If, for whatever reason, you've been holding off on purchasing any of FarmVille's remaining Thanksgiving-themed items, you have 1 hour and 10 minutes from the time of this writing to do some last minute shopping and/or splurging.
Don't panic, these items aren't running out of stock (in terms of quantity), so each and every player has a chance at picking up the items that they want, so long as they do so before the clock strikes midnight for those players in the Eastern Time Zone. After that point, any and all remaining Thanksgiving items will expire and disappear from the store, likely not to be seen until October or November of 2011 rolls around, when Zynga celebrates Thanksgiving once again in the farming game.
Still, as we saw this year, not all of the items from 2009 made a return, and there's no telling (as of right now) which items will or won't make a comeback next year. Do you really want to spend an entire year wondering if you'll be able to purchase that one special item that you passed on this year? Of course you don't!
The items that are still available include the Fall Nursery (pictured) for 15 Farm Cash, the Harvest Store for 300,000 coins, the Paint Horse and Black Turkey for 26 and 18 Farm Cash (respectively), the Orange Pumpkin for 1,500 coins, the Pocahontas Gnome for 12 Farm Cash, and the Autumn Fall (waterfall) for 30 Farm Cash.
Before heading to bed tonight, make sure to do your last minute shopping in FarmVille before it's too late. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Free Zynga Cash Round-Up: Earn free premium currency in Cafe World, PetVille, & FarmVille
Everybody loves free stuff, right? After all, who wouldn't love receiving something for free, if it means being able to splurge on a little something in three of Zynga's games: Cafe World, PetVille, and FarmVille.
This brings us to the topic at hand, where we've accumulated a round-up of sorts, detailing the current promotions in those three games, allowing you to earn a bit of extra premium currency for use either immediately, or at a later date. Note: One of these promotions will actually require you to spend money, but we've detailed why we believe it's worth it in the end (hint: you'll make much more than you spend).
For details on how to earn 4 free Pet Cash in PetVille, 150 Cafe Cash in Cafe World, and 100 Farm Cash in FarmVille, meet us behind the break.
For starters, Zynga is now giving away 5 free Pet Cash to PetVille players, via a new cross-promotional activity with Stylesip, program concerned with fashion. This promotion is activated by clicking on the "Get Pet Coins & Cash" link at the top of the PetVille gameplay area, and scrolling down until you see the promotion under "Earn PetVille Cash!" The link will look like this:
Once clicked, a new window will appear, where you can simply answer a poll question that asks "What king of Stylesip girl are you today?" You'll be able to answer anyway you'd like, at which point you'll be shown a short video and another poll question concerning a certain fashionista, and which look you like on her best. Again, answer this question in any way you'd like, even if you don't read it, and you'll be rewarded with your free Pet Cash. You'll be alerted to this via small text that appears in the top right corner of the newly opened window, which says as much.
Simply refresh the game and voila! Your in-game Pet Cash total will have risen by 4. Not bad for a few seconds of work, eh?
Moving on, the new promotion in Cafe World is one with GameFly, and it will reward users with 150 free Cafe Cash if they sign up for one of GameFly's two subscription services. GameFly, for those that aren't familiar, is a video game rental service, that is very much like Netflix, except with video games. You can take advantage of this offer by clicking on the window that appears at the bottom of the Cafe World gameplay window, as seen below.
For entirely new members to the service, clicking on this link will allow you to initiate the sign-up process, where you will learn of GameFly's subscription costs, which are both less than $10 a month. Yes, this offer will cost you some money to initiate, but you'll earn 150 Cafe Cash in return, and you can cancel the GameFly subscription after your first month to avoid additional costs. With the current cost of simply purchasing Cafe Cash, the 150 Cafe Cash equates to more than $20 US, so you'll actually be making money off of the deal, while being able to take advantage of a few video game rentals in the process.
Finally, the offer in FarmVille is one that might sound familiar, as we've seen offers with this particular company in the past. Zynga's FarmVille promotion is one with Netflix, the movie rental service that we briefly mentioned above. In this deal, you can take advantage of Netflix's one month free trial service to earn 100 Farm Cash in return, absolutely free.
You'll find this offer underneath the gameplay window, as the Sponsored Link shown below. While this may sound like a deal as complex as the Gamefly offer in Cafe World, here it seems that there are no penalties for simply signing up for Netflix's free trial to receive your cash. You can, of course, keep this free trial for the entire month, if you'd like, but the fine print of this offer states that you won't have your Farm Cash revoked, so long as you keep the service active for at least 4 business days.
What does this mean in the long run? It means that if you're willing to wait four days to finalize this offer and earn permanent rights to your free Farm Cash, you'll walk away with a whopping 100 free Farm Cash with no money out of pocket. Now, that's what we call a great deal. Note: This offer, like so many others, is only available to entirely new subscribers to the service.
While both the Cafe World and FarmVille offers may seem a bit complex, they do offer fantastic opportunities for you to greatly boost your Cafe Cash and Farm Cash, which should do wonders to help you progress through the current quest lines available in both (the Holiday Dinner line in Cafe World and the Festive Tree line in FarmVille). Whether or not you take the time to actually take advantage of these offers, however, is up to you.
What do you think of Zynga's newest offers in these games? Do you think they are worth taking the time to complete, or is the reward not enough in your mind?
This brings us to the topic at hand, where we've accumulated a round-up of sorts, detailing the current promotions in those three games, allowing you to earn a bit of extra premium currency for use either immediately, or at a later date. Note: One of these promotions will actually require you to spend money, but we've detailed why we believe it's worth it in the end (hint: you'll make much more than you spend).
For details on how to earn 4 free Pet Cash in PetVille, 150 Cafe Cash in Cafe World, and 100 Farm Cash in FarmVille, meet us behind the break.
For starters, Zynga is now giving away 5 free Pet Cash to PetVille players, via a new cross-promotional activity with Stylesip, program concerned with fashion. This promotion is activated by clicking on the "Get Pet Coins & Cash" link at the top of the PetVille gameplay area, and scrolling down until you see the promotion under "Earn PetVille Cash!" The link will look like this:
Once clicked, a new window will appear, where you can simply answer a poll question that asks "What king of Stylesip girl are you today?" You'll be able to answer anyway you'd like, at which point you'll be shown a short video and another poll question concerning a certain fashionista, and which look you like on her best. Again, answer this question in any way you'd like, even if you don't read it, and you'll be rewarded with your free Pet Cash. You'll be alerted to this via small text that appears in the top right corner of the newly opened window, which says as much.
Simply refresh the game and voila! Your in-game Pet Cash total will have risen by 4. Not bad for a few seconds of work, eh?
Moving on, the new promotion in Cafe World is one with GameFly, and it will reward users with 150 free Cafe Cash if they sign up for one of GameFly's two subscription services. GameFly, for those that aren't familiar, is a video game rental service, that is very much like Netflix, except with video games. You can take advantage of this offer by clicking on the window that appears at the bottom of the Cafe World gameplay window, as seen below.
For entirely new members to the service, clicking on this link will allow you to initiate the sign-up process, where you will learn of GameFly's subscription costs, which are both less than $10 a month. Yes, this offer will cost you some money to initiate, but you'll earn 150 Cafe Cash in return, and you can cancel the GameFly subscription after your first month to avoid additional costs. With the current cost of simply purchasing Cafe Cash, the 150 Cafe Cash equates to more than $20 US, so you'll actually be making money off of the deal, while being able to take advantage of a few video game rentals in the process.
Finally, the offer in FarmVille is one that might sound familiar, as we've seen offers with this particular company in the past. Zynga's FarmVille promotion is one with Netflix, the movie rental service that we briefly mentioned above. In this deal, you can take advantage of Netflix's one month free trial service to earn 100 Farm Cash in return, absolutely free.
You'll find this offer underneath the gameplay window, as the Sponsored Link shown below. While this may sound like a deal as complex as the Gamefly offer in Cafe World, here it seems that there are no penalties for simply signing up for Netflix's free trial to receive your cash. You can, of course, keep this free trial for the entire month, if you'd like, but the fine print of this offer states that you won't have your Farm Cash revoked, so long as you keep the service active for at least 4 business days.
What does this mean in the long run? It means that if you're willing to wait four days to finalize this offer and earn permanent rights to your free Farm Cash, you'll walk away with a whopping 100 free Farm Cash with no money out of pocket. Now, that's what we call a great deal. Note: This offer, like so many others, is only available to entirely new subscribers to the service.
While both the Cafe World and FarmVille offers may seem a bit complex, they do offer fantastic opportunities for you to greatly boost your Cafe Cash and Farm Cash, which should do wonders to help you progress through the current quest lines available in both (the Holiday Dinner line in Cafe World and the Festive Tree line in FarmVille). Whether or not you take the time to actually take advantage of these offers, however, is up to you.
What do you think of Zynga's newest offers in these games? Do you think they are worth taking the time to complete, or is the reward not enough in your mind?
FarmVille's Winter Whimsy Gift Box: What's inside?
With yesterday's release of the Winter Holiday Tree in FarmVille, we see the release of an interesting new prize that you can redeem your hard-earned presents for. The item is called the Winter Whimsy, and it looks like a Mystery Box of old, made of two different colors. As of right now, you can redeem 10 presents for a Winter Whimsy gift, and in doing so, you'll have a chance at receiving a whole slew of different items.
Here's a list of the confirmed items that have been received when opening a Winter Whimsy box (turns out you won't have to wait until next week to get your hands on some of these items, like was first believed, as they are available right now - Snow Stallion and Ice House, I'm looking at you):
Ice House
Penguin
Animal Feed
5,000 coins
Large Can of Fuel
1/5 Can of Fuel
Arborists
Tinsel Tree
Snow Stallion
Yes, farmers, the Snow Stallion is available to receive from the Winter Whimsy box. I know this is difficult to believe, because the Snow Stallion will also be available for 500 presents once you overfill your Holiday Tree's meter, but we can confirm that the item is in the gift box, even if it is the rarest prize available, as some very lucky farmers over on the official FarmVille forums have been receiving them for themselves.
And there you have it! A complete list of items that you may win when redeeming for the Winter Whimsy box, giving you more than enough to go on to decide whether or not you think redeeming 10 gifts is worth the risk of ending up with just 1/5 Can of Fuel.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Will you redeem any of your Gifts for the Winter Whimsy gift box? If you receive a Snow Stallion yourself, we'd love to hear about it! Which other item would you most like to receive from inside?
