Hello City Facebook Credits
Facebook defines Facebook Credits as "a virtual currency you can use to buy gifts, and virtual goods in many games and applications on the Facebook platform." What this definition doesn't point out is that FB Credits cost real world money.
In the social gaming world, real money gets converted into FB Credits to help pay for "premium" goods, such as exclusive items or to facilitate in-game virtual donations. But the special thing about FB Credits is that, normally, all social games use their own kind of premium currency that locks you out from spending in other games. Using FB Credits means that Credits you've earn in one game won't be limited to that game, and can be used for a wider variety of games and services on Facebook.
CrowdStar's Hello City, a new city-building sim on Facebook, is looking to promote itself by offering 5 free FB Credits to all players of the game. This is akin to getting $0.50 USD for free, which isn't much, but 5 FB Credits will pay for some nifty premium in-game items or even a Facebook gift for a friend's profile.
So click here to launch Hello City and grab your free cash today!
A World of Trust for MMO
Monday, February 13, 2012
FrontierVille offers free horse in exchange for email
FrontierVille -- if you give a little, you get a little. In this case, that means if you're willing to give up a little privacy by allowing the new pioneer-themed Facebook game send you emails, you'll get a free horse for your land.
If you want the free pony (and who doesn't want a pony?) -- here's what you gotta do. When you load the game, keep an eye out for a pop-up notice from Pioneer Jack asking for your email. If you agree, you will receive an email with a link that will give you a new horse. The email came right away and looks like this (see image below).
frontierville horse unlock
Many have complained that they signed up to receive FrontierVille emails and did not receive the horse. If that's the case, you should try signing up for email again or, alternately, try your luck at clicking the following link.
http://apps.facebook.com/frontierville/unlock.php?src=email&crt=horse&feature=horse
NOTE: We have not confirmed that this works, AND you are not able to collect more than one free horse.
Once you load the game, you'll receive the following message. Click 'Yes' to accept the horse.
frontierville horse accept
Then open your gift box (the gift box is located in the My Stuff Menu), and you'll see that Frontier Jack has sent you a gift -- a light brown horse.
frontierjack gift horse
Click use to move the horse to your farm, then place it where you like. Like the other animals, your horse starts out as a mere pony, but after feeding it a few times, you'll have a full-grown horsey to add to your menagerie.
frontierville horse on farm
If you want the free pony (and who doesn't want a pony?) -- here's what you gotta do. When you load the game, keep an eye out for a pop-up notice from Pioneer Jack asking for your email. If you agree, you will receive an email with a link that will give you a new horse. The email came right away and looks like this (see image below).
frontierville horse unlock
Many have complained that they signed up to receive FrontierVille emails and did not receive the horse. If that's the case, you should try signing up for email again or, alternately, try your luck at clicking the following link.
http://apps.facebook.com/frontierville/unlock.php?src=email&crt=horse&feature=horse
NOTE: We have not confirmed that this works, AND you are not able to collect more than one free horse.
Once you load the game, you'll receive the following message. Click 'Yes' to accept the horse.
frontierville horse accept
Then open your gift box (the gift box is located in the My Stuff Menu), and you'll see that Frontier Jack has sent you a gift -- a light brown horse.
frontierjack gift horse
Click use to move the horse to your farm, then place it where you like. Like the other animals, your horse starts out as a mere pony, but after feeding it a few times, you'll have a full-grown horsey to add to your menagerie.
frontierville horse on farm
Mafia Wars London: A mere 48 hours left to steal the Crown Jewels
Heads up! If your mafia went on vacation and forgot about the Mafia Wars London Crown Jewel heist -- here's the official two-day warning. You only have 48 more hours to wrangle up as many British Passports as possible, finish missions and nab that oh-so-precious royal jewelry. Do you have what it takes to finish the big job? (Confession time: I am so NOT going to finish London -- I blame FrontierVille).
Mafia Wars London: Are you going to finish the job?
Mafia Wars London: Are you going to finish the job?
FrontierVille tries to solve the case of the disappearing bonus items
One of my biggest beefs with FrontierVille (aside from it sucking away any semblance of a social life these past few days/weeks) is that when your virtual pioneer performs any task, bonuses will appear and must be clicked before they disappear. Once they're gone, they're gone forever. However, you may have noticed that -- while frantically clicking and trying to collect all of the bonuses -- a pop-up window will sometimes appear, which impedes the whole bonus collection process.
Apparently, the people behind the scenes are working on fixing that problem, says FrontierVille moderator Sugar Monkey:
The developers have put in place a pause on the bonus timer when a pop up is active. However, they are aware of the disappearing bonuses as soon as the pop up is closed.
So, we have a timer, but the devs are still working on making sure the bonus items do not disappear as fast when sharing/closing the pop-up.
I thought I noticed that it was easier to snag all of my bonuses today, but I'd rather just skip the whole pop-up thing altogether. Maybe there's another way to send friends all of those extra tools. Don't mess with mama's bonuses, you wouldn't like to see mama angry.
Apparently, the people behind the scenes are working on fixing that problem, says FrontierVille moderator Sugar Monkey:
The developers have put in place a pause on the bonus timer when a pop up is active. However, they are aware of the disappearing bonuses as soon as the pop up is closed.
So, we have a timer, but the devs are still working on making sure the bonus items do not disappear as fast when sharing/closing the pop-up.
I thought I noticed that it was easier to snag all of my bonuses today, but I'd rather just skip the whole pop-up thing altogether. Maybe there's another way to send friends all of those extra tools. Don't mess with mama's bonuses, you wouldn't like to see mama angry.
Replay maps in Treasure Isle for less with new discounted fragments
Treasure Isle map fragments sale
Map fragments were released over a month ago in Treasure Isle, allowing players to extend their gameplay by purchasing fragments that allow you to replay maps. Currently, map fragments are on sale for 80% off the original price. That is a HUGE discount, and we can only imagine it's because these fragments aren't selling well. You can now buy 10 map fragments for 1 Island Cash (was formerly 5 Island Cash) and 40 map fragments for 3 Island Cash (was 18 Island Cash). If you have been debating buying these fragments to give you more time to discover treasure that you might need to complete your collection, now is the time.
It's unclear how long this deal will last, but they are calling it a "sale" so it doesn't seem like a permanent price decrease. We weren't too sure about this feature, because it seemed like a lazy way for Zynga to make more content for the game. Perhaps the players are feeling the same and haven't been buying these fragments?
Map fragments were released over a month ago in Treasure Isle, allowing players to extend their gameplay by purchasing fragments that allow you to replay maps. Currently, map fragments are on sale for 80% off the original price. That is a HUGE discount, and we can only imagine it's because these fragments aren't selling well. You can now buy 10 map fragments for 1 Island Cash (was formerly 5 Island Cash) and 40 map fragments for 3 Island Cash (was 18 Island Cash). If you have been debating buying these fragments to give you more time to discover treasure that you might need to complete your collection, now is the time.
It's unclear how long this deal will last, but they are calling it a "sale" so it doesn't seem like a permanent price decrease. We weren't too sure about this feature, because it seemed like a lazy way for Zynga to make more content for the game. Perhaps the players are feeling the same and haven't been buying these fragments?
Friday, February 10, 2012
FarmVille New England Animal: Black Bear Cub & Gray Fox
farmville gray fox
There are two additional limited edition New England animals that debuted in FarmVille tonight.
Both the Black Bear Cub and. Gray Fox can be purchased in the FarmVille Market during the next 12 days only and can be purchased with farm cash only.
farmville black bear cub farmville gray fox kit
FarmVille New England Animals (Released July 22, 2010):
Black Bear Cub – 22 FV$
Gray Fox – 20 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
There are two additional limited edition New England animals that debuted in FarmVille tonight.
Both the Black Bear Cub and. Gray Fox can be purchased in the FarmVille Market during the next 12 days only and can be purchased with farm cash only.
farmville black bear cub farmville gray fox kit
FarmVille New England Animals (Released July 22, 2010):
Black Bear Cub – 22 FV$
Gray Fox – 20 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Wiggin' Out in Pet Society
Recently, Sushi gave his friend Jossie a Cleopatra wig from the Ancient Egyptian Treasure Hunt in Pet Society. Jossie replied with this funny note (above).
This inspired Sushi to try on the Cleopatra wig himself. (Note to new readers: Sushi is a boy, but he cross-dresses and acts like a girl sometimes.) He wasn't sure if the glossy black wig suited him, but he had fun trying on some other wigs as well.
Which one do you think suits him best?
This article originally appeared on Pet Society Anonymous.
This inspired Sushi to try on the Cleopatra wig himself. (Note to new readers: Sushi is a boy, but he cross-dresses and acts like a girl sometimes.) He wasn't sure if the glossy black wig suited him, but he had fun trying on some other wigs as well.
Which one do you think suits him best?
This article originally appeared on Pet Society Anonymous.
YoVille newly released Moroccan Bathroom furniture
New Moroccan Bathroom Items have been added to the YoVille Furniture Store. Items include Moroccan Bath Tub (9 YoCash), Sconces (2 YoCash), Bathmats (300 Coins), Tissue Boxes (200 Coins), Toilet Paper Holder (200 Coins), Bath Cabinets (850 Coins), Standing Sinks (4 YoCash), and much much more! Head on down to the Furniture Store and create yourself a Wellness Bathroom Suite Moroccan style!
Take a look at the complete selection after the jump.
yoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Take a look at the complete selection after the jump.
yoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furnitureyoville moroccan bathroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
YoVille summer outfit designs and Moroccan Clothing arrive
New Moroccan Items have arrived in YoVille along with Summer Outfit Designs by Angela_tiredmom76 and PMTown in the Fashion Store. Beaded Tops, Skirts, and Sandals to name a few for the Gals, and Jeweled Hats, Capes, and Gold Trimmed Outfits for the Guys. Head on down to the Fashion Store to spice up your look and add to your wardrobe!
Take a look at the full array of items after the jump.
yoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothing
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Take a look at the full array of items after the jump.
yoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothingyoville moroccan clothing
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
New YoVille Rares in Mystery Packs
Feeling lucky today? Head to the YoVille Furniture Store and get a couple of mystery packs. Both coins and YoCash packs were updated with new rares. The 4 YoCash pack now has a golden piano while the 2500 coin pack has a magic crystal ball. Remember that opening a mystery pack doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to get a rare item. Go ahead and tell us what you got from your pack.
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
FarmVille pigpens slowly starting to roll out to players
FarmVille pigpens are starting to arrive on farms as you read this. I've already started getting requests from materials from my neighbors on my Facebook wall.
Here's what we've learned about the pigpens so far:
Like the chicken coops, you can only have one per farm
Pigpens can be harvested every 24 hours
When you harvest, you have a 15% chance of acquiring an item
Pigpen takes 8 Wooden Boards, 8 Nails and 8 Brick to build
The pigpen holds 20 pigs
The pigpen is 7x6 or 42 squares
Read more: FarmVille Pigpens: Everything You Need to Know
Here's what we've learned about the pigpens so far:
Like the chicken coops, you can only have one per farm
Pigpens can be harvested every 24 hours
When you harvest, you have a 15% chance of acquiring an item
Pigpen takes 8 Wooden Boards, 8 Nails and 8 Brick to build
The pigpen holds 20 pigs
The pigpen is 7x6 or 42 squares
Read more: FarmVille Pigpens: Everything You Need to Know
Social City: Reach Level 5 in City of Wonder for a free Ancient Colosseum
Playdom has been promoting its newest game, City of Wonder, most noticeably in Social City. So it's no surprise that City of Wonder has been on a remarkable uphill climb this week, where it's likely to hit the one million mark for Monthly Active Users. Market Street has already surpassed that count, and had also enjoyed a similar promotional effort on the part of Playdom.
Social City Ancient Colosseum
Players who get to Level 5 in City of Wonder will get a free Ancient Colosseum. This massive structure takes up a 9x9 space on your city grid and brings in +7,500 Happiness Points, which is identical to the stats for the Market Street Shopping District.
Social City Ancient Colosseum
Players who get to Level 5 in City of Wonder will get a free Ancient Colosseum. This massive structure takes up a 9x9 space on your city grid and brings in +7,500 Happiness Points, which is identical to the stats for the Market Street Shopping District.
Critter Island: LOLapps launches island management game
LOLapps is a large application developer, but they haven't had a breakout hit game -- yet. They're looking to change that with its new island resort management game, Critter Island. This game takes some of the best mechanics from similar games and combines them to make something that is a fresh take on an old theme.
In Critter Island, the main goal is to keep an island resort chock full of happy tourists, grow the resort population, and decorate to your heart's content. In that regard, it's similar in objective to Crowdstar's Happy Island and a few other island games out there. Here's how Critter Island sets itself from the masses -- Each tourist has a personality - if you click on them you can see their name and a clever and whimsical little quote. In order to make money in Critter Island, players have to have the right kind of entertainment and amusement buildings to keep the tourists happy. Happy tourists will pay tips to your buildings and give you an income that allows you to do things such as buy bigger and better entertainment.
Critter Island
The best way to maximize income on Critter Island is by using the star system. In Critter Island, tourists will drop stars on the ground when they are entertained. Similar to FrontierVille, these stars must be clicked on. These stars add up in a collective star meter that requires you to fill up all 5 stars to earn a 300% tip bonus. The stars have to be filled up once per day in order to earn the maximum income. This is a good appointment-setting technique because it will require players to log in every day to fill up their star meter, or lose precious potential tips.
Another fresh mechanic in Critter Island is the concept of restocking the buildings. Much like Nightclub City which requires the bar to be restocked in order to continue to serve customers, Critter Island requires you to restock buildings to keep serving the tourists. Restocking a building is as simple as clicking on it a few times until the restocking meter is full.
When visiting a neighbor's island, players can put up to three leis on your friend's tourists. This is a fun way to help out your friends by giving a few of their tourists the ability to tip more. You can also restock your friend's buildings, which is a nice way to help them if they can't log in that day.
So far, Critter Island is a very solid game. There are more features in the works, such as the ability to have multiple islands and increase the size of your island. The game is cute, and offers some synchronous fun that allows you to extend your play session. However, once you've filled your star meter for the day, you do run out of things to do other than watch your buildings and collect the money from them now and then. We found leveling to be fast, and at the end of our first session we were level 6. This is definitely a game to keep an eye on!
Play Critter Island on Facebook >
In Critter Island, the main goal is to keep an island resort chock full of happy tourists, grow the resort population, and decorate to your heart's content. In that regard, it's similar in objective to Crowdstar's Happy Island and a few other island games out there. Here's how Critter Island sets itself from the masses -- Each tourist has a personality - if you click on them you can see their name and a clever and whimsical little quote. In order to make money in Critter Island, players have to have the right kind of entertainment and amusement buildings to keep the tourists happy. Happy tourists will pay tips to your buildings and give you an income that allows you to do things such as buy bigger and better entertainment.
Critter Island
The best way to maximize income on Critter Island is by using the star system. In Critter Island, tourists will drop stars on the ground when they are entertained. Similar to FrontierVille, these stars must be clicked on. These stars add up in a collective star meter that requires you to fill up all 5 stars to earn a 300% tip bonus. The stars have to be filled up once per day in order to earn the maximum income. This is a good appointment-setting technique because it will require players to log in every day to fill up their star meter, or lose precious potential tips.
Another fresh mechanic in Critter Island is the concept of restocking the buildings. Much like Nightclub City which requires the bar to be restocked in order to continue to serve customers, Critter Island requires you to restock buildings to keep serving the tourists. Restocking a building is as simple as clicking on it a few times until the restocking meter is full.
When visiting a neighbor's island, players can put up to three leis on your friend's tourists. This is a fun way to help out your friends by giving a few of their tourists the ability to tip more. You can also restock your friend's buildings, which is a nice way to help them if they can't log in that day.
So far, Critter Island is a very solid game. There are more features in the works, such as the ability to have multiple islands and increase the size of your island. The game is cute, and offers some synchronous fun that allows you to extend your play session. However, once you've filled your star meter for the day, you do run out of things to do other than watch your buildings and collect the money from them now and then. We found leveling to be fast, and at the end of our first session we were level 6. This is definitely a game to keep an eye on!
Play Critter Island on Facebook >
FarmVille Pigpens: Everything you need to know
After several weeks of teasing, FarmVille pigpens have finally arrived. Sooey! The pigpens will hold up to 20 lil' porkers at a time and can be harvested once a day for a bonus.
Farmers can only own one pigpen at a time, and if you don't have one yet -- don't fret. These new buildings are rolling out slowly to everyone. You'll know if the pigpen is available, when you log in to the game and see the following message:
Once you click 'OK,' head to the gift box to find your pigpen frame (yes, you have to build out your pigpen).
farmville pigpen
Click 'Use' and then place the frame on your farm, and it will look like the picture below. The pigpen frame is a little on the large side (it's 7x6 or 42 squares), so be sure you have a decent amount of space free before you try to place it.
Once the pigpen is placed -- it's time to get building. Start by letting your neighbors know that you're starting to build a pigpen; post a note the Facebook Wall asking for help.
farmville pigpen
You will need eight bricks, eight nails and eight wooden boards to build out your pen. Like most other buildables in FarmVille -- there are several ways to get all of the materials you need to get the job done.
farmville pigpen
1. Ask your friends for materials from the Pigpen menu by clicking the 'Ask for more' button under the desired item. Once you click that, you'll be asked to select friends to whom you want to send a request.
2. You can complete the pigpen by clicking on the 'Buy' button to get all of the materials for 24 Farm Cash. If you've already collected a few of the items, you can click the 'Complete Now' button, and pay the discounted price to finish your pigpen.
3. You can also randomly receive these items as a free gift from friends. Each player will have two of the three materials available to send at a time, so different players will be able to send different materials.
