JamLegend, a music-games startup was shut down today after three years of trying to compete with the heavy hitters in the music-game genre like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. According to Tech Crunch, the company's employees were headed into new ventures, and it looks like the name of that new venture is Zynga.
Social game giant Zynga has acquired the JamLegend team in a talent acquisition for an unknown sum of money. There's no news yet as to which of Zynga's offices the crew will be heading to, but we can only help to start the rumor mill early with this one. Could Zynga's acquisition of folks skilled in music games mean that they are going to try developing a music game of their own on Facebook? Sure, Zynga's accumulated enough talent over the years to create any number of new and unique games on the platform, but I would be particularly interested in how Zynga would handle a game that very well may be all about sound, rather than the visuals.
We'll make sure to let you know what comes of this acquisition as we know more, so keep checking back.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
FarmVille: Watering Can bug fixed; no more missing pop-ups
A fairly substantial bug (or perhaps it would be better called a weakness, rather than a bug) hit FarmVille with the release of the new streamlined ability to use building ingredients and Watering Cans from your gift box - that being an issue particularly with Watering Cans, that would see the three pop-ups associated with growing a single tree not appearing in the game if you used Watering Cans too quickly.
While most users would likely be thrilled with less pop-ups, in these cases, these pop-ups allow you earn more Watering Cans, and even share a free version of your new tree when it's fully grown - two things that most users like and will voluntary post in mass to their news feeds. Zynga has fixed this issue now, however, apparently allowing you to use Watering Cans as fast as your little clicking finger can muster, all while being able to share in the experience with your friends just as you did before.
While most users would likely be thrilled with less pop-ups, in these cases, these pop-ups allow you earn more Watering Cans, and even share a free version of your new tree when it's fully grown - two things that most users like and will voluntary post in mass to their news feeds. Zynga has fixed this issue now, however, apparently allowing you to use Watering Cans as fast as your little clicking finger can muster, all while being able to share in the experience with your friends just as you did before.
FarmVille Easter Sneak Peek: Cream Egg Tree & Giant Cream Egg Tree
Forget the Cream Eggs you may receive in the real world every Easter - it looks like Zynga will be releasing two full-grown trees into FarmVille this Easter holiday that will grow those trees year round, without having to buy them in the store! Ok, so no, you won't be able to eat these Cream Eggs, but you will able to see them growing in their bright and colorful goodness for as long as you want, which is always a good thing.
To be specific, the two new trees are the Cream Egg Tree and the Giant Cream Egg Tree, and while neither has an official release date yet, we can only imagine they'll be launching very soon (perhaps as early as tomorrow), since Easter is all but officially upon us in the real world.
Make sure to save up some Farm Cash for when these trees release, as they'll likely cost 5 Farm Cash and 10 Farm Cash for the normal and giant versions, respectively. We'll make sure to let you know the exact details of these trees when they launch.
Check out the rest of our Easter 2011 coverage and guides right here.
To be specific, the two new trees are the Cream Egg Tree and the Giant Cream Egg Tree, and while neither has an official release date yet, we can only imagine they'll be launching very soon (perhaps as early as tomorrow), since Easter is all but officially upon us in the real world.
Make sure to save up some Farm Cash for when these trees release, as they'll likely cost 5 Farm Cash and 10 Farm Cash for the normal and giant versions, respectively. We'll make sure to let you know the exact details of these trees when they launch.
Check out the rest of our Easter 2011 coverage and guides right here.
FarmVille Animal Sneak Peek: Bunny Sheep, New Forest Pony, White Duckling and more
We've come across images of four new animals that will be launching in FarmVille in the near future, with one of these animals being part of the upcoming Easter celebration in the game. This animal is the Bunny Sheep, and while Sheep breeders might not get much out of this new animals (as it is all white, after all), those who simply like collecting sheep, regardless of their color, shouldn't be disappointed.
The other three animals are the New Forest Pony, New Forest Pony Foal (of course bred from Pony in the Horse Stable), and the White Duckling. We're not sure if this White Duckling will simply be added to the Duck Pond feature on the fly, or if he will be released along with some new adult ducks to increase our interaction with the cute little fella, but we'll make sure to let you know what happens officially when the time comes.
What do you think will happen when the White Duckling launches? Will he turn into new types of Ducks, or will he just fall in line with the Brown and Yellow ducklings already available in the game?
