If you thought that Zynga's CityVille was simply too new of a game to receive Holiday themed items this December, well, think again. There are now six new items available to purchase from the game's store: two businesses, one animal, and three decorative items. The only catch is that they all cost City Cash, so I hope you haven't splurged on too many things before now.
You can find all of these items by heading into the game's store, and then clicking on the blue "New" icon at the far left of the store's top menu.
Here's a full list of all of the newly added items, along with their prices and other details:
Seasonal Clothing Store - 20 City Cash - Requires 80 supplies; earns 368 coins
Hot Cocoa Shop - 15 City Cash - Requires 100 supplies; earns 441 coins
St Bernard - 5 City Cash
Gingerbread Man - 2 City Cash
Lawn Carolers - 10 City Cash
Mall Santa - 30 City Cash
It should be noted that the coins listed next to each business are their default payouts. If you add decorations around these buildings, their payouts will increase accordingly.
Also, while none of these items are marked as being limited edition, it's unusual for Zynga to leave seasonal items in a game after the holiday season concludes, so it might be a good idea to purchase these items while you know they will still be available (that is, before December 25) to be safe.
Friday, January 13, 2012
CityVille: Level cap increased to 60, Thank You gifts added, Storage issues resolved
Lately, it seems that not even a few days can go by without Zynga updating CityVille to enhance game performance, add new quests or game features, or all-around make the game a more enjoyable experience for players.
Such is the case today, as Zynga has announced a new set of upgrades and enhancements that have been added to the insanely popular city-building game. First and foremost, for those that were already nearing the level cap of level 50, you'll be happy to learn that Zynga has increased the level cap to 60, for an additional ten levels that you can play through and enjoy. It's presumable that more levels will be added in the future, but this is a nice first step from the developer nonetheless.
In addition, "Thank You" gifts have been added, so that you will now have the option of immediately sending a Thank You gift to friends when you accept gifts from them. The game has also receive an animation performance tweak to make the game run smoother overall.
Other updates include the alteration of the "Animal Gifts" quest, which is now called "Animal Farm," and has been made easier with easier requirements. Finally, Zynga has changed the time that it takes for bonus items (stars, coins, etc.) to drop when collecting from buildings for the better, so it now takes less time for this items to drop, allowing you to more quickly go about your day of running your city.
Some bug fixes have also been announced via the official CityVille forums, which have fixed some Out of Sync issues, and the loss of storage at random when visiting friends. Here's the full list:
"Saving your city"- The game will now reload after this error, preventing loss of progress.
Business from inventory - Business that are obtained through other means (such as collections rewards) can now also be franchised.
Certain instances of OOS errors- Resolved more issues causing OOS errors.
Loss of storage when visiting neighbors - Fixed the issues that was causing storage capacity to decrease when visiting neighbors.
Such is the case today, as Zynga has announced a new set of upgrades and enhancements that have been added to the insanely popular city-building game. First and foremost, for those that were already nearing the level cap of level 50, you'll be happy to learn that Zynga has increased the level cap to 60, for an additional ten levels that you can play through and enjoy. It's presumable that more levels will be added in the future, but this is a nice first step from the developer nonetheless.
In addition, "Thank You" gifts have been added, so that you will now have the option of immediately sending a Thank You gift to friends when you accept gifts from them. The game has also receive an animation performance tweak to make the game run smoother overall.
Other updates include the alteration of the "Animal Gifts" quest, which is now called "Animal Farm," and has been made easier with easier requirements. Finally, Zynga has changed the time that it takes for bonus items (stars, coins, etc.) to drop when collecting from buildings for the better, so it now takes less time for this items to drop, allowing you to more quickly go about your day of running your city.
Some bug fixes have also been announced via the official CityVille forums, which have fixed some Out of Sync issues, and the loss of storage at random when visiting friends. Here's the full list:
"Saving your city"- The game will now reload after this error, preventing loss of progress.
Business from inventory - Business that are obtained through other means (such as collections rewards) can now also be franchised.
Certain instances of OOS errors- Resolved more issues causing OOS errors.
Loss of storage when visiting neighbors - Fixed the issues that was causing storage capacity to decrease when visiting neighbors.
FarmVille: Enter the Winter Holiday Decorating Contest for 500 free Farm Cash
Do you consider yourself an artist? A master of Microsoft Paint or Photoshop? Do you have a FarmVille farm that is simply overflowing with holiday cheer? Then why not earn some free Farm Cash and coins for your hard work?
Just like last year, Zynga has launched a Winter Holiday Decorating Contest in FarmVille, that will ask farmers to do their best job at decorating their farms with the massive selection of Winter Holiday items that are now available. Pictures that are submitted to the official FarmVille forums will be judged by the FarmVille team after the submission period ends on December 31.
The top ten winners will be announced on January 3, with those winners walking away with a whopping 500 Farm Cash and 500,000 coins! With the current rate of exchange between real world currency and Farm Cash coins, that's a prize of over $300 in coins, and almost $90 in Farm Cash! Not a bad prize for just decorating your farm, which can be done for free, mind you.
Need some tips on how to win? Zynga has said that they want creativity in your entries. Pictures will be judged on "originality, effort, and presentation," so use your imagination and make your entries count!
Just like last year, Zynga has launched a Winter Holiday Decorating Contest in FarmVille, that will ask farmers to do their best job at decorating their farms with the massive selection of Winter Holiday items that are now available. Pictures that are submitted to the official FarmVille forums will be judged by the FarmVille team after the submission period ends on December 31.
The top ten winners will be announced on January 3, with those winners walking away with a whopping 500 Farm Cash and 500,000 coins! With the current rate of exchange between real world currency and Farm Cash coins, that's a prize of over $300 in coins, and almost $90 in Farm Cash! Not a bad prize for just decorating your farm, which can be done for free, mind you.
Need some tips on how to win? Zynga has said that they want creativity in your entries. Pictures will be judged on "originality, effort, and presentation," so use your imagination and make your entries count!
FarmVille Sneak Peek: New Year's Party Dresses, Tuxedos, and other Avatar costumes
With the official confirmation that an apparently large New Year's celebration will be coming to FarmVille before the year's end, it's only fitting that we then come across some leaked FarmVille images of some as-of-now unreleased outfits that may or may not be coming to the game in association with the event. Are these the items that Community Manager Lexilicious hinted at in the latest FarmVille podcast?
All of these items are costume pieces for your in-game avatar, and don't worry - both girl and boy players are represented here. From left to right, we believe the items will be called: Silver Tuxedo, Black Tuxedo, Silver Top Hat, Black Top Hat, Black Tiara, Silver Tiara, Black Party Dress, Green Party Dress, Gold Party Dress, Purple Party Dress, Red Party Dress, Silver Party Dress, Snowman Costume, and Polar Bear Costume.
Sure, the Snowman and Polar Bear costumes seem to be unrelated to the New Year's event, but they are cute new additions that we hope will be released in the game nonetheless.
As usual, we don't know for certain as to whether these items will make actual appearances in the game, or how much they'll cost, so keep that in mind. We'll be sure to let you know, however, when and if they do.
All of these items are costume pieces for your in-game avatar, and don't worry - both girl and boy players are represented here. From left to right, we believe the items will be called: Silver Tuxedo, Black Tuxedo, Silver Top Hat, Black Top Hat, Black Tiara, Silver Tiara, Black Party Dress, Green Party Dress, Gold Party Dress, Purple Party Dress, Red Party Dress, Silver Party Dress, Snowman Costume, and Polar Bear Costume.
Sure, the Snowman and Polar Bear costumes seem to be unrelated to the New Year's event, but they are cute new additions that we hope will be released in the game nonetheless.
As usual, we don't know for certain as to whether these items will make actual appearances in the game, or how much they'll cost, so keep that in mind. We'll be sure to let you know, however, when and if they do.
FrontierVille Holiday Free Gifts: Large Wreath, Fence with Garland, Fruitcake now available
For the first time in a very, very long time, Zynga has updated the free gifts page in FrontierVille to offer a trio of new Winter Holiday items that you can now send to your friends, just as you would any other free gift.
Two of these items are decorative, and come in the form of a Large Wreath, and a Fence with Farland. The Large Wreath is just that - a large decorated wreath that has been placed on top of a tall stick, so that you don't have to worry about finding a "wall" to place the wreath on. The Fence with Garland item, meanwhile, is a simple brown, wooden fence (the most basic in the game), that happens to have green and red garland wrapped around the top and sides.
As for the Fruitcake, it is an energy item, which will reward you with 15 energy points each time you "eat" one. This is done in the same way that you use Lunches, Light Snacks, and the like, in that you can simply head into your inventory and use the item with a single click of the mouse.
It's likely that these three items will only be available for the rest of the Holiday season, so make sure to send them to your friends / ask your friends to send them to you while you know they are still available.
Two of these items are decorative, and come in the form of a Large Wreath, and a Fence with Farland. The Large Wreath is just that - a large decorated wreath that has been placed on top of a tall stick, so that you don't have to worry about finding a "wall" to place the wreath on. The Fence with Garland item, meanwhile, is a simple brown, wooden fence (the most basic in the game), that happens to have green and red garland wrapped around the top and sides.
As for the Fruitcake, it is an energy item, which will reward you with 15 energy points each time you "eat" one. This is done in the same way that you use Lunches, Light Snacks, and the like, in that you can simply head into your inventory and use the item with a single click of the mouse.
It's likely that these three items will only be available for the rest of the Holiday season, so make sure to send them to your friends / ask your friends to send them to you while you know they are still available.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Half of all U.S. social gamers own a game console, RockYou study says
As if we already didn't know: Some social gamers are more "hardcore" than we thought. But the next study released that attempts to drive this point home is courtesy of Zoo World creator RockYou and conducted by Interpret, a media research firm. Titled the "Social Gamer Thought Leadership Research Study," it finds that 50 percent of U.S. social gamers own a traditional gaming console.
The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.
Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?
The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.
What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.
The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.
Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?
The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.
What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.
Google+ Games Stream now real time, updates mimic Facebook
Google+ Games just got a little bit better ... or just more like Facebook games. (Zing!) Google+ Product Manager Satyajeet Salgar just announced that the Google+ Games Stream has gone real time. This means that, rather than having to refresh the Stream to see gaming updates from your friends, they'll appear before you as they happen. For speedier reading, keyboard shortcuts work when perusing the Games Stream, too.
Frankly, this sounds an awful lot like the recent Games Ticker addition to the Facebook games Canvas. The second update to Google+ Games is the brand new ability to add your own personalized comments to updates you share with friends. Again, this is something players could in Facebook games for awhile now.
Finally, game notifications will appear in the Google+ Bar lining the top of users' web pages just below the address bar. Bonus: If they're annoying, you can just mute them. (Double Bonus: Google added Kabam's Global Warfare to Google+ Games in addition to Zynga's CityVille earlier this week.)
Granted, these changes are likely welcome by Google+ gamers with open arms, but their Facebook counterparts either have existed for quite some time or were recently added. In defense of Google+, however, Facebook arguably made a lot of its recent changes to the games Canvas in response to its new arch nemesis. And something tell us this slap battle is far from over. Check out Salgar detail the changes below.
Frankly, this sounds an awful lot like the recent Games Ticker addition to the Facebook games Canvas. The second update to Google+ Games is the brand new ability to add your own personalized comments to updates you share with friends. Again, this is something players could in Facebook games for awhile now.
Finally, game notifications will appear in the Google+ Bar lining the top of users' web pages just below the address bar. Bonus: If they're annoying, you can just mute them. (Double Bonus: Google added Kabam's Global Warfare to Google+ Games in addition to Zynga's CityVille earlier this week.)
Granted, these changes are likely welcome by Google+ gamers with open arms, but their Facebook counterparts either have existed for quite some time or were recently added. In defense of Google+, however, Facebook arguably made a lot of its recent changes to the games Canvas in response to its new arch nemesis. And something tell us this slap battle is far from over. Check out Salgar detail the changes below.
PopCap feels the power of 'free,' more freemium games incoming
Perhaps "PopCap feels the power of Facebook" is more like it. During an interview with PocketGamer.biz, PopCap senior director of mobile product and business strategy Giordano Contestabile revealed that the Bejeweled Blitz creator has plenty more plans for freemium mobile games. That's especially since its recent Plants vs Zombies freemium-inspired update.
"While we typically don't disclose much about our future plans, I can say that you're in for a lot of surprises for us in the coming months, and that in-app transactions and the freemium model are going to feature prominently," Contestabile told PocketGamer.biz. The PopCap exec believes that the play first, (maybe) pay later model of mobile games will likely take over.
"I think that, one year from now, 95 percent or more of iOS game downloads might come from freemium games, and 80 percent or more of the revenue could be associated with them," Contestabile told the website. "The freemium model is extremely powerful because it allows developers to reach the biggest possible audience, and it allows players to choose if and how to pay for content, after having tried it out."
While Contestabile did say that there's still a place for premium game experiences, or pay-to-play games, that approach is losing its luster for most games. It wouldn't be terribly inaccurate to call this "The Facebook Effect." The fact that companies like Zynga and EA (which now owns PopCap) have made serious dough with free-to-play Facebook games has certainly had a visible impact on mobile gaming, which has a distribution model fairly similar to social networks. Almost Free is here to stay, and it looks like PopCap wants to lead the charge.
"While we typically don't disclose much about our future plans, I can say that you're in for a lot of surprises for us in the coming months, and that in-app transactions and the freemium model are going to feature prominently," Contestabile told PocketGamer.biz. The PopCap exec believes that the play first, (maybe) pay later model of mobile games will likely take over.
"I think that, one year from now, 95 percent or more of iOS game downloads might come from freemium games, and 80 percent or more of the revenue could be associated with them," Contestabile told the website. "The freemium model is extremely powerful because it allows developers to reach the biggest possible audience, and it allows players to choose if and how to pay for content, after having tried it out."
While Contestabile did say that there's still a place for premium game experiences, or pay-to-play games, that approach is losing its luster for most games. It wouldn't be terribly inaccurate to call this "The Facebook Effect." The fact that companies like Zynga and EA (which now owns PopCap) have made serious dough with free-to-play Facebook games has certainly had a visible impact on mobile gaming, which has a distribution model fairly similar to social networks. Almost Free is here to stay, and it looks like PopCap wants to lead the charge.
Enrique Iglesias says, 'I Like How It Feels' in CityVille, visits next week
CityVille Enrique Iglesias
Man, why can't an act like Metallica crash CityVille? Oh, excuse my inner metal head, but you ladies out there are gonna' love this one: Zynga has announced that Grammy-winning pop star Enrique Iglesias is coming to its top Facebook game. Starting next week on Oct. 4, players will get the chance to help Mr. Iglesias kick off his recently-launched Euphoria Tour in-game.
Once Enrique lands in CityVille--and if you're over Level 6--you will be graced by his digitized presence in the game. But there' far more to this promotion than just clicking on the guy to hear witty sayings: Players will be able to collect various items fond to Enrique to score a thematic speed boat and Miami high-rise to place in their cities. The event will run through Oct. 10, and there is a grand finale in store for Enrique fans.
Enrique Iglesias in CityVille
Toward the end of the event, you will have the chance to build Enrique his very own Euphoria Arena in-game. Once you do, the guy will be so nice as to show you a sneak preview of his brand new music video, "I Like How It Feels" (featuring Pitbull and The WAVs). Of course, this is far from the first time a Zynga game has enjoyed celebrity exposure.
Just recently, the company announced that Indiana Jones will swoop into Adventure World through its work with Lucasfilm, and who can forget when Lady Gaga ran FarmVille for a few weeks earlier this spring? Even before that, both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg had their fun with Mafia Wars. Are you sensing a trend yet? Good, because we doubt this is the last time a celeb will hit Zynga with a touch of fame. In fact, if you ask Facebook's major game creators, branded games are on the up and up.
Man, why can't an act like Metallica crash CityVille? Oh, excuse my inner metal head, but you ladies out there are gonna' love this one: Zynga has announced that Grammy-winning pop star Enrique Iglesias is coming to its top Facebook game. Starting next week on Oct. 4, players will get the chance to help Mr. Iglesias kick off his recently-launched Euphoria Tour in-game.
Once Enrique lands in CityVille--and if you're over Level 6--you will be graced by his digitized presence in the game. But there' far more to this promotion than just clicking on the guy to hear witty sayings: Players will be able to collect various items fond to Enrique to score a thematic speed boat and Miami high-rise to place in their cities. The event will run through Oct. 10, and there is a grand finale in store for Enrique fans.
Enrique Iglesias in CityVille
Toward the end of the event, you will have the chance to build Enrique his very own Euphoria Arena in-game. Once you do, the guy will be so nice as to show you a sneak preview of his brand new music video, "I Like How It Feels" (featuring Pitbull and The WAVs). Of course, this is far from the first time a Zynga game has enjoyed celebrity exposure.
Just recently, the company announced that Indiana Jones will swoop into Adventure World through its work with Lucasfilm, and who can forget when Lady Gaga ran FarmVille for a few weeks earlier this spring? Even before that, both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg had their fun with Mafia Wars. Are you sensing a trend yet? Good, because we doubt this is the last time a celeb will hit Zynga with a touch of fame. In fact, if you ask Facebook's major game creators, branded games are on the up and up.
Vostu goes for Goooaaal with GolMania on Facebook, Orkut [Video]
And boy, does it look intense. Vostu--you know, the Brazilian social game maker trading legal blows with Zynga--has released what is likely its most ambitious social game yet with GolMania. Available now on Facebook and Orkut in English, Portuguese and Spanish, this social soccer game touts real-time, directly-controlled soccer matches between friends in a cute art style.
And, according to a Vostu representative, "real-time" means live, arcade-style gameplay between two friends over Facebook or Orkut, Google's wildly popular social network in South America. The game pits players against one another on the field, but has friends cooperate off of the green to build up each other's stadiums and to gain energy and money for more matches.
As player progress in GolMania by mastering its keyboard controls and dominating opponents live, they will unlock special maneuvers. You will also be able to organize private tournaments between friends and participate in global cups amongst the game's top players--you can even play soccer in low gravity on the moon. And Vostu already has even bigger plans for its now flagship social soccer game.
Gallery: GolMania on Facebook
Vostu's Mystery Fantasy Game on Facebook
"GolMania brings Vostu's fun social experience to a casual sports game," Vostu Chief Scientist Mario Schlosser said in a release. "We look forward to our millions of users getting to play GolMania and like with all of our games, we will then quickly react to their feedback and our deep analytics about player behavior to unveil new features that take into account how users make the game their own."
The game was developed Vostu's recent acquisition MP Studio, and employs the publisher's Vostu Game Network, meaning friends can play with one another in real time across social networks. Vostu also teased to us an unnamed social game (found in the gallery above) with a deep, cartoonish fantasy setting that's set to launch this fall as well. But until then, check out GolMania below and see if it gives your fingers a real challenge.
And, according to a Vostu representative, "real-time" means live, arcade-style gameplay between two friends over Facebook or Orkut, Google's wildly popular social network in South America. The game pits players against one another on the field, but has friends cooperate off of the green to build up each other's stadiums and to gain energy and money for more matches.
As player progress in GolMania by mastering its keyboard controls and dominating opponents live, they will unlock special maneuvers. You will also be able to organize private tournaments between friends and participate in global cups amongst the game's top players--you can even play soccer in low gravity on the moon. And Vostu already has even bigger plans for its now flagship social soccer game.
Gallery: GolMania on Facebook
Vostu's Mystery Fantasy Game on Facebook
"GolMania brings Vostu's fun social experience to a casual sports game," Vostu Chief Scientist Mario Schlosser said in a release. "We look forward to our millions of users getting to play GolMania and like with all of our games, we will then quickly react to their feedback and our deep analytics about player behavior to unveil new features that take into account how users make the game their own."