As you get more materials the pigpen's physical appearance will begin to change:
After you snag 12 materials, you'll be able to post a message to you Facebook wall, and the first 10 people who click will receive a random building component for their pigpen. When you finish you Pigpen, you will be able to broadcast it on your Facebook wall, and the first 10 neighbors who who click on that notification will also get a random building component for their pigpens.
pigpen inside
farmville pigpehn truffles
Also, once the pigpen is complete, your pigs will be able to hunt for rare truffles on friends' farms -- though it doesn't look like this feature is available just yet. In the FarmVille podcast last week, we also learned that you will need to feed pigs slop (made from bushels) to send them a-huntin,' and truffles can be traded in for prizes, including new (and I presume, rare) breeds of pigs, like, perhaps, the Pink Potbelly Pig in the picture below.
farmville pig hunting for truffles
We'll add more info on this as soon as we have it. In the meantime, happy building!
Farmers can only own one pigpen at a time, and if you don't have one yet -- don't fret. These new buildings are rolling out slowly to everyone. You'll know if the pigpen is available, when you log in to the game and see the following message:
Once you click 'OK,' head to the gift box to find your pigpen frame (yes, you have to build out your pigpen).
farmville pigpen
Click 'Use' and then place the frame on your farm, and it will look like the picture below. The pigpen frame is a little on the large side (it's 7x6 or 42 squares), so be sure you have a decent amount of space free before you try to place it.
Once the pigpen is placed -- it's time to get building. Start by letting your neighbors know that you're starting to build a pigpen; post a note the Facebook Wall asking for help.
farmville pigpen
You will need eight bricks, eight nails and eight wooden boards to build out your pen. Like most other buildables in FarmVille -- there are several ways to get all of the materials you need to get the job done.
farmville pigpen
1. Ask your friends for materials from the Pigpen menu by clicking the 'Ask for more' button under the desired item. Once you click that, you'll be asked to select friends to whom you want to send a request.
2. You can complete the pigpen by clicking on the 'Buy' button to get all of the materials for 24 Farm Cash. If you've already collected a few of the items, you can click the 'Complete Now' button, and pay the discounted price to finish your pigpen.
3. You can also randomly receive these items as a free gift from friends. Each player will have two of the three materials available to send at a time, so different players will be able to send different materials.
As you get more materials the pigpen's physical appearance will begin to change:
After you snag 12 materials, you'll be able to post a message to you Facebook wall, and the first 10 people who click will receive a random building component for their pigpen. When you finish you Pigpen, you will be able to broadcast it on your Facebook wall, and the first 10 neighbors who who click on that notification will also get a random building component for their pigpens.
pigpen inside
farmville pigpehn truffles
Also, once the pigpen is complete, your pigs will be able to hunt for rare truffles on friends' farms -- though it doesn't look like this feature is available just yet. In the FarmVille podcast last week, we also learned that you will need to feed pigs slop (made from bushels) to send them a-huntin,' and truffles can be traded in for prizes, including new (and I presume, rare) breeds of pigs, like, perhaps, the Pink Potbelly Pig in the picture below.
farmville pig hunting for truffles
We'll add more info on this as soon as we have it. In the meantime, happy building!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
FarmVille iPhone App Update v. 1.07 to fix stabiility issues
Zynga has pushed yet another update to its infamous FarmVille iPhone app. This time around, in Version 1.07 (much smaller than before), the only changes made were, "Bug fixes to improve loading and resolve crashes," according to the iTunes page. As always, the update is free, but does it really improve anything?
In my experience since the update, loading times are still excruciatingly slow (even on WiFi) and, most importantly, push notifications still refuse to work. Is that not the number one reason players use the iPhone app?
What are your experiences with the FarmVille iPhone app since 1.07 was pushed out? Are you satisfied with the improvements Zynga claims it has made to the app?
In my experience since the update, loading times are still excruciatingly slow (even on WiFi) and, most importantly, push notifications still refuse to work. Is that not the number one reason players use the iPhone app?
What are your experiences with the FarmVille iPhone app since 1.07 was pushed out? Are you satisfied with the improvements Zynga claims it has made to the app?
A Mafia Wars Wedding: John Sweeney and Joanne Doane find love in their favorite game [Interview]
Love can be found in the most unexpected of places. For John Sweeney and Joanne Doane, it was in the type of place most go to escape from everyday life, but within Zynga's Mafia Wars the two found themselves in a relationship that went above and beyond digital clan wars and leveling up. These lovestruck gamers from two opposite ends of a state soon united and on September 17 at Central Station in Treasure Isle, Florida, it was official -- John and Joan became the first husband and wife who met in Mafia Wars.
So, what's it like finding love in your favorite social game and running both a clan and a podcast together? More importantly, how does it all change the way you play? As it turns out for these mafia dons-turned-mafia lovers, not much.
I think this is the first question on a lot of peoples' minds: Where are you going for your honeymoon?
We are thinking of either going to New York as we have family there or maybe just a nice relaxing trip to Hawaii.
Aside from your mob-themed cake, what other elements of Mafia Wars made their way into the ceremony?
We gave everyone toy water guns and knives and everyone had fun attacking each other. They even attacked the bad karaoke singers as that was the going. All in all, good clean fun.
Mafia Wars Wedding Cake
John, at what moment playing Mafia Wars with Joanne did you know that you wanted to marry her?
I knew we were becoming great friends as we played together. It wasn't until I finally met her and looked into her eyes that I knew she was the one I was looking for to complete my life.
How about you, Joanne? I think everyone in a long-distance relationship would like to know, how did you two work it out before making the big move?
I think biggest thing about long distance relationships is to find other things you have in common to talk about and that you become friends first or it wont work. While we both love Mafia Wars we also found we love a lot of other things together. And it is hard because as you become closer and your feelings grow for each other you must have patience and a strong faith that the relationship can work out.
For the rest of the social gamers out there looking for love--how can they use these games to meet someone?
Well, to be honest we weren't looking for love, that just happened. Social games and social sites are a better way to meet than a dating site as you have the opportunity to interact more and get to know each other first. In order for a relationship to work you must first become friends, then find other things in common besides the games and then you just have to communicate well to each other and let love take you where it may.
Now that the two of you are finally together and made your "Mafia Wars Love Connection" complete, how have your playing habits changed?
They haven't changed one bit. We are still doing the same thing we always did only now we do it as husband and wife.
How do you manage running your own Mafia Wars clan, Mafia Wars True Alliance, together?
We seem to find a good balance as we each take responsibility and realize it it not just about us, but it is about the thousands of members and making sure they have fun and are safe. Over all we have a good staff and everyone works well together and our almost 8000 members seems to be happy as well as our allies so we must be doing something right.
John Sweeney and Joanne Doane's wedding
How often do you play the game as a result and how do you manage that along with the rest of your activities like the The Facebook & Zynga Podcast?
We play every day for hours on end; we just space it out so we can get everything in. Sometimes it can get hectic when there is a lot of news we have to prepare for the show. But we manage and to be honest we like chaos we seem to do our best work that way. The only time we don't like the chaos is when we have to do an obituary for a fallen Mafia Wars player -- that is the worst time we ever have.
What has it been like hosting a podcast together?
So far so good. It has been fun. "The Facebook & Zynga Podcast" on Blogtalkradio.com is great fun. We like our format as we talk about the various issues and things going on across Facebook & with Zynga games. We also love the fact that that our listeners have a chance to call in and get answers to their questions as we do the show live and you never know what will happen with a live show. So it has been fun.
Is this your first foray into internet radio and, either way, what can you say for those looking to start their own podcast?
I did a previous podcast with Evil Ed, and I went on to do our show, as we wanted to do something different. It is a lot of hard work and is not as easy as it looks. But to those who may want to do one we suggest you find a topic you are passionate about and just do it. You will have to work hard at it and you do need to be organized but it is great fun and don't get discouraged. If you have a passion you should at least give it a chance as you never know how your passion may turn into something very good for you.
Aside from finding each other, what do both of you love most about Mafia Wars and social games in general?
The main thing is the fact you can interact with each other. You meet people from all over the world and if you do become friends with most of the people you play with you can also learn a lot about the rest of the world as a whole. It makes the world a whole lot more manageable and you find a new found respect each other countries as there are no politics to interfere. Just people being people.
So, what's it like finding love in your favorite social game and running both a clan and a podcast together? More importantly, how does it all change the way you play? As it turns out for these mafia dons-turned-mafia lovers, not much.
I think this is the first question on a lot of peoples' minds: Where are you going for your honeymoon?
We are thinking of either going to New York as we have family there or maybe just a nice relaxing trip to Hawaii.
Aside from your mob-themed cake, what other elements of Mafia Wars made their way into the ceremony?
We gave everyone toy water guns and knives and everyone had fun attacking each other. They even attacked the bad karaoke singers as that was the going. All in all, good clean fun.
Mafia Wars Wedding Cake
John, at what moment playing Mafia Wars with Joanne did you know that you wanted to marry her?
I knew we were becoming great friends as we played together. It wasn't until I finally met her and looked into her eyes that I knew she was the one I was looking for to complete my life.
How about you, Joanne? I think everyone in a long-distance relationship would like to know, how did you two work it out before making the big move?
I think biggest thing about long distance relationships is to find other things you have in common to talk about and that you become friends first or it wont work. While we both love Mafia Wars we also found we love a lot of other things together. And it is hard because as you become closer and your feelings grow for each other you must have patience and a strong faith that the relationship can work out.
For the rest of the social gamers out there looking for love--how can they use these games to meet someone?
Well, to be honest we weren't looking for love, that just happened. Social games and social sites are a better way to meet than a dating site as you have the opportunity to interact more and get to know each other first. In order for a relationship to work you must first become friends, then find other things in common besides the games and then you just have to communicate well to each other and let love take you where it may.
Now that the two of you are finally together and made your "Mafia Wars Love Connection" complete, how have your playing habits changed?
They haven't changed one bit. We are still doing the same thing we always did only now we do it as husband and wife.
How do you manage running your own Mafia Wars clan, Mafia Wars True Alliance, together?
We seem to find a good balance as we each take responsibility and realize it it not just about us, but it is about the thousands of members and making sure they have fun and are safe. Over all we have a good staff and everyone works well together and our almost 8000 members seems to be happy as well as our allies so we must be doing something right.
John Sweeney and Joanne Doane's wedding
How often do you play the game as a result and how do you manage that along with the rest of your activities like the The Facebook & Zynga Podcast?
We play every day for hours on end; we just space it out so we can get everything in. Sometimes it can get hectic when there is a lot of news we have to prepare for the show. But we manage and to be honest we like chaos we seem to do our best work that way. The only time we don't like the chaos is when we have to do an obituary for a fallen Mafia Wars player -- that is the worst time we ever have.
What has it been like hosting a podcast together?
So far so good. It has been fun. "The Facebook & Zynga Podcast" on Blogtalkradio.com is great fun. We like our format as we talk about the various issues and things going on across Facebook & with Zynga games. We also love the fact that that our listeners have a chance to call in and get answers to their questions as we do the show live and you never know what will happen with a live show. So it has been fun.
Is this your first foray into internet radio and, either way, what can you say for those looking to start their own podcast?
I did a previous podcast with Evil Ed, and I went on to do our show, as we wanted to do something different. It is a lot of hard work and is not as easy as it looks. But to those who may want to do one we suggest you find a topic you are passionate about and just do it. You will have to work hard at it and you do need to be organized but it is great fun and don't get discouraged. If you have a passion you should at least give it a chance as you never know how your passion may turn into something very good for you.
Aside from finding each other, what do both of you love most about Mafia Wars and social games in general?
The main thing is the fact you can interact with each other. You meet people from all over the world and if you do become friends with most of the people you play with you can also learn a lot about the rest of the world as a whole. It makes the world a whole lot more manageable and you find a new found respect each other countries as there are no politics to interfere. Just people being people.
FarmVille German Animals and Buildings: Gelbvieh Cow, Mountain Tavern and more
Forest Waterfall Flower Bed Tree Arch
Joining the FarmVille German Theme are more animals, buildings and decorations than you can shake a hiking stick at. Zynga has introduced two new animals, two buildings and four decorations. Here's what was made available in the market recently:
Animals
Gelbvieh Cow: 22 Farm Cash, Harvest in 1 day
Lynx: 18 Farm Cash, Harvest in 2 days
Buildings
Mountain Tavern: 34 Farm Cash, 800 XP
Moss Cabin: 300,000 coins, 3,000 XP
Decorations
Forest Waterfall: 34 Farm Cash, 720 XP
Black Forest: 22 Farm Cash, 275 XP
Tree Arch: 10,000 coins, 100 XP
Flower Bed: 3,000 coins, 30 XP
All of these items will be gone in just 11 days and ask for a combined 130 Farm Cash, or just over $20 USD.
Joining the FarmVille German Theme are more animals, buildings and decorations than you can shake a hiking stick at. Zynga has introduced two new animals, two buildings and four decorations. Here's what was made available in the market recently:
Animals
Gelbvieh Cow: 22 Farm Cash, Harvest in 1 day
Lynx: 18 Farm Cash, Harvest in 2 days
Buildings
Mountain Tavern: 34 Farm Cash, 800 XP
Moss Cabin: 300,000 coins, 3,000 XP
Decorations
Forest Waterfall: 34 Farm Cash, 720 XP
Black Forest: 22 Farm Cash, 275 XP
Tree Arch: 10,000 coins, 100 XP
Flower Bed: 3,000 coins, 30 XP
All of these items will be gone in just 11 days and ask for a combined 130 Farm Cash, or just over $20 USD.
Pet Society Paw Paw Revolution Game: Build or buy your own dance machine
Playfish might be taking the hardcore game references a bit too far with Paw Paw Revolution, the newest decoration to grace Pet Society with its rhythmic presence. What's great about this decoration is that it gives you options.
If you want it right now, you can buy the whole darned thing outright for 26 Playfish Cash, or about $5 USD. However, patience is a virtue and for those of you who can 18 days, this dance machine will be yours to make a fool of your digital self with. Paw Paw Revolution, like the Space Rocket and Playhouse before it, can be built by asking friends for parts. The item requires 18 parts and players can only ask for one part daily, unfortunately. Can you resist the allure of instant gratification?
If you want it right now, you can buy the whole darned thing outright for 26 Playfish Cash, or about $5 USD. However, patience is a virtue and for those of you who can 18 days, this dance machine will be yours to make a fool of your digital self with. Paw Paw Revolution, like the Space Rocket and Playhouse before it, can be built by asking friends for parts. The item requires 18 parts and players can only ask for one part daily, unfortunately. Can you resist the allure of instant gratification?
PetVille Design-A-Pumpkin Contest: Carve your spookiest pumpkin for 100 Pet Cash
In PetVille, the Halloween festivities have officially begun with Zynga's Design-a-Pumpkin Contest. Running through October 10, players have been asked to design their own pumpkin to be included in the game as a giftable decoration that will be sold for coins in the PetVille store. Speaking of coinage, the three winners chosen by the Zynga community team--who will also receive the three winning designs--will be rewarded handsomely with a sweet 100 Pet Cash.
What's most interesting about this contest (yes, more interesting than free money) is that the team is accepting all designs, whether they be digital from a program like PhotoShop or, if you're an experienced carver, photos of your own work. How the PetVille designers will work that out is uncertain, but it'll be interesting to see the interpretive work they come up with. Check out the official rules over at the PetVille forums.
What's most interesting about this contest (yes, more interesting than free money) is that the team is accepting all designs, whether they be digital from a program like PhotoShop or, if you're an experienced carver, photos of your own work. How the PetVille designers will work that out is uncertain, but it'll be interesting to see the interpretive work they come up with. Check out the official rules over at the PetVille forums.
Friday, February 3, 2012
FrontierVille horrors: Headless Horseman rides away, game suffers massive slowdown
FrontierVille folks are in a tizzy because the Headless Horseman seems to have ridden off into the night and no one has spotted this creature on their Homestead -- or neighbors' Homesteads -- since Friday. In the meantime, FrontierVille has also been experience a serious slowdown, making it nearly impossible to play.
Zynga hasn't said a word about pulling the Headless Horseman or given any explanation as to why the game keeps crashing, though this could have something to do with the big Facebook outage yesterday. In the meantime, try to find comfort in the fact that you're not experiencing these FrontierVille horrors by your lonesome.
Zynga hasn't said a word about pulling the Headless Horseman or given any explanation as to why the game keeps crashing, though this could have something to do with the big Facebook outage yesterday. In the meantime, try to find comfort in the fact that you're not experiencing these FrontierVille horrors by your lonesome.
FarmVille Autumn Collection: Collect them all before they're gone forever
I hope you completed the Toy Collection in FarmVille while you had the chance, as a new Lightning Collection has taken over. This one is called the Autumn Collection, and just like its two predecessors (the Toy and Gemstone Collections), this set comes with six different items that must be collected en masse before receiving your prize.
Find out how to get these six new items after the jump. The six items in the Autumn Collection are the Acorn, Maple Leaf, Pumpkin, Cornucopia, Feather, and Moon Token. Each item comes with its own rarity, along with a specific requirement for how many must be collected to earn your prize. The list is as follows:
Acorn (common) - 10 needed
Maple Leaf (common) - 10 needed
Pumpkin (common) - 10 needed
Cornucopia (uncommon) - 7 needed
Feather (uncommon) - 7 needed
Moon Token (rare) - 3 needed
As usual, you can purchase a single unit of each item for 1 Farm Cash each, for a grand total of 47 Farm Cash.
These items are found by planting seeds on your land, and can be found either individually, or in "stashes" that can be posted to your wall in order to share some extras with friends, so keep an eye out for posts from your friends' offering these goodies!
According to the Examiner, the prize for collecting the required number of each item is a cute pile of leaves with a pig standing next to it.
Find out how to get these six new items after the jump. The six items in the Autumn Collection are the Acorn, Maple Leaf, Pumpkin, Cornucopia, Feather, and Moon Token. Each item comes with its own rarity, along with a specific requirement for how many must be collected to earn your prize. The list is as follows:
Acorn (common) - 10 needed
Maple Leaf (common) - 10 needed
Pumpkin (common) - 10 needed
Cornucopia (uncommon) - 7 needed
Feather (uncommon) - 7 needed
Moon Token (rare) - 3 needed
As usual, you can purchase a single unit of each item for 1 Farm Cash each, for a grand total of 47 Farm Cash.