The other three animals are the New Forest Pony, New Forest Pony Foal (of course bred from Pony in the Horse Stable), and the White Duckling. We're not sure if this White Duckling will simply be added to the Duck Pond feature on the fly, or if he will be released along with some new adult ducks to increase our interaction with the cute little fella, but we'll make sure to let you know what happens officially when the time comes.
What do you think will happen when the White Duckling launches? Will he turn into new types of Ducks, or will he just fall in line with the Brown and Yellow ducklings already available in the game?
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Garden Trellis Bench, Stone Cottage, Egg Basket and more
A set of new unreleased FarmVille images has surfaced today, giving us a sneak peek of some of the items we can expect to launch in the game not only for the upcoming Easter holiday celebration, but perhaps as a continuation to the current English Countryside theme.
These items are the Garden Trellis Bench, the Stone Cottage (the one building in this release), the Bluebells Knoll, and the Spring Flower Egg Basket. Personally, the name of the last item - the Spring Flower Egg Basket - seems entirely too long, so we'd assume that the item will undergo a name change before officially be released in the game's store, or in some other method if that's what Zynga intends. Also, this is one of the smallest decorations we've seen, at least from its preview image, which gives us a pretty good feeling that the decoration will be available for coins, rather than Farm Cash. Anything could happen of course, but that's a fairly educated guess.
Speculation aside, we'll make sure to bring you all of the news about these items and more as they launch in the game, so keep checking back.
These items are the Garden Trellis Bench, the Stone Cottage (the one building in this release), the Bluebells Knoll, and the Spring Flower Egg Basket. Personally, the name of the last item - the Spring Flower Egg Basket - seems entirely too long, so we'd assume that the item will undergo a name change before officially be released in the game's store, or in some other method if that's what Zynga intends. Also, this is one of the smallest decorations we've seen, at least from its preview image, which gives us a pretty good feeling that the decoration will be available for coins, rather than Farm Cash. Anything could happen of course, but that's a fairly educated guess.
Speculation aside, we'll make sure to bring you all of the news about these items and more as they launch in the game, so keep checking back.
Monday, December 26, 2011
FarmVille GagaVille: Frolic in a Gaga Garden Patch with 102.7 KIIS FM
FarmVIlle Gaga Garden Patch
Now that your vehicles are stocked with some delicious (and otherwise expensive) Monster Fuel, you should be free to frolic in a garden of crystals. Wait, that doesn't sound--au contraire. In GagaVille, the result of a monstrous promotion between FarmVille and Lady Gaga, that sounds exactly right. The final GagaVille offer by iHeartRadio and 102.7 KIIS FM is available now directly through Zynga's gift page, found here. Just use the code "GARDEN," click "Redeem Now," and you'll be taken to FarmVille through Zynga's website rather than Facebook. Then, the Gaga Garden Patch will appear in your Gift Box. Combine all of Lady Gaga's crystalline flower items, and you'll have yourself a sprawling garden of crystals, cheesy 80s fantasy flick style.
Have you collected all the KIIS FM GagaVille items thus far? Which was your favorite, and what else do you expect from GagaVille before it goes bye-bye soon enough?
Now that your vehicles are stocked with some delicious (and otherwise expensive) Monster Fuel, you should be free to frolic in a garden of crystals. Wait, that doesn't sound--au contraire. In GagaVille, the result of a monstrous promotion between FarmVille and Lady Gaga, that sounds exactly right. The final GagaVille offer by iHeartRadio and 102.7 KIIS FM is available now directly through Zynga's gift page, found here. Just use the code "GARDEN," click "Redeem Now," and you'll be taken to FarmVille through Zynga's website rather than Facebook. Then, the Gaga Garden Patch will appear in your Gift Box. Combine all of Lady Gaga's crystalline flower items, and you'll have yourself a sprawling garden of crystals, cheesy 80s fantasy flick style.
Have you collected all the KIIS FM GagaVille items thus far? Which was your favorite, and what else do you expect from GagaVille before it goes bye-bye soon enough?
Upgrading the CityVille Emergency Clinic: Everything you need to know
In case you hadn't noticed, the name of game lately in CityVille is "upgrade." It all started with the Police Station upgrades, and now the Emergency Clinic has its own tiers of effectiveness and style. Thanks to Frank the Architect, you can now boost your Emergency Clinics' (Yes, you can have more than one.) Population cap, Energy output and even their chances to drop Ribbons. And don't worry, with us, enhancing your Clinic will be easy peasy.