Here's a list of the confirmed items that have been received when opening a Winter Whimsy box (turns out you won't have to wait until next week to get your hands on some of these items, like was first believed, as they are available right now - Snow Stallion and Ice House, I'm looking at you):
Ice House
Penguin
Animal Feed
5,000 coins
Large Can of Fuel
1/5 Can of Fuel
Arborists
Tinsel Tree
Snow Stallion
Yes, farmers, the Snow Stallion is available to receive from the Winter Whimsy box. I know this is difficult to believe, because the Snow Stallion will also be available for 500 presents once you overfill your Holiday Tree's meter, but we can confirm that the item is in the gift box, even if it is the rarest prize available, as some very lucky farmers over on the official FarmVille forums have been receiving them for themselves.
And there you have it! A complete list of items that you may win when redeeming for the Winter Whimsy box, giving you more than enough to go on to decide whether or not you think redeeming 10 gifts is worth the risk of ending up with just 1/5 Can of Fuel.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Will you redeem any of your Gifts for the Winter Whimsy gift box? If you receive a Snow Stallion yourself, we'd love to hear about it! Which other item would you most like to receive from inside?
FarmVille: Mint Candy Tree now available, but there's a catch
As we reported a few days ago, the Mint Candy Tree was then an unreleased tree that we expected would be released in FarmVille in the near future. It turns out that the future is now, as technically speaking, the tree is now available to purchase in the game's store. It's listed as a regular, permanent addition to the store, so your best bet at easily finding it is to sort the tree area of the store by "Name (A-Z)."
Once you've found the tree, you'll see that you can purchase this level 2 tree for 30 Farm Cash. However, the image associated with the tree is entirely wrong, as you can see from the picture to the right (the tree in that picture appears to be a Granny Smith Apple Tree). The actual Mint Candy Tree looks like the image below:
To save yourself some Farm Cash (and some headache), it is believed that this new tree will actually be available as Mystery Seedlings produced when placing a Sugar Plum Tree in one of your orchards, but that tree has yet to be released in the game, so we can't confirm this rumor as of this time.
All of that being said, it's up to you whether or not you'd like to risk purchasing one of these trees early, before Zynga has a chance to fix the many issues associated with it. Was the tree released early by mistake? Is there just a glitch in the system that no one seems to have noticed yet? It's presumable that Zynga will allow those users that purchase the tree to keep it once they've fixed it, but in the off chance that they have to remove those purchased trees from the game, we'd suggest waiting until they have sorted everything out before spending the premium currency.
Is the Mint Candy Tree working properly on your farm? Have you purchased one and noticed any bugs with the tree yourself? Are you willing to risk losing your Farm Cash just to have one of these trees right now, without waiting?
Once you've found the tree, you'll see that you can purchase this level 2 tree for 30 Farm Cash. However, the image associated with the tree is entirely wrong, as you can see from the picture to the right (the tree in that picture appears to be a Granny Smith Apple Tree). The actual Mint Candy Tree looks like the image below:
To save yourself some Farm Cash (and some headache), it is believed that this new tree will actually be available as Mystery Seedlings produced when placing a Sugar Plum Tree in one of your orchards, but that tree has yet to be released in the game, so we can't confirm this rumor as of this time.
All of that being said, it's up to you whether or not you'd like to risk purchasing one of these trees early, before Zynga has a chance to fix the many issues associated with it. Was the tree released early by mistake? Is there just a glitch in the system that no one seems to have noticed yet? It's presumable that Zynga will allow those users that purchase the tree to keep it once they've fixed it, but in the off chance that they have to remove those purchased trees from the game, we'd suggest waiting until they have sorted everything out before spending the premium currency.
Is the Mint Candy Tree working properly on your farm? Have you purchased one and noticed any bugs with the tree yourself? Are you willing to risk losing your Farm Cash just to have one of these trees right now, without waiting?
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Holiday Elf Pig, Elf Costume, and Ski Bunny Costume
As we reported a few days ago, the Mint Candy Tree was then an unreleased tree that we expected would be released in FarmVille in the near future. It turns out that the future is now, as technically speaking, the tree is now available to purchase in the game's store. It's listed as a regular, permanent addition to the store, so your best bet at easily finding it is to sort the tree area of the store by "Name (A-Z)."
Once you've found the tree, you'll see that you can purchase this level 2 tree for 30 Farm Cash. However, the image associated with the tree is entirely wrong, as you can see from the picture to the right (the tree in that picture appears to be a Granny Smith Apple Tree). The actual Mint Candy Tree looks like the image below:
To save yourself some Farm Cash (and some headache), it is believed that this new tree will actually be available as Mystery Seedlings produced when placing a Sugar Plum Tree in one of your orchards, but that tree has yet to be released in the game, so we can't confirm this rumor as of this time.
All of that being said, it's up to you whether or not you'd like to risk purchasing one of these trees early, before Zynga has a chance to fix the many issues associated with it. Was the tree released early by mistake? Is there just a glitch in the system that no one seems to have noticed yet? It's presumable that Zynga will allow those users that purchase the tree to keep it once they've fixed it, but in the off chance that they have to remove those purchased trees from the game, we'd suggest waiting until they have sorted everything out before spending the premium currency.
Is the Mint Candy Tree working properly on your farm? Have you purchased one and noticed any bugs with the tree yourself? Are you willing to risk losing your Farm Cash just to have one of these trees right now, without waiting?
Once you've found the tree, you'll see that you can purchase this level 2 tree for 30 Farm Cash. However, the image associated with the tree is entirely wrong, as you can see from the picture to the right (the tree in that picture appears to be a Granny Smith Apple Tree). The actual Mint Candy Tree looks like the image below:
To save yourself some Farm Cash (and some headache), it is believed that this new tree will actually be available as Mystery Seedlings produced when placing a Sugar Plum Tree in one of your orchards, but that tree has yet to be released in the game, so we can't confirm this rumor as of this time.
All of that being said, it's up to you whether or not you'd like to risk purchasing one of these trees early, before Zynga has a chance to fix the many issues associated with it. Was the tree released early by mistake? Is there just a glitch in the system that no one seems to have noticed yet? It's presumable that Zynga will allow those users that purchase the tree to keep it once they've fixed it, but in the off chance that they have to remove those purchased trees from the game, we'd suggest waiting until they have sorted everything out before spending the premium currency.
Is the Mint Candy Tree working properly on your farm? Have you purchased one and noticed any bugs with the tree yourself? Are you willing to risk losing your Farm Cash just to have one of these trees right now, without waiting?
Thursday, January 12, 2012
CityVille Cheats and Tips: How to become Mayor
cityville cheats mayor
So you've decided to start playing CityVille and become Mayor of your own city. You've been putting up buildings, farming, decorating your city, using our CityVille guides, and expanded your franchises; yet somehow you still haven't become Mayor of your growing CityVille town. Have you been nominated as a candidate by Samantha, but still not sure how to become Mayor? Fortunately, our CityVille Cheats & Tips: How to become Mayor guide has all the answers to help you rise up as leader of your city and unlock the pier shipment seaport. It's easy to become Mayor in CityVille; follow our guide and you'll be an elected official in no time.
cityville cheats mayor
Like many other developments in CityVille, to become Mayor you need to complete missions. Starting with the first mission in the game, here are all the missions you need to complete to reach CityVille's Become Mayor mission:
Name Your City!
City is Born
First Neighborhood
Incoming Shipment
Build a Bakery!
Plant A City Flag
User Flies City Flag Proudly
A Post Office!
Build City Hall! - This is where you become nominated for Mayor, now let's get you elected!
Clear Trees!
Rita's Flower Garden
The Burger Joint
Build A Silo!
Build Franchises
Build Headquarters
Run Remote Franchise
Fuel Town Finances
Build A New Park
Increase Population
Build School
Become Mayor!
Though it looks as though becoming Mayor in CityVille is a ton of work, if you've been playing, you've probably completed most of these missions already. Check your game to see what mission you're up to, then find it in our list above to see how many missions you have left until election day. Chances are you're much closer to becoming CityVille's Mayor than you think.
cityville cheats become mayor
When you finally reach the Become Mayor! CityVille mission, you'll have quite a daunting task in front of you. To complete the mission you must:
Have 1,000 population
Collect from Businesses 30 times
You can prepare for this mission in advance by building Community Buildings so that you're population is already at 1,000 by the time CityVille's Become Mayor mission comes around. Remember, the school you have to build for the previous mission (Build School) will raise your population limit by 500. Other than that, to become Mayor all you have to do is collect from 30 businesses, which shouldn't take too long at all.
cityville cheats become mayor
But becoming Mayor is just another chapter of the CityVille saga. Once you're the Mayor of your city, you'll unlock the pier seaport and even more missions to explore. Shipping with piers can be complicated, but with our CityVille Shipment Guide and your new position as Mayor of CityVille, you should have no problem figuring it out.
So you've decided to start playing CityVille and become Mayor of your own city. You've been putting up buildings, farming, decorating your city, using our CityVille guides, and expanded your franchises; yet somehow you still haven't become Mayor of your growing CityVille town. Have you been nominated as a candidate by Samantha, but still not sure how to become Mayor? Fortunately, our CityVille Cheats & Tips: How to become Mayor guide has all the answers to help you rise up as leader of your city and unlock the pier shipment seaport. It's easy to become Mayor in CityVille; follow our guide and you'll be an elected official in no time.
cityville cheats mayor
Like many other developments in CityVille, to become Mayor you need to complete missions. Starting with the first mission in the game, here are all the missions you need to complete to reach CityVille's Become Mayor mission:
Name Your City!
City is Born
First Neighborhood
Incoming Shipment
Build a Bakery!
Plant A City Flag
User Flies City Flag Proudly
A Post Office!
Build City Hall! - This is where you become nominated for Mayor, now let's get you elected!
Clear Trees!
Rita's Flower Garden
The Burger Joint
Build A Silo!
Build Franchises
Build Headquarters
Run Remote Franchise
Fuel Town Finances
Build A New Park
Increase Population
Build School
Become Mayor!
Though it looks as though becoming Mayor in CityVille is a ton of work, if you've been playing, you've probably completed most of these missions already. Check your game to see what mission you're up to, then find it in our list above to see how many missions you have left until election day. Chances are you're much closer to becoming CityVille's Mayor than you think.
cityville cheats become mayor
When you finally reach the Become Mayor! CityVille mission, you'll have quite a daunting task in front of you. To complete the mission you must:
Have 1,000 population
Collect from Businesses 30 times
You can prepare for this mission in advance by building Community Buildings so that you're population is already at 1,000 by the time CityVille's Become Mayor mission comes around. Remember, the school you have to build for the previous mission (Build School) will raise your population limit by 500. Other than that, to become Mayor all you have to do is collect from 30 businesses, which shouldn't take too long at all.
cityville cheats become mayor
But becoming Mayor is just another chapter of the CityVille saga. Once you're the Mayor of your city, you'll unlock the pier seaport and even more missions to explore. Shipping with piers can be complicated, but with our CityVille Shipment Guide and your new position as Mayor of CityVille, you should have no problem figuring it out.