These items are found by planting seeds on your land, and can be found either individually, or in "stashes" that can be posted to your wall in order to share some extras with friends, so keep an eye out for posts from your friends' offering these goodies!
According to the Examiner, the prize for collecting the required number of each item is a cute pile of leaves with a pig standing next to it.
Happy Pets' new Halloween items: Buy 'em or send 'em to friends
CrowdStar has upped the Halloween celebration in Happy Pets from more than just Vampire Pets, as they have started unveiling Halloween decorations for use in your home.
These items are available both as free gifts and as items available to purchase in the store for coins, so meet us after the break to see the full selection!
As of this writing, there are just four items available with which to decorate your home for Halloween, with the promise that more items will be coming soon (we're assuming that's very soon, since Halloween is now just days away).
There is but one item available to purchase in the game's store, in the form of a Human Skull decoration that can be purchased for 38,975 coins.
The other three items are free gifts, and are Tombstones 1, 2, and 3. Each one is displayed with a patch of dirt, grass, and other items from nature, so they'd be best suited to one of your yards if you are going for a look of realism.
Make sure to check back with us as Happy Pets' Halloween item selection expands.
These items are available both as free gifts and as items available to purchase in the store for coins, so meet us after the break to see the full selection!
As of this writing, there are just four items available with which to decorate your home for Halloween, with the promise that more items will be coming soon (we're assuming that's very soon, since Halloween is now just days away).
There is but one item available to purchase in the game's store, in the form of a Human Skull decoration that can be purchased for 38,975 coins.
The other three items are free gifts, and are Tombstones 1, 2, and 3. Each one is displayed with a patch of dirt, grass, and other items from nature, so they'd be best suited to one of your yards if you are going for a look of realism.
Make sure to check back with us as Happy Pets' Halloween item selection expands.
Bejeweled Blitz becomes BOOjeweled Blitz with new Halloween items
PopCap has given Bejeweled Blitz a complete makeover this week in honor of the quickly approaching Halloween holiday.
The next time you login, you'll find that the game has been re-skinned with a spooky Halloween background, and that the Star Medals (those medals received for reaching high scores - 175,000 points or 300,000 points, as examples) have also been changed, offering ghostly blue gems and jack-o-lantern orange gems, among others.
In addition, a new Halloween contest has been added to the game's "Earn Coins" area. This area allows you to fulfill offers from third-party businesses and websites, and be rewarded with in-game coins in return. From now through November 4, every offer you complete will net you a single entry into a massive coin contest, rewarding 20 million coins to the first prize winner - that's enough for tons of boosts that will send your score through the roof (and to the top of your friend leaderboard)!
Four other lucky players will also receive massive coin rewards, ranging from 4 million to 8 million coins. That's anywhere from a $100 to a $500 value, if you were to purchase the coins out of pocket. Not a bad deal, wouldn't you say?
The next time you login, you'll find that the game has been re-skinned with a spooky Halloween background, and that the Star Medals (those medals received for reaching high scores - 175,000 points or 300,000 points, as examples) have also been changed, offering ghostly blue gems and jack-o-lantern orange gems, among others.
In addition, a new Halloween contest has been added to the game's "Earn Coins" area. This area allows you to fulfill offers from third-party businesses and websites, and be rewarded with in-game coins in return. From now through November 4, every offer you complete will net you a single entry into a massive coin contest, rewarding 20 million coins to the first prize winner - that's enough for tons of boosts that will send your score through the roof (and to the top of your friend leaderboard)!
Four other lucky players will also receive massive coin rewards, ranging from 4 million to 8 million coins. That's anywhere from a $100 to a $500 value, if you were to purchase the coins out of pocket. Not a bad deal, wouldn't you say?
FarmVille glitch charges Farm Cash for Halloween tricks
I received this email notice about FarmVille charging me Farm Cash for Halloween tricks that neighbors played on my farm, and letting me know that the virtual cash has been restored to my account. I went to double check that that's the case and am happy to report that my Farm Cash was safe and sound.
So, if friends play tricks on your farm, and you notice that you're being charged Farm Cash for these hijinks -- it's a known glitch, and you will hopefully get an email like the one above. If not, you can contact Zynga customer service and/or leave a message about the bug in the official FarmVille forums.
So, if friends play tricks on your farm, and you notice that you're being charged Farm Cash for these hijinks -- it's a known glitch, and you will hopefully get an email like the one above. If not, you can contact Zynga customer service and/or leave a message about the bug in the official FarmVille forums.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
FishVille's Aqua Hoops Game dropped the ball
FishVille Aqua Hoops
FishVille's awaited Aqua Hoops game has debuted to all players today, and it's not the exciting game that players were hoping for. Aqua Hoops is basically a replica of FrontierVille's horseshoe toss game, which means that it's a lottery or slot machine concept for players who want to gamble instead of an actual interactive game.
The Aqua Hoops game can be accessed by clicking the sidebar icon on the side of your game. You get one free throw, and once you click you have absolutely no control of the ball that is being tossed towards a hoop. You gain points for missing and getting close, but the grand prize is won by landing the jackpot through getting the ball in the hoop. Of course, because there is no skill whatsoever to this game and players do not get to know the odds of winning, there is a darn good chance you won't win.
Some players are reporting that they have spent over 70 Sand Dollars in an attempt to score the jackpot to no avail. The forums are currently full of posts from players who feel cheated that this 'game' is simply a random chance lottery and the rewards are not good enough to justify the cost of playing. FishVille Community Manager BarryKash stated the following:
Folks, I'm really disappointed to hear that most of you don't like the mini-game. We were hoping to add new things that you would enjoy for the anniversary celebrations. We are trying to ensure that we come up with things that all of you ask for or things that excite you. We would like to have done better with Aqua Hoops. We will look into it & make an earnest effort to make our anniversary fun & rewarding for all.
So far, we definitely agree with players that this game feels like a cheap way to celebrate FishVille's one year anniversary. Players would much prefer some deeper features such as more fish to unlock through Fish Mastery.
FishVille's awaited Aqua Hoops game has debuted to all players today, and it's not the exciting game that players were hoping for. Aqua Hoops is basically a replica of FrontierVille's horseshoe toss game, which means that it's a lottery or slot machine concept for players who want to gamble instead of an actual interactive game.
The Aqua Hoops game can be accessed by clicking the sidebar icon on the side of your game. You get one free throw, and once you click you have absolutely no control of the ball that is being tossed towards a hoop. You gain points for missing and getting close, but the grand prize is won by landing the jackpot through getting the ball in the hoop. Of course, because there is no skill whatsoever to this game and players do not get to know the odds of winning, there is a darn good chance you won't win.
Some players are reporting that they have spent over 70 Sand Dollars in an attempt to score the jackpot to no avail. The forums are currently full of posts from players who feel cheated that this 'game' is simply a random chance lottery and the rewards are not good enough to justify the cost of playing. FishVille Community Manager BarryKash stated the following:
Folks, I'm really disappointed to hear that most of you don't like the mini-game. We were hoping to add new things that you would enjoy for the anniversary celebrations. We are trying to ensure that we come up with things that all of you ask for or things that excite you. We would like to have done better with Aqua Hoops. We will look into it & make an earnest effort to make our anniversary fun & rewarding for all.
So far, we definitely agree with players that this game feels like a cheap way to celebrate FishVille's one year anniversary. Players would much prefer some deeper features such as more fish to unlock through Fish Mastery.
FishVille releases underwater Turkey Day items
Thanksgiving in FishVille
You didn't think that fish would skip celebrating Thanksgiving did you? Well, you were right! FishVille has just released a small collection of new items for the Thanksgiving holiday and they will all be available until Turkey Day is over and we're all stuffed full of delicious dinner.
The items aren't particularly spectacular, and FishVille are expecting players to spend Sand Dollars on these rather mediocre items. Aside from a tank background and gravel, we're not too impressed with the selection. There is a Sheath of Wheat available for 5 Sand Dollars, which is kind of an odd decoration to have under the water. There is also a Corn Cob for 4 Sand Dollars and a Stuck Arrow for 2 Sand Dollars that is supposed to look like it is stabbing into something. We're not sure why that embodies Thanksgiving, but we'll take it. Lastly, there is a Plymouth Rock which is the only item available for coins - but it will cost you 12,000 of them if you want to own it in your fish tank.
You didn't think that fish would skip celebrating Thanksgiving did you? Well, you were right! FishVille has just released a small collection of new items for the Thanksgiving holiday and they will all be available until Turkey Day is over and we're all stuffed full of delicious dinner.
The items aren't particularly spectacular, and FishVille are expecting players to spend Sand Dollars on these rather mediocre items. Aside from a tank background and gravel, we're not too impressed with the selection. There is a Sheath of Wheat available for 5 Sand Dollars, which is kind of an odd decoration to have under the water. There is also a Corn Cob for 4 Sand Dollars and a Stuck Arrow for 2 Sand Dollars that is supposed to look like it is stabbing into something. We're not sure why that embodies Thanksgiving, but we'll take it. Lastly, there is a Plymouth Rock which is the only item available for coins - but it will cost you 12,000 of them if you want to own it in your fish tank.
BitRhymes launches Penguin World for winter treasure digging
Penguin World
Another day, another new Facebook game has launched to the public. Penguin World is a brand new treasure-seeking game in the veins of Treasure Madness and Treasure Isle, with a winter theme. Our first impression of the game is that it's quite a bit too reminiscent of Treasure Isle to really stand up as a unique and exciting new game. Overall though, it shows promise because it features a popular animal that tends to bring in a wide audience, has a few new components not present in Zynga's Treasure Isle, and looks and plays well.
Penguin World was developed by BitRhymes, the developers behind Wild Paradise (which peaked at a MAU of 340,000) and it appears that they have learned quite a bit about the space. This new title has all the basic components of a good social game, but probably has a huge hill to climb since it is competing head to head with Zynga, Playfish, and all the other developers who have released a digging-style game.
In Penguin World, you have your home island and it has a shell that contains your specified color. You can decorate this island and do with it as you please. You have a map that looks eerily similar to Treasure Isle's, which allows you to travel to new islands. On islands, you dig up squares and try to find treasure in the form of collections. Once you clear out one map, you move on to the other. You can visit neighbors (referred to as your 'rookery') and collect items from them, so nothing new and exciting there.
Where Penguin World does bring something relatively new to the table is through minigames. There are two minigames available when you interact with islands. You can jump into pools of water (shown above) and play a swimming game in which you dodge mean fish and try to pick up as much gold as you can. There are also enemies on islands, such as a polar bear, and to fight them you have to complete a snowball rolling game that is also present in Club Penguin. It should be noted that Treasure Madness also has small minigames, although they're not disguised as battles.
Overall, Penguin World is cute and whimsical and has a likeable feel to it. It's a higher production quality than Wild Paradise, but doesn't feel quite as polished as Treasure Isle. Time will tell on this game, but we're hoping that BitRhymes find success with their second title.
Play Penguin World on Facebook >
Another day, another new Facebook game has launched to the public. Penguin World is a brand new treasure-seeking game in the veins of Treasure Madness and Treasure Isle, with a winter theme. Our first impression of the game is that it's quite a bit too reminiscent of Treasure Isle to really stand up as a unique and exciting new game. Overall though, it shows promise because it features a popular animal that tends to bring in a wide audience, has a few new components not present in Zynga's Treasure Isle, and looks and plays well.
Penguin World was developed by BitRhymes, the developers behind Wild Paradise (which peaked at a MAU of 340,000) and it appears that they have learned quite a bit about the space. This new title has all the basic components of a good social game, but probably has a huge hill to climb since it is competing head to head with Zynga, Playfish, and all the other developers who have released a digging-style game.
In Penguin World, you have your home island and it has a shell that contains your specified color. You can decorate this island and do with it as you please. You have a map that looks eerily similar to Treasure Isle's, which allows you to travel to new islands. On islands, you dig up squares and try to find treasure in the form of collections. Once you clear out one map, you move on to the other. You can visit neighbors (referred to as your 'rookery') and collect items from them, so nothing new and exciting there.
Where Penguin World does bring something relatively new to the table is through minigames. There are two minigames available when you interact with islands. You can jump into pools of water (shown above) and play a swimming game in which you dodge mean fish and try to pick up as much gold as you can. There are also enemies on islands, such as a polar bear, and to fight them you have to complete a snowball rolling game that is also present in Club Penguin. It should be noted that Treasure Madness also has small minigames, although they're not disguised as battles.
Overall, Penguin World is cute and whimsical and has a likeable feel to it. It's a higher production quality than Wild Paradise, but doesn't feel quite as polished as Treasure Isle. Time will tell on this game, but we're hoping that BitRhymes find success with their second title.
Play Penguin World on Facebook >
Mafia Wars San Francisco Meet Up - Come meet the family
Do you live in San Francisco, California, or will you be in the area on December 4? If so, why not check out Zynga's official Mafia Wars - San Francisco Meetup?
The event will take place from 2-5 PM PST at Mighty (119 Utah Street) - you'll know you're in the right place when you see the Mafia Wars Armored Truck.
The event will allow fans of the game to meet members of the Mafia Wars development team, along with meeting other players of the game (and even add them to your mafia, if it still has room). There will be prizes given away, games to play, photo opportunities, free swag to those who attend, and more. Door prizes are also available.
This is a "ticketed" event, in that you must sign up for a ticket so that Zynga knows how many people plan on coming. Signups are free, and the ticket is free - these tickets seem to be just a formality to keep things organized. You must be 21 years old to sign up for, and attend the event, with a valid ID that must be shown at the door (there will be drink tickets passed out to the first 100 through the door).
This seems like the ultimate event for Mafia Wars fans, and if you live anywhere near the area, we'd highly suggest signing up for a ticket. How often do you get to meet the developers of one of your favorite games face to face? This could be the perfect opportunity to share your appreciation for the game with those who made it, or even share some ideas with the team.
The event will take place from 2-5 PM PST at Mighty (119 Utah Street) - you'll know you're in the right place when you see the Mafia Wars Armored Truck.
The event will allow fans of the game to meet members of the Mafia Wars development team, along with meeting other players of the game (and even add them to your mafia, if it still has room). There will be prizes given away, games to play, photo opportunities, free swag to those who attend, and more. Door prizes are also available.
This is a "ticketed" event, in that you must sign up for a ticket so that Zynga knows how many people plan on coming. Signups are free, and the ticket is free - these tickets seem to be just a formality to keep things organized. You must be 21 years old to sign up for, and attend the event, with a valid ID that must be shown at the door (there will be drink tickets passed out to the first 100 through the door).
This seems like the ultimate event for Mafia Wars fans, and if you live anywhere near the area, we'd highly suggest signing up for a ticket. How often do you get to meet the developers of one of your favorite games face to face? This could be the perfect opportunity to share your appreciation for the game with those who made it, or even share some ideas with the team.
Mafia Wars Rumble in Russia - Everything you need to know
A few days ago, we heard Zynga would soon be launching the Rumble in Russia boss event in Mafia Wars, and the time for that launch has come. Let the rumble begin!
This event is similar to other boss events, in that you'll have a limited amount of time to take down four bosses, earning mastery and special prizes as you defeat each boss.
The Mafia Wars Rumble in Russia will be familiar to veteran Mafia Wars players, as it isn't the first boss-fight event we've seen in the game. This time around, however, we take the fight to Russia, with characters Lenenov, Belikov, Osipov, and Bassinov available to pound on for prizes.
The way that this event works is quite simple. All users will start out on the first star of mastery, tackling boss Dmitri Lenenov. Once you activate the battle with the boss, you'll be on a time limit to defeat them. As you can see from my screen shot below, I'd have 12 hours to defeat Lenenov before the battle resets and I'd have to start all over. The same goes for all bosses, in that battling them will be on an individual time limit for that particular battle.
You can either Attack, Attack X5, or Ask for Help from your mafia family in defeating the boss (friends that help would receive a reward for doing so after the boss is defeated). You can also use any consumables that you may have saved up from your journey through the entire game in order to do instant damage, stun the boss, and so on.
Once you defeat this boss, you'll unlock the second boss. Beat him and you'll unlock the third and so on. Additionally, the very first time you beat each boss, you'll earn the Bronze star of mastery, and you'll receive a reward item. Here are the list of items, in the order that you receive them:
mafia wars russia rumble
Atlas Torso (armor) - 44 Attack and 31 Defense
Crushed Ice (tank) - 96 Attack and 59 Defense
Big Z (gun) - 72 Attack and 108 Defense
Civ-4 Carbine (gun) - 84 Attack and 113 Defense
Finally, if you beat all four bosses two more times (that is, earn the Silver and then Gold mastery stars on all four bosses), you'll receive the ultimate reward, the Ursa Major - a literal Bear that has 60 Attack and 115 Defense stats.
In addition to each battle being timed individually, there is an overall time limit for this event that now sits at 5 days, 18 hours. If you can't complete the event (that is, get to Gold mastery and earn the Ursa Major) in that time, the event will expire, and your chance at these prizes will vanish along with it. Battle fast and battle hard if you want a chance at collecting them all.
This event is similar to other boss events, in that you'll have a limited amount of time to take down four bosses, earning mastery and special prizes as you defeat each boss.
The Mafia Wars Rumble in Russia will be familiar to veteran Mafia Wars players, as it isn't the first boss-fight event we've seen in the game. This time around, however, we take the fight to Russia, with characters Lenenov, Belikov, Osipov, and Bassinov available to pound on for prizes.
The way that this event works is quite simple. All users will start out on the first star of mastery, tackling boss Dmitri Lenenov. Once you activate the battle with the boss, you'll be on a time limit to defeat them. As you can see from my screen shot below, I'd have 12 hours to defeat Lenenov before the battle resets and I'd have to start all over. The same goes for all bosses, in that battling them will be on an individual time limit for that particular battle.