Before we dive right into making some pimpin' Clinics, let's get a few things out of the way. While you're allowed more than one Emergency Clinic, you must upgrade each one individually, and deleting a Clinic will reset the process. If you have a completed Emergency Clinic, you should see the option to upgrade it when you reach 750 Population. Mouse over the Clinic, click on it and you will see this screen below:
CityVille Emergency Clinic Level 2
Emergency Clinic Level 2
In order to upgrade to the second level, you must add six of your friends as staff members, much like any other Community Building. To do this, just click on the "Hire Friends" button and you'll be taken to a screen where you can send recruitment requests. This next level supports 100 more Population for a total of 300, and increases your chance to receive more Energy and Ribbons when collecting from it.
Once you reach 2,300 total Population, you can access the third and final level of the Emergency Clinic. Click on it to cause the screen below to appear:
CityVille Emergency Clinic Level 3
Emergency Clinic Level 3
Thankfully, you only need to add three more staff members for a total of 15 to complete this upgrade. Just use the same "Hire Friends" button to snag those final three staffers. Your reward for completing the Emergency Clinic is 250 more Population for a total of 550, and an even higher chance to receive extra Energy and Ribbons when collecting from it. Not to mention it'll look even more like that fancy hospital downtown.
[Source and Image Credit: CityVille Forums]
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Have you completed your Emergency Clinic upgrades yet? What Community Building do you want to see get upgraded next?
Before we dive right into making some pimpin' Clinics, let's get a few things out of the way. While you're allowed more than one Emergency Clinic, you must upgrade each one individually, and deleting a Clinic will reset the process. If you have a completed Emergency Clinic, you should see the option to upgrade it when you reach 750 Population. Mouse over the Clinic, click on it and you will see this screen below:
CityVille Emergency Clinic Level 2
Emergency Clinic Level 2
In order to upgrade to the second level, you must add six of your friends as staff members, much like any other Community Building. To do this, just click on the "Hire Friends" button and you'll be taken to a screen where you can send recruitment requests. This next level supports 100 more Population for a total of 300, and increases your chance to receive more Energy and Ribbons when collecting from it.
Once you reach 2,300 total Population, you can access the third and final level of the Emergency Clinic. Click on it to cause the screen below to appear:
CityVille Emergency Clinic Level 3
Emergency Clinic Level 3
Thankfully, you only need to add three more staff members for a total of 15 to complete this upgrade. Just use the same "Hire Friends" button to snag those final three staffers. Your reward for completing the Emergency Clinic is 250 more Population for a total of 550, and an even higher chance to receive extra Energy and Ribbons when collecting from it. Not to mention it'll look even more like that fancy hospital downtown.
[Source and Image Credit: CityVille Forums]
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Have you completed your Emergency Clinic upgrades yet? What Community Building do you want to see get upgraded next?
Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Magnum Ice Cream promotion
We know, they're delicious, and they are officially here in the states. (Thank you, ice cream gods!) The newest FarmVille Sponsored Link is thanks to Magnum Ice Cream Bars. If you haven't tried them yet, go now. We'll wait. Now, like all Sponsored Links, this one will be found underneath the game screen. Click on the small brown icon to cause a pop-up ad--don't worry, this is a good one--to appear and be on your way to chocolatey, vanilla deliciousness. Oh, and some Farm Cash, too.
The pop-up ad will feature a small questionnaire titled "Are you the Magnum Heir?" Just answer the questions beneath the short video, and you'll soon enough see a small message appear on the upper right corner of the screen. If it reads something to the tune of "You've earned your Farm Cash," you're free to click on the blue "X" button to close the window. Now, you must give the game time to process the free Farm Cash, which will appear in your Farm Cash total--not in the Gift Box. Now, if only this Farm Cash could buy me another Magnum Bar.
[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you seen this Sponsored Link yet? What do you plan to buy with all the cash saved from the Sponsored Links you complete? Do you participate in these mini promotions?
The pop-up ad will feature a small questionnaire titled "Are you the Magnum Heir?" Just answer the questions beneath the short video, and you'll soon enough see a small message appear on the upper right corner of the screen. If it reads something to the tune of "You've earned your Farm Cash," you're free to click on the blue "X" button to close the window. Now, you must give the game time to process the free Farm Cash, which will appear in your Farm Cash total--not in the Gift Box. Now, if only this Farm Cash could buy me another Magnum Bar.