Social game spoilers: Love 'em or hate 'em?
FarmVille New Years Countdown
Spoilers. They're a popular staple of many a social game blog (including this ridiculously good-looking one, mind you), but not everyone is a fan. At least according to FarmVille forum user sophiemilan who believes posts containing unreleased items and content ruin the element of surprise. For this digital farmer, it got to the point where they literally stopped visiting sites that covered unreleased game content.
"When updates come out, it's just a matter of seeing which unreleased item they decided to release," sophiemilan says. "There is no element of surprise anymore."
The user even mentions that companies like Zynga have become privy to the practice, posting its own sneak peeks on its fan pages for FarmVille, FrontierVille and even CityVille already. And the problem persists when friends see the news and regurgitate it through their Facebook News Feeds. So, let's have it out in a poll, shall we?
Spoilers. They're a popular staple of many a social game blog (including this ridiculously good-looking one, mind you), but not everyone is a fan. At least according to FarmVille forum user sophiemilan who believes posts containing unreleased items and content ruin the element of surprise. For this digital farmer, it got to the point where they literally stopped visiting sites that covered unreleased game content.
"When updates come out, it's just a matter of seeing which unreleased item they decided to release," sophiemilan says. "There is no element of surprise anymore."
The user even mentions that companies like Zynga have become privy to the practice, posting its own sneak peeks on its fan pages for FarmVille, FrontierVille and even CityVille already. And the problem persists when friends see the news and regurgitate it through their Facebook News Feeds. So, let's have it out in a poll, shall we?
FrontierVille New Years Party Goals: Everything you need to know
Just when you thought the holidays were through, Dec. 31 crept up right around the corner, bringing yet another set of FrontierVille Goals with it. Well, at least in the world of Facebook it did. Soon enough, pioneers everywhere will find a letter on their homestead reading that Frontier Jack's niece, Bess, is headed West for the New Year.
In the New Years Party Goals, players will have to prepare their homestead for the ultimate party to ring in the New Year for Bess. The preparations will span five new Goals wherein players will earn RSVPs, increasing their guest list to epic proportions in time for the party's end come Jan. 14. There's also a brand new item to be built in this series of Goals, the New Years Dance Floor.
Join us behind the break for a detailed guide on how to finish all five News Years Party Goals.
PartyVille
In the first Goal of the New Year, "PartyVille," it's your job to make some room for that Dance Floor, buy it from the Market and randomly collect a Daily Bonus from the Barn. If you've yet to build a Barn, this Goal is going to take quite a while. Check out this guide on how to build your Barn to get things moving. Finish these requirements and 200 XP, 250 coins and one RSVP are all yours.
In Part II of the New Years Party Goals, players will simply need to collect a few items. First, you will need to either have or buy one Fence and Saddle from the Market for 600 coins and 1 Wood. Next, you'll have to either craft or own two Fancy Clothing, which can be made in the General Store using two Ribbon and two Clothes. Ribbon can be found through the Free Gifts page, which means some requests are in order, and Clothes are created in the Cabin using six Cloth and 500 coins. And we all know where Cloth comes from (hint: say 'Hello' to your friends every once in a while), right? Lastly, you need to have or collect one pair of Winter Mittens, which drop at random as part of the new Winter Collection when Whacking the new Dance Floor, chopping down Pine Trees and tending winter Animals. Finish this and an RSVP, a Light Snack and one Piggy Poop await you.
Finish Your New Years Dance Floor
The third of the New Years Party Goals finally requires the dreaded GIft requests. For this Goal, players will have to collect 10 Welcome Baskets through tapping their friends while crafting 15 sets of Fireworks and moving 10 Oxen. The Fireworks will take quite some time to create considering you'll need three Saltpeter, which you can only find one of at a time from turning in the Manure Collection. (Thankfully, one Saltpeter and five Fire make five Fireworks.) We'd recommend throwing this on the good old Wish List, but you're friends are going to need that Saltpeter too. If this last portion of the Goal is anything like moving the Cows in the Toll Booth Goals, you should be able to move the same Ox 10 times to fulfill the requirement. Complete these tasks and another RSVP is yours along with one Lunch and five New Years Fireworks.
New Years Dance FloorNew Years Party Part IV requires some more effort, asking players to find one Hot Cider from the Winter Collection, place one Old Time Camera and upgrade the Dance Floor to Level 2. Finding that Hot Cider will take some time considering it is random, but Old Time Cameras are available in the Market for just 1,200 coins and 10 Wood. To bring the New Years Dance Floor to the next level, you will need to ask friends for these standard building parts:
2 Hammers
2 Nails
2 Bricks
2 Hand Drills
2 Paint Buckets
3 Hardwood Floors
Once these three requirements are met, enjoy the same reward as before, which isn't a bad thing. The final Goal in this series, in traditional FrontierVille finale style, will put quite a dent in your reserves of Food, cash and Energy. First, just tend to five Horses, which could be a tough sell considering many players dumped a lot of their steeds as a result of the change earlier this year. Next, just place five of those New Years Fireworks you've been rewarded all this time. And finally, bake five Cakes, which is done in the Inn using Batter and Fire. To be exact, you will need 10 Fire and 20 Batter to craft five Cakes. And that translates to 400 Food and an insane 18,000 coins. After spending your six kids' college fund, enjoy 300 XP, another RSVP and a fancy Silver Hot Tub. Then, dance the night away with the FrontierVille cast--you deserve it.
[Via FrontierVille Wiki]
Check out the rest of our New Year's coverage right here.
In the New Years Party Goals, players will have to prepare their homestead for the ultimate party to ring in the New Year for Bess. The preparations will span five new Goals wherein players will earn RSVPs, increasing their guest list to epic proportions in time for the party's end come Jan. 14. There's also a brand new item to be built in this series of Goals, the New Years Dance Floor.
Join us behind the break for a detailed guide on how to finish all five News Years Party Goals.
PartyVille
In the first Goal of the New Year, "PartyVille," it's your job to make some room for that Dance Floor, buy it from the Market and randomly collect a Daily Bonus from the Barn. If you've yet to build a Barn, this Goal is going to take quite a while. Check out this guide on how to build your Barn to get things moving. Finish these requirements and 200 XP, 250 coins and one RSVP are all yours.
In Part II of the New Years Party Goals, players will simply need to collect a few items. First, you will need to either have or buy one Fence and Saddle from the Market for 600 coins and 1 Wood. Next, you'll have to either craft or own two Fancy Clothing, which can be made in the General Store using two Ribbon and two Clothes. Ribbon can be found through the Free Gifts page, which means some requests are in order, and Clothes are created in the Cabin using six Cloth and 500 coins. And we all know where Cloth comes from (hint: say 'Hello' to your friends every once in a while), right? Lastly, you need to have or collect one pair of Winter Mittens, which drop at random as part of the new Winter Collection when Whacking the new Dance Floor, chopping down Pine Trees and tending winter Animals. Finish this and an RSVP, a Light Snack and one Piggy Poop await you.
Finish Your New Years Dance Floor
The third of the New Years Party Goals finally requires the dreaded GIft requests. For this Goal, players will have to collect 10 Welcome Baskets through tapping their friends while crafting 15 sets of Fireworks and moving 10 Oxen. The Fireworks will take quite some time to create considering you'll need three Saltpeter, which you can only find one of at a time from turning in the Manure Collection. (Thankfully, one Saltpeter and five Fire make five Fireworks.) We'd recommend throwing this on the good old Wish List, but you're friends are going to need that Saltpeter too. If this last portion of the Goal is anything like moving the Cows in the Toll Booth Goals, you should be able to move the same Ox 10 times to fulfill the requirement. Complete these tasks and another RSVP is yours along with one Lunch and five New Years Fireworks.
New Years Dance FloorNew Years Party Part IV requires some more effort, asking players to find one Hot Cider from the Winter Collection, place one Old Time Camera and upgrade the Dance Floor to Level 2. Finding that Hot Cider will take some time considering it is random, but Old Time Cameras are available in the Market for just 1,200 coins and 10 Wood. To bring the New Years Dance Floor to the next level, you will need to ask friends for these standard building parts:
2 Hammers
2 Nails
2 Bricks
2 Hand Drills
2 Paint Buckets
3 Hardwood Floors
Once these three requirements are met, enjoy the same reward as before, which isn't a bad thing. The final Goal in this series, in traditional FrontierVille finale style, will put quite a dent in your reserves of Food, cash and Energy. First, just tend to five Horses, which could be a tough sell considering many players dumped a lot of their steeds as a result of the change earlier this year. Next, just place five of those New Years Fireworks you've been rewarded all this time. And finally, bake five Cakes, which is done in the Inn using Batter and Fire. To be exact, you will need 10 Fire and 20 Batter to craft five Cakes. And that translates to 400 Food and an insane 18,000 coins. After spending your six kids' college fund, enjoy 300 XP, another RSVP and a fancy Silver Hot Tub. Then, dance the night away with the FrontierVille cast--you deserve it.
[Via FrontierVille Wiki]
Check out the rest of our New Year's coverage right here.
FrontierVille Winter Collection: Everything you need to know
Winter BearAlong with the New Years Party Goals and New Years Dance Floor came a new Collection in FrontierVille to, well, collect. Like all Collections, this one contains five items and a special reward. The five items required to complete the Collection include Hot Cider, Mittens, Snowflake, Hot Chocolate and an Icicle. Finding these items is easy enough as they have a chance to drop at random when whacking away at the New Years Dance Floor, chopping down Pine Trees and tending to Winter Animals.
This includes animals released in recent promotions like those awarded from the Winter's a Comin' Goals. Turning in the Collection will reward players with the Winter Bear, a grizzly that looks reluctantly festive in his top hat and scarf. If you want this party animal to join you on the New Years Dance Floor tomorrow evening, you better get to chopping those trees and making those Winter Animals happy.
[Source and Image Credit FrontierVille Wiki]
[Second Image: FrontierVille Forums]
Check out the rest of our New Year's coverage right here.
This includes animals released in recent promotions like those awarded from the Winter's a Comin' Goals. Turning in the Collection will reward players with the Winter Bear, a grizzly that looks reluctantly festive in his top hat and scarf. If you want this party animal to join you on the New Years Dance Floor tomorrow evening, you better get to chopping those trees and making those Winter Animals happy.
