directly involve pirates, the swashbucklers have invaded the shores of Zynga's island exploration game more times than not. In fact, players can even embark on Voyages with their own vessels, though simply to explore even more. Treasure Isle has players aiming to complete island maps by digging and digging ... and digging. But judging from more experienced players' islands, it certainly pays off. (In other words, there's lots and lots of treasure in it for you.)
Battle Pirates
Want a more ... serious approach to high seas fighting and looting? Then Kixeye certainly has that in spades with Battle Pirates, its strategy Facebook game centered around modern day piracy. (You know, like those bad dudes off the coast of Somalia?) The game plays much like the developer's previous strategy offerings, giving you a week to prepare your base for incoming attack from anyone playing the game. If you want a pirate game that puts the battle first, then look no further.
Battle Pirates
Pirates Saga
In this take on everyone's favorite sea-faring antiheroes, Can't Stop Games focuses almost entirely on your ship. More importantly, it's concerned with how you navigate it through the deep blue sea ... and away from enemy gunfire. Another battle-focused pirates game, Pirates Saga allows players to interact with each other in real time. As you transport cargo and fight back the forces of the infamous Blackbeard, be wary at all times of opposing ships that may or may not be fellow players.
Pirates Saga
Pirate Legacy
A somewhat smaller game than the rest in terms of monthly players, this game by 6waves and Paprika Lab throws a heavy RPG (role-playing game) layer onto the pirate game aesthetic. Pirate Legacy enlists you, a new corsair, to explore the ocean around your home port and hunt for monsters like giant serpents and ghost ships to acquire materials for contractors. Everything about the game is turn-based, giving it an impressive layer of strategy that's a little lighter on the action.
Pirate Legacy
[Lead Image Credit: Disney]
How are you honoring this most awesome Talk Like a Pirate Day? Which of these pirate-themed Facebook games do you like most, and do you know of any you'd personally recommend? Share with us in the comments. 1 Comment
Capital One gets in Zynga's wallet with FarmVille, CityVille, Pioneer Trail
Capital One asks Zynga once again, "What's in your wallet?" To which the developer replies, "Why, FarmVille, CityVille and Pioneer Trail, of course!" Mashable reports that the national financial services firm has teamed up with Zynga again for three brand new in-game branding promotions involving Capital One's infamous goat character. Well, two outta three, at least.
Granted, keep in mind that these promotions are slowly rolling out to players, as I've yet to see most of them in my games. Starting with none other than FarmVille, Capital One returns (remember the Visigoths?) with its beloved goat to the game as a breedable animal, which comes just in time for the slew of Breeding Pens in the game.
CityVille, on the other hand, simply features a Capital One-branded Bank for players to use, and opening it offers players a bonus decoration as well as additional Coins, Energy and other resources. Pioneer Trail has its very own set of Goals to help the goat-on-arrival find his lost band mates, which ultimately reward players with a Capital One goat of their own.
This is the second time Capital One has worked with Zynga this year in a branding promotion, and it comes hot off of the heels of a Best Buy promotion conducted through CityVille. And this will be far from the last branded promotion to be featured in a Zynga game. (If anything, the work of Ecko|Code speaks to its popularity.)
The San Francisco-based (but global) developer is joining forces with Lucasfilm to bring Indiana Jones into Adventure World, Zynga Boston's debut Facebook game. Considering the game has been retitled, "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game," it could be the first Zynga game built entirely around a brand. So yes, branded Facebook games are here to stay.
Are you psyched for these upcoming in-game promotions across the company's three most recognizable Facebook games? What do you think of the movement toward branding in Facebook games overall? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
Granted, keep in mind that these promotions are slowly rolling out to players, as I've yet to see most of them in my games. Starting with none other than FarmVille, Capital One returns (remember the Visigoths?) with its beloved goat to the game as a breedable animal, which comes just in time for the slew of Breeding Pens in the game.
CityVille, on the other hand, simply features a Capital One-branded Bank for players to use, and opening it offers players a bonus decoration as well as additional Coins, Energy and other resources. Pioneer Trail has its very own set of Goals to help the goat-on-arrival find his lost band mates, which ultimately reward players with a Capital One goat of their own.
This is the second time Capital One has worked with Zynga this year in a branding promotion, and it comes hot off of the heels of a Best Buy promotion conducted through CityVille. And this will be far from the last branded promotion to be featured in a Zynga game. (If anything, the work of Ecko|Code speaks to its popularity.)
The San Francisco-based (but global) developer is joining forces with Lucasfilm to bring Indiana Jones into Adventure World, Zynga Boston's debut Facebook game. Considering the game has been retitled, "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game," it could be the first Zynga game built entirely around a brand. So yes, branded Facebook games are here to stay.
Are you psyched for these upcoming in-game promotions across the company's three most recognizable Facebook games? What do you think of the movement toward branding in Facebook games overall? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
MapleStory Adventures hits over 3M players, new classes coming soon
You'd think an astronomical divorce rate would scare players away, but nay. Nexon announced today that its first crack at Facebook games, MapleStory Adventures, has touched the chibi-loving hearts of over 3.2 million monthly players. While this number pales in comparison to the 100 million players that have jumped into the original game, it's impressive considering.