[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you seen this Sponsored Link yet? What do you plan to buy with all the cash saved from the Sponsored Links you complete? Do you participate in these mini promotions?
Top 10 Free iPhone Games (Week of May 23)
If you, like me, are one of those people who are enamored with all things 'free' -- whether it be a day-old bagel in the office kitchen, two-for-one tacos or used furniture left curbside -- then you'll most likely enjoy this week's list of top 10 free iPhone games.
The game to play this week is Smack that Gugl, which sits at #1, beating out High Noon and Run Stick Run! The free versions of Angry Birds Rio and Words with Friends are, of course, holding steady on this list, and former chart-toppers Office Jerk and Metal Storm Online are also still hanging in on the top 10 (for now, at least).
1. Smack that Gugl
high noon iphone 2. High Noon
run stick run iphone 3. RunStickRun!
hanged til death iphone 4. Hanged Til Death
angry birds rio 5. Angry Birds Rio (Free)
office jerk iphone 6. Office Jerk
words with friends free 7. Words with Friends (Free)
super stickman golf iphone 8. Super Stickman Golf
metal storm online 9. Metal Storm: Online
Bubble Shooter Free 10. Bubble Shooter (Free)
Which of these iPhone games have you played? Which do you recommend?
The game to play this week is Smack that Gugl, which sits at #1, beating out High Noon and Run Stick Run! The free versions of Angry Birds Rio and Words with Friends are, of course, holding steady on this list, and former chart-toppers Office Jerk and Metal Storm Online are also still hanging in on the top 10 (for now, at least).
1. Smack that Gugl
high noon iphone 2. High Noon
run stick run iphone 3. RunStickRun!
hanged til death iphone 4. Hanged Til Death
angry birds rio 5. Angry Birds Rio (Free)
office jerk iphone 6. Office Jerk
words with friends free 7. Words with Friends (Free)
super stickman golf iphone 8. Super Stickman Golf
metal storm online 9. Metal Storm: Online
Bubble Shooter Free 10. Bubble Shooter (Free)
Which of these iPhone games have you played? Which do you recommend?
How to Make a Facebook Game: Just Add 'Wars'
When it comes to naming their games, Facebook developers are prone to imitation. Many of them take their cue from Zynga, who is known for its 'villes -- the big three of which are FarmVille, FrontierVille, and CityVille. But before those three, the word Zynga seemed to love most was "Wars". Poking fun at this unoriginal naming convention, Kris Naudus, a logophile on Wordnik, created a list of actual Facebook games called "How to Make a Facebook Game". She jokingly sums up the process, thusly:
Wordnik: Lampbane: How to Make a Facebook game
Many of Zynga's games that end in "Wars" have long been abandoned. You can find disgruntled users still demanding the revival of Dragon Wars, for example. Other discontinued titles are Fashion Wars, Space Wars, Dope Wars, and Gang Wars (which you can tell once existed by the "add me" Facebook groups it left in its wake). But Mafia Wars and Vampire Wars are still going strong. So far, Zynga makes up 7 out of the 51 games on Naudus' list. I've looked into many of the others, and they're all active or were once active Facebook games. The one exception being Mustache Wars, an app which sends photos of mustaches to your friends without any pretensions towards gamehood.
Dragon Wars Zynga
A larger number of these games were personal projects, such as Prestige Wars, which is made by "A Computer Engineering student at Bogazici University in Istanbul." Chav Wars was created by Dave Potts, a freelance PHP developer. Several are obviously done by otaku, such as Anime Wars, Gundam Wars, and Bleach Wars. If those weren't dropped by their developers, they certainly would've brought down the wrath of copyright holders.
Chav Wars
Examples of more well-known developers and titles that made the cut are Mob Wars (which got Zynga started with the whole "Wars" deal), Broken Bulb Studios' Office Wars (which got a favorable review by Inside Social Games last summer), and 6 waves' Gangster Wars.