[Source and Image Credit FrontierVille Wiki]
[Second Image: FrontierVille Forums]
Check out the rest of our New Year's coverage right here.
FrontierVille New Years RSVP Prizes: Everything you need to know
Along with the New Years Party Goals that were released in FrontierVille earlier today, comes a new collection event in the game, which will have users collecting RSVPs for their New Years Party, so that you can upgrade your dance floor to intricately decorated and massive proportions just in time for the ball to drop ringing in the new year.
While you'll need to collect just a few RSVPs to set your party into motion technically (that is, in order to bring some of the FrontierVille cast out onto the dance floor), that isn't their only purpose. In fact, collect enough RSVPs, either by completing the New Years Party Goals, or by earning them from friends, and you'll be able to trade them in for some awesome themed items.
Meet us behind the break for a look at the six prizes that are available, and how you'll earn them. First and foremost, before you can earn any prizes, you'll need to start gathering RSVPs, which is where a little help from your neighbors will really help you progress. As we stated before, you'll be able to earn free single RSVPs from completing some of the New Year Party Goals (or collecting bonuses posted by your friends after they complete the goals), but in order to really upgrade your party, you'll need to collect varying amounts of RSVPs, with a certain number being required to upgrade your Dance Floor a single level.
After you upgrade your Dance Floor to level 2 as part IV of the V part New Years Goal series (a task that requires you to have 10 RSVPs), you'll be able to continue upgrading your Dance Floor by collecting even more. This is done by clicking on the Dance Floor and clicking on the "Invite Friends" button, bringing up the a window like the one below, where you'll be able to post an Invite directly to your friends' walls. Be careful though, as all of your friends will be listed, not just your FrontierVille neighbors, so make sure you're not inadvertently spamming people that don't play the game.
The Dance Floor has six levels, with each subsequent level adding more decorations and more of the FrontierVille cast to your party. To start, you'll have Frontier Jack and Miss Fanny Wildcat, but over time, your party will grow to include Hank, Humble Bob and so on. Levels 3 through 6 of the Dance Floor upgrades will cost anywhere from 20 - 250 RSVPs to complete. You'll be able to upgrade your Dance Floor by simply clicking on the item and selecting "Upgrade Party!" from the drop-down menu that appears. Of course, you won't actually be able to upgrade until you have the required number of RSVPs for the party's next level, but a handy pop-up will let you know how many you've yet to earn.
Along with simply upgrading the Dance Floor to a more intricately decorated item, you'll also unlock some redeemable prizes for each level you upgrade to. The Prizes are unlocked as soon as your Party is upgraded, and are as follows:
New Years Sign - 5 RSVPs
Mini Bar - 10 RSVPs
Hooch Brut - 20 RSVPs
Party Pig - 50 RSVPs
Party Hats - 100 RSVPs
Confetti Cannon - 250 RSVPs
As you can see from the list above, this is way more than just a simple side-quest associated with the New Years Party Goals, as this is a full collection event, that will likely require lots of time and dedication on your part (along with a lot of very generous friends), if you'd like to earn enough RSVPs to unlock the most "expensive" items.
If nothing else, everyone should at least try to earn the Party Pig, as this is simply a fantastic animal, wearing a party hat and shutter shades - Shutter Shades! How cool is that!?
While the pop-up above states that you'll have to wait until December 31 to start the countdown, this isn't entirely accurate, as you can actually start the countdown whenever you'd like, by clicking on the Dance Floor and selecting "Start Countdown." This will allow you to redeem all prizes that you've unlocked up to that point. Don't worry about losing those other prizes though, as you can "throw a party" once per day, until the event is done, and you'll be able to receive any subsequent prizes that you've earned in the meantime by doing so. It should also be noted that your RSVP progress is saved permanently, so even if you decide to start the countdown before New Years Eve proper, you won't have to start collecting RSVPs from scratch, which is definitely a good thing.
And there you have it! Everything you need to throw a complete New Years Party in FrontierVille, along with tons of cool prizes and decorations to boot! What a way to end a year!
Check out the rest of our New Year's coverage right here.
While you'll need to collect just a few RSVPs to set your party into motion technically (that is, in order to bring some of the FrontierVille cast out onto the dance floor), that isn't their only purpose. In fact, collect enough RSVPs, either by completing the New Years Party Goals, or by earning them from friends, and you'll be able to trade them in for some awesome themed items.
Meet us behind the break for a look at the six prizes that are available, and how you'll earn them. First and foremost, before you can earn any prizes, you'll need to start gathering RSVPs, which is where a little help from your neighbors will really help you progress. As we stated before, you'll be able to earn free single RSVPs from completing some of the New Year Party Goals (or collecting bonuses posted by your friends after they complete the goals), but in order to really upgrade your party, you'll need to collect varying amounts of RSVPs, with a certain number being required to upgrade your Dance Floor a single level.
After you upgrade your Dance Floor to level 2 as part IV of the V part New Years Goal series (a task that requires you to have 10 RSVPs), you'll be able to continue upgrading your Dance Floor by collecting even more. This is done by clicking on the Dance Floor and clicking on the "Invite Friends" button, bringing up the a window like the one below, where you'll be able to post an Invite directly to your friends' walls. Be careful though, as all of your friends will be listed, not just your FrontierVille neighbors, so make sure you're not inadvertently spamming people that don't play the game.
The Dance Floor has six levels, with each subsequent level adding more decorations and more of the FrontierVille cast to your party. To start, you'll have Frontier Jack and Miss Fanny Wildcat, but over time, your party will grow to include Hank, Humble Bob and so on. Levels 3 through 6 of the Dance Floor upgrades will cost anywhere from 20 - 250 RSVPs to complete. You'll be able to upgrade your Dance Floor by simply clicking on the item and selecting "Upgrade Party!" from the drop-down menu that appears. Of course, you won't actually be able to upgrade until you have the required number of RSVPs for the party's next level, but a handy pop-up will let you know how many you've yet to earn.
Along with simply upgrading the Dance Floor to a more intricately decorated item, you'll also unlock some redeemable prizes for each level you upgrade to. The Prizes are unlocked as soon as your Party is upgraded, and are as follows:
New Years Sign - 5 RSVPs
Mini Bar - 10 RSVPs
Hooch Brut - 20 RSVPs
Party Pig - 50 RSVPs
Party Hats - 100 RSVPs
Confetti Cannon - 250 RSVPs
As you can see from the list above, this is way more than just a simple side-quest associated with the New Years Party Goals, as this is a full collection event, that will likely require lots of time and dedication on your part (along with a lot of very generous friends), if you'd like to earn enough RSVPs to unlock the most "expensive" items.
If nothing else, everyone should at least try to earn the Party Pig, as this is simply a fantastic animal, wearing a party hat and shutter shades - Shutter Shades! How cool is that!?
While the pop-up above states that you'll have to wait until December 31 to start the countdown, this isn't entirely accurate, as you can actually start the countdown whenever you'd like, by clicking on the Dance Floor and selecting "Start Countdown." This will allow you to redeem all prizes that you've unlocked up to that point. Don't worry about losing those other prizes though, as you can "throw a party" once per day, until the event is done, and you'll be able to receive any subsequent prizes that you've earned in the meantime by doing so. It should also be noted that your RSVP progress is saved permanently, so even if you decide to start the countdown before New Years Eve proper, you won't have to start collecting RSVPs from scratch, which is definitely a good thing.
And there you have it! Everything you need to throw a complete New Years Party in FrontierVille, along with tons of cool prizes and decorations to boot! What a way to end a year!
Check out the rest of our New Year's coverage right here.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
MegaCity maker Vostu gets down to earth with Elemental on Android
As it attempts to win over the judgment of the courts, Vostu attempts to win over the hearts of Android gamers everywhere with Elemental. The Brazilian social game maker released the game from its São Paulo studio today to the Android Market for free. The game is said to be a twist on the classic puzzle game Sudoku, swapping boring numbers for more exciting elements.
Players combine various combinations of the classic four elements--earth, wind, fire and water--to unlock brand new elements within each puzzle. As players create new elements, they're guided by Professor Nicolas (or should we say Nikola?), who looks as if it could be a passerby in the Professor Layton universe.
Elemental presents its puzzles in a 4 by 4 grid, and players must create new elements by placing existing elements within the sub grids. However, like Sudoku, you cannot have more than one element in any given row or column. Nikola--sorry, Nicolas--will guide players through the more complex grids and element combinations. There are two game modes in Elemental: Story and Survival.
The former throws players into different worlds to collect certain elements and move on, while the latter is a race against the clock to complete grids. Of course, Elemental is made social via OpenFeint, which allows players to compete in real time by sharing achievements. (So ... technically real time?) Vostu said in a release that it plans to use OpenFeint in future mobile titles. If only this were coming to iOS--normal Sudoku just doesn't do it for this writer.
Players combine various combinations of the classic four elements--earth, wind, fire and water--to unlock brand new elements within each puzzle. As players create new elements, they're guided by Professor Nicolas (or should we say Nikola?), who looks as if it could be a passerby in the Professor Layton universe.
Elemental presents its puzzles in a 4 by 4 grid, and players must create new elements by placing existing elements within the sub grids. However, like Sudoku, you cannot have more than one element in any given row or column. Nikola--sorry, Nicolas--will guide players through the more complex grids and element combinations. There are two game modes in Elemental: Story and Survival.
The former throws players into different worlds to collect certain elements and move on, while the latter is a race against the clock to complete grids. Of course, Elemental is made social via OpenFeint, which allows players to compete in real time by sharing achievements. (So ... technically real time?) Vostu said in a release that it plans to use OpenFeint in future mobile titles. If only this were coming to iOS--normal Sudoku just doesn't do it for this writer.
Mass Effect social game on Facebook, Google+, iOS confirmed?
Whoops--didn't mean to let that cat out of the bag, huh Bioware? (Actually, you probably so planned that.) During an interview with CVG, Executive Producer Casey Hudson on Bioware's much-anticipated Mass Effect 3 revealed that a version of the game is likely coming to social networks and iOS devices. Granted, we've expected as much for awhile, but nothing's ever been said.
"For the first time, wherever you go - online, mobile, on social networks - you'll be able to follow your progress," Hudson told CVG. "You'll never have to leave the Mass Effect experience." The website went on to note that it caught "glimpses of an all-new social game for Facebook and Google+, as well as a bespoke iPad and iPhone adventure."
So, there you have it, straight from the turian's segmented mouth. We had suspicions of a Mass Effect social game since EA2D, the studio that created the briefly successful Dragon Age Legends, became Bioware San Francisco. And let's not forget the recent Bioware job posting that called for "a well-rounded Artist to work on an exciting, new, social game for gamers."