But not necessarily surprising. First of all, have you ever met a MapleStory fan ... or should I say fanatic? Second, the "click things and cute things happen" approach could certainly keep players hooked. Now that the Facebook version has roped in a few million, we imagine the Korean studio looks to bring its 414,000 daily players, according to AppData, up closer to six digits.
And what do you know, the company just announced that new classes are coming to MapleStory Adventures to give players more variety to work with than merely "Magician" and "Warrior." (Admittedly, classes are a bit lean at the moment.) While Nexon didn't reveal any specifics, we hope the new classes somehow involve adorable dragons ... somehow.
In addition to the recently-introduced Sky Scraper area, Nexon plans to add multi-character slots, personal spaces that players can customize and to localize MapleStory Adventures in Spanish, French, German, Chinese and more. In short, this is Nexon's way of saying: Stay tuned, because there is plenty more to come. We guess some 400,000 of you have no issue with that.
Have you been playing MapleStory Adventures on Facebook? What do you think of the game so far, and what classes do you hope Nexon adds to the game? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
But not necessarily surprising. First of all, have you ever met a MapleStory fan ... or should I say fanatic? Second, the "click things and cute things happen" approach could certainly keep players hooked. Now that the Facebook version has roped in a few million, we imagine the Korean studio looks to bring its 414,000 daily players, according to AppData, up closer to six digits.
And what do you know, the company just announced that new classes are coming to MapleStory Adventures to give players more variety to work with than merely "Magician" and "Warrior." (Admittedly, classes are a bit lean at the moment.) While Nexon didn't reveal any specifics, we hope the new classes somehow involve adorable dragons ... somehow.
In addition to the recently-introduced Sky Scraper area, Nexon plans to add multi-character slots, personal spaces that players can customize and to localize MapleStory Adventures in Spanish, French, German, Chinese and more. In short, this is Nexon's way of saying: Stay tuned, because there is plenty more to come. We guess some 400,000 of you have no issue with that.
Have you been playing MapleStory Adventures on Facebook? What do you think of the game so far, and what classes do you hope Nexon adds to the game? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
New study finds Facebook games might do the economy good
The success of Facebook gaming goes beyond Facebook. Based on an economic impact study released today (courtesy of the University of Maryland), Facebook games, applications, and social plugins (e.g. "Like" buttons, fan pages, Facebook Connect, etc.) are responsible for adding somewhere from 182,744 to 235,644 full-time jobs, and $12.19 billion to $15.71 billion into the US economy.
Seeing that the Facebook platform has only been around since May 2007, the growth has been tremendous. The study cites Zynga as an example as the most successful venture on the Facebook platform, primarily thanks to hits like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Words With Friends. Zynga itself has 2,000 employees with the company valued at $15 to $20 billion. Whereas, Playfish was bought by EA for $300 million, and Playdom was bought by Disney for $763.2 million.
The study, created by professors of the Center for Digital Innovation, Technology, and Strategy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, moves on from counting the numbers of direct employment to uncovering jobs indirectly created by Facebook apps. It then estimates the economic value of all those jobs, which means analyzing salaries and benefits. Still skeptical? They're calling it the "Facebook App Economy" and you can read all about it here.
[Image Credit: Visual Economics]
[Via SFGate]
Do you still think that Facebook games are a waste of money? Do you know anyone who's been able to make a living thanks to Facebook games? Add Comment
Seeing that the Facebook platform has only been around since May 2007, the growth has been tremendous. The study cites Zynga as an example as the most successful venture on the Facebook platform, primarily thanks to hits like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Words With Friends. Zynga itself has 2,000 employees with the company valued at $15 to $20 billion. Whereas, Playfish was bought by EA for $300 million, and Playdom was bought by Disney for $763.2 million.
The study, created by professors of the Center for Digital Innovation, Technology, and Strategy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, moves on from counting the numbers of direct employment to uncovering jobs indirectly created by Facebook apps. It then estimates the economic value of all those jobs, which means analyzing salaries and benefits. Still skeptical? They're calling it the "Facebook App Economy" and you can read all about it here.
[Image Credit: Visual Economics]
[Via SFGate]
Do you still think that Facebook games are a waste of money? Do you know anyone who's been able to make a living thanks to Facebook games? Add Comment
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Take a bite out of Deanna2u's BLT burger farm
Is it farm art or food art? Is it a burger or a BLT sandwich? Either way, it looks delicious! Today, we put aside landscapes and abstract pieces to go for still-life with hay bales, because I can't remember a time where a FarmVille farm managed to induce as much drooling as Deanna2u's simple, perfect creation.
Deanna2u chose bold bright colors on a black outline and a blue field, layering the bun's insides with what looks like cheese, ham (or an ultra rare cooked patty), lettuce and tomatoes. Is it just me or do the tomatoes actually look like they're smiling?
What other objects would look delicious on a farm? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Deanna2u chose bold bright colors on a black outline and a blue field, layering the bun's insides with what looks like cheese, ham (or an ultra rare cooked patty), lettuce and tomatoes. Is it just me or do the tomatoes actually look like they're smiling?
What other objects would look delicious on a farm? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Diamond Dash maker: Social games 'will evolve again in the next years'
Frankly, they kind of have no choice. That's general idea Wooga studio head Henric Suuronen (pictured) seems to have put forward in an in-depth interview with Gamasutra. And it would be wise to listen--the Berlin, Germany-based Facebook game creator is third behind Zynga and EA (now that PopCap's numbers have been integrated), according to AppData.