You can either Attack, Attack X5, or Ask for Help from your mafia family in defeating the boss (friends that help would receive a reward for doing so after the boss is defeated). You can also use any consumables that you may have saved up from your journey through the entire game in order to do instant damage, stun the boss, and so on.
Once you defeat this boss, you'll unlock the second boss. Beat him and you'll unlock the third and so on. Additionally, the very first time you beat each boss, you'll earn the Bronze star of mastery, and you'll receive a reward item. Here are the list of items, in the order that you receive them:
mafia wars russia rumble
Atlas Torso (armor) - 44 Attack and 31 Defense
Crushed Ice (tank) - 96 Attack and 59 Defense
Big Z (gun) - 72 Attack and 108 Defense
Civ-4 Carbine (gun) - 84 Attack and 113 Defense
Finally, if you beat all four bosses two more times (that is, earn the Silver and then Gold mastery stars on all four bosses), you'll receive the ultimate reward, the Ursa Major - a literal Bear that has 60 Attack and 115 Defense stats.
In addition to each battle being timed individually, there is an overall time limit for this event that now sits at 5 days, 18 hours. If you can't complete the event (that is, get to Gold mastery and earn the Ursa Major) in that time, the event will expire, and your chance at these prizes will vanish along with it. Battle fast and battle hard if you want a chance at collecting them all.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
FarmVille Holiday Snow & Lights now available in the market
If you don't want to make your way through the entirety of the FarmVille Winter Wonderland quest set, Zynga has been so kind as to offer the new Holiday Snow and Light packages in the game's store, with these items being available in multiple packages, depending on how many items you'd like to decorate, whether you'd like to decorate with just lights, just snow, or both, and on how much Farm Cash you'd like to spend to do so.
First and foremost, you can purchase an individual Snow or Light decoration. That is, if you want to decorate a single item with just snow, you can do so for a single Farm Cash. Likewise, if you'd like to decorate a single item with just lights, that will also cost you just 1 Farm Cash.
You can save yourself a bit of clicking by purchase a single "Snow & Lights" package for 2 Farm Cash, which, as you might have guessed, adds snow and lights to a single item on your farm.
If you'd like to have unlimited access to decorating your farm this holiday season, you can purchase the Unlimited Snow package for 20 Farm Cash, or the Unlimited Lights package for 20 Farm Cash. If you'd like to skip the individual decorating, you can purchase unlimited access to adding both Snow and Lights to your items for 30 Farm Cash. This package will allow you to add both snow & lights simultaneously to any tree, fence or building that Zynga has currently programmed to allow it.
Regardless of the package you would like to purchase, all of these options will be available in the store for the next 57 days, giving you plenty of time to choose whether or not to unlock the unlimited options available here.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Will you purchase unlimited lights or snow for use in decorating your farm this holiday?
First and foremost, you can purchase an individual Snow or Light decoration. That is, if you want to decorate a single item with just snow, you can do so for a single Farm Cash. Likewise, if you'd like to decorate a single item with just lights, that will also cost you just 1 Farm Cash.
You can save yourself a bit of clicking by purchase a single "Snow & Lights" package for 2 Farm Cash, which, as you might have guessed, adds snow and lights to a single item on your farm.
If you'd like to have unlimited access to decorating your farm this holiday season, you can purchase the Unlimited Snow package for 20 Farm Cash, or the Unlimited Lights package for 20 Farm Cash. If you'd like to skip the individual decorating, you can purchase unlimited access to adding both Snow and Lights to your items for 30 Farm Cash. This package will allow you to add both snow & lights simultaneously to any tree, fence or building that Zynga has currently programmed to allow it.
Regardless of the package you would like to purchase, all of these options will be available in the store for the next 57 days, giving you plenty of time to choose whether or not to unlock the unlimited options available here.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Will you purchase unlimited lights or snow for use in decorating your farm this holiday?
FarmVille Mystery Game (12/05/10): Lemmings, Stallions, & Rams, oh my!
As Zynga has transitioned from a traditional Tuesday / Thursday game update schedule in FarmVille to one that takes place on Wednesday and Sunday (a change for the holiday season), tonight's FarmVille update sees the launching of a new Mystery Game, complete with more new animals than you can shake a stick at.
This week's game is advertised as containing items from the Winter Wonderland theme, and it costs 20 Farm Cash per individual dart, if you'd like to play. We can confirm that the items inside are as follows:
Black Mini Stallion
Musk Ox
White Ram
White Ermelin
Snow Lemmings
Eider Duck
You'll probably recognize most of these animals from various FarmVille Sneak Peeks we've offered you over the past few weeks, it's just unfortunate that it turns out they'll cost Farm Cash to actually add to your farm.
This edition of the FarmVille Mystery Game will only be available for the next 6 days, so start shopping for those darts now if you want a chance at collecting all of these items.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Which of these animals would you most like to win from the Mystery Game this week? Will you spend 20 Farm Cash to try your hand at this game?
This week's game is advertised as containing items from the Winter Wonderland theme, and it costs 20 Farm Cash per individual dart, if you'd like to play. We can confirm that the items inside are as follows:
Black Mini Stallion
Musk Ox
White Ram
White Ermelin
Snow Lemmings
Eider Duck
You'll probably recognize most of these animals from various FarmVille Sneak Peeks we've offered you over the past few weeks, it's just unfortunate that it turns out they'll cost Farm Cash to actually add to your farm.
This edition of the FarmVille Mystery Game will only be available for the next 6 days, so start shopping for those darts now if you want a chance at collecting all of these items.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Which of these animals would you most like to win from the Mystery Game this week? Will you spend 20 Farm Cash to try your hand at this game?
New FarmVille Animals: Candy Cane Pony & Candy Cane Foal
As part of tonight's FarmVille update, Zynga has released a new set of Winter Holiday themed animals to the game. These are animals that we gave you a sneak peek of in the middle of November. While it's taken quite a while for Zynga to actually bring us these animals, we can all agree that it's better late than never.
What are the animals, you ask? They are the Candy Cane Pony, and the Candy Cane Foal. The Candy Cane Pony has a red and white striped tail and mane, as its name would suggest, and it costs 24 Farm Cash to add to your farm. It can be harvested from once every three days, but if you have room in your Horse Stable, it will gladly find a home within as well. Through this process, you'll be able to have a chance to breed the Candy Cane Foal, which will give you horse collectors out there something else to search for.
The Candy Cane Pony will be available for the next 19 days, so take your time in deciding if you'd like to splurge on this colorful new animal.
What are the animals, you ask? They are the Candy Cane Pony, and the Candy Cane Foal. The Candy Cane Pony has a red and white striped tail and mane, as its name would suggest, and it costs 24 Farm Cash to add to your farm. It can be harvested from once every three days, but if you have room in your Horse Stable, it will gladly find a home within as well. Through this process, you'll be able to have a chance to breed the Candy Cane Foal, which will give you horse collectors out there something else to search for.
The Candy Cane Pony will be available for the next 19 days, so take your time in deciding if you'd like to splurge on this colorful new animal.
FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Winter Tower, Gingerbread Arch, Glacier Falls & More
In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the release of quite a few new decorative items in the game's store. These items are in the Winter Holiday theme of limited edition items, and contain items that we've given you a sneak peek of in the past, along with completely new items, like a Gingerbread Arch.
Meet us behind the break for a complete look at these new items.
First, there is one new building available to purchase - the Winter Tower. It costs 18 Farm Cash to purchase, but you'll earn 1800 experience points for making such a splurge.
The other items are strictly decorations, with a few fitting in more with an outdoor decoration theme rather than something purely "holiday." These are the Glacier Falls (a large white and blue mountain with a waterfall pouring out of the top), an Ice Fishing Lake, and a Snowy Forest. The Glacier Falls costs 20 Farm Cash, the Ice Fishing Lake is 15 Farm Cash, and the Snowy Forest costs 200,000 coins.
The other decorative items are a Gingerbread Arch, making a return from last year, which costs 5 Farm Cash, and a Nutcracker Gnome, which costs 18 Farm Cash.
Regardless of which item you choose to purchase, they will all be available in the game for the next 19 days. If you've yet to start decorating for the holiday in FarmVille, you now have tons of items to choose from, in addition to these newest releases, so I hope you've been saving up the coins and Farm Cash necessary to make your farm something to behold this winter!
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Which of these items are you going to purchase for your farm first? Have you splurged on any Farm Cash items from this theme, or are you sticking with those that just cost coins?
Meet us behind the break for a complete look at these new items.
First, there is one new building available to purchase - the Winter Tower. It costs 18 Farm Cash to purchase, but you'll earn 1800 experience points for making such a splurge.
The other items are strictly decorations, with a few fitting in more with an outdoor decoration theme rather than something purely "holiday." These are the Glacier Falls (a large white and blue mountain with a waterfall pouring out of the top), an Ice Fishing Lake, and a Snowy Forest. The Glacier Falls costs 20 Farm Cash, the Ice Fishing Lake is 15 Farm Cash, and the Snowy Forest costs 200,000 coins.
The other decorative items are a Gingerbread Arch, making a return from last year, which costs 5 Farm Cash, and a Nutcracker Gnome, which costs 18 Farm Cash.
Regardless of which item you choose to purchase, they will all be available in the game for the next 19 days. If you've yet to start decorating for the holiday in FarmVille, you now have tons of items to choose from, in addition to these newest releases, so I hope you've been saving up the coins and Farm Cash necessary to make your farm something to behold this winter!
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Which of these items are you going to purchase for your farm first? Have you splurged on any Farm Cash items from this theme, or are you sticking with those that just cost coins?
Pet Society Deck the Halls Theme adds a modern flair to the holidays
With a fresh coat of snow blanketing Pet Society, it's about time Playfish introduced its holiday-themed item set to match the recent Advent Calendars and WWF Carolers. In the game's new and shiny Deck the Halls theme, players will find a slew of items with a modern twist on this month's gift-giving days. To start, Pet Society has an all-new collaborative gift, the Giant Holiday Cake Table.
After finding it in the Pet Workshop through clicking on the hammer icon on the right hand side of the screen, you'll have the option of asking 20 of your friends to help build the massive dessert or paying up 40 Playfish Cash to finish it instantly. And for those who can only get so far with friends, the Playfish Cash price will reduce according to the amount of friends you enlist help from. Be sure to remind your friends that a coin reward is waiting for them if they decide to help--a little motivation goes a long way.
In just seven hours as of this writing, a limited edition Baby Reindeer will be on sale for just 2,500 coins. It's unsure how many will be made available, but you'll want to be online at 6 p.m. EST if you want a shot at nabbing this adorably white fawn. Aside from new limited edition items coming out almost daily, there is another interestingly lively item in town.
The Evolving Luminous Christmas Tree, for 11 Playfish Cash, will grow over time into a giant tree blinking and flashing with Christmas bulbs. There are also Christmas Tree Mystery Pots (pictured), which for 1,600 coins will grow into one of five colored trees: White, Gold, Green, Pink and Black (the most rare).
Players looking to dress the part will find two new Modern Holiday outfits for boys and girls that bring serious class to Christmas. And in the Mystery section, you can take your chances at the Luminous Christmas Tree Ornament Mystery Egg. For 500 coins for one, 2,000 coins for five or 5,000 coins for 13, you'll have a chance at completing a collection of 13 Christmas tree ornaments for the rare Shooting Star Ornament. With this many special items (and even more furniture to peruse through), there's a plethora of things to do in Pet Society this holiday season and it's not even here yet. For more information on the items you can find in this theme, check out the Pet Society Blog.
Find the rest of our Holiday coverage right here.
What are your thoughts on these brand new, interactive items in Pet Society? What else are you anticipating this Christmas from Playfish?
After finding it in the Pet Workshop through clicking on the hammer icon on the right hand side of the screen, you'll have the option of asking 20 of your friends to help build the massive dessert or paying up 40 Playfish Cash to finish it instantly. And for those who can only get so far with friends, the Playfish Cash price will reduce according to the amount of friends you enlist help from. Be sure to remind your friends that a coin reward is waiting for them if they decide to help--a little motivation goes a long way.
In just seven hours as of this writing, a limited edition Baby Reindeer will be on sale for just 2,500 coins. It's unsure how many will be made available, but you'll want to be online at 6 p.m. EST if you want a shot at nabbing this adorably white fawn. Aside from new limited edition items coming out almost daily, there is another interestingly lively item in town.
The Evolving Luminous Christmas Tree, for 11 Playfish Cash, will grow over time into a giant tree blinking and flashing with Christmas bulbs. There are also Christmas Tree Mystery Pots (pictured), which for 1,600 coins will grow into one of five colored trees: White, Gold, Green, Pink and Black (the most rare).
Players looking to dress the part will find two new Modern Holiday outfits for boys and girls that bring serious class to Christmas. And in the Mystery section, you can take your chances at the Luminous Christmas Tree Ornament Mystery Egg. For 500 coins for one, 2,000 coins for five or 5,000 coins for 13, you'll have a chance at completing a collection of 13 Christmas tree ornaments for the rare Shooting Star Ornament. With this many special items (and even more furniture to peruse through), there's a plethora of things to do in Pet Society this holiday season and it's not even here yet. For more information on the items you can find in this theme, check out the Pet Society Blog.
Find the rest of our Holiday coverage right here.
What are your thoughts on these brand new, interactive items in Pet Society? What else are you anticipating this Christmas from Playfish?
Friday, January 13, 2012
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Candy Cane Chicken & Candy Cane Mystery Eggs
FarmVille has had a running theme this year of Candy Cane themed items being released to the game, and it looks like the FarmVille team at Zynga will be adding yet another before the current Winter Holiday theme ends.
The new animal is the Candy Cane Chicken, and, as you might have guessed, comes with a lovely red and white striped set of tail feathers, and a more solidly patterned red and white body. Along with this new chicken comes more evidence that the animal will in fact be released, as we've come across unreleased images of the Candy Cane Mystery Egg, that would be found at random when collecting from a Chicken Coop that holds a Candy Cane Chicken, and then shared with friends on your wall.
We're hoping that this animal will be released for coins, but considering that the other Winter Holiday animals have been available only for Farm Cash, we're not holding our breath.
The new animal is the Candy Cane Chicken, and, as you might have guessed, comes with a lovely red and white striped set of tail feathers, and a more solidly patterned red and white body. Along with this new chicken comes more evidence that the animal will in fact be released, as we've come across unreleased images of the Candy Cane Mystery Egg, that would be found at random when collecting from a Chicken Coop that holds a Candy Cane Chicken, and then shared with friends on your wall.
We're hoping that this animal will be released for coins, but considering that the other Winter Holiday animals have been available only for Farm Cash, we're not holding our breath.
FarmVille Holiday Sneak Peek: Winter Castle, Kissing Ducks, Reindeer Balloon, Lighted Cactus & More
We've come across another round of unreleased FarmVille items, which look to offer a sneak peek of items that may or may not be released in the Winter Holiday theme before the theme leaves the game in a matter of days/weeks. These new items include decorative animals, a new building, and even a new tree, so keep reading to see what we expect to see released in the game soon.
The new decorative items are the Kissing Ducks (a pair of adorable ducks standing under mistletoe), a Reindeer Hot Air Balloon (similar to the Turkey hot air balloon released back at Thanksgiving), a Gold Nutcracker, a Lighted Cactus, and a string of Chili Lights. Those items can be seen at the top of this post.
As for the new building, it is the Winter Castle, and it looks to be quite the large building, as any castle should be. Finally, there is a new tree that will apparently be making an appearance, and it comes in the form of a Silver Holiday Tree. This tree looks to be masterable, as there is a leaked image of a Silver Holiday Tree Mastery Sign as well.
Remember, there is no guarantee that any of these items will actually be released in the game, and for what price, so keep that in mind. However, you'll be the first to know when and if these items do become available, so keep checking back!
The new decorative items are the Kissing Ducks (a pair of adorable ducks standing under mistletoe), a Reindeer Hot Air Balloon (similar to the Turkey hot air balloon released back at Thanksgiving), a Gold Nutcracker, a Lighted Cactus, and a string of Chili Lights. Those items can be seen at the top of this post.
As for the new building, it is the Winter Castle, and it looks to be quite the large building, as any castle should be. Finally, there is a new tree that will apparently be making an appearance, and it comes in the form of a Silver Holiday Tree. This tree looks to be masterable, as there is a leaked image of a Silver Holiday Tree Mastery Sign as well.
Remember, there is no guarantee that any of these items will actually be released in the game, and for what price, so keep that in mind. However, you'll be the first to know when and if these items do become available, so keep checking back!
Pocket God iPhone game makes its way to Facebook with female Pygmies, brand new powers
Bolt Creative has brought their hit iPhone game Pocket God to Facebook, with an all-new Facebook game of the same name, complete with Facebook exclusive features to give those non-believers a reason to convert. For those unfamiliar with the iPhone game, you're asked simply "What kind of God would you be?" If given the chance, would you be a loving, understanding God, or would you sacrifice all of your followers just to prove a point?
In Pocket God on Facebook, you get to answer that question (more of the latter), by spawning Pygmies and then sacrificing them just as quickly in a variety of zany, clever ways. Pygmies live on islands, and the more you play, the larger the island you will have control over. The larger the island, the more Pygmies it can hold, and the more Pygmies you can sacrifice as a result, completing quests along the way.
Want to see what else makes Pocket God on Facebook tick? Meet us behind the break for all of the details.
After the tutorial, the biggest portion of gameplay in Pocket God will be the sacrificing of Pygmies. You'll do this in a manner of ways, with new powers being available to purchase from the store. To start, you'll be able to pick up Pygmies and drop them into the water, drowning them, or clicking and holding on the bottom of a Pygmy and dragging a trajectory to launch them through a makeshift slingshot mechanic into the sky.