The game was developed Vostu's recent acquisition MP Studio, and employs the publisher's Vostu Game Network, meaning friends can play with one another in real time across social networks. Vostu also teased to us an unnamed social game (found in the gallery above) with a deep, cartoonish fantasy setting that's set to launch this fall as well. But until then, check out GolMania below and see if it gives your fingers a real challenge.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Mini Kings on Facebook: Play in 'mini' bursts unless you got cash
Sure creating an entire kingdom took decades back in the Dark Ages, but should really translate (very loosely) to a Facebook game? Gameloft recently launched Mini Kings on Facebook, a game that tasks players with creating their own mini kingdom. However, rather than delegating orders, your king or queen will be involved 100 percent of the way from farming to building new structures. However, this lovely-looking game suffers from dizzying amounts of downtime early on, which could be a turn off for many new players.
Find out if Mini Kings' castle walls hold up after the break.
Visiting a large kingdom
Just to get it out there, Mini Kings is a beautiful Facebook game. With an adorably anime art style, smooth animations and vibrant colors, this game holds great promise for the future of social games in the looks department. The game begins by tasking players with harvesting some crops and trees and planting some more. After getting the basic money makers out of the way, you will have to build houses for peasants, another necessary resource in Mini Kings. Building homes creates peasants, which can be put to work in your several buildings like the Bazaar, Blacksmith and Lumber Mill. All of these buildings provide coins only when peasants are placed inside, but each one can only take on so many peasants at a time.
Creating new buildings is similar to other games like FrontierVille where you're required to ask friends for parts. While these buildings only provide coins every few hours, that time can be decreased by adding the maximum amount of peasants. So, on top of having new building and crop timers to worry about (which can be excruciatingly long), defense is also a major concern. This is because players have the option every four hours to attack their friends' kingdoms. Now, this is where things get interesting.
Combat in Mini Kings
Every kingdom has a small gate area with a basic wall. It's here that players can purchase soldiers and defense structures from the Market to place along the wall. However, layout is a major concern when considering both offense and defense. The way your soldiers, towers and barricades are laid out is how they will appear to enemies who attack you, so remember to keep stronger-bodied soldiers like Knights and Axe Warriors up front while leaving the back line to Mages and Archers who attack with ranged magic and arrows. As a rule of thumb, this also goes for offensive lineups, but you can change your lineup at any time.
Once you start an attack, all of your soldiers will advance in a row on the enemy at once and will not stop until either they're all defeated or at least one soldier makes it past your opponents wall. However, every troop lost in battle will need to be revived after an attack for coins. Here's a tip: Try visiting a neighbor, inspecting the layout of their defenses and mapping your offense accordingly before attacking.
Farming
Mini Kings takes several cues from successful social games such as quests, friend help requests and daily bonuses for better or worse. Unfortunately, the game will come to a screeching halt within minutes of play due to several factors. First, the timers on each crop and building are at the very least two hours long, which are the only method of gathering large amounts of coins and experience points. Almost every meaningful item in the game costs an exorbitant amount of coins compared to the rate at which they come in. Lastly, the most exciting aspect of Mini Kings, combat, is brought down by a four-hour timer. Mini Kings is a gorgeous-looking, entertaining Facebook game. But if you're unwilling to buy more coins, you'll be stuck playing in mini bursts.
Find out if Mini Kings' castle walls hold up after the break.
Visiting a large kingdom
Just to get it out there, Mini Kings is a beautiful Facebook game. With an adorably anime art style, smooth animations and vibrant colors, this game holds great promise for the future of social games in the looks department. The game begins by tasking players with harvesting some crops and trees and planting some more. After getting the basic money makers out of the way, you will have to build houses for peasants, another necessary resource in Mini Kings. Building homes creates peasants, which can be put to work in your several buildings like the Bazaar, Blacksmith and Lumber Mill. All of these buildings provide coins only when peasants are placed inside, but each one can only take on so many peasants at a time.
Creating new buildings is similar to other games like FrontierVille where you're required to ask friends for parts. While these buildings only provide coins every few hours, that time can be decreased by adding the maximum amount of peasants. So, on top of having new building and crop timers to worry about (which can be excruciatingly long), defense is also a major concern. This is because players have the option every four hours to attack their friends' kingdoms. Now, this is where things get interesting.
Combat in Mini Kings
Every kingdom has a small gate area with a basic wall. It's here that players can purchase soldiers and defense structures from the Market to place along the wall. However, layout is a major concern when considering both offense and defense. The way your soldiers, towers and barricades are laid out is how they will appear to enemies who attack you, so remember to keep stronger-bodied soldiers like Knights and Axe Warriors up front while leaving the back line to Mages and Archers who attack with ranged magic and arrows. As a rule of thumb, this also goes for offensive lineups, but you can change your lineup at any time.
Once you start an attack, all of your soldiers will advance in a row on the enemy at once and will not stop until either they're all defeated or at least one soldier makes it past your opponents wall. However, every troop lost in battle will need to be revived after an attack for coins. Here's a tip: Try visiting a neighbor, inspecting the layout of their defenses and mapping your offense accordingly before attacking.
Farming
Mini Kings takes several cues from successful social games such as quests, friend help requests and daily bonuses for better or worse. Unfortunately, the game will come to a screeching halt within minutes of play due to several factors. First, the timers on each crop and building are at the very least two hours long, which are the only method of gathering large amounts of coins and experience points. Almost every meaningful item in the game costs an exorbitant amount of coins compared to the rate at which they come in. Lastly, the most exciting aspect of Mini Kings, combat, is brought down by a four-hour timer. Mini Kings is a gorgeous-looking, entertaining Facebook game. But if you're unwilling to buy more coins, you'll be stuck playing in mini bursts.
Social gamers to be nearly one third of US Internet users by 2012
At least that's what the most recent study published by eMarketer author Paul Verna shows. According to his findings, the social gaming industry will see a 29.5 percent increase since 2010 to 2012. Coincidentally, this will amount to 29 percent of the Internet population in the US playing social games by that time. Keep in mind that the study assumes that fundamental social games, meaning those with simplistic yet addictive game mechanics like FarmVille, will maintain popularity over the next two years (fact chance). But don't get too giddy just yet.
Shockingly, Verna calls these findings conservative compared to other studies, citing a general decrease in social gamers from Sept. to Dec. 2010 as well as a year-over-year decrease from Dec. 2009 to last month. In other words, a large number of social gamers have been moving on recently despite the runaway success of CityVille. Also, eMarketer found that the top social games, i.e. games by Zynga and friends that account for 75 percent of total social gaming traffic, suffered a decline too.
The firm goes on to mention that the decline could be related to Facebook's turbulent changes to Notifications in 2010 (we so called it). Since when is a 30 percent increase sobering news? "With these caveats in mind, eMarketer's conclusion is that the Inside Social Games data is not a surefire sign of waning interest, but it does put a damper on expectations," Verna said. "Accordingly, we're forecasting growth–but at a slower rate than what we've seen over the past two years." You know, leave it to social gaming marketing moguls to whine over a 30 percent increase. Babies.
Shockingly, Verna calls these findings conservative compared to other studies, citing a general decrease in social gamers from Sept. to Dec. 2010 as well as a year-over-year decrease from Dec. 2009 to last month. In other words, a large number of social gamers have been moving on recently despite the runaway success of CityVille. Also, eMarketer found that the top social games, i.e. games by Zynga and friends that account for 75 percent of total social gaming traffic, suffered a decline too.
The firm goes on to mention that the decline could be related to Facebook's turbulent changes to Notifications in 2010 (we so called it). Since when is a 30 percent increase sobering news? "With these caveats in mind, eMarketer's conclusion is that the Inside Social Games data is not a surefire sign of waning interest, but it does put a damper on expectations," Verna said. "Accordingly, we're forecasting growth–but at a slower rate than what we've seen over the past two years." You know, leave it to social gaming marketing moguls to whine over a 30 percent increase. Babies.
CityVille Cheats and Tips: Business Chart
With all the different buildings in CityVille, how are you supposed to decide which CityVille business to buy? Some businesses are bigger than others, some require more goods, and others make more money. With all the variation, how are you supposed to know what the best business in CityVille is?
Fortunately, thanks to Chaotico at the CityVille Forums, our CityVille Cheats & Tips Business Chart will help you determine what business is best for your CityVille city. With business purchase costs, size, goods requirements, profit per goods, bonuses and more; our Business and Franchise Chart has everything you need to know about businesses.
If you're looking for our CityVille HouseChart, click here.
Note: To get Bonuses on your CityVille business' profit per good ratio, use decorations to raise the bonus percentage you receive and get more money! If you aren't sure what I mean, check out our Decoration Bonus Guide.