Wordnik: Lampbane: How to Make a Facebook game
Many of Zynga's games that end in "Wars" have long been abandoned. You can find disgruntled users still demanding the revival of Dragon Wars, for example. Other discontinued titles are Fashion Wars, Space Wars, Dope Wars, and Gang Wars (which you can tell once existed by the "add me" Facebook groups it left in its wake). But Mafia Wars and Vampire Wars are still going strong. So far, Zynga makes up 7 out of the 51 games on Naudus' list. I've looked into many of the others, and they're all active or were once active Facebook games. The one exception being Mustache Wars, an app which sends photos of mustaches to your friends without any pretensions towards gamehood.
Dragon Wars Zynga
A larger number of these games were personal projects, such as Prestige Wars, which is made by "A Computer Engineering student at Bogazici University in Istanbul." Chav Wars was created by Dave Potts, a freelance PHP developer. Several are obviously done by otaku, such as Anime Wars, Gundam Wars, and Bleach Wars. If those weren't dropped by their developers, they certainly would've brought down the wrath of copyright holders.
Chav Wars
Examples of more well-known developers and titles that made the cut are Mob Wars (which got Zynga started with the whole "Wars" deal), Broken Bulb Studios' Office Wars (which got a favorable review by Inside Social Games last summer), and 6 waves' Gangster Wars.
Cafe World Picture Perfect Prom Catering Order: Everything you need to know
It's the season for fancy dresses, corsages and tuxes in the real world (well, high schools anyway), and the Cafe World team has decided to take that celebration of all-things Prom and bring it into the game via a new Catering Order. Picture Perfect Prom can now be started by looking inside the Catering Business menu and scrolling to the very end.
This mission only requires you to complete five tasks (while others contain a sixth requirement), but some of the dishes you have to serve are time-consuming to say the least, so don't think you're about to get off easy. You'll need to cook three dishes, along with collecting 45 items via the help of friends. You'll have three days from start to finish to unlock a new recipe, and receive the 3-star rating, so meet us behind the break to find out how to do it.
For the cooking portion of this order, you'll need to cook Steak Dinner (a 16-hour dish) 162 times, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (a 30-minute dish) 262 times, and Ice Cream Sundae (a 18-hour dish) 58 dish. With two of these dishes taking more than 12 hours to cook, remember that you can use any of your leftover spices to speed them up. You can also use servings from your Gift Box to count towards your overall total. Luckily, you won't be going at this alone (most likely), as you can bring in up to 16 of your closest friends to help you finish in time.
While you and your friends are cooking, you can work on collecting the two collectable items: 19 Tiaras and 26 Mirror Balls. I'm actually surprised you're not collecting Tiaras and Crowns, if we're going with the king and queen idea of Prom, but hey - Mirror Balls are pretty too. You can earn these items by sending individual requests to your friends to have them help you out.
If you can finish all of these requirements within three days, you'll receive the 3-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 6,300 Cafe Points, 75,000 coins and the Pinwheel Sandwiches recipe. If you finish after the first three days, but still finish within five days of starting, you'll receive 2-stars, 8 Catering Points, 4,500 Cafe Points and 50,000 coins. Finally, if you finish anytime after the first five days, you'll receive just one star, 4 Catering Points, 2,700 Cafe Points and 30,000 coins. Unfortunately, you must finish with the highest rating in order to receive the newest recipe. Remember though, you can start over if you don't receive it the first time.
All told, this catering order seems to be somewhere in the middle in terms of difficulty. Just make sure you bring as many friends as possible in on the job with you, and you'll do just fine.
What do you think of this Catering Order? Since most players are adults (that is, not in high school), should Cafe World have a Prom theme at all?
This mission only requires you to complete five tasks (while others contain a sixth requirement), but some of the dishes you have to serve are time-consuming to say the least, so don't think you're about to get off easy. You'll need to cook three dishes, along with collecting 45 items via the help of friends. You'll have three days from start to finish to unlock a new recipe, and receive the 3-star rating, so meet us behind the break to find out how to do it.
For the cooking portion of this order, you'll need to cook Steak Dinner (a 16-hour dish) 162 times, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (a 30-minute dish) 262 times, and Ice Cream Sundae (a 18-hour dish) 58 dish. With two of these dishes taking more than 12 hours to cook, remember that you can use any of your leftover spices to speed them up. You can also use servings from your Gift Box to count towards your overall total. Luckily, you won't be going at this alone (most likely), as you can bring in up to 16 of your closest friends to help you finish in time.