During the interview, Suuronen gave Gamasutra a detailed explanation of where Facebook games have been, what it takes to create them from a design perspective and, most importantly, where they're going. Specifically speaking to social mechanics in Facebook games, Suuronen said to Gamasutra:
"Now moving four years forward, you have games like CityVille, Pioneer Trail from Zynga, Kabam games, Digital Chocolate games, and Zombie Lane -- great game -- and now Magic Land," Suuronen told Gamasutra. "So it has really evolved. So why would the progression stop here? So I think it will evolve, as it has done from four years ago with Jetman and Scrabulous and Tower Bloxx. So it will evolve again in the next years."
The hit maker behind Diamond Dash recently released its seventh game on Facebook, Magic Land, which enjoys a healthy 3.4 million monthly players and over 330,000 daily players. According to Suuronen, Wooga's latest game had the most man hours thrown into it, a trend he seems to believe will continue. "The whole myth of the minimum viable product -- it's gone," Suuronen told Gamasutra. "It's something that you say to investors to sound cool."
Sure, Suuronen believes that players will eventually get tired of the standard social gaming mechanics of sharing gifts and helping asynchronously. However, the Wooga studio head also points out that the harsh reality of designing Facebook games to get players to pay up isn't going anywhere, and some traditional designers have trouble coming to grips with that.
Considering social games are expected to make $1 billion this year alone (and cash in even more from there), traditional designers and companies better wise up quick if they want to fit in the next big money machine. Read Suuronen's full interview with Gamasutra here, in which he predicts how you might be enticed to pay up in the future.
Do you agree that Facebook games can only grow into more robust entertainment options from here? Where would you like to see the industry go from today's CityVille's and other life simulators? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments
During the interview, Suuronen gave Gamasutra a detailed explanation of where Facebook games have been, what it takes to create them from a design perspective and, most importantly, where they're going. Specifically speaking to social mechanics in Facebook games, Suuronen said to Gamasutra:
"Now moving four years forward, you have games like CityVille, Pioneer Trail from Zynga, Kabam games, Digital Chocolate games, and Zombie Lane -- great game -- and now Magic Land," Suuronen told Gamasutra. "So it has really evolved. So why would the progression stop here? So I think it will evolve, as it has done from four years ago with Jetman and Scrabulous and Tower Bloxx. So it will evolve again in the next years."
The hit maker behind Diamond Dash recently released its seventh game on Facebook, Magic Land, which enjoys a healthy 3.4 million monthly players and over 330,000 daily players. According to Suuronen, Wooga's latest game had the most man hours thrown into it, a trend he seems to believe will continue. "The whole myth of the minimum viable product -- it's gone," Suuronen told Gamasutra. "It's something that you say to investors to sound cool."
Sure, Suuronen believes that players will eventually get tired of the standard social gaming mechanics of sharing gifts and helping asynchronously. However, the Wooga studio head also points out that the harsh reality of designing Facebook games to get players to pay up isn't going anywhere, and some traditional designers have trouble coming to grips with that.
Considering social games are expected to make $1 billion this year alone (and cash in even more from there), traditional designers and companies better wise up quick if they want to fit in the next big money machine. Read Suuronen's full interview with Gamasutra here, in which he predicts how you might be enticed to pay up in the future.
Do you agree that Facebook games can only grow into more robust entertainment options from here? Where would you like to see the industry go from today's CityVille's and other life simulators? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Edrenee's farm has a little bit of everything
Previously this week, you folks had a couple complaints about Hemi 426's featured zoo farm. Though you agreed it was a huge FarmVille achievement, many of you folks thought it was just too cluttered and disorderly. In response, I present to you Edrenee's extremely organized farm.
While Edrenee's farm doesn't do anything incredibly artistic, you can't disagree that the orderly rows of crops and trees create a remarkable effect. It almost looks like a gardening enthusiast's back yard, with all kinds of crops neatly planted in rows. It's certainly a nice break from what we usually see: endless plantation-sized fields of the same crop. So even though it's not as creative as say, the dragon farm we featured a few weeks ago, it is a very nice FarmVille design that is certainly unique in its own right.
Finally, make sure you realize just how difficult it would be to coordinate all the crop grow times to take this photo. Very impressive Edrenee.
What do you think of Edrenee's farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
While Edrenee's farm doesn't do anything incredibly artistic, you can't disagree that the orderly rows of crops and trees create a remarkable effect. It almost looks like a gardening enthusiast's back yard, with all kinds of crops neatly planted in rows. It's certainly a nice break from what we usually see: endless plantation-sized fields of the same crop. So even though it's not as creative as say, the dragon farm we featured a few weeks ago, it is a very nice FarmVille design that is certainly unique in its own right.
Finally, make sure you realize just how difficult it would be to coordinate all the crop grow times to take this photo. Very impressive Edrenee.
What do you think of Edrenee's farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Playfish founder: We have redefined social games with The Sims Social
The Sims Social is just an arm's reach from being the number one game on Facebook, so this kind of logic is expected. In an interview with MCV, Playfish founder and co-GM Kristian Segerstrale said, "In bringing one of EA's most popular game franchises to Facebook, Playfish and The Sims team have redefined the meaning of social in video games."