Business Chart for buildings size 3x3:
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsSushi Bar 12,500 605 110 5.5 17.1 18.8
cityville business chart cheatsHandbag
Store 10,000 654 120 5.4 16.9 18.6
cityville business chart cheats Wedding
Store 15,000 702 130 5.4 16.7 18.5
Furniture
Store 750,000 864 160 5.4 16.7 18.5
cityville business chart cheatsJewelery
Store 500,000 830 155 5.3 16.6 18.3
Music
Store 2,000,000 910 170 5.3 16.6 18.3
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsChic
Boutique 250,000 795 150 5.3 16.4 18.1
cityville business chart cheats Video Game
Store 1,300 50 10 5 15.5 17.1
cityville business chart cheats Cosmetic
Store 1,900 120 25 4.8 14.9 16.4
cityville business chart cheats Diner 1,600 230 50 4.6 14.3 15.7
cityville business chart cheats Tuxedo
Rental Collection
Reward 575 125 4.6 14.3 15.7
cityville business chart cheats Seasonal
Clothing 20 Cash 368 80 4.6 14.3 15.7
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsFrench
Restaurant 4,500 495 110 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business chart cheatsCorner Store Collection
Reward 270 60 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business appliances storeAppliances
Store 25 Cash 405 90 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business noodle shopNoodle Shop 4,000 405 90 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business city dojoCity Dojo 4,250 495 110 4.5 13.9 15.4
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business laundromatLaundromat 5,000 515 115 4.4 13.9 15.3
cityville business chart cheatsSunglasses
Store 5,500 534 120 4.4 13.8 15.2
cityville business chart cheats Hot Cocoa
Shop 15 Cash 441 100 4.4 13.7 15.1
cityville business chart cheats Bike Shop 2,500 330 75 4.4 13.6 15.0
cityville business chart cheatsShoe Store 3,500 572 130 4.4 13.6 15.0
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheats Tavern Collection
Reward 352 80 4.4 13.6 15.0
cityville business chart cheatsSeafood
Restaurant 7,500 609 140 4.3 13.5 14.9
cityville business chart cheats Italian
Restaurant 6,500 645 150 4.3 13.3 14.7
cityville business bookstoreBookstore 3,000 430 100 4.3 13.3 14.7
cityville business chart cheats Bakery 200 40 10 4 12.4 13.7
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheats Flower
Kiosk 400 95 25 3.8 11.8 13.0
cityville business chart cheats Toy Store 800 180 50 3.6 11.1 12.3
cityville business chart cheats Coffee
Shop 600 320 100 3.2 9.9 10.9
cityville business chart cheats Burger
Joint 1,000 240 75 3.2 9.9 10.9
Business Chart for buildings size 4x4:
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 240%
Bonus 284%
Bonus 322%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsTower Eats 1,000,000 900 165 5.4 17.1 18.5 23.0
cityville business chart cheatsCinema 100,000 749 140 5.3 16.9 18.1 22.5
cityville business chart cheatsPool Hall 2,200 420 100 4.2 16.7 14.2 17.7
Thanks again to Chaotico for finding all this great info.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Fortunately, thanks to Chaotico at the CityVille Forums, our CityVille Cheats & Tips Business Chart will help you determine what business is best for your CityVille city. With business purchase costs, size, goods requirements, profit per goods, bonuses and more; our Business and Franchise Chart has everything you need to know about businesses.
If you're looking for our CityVille HouseChart, click here.
Note: To get Bonuses on your CityVille business' profit per good ratio, use decorations to raise the bonus percentage you receive and get more money! If you aren't sure what I mean, check out our Decoration Bonus Guide.
Business Chart for buildings size 3x3:
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsSushi Bar 12,500 605 110 5.5 17.1 18.8
cityville business chart cheatsHandbag
Store 10,000 654 120 5.4 16.9 18.6
cityville business chart cheats Wedding
Store 15,000 702 130 5.4 16.7 18.5
Furniture
Store 750,000 864 160 5.4 16.7 18.5
cityville business chart cheatsJewelery
Store 500,000 830 155 5.3 16.6 18.3
Music
Store 2,000,000 910 170 5.3 16.6 18.3
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsChic
Boutique 250,000 795 150 5.3 16.4 18.1
cityville business chart cheats Video Game
Store 1,300 50 10 5 15.5 17.1
cityville business chart cheats Cosmetic
Store 1,900 120 25 4.8 14.9 16.4
cityville business chart cheats Diner 1,600 230 50 4.6 14.3 15.7
cityville business chart cheats Tuxedo
Rental Collection
Reward 575 125 4.6 14.3 15.7
cityville business chart cheats Seasonal
Clothing 20 Cash 368 80 4.6 14.3 15.7
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsFrench
Restaurant 4,500 495 110 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business chart cheatsCorner Store Collection
Reward 270 60 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business appliances storeAppliances
Store 25 Cash 405 90 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business noodle shopNoodle Shop 4,000 405 90 4.5 13.9 15.4
cityville business city dojoCity Dojo 4,250 495 110 4.5 13.9 15.4
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business laundromatLaundromat 5,000 515 115 4.4 13.9 15.3
cityville business chart cheatsSunglasses
Store 5,500 534 120 4.4 13.8 15.2
cityville business chart cheats Hot Cocoa
Shop 15 Cash 441 100 4.4 13.7 15.1
cityville business chart cheats Bike Shop 2,500 330 75 4.4 13.6 15.0
cityville business chart cheatsShoe Store 3,500 572 130 4.4 13.6 15.0
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheats Tavern Collection
Reward 352 80 4.4 13.6 15.0
cityville business chart cheatsSeafood
Restaurant 7,500 609 140 4.3 13.5 14.9
cityville business chart cheats Italian
Restaurant 6,500 645 150 4.3 13.3 14.7
cityville business bookstoreBookstore 3,000 430 100 4.3 13.3 14.7
cityville business chart cheats Bakery 200 40 10 4 12.4 13.7
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 211%
Bonus 243%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheats Flower
Kiosk 400 95 25 3.8 11.8 13.0
cityville business chart cheats Toy Store 800 180 50 3.6 11.1 12.3
cityville business chart cheats Coffee
Shop 600 320 100 3.2 9.9 10.9
cityville business chart cheats Burger
Joint 1,000 240 75 3.2 9.9 10.9
Business Chart for buildings size 4x4:
Business Cost Coins
Earned Goods
Needed Profit
per Good 240%
Bonus 284%
Bonus 322%
Bonus
cityville business chart cheatsTower Eats 1,000,000 900 165 5.4 17.1 18.5 23.0
cityville business chart cheatsCinema 100,000 749 140 5.3 16.9 18.1 22.5
cityville business chart cheatsPool Hall 2,200 420 100 4.2 16.7 14.2 17.7
Thanks again to Chaotico for finding all this great info.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Rumor Alert: Will Zynga's Mafia Wars sequel be called 'Mafia Nation?'
Remember when that strange survey surfaced revealing what looked like the sequel to Mafia Wars. It appears that Zynga has released another set of surveys, but has only changed one thing: it's name. Originally named "Mafia Wars 2: Shadow Nation," Inside Social Games has uncovered two new surveys circulating around the Internet with identical artwork but two different titles: "Mafia Nation" and "Crime Nation."
The surveys ask a short series of simple questions, but also offer participants early access to beta test the game if they provide their e-mail address. While it's unknown why Zynga is referring to the game with so many different names, we imagine the company is simply testing player reception to various titles. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if more names emerged later down the line.
Judging by this extremely early artwork, the game still looks a helluva lot like Crime City by Funzio. And to include "Crime Nation" as a potential title seems just insulting if this game ends up to be a perfected clone of Crime City. Unfortunately, history tends to repeat itself. Regardless of what Zynga calls the game, let's just hope it loses the logo. We've contacted Zynga for comment, so stay tuned for more information.
The surveys ask a short series of simple questions, but also offer participants early access to beta test the game if they provide their e-mail address. While it's unknown why Zynga is referring to the game with so many different names, we imagine the company is simply testing player reception to various titles. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if more names emerged later down the line.
Judging by this extremely early artwork, the game still looks a helluva lot like Crime City by Funzio. And to include "Crime Nation" as a potential title seems just insulting if this game ends up to be a perfected clone of Crime City. Unfortunately, history tends to repeat itself. Regardless of what Zynga calls the game, let's just hope it loses the logo. We've contacted Zynga for comment, so stay tuned for more information.
FrontierVille Barber Shop Collection now available
Along with yesterday's launch of the Barber Shop in FrontierVille comes the release of a new Barber Shop collection that is available to complete in the game. There are five items to this collection, as usual, and you'll be able to earn these items by completing tasks pertaining to the Barber Shop in the game (that is, whacking the frame as you build it, or collecting Daily Bonuses).
The five items are:
Straight Razor
Bow Tie
Hot Towels
Comb Sanitizer
Hydraulic Chair
As usual, turning this collection in will earn you some nifty prizes, in the form of a Barber Shop Pole (if the actual pole that spins on the Barber Shop itself isn't enough for you) and 10 Cloth. This entire Barber Shop feature has been great for users who are low on cloth (most wall posts for completed missions reward free cloth), and it's great to see a permanent source of free cloth being made available via this new collection.
How close are you to completing the Barber Shop collection in FrontierVille? Do you think you'll really need two Barber Shop Poles, or should the prize have been something else?
The five items are:
Straight Razor
Bow Tie
Hot Towels
Comb Sanitizer
Hydraulic Chair
As usual, turning this collection in will earn you some nifty prizes, in the form of a Barber Shop Pole (if the actual pole that spins on the Barber Shop itself isn't enough for you) and 10 Cloth. This entire Barber Shop feature has been great for users who are low on cloth (most wall posts for completed missions reward free cloth), and it's great to see a permanent source of free cloth being made available via this new collection.
How close are you to completing the Barber Shop collection in FrontierVille? Do you think you'll really need two Barber Shop Poles, or should the prize have been something else?
Friday, January 6, 2012
FarmVille Fairy Tale Avatar Costumes: Fairy, Princess, Knight & More
What better way to really show your love for Fairy Tales and all things fantasy-related in FarmVille than to deck out your in-game avatar in one of the game's newest themed costumes? These costumes will see your character jumping right into a storybook, but there are more options available here if you're a girl player, than if you're a boy.
Either way, you can now pick up a complete Fairy Costume (including Wings) for 10 Farm Cash), a Knight Costume (with a helmet that covers your avatar's entire head) for 30 Farm Cash, and a Princess dress and shoes for 100,000 coins. If you'd like the hat to complete this Princess outfit, this is unfortunately a separate purchase, being available for 5 Farm Cash on its own.
The only good thing about the above is the fact that you can simply purchase the Damsel Hat and leave the Princess dress alone, if you're simply looking for some nice headwear, rather than the full ensemble. Regardless of which on you choose, all will be available in the game for the next two weeks. We'll be sure to let you know if Zynga releases more themed costumes in the future, so keep checking back.
What other kinds of Fairy Tale themed costumes would you like to see released in the game?