Your first actual powers will be those over Gravity and those over Lightning. You'll need to activate your Gravity power from the menu, at which point you can click and drag in a circular motion to send the entire game world spinning. Your Pygmies will hold onto the ground for dear life (literally), at which point you can click on them to make them lose their grip. As for Lightning, you'll need to replace the lovely white fluffy clouds with dark black menacing clouds, which can also be done through the menu. Afterwards, you can click on the dark cloud and drag your mouse to a Pygmy to turn them into a pile of black dust.
Other powers are available as you play the game, like a tornado that can be summoned when the dark clouds are present, the ability to change the cycles of the moon, the power to bring down a massive hailstorm, and even a silly power that summons a drum, causing your Pygmies to dance.
Why kill all of these Pygmies? For one, you'll need to do so (using a variety of your powers) to complete quests, which reward you with experience points and Sacrifice Points (the game's main currency), but even more so, you'll need to sacrifice these Pygmies in order to simply advance in the game. You have a Devotion Statue on your island that can be turned on with a click. Using Devotion Points (Energy Points), you can sacrifice your Pygmies while the statue is turned on to earn experience points and more Sacrifice Points, which must be spent, one point at a time, to summon new Pygmies.
As you go along, you'll be able to decorate your island with coconut trees, a Venus Fly-trap that eats Pygmies, and cactuses that bear explosive fruits. You can purchase a shark that eats Pygmies in the water, and various Idols that reward you with more points per sacrifice.
The entire game is a cycle of death and rebirth for your poor Pygmies, just like in the iPhone game, but the Facebook version of the game features exclusive powers not found in the iPhone version, along with female Pygmies. In addition, the social elements here allow you to sacrifice your own friends, if you'd like to prove a point or just be a bit naughty.
It should be noted that when you first play the game, Pocket God is one that requires you to allow automatic wall posting in order to actually install the game. This can be turned off however via your Privacy Settings page, if you'd prefer not to see an infinite number of Pocket God related posts appear on your wall without your knowledge.
If you'd like to put these adorable, yet helpless little Pygmies through some amusing deaths, or even put your friends on the proverbial chopping block (all in good fun of course), give this one a try.
In Pocket God on Facebook, you get to answer that question (more of the latter), by spawning Pygmies and then sacrificing them just as quickly in a variety of zany, clever ways. Pygmies live on islands, and the more you play, the larger the island you will have control over. The larger the island, the more Pygmies it can hold, and the more Pygmies you can sacrifice as a result, completing quests along the way.
Want to see what else makes Pocket God on Facebook tick? Meet us behind the break for all of the details.
After the tutorial, the biggest portion of gameplay in Pocket God will be the sacrificing of Pygmies. You'll do this in a manner of ways, with new powers being available to purchase from the store. To start, you'll be able to pick up Pygmies and drop them into the water, drowning them, or clicking and holding on the bottom of a Pygmy and dragging a trajectory to launch them through a makeshift slingshot mechanic into the sky.
Your first actual powers will be those over Gravity and those over Lightning. You'll need to activate your Gravity power from the menu, at which point you can click and drag in a circular motion to send the entire game world spinning. Your Pygmies will hold onto the ground for dear life (literally), at which point you can click on them to make them lose their grip. As for Lightning, you'll need to replace the lovely white fluffy clouds with dark black menacing clouds, which can also be done through the menu. Afterwards, you can click on the dark cloud and drag your mouse to a Pygmy to turn them into a pile of black dust.
Other powers are available as you play the game, like a tornado that can be summoned when the dark clouds are present, the ability to change the cycles of the moon, the power to bring down a massive hailstorm, and even a silly power that summons a drum, causing your Pygmies to dance.
Why kill all of these Pygmies? For one, you'll need to do so (using a variety of your powers) to complete quests, which reward you with experience points and Sacrifice Points (the game's main currency), but even more so, you'll need to sacrifice these Pygmies in order to simply advance in the game. You have a Devotion Statue on your island that can be turned on with a click. Using Devotion Points (Energy Points), you can sacrifice your Pygmies while the statue is turned on to earn experience points and more Sacrifice Points, which must be spent, one point at a time, to summon new Pygmies.
As you go along, you'll be able to decorate your island with coconut trees, a Venus Fly-trap that eats Pygmies, and cactuses that bear explosive fruits. You can purchase a shark that eats Pygmies in the water, and various Idols that reward you with more points per sacrifice.
The entire game is a cycle of death and rebirth for your poor Pygmies, just like in the iPhone game, but the Facebook version of the game features exclusive powers not found in the iPhone version, along with female Pygmies. In addition, the social elements here allow you to sacrifice your own friends, if you'd like to prove a point or just be a bit naughty.
It should be noted that when you first play the game, Pocket God is one that requires you to allow automatic wall posting in order to actually install the game. This can be turned off however via your Privacy Settings page, if you'd prefer not to see an infinite number of Pocket God related posts appear on your wall without your knowledge.
If you'd like to put these adorable, yet helpless little Pygmies through some amusing deaths, or even put your friends on the proverbial chopping block (all in good fun of course), give this one a try.
CityVille Holiday Decorations still without payout increases
Decorations have no payout increase
While you're building that massive Holiday Tree for your city in CityVille, why not add some places for your citizens to finish that last minute shopping? In a recent update the game, Zynga added a few new Businesses to the game in addition to some decorations, but they still have no stats attached to them. Check it out:
Gingerbread Man (2 City Cash)
Saint Bernard (5 City Cash)
Lawn Carolers (10 City Cash)
Mall Santa (30 City Cash)
In what we hope is a bug, those four decorations have zero payout increases attached to them. A word to the wise, avoid these decorations until an official statement has been made by Zynga in the forums or the developer stealthily changes them. Until then, enjoy some new Businesses to prep your people for the big day.
While you're building that massive Holiday Tree for your city in CityVille, why not add some places for your citizens to finish that last minute shopping? In a recent update the game, Zynga added a few new Businesses to the game in addition to some decorations, but they still have no stats attached to them. Check it out:
Gingerbread Man (2 City Cash)
Saint Bernard (5 City Cash)
Lawn Carolers (10 City Cash)
Mall Santa (30 City Cash)
In what we hope is a bug, those four decorations have zero payout increases attached to them. A word to the wise, avoid these decorations until an official statement has been made by Zynga in the forums or the developer stealthily changes them. Until then, enjoy some new Businesses to prep your people for the big day.
FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Goals: Everything you need to know for Day 11
With the 12 Days of Christmas in FrontierVille well under way, it's time we take a look at what you'll need to do to finish Day 11. Titled "On the Eleventh Day O' Christmas," this Goal is decidedly far more difficult than the last. Buying 11 Meals is going to be rough no matter how you slice it. Even if you purchased 11 of the smallest Meals, the Light Snack at 36 Food, you'll still need 396 Food to complete this requirement at the very least. So, get to harvesting those trees and tending to those animals to amass as much food as you can. And remember: doing the same in your Neighbors' homesteads also drops Food.
Secondly, if you don't already have 11 Adult Chickens, the second requirement to this Goal will take some time. If you're starting fresh, Chickens need to be tended to 10 times before they mature completely. Multiply that by 11 and you'll have to spend 110 Energy alone and plenty of hours tending to Chickens to complete this requirement. And the clincher is that you can't even spend the Food to replenish your Energy in the process as you'll be too busy buying 11 Light Snacks.
As icing on the incredibly difficult cake, you need to collect 10 Christmas Cards from friends through the good old-fashioned way: asking them. But here's a pro tip: before accepting the mission, why not get everything you can prepared beforehand? Raises those Chickens and amass that Food supply and once you accept the Goal, you can eliminate two requirements immediately. All you need to worry about that point is pestering your friends.
Secondly, if you don't already have 11 Adult Chickens, the second requirement to this Goal will take some time. If you're starting fresh, Chickens need to be tended to 10 times before they mature completely. Multiply that by 11 and you'll have to spend 110 Energy alone and plenty of hours tending to Chickens to complete this requirement. And the clincher is that you can't even spend the Food to replenish your Energy in the process as you'll be too busy buying 11 Light Snacks.
As icing on the incredibly difficult cake, you need to collect 10 Christmas Cards from friends through the good old-fashioned way: asking them. But here's a pro tip: before accepting the mission, why not get everything you can prepared beforehand? Raises those Chickens and amass that Food supply and once you accept the Goal, you can eliminate two requirements immediately. All you need to worry about that point is pestering your friends.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Gundam's giant fighting robots even bigger on Japan's Gree, DeNA
Just in case you haven't noticed, Japan kind of has a thing for gargantuan fighting robots. The incredible growth of mobile social games based on the popular Gundam franchise reflects this, as Gundam Masters by Gree has reached over 1 million players just over a month since its Sept. 1 release on Japanese mobile phones. Serkan Toto reports that the number breaks down to 1,262 players registered per hour since its launch.
Even more impressive is that the Gundam game available through DeNA's Mobage network, Gundam Royal, reached 1 million players in just six days when it launched in December of last year. According to Serkan Toto, the game now enjoys around 3 million players on the Mobage network, which just launched in China and across the English-speaking world through Ngmoco.
While these numbers certainly pale in comparison to, say, CityVille's meteoric growth going into 2011, there's likely more Gundam where this came from. DeNA just embarked on a joint venture with Bandai Namco, the company that holds the Gundam license, to make a 100 million yen joint studio project called BDNA Inc. And Serkan Toto reports that Bandai Namco is also working with competitor Gree to release four more mobile social games this year.
Mobile social games are clearly far bigger across the Pacific than they are in the U.S., but they're gaining traction in the western world as well. Several secret Zynga projects have been cropping up like Mafia Wars Shakedown and FarmVille Express. Not to mention companies like Capcom making major moves in the space with its Smurfs games. If 2011 was the year of social games, 2012 will certainly be the year of mobile social games.
Even more impressive is that the Gundam game available through DeNA's Mobage network, Gundam Royal, reached 1 million players in just six days when it launched in December of last year. According to Serkan Toto, the game now enjoys around 3 million players on the Mobage network, which just launched in China and across the English-speaking world through Ngmoco.
While these numbers certainly pale in comparison to, say, CityVille's meteoric growth going into 2011, there's likely more Gundam where this came from. DeNA just embarked on a joint venture with Bandai Namco, the company that holds the Gundam license, to make a 100 million yen joint studio project called BDNA Inc. And Serkan Toto reports that Bandai Namco is also working with competitor Gree to release four more mobile social games this year.
Mobile social games are clearly far bigger across the Pacific than they are in the U.S., but they're gaining traction in the western world as well. Several secret Zynga projects have been cropping up like Mafia Wars Shakedown and FarmVille Express. Not to mention companies like Capcom making major moves in the space with its Smurfs games. If 2011 was the year of social games, 2012 will certainly be the year of mobile social games.
No More Heroes for Mobage to bring 'social assassin battle' to phones
Japanese developer Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51 clearly wasn't joking when he set out to make "the social game with the most blood." Joystiq reports that, according to a release by publisher Marvelous AQL, No More Heroes (working title) will release on iOS and Android devices through DeNA and Ngmoco's Mobage network as a "social assassin battle." This will be the first multiplayer game in the critically-acclaimed-but-commercially-lukewarm No More Heroes series.
Unfortunately, neither a release date nor more details on just how social this bloody mobile game will be were revealed. But judging from these first images of the game in action, it certainly looks to impress visually. (Frankly, these look a helluva lot like images from previous versions of the series on consoles like Nintendo Wii.)
This decidedly hardcore mobile social game will be released by Grasshopper Manufacture along with three more games in the same format. The first of which will most likely be Frog Minutes, an odd game that's already available in Japan through Mobage that has players capture various insects for a frog to eat.
No More Heroes Mobage 2
Nothing has been revealed of the studio's other two mobile social games in the works other than their titles, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters. Based on highly educated guess work, either of the games will feature at least one of the following things: blood, guts, swords and women scantily clad in school uniforms.
Unfortunately, neither a release date nor more details on just how social this bloody mobile game will be were revealed. But judging from these first images of the game in action, it certainly looks to impress visually. (Frankly, these look a helluva lot like images from previous versions of the series on consoles like Nintendo Wii.)
This decidedly hardcore mobile social game will be released by Grasshopper Manufacture along with three more games in the same format. The first of which will most likely be Frog Minutes, an odd game that's already available in Japan through Mobage that has players capture various insects for a frog to eat.
No More Heroes Mobage 2
Nothing has been revealed of the studio's other two mobile social games in the works other than their titles, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters. Based on highly educated guess work, either of the games will feature at least one of the following things: blood, guts, swords and women scantily clad in school uniforms.
Analyst: The last three years was the 'first generation of social games'
If you still think Facebook games haven't made a visible impact on traditional games, then look no further than Trion Worlds. The creator of hit MMO (massively multiplayer online game) Rift announced Red Door, an upcoming game development and distribution platform that looks to do for the traditional games industry what Facebook has done for social games. And, at least on paper, it sounds pretty brilliant.
Trion CEO Dr. Lars Buttler said to Kotaku, "Facebook catalyzed a ton of new experiences and we want to do that for premium AAA games. We want make them more live and more dynamic than the current model of social games where months go by and nothing changes." Red Door, which will be available to third-party game creators in spring 2012, will offer them a server infrastructure with support for billing, customer support and content management, according to Kotaku.
In other words, Trion looks to be the Zynga of the hardcore games industry through Red Door, a platform that sounds a whole lot like Facebook. Combining the HD graphics and complex gameplay capabilities of hardcore game engines with the ability to constantly and continually update games with new content a' la Facebook games, Trion looks to usher in the future of hardcore game creation. According to Kotaku, Red Door could be the end of $60 traditional game sequels like, say, Gears of War 3.
If anything, Trion Worlds is certainly onto something. As companies make millions (and see valuations in the billions) from free-to-play social gaming, traditional game creators have to do something to survive. And just as Unreal Engine 3, a widely-used traditional game creation technology, comes to Flash Facebook, Trion hopes to lure game makers through its big Red Door.
Trion CEO Dr. Lars Buttler said to Kotaku, "Facebook catalyzed a ton of new experiences and we want to do that for premium AAA games. We want make them more live and more dynamic than the current model of social games where months go by and nothing changes." Red Door, which will be available to third-party game creators in spring 2012, will offer them a server infrastructure with support for billing, customer support and content management, according to Kotaku.
In other words, Trion looks to be the Zynga of the hardcore games industry through Red Door, a platform that sounds a whole lot like Facebook. Combining the HD graphics and complex gameplay capabilities of hardcore game engines with the ability to constantly and continually update games with new content a' la Facebook games, Trion looks to usher in the future of hardcore game creation. According to Kotaku, Red Door could be the end of $60 traditional game sequels like, say, Gears of War 3.
If anything, Trion Worlds is certainly onto something. As companies make millions (and see valuations in the billions) from free-to-play social gaming, traditional game creators have to do something to survive. And just as Unreal Engine 3, a widely-used traditional game creation technology, comes to Flash Facebook, Trion hopes to lure game makers through its big Red Door.
Rift maker Trion wants Red Door to be Facebook for hardcore games
If you still think Facebook games haven't made a visible impact on traditional games, then look no further than Trion Worlds. The creator of hit MMO (massively multiplayer online game) Rift announced Red Door, an upcoming game development and distribution platform that looks to do for the traditional games industry what Facebook has done for social games. And, at least on paper, it sounds pretty brilliant.
Trion CEO Dr. Lars Buttler said to Kotaku, "Facebook catalyzed a ton of new experiences and we want to do that for premium AAA games. We want make them more live and more dynamic than the current model of social games where months go by and nothing changes." Red Door, which will be available to third-party game creators in spring 2012, will offer them a server infrastructure with support for billing, customer support and content management, according to Kotaku.
In other words, Trion looks to be the Zynga of the hardcore games industry through Red Door, a platform that sounds a whole lot like Facebook. Combining the HD graphics and complex gameplay capabilities of hardcore game engines with the ability to constantly and continually update games with new content a' la Facebook games, Trion looks to usher in the future of hardcore game creation. According to Kotaku, Red Door could be the end of $60 traditional game sequels like, say, Gears of War 3.
If anything, Trion Worlds is certainly onto something. As companies make millions (and see valuations in the billions) from free-to-play social gaming, traditional game creators have to do something to survive. And just as Unreal Engine 3, a widely-used traditional game creation technology, comes to Flash Facebook, Trion hopes to lure game makers through its big Red Door.
Trion CEO Dr. Lars Buttler said to Kotaku, "Facebook catalyzed a ton of new experiences and we want to do that for premium AAA games. We want make them more live and more dynamic than the current model of social games where months go by and nothing changes." Red Door, which will be available to third-party game creators in spring 2012, will offer them a server infrastructure with support for billing, customer support and content management, according to Kotaku.
In other words, Trion looks to be the Zynga of the hardcore games industry through Red Door, a platform that sounds a whole lot like Facebook. Combining the HD graphics and complex gameplay capabilities of hardcore game engines with the ability to constantly and continually update games with new content a' la Facebook games, Trion looks to usher in the future of hardcore game creation. According to Kotaku, Red Door could be the end of $60 traditional game sequels like, say, Gears of War 3.
If anything, Trion Worlds is certainly onto something. As companies make millions (and see valuations in the billions) from free-to-play social gaming, traditional game creators have to do something to survive. And just as Unreal Engine 3, a widely-used traditional game creation technology, comes to Flash Facebook, Trion hopes to lure game makers through its big Red Door.
CityVille Hometown Halloween update gives your city the spooky touch
Look, we all know Christmas trumps Halloween every time. That said, Halloween is a very, very close second. So, I'll take a mobile game update in tribute to yet another holiday that has lost all meaning, thanks Zynga. The company pushed out Version 1.023 of CityVille Hometown, and it's chock-full of goodies that will turn your quaint little down into a mini, digital Salem.
Of course, there are a number of Halloween-themed decorations to place in the game now, but players can also decorate buildings and businesses to give them that "haunted house" look. (Gee, if only decoration my own house was this simple.) The update also brings a bevy of Halloween-centric Goals, and a new building that's said to offer unique rewards, The Graveyard.