While The Sims Social certainly treads some new ground in how Facebook gamers interact, it's important to remember to chalk up much of the game's runaway success to the brand it's attached to. In just over a month since its release, The Sims Social has skyrocketed to become the second most popular Facebook game to date in both daily and monthly players, AppData reports.
Just last week, EA's (which owns Playfish) proverbial secret weapon ousted Zynga's iconic and ubiquitous FarmVille in daily players, but now the game has even more monthly players than the household name farming simulator with over 43.8 million and counting. The Sims Social has dipped a bit in daily players, but is just about 2.9 million fans away from beating out the might CityVille as the most played Facebook game daily.
"By combining Playfish's expertise and passion for social play with the deep creative heritage of The Sims franchise and the insights of its creators, we feel we've brought something very special to life – and tens of millions of players around the world have responded with extraordinary enthusiasm over the last few weeks," Segerstrale said to MCV.
The founder went on to say that new features to The Sims Social will land in the coming months. And we're sure that if EA wants to host the top Facebook game overall, that those features will have to be even more groundbreaking than before. How's about in-game marriages, eh? (Because we all know how well that's worked elsewhere.)
Have you been a part of The Sims Social craze on Facebook? Do you think it's incredible growth is due to its reportedly groundbreaking social features, or is more thanks to its name (it could always be both)? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
While The Sims Social certainly treads some new ground in how Facebook gamers interact, it's important to remember to chalk up much of the game's runaway success to the brand it's attached to. In just over a month since its release, The Sims Social has skyrocketed to become the second most popular Facebook game to date in both daily and monthly players, AppData reports.
Just last week, EA's (which owns Playfish) proverbial secret weapon ousted Zynga's iconic and ubiquitous FarmVille in daily players, but now the game has even more monthly players than the household name farming simulator with over 43.8 million and counting. The Sims Social has dipped a bit in daily players, but is just about 2.9 million fans away from beating out the might CityVille as the most played Facebook game daily.
"By combining Playfish's expertise and passion for social play with the deep creative heritage of The Sims franchise and the insights of its creators, we feel we've brought something very special to life – and tens of millions of players around the world have responded with extraordinary enthusiasm over the last few weeks," Segerstrale said to MCV.
The founder went on to say that new features to The Sims Social will land in the coming months. And we're sure that if EA wants to host the top Facebook game overall, that those features will have to be even more groundbreaking than before. How's about in-game marriages, eh? (Because we all know how well that's worked elsewhere.)
Have you been a part of The Sims Social craze on Facebook? Do you think it's incredible growth is due to its reportedly groundbreaking social features, or is more thanks to its name (it could always be both)? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Empires & Allies Battle Blitz launches global PvP (and special prizes)
Finally, Zynga's answer to the growing legion of hardcore strategy games on Facebook, Empires & Allies, puts on the brass knuckles, so to speak. The developer has released Battle Blitz to the game, a feature that essentially allows you to invade (or be invaded by) any opposing Empire in the game. In other words, E&A finally has its own global PvP (player vs player) mode.
The feature appears on your tool bar to the bottom right of the screen with an icon that looks like two heads butting each other. Click on it to open the Battle Blitz menu. This replaces your Neighbor Bar for the time being with portraits of players that may or (most likely) may not be your Facebook friends. However, you must fight these players in succession--more on that later.
Once you click on the player, you will be taken to their Empire. Then, it's clobbering time as per usual. Click on a site to invade, and proceed to bring it to the ground. Once you successfully invade an opposing Empire, the Prize Machine will appear. Successfully invading Empires through Battle Blitz earns you Tokens to use in this feature for rewards like resources.
E&A Prize Machine
The reason you must invade Battle Blitz players in succession is that the higher you climb on the Battle Blitz ladder, the better your rewards will be from the Prize Machine. And just like normal invasions between friends, players can easily opt out of Battle Blitz by using your Immunity Tower or click on the white flag icon found to the left of the Battle Blitz bar. But look, this is war--why would you want to do that? What are you ... chicken?
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you participated in the Battle Blitz feature yet--what do you think? Is this the feature you've been waiting for in E&A, or what else do you think the game needs? Sound off in the comments. 29 Comments
The feature appears on your tool bar to the bottom right of the screen with an icon that looks like two heads butting each other. Click on it to open the Battle Blitz menu. This replaces your Neighbor Bar for the time being with portraits of players that may or (most likely) may not be your Facebook friends. However, you must fight these players in succession--more on that later.
Once you click on the player, you will be taken to their Empire. Then, it's clobbering time as per usual. Click on a site to invade, and proceed to bring it to the ground. Once you successfully invade an opposing Empire, the Prize Machine will appear. Successfully invading Empires through Battle Blitz earns you Tokens to use in this feature for rewards like resources.
E&A Prize Machine
The reason you must invade Battle Blitz players in succession is that the higher you climb on the Battle Blitz ladder, the better your rewards will be from the Prize Machine. And just like normal invasions between friends, players can easily opt out of Battle Blitz by using your Immunity Tower or click on the white flag icon found to the left of the Battle Blitz bar. But look, this is war--why would you want to do that? What are you ... chicken?