Either way, you can now pick up a complete Fairy Costume (including Wings) for 10 Farm Cash), a Knight Costume (with a helmet that covers your avatar's entire head) for 30 Farm Cash, and a Princess dress and shoes for 100,000 coins. If you'd like the hat to complete this Princess outfit, this is unfortunately a separate purchase, being available for 5 Farm Cash on its own.
The only good thing about the above is the fact that you can simply purchase the Damsel Hat and leave the Princess dress alone, if you're simply looking for some nice headwear, rather than the full ensemble. Regardless of which on you choose, all will be available in the game for the next two weeks. We'll be sure to let you know if Zynga releases more themed costumes in the future, so keep checking back.
What other kinds of Fairy Tale themed costumes would you like to see released in the game?
FrontierVille Tips & Tricks: How to get a Syringe
Along with the release of the Doctor's Office in FrontierVille came a new problem on the Homestead, that being that one of the items required to complete the accompanying Prairie Pox quests - the Syringe - is nigh impossible to find in the game!
As we told you upon release, the Syringe is a collection item available in the Doctor's Office collection that can be received either by collecting the Daily Bonus from the Doctor's Office, or received as you whack the building's frame during construction. Both of these instances seem to require an extreme amount of luck, as a massive thread (15 pages and growing) has appeared on the FrontierVille forums of users asking the same question - where are all of the Syringes?
This wouldn't be such a large issue if the Syringe wasn't required to complete one of the Praire Pox quests, but since it is, we've seen that FrontierVille players have started coming up with some nice suggestions as to how to better increase your chance of receiving a Syringe on your homestead, without waiting for one to appear once per day for however long you'd need to collect the Daily Bonus.
Meet us behind the break for those two solutions. A quick note about the strategy below - this is an entirely voluntary procedure - there's no guarantee that you'll receive the Syringe before running out of Wood, Energy/food items, Coins or patience. Attempt at your own risk!
The first of these methods seems to be the most reliable, but it will require a lot of coins, wood, energy, time, and most importantly - patience. You'll need to delete your Doctor's Office - yes, that item that you spent so much time collecting materials for - and then reconstruct its frame all over again. Through this, you'll be able to whack the frame eight times per construction, giving you eight chances of receiving a Syringe. If you don't, and the frame has once again been constructed, simply choose the Sell tool from the main menu, and then delete the Doctor's Office frame from your land. You will receive no coins in return, so now you can see how expensive a process this can turn into.
How quickly you'll happen upon a Syringe using this method is anyone's guess. Some users on the FrontierVille forums have reported receiving a Syringe on just their second Doctor's Office, while others (myself included) have built the frame over 80 times and still have yet to receive a Syringe. What you will likely receive, though, are tons of the other four items in the Doctor's Office collection, leaving your inventory to look like this:
Before you tackle this, know that you will have to start from scratch on the required building materials to complete the Doctor's Office construction - the Painkillers, Masks, etc.
For those that would rather not spend hours or days whacking and deleting Doctor's Office frames, some users have also been having some luck receiving Syringes from Care Packages - those items that will supposedly give you anything you need in the game for a quest (there are some limits to the items you can receive, making this one a bit shaky). This is an even more rare situation as a result, so we'd suggest saving this as a last resort.
If neither of these techniques work for you, you can always place the Syringe on your in-game Wish List, hoping that a neighbor has an extra to share, or simply purchase the Syringe for Horsehoes (of course, as many users have pointed out, that might be exactly what Zynga wants).
One final solution would be to simply wait it out - as with most things in FrontierVille, with enough negative fan feedback, Zynga normally changes the spawn rate of these hard-to-come-by items, and it's only presumable that they will do the same here. When, though, is anyone's guess.
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Did you receive a Syringe on your very first try, or did you have to resort to one of the above methods to receive one on your Homestead?
As we told you upon release, the Syringe is a collection item available in the Doctor's Office collection that can be received either by collecting the Daily Bonus from the Doctor's Office, or received as you whack the building's frame during construction. Both of these instances seem to require an extreme amount of luck, as a massive thread (15 pages and growing) has appeared on the FrontierVille forums of users asking the same question - where are all of the Syringes?
This wouldn't be such a large issue if the Syringe wasn't required to complete one of the Praire Pox quests, but since it is, we've seen that FrontierVille players have started coming up with some nice suggestions as to how to better increase your chance of receiving a Syringe on your homestead, without waiting for one to appear once per day for however long you'd need to collect the Daily Bonus.
Meet us behind the break for those two solutions. A quick note about the strategy below - this is an entirely voluntary procedure - there's no guarantee that you'll receive the Syringe before running out of Wood, Energy/food items, Coins or patience. Attempt at your own risk!
The first of these methods seems to be the most reliable, but it will require a lot of coins, wood, energy, time, and most importantly - patience. You'll need to delete your Doctor's Office - yes, that item that you spent so much time collecting materials for - and then reconstruct its frame all over again. Through this, you'll be able to whack the frame eight times per construction, giving you eight chances of receiving a Syringe. If you don't, and the frame has once again been constructed, simply choose the Sell tool from the main menu, and then delete the Doctor's Office frame from your land. You will receive no coins in return, so now you can see how expensive a process this can turn into.
How quickly you'll happen upon a Syringe using this method is anyone's guess. Some users on the FrontierVille forums have reported receiving a Syringe on just their second Doctor's Office, while others (myself included) have built the frame over 80 times and still have yet to receive a Syringe. What you will likely receive, though, are tons of the other four items in the Doctor's Office collection, leaving your inventory to look like this:
Before you tackle this, know that you will have to start from scratch on the required building materials to complete the Doctor's Office construction - the Painkillers, Masks, etc.
For those that would rather not spend hours or days whacking and deleting Doctor's Office frames, some users have also been having some luck receiving Syringes from Care Packages - those items that will supposedly give you anything you need in the game for a quest (there are some limits to the items you can receive, making this one a bit shaky). This is an even more rare situation as a result, so we'd suggest saving this as a last resort.
If neither of these techniques work for you, you can always place the Syringe on your in-game Wish List, hoping that a neighbor has an extra to share, or simply purchase the Syringe for Horsehoes (of course, as many users have pointed out, that might be exactly what Zynga wants).
One final solution would be to simply wait it out - as with most things in FrontierVille, with enough negative fan feedback, Zynga normally changes the spawn rate of these hard-to-come-by items, and it's only presumable that they will do the same here. When, though, is anyone's guess.
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Did you receive a Syringe on your very first try, or did you have to resort to one of the above methods to receive one on your Homestead?
Wishful Features: Quick Item Storage in FarmVille
As we recently transitioned from celebrating Valentine's Day in FarmVille to celebrating St. Patrick's Day (or Fairy Tales, if you prefer), I was instantly hit by a need for a new feature in FarmVille, that would make my job of clearing out old decorations (putting them into Storage) to bring out the next holiday's items so much easier. That feature would be the addition of a quick item storage button.
In the past, Zynga added the option for quick item deleting or selling in the game, as a Recycling Tool was added to the main arrow menu. Using this tool, you can click on item after item, in very rapid succession, selling those items and receiving your coin profits in return. Why isn't something like this available for the storage of items? Why can't I, a person with more decorations than I honestly know what to do with, click on a single button to turn on a tool that will allow me to store all of my items as quickly as I could sell them?
It would only help Zynga in the long run if such a feature were added. Users would no longer have to click on each individual item and choose to store them, or drag them on top of a storage building one after another - they could rapid-fire clear out their land, offering them more incentive to change out decorations more often, since it wouldn't take them as long to do. In exchange, players might be more likely to purchase more decorations from the store (even those costing Farm Cash), if they didn't have to worry about the hassle of storing them all once that particular season or theme had passed.
While it seems like just a simple addition, this is one that we can only hope Zynga adds to the game sooner, rather than later.
Are there any features or game improvements you would like to see come to FarmVille, or any of your favorite Facebook games?
In the past, Zynga added the option for quick item deleting or selling in the game, as a Recycling Tool was added to the main arrow menu. Using this tool, you can click on item after item, in very rapid succession, selling those items and receiving your coin profits in return. Why isn't something like this available for the storage of items? Why can't I, a person with more decorations than I honestly know what to do with, click on a single button to turn on a tool that will allow me to store all of my items as quickly as I could sell them?
It would only help Zynga in the long run if such a feature were added. Users would no longer have to click on each individual item and choose to store them, or drag them on top of a storage building one after another - they could rapid-fire clear out their land, offering them more incentive to change out decorations more often, since it wouldn't take them as long to do. In exchange, players might be more likely to purchase more decorations from the store (even those costing Farm Cash), if they didn't have to worry about the hassle of storing them all once that particular season or theme had passed.
While it seems like just a simple addition, this is one that we can only hope Zynga adds to the game sooner, rather than later.
Are there any features or game improvements you would like to see come to FarmVille, or any of your favorite Facebook games?
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Barley crop coming soon
In what looks to be another Greenhouse crop (that being a hybrid crop) in FarmVille, we've come across images of an as-of-now unreleased crop in the game in the form of Barley. This crop looks an awful lot like Double Grain in its image, so could this crop be a combination of say, Double Grain and Wheat in the Greenhouse?
Remember, in the latest installment of the FarmVille Podcast, we heard that the Greenhouse would be given a new feature in the future, and that we should save our seeds in preparation for that release. Does this new feature entail creating third generation crops, like this Barley, or are the resemblances to other crops simply coincidences?
We'll be sure to let you know if and when Barley is officially released in the game, and how it is made available, so keep checking back.
In the meantime, let us know your theories on this new unreleased crop. Are more crops coming to the Greenhouse, or will we be able to purchase it from the store?
Remember, in the latest installment of the FarmVille Podcast, we heard that the Greenhouse would be given a new feature in the future, and that we should save our seeds in preparation for that release. Does this new feature entail creating third generation crops, like this Barley, or are the resemblances to other crops simply coincidences?