While you and your friends are cooking, you can work on collecting the two collectable items: 19 Tiaras and 26 Mirror Balls. I'm actually surprised you're not collecting Tiaras and Crowns, if we're going with the king and queen idea of Prom, but hey - Mirror Balls are pretty too. You can earn these items by sending individual requests to your friends to have them help you out.
If you can finish all of these requirements within three days, you'll receive the 3-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 6,300 Cafe Points, 75,000 coins and the Pinwheel Sandwiches recipe. If you finish after the first three days, but still finish within five days of starting, you'll receive 2-stars, 8 Catering Points, 4,500 Cafe Points and 50,000 coins. Finally, if you finish anytime after the first five days, you'll receive just one star, 4 Catering Points, 2,700 Cafe Points and 30,000 coins. Unfortunately, you must finish with the highest rating in order to receive the newest recipe. Remember though, you can start over if you don't receive it the first time.
All told, this catering order seems to be somewhere in the middle in terms of difficulty. Just make sure you bring as many friends as possible in on the job with you, and you'll do just fine.
What do you think of this Catering Order? Since most players are adults (that is, not in high school), should Cafe World have a Prom theme at all?
CityVille celebrates diversity with International Food Festival items, a Hacienda and more
Along with the recently released International Food Festival Goals in CityVille, we've also seen a release of themed decorations, the celebrate diversity and different countries. You'll receive one of these items - the Fruit Stand - as a quest reward, while the other eight items are available to purchase in the store.
For those that like adding one of every business to their town, you'll be able to purchase three: a Greek Restaurant, Indian Restaurant and Thai Restaurant. All of these businesses come with the same stats. They cost 2,500 coins to build, require 75 Goods to open and operate and will offer you 330 coins in profit each time they run out of stock.
To decorate these three buildings, you can purchase matching flags: a Greek Flag, Indian Flag, and Thai Flag are now available to purchase for 200 coins each. Each flag offers a 1% bonus to the payout of nearby buildings. Remember though - even if you don't want to build these ethnic food joints, these trees would look great outside City Hall, or any other government-esque building you have in your city, if you're going for a realistic appearance.
Meet us behind the break for a look at the other items that are available.
In addition to these restaurants and flags, you'll also be able to purchase two decorations: a Duck Pond costs 15 City Cash but offers a 14% bonus to surrounding buildings, while an Umbrella Table will give your citizens a place to eat all of these yummy new foods. You can purchase a single table for 500 coins (it offers a 4% bonus payout), or you can even stock up if you'd like to create a large outdoor dining area in the middle of a park or shopping center in your town.
But that's not all! Three other items have been added to the game recently, and come in the form a new item for your City Zoo, a new community building and a home. The Savannah Zoo Gate costs 30 City Cash, and must be placed near your Zoo in order to give off the 3% bonus to its payout. Unfortunately, this bonus doesn't apply to other buildings. As for the two other items, a Phone Company company can be purchased for 80,000 coins. It allows for 1600 extra citizens to live in your town, and you can immediately go to work filling in those extra spaces by purchasing a Hacienda for 40 City Cash. The Hacienda adds 450 citizens by default, but can be upgraded at random to the 700 citizen mark. You'll gain 260 coins every time you collect your rent.
All of these items seem to be permanent to the game, with the exception of the Hacienda, which will be available for less than two weeks. Whether or not its limited time availability justifies its high price tag, however, will be up to you.
What do you think of these new items? Which of these three food types is your favorite? Will you build all three? What about the Hacienda? Will you spend the City Cash on this exclusive building?
For those that like adding one of every business to their town, you'll be able to purchase three: a Greek Restaurant, Indian Restaurant and Thai Restaurant. All of these businesses come with the same stats. They cost 2,500 coins to build, require 75 Goods to open and operate and will offer you 330 coins in profit each time they run out of stock.
To decorate these three buildings, you can purchase matching flags: a Greek Flag, Indian Flag, and Thai Flag are now available to purchase for 200 coins each. Each flag offers a 1% bonus to the payout of nearby buildings. Remember though - even if you don't want to build these ethnic food joints, these trees would look great outside City Hall, or any other government-esque building you have in your city, if you're going for a realistic appearance.
Meet us behind the break for a look at the other items that are available.
In addition to these restaurants and flags, you'll also be able to purchase two decorations: a Duck Pond costs 15 City Cash but offers a 14% bonus to surrounding buildings, while an Umbrella Table will give your citizens a place to eat all of these yummy new foods. You can purchase a single table for 500 coins (it offers a 4% bonus payout), or you can even stock up if you'd like to create a large outdoor dining area in the middle of a park or shopping center in your town.