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you participated in the Battle Blitz feature yet--what do you think? Is this the feature you've been waiting for in E&A, or what else do you think the game needs? Sound off in the comments. 29 Comments
FarmVille Livestock Pen Animals re-released to fill your habitats
If you're looking for a slew of new (ok, re-released) animals to fill your new Livestock Pen in FarmVille, you'll want to check out the game's store within the next five days, as you can choose from a selection of re-released pigs, sheep and goats for a limited time. Here's the full lineup of re-released animals, along with their prices for your reference.
Black Pied Pig - 18 Farm Cash
Alpine Goat - 14 Farm Cash
Latxa Sheep - 20 Farm Cash
Biker Goat - 14 Farm Cash
Fame Sheep - 20 Farm Cash
Chamois Goat - 14 Farm Cash
Island Pig - 16 Farm Cash
Devon Pig - 16 Farm Cash
Again, these animals have been released previously; for instance, the Black Pied Pig was released previously in the German event in 2010 and then again in the Birthday Classics even earlier this year. You'll want to make sure you don't already have these animals on your farm before shelling out the Farm Cash, so you don't run into unnecessary duplicates. Just make sure you shop fast - these little fellas (and ladies) won't be around forever.
Are you going to purchase any of these animals during their brief re-release in the store, or do you already have the best ones on your farm? Sound off in the comments.
Black Pied Pig - 18 Farm Cash
Alpine Goat - 14 Farm Cash
Latxa Sheep - 20 Farm Cash
Biker Goat - 14 Farm Cash
Fame Sheep - 20 Farm Cash
Chamois Goat - 14 Farm Cash
Island Pig - 16 Farm Cash
Devon Pig - 16 Farm Cash
Again, these animals have been released previously; for instance, the Black Pied Pig was released previously in the German event in 2010 and then again in the Birthday Classics even earlier this year. You'll want to make sure you don't already have these animals on your farm before shelling out the Farm Cash, so you don't run into unnecessary duplicates. Just make sure you shop fast - these little fellas (and ladies) won't be around forever.
Are you going to purchase any of these animals during their brief re-release in the store, or do you already have the best ones on your farm? Sound off in the comments.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Cafe World High Tea Table: Everything you need to know
As we told you earlier today, the High Tea Table in Cafe World is but a small part in a much larger event in the game celebrating the two-year anniversary. Within this celebration are sections split into different countries, with the first destination being Great Britain. As part of the goal series for this section - Winston's Royals - you'll need to build the High Tea Table, so we're here to help you figure out how to do just that.
The High Tea Table's base can be added to your cafe for free by looking under the Specials tab of the Functional menu. Once placed, you'll have the expected task of gathering multiple building ingredients with your friends' help. You'll need eight Fancy Tea Pots, 10 Delicate Teacups, six Silver Platters and 6 sets of Cream and Sugar dishes. Only the Fancy Tea Pot is earned through a general news post - you'll need to gather the other three items either using Cafe Cash or by sending out individual requests to your friends for help.
Once completed, this table has more of a function that simply looking pretty, as it gives you extra mastery points when serving "British" dishes. Remember, you can sort your Cookbook by nationality, so if you're looking to quickly master some dishes, go for these British offerings as you'll earn +1 point of extra mastery each time you serve a British dish with this table out and active in your cafe.
What do you think of the High Tea Table? Are you looking forward to serving high tea to the "Royals" in your cafe, or are you tired of endless building projects? Sound off in the comments.
The High Tea Table's base can be added to your cafe for free by looking under the Specials tab of the Functional menu. Once placed, you'll have the expected task of gathering multiple building ingredients with your friends' help. You'll need eight Fancy Tea Pots, 10 Delicate Teacups, six Silver Platters and 6 sets of Cream and Sugar dishes. Only the Fancy Tea Pot is earned through a general news post - you'll need to gather the other three items either using Cafe Cash or by sending out individual requests to your friends for help.
Once completed, this table has more of a function that simply looking pretty, as it gives you extra mastery points when serving "British" dishes. Remember, you can sort your Cookbook by nationality, so if you're looking to quickly master some dishes, go for these British offerings as you'll earn +1 point of extra mastery each time you serve a British dish with this table out and active in your cafe.
What do you think of the High Tea Table? Are you looking forward to serving high tea to the "Royals" in your cafe, or are you tired of endless building projects? Sound off in the comments.
CityVille Neighborhoods: Everything you need to know
Here we go, mayors. A new feature has been launched in CityVille that will help one of the biggest concerns I personally have with the game (and I know I'm not alone). A new Neighborhoods feature has launched to players above level 30, with at least 620 population, that will allow you to move homes (including high rises) into smaller areas to save space. This feature, you guessed it, is similar to the Mall feature, but here's a complete rundown of how this works for homes.
First and foremost, yes, you can have more than one Neighborhood in your town, and there are different types of Neighborhoods depending on the kinds of homes you'd like to store. Gated Communities cost 10,000 coins and store up to 15 Family Residences. Uptown Estates cost 15,000 coins and store 15 Apartments and finally, Palm Towers cost 20,000 coins and store 15 Vacation Home.
For our example, let's say you wanted to build a Gated Community in your town. You'd go into the store to purchase the base, as seen below, and would then need to whack that base six times to build up the frame.
From there, you'll instantly have access to two storage spots, of a possible five on the first "block," or "floor," if we're comparing this to the Mall. To fill these spaces, simply click on your empty Neighborhood and then click on "Fill" under one of the empty spaces. This will cause all of the buildings that can fit inside to glow. Click on one and voila! It's stored inside your Neighborhood, which will change shape and complexity as new buildings are added to it.