With such an ambitious launch on so many platforms at once, we'd have to imagine that this social game will prove to be more than a companion game. That's especially considering the fact the core Mass Effect 3 will have a persistent multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, we all know what the average shooter fan thinks of social games ... or do we?
"For the first time, wherever you go - online, mobile, on social networks - you'll be able to follow your progress," Hudson told CVG. "You'll never have to leave the Mass Effect experience." The website went on to note that it caught "glimpses of an all-new social game for Facebook and Google+, as well as a bespoke iPad and iPhone adventure."
So, there you have it, straight from the turian's segmented mouth. We had suspicions of a Mass Effect social game since EA2D, the studio that created the briefly successful Dragon Age Legends, became Bioware San Francisco. And let's not forget the recent Bioware job posting that called for "a well-rounded Artist to work on an exciting, new, social game for gamers."
With such an ambitious launch on so many platforms at once, we'd have to imagine that this social game will prove to be more than a companion game. That's especially considering the fact the core Mass Effect 3 will have a persistent multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, we all know what the average shooter fan thinks of social games ... or do we?
Mafia Wars Shakedown looks like Jackie Brown gone social [Video]
At least from the looks of the trailer (and probably without the incredible direction). Zynga recently released a trailer for its upcoming mobile version of Mafia Wars, Mafia Wars Shakedown. Of course, like most game trailers from the company, the footage is devoid of any gameplay or a release date. However, at least it sets the scene and tone the developer looks to be going for.
Apparently, the don that runs your crime ring has been assassinated, and now the race has begun to see who will become the new don and take the reins. So, it'll be your job--we guess--to find out who killed the don, fighting back other players and tough bosses like a trollish butcher. Of course, there will be lots of treasure, loot and coin in it for skilled digital criminals.
But we really take away from the trailer is style. If the game is going to follow the '70s crime and blaxploitation style, complete with funky car chase tunes, then we're so in. More importantly, it tells us that this version of mobile Mafia Wars is going to be more than a companion game like Atlantic City was, but we're sure those elements will fit in one way or another. Check out the trailer below, and tell us what you think in the comments.
Apparently, the don that runs your crime ring has been assassinated, and now the race has begun to see who will become the new don and take the reins. So, it'll be your job--we guess--to find out who killed the don, fighting back other players and tough bosses like a trollish butcher. Of course, there will be lots of treasure, loot and coin in it for skilled digital criminals.
But we really take away from the trailer is style. If the game is going to follow the '70s crime and blaxploitation style, complete with funky car chase tunes, then we're so in. More importantly, it tells us that this version of mobile Mafia Wars is going to be more than a companion game like Atlantic City was, but we're sure those elements will fit in one way or another. Check out the trailer below, and tell us what you think in the comments.
No More Heroes Royal maker starts social games company with DeNA
Will No More Heroes bring the blood and gore to mobile phones for good? That much we doubt. The Japanese creator of what is said to be "the social game with the most blood," Grasshopper Manufacture, has inked a deal with social game giant DeNA. The partnership has created a new company called Grasshopper Social Network Service, and company CEO Goichi Suda--aka Suda 51--sounds psyched.
"Our new venture with DeNA will allow us to explore creative ways to bring Grasshopper Manufacture's universe to a new world of players," Suda said, according to Gamasutra. "Mobage's world-class entertainment network and the power of social mobile games will unlock new types of experiences for our fans."
The deal will result in a number of mobile social games created (in addition to the three already in the making) solely for DeNA and now ngmoco's Mobage platform for smartphones. Grasshopper Social Network Service will begin operations in Japan this November, and will bring a number of new mobile social games to Japanese mobile smartphones and abroad.
No More Heroes Royal, Frog Minutes, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters--Grasshopper Manufacture's existing projects for Mobage--will all shift to this new joint venture once set up. DeNA has some big names on its side in this battle for mobile social dominance. Just last week, the company announced the first Final Fantasy social game with Square Enix. Look, if this means we get to see the social action fest that much sooner, then go at it, Suda.
"Our new venture with DeNA will allow us to explore creative ways to bring Grasshopper Manufacture's universe to a new world of players," Suda said, according to Gamasutra. "Mobage's world-class entertainment network and the power of social mobile games will unlock new types of experiences for our fans."
The deal will result in a number of mobile social games created (in addition to the three already in the making) solely for DeNA and now ngmoco's Mobage platform for smartphones. Grasshopper Social Network Service will begin operations in Japan this November, and will bring a number of new mobile social games to Japanese mobile smartphones and abroad.
No More Heroes Royal, Frog Minutes, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters--Grasshopper Manufacture's existing projects for Mobage--will all shift to this new joint venture once set up. DeNA has some big names on its side in this battle for mobile social dominance. Just last week, the company announced the first Final Fantasy social game with Square Enix. Look, if this means we get to see the social action fest that much sooner, then go at it, Suda.
Socialspiel reels in untapped social game genre in Tight Lines Fishing
Well, the fishing genre on Facebook certainly hasn't been ... over-fished. (We're here all night, try the veal.) Vienna, Austria-based Socialspiel has formally announced Tight Lines Fishing on Facebook. This game is an attempt at bringing the excitement of popular fishing games on consoles to Facebook. However, the motion controls simulating actual fishing were left for another day.
In the ongoing competition to catch the biggest fish, Tight Lines Fishing players will train as well as customize and equip new gear to catch bigger fish in a storybook world around them. The game's art style is almost reminiscent of children's books, and as you explore you'll come across new characters with quests for you and fisherman's stories to tell.
"With Tight Lines Fishing we've created new ways to connect with friends around the world and bring out the angler in all of us," Socialspiel CEO and co-founder Helmut Hutterer said in a release. "In doing so, we continue our history of creating unique social games with high quality production values and appealing experiences for players and their friends to enjoy. Until today more than 1.5 Million fish have been caught."
Tight Lines Fishing gameplay
The fishing mechanic in the game, while not quite on par with literally making the motions, is actually skill-based. Players must cast a bobber into nearby waters and time when they reel in exactly as a fish bites the line. There are a number of things to upgrade and customize about your character, so we imagine there are plenty of fish to catch. This is a major departure for Socialspiel, which before this released Push, an equally-charming puzzle game on Facebook.
In the ongoing competition to catch the biggest fish, Tight Lines Fishing players will train as well as customize and equip new gear to catch bigger fish in a storybook world around them. The game's art style is almost reminiscent of children's books, and as you explore you'll come across new characters with quests for you and fisherman's stories to tell.
"With Tight Lines Fishing we've created new ways to connect with friends around the world and bring out the angler in all of us," Socialspiel CEO and co-founder Helmut Hutterer said in a release. "In doing so, we continue our history of creating unique social games with high quality production values and appealing experiences for players and their friends to enjoy. Until today more than 1.5 Million fish have been caught."
Tight Lines Fishing gameplay
The fishing mechanic in the game, while not quite on par with literally making the motions, is actually skill-based. Players must cast a bobber into nearby waters and time when they reel in exactly as a fish bites the line. There are a number of things to upgrade and customize about your character, so we imagine there are plenty of fish to catch. This is a major departure for Socialspiel, which before this released Push, an equally-charming puzzle game on Facebook.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
FarmVille Mystery Game (1/30/11): Chinese New Year items have arrived
Quackers has updated the FarmVille Mystery Game this evening, and wouldn't you know it - our prediction from just yesterday has held true, as this week's Mystery Game contains items from a new (and timely) Chinese New Year theme.
As of this writing, this Mystery Game is the only way to get your hands on Chinese New Year items in the game, as there are none currently available in the store. That might change in the future, but if you'd like to get a head start on the proceedings, then check out the confirmed prizes available this week:
Phoenix
Cardinal
Chinese Red Bridge
Red Lotus Pond
Chinese Dragon
Horse & Carriage
For those that are interested, you'll be happy to know that this week's Mystery Game retains the traditional price of 16 Farm Cash, with that premium currency getting you a single dart to throw at the board. Unfortunately, the item you'll receive is still random, so keep that in mind, but all of these would likely look cool on your farm.
This week's Mystery Game will be around for just that long - a week, before a new set of six items will be added to the game. Will they be more Chinese New Year items? Valentine's Day items? Only time will tell, so make sure to check back with us then when we find out.
As of this writing, this Mystery Game is the only way to get your hands on Chinese New Year items in the game, as there are none currently available in the store. That might change in the future, but if you'd like to get a head start on the proceedings, then check out the confirmed prizes available this week:
Phoenix
Cardinal
Chinese Red Bridge
Red Lotus Pond
Chinese Dragon
Horse & Carriage
For those that are interested, you'll be happy to know that this week's Mystery Game retains the traditional price of 16 Farm Cash, with that premium currency getting you a single dart to throw at the board. Unfortunately, the item you'll receive is still random, so keep that in mind, but all of these would likely look cool on your farm.
This week's Mystery Game will be around for just that long - a week, before a new set of six items will be added to the game. Will they be more Chinese New Year items? Valentine's Day items? Only time will tell, so make sure to check back with us then when we find out.
FarmVille: Giant Cinnamon and Heart Candy trees now available
It all started with the Giant Bubblegum tree, that was released in FarmVille just a week ago - that being what seems to be a new theme in the game of regular trees being re-released as giant versions of themselves. With these larger sized trees comes an equally inflated price tag, however, so ready your wallet as we look at these newest two.
The two new trees are the Giant Cinnamon and Giant Heart Candy Trees. While the "regular" sized versions of both of these trees were released last Wednesday for 5 and 15 Farm Cash, respectively, these Giant versions will set you back either 15 Farm Cash (for the Cinnamon tree) or 25 Farm Cash (the Heart Candy tree). Luckily, we know that the Giant Heart Candy tree is also available as a Mystery Seedling that you can find posted on your friends' walls, so feel free to save your Farm Cash if you'd rather luck into acquiring one that way.
Either way, both of these trees retain the stats of their predecessors - they are harvestable every two days, and you'll receive 150 coins when doing so. You'll gain 15 experience points for purchasing either tree. Finally, both will be available in the game for exactly two weeks.
Check out the rest of our Valentine's Day coverage right here.
The two new trees are the Giant Cinnamon and Giant Heart Candy Trees. While the "regular" sized versions of both of these trees were released last Wednesday for 5 and 15 Farm Cash, respectively, these Giant versions will set you back either 15 Farm Cash (for the Cinnamon tree) or 25 Farm Cash (the Heart Candy tree). Luckily, we know that the Giant Heart Candy tree is also available as a Mystery Seedling that you can find posted on your friends' walls, so feel free to save your Farm Cash if you'd rather luck into acquiring one that way.