And luckily for you, Zynga threw in a few much-needed fixes like better inventory presentation to make using Energy simpler and a fix to the Energy out-of-sync issues. And when it comes to enhancements, CV Hometown now has improved animations and increased expansion space for your town. And with the amount of content that seems to be packed into this update, you might need the room sooner than you think.
Of course, there are a number of Halloween-themed decorations to place in the game now, but players can also decorate buildings and businesses to give them that "haunted house" look. (Gee, if only decoration my own house was this simple.) The update also brings a bevy of Halloween-centric Goals, and a new building that's said to offer unique rewards, The Graveyard.
And luckily for you, Zynga threw in a few much-needed fixes like better inventory presentation to make using Energy simpler and a fix to the Energy out-of-sync issues. And when it comes to enhancements, CV Hometown now has improved animations and increased expansion space for your town. And with the amount of content that seems to be packed into this update, you might need the room sooner than you think.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
FarmVille Sneak Peek: New Modern Theme coming soon?
Back in May of 2010, Zynga launched a short Modern Theme of limited edition items in FarmVille. At the time, the items released contained straight lines and simplistic and (of course) modern designs that may or may not have fit in with any particular user's farm - it was up to them to make it fit with the "country" style of the game.
While the event has long since expired, and the items basically unheard of since, it seems as though Zynga might not be ready to forever say goodbye to the theme of "modern" in the game, as we've come across a solitary unreleased image this morning - the image of a new Modern Home. Of course, with the release of the first Modern Home back in May, there's a high probability that Zynga will rename this item into something more original, but it will definitely be interesting to see if this was just a one-off item, that the FarmVille team had no interest in developing further, or whether this will be the first of many "Modern Theme 2" items that we'll eventually see in the game.
As usual, there's no guarantee that this item will actually launch in the game, and any details about its pricing or availability are as-of-now unknown, so keep that in mind.
What do you think of this "Modern Home?" Would you like to see the modern theme make a comeback in FarmVille?
While the event has long since expired, and the items basically unheard of since, it seems as though Zynga might not be ready to forever say goodbye to the theme of "modern" in the game, as we've come across a solitary unreleased image this morning - the image of a new Modern Home. Of course, with the release of the first Modern Home back in May, there's a high probability that Zynga will rename this item into something more original, but it will definitely be interesting to see if this was just a one-off item, that the FarmVille team had no interest in developing further, or whether this will be the first of many "Modern Theme 2" items that we'll eventually see in the game.
As usual, there's no guarantee that this item will actually launch in the game, and any details about its pricing or availability are as-of-now unknown, so keep that in mind.
What do you think of this "Modern Home?" Would you like to see the modern theme make a comeback in FarmVille?
Gain your rightful place in the yearbook with Liberty High on Facebook
Most of us (those out of high school, anyway) probably remember high school as one of two things - either the worst time of our lives, or the best. If you are a member of the former group, a Facebook game called Liberty High has its sites set on you. Liberty High can be most-easily described as a semi-clone of Mafia Wars, and the game will allow you to relive your high school days (albeit virtually) in order to earn a better spot in the yearbook, and the adoration of all of your classmates.
Gameplay is mostly text-based, although you are allowed to create a real avatar for yourself (hair, eye color, clothing options, and so on). Your character will level up over time, earning more Energy, Confidence points, and Health points, and you'll be able to use those points in a variety of activities, like completing school missions (separated into Academics, Art, Athletics and Fun categories), flirting with the school's cutest boys, and having face-offs with your rivals.
All of these elements have comparisons to activities that you can complete in Mafia Wars, so if you're at all familiar with Zynga's crime-themed game, you'll get along just fine here, regardless of the variance in themes. For a complete look at everything Liberty High has to offer, meet us behind the break. First and foremost, you'll use your energy points to complete Activities. These activities each require varying amounts of energy to complete, and reward you accordingly with social status points (the game's experience points) and even money. You can complete activities multiple times, in order to master them (you'll receive medals - bronze, silver, etc. - for completing them). Interestingly, some of these missions require more than just energy to complete, as you'll also have to use health points. It's a unique take on the gameplay formula, but we're not sure how much sense it really makes. After all, why should your health go down because you're writing a paper for class? But I digress.
That design choice aside, you'll need to spend money that you earn to purchase items required for these activities, like books, laptops and other school supplies. Once you get tired of doing activities (or you run out of money), you can try to help your character in other areas, like love and their overall social life.
The "Flirting" portion of the game is split into three sections - Crushes, Admirers, and Invitations. You can have a crush on other real world players in the game, and you can try to date those characters to earn boyfriends (invitations are sent to these players, that they must accept). Other players can ask you to do the same, and they can become your admirers. The game will also randomly assign you invitations from boys at the school (Edward Cullen apparently attends Liberty High) who would like to date you.
Where Mafia Wars offers fighting amongst real world players, so too does Liberty High, but these are called "Rivals" and "Vendettas." Going up against a rival is a one time thing, unless you'd like to keep pummeling them while they're down, while Vendettas allow you to retaliate against users that attack you while you are out of the game (ie: defenseless). These fights can be customized to your liking, depending on how mean you'd like to be to that particular person. You can hold popularity contests between the two of you, challenge them to a food fight, a dance off, or even an arm-wrestling match, with insults and screaming also available as options, among many others.
You'll earn cash and experience points if you win battles, but you'll lose Confidence points (Stamina) if you lose. You can use that cash either to purchase activity-related items, as mentioned above, or you can shop for items that instantly refill portions of your energy or confidence bars, in order to keep playing the game longer in a single session.
All told, Liberty High has some technical problems, including a weirdly echo-ing soundtrack (that can easily be muted), but if you're looking for a girl-centric Mafia Wars clone, that will very easily have you dominating over your as-of-now fairly light competition - this might be one to look into.
Gameplay is mostly text-based, although you are allowed to create a real avatar for yourself (hair, eye color, clothing options, and so on). Your character will level up over time, earning more Energy, Confidence points, and Health points, and you'll be able to use those points in a variety of activities, like completing school missions (separated into Academics, Art, Athletics and Fun categories), flirting with the school's cutest boys, and having face-offs with your rivals.
All of these elements have comparisons to activities that you can complete in Mafia Wars, so if you're at all familiar with Zynga's crime-themed game, you'll get along just fine here, regardless of the variance in themes. For a complete look at everything Liberty High has to offer, meet us behind the break. First and foremost, you'll use your energy points to complete Activities. These activities each require varying amounts of energy to complete, and reward you accordingly with social status points (the game's experience points) and even money. You can complete activities multiple times, in order to master them (you'll receive medals - bronze, silver, etc. - for completing them). Interestingly, some of these missions require more than just energy to complete, as you'll also have to use health points. It's a unique take on the gameplay formula, but we're not sure how much sense it really makes. After all, why should your health go down because you're writing a paper for class? But I digress.
That design choice aside, you'll need to spend money that you earn to purchase items required for these activities, like books, laptops and other school supplies. Once you get tired of doing activities (or you run out of money), you can try to help your character in other areas, like love and their overall social life.
The "Flirting" portion of the game is split into three sections - Crushes, Admirers, and Invitations. You can have a crush on other real world players in the game, and you can try to date those characters to earn boyfriends (invitations are sent to these players, that they must accept). Other players can ask you to do the same, and they can become your admirers. The game will also randomly assign you invitations from boys at the school (Edward Cullen apparently attends Liberty High) who would like to date you.
Where Mafia Wars offers fighting amongst real world players, so too does Liberty High, but these are called "Rivals" and "Vendettas." Going up against a rival is a one time thing, unless you'd like to keep pummeling them while they're down, while Vendettas allow you to retaliate against users that attack you while you are out of the game (ie: defenseless). These fights can be customized to your liking, depending on how mean you'd like to be to that particular person. You can hold popularity contests between the two of you, challenge them to a food fight, a dance off, or even an arm-wrestling match, with insults and screaming also available as options, among many others.
You'll earn cash and experience points if you win battles, but you'll lose Confidence points (Stamina) if you lose. You can use that cash either to purchase activity-related items, as mentioned above, or you can shop for items that instantly refill portions of your energy or confidence bars, in order to keep playing the game longer in a single session.
All told, Liberty High has some technical problems, including a weirdly echo-ing soundtrack (that can easily be muted), but if you're looking for a girl-centric Mafia Wars clone, that will very easily have you dominating over your as-of-now fairly light competition - this might be one to look into.
FrontierVille Sneak Peek: Possible RewardVille items revealed
Earlier today, we brought you a sneak peek of a few of the CityVille prizes that will apparently be available to users via RewardVille, Zynga's new rewards program that offers players points that can be redeemed for prizes, just for being a loyal player of their games. Now, FrontierVille Legend has come up with an interesting theory - a few of the items that we saw as unreleased items way back in December (items that have not been released in the game yet) are likely FrontierVille's RewardVille rewards.
Apparently, these items have been marked as "zPoints" by Zynga, with zPoints being the original name for zCoins, which is now the official currency of the RewardVille program. There are five items that are believed to be rewards for FrontierVille, although nothing is certain at this point. They are:
Varmint Targets
Spittoon
Sad Lil' Tree
Pink Tree
Duck Pinwheel
It's interesting to see Christmas items included in this set, but perhaps this will be FrontierVille's way of celebrating the holiday all-year-round. Regardless, we'll be sure to give you a complete look at which items do finally make it into RewardVille when the program goes live for all FrontierVille players in the apparently near future.
Apparently, these items have been marked as "zPoints" by Zynga, with zPoints being the original name for zCoins, which is now the official currency of the RewardVille program. There are five items that are believed to be rewards for FrontierVille, although nothing is certain at this point. They are:
Varmint Targets
Spittoon
Sad Lil' Tree
Pink Tree
Duck Pinwheel
It's interesting to see Christmas items included in this set, but perhaps this will be FrontierVille's way of celebrating the holiday all-year-round. Regardless, we'll be sure to give you a complete look at which items do finally make it into RewardVille when the program goes live for all FrontierVille players in the apparently near future.
FrontierVille: Snowy Trees now appearing on Homesteads
Just as we had a transition from lush, green trees in summer to red and yellow trees for fall in FrontierVille, it looks like Zynga has finally transitioned the game fully into winter, as Snowy Trees have now started appearing on users' Homesteads.
This appears to be a slow rollout, as most users on the FrontierVille forums are reporting that they either A) haven't received snowy trees at all, or B) only one or two of their completely new trees have grown in to be snowy trees.
Meanwhile users like wngschic have posted screenshots of an entire Homestead's worth of snow covered pines and oaks. These trees are only different visually - they still function the same, are capable of bringing out bears, and will reward wood when chopped down - they just happen to be either leafless, in the case of the Oak, or covered in snow, as it is with the Pines.
This appears to be a slow rollout, as most users on the FrontierVille forums are reporting that they either A) haven't received snowy trees at all, or B) only one or two of their completely new trees have grown in to be snowy trees.
Meanwhile users like wngschic have posted screenshots of an entire Homestead's worth of snow covered pines and oaks. These trees are only different visually - they still function the same, are capable of bringing out bears, and will reward wood when chopped down - they just happen to be either leafless, in the case of the Oak, or covered in snow, as it is with the Pines.
Mafia Wars: Increase your mafia size (and strength) for free with help from friends
As any dedicated Mafia Wars player knows, the best way to outgun and outrun your opponents is by having as large a mafia as possible, so that each member of that mafia can bring in its own defensive and offensive items, animals, and even vehicles into any fight you may find yourself placed in (of course, you need to have enough items in your inventory to outfit them, but that's another story altogether).
As it stands, the normal methods of adding members to your mafia are either simply asking your friends who play the game to join you (similar to other "add neighbor") mechanics in most Facebook games, or by purchasing "Hired Guns" for premium currency. These hired guns act the same as those real-world players that you've recruited, but help fill in the gap created between how many real-world friends you have, and the 501 mafia member limit (500 members aside from yourself).
That all being the case, if you don't want to pay Reward Points to add Hired Guns to your account, Zynga has now (mercifully) added the Hired Gun to the game's free gifts page in bundles of 2. That is, if you head over to the free gifts page, you'll be able to send your friends +2 Mafia Members, in an effort to help them get closer to that elusive 501 member goal. This is a pretty big deal, considering the fact that each mafia member makes you a stronger player overall, so it's definitely worth spreading a few of these around between friends in order to boost your mafia was much as you can before they are removed from the page.
As it stands, the normal methods of adding members to your mafia are either simply asking your friends who play the game to join you (similar to other "add neighbor") mechanics in most Facebook games, or by purchasing "Hired Guns" for premium currency. These hired guns act the same as those real-world players that you've recruited, but help fill in the gap created between how many real-world friends you have, and the 501 mafia member limit (500 members aside from yourself).
That all being the case, if you don't want to pay Reward Points to add Hired Guns to your account, Zynga has now (mercifully) added the Hired Gun to the game's free gifts page in bundles of 2. That is, if you head over to the free gifts page, you'll be able to send your friends +2 Mafia Members, in an effort to help them get closer to that elusive 501 member goal. This is a pretty big deal, considering the fact that each mafia member makes you a stronger player overall, so it's definitely worth spreading a few of these around between friends in order to boost your mafia was much as you can before they are removed from the page.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Women play more mobile social games than men - Surprise!
A recent study published by Flurry, a San Francisco-based smartphone analytics firm, made a shocking discovery: Women between 26 and 65-years-old play more mobile social games than men. Whoa, you mean to say that this data has the same results of every study relating to the topic ever? Honestly, no one should be shocked that this is the case. Nor should they be by Flurry's discovery that, after surveying 60 thousand gamers, 20 percent more men play traditional video games than women.
We've known this for a long time. But what's more interesting is Flurry's look at other statistics pertaining to marketers' coveted mobile social gamer. According to the data, nearly 70 percent of mobile social gamers are white. Furthermore, 61 percent of mobile social gamers have at least their bachelor's degree and over one third of them make between $60 and $80 thousand a year. Well, I guess it's nice to know that mobile social gamers are doing just fine. Yet it begs the question: Why might folks in this economic bracket have more time to play mobile social games than any other?
[Via VentureBeat]
[Image Credit: Games For Good]
Do you find this study surprising at all? What do you think of the rest of Flurry's data?
We've known this for a long time. But what's more interesting is Flurry's look at other statistics pertaining to marketers' coveted mobile social gamer. According to the data, nearly 70 percent of mobile social gamers are white. Furthermore, 61 percent of mobile social gamers have at least their bachelor's degree and over one third of them make between $60 and $80 thousand a year. Well, I guess it's nice to know that mobile social gamers are doing just fine. Yet it begs the question: Why might folks in this economic bracket have more time to play mobile social games than any other?
[Via VentureBeat]
[Image Credit: Games For Good]
Do you find this study surprising at all? What do you think of the rest of Flurry's data?
Lunchtime Poll: How do you use the CityVille Visitor's Center?
Visitor's Center
CityVille recently received the Visitor's Center, its first Active Building, something that Zynga says might inspire future buildings. The Visitor's Center allows users to post messages to potential neighbors paying them a visit. It's a blank canvas that mayors can use to put out any message they wish. This new feature inspired forum user helenac to ask, "How do you use the Visitor's Center?" Many players responded with practical uses like informing visitors of what crops they would harvested or businesses tended to. Others put open call-outs for the types of Franchises they're looking to include in their cities. But this feature has much more potential than that, don't you think? This is exactly why we ask you:
How do you use the Visitor's Center?
Basic stuff: crop notifications and businesses I'd like tended to.I like to make Franchise call-outs here.Just to show off how awesome my city is with the statistics.I just like to post a hearty greeting to my neighbors.This thing is useless! I deleted mine in a fit of rage.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
Have any particularly creative uses of the Visitor's Center?
CityVille recently received the Visitor's Center, its first Active Building, something that Zynga says might inspire future buildings. The Visitor's Center allows users to post messages to potential neighbors paying them a visit. It's a blank canvas that mayors can use to put out any message they wish. This new feature inspired forum user helenac to ask, "How do you use the Visitor's Center?" Many players responded with practical uses like informing visitors of what crops they would harvested or businesses tended to. Others put open call-outs for the types of Franchises they're looking to include in their cities. But this feature has much more potential than that, don't you think? This is exactly why we ask you:
How do you use the Visitor's Center?
Basic stuff: crop notifications and businesses I'd like tended to.I like to make Franchise call-outs here.Just to show off how awesome my city is with the statistics.I just like to post a hearty greeting to my neighbors.This thing is useless! I deleted mine in a fit of rage.
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Have any particularly creative uses of the Visitor's Center?
Rumor: Has Zynga increased FrontierVille's help timer?
Several FrontierVille forum users are reporting that when they help a friend out from the News Feed, the timer for which they can help that friend is set at two days and some hours. FrontierVille forum user Lily200489 posted this image of her experience using the feature. While it doesn't read more than two days, it is far longer than normal. Normally, the help response timer is set to 24 hours, meaning that Zynga could be working on increasing the timer. This could have been changed for several reasons, the most likely being to take stress off of its servers from processing so many help responses and requests. It could also be one big glitch.
Help Timer Glitch
My personal tests (above) brought back this interesting result: "06:36:45". This indicates that I can help my friend again in six hours and 30 minutes, which makes less sense than 19th century pioneers sending goods through the ether. The standard timer for a help friend, again, is 24 hours. This leads me to believe that either Zynga is working on a big change to the help request timer or the developer is trying to fix a glitch. Either way, help response timers are pretty screwy at the moment, but we're leaning towards "glitch" rather than "change."
[Image Credit: Lily200489]
Have you experienced errors like this when helping friends in FrontierVille? What do you think they are the result of?
Help Timer Glitch
My personal tests (above) brought back this interesting result: "06:36:45". This indicates that I can help my friend again in six hours and 30 minutes, which makes less sense than 19th century pioneers sending goods through the ether. The standard timer for a help friend, again, is 24 hours. This leads me to believe that either Zynga is working on a big change to the help request timer or the developer is trying to fix a glitch. Either way, help response timers are pretty screwy at the moment, but we're leaning towards "glitch" rather than "change."