To unlock additional space inside your Neighborhoods, you'll need to ask your friends to staff extra spots, as seen above. The rate of one user per one storage slot isn't bad, really. Once your first block is full, you'll have to go through the process of asking for building materials to open up the second block. In our particular example of the Gated Community, you'll need five each of Red Bricks, Crossing Signs, Roof Tiles, Cement and Lumber. These are earned either by purchasing them outright with City Cash, or by asking your friends to send them to you.
When you've unlocked your second block, the process will repeat (and so on until you've unlocked and filled all three blocks, with more building materials being required the second time). Again, at first, these Neighborhoods may be incredibly space-consuming, but once they're full, you'll find them to be fairly space-saving, especially if you choose to place the largest homes in each category into storage. Don't worry about losing their stats, though, as you'll be able to collect rent as normal while they're inside. That is, you'll be able to click on your Neighborhood, and will then be asked to spend a larger amount of energy to collect from all "ready" buildings inside, just as you collect profits from your Mall.
All told, these are some fairly time consuming building projects, but if you're willing to go through with building them (and have plenty of friends around that are willing to help you out), you'll end up saving tons of space for future purchases, whether residential in nature or otherwise. We'll make sure to let you know when other kinds of Neighborhoods, for other kinds of homes are released, so keep checking back with us.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Neighborhoods feature? Is the space you saved substantial enough to warrant building them? Sound off in the comments.
First and foremost, yes, you can have more than one Neighborhood in your town, and there are different types of Neighborhoods depending on the kinds of homes you'd like to store. Gated Communities cost 10,000 coins and store up to 15 Family Residences. Uptown Estates cost 15,000 coins and store 15 Apartments and finally, Palm Towers cost 20,000 coins and store 15 Vacation Home.
For our example, let's say you wanted to build a Gated Community in your town. You'd go into the store to purchase the base, as seen below, and would then need to whack that base six times to build up the frame.
From there, you'll instantly have access to two storage spots, of a possible five on the first "block," or "floor," if we're comparing this to the Mall. To fill these spaces, simply click on your empty Neighborhood and then click on "Fill" under one of the empty spaces. This will cause all of the buildings that can fit inside to glow. Click on one and voila! It's stored inside your Neighborhood, which will change shape and complexity as new buildings are added to it.
To unlock additional space inside your Neighborhoods, you'll need to ask your friends to staff extra spots, as seen above. The rate of one user per one storage slot isn't bad, really. Once your first block is full, you'll have to go through the process of asking for building materials to open up the second block. In our particular example of the Gated Community, you'll need five each of Red Bricks, Crossing Signs, Roof Tiles, Cement and Lumber. These are earned either by purchasing them outright with City Cash, or by asking your friends to send them to you.
When you've unlocked your second block, the process will repeat (and so on until you've unlocked and filled all three blocks, with more building materials being required the second time). Again, at first, these Neighborhoods may be incredibly space-consuming, but once they're full, you'll find them to be fairly space-saving, especially if you choose to place the largest homes in each category into storage. Don't worry about losing their stats, though, as you'll be able to collect rent as normal while they're inside. That is, you'll be able to click on your Neighborhood, and will then be asked to spend a larger amount of energy to collect from all "ready" buildings inside, just as you collect profits from your Mall.
All told, these are some fairly time consuming building projects, but if you're willing to go through with building them (and have plenty of friends around that are willing to help you out), you'll end up saving tons of space for future purchases, whether residential in nature or otherwise. We'll make sure to let you know when other kinds of Neighborhoods, for other kinds of homes are released, so keep checking back with us.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Neighborhoods feature? Is the space you saved substantial enough to warrant building them? Sound off in the comments.
CityVille Neighborhood Goals: Everything you need to know
To go along with the launch of the new Neighborhoods feature in CityVille, there's also a goal set to complete as well. If you remember, these Neighborhoods allow you to store homes for easier bulk access, and also just to generally save space (a huge factor in the game to this day). This goal series starts with one called Neighborhood Watch! (or, "On the House," if you prefer), which sees you simply placing a Neighborhood into your town to get used to the feature.
Neighborhood Watch!
* Build a Neighborhood
* Place 2 Residences into a Neighborhood
As we told you in our guide to Neighborhoods, they come in three varieties (currently) and range in price from 10,000 to 20,000 coins, depending on the kind of home you are trying to store (basic residences, apartments or vacation homes). Once you complete the construction of the Neighborhood, you'll be given these two storage spaces for free, so just fill them up and complete the goal! You'll receive a cute Garden Gnome decoration as a prize.
Block Party
* Ask for 6 Neighborhood Event Posters
* Place one more Residence into your Neighborhood
* Place a Garden Gnome Decoration
Luckily, there's a "Place" button right next to this final task, so you don't have to search through your inventory to find the Garden Gnome manually. In the meantime, you'll need to ask a single friend to help you open up that new slot in your Neighborhood so that you can store your third residence. Finally, the Event Posters can be earned by posting a general news item to your wall. For finishing this second goal, you'll receive a Family Home residence, which gives you 90-170 population.