Either way, both of these trees retain the stats of their predecessors - they are harvestable every two days, and you'll receive 150 coins when doing so. You'll gain 15 experience points for purchasing either tree. Finally, both will be available in the game for exactly two weeks.
Check out the rest of our Valentine's Day coverage right here.
FarmVille Valentine's Animals: Pink Persian Cat, Heart Pig, and...Ducks?
Tonight's FarmVille update is an interesting one when it comes to the new animals that are now available. There are four new animals to choose from, and while all four are in the limited edition Valentine's Day theme, only two really seem to belong there.
The two expected animals are the Pink Persian Cat and the Heart Pig, which are available for 14 and 18 Farm Cash, respectively. The Pink Persian Cat can be harvested every three days for 90 coins each time, and the Heart Pig can be harvested after just two days, but you'll only receive 50 coins for doing so.
Meanwhile, the two more interesting animals are a pair of limited edition ducks. First is the Elder Duck, which is available for 20 Farm Cash, while a Hooded Merganser is available for 16 Farm Cash. Both are harvested every two days, and you'll receive 45 coins when doing so. It's not that there's anything particularly wrong with these ducks, it's just there description as "Valentine's Day" animals that seems a bit weird.
Either way, all four of these animals will be available for exactly two weeks. You'll gain quite a bit of experience points for purchasing each one (ranging from 1400 - 2000), so make sure to give them a look before they expire.
The two expected animals are the Pink Persian Cat and the Heart Pig, which are available for 14 and 18 Farm Cash, respectively. The Pink Persian Cat can be harvested every three days for 90 coins each time, and the Heart Pig can be harvested after just two days, but you'll only receive 50 coins for doing so.
Meanwhile, the two more interesting animals are a pair of limited edition ducks. First is the Elder Duck, which is available for 20 Farm Cash, while a Hooded Merganser is available for 16 Farm Cash. Both are harvested every two days, and you'll receive 45 coins when doing so. It's not that there's anything particularly wrong with these ducks, it's just there description as "Valentine's Day" animals that seems a bit weird.
Either way, all four of these animals will be available for exactly two weeks. You'll gain quite a bit of experience points for purchasing each one (ranging from 1400 - 2000), so make sure to give them a look before they expire.
FarmVille Valentine's Day Decorations: Romantic Cottage, Love Gondola, Romantic Picnic & More
While tonight's FarmVille update might have brought a new theme (the Chinese New Year theme) to the FarmVille Mystery Game, the store is still being stocked with Valentine's Day items (I, for one, am very happy about that indeed). Tonight, we see the release of a new building, along with four new decorative items, one of which is making a return from a previous theme.
The new building is the Romantic Cottage, which makes quite the statement on your farm (it's a big item) for 25 Farm Cash. You'll receive a hefty sum of 2,500 experience points for purchasing this one, and it can be decorated with snow and lights, if such a thing interests you enough to purchase it (as if the flowers and overall design of the item weren't enough).
Meet us behind the break for a look at the other new items in this lovely theme.
The four decorative items are split three to one in terms of those premium items, and items available for coins. The premium (Farm Cash) items are a Love Gondola, priced at 20 Farm Cash, a Valentine Gnome that costs 12 Farm Cash, and finally, a Rose Arch that costs 7 Farm Cash.
The Rose Arch is the returning item here, as it was first seen in the New England theme which was released in August of 2010. Luckily, the price was 7 Farm Cash as well during the New England event, so luckily this doesn't cause an issue for complaint. \
Meanwhile, the single coin item is actual the neatest, in my humble opinion. It's the Romantic Picnic, which is actually quite a small item, considering its image in the store (which makes it look to be a very large item). The item itself is a single tree and patch of grass, atop which a picnic table, basket, box of chocolates and various Valentine's Day decorations sit. The tree is even strung with heart garland, completing the scene. You'll be able to add this item to your farm for 250,000 coins - this definitely isn't a bargain, but at least it's better than a Farm Cash price instead.
Along with the other Valentine's Day items released this evening, these new decorations (and the new building) will be available for the next two weeks - plenty of time to allow you to at least earn the 250,000 coins necessary to purchase the Romantic Picnic, if nothing else.
The new building is the Romantic Cottage, which makes quite the statement on your farm (it's a big item) for 25 Farm Cash. You'll receive a hefty sum of 2,500 experience points for purchasing this one, and it can be decorated with snow and lights, if such a thing interests you enough to purchase it (as if the flowers and overall design of the item weren't enough).
Meet us behind the break for a look at the other new items in this lovely theme.
The four decorative items are split three to one in terms of those premium items, and items available for coins. The premium (Farm Cash) items are a Love Gondola, priced at 20 Farm Cash, a Valentine Gnome that costs 12 Farm Cash, and finally, a Rose Arch that costs 7 Farm Cash.
The Rose Arch is the returning item here, as it was first seen in the New England theme which was released in August of 2010. Luckily, the price was 7 Farm Cash as well during the New England event, so luckily this doesn't cause an issue for complaint. \
Meanwhile, the single coin item is actual the neatest, in my humble opinion. It's the Romantic Picnic, which is actually quite a small item, considering its image in the store (which makes it look to be a very large item). The item itself is a single tree and patch of grass, atop which a picnic table, basket, box of chocolates and various Valentine's Day decorations sit. The tree is even strung with heart garland, completing the scene. You'll be able to add this item to your farm for 250,000 coins - this definitely isn't a bargain, but at least it's better than a Farm Cash price instead.
Along with the other Valentine's Day items released this evening, these new decorations (and the new building) will be available for the next two weeks - plenty of time to allow you to at least earn the 250,000 coins necessary to purchase the Romantic Picnic, if nothing else.
Earn 200 FarmVille Farm Cash from Blockbuster By Mail promotion
Hold onto your hats, folks. Zynga is at it again, offering another large sum of FarmVille Farm Cash to users that complete a promotion with a third-party partner, this time in the form of Blockbuster By Mail. This time, though, the offer isn't exactly free.
You'll find the sponsored link window in the usual spot - underneath the FarmVille gameplay window. Clicking on the this link will introduce you to the offer, which will require you to sign up for the Blockbuster By Mail program. This program is similar to Netflix, in that you'll be able to rent movies by mail, but you'll also be able to rent video games by mail as well. This program isn't free, and you'll need a valid credit card to sign up for the service in order to complete the activity.
You'll likely have to wait a matter of minutes (Zynga says it can take up to an hour) for your Farm Cash to be added to your account, once they have confirmed that you have completed the activity. And again, while the activity isn't free, if you've been looking into a mail rental service anyway, then this is definitely the time to pull the trigger, so to speak.
Note: Depending on your browser, you may not see this activity on your farm, so we'd suggest trying all of the browsers you currently have installed just to be sure. Again, if you don't see this link at the bottom of the gameplay are, then it may not have released for you yet, and you'll need to wait. Simply signing up for the Blockbuster by Mail service will not earn you any Farm Cash - it must be triggered through the Sponsored Link as pictured.
You'll find the sponsored link window in the usual spot - underneath the FarmVille gameplay window. Clicking on the this link will introduce you to the offer, which will require you to sign up for the Blockbuster By Mail program. This program is similar to Netflix, in that you'll be able to rent movies by mail, but you'll also be able to rent video games by mail as well. This program isn't free, and you'll need a valid credit card to sign up for the service in order to complete the activity.
You'll likely have to wait a matter of minutes (Zynga says it can take up to an hour) for your Farm Cash to be added to your account, once they have confirmed that you have completed the activity. And again, while the activity isn't free, if you've been looking into a mail rental service anyway, then this is definitely the time to pull the trigger, so to speak.
Note: Depending on your browser, you may not see this activity on your farm, so we'd suggest trying all of the browsers you currently have installed just to be sure. Again, if you don't see this link at the bottom of the gameplay are, then it may not have released for you yet, and you'll need to wait. Simply signing up for the Blockbuster by Mail service will not earn you any Farm Cash - it must be triggered through the Sponsored Link as pictured.
Friday, January 6, 2012
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Kathy's mysterious hedge maze
Kathy, or Tdk4 on the FarmVille Forums, took a different approach to designing her farm. Rather than create a towering castle like Alessandro Matri did, she created a complex and fully functional hedge maze. While at first it doesn't appear to be as technical as other featured farms, creating such a beautiful and massive hedge maze is no simple task. The fact that it actually works as a maze is even more impressive.
Kathy's epic farm maze even has a story to go along with it:
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess, who decided that she wanted to see which of her Unicorns would deserve the pleasure of sitting by her side, so with the help of her farmhands, she created a maze. Oh which one of her fabulous unicorns would win, she couldn't wait to see. Would it be her sparking candy cane one, or her magical white one or would it be the mystical pink unicorn. Only time would tell, so she let the race began, and all of the animals watched on with envy and tried to figure out who would win this honor. Who do you think will win? To be continued..."
farmville pic of the day kathy hedge maze
What inspired your creative farm layout?
I got tired of the same old thing, so I thought I would try something different than the fence/tree/hay bale art.
Do you have any more awesome decorating tips to share?
Patience and trying things many times. I am currently working on my farm and my ideas have not come out the way I wanted them to, so I started over yet again.
How did you go about making the maze? Was it difficult to design?
I asked my husband, he is great at that type of thing and he created it on graph paper for me. It was a little difficult at the hedges go together a little differently then drawing on paper so there was some adjusting.
How long did it take you to complete?
This actually took me longer then anything I have done yet. It looks so simple and plain, but yet a lot of planning and redoing occurred because it had to be so precise. It ended up taking several hours over the weekend.
This is Kathy (Tdk4)'s second feature farm. Check out her other featured farm here.
Were you able to complete Kathy's FarmVille hedge maze?
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!
Kathy's epic farm maze even has a story to go along with it:
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess, who decided that she wanted to see which of her Unicorns would deserve the pleasure of sitting by her side, so with the help of her farmhands, she created a maze. Oh which one of her fabulous unicorns would win, she couldn't wait to see. Would it be her sparking candy cane one, or her magical white one or would it be the mystical pink unicorn. Only time would tell, so she let the race began, and all of the animals watched on with envy and tried to figure out who would win this honor. Who do you think will win? To be continued..."
farmville pic of the day kathy hedge maze
What inspired your creative farm layout?
I got tired of the same old thing, so I thought I would try something different than the fence/tree/hay bale art.
Do you have any more awesome decorating tips to share?