[Image Credit: Lily200489]
Have you experienced errors like this when helping friends in FrontierVille? What do you think they are the result of?
Nightclub City Rivals: Social rhythm/music game drops on iPhone, Android soon
Last week, we first heard word that Booyah -- the creators of Facebook game Nightclub City -- were hard at work on a mobile game spin-off called Nightclub City Rivals. Then, all we had was a teaser trailer that showed two cartoon DJs battling on the 1s and 2s.
Now we gathered a few more details on this upcoming music game, and I have to say, this game sounds like a socialized (and more fully realized) version of DJ Hero, an anemic mobile game based on the popular video game series with the same name.
Below are a few more nuggets of info on Nightclub City Rivals:
- Rivals is a rhythm-based role-playing game, where you take on the role of an up-and-coming DJ who goes head-to-head against other DJs, tapping, fading and scratching music tracks to increase their reputation and earn in-game cash which can be used to unlock new items and abilities.
- Once your DJ faces off against rivals, they will take on a series of tougher boss battles.
- Game's multiplayer mode will use GPS and allow players to check into real-world locations to battle other players. Once you check-in, you can become the House DJ (which is kind of like a Foursquare Mayor) and collect rent from other players who also check into the same spots.
Gallery: Nightclub City Rivals
- Yes, you will have a customizable avatar, which you will be able to style. Avatars will also have skill levels that you can build up over time.
- Rivals will offer a 'cross-over experience' of some sort, though it's not very clear whether that means the game will be connected across all platforms and/or whether this game will interact with Nightclub City on Facebook. More details soon.
- Nightclub City Rivals will be released for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android in March/April.
Now we gathered a few more details on this upcoming music game, and I have to say, this game sounds like a socialized (and more fully realized) version of DJ Hero, an anemic mobile game based on the popular video game series with the same name.
Below are a few more nuggets of info on Nightclub City Rivals:
- Rivals is a rhythm-based role-playing game, where you take on the role of an up-and-coming DJ who goes head-to-head against other DJs, tapping, fading and scratching music tracks to increase their reputation and earn in-game cash which can be used to unlock new items and abilities.
- Once your DJ faces off against rivals, they will take on a series of tougher boss battles.
- Game's multiplayer mode will use GPS and allow players to check into real-world locations to battle other players. Once you check-in, you can become the House DJ (which is kind of like a Foursquare Mayor) and collect rent from other players who also check into the same spots.
Gallery: Nightclub City Rivals
- Yes, you will have a customizable avatar, which you will be able to style. Avatars will also have skill levels that you can build up over time.
- Rivals will offer a 'cross-over experience' of some sort, though it's not very clear whether that means the game will be connected across all platforms and/or whether this game will interact with Nightclub City on Facebook. More details soon.
- Nightclub City Rivals will be released for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android in March/April.
Games.com launches new way to invite friends to play
Games.com, aka the most awesome online game site ever, has just released a special new "invite" feature. In every game on Games.com, you can now send an invite to a friend to join you in that game. We all know that playing games with friends makes a game more fun (200 million plus Facebook game players agree). We made it so easy to invite friends that you owe it to yourself to give it a try.
To invite friends to play a game, here's what you need to do:
1. Find a game you like on Games.com.
(I recommend SnackJack It has cute pigs!)
2. Click 'Play Free Online."
play free online
3. Wait for the the chat on the right side to load.
4. Click the big "invite buddy" button.
invite buddies
5. Copy the aol.it link in the chat.
copy the aol.it link
6. Post it EVERYWHERE! Send it via, email, Facebook or Twitter. (OK, maybe not everywhere, but send it to your friends)
Your friends will click on the link and will automatically be added to the game you're playing.
So is this awesome or what?
To invite friends to play a game, here's what you need to do:
1. Find a game you like on Games.com.
(I recommend SnackJack It has cute pigs!)
2. Click 'Play Free Online."
play free online
3. Wait for the the chat on the right side to load.
4. Click the big "invite buddy" button.
invite buddies
5. Copy the aol.it link in the chat.
copy the aol.it link
6. Post it EVERYWHERE! Send it via, email, Facebook or Twitter. (OK, maybe not everywhere, but send it to your friends)
Your friends will click on the link and will automatically be added to the game you're playing.
So is this awesome or what?
Thursday, January 5, 2012
CityVille Updated Train System: Everything you need to know
Zynga has made widespread changes to the way trains work in CityVille, removing the old system altogether and replacing it with a new and updated Train Station, along with new missions. Now, when you click on the Train Station, you'll see a horizontal list of missions that appears at the bottom of your screen, just as the store appears when you'd like to purchase an item. This is your Train Schedules list, offering you four trains that sell Goods, and four trains that purchase Goods.
Each schedule costs a different amount of coins to set into motion, but also rewards a different amount of Goods and can go to varying amounts of friends' cities in the process. Simply clicking on a schedule doesn't cause a train to depart; rather, it brings up a more informative window where you can see the exact details of how long your train will take, where you can also see how many other stops can be made by the train as it travels on its route.
Meet us behind the break for more details about this new train setup.
As you can see from the image above (which is of the very first Train Schedule missions available - the one that costs 65 coins), your guaranteed to receive at least 20 Goods by sending out this train. The train will take 5 minutes to return to the station, but you can also increase your Goods potential by adding two stops to the route. That is, you can click on the "Dispatch Train and Requests Stops" button to post a general news item to your wall, asking your friends to help you "add stops" to the train's path.
Doing so will reward you with more Goods upon the train's return to your town. In this particular example, you'd receive 20 extra Goods for the first friend that helped, and a final 10 extra Goods for a second friend, to bring the total up to 50 Goods in 5 minutes. You can also add extra Goods, or make your trains return instantly by paying City Cash, if you so choose.
As you browse through the new Train Schedule list, you can also hover over each job to see the maximum amount of Goods possible should you have your entire Route filled by helpful friends. Remember that this is just the maximum amount of Goods, which isn't guaranteed to you. To see the minimum amount of Goods for a job, you'd need to click on the train schedule to open up the information window like that above.
Zynga says that this new way of running trains will help you earn more Goods than ever before, but of course that will only be true if you have a lot of helpful friends on hand at all times to click on wall posts. Still, I suppose this simple wall post is better than sending trains to other users' towns asking for their own Goods, which didn't work either. It will be interesting to see if these new posts flood our news feed, or if people stick to the minimum amount of Goods for each job.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Each schedule costs a different amount of coins to set into motion, but also rewards a different amount of Goods and can go to varying amounts of friends' cities in the process. Simply clicking on a schedule doesn't cause a train to depart; rather, it brings up a more informative window where you can see the exact details of how long your train will take, where you can also see how many other stops can be made by the train as it travels on its route.
Meet us behind the break for more details about this new train setup.
As you can see from the image above (which is of the very first Train Schedule missions available - the one that costs 65 coins), your guaranteed to receive at least 20 Goods by sending out this train. The train will take 5 minutes to return to the station, but you can also increase your Goods potential by adding two stops to the route. That is, you can click on the "Dispatch Train and Requests Stops" button to post a general news item to your wall, asking your friends to help you "add stops" to the train's path.
Doing so will reward you with more Goods upon the train's return to your town. In this particular example, you'd receive 20 extra Goods for the first friend that helped, and a final 10 extra Goods for a second friend, to bring the total up to 50 Goods in 5 minutes. You can also add extra Goods, or make your trains return instantly by paying City Cash, if you so choose.
As you browse through the new Train Schedule list, you can also hover over each job to see the maximum amount of Goods possible should you have your entire Route filled by helpful friends. Remember that this is just the maximum amount of Goods, which isn't guaranteed to you. To see the minimum amount of Goods for a job, you'd need to click on the train schedule to open up the information window like that above.
Zynga says that this new way of running trains will help you earn more Goods than ever before, but of course that will only be true if you have a lot of helpful friends on hand at all times to click on wall posts. Still, I suppose this simple wall post is better than sending trains to other users' towns asking for their own Goods, which didn't work either. It will be interesting to see if these new posts flood our news feed, or if people stick to the minimum amount of Goods for each job.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
CityVille: Redeem Game Card, receive 20% extra City Cash
Zynga is throwing a Game Card "sale" in CityVille this weekend, lasting from now until March 20 (that's tomorrow) at 11:59 PM PST. For all users that redeem a Game Card or eCard for City Cash in CityVille in this time period, you'll receive 20% extra City Cash on your transaction for free.
To be specific, the full value of your Game Card (whether it be $10, $20 or otherwise) will be redeemed when you take part in this promotion - you'll just also receive a few extra City Cash on your account for turning it in during this time. As another bonus, if you redeem a Game Card, Zynga says you'll also receive extra bonus Energy, but they didn't clarify just how many energy points you'd receive. Still, with the recent changes to the availability of energy, any extra energy is better than none.
If you had been planning on redeeming a Game Card but were waiting for a good reason, here it is. Remember, this deal will only be available until Midnight tomorrow evening, so make sure to take advantage of it while there's still time, if you're interested.
What do you think of this new promotion? Is 20% too little of a bonus to have you purchase an eCard, or did you already receive your bonus City Cash and energy?
To be specific, the full value of your Game Card (whether it be $10, $20 or otherwise) will be redeemed when you take part in this promotion - you'll just also receive a few extra City Cash on your account for turning it in during this time. As another bonus, if you redeem a Game Card, Zynga says you'll also receive extra bonus Energy, but they didn't clarify just how many energy points you'd receive. Still, with the recent changes to the availability of energy, any extra energy is better than none.
If you had been planning on redeeming a Game Card but were waiting for a good reason, here it is. Remember, this deal will only be available until Midnight tomorrow evening, so make sure to take advantage of it while there's still time, if you're interested.
What do you think of this new promotion? Is 20% too little of a bonus to have you purchase an eCard, or did you already receive your bonus City Cash and energy?
FarmVille English Countryside Sneak Peek: New buildings and decorations
Another round of new items has been added to FarmVille in anticipation of next week's launch of the English Countryside. While these new buildings and decorations are still unreleased, we've got the images here to share with you.
For the new decorative items, we have five in total: Guard Gnome, Garden Pond, Stony Bridge, Stone Wall, and Flower Barrow. All of these items natural items seem to fit the darker color scheme that we've seen in the English Countryside's buildings, and of course the Guard Gnome simply fits the overall theme to a T.
There are three buildings to take a look at as well, which you can see in the image below. From left to right is the Antique Shop, Thatched Cottage, and Museum. There's no telling whether or not these buildings will be simply released in the shop as completed structures, or whether we'll have to build them ourselves (most likely in the case of the Museum, if anything), but we'll make sure to let you know how these buildings are made available once the English Countryside launches in full.
Technically, a new work week in America starts on Sunday, which also happens to be a typical FarmVille update day. Does this mean the English Countryside will launch tomorrow? Keep checking back with us, as we'll make sure you're the first to know when the update is made available in the game.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
What do you think of these new decorative English Countryside items? Have you been saving up coins and Farm Cash to go on a shopping spree on your new farm?
For the new decorative items, we have five in total: Guard Gnome, Garden Pond, Stony Bridge, Stone Wall, and Flower Barrow. All of these items natural items seem to fit the darker color scheme that we've seen in the English Countryside's buildings, and of course the Guard Gnome simply fits the overall theme to a T.
There are three buildings to take a look at as well, which you can see in the image below. From left to right is the Antique Shop, Thatched Cottage, and Museum. There's no telling whether or not these buildings will be simply released in the shop as completed structures, or whether we'll have to build them ourselves (most likely in the case of the Museum, if anything), but we'll make sure to let you know how these buildings are made available once the English Countryside launches in full.
Technically, a new work week in America starts on Sunday, which also happens to be a typical FarmVille update day. Does this mean the English Countryside will launch tomorrow? Keep checking back with us, as we'll make sure you're the first to know when the update is made available in the game.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
What do you think of these new decorative English Countryside items? Have you been saving up coins and Farm Cash to go on a shopping spree on your new farm?
FrontierVille: Redeem Game Card, receive 20% extra Horseshoes
There's still time to take advantage of a new promotion that has launched in FrontierVille this week, offering players a chance to receive 20% extra Horseshoes on any Game Cards redeemed in the game. This is the same promotion currently running in CityVille (which of course offers 20% extra City Cash), but if you'd prefer Horseshoes instead, you can do so from now until March 20 (presumably until 11:59 PM PST).
Zynga is calling this a discount on Horseshoes, but that's an odd way of thinking about it. It doesn't matter how much your Game Card is worth, as it will be "used up" in its entirety when you redeem. You'll simply receive 20% extra Horseshoes in your transaction, as a bonus for purchasing a Game Card. This doesn't affect the amount of money you'd spend on the Game Card in the first place.
With the new 37 x 37 Land Expansion being available for Horseshoes, and the Detective Agency offering Horseshoes as a way to skip some of the more questionable tasks, this seems like as good of a time as any to purchase Horseshoes, if you were ever interested at all. Just remember to do so by tomorrow night to get the bonus Horseshoes while you can.
Will you redeem a Game Card in FrontierVille for the bonus Horseshoes?
Zynga is calling this a discount on Horseshoes, but that's an odd way of thinking about it. It doesn't matter how much your Game Card is worth, as it will be "used up" in its entirety when you redeem. You'll simply receive 20% extra Horseshoes in your transaction, as a bonus for purchasing a Game Card. This doesn't affect the amount of money you'd spend on the Game Card in the first place.
With the new 37 x 37 Land Expansion being available for Horseshoes, and the Detective Agency offering Horseshoes as a way to skip some of the more questionable tasks, this seems like as good of a time as any to purchase Horseshoes, if you were ever interested at all. Just remember to do so by tomorrow night to get the bonus Horseshoes while you can.
Will you redeem a Game Card in FrontierVille for the bonus Horseshoes?
Game of the Day: My Word!
The Game of the Day is made by a friend of Games.com and very happy about it. Another newish game for the Game of the Day, be sure to check it out. My Word! is a word game seemingly in the traditional mold, but several features set it apart from other games in the genre. The unique 3D board allows the player to lookahead for the next incoming letters, and if they are to keep formulating words, they must manage the grid carefully! With a dictionary of over 150,000 words and a chilled-out style, My Word! is a charming and relaxed addition to the genre.
Click --> play My Word!
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
Click --> play My Word!
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
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Best 10 Sims Social houses that aren't really houses
No matter how huge, color-coordinated, or pimptastic a humble player's not-so humble abode is, there's no getting away from the fact that after looking at the 40th or 50th house in The Sims Social, it all begins to blur.
Going by 'Likes' alone, we're talking 7.2 million players out there -- and unlike the real world, every player starts off life in Littlehaven with two rooms and a yard to call his or her own -- which translates into 7.2 million homes of all shapes and sizes. Most of these are going to end up as party houses, looking like they belong in Beverly Hills or Newport, RI. That is to say, magnificent and yet, inevitably yawn-inducing.
I think it's time for something completely different. I mean, a house that actually looks like a house is just so done. Why don't we ditch the majestic estates for a grand tour of homes that are oddball, off-beat, the strangely grand, the funny, and of the refreshingly non-residential variety?
#10 "Chess" by Jean de Florette - [Source]
Sims Social chess
It's Plants vs Zombies Plushies (and piggy bank pawns) played by "Rusty Longshanks vs. Mr. Gee Nome", who rose from the obscurity of land expansion lots (you'll find them in the game as Servo Statue and Human G Gnome) to become the reigning chessmasters of the Sims.
#9 "Library Part 2" by pandababy [Source]
Sims Social Library
Books, books, and more books! The original version included a small indoor cafe and an outdoor bathroom. We'll leave it up to you guys to decide which one you like better. Oh, and for those wondering what "TU" stands for, it's the initials to the creator's university.
#8 "Labyrinth" by dragonavic - [Source]
Sims Social labyrinth
Can you say, a-maze-ing? Living like a rat in a maze ain't so bad when it comes with your own private jacuzzi. Moreover, everything you need for a fully-functioning Sims Social home is included here.
#7 "Grave of Tuyul" by Ga Laconic - [Source]
Sims Social graveyard
Commence for freak out and stand by for a quick lesson on Southeast Asian mythology -- Tuyul (also written as Toyol) is what you call a child-like spirit or goblin that's summoned using a dead baby fetus. If you think a graveyard is scary, then a graveyard full of dead babies is truly out there. But hey, nice touch on sticking the farm plots on two of the graves, right?
#6 "Baseball House" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social baseball
Batter up! It's puppies versus teddies at the coolest baseball field in Sims Social, even if it's the only one. The blue Skulls team, made up of Faux-Fido, currently has the field. Plumpkins Bear of the red Batman team is in the batting cage. Concessions are open. Meanwhile, zombies are coming out of the toilets. Why? Who knows! The only thing I do know is that it's a lovely day for a game.
#5 "Sensei Blu's Dojo" by Blu Bla - [Source]
Sims Social dojo
This gorgeous Japanese dojo was created by Ahmed Zidan, who resides in Egypt. You can usually find a temple next to a real dojo, and the one he's built is actually constructed out of walls sold during the game's Japan week. They cost 800-1,000 Simoleons each. Not a small amount. Factor in all the special items and you'd understand why a lot of players can't get over how expensive this place is.
#4 "Supermarket with Cafe" by rosamystica - [Source]
Sims Social cafe and market
This place is more like a motel-cum-minimart on some lonesome strip mall than a supermarket, but we'll cut the creator some slack for the concept. Just look at all the neatly arranged shelves of food and presents in the center room! It makes me want to Simify myself just to check out the goods. Also, nice bike; it really brings out that parking lot.
#3 "Park of the City" by Frozendagger - [Source]
Sims Social park
All that's missing are pigeons, squirrels, joggers, dog-walkers and baby strollers. Come to think of it, that's quite a lot. But it's unmistakably a city park, and that's all that really matters. Fun Fact: The 'waterfall' is actually the backside of the free Pogo Arcade Machine. Fun Fact Continued: Did you know that Central Park contains five man-made waterfalls?