Movin' On Up
* Unlock Block 2
* Fill Block 2
As we told you in our guide, to unlock the next block of your Neighborhood, you'll need to collect building materials with the help of friends. Once you've unlocked the second block, you'll also need to gather more staff to unlock the final slots on that block, and then fill it completely with homes. Finishing this goal gives you the Neighborhood Watch item, a watch-tower that takes up a 2x2 area on your land and provides a 5% bonus to surrounding buildings.
Welcome Wagon
* Ask for 8 Neighborhood Bake Sale Goodies
* Build a second Neighborhood
* Fill one Neighborhood
This goal will likely take you the longest to complete, as it requires collecting even more building ingredients than before, and even more staff to completely fill one neighborhood to its max of 15 houses. Finishing off this final goal of the series gives you the Deluxe Tree House.
All in all, these goals don't really require rushing, but as I'm sure most of you will likely want to build Neighborhoods for your own space-saving plans, you'll eventually finish them off with time.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Neighborhood feature in CityVille? Do you like the rewards for these goals? Sound off in the comments.
Neighborhood Watch!
* Build a Neighborhood
* Place 2 Residences into a Neighborhood
As we told you in our guide to Neighborhoods, they come in three varieties (currently) and range in price from 10,000 to 20,000 coins, depending on the kind of home you are trying to store (basic residences, apartments or vacation homes). Once you complete the construction of the Neighborhood, you'll be given these two storage spaces for free, so just fill them up and complete the goal! You'll receive a cute Garden Gnome decoration as a prize.
Block Party
* Ask for 6 Neighborhood Event Posters
* Place one more Residence into your Neighborhood
* Place a Garden Gnome Decoration
Luckily, there's a "Place" button right next to this final task, so you don't have to search through your inventory to find the Garden Gnome manually. In the meantime, you'll need to ask a single friend to help you open up that new slot in your Neighborhood so that you can store your third residence. Finally, the Event Posters can be earned by posting a general news item to your wall. For finishing this second goal, you'll receive a Family Home residence, which gives you 90-170 population.
Movin' On Up
* Unlock Block 2
* Fill Block 2
As we told you in our guide, to unlock the next block of your Neighborhood, you'll need to collect building materials with the help of friends. Once you've unlocked the second block, you'll also need to gather more staff to unlock the final slots on that block, and then fill it completely with homes. Finishing this goal gives you the Neighborhood Watch item, a watch-tower that takes up a 2x2 area on your land and provides a 5% bonus to surrounding buildings.
Welcome Wagon
* Ask for 8 Neighborhood Bake Sale Goodies
* Build a second Neighborhood
* Fill one Neighborhood
This goal will likely take you the longest to complete, as it requires collecting even more building ingredients than before, and even more staff to completely fill one neighborhood to its max of 15 houses. Finishing off this final goal of the series gives you the Deluxe Tree House.
All in all, these goals don't really require rushing, but as I'm sure most of you will likely want to build Neighborhoods for your own space-saving plans, you'll eventually finish them off with time.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Neighborhood feature in CityVille? Do you like the rewards for these goals? Sound off in the comments.
CityVille says Viva Mexico! with new Mexican themed items
To celebrate Mexican Independence, Zynga has launched a full theme of Mexican themed items in CityVille this afternoon. These items range from small decorations to large landmarks, so we'll make sure to give you a complete rundown on these items to know what to expect. Keep in mind, while they do have a longer time limit than usual at anywhere from 12-14 days (the usual being a week), they will eventually vanish from the store, so do some shopping sooner, rather than later. Here's what's available:
Ice Cream Cart (Decoration)
* Costs: 5,000 coins
* Payout Bonus: 3% to surrounding businesses and homes; bonus 3% to Mexico themed items
Guerrero Residence (Home)
* Costs: 40 City Cash
* Population: 600-1200
* Rent: 296 coins every 18 hours
Sombrero Store (Business)
* Costs: 6,800 coins
* Requires: 170 Goods
* Supplies: 1,024 coins
Garcia House (Home)
* Costs: 13,500 coins
* Population: 120-240
* Rent: 18 coins every five minutes
Watch Tower (Decoration)
* Costs: 24 City Cash
* Payout Bonus: 24%; bonus 24% to Mexican themed items
Mayan Pyramid (Decoration)
* Costs: 72,000 coins
* Payout Bonus: 12%; bonus 12% to Mexican themed items
* Not Limited Edition!
Morelos Fort (Community Building)
* Costs: 70 City Cash
* Allows: 2,000 citizens added to max population cap
Hacienda de Dolores (Home)
* Costs: 65 City Cash
* Population: 1850-3650
* Rent: 451 coins every 3.1 days
House of Churros (Business)
* Costs: 40 City Cash
* Requires: 305 Goods
* Supplies: 1648 coins
On top of all of this, there's also a Mexico Mystery Crate available for 40 City Cash that contains one of four items: the Morelos Fort, Hacienda de Dolores, Guerrero Residence or House of Churros. Sure, you'd get two items from this crate at a discounted price, but remember that there's no guarantee you won't receive duplicates when purchasing more than one crate. That is, if you're going for both the Hacienda and the Fort, you may very well end up with two House of Churros instead.
Either way, we'll make sure to let you know if other items are added in this Mexican Independence celebration theme, but we wouldn't be surprised if it's a one-time-deal.
What do you think of this new theme of items? Which ones have you purchased for your town and which ones will you skip? Sound off in the comments.