Patience and trying things many times. I am currently working on my farm and my ideas have not come out the way I wanted them to, so I started over yet again.
How did you go about making the maze? Was it difficult to design?
I asked my husband, he is great at that type of thing and he created it on graph paper for me. It was a little difficult at the hedges go together a little differently then drawing on paper so there was some adjusting.
How long did it take you to complete?
This actually took me longer then anything I have done yet. It looks so simple and plain, but yet a lot of planning and redoing occurred because it had to be so precise. It ended up taking several hours over the weekend.
This is Kathy (Tdk4)'s second feature farm. Check out her other featured farm here.
Were you able to complete Kathy's FarmVille hedge maze?
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!
FarmVille Duck Pond update suffers issues, Zynga says wait it out
These ducks can't catch a break, huh? Last night's Duck Pond update in FarmVille isn't exactly stable (again), according to FarmVille Freak. After expanding their Duck Pond from 20 available ducks to 40, several players reported on the forums. In response, Zynga removed the update and community manager Stumpgrinder said, "Wait to expand." However, players who already completed or began the expansion without any issues should still be able to continue and enjoy their pond of 40 ducks. For the rest of you? The waiting game begins.
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you expanded your Duck Pond without issue? If not, what errors have you experienced?
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you expanded your Duck Pond without issue? If not, what errors have you experienced?
Zynga Game Cards expand (again) to India, five more Asian countries
The conquest continues. Social Times reports that Zynga Game Cards have been made available in India, Singapore, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Thailand and Indonesia through MOL Access Portal Berhad. Better known simply as MOL, the Asian payment service provider has partnered with Zynga to boost its already huge $200 million in annual payments.
Here's the breakdown of how Zynga Game Cards will be made available in these countries through MOL:
Popular retail chains such as 7-Eleven stores in Singapore and Malaysia, and Singapore's Comic Connections
MOL affiliated cybercafés such as India's Sify Cybercafes, Philippine's Netopia Internet Cafes and Thailand's Fun Loader Cybercafes
Electronic payment kiosks, online channels, banking and telco partners such as Malaysia's Maybank2u, Singapore's GXCredits and Indonesia's Gudang Vouche
The Zynga Game Cards will be available for $2, $5 and $10 at these locations, Social Times reports. Zynga recently made a similar move in Latin America through Mentez, a Brazil-based payment provider. With Indonesia harboring the second largest group of Facebook users, Zynga has its hands in nearly every major social gaming market.
However, the global powerhouse has yet to localize its games for most of these regions aside from releasing increased language support for certain games (and now letting more folks buy their stuff). Is a more extensive localization effort on the way for its flagship games like CityVille and FarmVille? We bet social gamers on that end of world hope so.
What do you think of Zynga's continued effort to expand its payment services? Is this the way the company should be handling its global conquest?
Here's the breakdown of how Zynga Game Cards will be made available in these countries through MOL:
Popular retail chains such as 7-Eleven stores in Singapore and Malaysia, and Singapore's Comic Connections
MOL affiliated cybercafés such as India's Sify Cybercafes, Philippine's Netopia Internet Cafes and Thailand's Fun Loader Cybercafes
Electronic payment kiosks, online channels, banking and telco partners such as Malaysia's Maybank2u, Singapore's GXCredits and Indonesia's Gudang Vouche
The Zynga Game Cards will be available for $2, $5 and $10 at these locations, Social Times reports. Zynga recently made a similar move in Latin America through Mentez, a Brazil-based payment provider. With Indonesia harboring the second largest group of Facebook users, Zynga has its hands in nearly every major social gaming market.
However, the global powerhouse has yet to localize its games for most of these regions aside from releasing increased language support for certain games (and now letting more folks buy their stuff). Is a more extensive localization effort on the way for its flagship games like CityVille and FarmVille? We bet social gamers on that end of world hope so.
What do you think of Zynga's continued effort to expand its payment services? Is this the way the company should be handling its global conquest?
FarmVille: Green Roses return for St. Patrick's Day Theme
Green Rose Mastery
And they look exactly the same as when you left them. FarmVille Freak has found that Green Roses will be returning to FarmVille in time for St. Patty's Day. These are the same crops released this time last year, so look at this as a second chance to get that Mastery Sign. Green Roses will be available for the next 28 days, cost 80 coins to plant and will be ready to harvest in 24 hours for 170 coins and 2 XP. It will take 900 successful harvests to win the coveted Mastery Sign, according to FarmVille Freak, so get to plantin'.
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Check out our St. Patrick's Day coverage right here.
Have you started planting the Green Roses again in FarmVile? What new crops would you like to see in FarmVille for the big day?
And they look exactly the same as when you left them. FarmVille Freak has found that Green Roses will be returning to FarmVille in time for St. Patty's Day. These are the same crops released this time last year, so look at this as a second chance to get that Mastery Sign. Green Roses will be available for the next 28 days, cost 80 coins to plant and will be ready to harvest in 24 hours for 170 coins and 2 XP. It will take 900 successful harvests to win the coveted Mastery Sign, according to FarmVille Freak, so get to plantin'.
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Check out our St. Patrick's Day coverage right here.
Have you started planting the Green Roses again in FarmVile? What new crops would you like to see in FarmVille for the big day?
Zynga faces lawsuit for blocking Abu Dhabi firm from investing [Updated]
Could you imagine what the inbox looks like at Zynga's legal department at this point? Zynga has been sued by Alpha Investments, and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, for blocking the firm from buying Zynga shares, Social Times reports. A complaint was filed by the firm in Delaware Chancery Court when Zynga stopped Alpha Investments from closing a deal with Andrew Trader that would pay him $12.87 million for his 1 million shares in the company.
Zynga put a halt to the transaction by limiting when Alpha could sell the shares it was about to acquire. This is where things get confusing. A company has apparently 30 days from when it stops a transaction of its stock to buy the stock itself under right of what's called the first refusal clause. However, Zynga refused to do this, but then stopped the deal in its tracks by contacting the trading company that was handling the sale, according to Social Times.
Now, the deal sits in limbo and Alpha Investments has resorted to legal action. However, deputy general counsel at Zynga, Jay Monahan, claims that it is well within federal and state law to stop the deal. But why would Zynga want to stop this deal anyway? The purchase that Alpha Investments would have made valued Zynga at $6.2 billion, according to Arabian Business. First of all, this would reduce its current valuation of over $9 billion by a huge amount. Second, it's unknown whether this amount could put Alpha Investments on the board of Zynga's major shareholders, but we doubt the company is willing to take that risk. Especially in the middle of its global conquest.
Update: Zynga's official statement:
"We insist on full compliance with federal and state securities laws. Secondary markets for privately held stock have added to the complexity of legal compliance, particularly where buyers and sellers may have asymmetrical information. Sometimes would-be buyers do not fully understand or appreciate the need for such compliance." - Zynga
What do you think could happen to Zynga if this investment went through? If Zynga ever went public, would you invest?
Zynga put a halt to the transaction by limiting when Alpha could sell the shares it was about to acquire. This is where things get confusing. A company has apparently 30 days from when it stops a transaction of its stock to buy the stock itself under right of what's called the first refusal clause. However, Zynga refused to do this, but then stopped the deal in its tracks by contacting the trading company that was handling the sale, according to Social Times.
Now, the deal sits in limbo and Alpha Investments has resorted to legal action. However, deputy general counsel at Zynga, Jay Monahan, claims that it is well within federal and state law to stop the deal. But why would Zynga want to stop this deal anyway? The purchase that Alpha Investments would have made valued Zynga at $6.2 billion, according to Arabian Business. First of all, this would reduce its current valuation of over $9 billion by a huge amount. Second, it's unknown whether this amount could put Alpha Investments on the board of Zynga's major shareholders, but we doubt the company is willing to take that risk. Especially in the middle of its global conquest.
Update: Zynga's official statement:
"We insist on full compliance with federal and state securities laws. Secondary markets for privately held stock have added to the complexity of legal compliance, particularly where buyers and sellers may have asymmetrical information. Sometimes would-be buyers do not fully understand or appreciate the need for such compliance." - Zynga
What do you think could happen to Zynga if this investment went through? If Zynga ever went public, would you invest?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
MinoMonsters on Facebook: A promising, unfinished Pokemon clone
Every Pokemon fan in the world has likely clamored for what will likely never happen: a Pokemon MMO game from Nintendo. Since that's about as likely as finding a Pikachu in your local park, Facebook game knock-offs will have to do until the company comes to their senses. So, a 17-year-old entrepreneur, Josh Buckley, has taken it upon himself to fill the void and hopefully beat Nintendo to the punch with MinoMonsters. While the game includes all the basic trappings that you would expect from such a game on Facebook--a litany of monsters to fight and capture, a turn-based battle system and a massive world--it currently lacks basic functions like buying items without Facebook Credits. MinoMonsters is a wonderful idea, but it's yet to become a wonderful game.
MinoMonsters Starter
The game begins with the ultimate question that every monster-collector should be familiar with: Which MinoMonster will you start your journey with? At first, the three critters aren't too different from one another, but as you level up their abilities will differentiate. However, you're only given one MinoCard to start, the instrument used to capture new monsters (think Poke Balls), and a few potions. At the moment, the only way to buy new items is through Facebook Credits, which will likely scare players away rather than force them to spend.
It's because of this that the game stagnates almost immediately. While you'll feel the urge to capture these new and interesting monsters during your travels, why would you invest money in a game that might not be around for much longer. That is, if things don't ramp up quick. The battle system will feel familiar to anyone who has played--you guessed it--Pokemon. Your options are to fight, use and item, switch to another monster or run away. However, the "Use Item" option will be just about useless until the game's store is upgraded.
MinoMonsters World
The world map consists of simply moving from battle to battle, which is OK, if progress felt like it was being made. In order to defeat stronger monsters, you'll have to stay in on particular zone until your monsters are strong enough to defeat the beast that's giving you trouble. If you lose all of your monsters in battle, you'll be revived at the expense of experience points gained. In my experience, players don't respond very well to negative reinforcement, so this will likely be another hangup for plenty of players.
Finally, several aspects of battle aren't finished. When fighting a monster that resembled a pony, it used an ability caused "Gust" against, but only a small broken image icon flew across the screen. Despite all of its flaws resulting from a far too early launch, MinoMonsters has me more excited than most recent Facebook games based on its potential alone. However, it already has some competition in the space with 154 Comments, a far more polished game with essentially the same premise. If you want to see a game with nearly limitless potential, give it a go.