#2 "Homeless" by tsb1978 - [Source]
Sims Social homeless
The funniest thing about this house is not that this isn't a house. Or that in a fit of irony, the creator decides on homelessness as a theme and triumphantly exclaims "live like a tramp!" for an introduction. Or that the creator's idea of homelessness still involves a desktop computer. Really, it's noticing that there's 6,553,076 Simoleons sitting untouched on the top of the screen.
#1 "Castaway" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social Castaway
Welcome to our vote for numero uno! Because this man is clearly rockin' that island. And that guitar. And that kiddie pool.
How's that inspiration flowing? Which Sims Social house did you find the most awesome?
Going by 'Likes' alone, we're talking 7.2 million players out there -- and unlike the real world, every player starts off life in Littlehaven with two rooms and a yard to call his or her own -- which translates into 7.2 million homes of all shapes and sizes. Most of these are going to end up as party houses, looking like they belong in Beverly Hills or Newport, RI. That is to say, magnificent and yet, inevitably yawn-inducing.
I think it's time for something completely different. I mean, a house that actually looks like a house is just so done. Why don't we ditch the majestic estates for a grand tour of homes that are oddball, off-beat, the strangely grand, the funny, and of the refreshingly non-residential variety?
#10 "Chess" by Jean de Florette - [Source]
Sims Social chess
It's Plants vs Zombies Plushies (and piggy bank pawns) played by "Rusty Longshanks vs. Mr. Gee Nome", who rose from the obscurity of land expansion lots (you'll find them in the game as Servo Statue and Human G Gnome) to become the reigning chessmasters of the Sims.
#9 "Library Part 2" by pandababy [Source]
Sims Social Library
Books, books, and more books! The original version included a small indoor cafe and an outdoor bathroom. We'll leave it up to you guys to decide which one you like better. Oh, and for those wondering what "TU" stands for, it's the initials to the creator's university.
#8 "Labyrinth" by dragonavic - [Source]
Sims Social labyrinth
Can you say, a-maze-ing? Living like a rat in a maze ain't so bad when it comes with your own private jacuzzi. Moreover, everything you need for a fully-functioning Sims Social home is included here.
#7 "Grave of Tuyul" by Ga Laconic - [Source]
Sims Social graveyard
Commence for freak out and stand by for a quick lesson on Southeast Asian mythology -- Tuyul (also written as Toyol) is what you call a child-like spirit or goblin that's summoned using a dead baby fetus. If you think a graveyard is scary, then a graveyard full of dead babies is truly out there. But hey, nice touch on sticking the farm plots on two of the graves, right?
#6 "Baseball House" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social baseball
Batter up! It's puppies versus teddies at the coolest baseball field in Sims Social, even if it's the only one. The blue Skulls team, made up of Faux-Fido, currently has the field. Plumpkins Bear of the red Batman team is in the batting cage. Concessions are open. Meanwhile, zombies are coming out of the toilets. Why? Who knows! The only thing I do know is that it's a lovely day for a game.
#5 "Sensei Blu's Dojo" by Blu Bla - [Source]
Sims Social dojo
This gorgeous Japanese dojo was created by Ahmed Zidan, who resides in Egypt. You can usually find a temple next to a real dojo, and the one he's built is actually constructed out of walls sold during the game's Japan week. They cost 800-1,000 Simoleons each. Not a small amount. Factor in all the special items and you'd understand why a lot of players can't get over how expensive this place is.
#4 "Supermarket with Cafe" by rosamystica - [Source]
Sims Social cafe and market
This place is more like a motel-cum-minimart on some lonesome strip mall than a supermarket, but we'll cut the creator some slack for the concept. Just look at all the neatly arranged shelves of food and presents in the center room! It makes me want to Simify myself just to check out the goods. Also, nice bike; it really brings out that parking lot.
#3 "Park of the City" by Frozendagger - [Source]
Sims Social park
All that's missing are pigeons, squirrels, joggers, dog-walkers and baby strollers. Come to think of it, that's quite a lot. But it's unmistakably a city park, and that's all that really matters. Fun Fact: The 'waterfall' is actually the backside of the free Pogo Arcade Machine. Fun Fact Continued: Did you know that Central Park contains five man-made waterfalls?
#2 "Homeless" by tsb1978 - [Source]
Sims Social homeless
The funniest thing about this house is not that this isn't a house. Or that in a fit of irony, the creator decides on homelessness as a theme and triumphantly exclaims "live like a tramp!" for an introduction. Or that the creator's idea of homelessness still involves a desktop computer. Really, it's noticing that there's 6,553,076 Simoleons sitting untouched on the top of the screen.
#1 "Castaway" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social Castaway
Welcome to our vote for numero uno! Because this man is clearly rockin' that island. And that guitar. And that kiddie pool.
How's that inspiration flowing? Which Sims Social house did you find the most awesome?
The Sims Social: Claim your free 2,012 Simoleons to kick off a new year
Well, isn't that clever? Sims Social developer Playfish is offering players 2,012 free Simoleons to use on... well, whatever they'd like by simply clicking on a link going around in an email this week. The email advertises the game's Happy New Year theme of items, but gives you a standard link to provide you with your free money whether you've even played the game recently or not.
What will you spend your money on? Well, you can splurge on some "AttheParty" chairs in the New Year's Eve theme proper, or you could even use that money to help you open up a new land expansion in your game. After all, with so many new items being released every week in the game's store, you can always use more space to actually hold it all, right?
For the record, if you haven't received the email containing these free Simoleons, you can click on this link right here to claim them manually. If the link doesn't work for you, it could be expired, but we'll make sure to update this space if we see that's the case.
What will you spend your free 2,012 Simoleons on? Are you saving up for a larger purchase that this won't cover, or will you immediately go on a shopping spree?
What will you spend your money on? Well, you can splurge on some "AttheParty" chairs in the New Year's Eve theme proper, or you could even use that money to help you open up a new land expansion in your game. After all, with so many new items being released every week in the game's store, you can always use more space to actually hold it all, right?
For the record, if you haven't received the email containing these free Simoleons, you can click on this link right here to claim them manually. If the link doesn't work for you, it could be expired, but we'll make sure to update this space if we see that's the case.
What will you spend your free 2,012 Simoleons on? Are you saving up for a larger purchase that this won't cover, or will you immediately go on a shopping spree?
The Sims Social: Claim your free 2012 Balloons before it's too late
If you've already claimed (and perhaps spent) your free 2,012 Simoleons being given away this week in the Sims Social, but still want more New Year's Eve fun in your game, make sure to head over the game's Facebook page, as you can now claim a free set of balloons, decorated with numbers that create 2012 in their design.
Technically, this set of balloons is called the "2012 Balloons Silver" (let's face it, item naming has never been the game's strong suit), and when you claim some for your own game, you'll find that they're worth 500 Simoleons (only 50 if you actually try to sell them), and add $350 of value to your home.
As with most items, this one comes with a universal link, so if you can't find the post on the game's official fan page, you can claim your free balloons by clicking right here. Make sure to keep checking back with us as the new year begins, as we'll make sure to let you know when other interesting items are up for grabs for free in the Sims Social (and beyond!).
Will you claim your free set of 2012 Balloons in the Sims Social?
Technically, this set of balloons is called the "2012 Balloons Silver" (let's face it, item naming has never been the game's strong suit), and when you claim some for your own game, you'll find that they're worth 500 Simoleons (only 50 if you actually try to sell them), and add $350 of value to your home.
As with most items, this one comes with a universal link, so if you can't find the post on the game's official fan page, you can claim your free balloons by clicking right here. Make sure to keep checking back with us as the new year begins, as we'll make sure to let you know when other interesting items are up for grabs for free in the Sims Social (and beyond!).
Will you claim your free set of 2012 Balloons in the Sims Social?
The Sims Social partners with Wendy's for free W Burgers
First, we saw Dunkin' Donuts items being released in the Sims Social on Facebook and now we see a new promotion taking place between EA / Playfish and Wendy's to advertise the restaurant's new W Burger. Everyone is eligible for a free W Burger in the Sims Social, but you'll need to watch a video first. The video is found underneath the Sims Social gameplay area, and launches in a pop-up window.
When you've watched the video, you'll receive a free W Burger back in the game which can be "eaten" by your Sim to receive a +3 energy boost. This is important, as the video is only 15 seconds long, but can be watched multiple times to receive multiple W Burgers for your Sim! The catch to all of this? The promotion seems to be a bit... glitched (to put it lightly) as of this writing. That is, some users are receiving the W Burgers and others aren't, even if they've watched the entire video and refreshed their game for good measure.
We've reached out to Playfish to see what the problem is, and will make sure to update this space when we know more. In the meantime, keep checking back with this promotion in your own game to see if the kinks are ever worked out.
Have you been able to claim any free W Burgers in the Sims Social, or are you stuck waiting for the glitches to be worked out?
When you've watched the video, you'll receive a free W Burger back in the game which can be "eaten" by your Sim to receive a +3 energy boost. This is important, as the video is only 15 seconds long, but can be watched multiple times to receive multiple W Burgers for your Sim! The catch to all of this? The promotion seems to be a bit... glitched (to put it lightly) as of this writing. That is, some users are receiving the W Burgers and others aren't, even if they've watched the entire video and refreshed their game for good measure.
We've reached out to Playfish to see what the problem is, and will make sure to update this space when we know more. In the meantime, keep checking back with this promotion in your own game to see if the kinks are ever worked out.
Have you been able to claim any free W Burgers in the Sims Social, or are you stuck waiting for the glitches to be worked out?
Best 10 Sims Social houses that aren't really houses
No matter how huge, color-coordinated, or pimptastic a humble player's not-so humble abode is, there's no getting away from the fact that after looking at the 40th or 50th house in The Sims Social, it all begins to blur.
Going by 'Likes' alone, we're talking 7.2 million players out there -- and unlike the real world, every player starts off life in Littlehaven with two rooms and a yard to call his or her own -- which translates into 7.2 million homes of all shapes and sizes. Most of these are going to end up as party houses, looking like they belong in Beverly Hills or Newport, RI. That is to say, magnificent and yet, inevitably yawn-inducing.
I think it's time for something completely different. I mean, a house that actually looks like a house is just so done. Why don't we ditch the majestic estates for a grand tour of homes that are oddball, off-beat, the strangely grand, the funny, and of the refreshingly non-residential variety?
#10 "Chess" by Jean de Florette - [Source]
Sims Social chess
It's Plants vs Zombies Plushies (and piggy bank pawns) played by "Rusty Longshanks vs. Mr. Gee Nome", who rose from the obscurity of land expansion lots (you'll find them in the game as Servo Statue and Human G Gnome) to become the reigning chessmasters of the Sims.
#9 "Library Part 2" by pandababy [Source]
Sims Social Library
Books, books, and more books! The original version included a small indoor cafe and an outdoor bathroom. We'll leave it up to you guys to decide which one you like better. Oh, and for those wondering what "TU" stands for, it's the initials to the creator's university.
#8 "Labyrinth" by dragonavic - [Source]
Sims Social labyrinth
Can you say, a-maze-ing? Living like a rat in a maze ain't so bad when it comes with your own private jacuzzi. Moreover, everything you need for a fully-functioning Sims Social home is included here.
#7 "Grave of Tuyul" by Ga Laconic - [Source]
Sims Social graveyard
Commence for freak out and stand by for a quick lesson on Southeast Asian mythology -- Tuyul (also written as Toyol) is what you call a child-like spirit or goblin that's summoned using a dead baby fetus. If you think a graveyard is scary, then a graveyard full of dead babies is truly out there. But hey, nice touch on sticking the farm plots on two of the graves, right?
#6 "Baseball House" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social baseball
Batter up! It's puppies versus teddies at the coolest baseball field in Sims Social, even if it's the only one. The blue Skulls team, made up of Faux-Fido, currently has the field. Plumpkins Bear of the red Batman team is in the batting cage. Concessions are open. Meanwhile, zombies are coming out of the toilets. Why? Who knows! The only thing I do know is that it's a lovely day for a game.
#5 "Sensei Blu's Dojo" by Blu Bla - [Source]
Sims Social dojo
This gorgeous Japanese dojo was created by Ahmed Zidan, who resides in Egypt. You can usually find a temple next to a real dojo, and the one he's built is actually constructed out of walls sold during the game's Japan week. They cost 800-1,000 Simoleons each. Not a small amount. Factor in all the special items and you'd understand why a lot of players can't get over how expensive this place is.
#4 "Supermarket with Cafe" by rosamystica - [Source]
Sims Social cafe and market
This place is more like a motel-cum-minimart on some lonesome strip mall than a supermarket, but we'll cut the creator some slack for the concept. Just look at all the neatly arranged shelves of food and presents in the center room! It makes me want to Simify myself just to check out the goods. Also, nice bike; it really brings out that parking lot.
#3 "Park of the City" by Frozendagger - [Source]
Sims Social park
All that's missing are pigeons, squirrels, joggers, dog-walkers and baby strollers. Come to think of it, that's quite a lot. But it's unmistakably a city park, and that's all that really matters. Fun Fact: The 'waterfall' is actually the backside of the free Pogo Arcade Machine. Fun Fact Continued: Did you know that Central Park contains five man-made waterfalls?
#2 "Homeless" by tsb1978 - [Source]
Sims Social homeless
The funniest thing about this house is not that this isn't a house. Or that in a fit of irony, the creator decides on homelessness as a theme and triumphantly exclaims "live like a tramp!" for an introduction. Or that the creator's idea of homelessness still involves a desktop computer. Really, it's noticing that there's 6,553,076 Simoleons sitting untouched on the top of the screen.
#1 "Castaway" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social Castaway
Welcome to our vote for numero uno! Because this man is clearly rockin' that island. And that guitar. And that kiddie pool.
Going by 'Likes' alone, we're talking 7.2 million players out there -- and unlike the real world, every player starts off life in Littlehaven with two rooms and a yard to call his or her own -- which translates into 7.2 million homes of all shapes and sizes. Most of these are going to end up as party houses, looking like they belong in Beverly Hills or Newport, RI. That is to say, magnificent and yet, inevitably yawn-inducing.
I think it's time for something completely different. I mean, a house that actually looks like a house is just so done. Why don't we ditch the majestic estates for a grand tour of homes that are oddball, off-beat, the strangely grand, the funny, and of the refreshingly non-residential variety?
#10 "Chess" by Jean de Florette - [Source]
Sims Social chess
It's Plants vs Zombies Plushies (and piggy bank pawns) played by "Rusty Longshanks vs. Mr. Gee Nome", who rose from the obscurity of land expansion lots (you'll find them in the game as Servo Statue and Human G Gnome) to become the reigning chessmasters of the Sims.
#9 "Library Part 2" by pandababy [Source]
Sims Social Library
Books, books, and more books! The original version included a small indoor cafe and an outdoor bathroom. We'll leave it up to you guys to decide which one you like better. Oh, and for those wondering what "TU" stands for, it's the initials to the creator's university.
#8 "Labyrinth" by dragonavic - [Source]
Sims Social labyrinth
Can you say, a-maze-ing? Living like a rat in a maze ain't so bad when it comes with your own private jacuzzi. Moreover, everything you need for a fully-functioning Sims Social home is included here.
#7 "Grave of Tuyul" by Ga Laconic - [Source]
Sims Social graveyard
Commence for freak out and stand by for a quick lesson on Southeast Asian mythology -- Tuyul (also written as Toyol) is what you call a child-like spirit or goblin that's summoned using a dead baby fetus. If you think a graveyard is scary, then a graveyard full of dead babies is truly out there. But hey, nice touch on sticking the farm plots on two of the graves, right?
#6 "Baseball House" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social baseball
Batter up! It's puppies versus teddies at the coolest baseball field in Sims Social, even if it's the only one. The blue Skulls team, made up of Faux-Fido, currently has the field. Plumpkins Bear of the red Batman team is in the batting cage. Concessions are open. Meanwhile, zombies are coming out of the toilets. Why? Who knows! The only thing I do know is that it's a lovely day for a game.
#5 "Sensei Blu's Dojo" by Blu Bla - [Source]
Sims Social dojo
This gorgeous Japanese dojo was created by Ahmed Zidan, who resides in Egypt. You can usually find a temple next to a real dojo, and the one he's built is actually constructed out of walls sold during the game's Japan week. They cost 800-1,000 Simoleons each. Not a small amount. Factor in all the special items and you'd understand why a lot of players can't get over how expensive this place is.
#4 "Supermarket with Cafe" by rosamystica - [Source]
Sims Social cafe and market
This place is more like a motel-cum-minimart on some lonesome strip mall than a supermarket, but we'll cut the creator some slack for the concept. Just look at all the neatly arranged shelves of food and presents in the center room! It makes me want to Simify myself just to check out the goods. Also, nice bike; it really brings out that parking lot.
#3 "Park of the City" by Frozendagger - [Source]
Sims Social park
All that's missing are pigeons, squirrels, joggers, dog-walkers and baby strollers. Come to think of it, that's quite a lot. But it's unmistakably a city park, and that's all that really matters. Fun Fact: The 'waterfall' is actually the backside of the free Pogo Arcade Machine. Fun Fact Continued: Did you know that Central Park contains five man-made waterfalls?
#2 "Homeless" by tsb1978 - [Source]
Sims Social homeless
The funniest thing about this house is not that this isn't a house. Or that in a fit of irony, the creator decides on homelessness as a theme and triumphantly exclaims "live like a tramp!" for an introduction. Or that the creator's idea of homelessness still involves a desktop computer. Really, it's noticing that there's 6,553,076 Simoleons sitting untouched on the top of the screen.
#1 "Castaway" by Jedge - [Source]
Sims Social Castaway
Welcome to our vote for numero uno! Because this man is clearly rockin' that island. And that guitar. And that kiddie pool.
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