We'll be sure to let you know if and when Barley is officially released in the game, and how it is made available, so keep checking back.
In the meantime, let us know your theories on this new unreleased crop. Are more crops coming to the Greenhouse, or will we be able to purchase it from the store?
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Leprechaun House building project menu
Last week, we brought you a sneak peek of an unreleased treehouse in FarmVille that fits into the upcoming St. Patrick's Day theme. Thanks to a new unreleased image, though, we've learned that this Treehouse is apparently called the Leprechaun House, as you can see above.
Interestingly, this preview of the building's menu seems to only represent four of the five stages of growth that we spotted last week (if the green dot at the far left represents the starter frame we'll likely receive for free). Could Zynga be deciding whether or not to scrap one of the four upgrade stages to help us start collecting items (presumably Gold for this year's Pot of Gold) more quickly? Additionally, in this image, there is room for a fourth building item, other than the three that we're used to - those being the Wooden Boards, Nails, and Bricks. Depending on whether or not this image is a place-holder, we may need a fourth ingredient to build the Leprechaun's House. Our guess would be Watering Cans, but that's totally up in the air at this point.
We'll make sure to let you know all of the details about this new Leprechaun house as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.
Interestingly, this preview of the building's menu seems to only represent four of the five stages of growth that we spotted last week (if the green dot at the far left represents the starter frame we'll likely receive for free). Could Zynga be deciding whether or not to scrap one of the four upgrade stages to help us start collecting items (presumably Gold for this year's Pot of Gold) more quickly? Additionally, in this image, there is room for a fourth building item, other than the three that we're used to - those being the Wooden Boards, Nails, and Bricks. Depending on whether or not this image is a place-holder, we may need a fourth ingredient to build the Leprechaun's House. Our guess would be Watering Cans, but that's totally up in the air at this point.
We'll make sure to let you know all of the details about this new Leprechaun house as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
FarmVille English Countryside Sneak Peek: A closer look at English buildings
So, we already know that we'll be able to build most of the same buildings that we have on our first farm in FarmVille in the new English Countryside (when it launches), but we've come across a slew of unreleased images that show us just what these English versions of animal and functional buildings really look like.
You can see a few of the basic buildings in the image above. From left to right, we have the Barn, Cellar, Flower Shed, Chicken Coop, Horse Stable, and Tool Shed. All of these buildings will apparently be readily available in the game; that is, they will not require construction. As for the other buildings, like the Sheep Pen, Horse Stable or Garage, you'll need to do a bit of work to bring them either back up to 100% by repairing them, or starting them from scratch.
Meet us behind the break for a detailed look at these other English Countryside buildings. Here's a look at the other English Countryside buildings, in no particular order:
Orchard:
Garage (will apparently need to be repaired):
Dairy Barn:
Pub:
Sheep Pen:
Finally, while not an actual building, we do now know that we'll also be able to use an English version of the Super Combine on our second farms. Here's what it looks like at the start, and once entirely completed (presumably by collecting Vehicle Parts, as with the first version).
And there you have it! An interesting look at just what our farms will be filled with when the English Countryside launches in full (perhaps as early as this weekend). We'll make sure to let you know if these buildings come with any unexpected twists or stipulations just as soon as we know more.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Which of these buildings / functional items do you like the best? Do you like the darker wood tones that will apparently be prevalent in the English Countryside, or do you prefer the basic versions of these buildings better?
You can see a few of the basic buildings in the image above. From left to right, we have the Barn, Cellar, Flower Shed, Chicken Coop, Horse Stable, and Tool Shed. All of these buildings will apparently be readily available in the game; that is, they will not require construction. As for the other buildings, like the Sheep Pen, Horse Stable or Garage, you'll need to do a bit of work to bring them either back up to 100% by repairing them, or starting them from scratch.
Meet us behind the break for a detailed look at these other English Countryside buildings. Here's a look at the other English Countryside buildings, in no particular order:
Orchard:
Garage (will apparently need to be repaired):
Dairy Barn:
Pub:
Sheep Pen:
Finally, while not an actual building, we do now know that we'll also be able to use an English version of the Super Combine on our second farms. Here's what it looks like at the start, and once entirely completed (presumably by collecting Vehicle Parts, as with the first version).
And there you have it! An interesting look at just what our farms will be filled with when the English Countryside launches in full (perhaps as early as this weekend). We'll make sure to let you know if these buildings come with any unexpected twists or stipulations just as soon as we know more.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Which of these buildings / functional items do you like the best? Do you like the darker wood tones that will apparently be prevalent in the English Countryside, or do you prefer the basic versions of these buildings better?
Game of the Day: CubeHunt
The Game of the Day is a back with a new brain-teaser. You probably haven't played this game on Games.com and it's the game of the day!.CubeHunt is a tricky puzzler where you have clear the board of a never ending array of colored cubes. Very simple to understand but very difficult to master. Try all four game modes and go for the high score.
Post your best score in the comments.
Click --> play CubeHunt
Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.
Source
Post your best score in the comments.
Click --> play CubeHunt
Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.
Source
FarmVille, several Zynga games suffer ongoing loading issues
Several players have reported to both FarmVille Freak and the forums that FarmVille suffered severe loading issues overnight. Farmers across the board received error messages such as "Oh no! It looks like all the bits got lost on the way to your computer. Please refresh your page." This forced players to refresh their browser page, which would cause the same errors to appear.
Zynga forum community manager Stumpgrinder chimed in on the 33-page thread with, "About half of our games are down (or at least the majority of people being able to access them). We're investigating now. If there isn't a resolution fairly soon we'll see about unwither & puppy hunger." As the thread continued, Stumpgrinder's final post in the thread was this: "Looks like it's mostly back to normal; you may or may not see the RewardVille stuff."
Ah-ha! So, it was RewardVille causing the issues? While I'm not experiencing any loading issues at the moment, leveling up in RewardVille did manage to bring FarmVille to a screeching halt, forcing me to reload the game. And while FarmVille might be more stable, what of the other games Stumpgrinder vaguely mentioned? If my experience is any indication, we might not be out of the woods yet, folks.
Are you still experiencing issues in your Zynga game of choice? How about issues with the RewardVille system interfering with your game?
Zynga forum community manager Stumpgrinder chimed in on the 33-page thread with, "About half of our games are down (or at least the majority of people being able to access them). We're investigating now. If there isn't a resolution fairly soon we'll see about unwither & puppy hunger." As the thread continued, Stumpgrinder's final post in the thread was this: "Looks like it's mostly back to normal; you may or may not see the RewardVille stuff."
Ah-ha! So, it was RewardVille causing the issues? While I'm not experiencing any loading issues at the moment, leveling up in RewardVille did manage to bring FarmVille to a screeching halt, forcing me to reload the game. And while FarmVille might be more stable, what of the other games Stumpgrinder vaguely mentioned? If my experience is any indication, we might not be out of the woods yet, folks.
Are you still experiencing issues in your Zynga game of choice? How about issues with the RewardVille system interfering with your game?
FrontierVille Teddy Bear: Ring out St. Patrick's Day with this free gift
St. Patrick's Day might be over, but Zynga got to sneak in one last celebration in FrontierVille. A new gift, the Teddy Bear, is available on the Free Gifts page. This decoration really is nothing more than a stuffed bear, but the tiny green top hat makes for a cuddly way to finish off the holiday. However, we can't help but wonder why this item wasn't introduced in the thick of the St. Patrick's Day Goals.
Either way, send it around and spread that last sliver of green pride. As an added Patty's Day Bonus, players who redeem a Zynga Game Card through March 20 will receive a 20 percent discount on Horseshoes. Sometimes, it's good to be late to the party.
Have you amassed an army of Teddy Bears yet? Will you take advantage of this Horseshoe discount?
Either way, send it around and spread that last sliver of green pride. As an added Patty's Day Bonus, players who redeem a Zynga Game Card through March 20 will receive a 20 percent discount on Horseshoes. Sometimes, it's good to be late to the party.
Have you amassed an army of Teddy Bears yet? Will you take advantage of this Horseshoe discount?
Quote of the Moment: 'Facebook gaming is a completely valid market'
But it's a completely valid market. People in the industry are seeing Facebook as a platform like we see the PlayStation 3 or the PC as a platform. They all have a particular audience and the demographic tends to like a specific type of game more predominantly than others. By looking at it as a platform and not judging the whole thing just based on a few games or a subset of mechanics that you deem unacceptable for whatever reason, I think traditional developers are coming around to the opportunities of Facebook.
Brenda Brathwaite, another social game design convert, said this in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz concerning the growing criticism of the social games industry. Brathwaite's background is in traditional games, but she recently opened Loot Drop with veteran John Romero after seeing the opportunities Facebook had to offer. The interview came after this year's GDC, which held a panel titled "No Freakin' Respect! Social Game Developers Rant Back." Brathwaite's short, sweet and NSFW speech covered many of the same points she makes in her talk with Gamesindustry.biz. Most importantly, Brathwaite says that while there are plenty of social game developers out there with profit as their primary motive, the amount of traditional designers entering the space will change things. Brenda, we sure hope you're right.
[Image Credit: Trendr]
Do you agree with Brathwaite's optimism for the future of social games? When, or if ever, do you think we'll see these changes?
Brenda Brathwaite, another social game design convert, said this in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz concerning the growing criticism of the social games industry. Brathwaite's background is in traditional games, but she recently opened Loot Drop with veteran John Romero after seeing the opportunities Facebook had to offer. The interview came after this year's GDC, which held a panel titled "No Freakin' Respect! Social Game Developers Rant Back." Brathwaite's short, sweet and NSFW speech covered many of the same points she makes in her talk with Gamesindustry.biz. Most importantly, Brathwaite says that while there are plenty of social game developers out there with profit as their primary motive, the amount of traditional designers entering the space will change things. Brenda, we sure hope you're right.