MinoMonsters Starter
The game begins with the ultimate question that every monster-collector should be familiar with: Which MinoMonster will you start your journey with? At first, the three critters aren't too different from one another, but as you level up their abilities will differentiate. However, you're only given one MinoCard to start, the instrument used to capture new monsters (think Poke Balls), and a few potions. At the moment, the only way to buy new items is through Facebook Credits, which will likely scare players away rather than force them to spend.
It's because of this that the game stagnates almost immediately. While you'll feel the urge to capture these new and interesting monsters during your travels, why would you invest money in a game that might not be around for much longer. That is, if things don't ramp up quick. The battle system will feel familiar to anyone who has played--you guessed it--Pokemon. Your options are to fight, use and item, switch to another monster or run away. However, the "Use Item" option will be just about useless until the game's store is upgraded.
MinoMonsters World
The world map consists of simply moving from battle to battle, which is OK, if progress felt like it was being made. In order to defeat stronger monsters, you'll have to stay in on particular zone until your monsters are strong enough to defeat the beast that's giving you trouble. If you lose all of your monsters in battle, you'll be revived at the expense of experience points gained. In my experience, players don't respond very well to negative reinforcement, so this will likely be another hangup for plenty of players.
Finally, several aspects of battle aren't finished. When fighting a monster that resembled a pony, it used an ability caused "Gust" against, but only a small broken image icon flew across the screen. Despite all of its flaws resulting from a far too early launch, MinoMonsters has me more excited than most recent Facebook games based on its potential alone. However, it already has some competition in the space with 154 Comments, a far more polished game with essentially the same premise. If you want to see a game with nearly limitless potential, give it a go.
FarmVille for iOS reaches second on Top Grossing App Store list
FarmVille for iOS has had a rough history since its launch last year. Connectivity issues abound coupled with severe load times made it look as if Zynga just didn't get mobile. But today, FarmVille reached second place the Top Grossing list in the Apple App Store--just beneath the unstoppable Angry Birds' Rio sequel, reports Inside Social Apps. How did they do it?
A massive Farm Cash sale, what else? The 50 percent slash on Farm Cash prices for one hour yesterday, and the 40 percent cut that just ended 30 minutes as of this writing, applied to FarmVille for iPhone and iPad players as well. Before this, the game barely hit the Top 25 Grossing Apps since it launched.
While the recent improvements in the 2.0 update certainly helped--not to mention the news that English Countryside is iPhone-ready as well--a cut in Farm Cash prices was behind it, nothing more. Inside Social Apps asks, "Is Zynga starting to get mobile right?" If we're asking the question based off of a sale, not really. But if Zynga keeps this up and continues to improve the quality of its games, then it might be onto something.
Did you take advantage of the Farm Cash sale through your iOS game? What other improvements do you think Zynga needs to make to FarmVille for iPhone?
A massive Farm Cash sale, what else? The 50 percent slash on Farm Cash prices for one hour yesterday, and the 40 percent cut that just ended 30 minutes as of this writing, applied to FarmVille for iPhone and iPad players as well. Before this, the game barely hit the Top 25 Grossing Apps since it launched.
While the recent improvements in the 2.0 update certainly helped--not to mention the news that English Countryside is iPhone-ready as well--a cut in Farm Cash prices was behind it, nothing more. Inside Social Apps asks, "Is Zynga starting to get mobile right?" If we're asking the question based off of a sale, not really. But if Zynga keeps this up and continues to improve the quality of its games, then it might be onto something.
Did you take advantage of the Farm Cash sale through your iOS game? What other improvements do you think Zynga needs to make to FarmVille for iPhone?
FarmVille, game-related Facebook scams are second-most popular
When you consider the number of Facebook gamers--some say it's over 250 million--that's quite a lot of scamming. BitDefender has created an animated infographic to display in plain detail the most common social scams and the threat they pose to your security. The most popular scams involve fake "stalker apps," or fake applications that supposedly allow users to track in-depth data regarding who visits your page, which make up 34.7 percent of the whole. It's not surprising to see that scams claiming to offer free FarmVille items or those in other games are the second most popular, filling 16.2 percent of the total.
Sure, the whole thing is to get viewers to use the BitDefender Facebook app to share their data safely, but it should raise a few eyebrows to how serious the FarmVille and Facebook game scamming epidemic has become. You don't necessarily have to install BitDefender's app (though, I'm sure it's helpful) to be safe, but just be smart about what you click on.
Inspect News Feed stories before you click on their links or "Like" them, they could lead to a long, annoying road of malware and general discomfort. More importantly, if you see that a friend has posted what you suspect is a scam, then tell them about it. They might have no idea that they even posted it and their computer could be infected with third-party adware. They'll thank you for it later.
Sure, the whole thing is to get viewers to use the BitDefender Facebook app to share their data safely, but it should raise a few eyebrows to how serious the FarmVille and Facebook game scamming epidemic has become. You don't necessarily have to install BitDefender's app (though, I'm sure it's helpful) to be safe, but just be smart about what you click on.
Inspect News Feed stories before you click on their links or "Like" them, they could lead to a long, annoying road of malware and general discomfort. More importantly, if you see that a friend has posted what you suspect is a scam, then tell them about it. They might have no idea that they even posted it and their computer could be infected with third-party adware. They'll thank you for it later.
Ravenwood Fair digs in with upcoming Ravenstone Mine expansion
Ravenwood Fair, the cutesy Facebook game where you (as an animal dressed in medieval garb) play proprietor to a woodsy fair will soon be exploring new depths. LOLApps is planning a new expansion to the game called Ravenstone Mine that will be arriving in several weeks, and it will take you on a journey far beneath the fair.
ravenwood fair ravenrock mine monstersWorking in the mine will apparently be similar to working the fair -- with a few distinct differences. The items you find in the earthen underbelly will be different than those that you find in the above ground. There will be different items for the different areas, i.e. flowers won't grow in the mines, and tracks and carts won't be available in the fair. Also, when you work in the mine you'll be more likely to wrack up experience points faster and, when you work the fair, you'll gain energy faster.
The big challenge with this expansion is that no matter where you work, you'll still have to use the same energy pool (every move you make in the game requires energy) -- so you'll have to think more strategically about what kind of game you want to play. Basically, you'll now have a choice to be what I'm pre-emptively naming an "Earther" -- someone who prefers to work the Fair and have more energy -- or an 'Under-Earther" - someone who sticks to the mines to gain experience and level up as quickly as possible. Or, if you're like me, you might try to hang out somewhere in the middle.
Anyway, an expansion would do Ravenwood Fair some good. According to AppData, players have been dropping off little by little over the past few weeks (even though it still has a sizeable audience of 11 million players per month), so a whole new underground area to explore might be just what the game needs to keep current Ravenwooders interested, and convince new players to visit and stay for a while.
[Via Inside Social Games]
Do you play Ravenwood Fair? What do you think of the upcoming expansion?
ravenwood fair ravenrock mine monstersWorking in the mine will apparently be similar to working the fair -- with a few distinct differences. The items you find in the earthen underbelly will be different than those that you find in the above ground. There will be different items for the different areas, i.e. flowers won't grow in the mines, and tracks and carts won't be available in the fair. Also, when you work in the mine you'll be more likely to wrack up experience points faster and, when you work the fair, you'll gain energy faster.
The big challenge with this expansion is that no matter where you work, you'll still have to use the same energy pool (every move you make in the game requires energy) -- so you'll have to think more strategically about what kind of game you want to play. Basically, you'll now have a choice to be what I'm pre-emptively naming an "Earther" -- someone who prefers to work the Fair and have more energy -- or an 'Under-Earther" - someone who sticks to the mines to gain experience and level up as quickly as possible. Or, if you're like me, you might try to hang out somewhere in the middle.
Anyway, an expansion would do Ravenwood Fair some good. According to AppData, players have been dropping off little by little over the past few weeks (even though it still has a sizeable audience of 11 million players per month), so a whole new underground area to explore might be just what the game needs to keep current Ravenwooders interested, and convince new players to visit and stay for a while.
[Via Inside Social Games]
Do you play Ravenwood Fair? What do you think of the upcoming expansion?
CityVille Hardware Store Goals: Everything you need to know
Don't worry, this isn't just some other Business that Zynga introduced with a few Goals (I'm looking at you, Lorenzo). The Hardware Store in CityVille actually has a function: It can provide you with building materials upon collection. Technically, it is a Community Building, but it looks and acts more like a Business. Anything that helps reduce our reliance on friend requests is a welcome addition to the game, so let's dig right into this new building.
Hardware Store Goal
If you're at least Level 17, a new Goal icon will pop up to the left of your screen with a Goal titled simply, "Hardware Store!" Man, the design team's creative muscle must be bulging at this point. Here's what you need to do:
Place the Hardware Store
Complete the Hardware Store
Hardware Store Build Menu
I'm not sure if I get it, which do we do first? All kidding aside, this is the most straightforward Goal you've probably ever seen in the game since the initial tutorial Goals. Anyway, after placing the Hardware Store near a sidewalk like all Businesses you will need to whack it five times, which will cost 5 Energy. Then like all Community Buildings, the Hardware Store requires several special items to complete:
10 2x4s
10 Cements
5 Marbles
5 City Seals
5 Ribbons
Of course, you'll have to ask your friends for these items through the building's menu. Once this daunting task is complete, you will have to supply like any other store. Once it's used up its Goods, collecting from it will drop random building materials in addition to money and XP. Think of it as a permanent Special Delivery Box you don't have to ask for. However, you can only have on Hardware Store at a time. Hopefully this is only a taste of more functional buildings in CityVille's future.
Hardware Store Goal
If you're at least Level 17, a new Goal icon will pop up to the left of your screen with a Goal titled simply, "Hardware Store!" Man, the design team's creative muscle must be bulging at this point. Here's what you need to do:
Place the Hardware Store
Complete the Hardware Store
Hardware Store Build Menu
I'm not sure if I get it, which do we do first? All kidding aside, this is the most straightforward Goal you've probably ever seen in the game since the initial tutorial Goals. Anyway, after placing the Hardware Store near a sidewalk like all Businesses you will need to whack it five times, which will cost 5 Energy. Then like all Community Buildings, the Hardware Store requires several special items to complete:
10 2x4s
10 Cements
5 Marbles
5 City Seals
5 Ribbons
Of course, you'll have to ask your friends for these items through the building's menu. Once this daunting task is complete, you will have to supply like any other store. Once it's used up its Goods, collecting from it will drop random building materials in addition to money and XP. Think of it as a permanent Special Delivery Box you don't have to ask for. However, you can only have on Hardware Store at a time. Hopefully this is only a taste of more functional buildings in CityVille's future.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)