Ice Cream Cart (Decoration)
* Costs: 5,000 coins
* Payout Bonus: 3% to surrounding businesses and homes; bonus 3% to Mexico themed items
Guerrero Residence (Home)
* Costs: 40 City Cash
* Population: 600-1200
* Rent: 296 coins every 18 hours
Sombrero Store (Business)
* Costs: 6,800 coins
* Requires: 170 Goods
* Supplies: 1,024 coins
Garcia House (Home)
* Costs: 13,500 coins
* Population: 120-240
* Rent: 18 coins every five minutes
Watch Tower (Decoration)
* Costs: 24 City Cash
* Payout Bonus: 24%; bonus 24% to Mexican themed items
Mayan Pyramid (Decoration)
* Costs: 72,000 coins
* Payout Bonus: 12%; bonus 12% to Mexican themed items
* Not Limited Edition!
Morelos Fort (Community Building)
* Costs: 70 City Cash
* Allows: 2,000 citizens added to max population cap
Hacienda de Dolores (Home)
* Costs: 65 City Cash
* Population: 1850-3650
* Rent: 451 coins every 3.1 days
House of Churros (Business)
* Costs: 40 City Cash
* Requires: 305 Goods
* Supplies: 1648 coins
On top of all of this, there's also a Mexico Mystery Crate available for 40 City Cash that contains one of four items: the Morelos Fort, Hacienda de Dolores, Guerrero Residence or House of Churros. Sure, you'd get two items from this crate at a discounted price, but remember that there's no guarantee you won't receive duplicates when purchasing more than one crate. That is, if you're going for both the Hacienda and the Fort, you may very well end up with two House of Churros instead.
Either way, we'll make sure to let you know if other items are added in this Mexican Independence celebration theme, but we wouldn't be surprised if it's a one-time-deal.
What do you think of this new theme of items? Which ones have you purchased for your town and which ones will you skip? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Livestock Pen: Everything you need to know
While we may already have a place to store our Sheep and Pigs, a new Livestock Pen has launched in FarmVille this evening giving you even more room to do just that (on top of storing other kinds of animals, of course). This Livestock Pen allows you to store animals like Goats, Alpacas and Llamas (on top of your Sheep and Pigs) but unfortunately won't let you store any Sheep or Pig that you've created or received by breeding.
As usual, you'll be given the frame to your first Livestock Pen the next time you login to the game. From there, you'll need to collect some building materials, including 10 each of Water Pumps, Wires and Steel Beams. Yes, these Steel Beams are the same items you need to collect for the Lighthouse Cove repair project, so you'll need to prioritize which item you'll place these materials into first.
Once you've finished building the Livestock Pen, you'll be able to browse all of the animals that can possibly be stored inside by looking at the interior menu and then browsing through the 19 pages of animals inside. You'll be given a Red Goat for free when completing your Livestock Pen, and will then have 19 more spaces to fill with animals, for a full capacity of 20 as of this writing.
In terms of breeding, remember that you only need to have one of each kind of animal in your Livestock Pen in order to trigger "breeding." The cribs that you'll receive from your own Livestock Pens are guaranteed to be one of the animals currently placed inside, but when claiming them from friends, they can either be rare or common animals that can also be stored inside. To be specific, orange cribs contain common mystery babies, while purple cribs contains rare animals that may even include former limited edition animals that cost less than 15 Farm Cash when originally released in the store. As with other mystery babies, the common babies take 10 Animal Feed to grow, while rare babies take 30.
All in all, this new Livestock Pen is the fifth of seven eventual animal breeding habitats we'll see released in the game. While we don't have any specific details about what the next two buildings will be, we'll make sure to let you know what they are once they release in the game.
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Livestock Pen? Do you think there was a need for another building that could store Sheep or Pigs? Sound off in the comments.
As usual, you'll be given the frame to your first Livestock Pen the next time you login to the game. From there, you'll need to collect some building materials, including 10 each of Water Pumps, Wires and Steel Beams. Yes, these Steel Beams are the same items you need to collect for the Lighthouse Cove repair project, so you'll need to prioritize which item you'll place these materials into first.
Once you've finished building the Livestock Pen, you'll be able to browse all of the animals that can possibly be stored inside by looking at the interior menu and then browsing through the 19 pages of animals inside. You'll be given a Red Goat for free when completing your Livestock Pen, and will then have 19 more spaces to fill with animals, for a full capacity of 20 as of this writing.
In terms of breeding, remember that you only need to have one of each kind of animal in your Livestock Pen in order to trigger "breeding." The cribs that you'll receive from your own Livestock Pens are guaranteed to be one of the animals currently placed inside, but when claiming them from friends, they can either be rare or common animals that can also be stored inside. To be specific, orange cribs contain common mystery babies, while purple cribs contains rare animals that may even include former limited edition animals that cost less than 15 Farm Cash when originally released in the store. As with other mystery babies, the common babies take 10 Animal Feed to grow, while rare babies take 30.
All in all, this new Livestock Pen is the fifth of seven eventual animal breeding habitats we'll see released in the game. While we don't have any specific details about what the next two buildings will be, we'll make sure to let you know what they are once they release in the game.
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Livestock Pen? Do you think there was a need for another building that could store Sheep or Pigs? Sound off in the comments.
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