[Image Credit: Trendr]
Do you agree with Brathwaite's optimism for the future of social games? When, or if ever, do you think we'll see these changes?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box: Everything you need to know
For the twelve days of Christmas, The Sims Social has unleashed a dozen Winter Garden Mystery Boxes with a random item hiding in each one.
Mystery Boxes are always a pain when you don't know what you're going to get. They're an even greater pain when you have to shell out real money for them. Playfish is charging 15 Sim Cash for one box, 75 for five boxes, and 150 for ten boxes. Obviously, the best deal is to grab the ten boxes for 150 Sim Cash, but that would cost you $20.00 USD overall, and you're still left short of a dozen.
This is obviously deliberate, but Playfish aren't being complete jerks here, because they're giving away 2 FREE Winter Garden Mystery Boxes to everyone. You can find the first box here, and the second box here. This ensures you get a dozen, but it doesn't guarantee you'll get the item you want. Your chances at each item are divided as follows:
Six are Common, and these are Winter Lights Holiday Tree, Pine Cone with Holly, Winter Lights Bare Tree, Simple Winter Tree, Snowy Winter Berry Bush, and Blue Winter Bush.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Common
Three are Uncommon -- Mr Robin's Mailbox Home, SparkleBear, and SparkleDeer.
Sim Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Uncommon
And the final three are Super Rare -- SparkleTree, Winter Lights Luxury Gazebo Bed, and Winter Lights Garden Bench.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Super Rare
Each item can be sold for Simoleons, and the amount of Simoleons you get seems to correspond to its listed Sim Cash price. For example, the SparkleDeer costs 35 Sim Cash, so if you sell it, you'll earn 350 Simoleons. It's not a great exchange rate, but with the two free boxes offered by Playfish, you're actually getting free Simoleons.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box wall post
Also, each time you open a box, you get the chance to announce it on your Facebook wall, and your friends can claim a reward. And for my final heads-up, I know it says "Head in now and claim FREE simoleons, too!", but I clicked on four wall posts and I've only been able to grab 15 Social Points each time. Let us know if you manage to get something different.
[Items Screenshots Credit: The Sims Social Fansite]
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2011 coverage right here.
Do you think ten boxes are worth the twenty bucks? Are you happy with Playfish's compromise of 2 free Winter Garden Mystery Boxes?
Mystery Boxes are always a pain when you don't know what you're going to get. They're an even greater pain when you have to shell out real money for them. Playfish is charging 15 Sim Cash for one box, 75 for five boxes, and 150 for ten boxes. Obviously, the best deal is to grab the ten boxes for 150 Sim Cash, but that would cost you $20.00 USD overall, and you're still left short of a dozen.
This is obviously deliberate, but Playfish aren't being complete jerks here, because they're giving away 2 FREE Winter Garden Mystery Boxes to everyone. You can find the first box here, and the second box here. This ensures you get a dozen, but it doesn't guarantee you'll get the item you want. Your chances at each item are divided as follows:
Six are Common, and these are Winter Lights Holiday Tree, Pine Cone with Holly, Winter Lights Bare Tree, Simple Winter Tree, Snowy Winter Berry Bush, and Blue Winter Bush.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Common
Three are Uncommon -- Mr Robin's Mailbox Home, SparkleBear, and SparkleDeer.
Sim Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Uncommon
And the final three are Super Rare -- SparkleTree, Winter Lights Luxury Gazebo Bed, and Winter Lights Garden Bench.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Super Rare
Each item can be sold for Simoleons, and the amount of Simoleons you get seems to correspond to its listed Sim Cash price. For example, the SparkleDeer costs 35 Sim Cash, so if you sell it, you'll earn 350 Simoleons. It's not a great exchange rate, but with the two free boxes offered by Playfish, you're actually getting free Simoleons.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box wall post
Also, each time you open a box, you get the chance to announce it on your Facebook wall, and your friends can claim a reward. And for my final heads-up, I know it says "Head in now and claim FREE simoleons, too!", but I clicked on four wall posts and I've only been able to grab 15 Social Points each time. Let us know if you manage to get something different.
[Items Screenshots Credit: The Sims Social Fansite]
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2011 coverage right here.
Do you think ten boxes are worth the twenty bucks? Are you happy with Playfish's compromise of 2 free Winter Garden Mystery Boxes?
Wait, so farming's cool again? The Sims Social falls to third place
Whelp, that was fun while it lasted. EA and Playfish's mega hit The Sims Social is now the third most popular game on Facebook, as the game dipped beneath Zynga's FarmVille, according to AppData. The Facebook app tracking service chalks this up to a loss of 500,000 monthly players in December along with 1.8 million daily players gone in the past week alone.
This leaves The Sims Social with 5.9 million daily players and 30.4 million monthly players, while Zynga's farming simulator gained 200,000 daily players within the last week leaving it with 7 million daily players. However, the game is just a hair above the game all about Littlehaven with 30.9 million monthly players. If you ask us, there are two reasons for this unfortunate switcheroo.
For one, the Winter Wonderland expansion just hit FarmVille for those willing to pay up the Farm Cash to get in, hence the 200,000 more daily players. (That sounds like an accurate number for those willing to fork up the $10.) Zynga is taking the holidays seriously this year in FarmVille, as Winter Wonderland is an entirely new farm for fans to play around in. And that's in addition to the torrent of holiday crops, animals and decorations that has already hit the game and will likely continue into Dec. 25 and beyond.
The Sims Social, on the other hand, hasn't seen a major content update on the scale of FarmVille's Winter Wonderland since its release this summer. Sure, the game has been updated with numerous tweaks, themes and contests, but perhaps those aren't enough to keep players' attention. A hefty chunk of The Sims Social players are Zynga fans, after all, and they can be a fickle bunch. If The Sims Social wants to see second place again, it's going to take more than themes and gameplay refinements.
Are you still digging The Sims Social since its launch? Can the game be restored to its former glory, and if so, how?
This leaves The Sims Social with 5.9 million daily players and 30.4 million monthly players, while Zynga's farming simulator gained 200,000 daily players within the last week leaving it with 7 million daily players. However, the game is just a hair above the game all about Littlehaven with 30.9 million monthly players. If you ask us, there are two reasons for this unfortunate switcheroo.
For one, the Winter Wonderland expansion just hit FarmVille for those willing to pay up the Farm Cash to get in, hence the 200,000 more daily players. (That sounds like an accurate number for those willing to fork up the $10.) Zynga is taking the holidays seriously this year in FarmVille, as Winter Wonderland is an entirely new farm for fans to play around in. And that's in addition to the torrent of holiday crops, animals and decorations that has already hit the game and will likely continue into Dec. 25 and beyond.
The Sims Social, on the other hand, hasn't seen a major content update on the scale of FarmVille's Winter Wonderland since its release this summer. Sure, the game has been updated with numerous tweaks, themes and contests, but perhaps those aren't enough to keep players' attention. A hefty chunk of The Sims Social players are Zynga fans, after all, and they can be a fickle bunch. If The Sims Social wants to see second place again, it's going to take more than themes and gameplay refinements.
Are you still digging The Sims Social since its launch? Can the game be restored to its former glory, and if so, how?
The Sims Social team is thankful, like really thankful, you're still here
Jeez, when do the boxes of tissues start going around? Either the folks at Playfish really love their The Sims Social fans, or they're really scared of the thought of them leaving. A few members of the game's design and community team have expressed what they love the most about fans of The Sims Social, the number of which has been dwindling for some time.
"Where would we be without your creativity, enthusiasm and general awesome? Nowhere good, that's for sure," The Sims Social designer Mark writes. "Probably wandering the streets aimlessly dreaming of what could have been. Thank you to all our fans, we appreciate it."
Other notables from the Playfish team touted The Sims Social players' feedback on the forums, strange stories that they share and the creations they've come up with. There's no doubt that the Playfish and EA teams working on The Sims Social are genuinely thankful for their players, but this level of ... mushiness is unprecedented in online games. Maybe it's just the teams' style?
The Sims Social has been in decline for some time, just recently losing its number two spot to the old runner-up king FarmVille. The game now hosts 30 million monthly and 5.9 million daily players, according to AppData, and the downward slope has only stemmed off over the weekend. We have some ideas for how the game can reclaim its former glory. But for now, the Playfish team wants you players to know how much they love you, so please, don't leave.
Are you still digging The Sims Social since its release this summer? What do you think the game needs to reclaim its number two spot back from FarmVille?
"Where would we be without your creativity, enthusiasm and general awesome? Nowhere good, that's for sure," The Sims Social designer Mark writes. "Probably wandering the streets aimlessly dreaming of what could have been. Thank you to all our fans, we appreciate it."
Other notables from the Playfish team touted The Sims Social players' feedback on the forums, strange stories that they share and the creations they've come up with. There's no doubt that the Playfish and EA teams working on The Sims Social are genuinely thankful for their players, but this level of ... mushiness is unprecedented in online games. Maybe it's just the teams' style?
The Sims Social has been in decline for some time, just recently losing its number two spot to the old runner-up king FarmVille. The game now hosts 30 million monthly and 5.9 million daily players, according to AppData, and the downward slope has only stemmed off over the weekend. We have some ideas for how the game can reclaim its former glory. But for now, the Playfish team wants you players to know how much they love you, so please, don't leave.
Are you still digging The Sims Social since its release this summer? What do you think the game needs to reclaim its number two spot back from FarmVille?
The Sims Social and Wendy's: Why ads like this will always make you click
The Sims Social has struck a new advertising deal with Wendy's and, like it or not, you'll probably participate in it. Why? In exchange for watching a brief ad for the new Wendy's W (the chain's new $2.99 monster burger with two patties, double cheese and a butter-slathered bun), you'll be rewarded with a virtual burger that will give your character a +3 energy boost.
sims social wendy's
In the larger scheme of things, a three-point energy boost isn't that big of a reward. In fact, it might be considered stingy. But you'll watch the Wendy's ad anyway because you're getting something for free. Why? The same reason people (maybe even you) jump up when someone announces that there are leftover sandwiches in the office kitchenette. No matter how stale they are, they're free! And free is awesome. And something free in a game that you like to play is twice as awesome. There's also something that makes in-game ads like this seem less insidious if you're rewarded something, anything for your time.
wendys the sims social w
So head to The Sims Social game on Facebook, and look for the Wendy's "Watch and Earn" ad sitting right below the game. Click it and get your free +3 energy. C'mon, you know you wanna.
Fess up: Did you watch the Wendy's ad for the free energy?
sims social wendy's
In the larger scheme of things, a three-point energy boost isn't that big of a reward. In fact, it might be considered stingy. But you'll watch the Wendy's ad anyway because you're getting something for free. Why? The same reason people (maybe even you) jump up when someone announces that there are leftover sandwiches in the office kitchenette. No matter how stale they are, they're free! And free is awesome. And something free in a game that you like to play is twice as awesome. There's also something that makes in-game ads like this seem less insidious if you're rewarded something, anything for your time.
wendys the sims social w
So head to The Sims Social game on Facebook, and look for the Wendy's "Watch and Earn" ad sitting right below the game. Click it and get your free +3 energy. C'mon, you know you wanna.
Fess up: Did you watch the Wendy's ad for the free energy?
Christmas Guide: CityVille, FarmVille, The Sims Social & more
'Tis the holiday season! And whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, the holidays have arrived in CityVille, FarmVille, The Sims Social, and all your favorite Facebook games. The Christmas updates have begun rolling in, so don't miss out on any of the Christmas items, features, and more. Check out our complete guide below for the complete CityVille, FarmVille, and The Sims Social Christmas extravaganza.
Jump to:
CityVille Christmas | FarmVille Christmas | Gardens of Time Christmas
The Sims Social Christmas | Pioneer Trail Christmas | CastleVille Christmas
Adventure World Christmas | Maple Story Christmas | Cafe World Christmas
cityville christmas
CityVille Christmas
CityVille Save the Holidays Act 3: Everything you need to know
Michael Bublé snaps and saunters into CityVille in time for Christmas
CityVille Frostdale Ridge Neighborhood: Everything you need to know
CityVille Santa's Workshop: Everything you need to know
CityVille Save the Holidays Act 1: Everything you need to know
CityVille Holiday Carousel: Everything you need to know
CityVille: Winter comes early with new Cookie Condos, Gingerbread House and more
CityVille: Deck the halls with Winter and Christmas themed items
Zynga starts decorating really early in CityVille Holidaytown for iPhone
farmville christmas
FarmVille Christmas
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Mistletoe Goat, Land Expansion and more
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Chapter 3 Goals: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Holiday Hearth: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Mystery Game (12/18/11): Winter items celebrate the holidays
FarmVille Winter Cow Pasture: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Fraiser Fir Tree, Jacob Sheep and more
FarmVille: Christmas Model Farm offers free prizes for visiting
FarmVille Winter Horse Paddock: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Water Wheel: Everything you need to know
FarmVille: Holiday Countdown prizes revealed!
FarmVille Holiday Countdown: Everything you need to know
FarmVille: Winter Wonderland land expansions on sale
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Holiday Chocolate Tree, Santa Kangaroo and more
Zynga (and Jennifer Garner?) has 'A Very FarmVille Christmas' [Video]
FarmVille Winter Wonderland: Buy an Unwither Ring for your Holiday farm
FarmVille Holiday Present Goals: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Holiday Tree 2011: Everything you need to know
FarmVille: Purchase a 7-Eleven Zynga Game Card, receive Polar Bear Globe
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Holiday Corn Tree, Reindeer Alpaca and more
FarmVille: Zynga apologizes for Winter Wonderland glitches with free gift
FarmVille: Free rides to Winter Wonderland available now!
FarmVille Poetry Corner: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Cheryll
FarmVille: Add a festive touch of snow and lights to your farms
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Candy Cane Gnome, Gingerbread Tree and more
FarmVille Santa's Sleigh: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Crops: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Sweet Shoppe: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Snow Treasures: Everything you need to know
The Sims Social Christmas
The Sims Social Ebenezer Smooge Walkthrough: How to finish it fast
Sims Social Revenge of the Simch walkthrough: How to finish it fast
The Sims Social lures players into a Winter Wonderland this week
The Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box: Everything you need to know
'Tis the season to play The Sims Social's Cozy Winter Retreat update
FrontierVille Pioneer Trail Christmas
FrontierVille Pioneer Trail Christmas
Pioneer Trail 10 Days of Presents: Everything you need to know
Pioneer Trail: Win free Horseshoes for playing Holiday Hollow
Pioneer Trail Holiday Hollow Goals: Everything you need to know
Pioneer Trail Holiday Workshop: Everything you need to know
Pioneer Trail Holly's Sleigh: Everything you need to know
castleville christmas
CastleVille Christmas
CastleVille goes red and green in time for Christmas--er, the holidays
CastleVille Christmas Tree Quests: Everything you need to know
CastleVille Kris Kringle Quests: Everything you need to know
CastleVille: Winter Holidays have come to the kingdom
gardens of time christmas
Gardens of Time Christmas
Gardens of Time: Celebrate Christmas with three new scenes
adventure world christmas
Adventure World Christmas
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 7: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 6: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 5: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 4: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 3: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 2: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 1: Everything you need to know
maple story christmas
Maple Story Christmas
MapleStory Adventures players get to deck their halls this holiday
cafe world christmas
Cafe World Christmas
Cafe World Holiday Tree Lighting Catering Order: Everything you need to know
Cafe World Help Out the Toy Drive Catering Order: Everything you need to know
Cafe World Gift Wrapper: Everything you need to know
Make sure to check back for more Christmas updates as we get closer to the holiday!
Which Facebook game Christmas update is your favorite? Are we missing anything?
Jump to:
CityVille Christmas | FarmVille Christmas | Gardens of Time Christmas
The Sims Social Christmas | Pioneer Trail Christmas | CastleVille Christmas
Adventure World Christmas | Maple Story Christmas | Cafe World Christmas
cityville christmas
CityVille Christmas
CityVille Save the Holidays Act 3: Everything you need to know
Michael Bublé snaps and saunters into CityVille in time for Christmas
CityVille Frostdale Ridge Neighborhood: Everything you need to know
CityVille Santa's Workshop: Everything you need to know
CityVille Save the Holidays Act 1: Everything you need to know
CityVille Holiday Carousel: Everything you need to know
CityVille: Winter comes early with new Cookie Condos, Gingerbread House and more
CityVille: Deck the halls with Winter and Christmas themed items
Zynga starts decorating really early in CityVille Holidaytown for iPhone
farmville christmas
FarmVille Christmas
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Mistletoe Goat, Land Expansion and more
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Chapter 3 Goals: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Holiday Hearth: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Mystery Game (12/18/11): Winter items celebrate the holidays
FarmVille Winter Cow Pasture: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Fraiser Fir Tree, Jacob Sheep and more
FarmVille: Christmas Model Farm offers free prizes for visiting
FarmVille Winter Horse Paddock: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Water Wheel: Everything you need to know
FarmVille: Holiday Countdown prizes revealed!
FarmVille Holiday Countdown: Everything you need to know
FarmVille: Winter Wonderland land expansions on sale
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Holiday Chocolate Tree, Santa Kangaroo and more
Zynga (and Jennifer Garner?) has 'A Very FarmVille Christmas' [Video]
FarmVille Winter Wonderland: Buy an Unwither Ring for your Holiday farm
FarmVille Holiday Present Goals: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Holiday Tree 2011: Everything you need to know
FarmVille: Purchase a 7-Eleven Zynga Game Card, receive Polar Bear Globe
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Holiday Corn Tree, Reindeer Alpaca and more
FarmVille: Zynga apologizes for Winter Wonderland glitches with free gift
FarmVille: Free rides to Winter Wonderland available now!
FarmVille Poetry Corner: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Cheryll
FarmVille: Add a festive touch of snow and lights to your farms
FarmVille Winter Holiday Items: Candy Cane Gnome, Gingerbread Tree and more
FarmVille Santa's Sleigh: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Crops: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Sweet Shoppe: Everything you need to know
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Snow Treasures: Everything you need to know
The Sims Social Christmas
The Sims Social Ebenezer Smooge Walkthrough: How to finish it fast
Sims Social Revenge of the Simch walkthrough: How to finish it fast
The Sims Social lures players into a Winter Wonderland this week
The Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box: Everything you need to know
'Tis the season to play The Sims Social's Cozy Winter Retreat update
FrontierVille Pioneer Trail Christmas
FrontierVille Pioneer Trail Christmas
Pioneer Trail 10 Days of Presents: Everything you need to know
Pioneer Trail: Win free Horseshoes for playing Holiday Hollow
Pioneer Trail Holiday Hollow Goals: Everything you need to know
Pioneer Trail Holiday Workshop: Everything you need to know
Pioneer Trail Holly's Sleigh: Everything you need to know
castleville christmas
CastleVille Christmas
CastleVille goes red and green in time for Christmas--er, the holidays
CastleVille Christmas Tree Quests: Everything you need to know
CastleVille Kris Kringle Quests: Everything you need to know
CastleVille: Winter Holidays have come to the kingdom
gardens of time christmas
Gardens of Time Christmas
Gardens of Time: Celebrate Christmas with three new scenes
adventure world christmas
Adventure World Christmas
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 7: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 6: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 5: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 4: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 3: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 2: Everything you need to know
Adventure World 12 Days of Adventure Day 1: Everything you need to know
maple story christmas
Maple Story Christmas
MapleStory Adventures players get to deck their halls this holiday
cafe world christmas
Cafe World Christmas
Cafe World Holiday Tree Lighting Catering Order: Everything you need to know
Cafe World Help Out the Toy Drive Catering Order: Everything you need to know
Cafe World Gift Wrapper: Everything you need to know
Make sure to check back for more Christmas updates as we get closer to the holiday!
Which Facebook game Christmas update is your favorite? Are we missing anything?
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