But that's not all! Three other items have been added to the game recently, and come in the form a new item for your City Zoo, a new community building and a home. The Savannah Zoo Gate costs 30 City Cash, and must be placed near your Zoo in order to give off the 3% bonus to its payout. Unfortunately, this bonus doesn't apply to other buildings. As for the two other items, a Phone Company company can be purchased for 80,000 coins. It allows for 1600 extra citizens to live in your town, and you can immediately go to work filling in those extra spaces by purchasing a Hacienda for 40 City Cash. The Hacienda adds 450 citizens by default, but can be upgraded at random to the 700 citizen mark. You'll gain 260 coins every time you collect your rent.
All of these items seem to be permanent to the game, with the exception of the Hacienda, which will be available for less than two weeks. Whether or not its limited time availability justifies its high price tag, however, will be up to you.
What do you think of these new items? Which of these three food types is your favorite? Will you build all three? What about the Hacienda? Will you spend the City Cash on this exclusive building?
FrontierVille: Heal Injured Ducks with... Critter Milk?
Ever at the ready, the folks on the FrontierVille forums have discovered that Zynga has added a new set of injured animals to the game in the form of Injured Ducks. These ducks apparently come in either a yellow or purple variety, and will be found by chopping down trees, clearing debris, feeding your animals, etc. - just as you would find most other Injured/Hidden Critters on your Homestead. This rollout is apparently an incredibly slow one, as I wiped out all debris, fed all of my animals, and harvested all of my fruit trees with no success in bringing one out.
Still, we do know they officially exist, it's just a matter of time before they roll around to all games. Once you do find one, you'll apparently need Critter Milk to nurse them back to health. No, that doesn't make much sense, but then again, the fact that we're simply finding purple ducks should throw common sense out of the window already. You can see an image of two healed ducks at the top of this post - apparently user rohanthota is much luckier at receiving animals than I am.
[Image Credit: Forums user rohanthota]
Have you lured out any Injured Ducks on your Homestead? Have you received a color other than yellow or purple?
Still, we do know they officially exist, it's just a matter of time before they roll around to all games. Once you do find one, you'll apparently need Critter Milk to nurse them back to health. No, that doesn't make much sense, but then again, the fact that we're simply finding purple ducks should throw common sense out of the window already. You can see an image of two healed ducks at the top of this post - apparently user rohanthota is much luckier at receiving animals than I am.
[Image Credit: Forums user rohanthota]
Have you lured out any Injured Ducks on your Homestead? Have you received a color other than yellow or purple?
FarmVille GagaVille Shining Bright Goal: Everything you need to know
Lady Gaga's Born this Way album has now officially launched, but that hasn't stopped the FarmVille team from adding another goal in the GagaVille goal series. Tonight marks the release of the eighth goal, and this one's called Shining Bright. That name goes great with the main prize you'll receive for finishing this quest (trust me - it's a great one).
Before you win your rewards, however, you'll need to complete three tasks:
Visit GagaVille
Plant 100 Electric Roses
Visit 5 Neighbors
While the first and last tasks are incredibly simple, the Electric Roses requirement might actually slow some farmers down. That is, if all of your land is already covered in plots of growing crops, you can't very well add 100 new squares just to instantly plant these Roses. Perhaps now would be the time to break out some Instant Grow or use Farm Cash? That of course will be up to you, as to whether or not you know your land will be freed up in time to finish this quest before it expires in just under a day.
Either way, once you finish tonight's goal, you'll receive a Chrome Cow, 100 XP and 2,500 coins. Personally, I've been looking forward to adding a Chrome Cow to my animal collection for days, so I couldn't be happier. Just look at this thing - it's a silver cow that hovers above your land with jetpacks! How cool is that!?
Remember, if you want your chance at this exclusive Chrome Cow (and don't want to pay Farm Cash to have it), make sure to complete this goal before it expires.
Check out the rest of our GagaVille coverage right here. >
What do you think of tonight's GagaVille goal and prize? Will you purchase additional Chrome Cows if they are released in the store?
Before you win your rewards, however, you'll need to complete three tasks:
Visit GagaVille
Plant 100 Electric Roses
Visit 5 Neighbors
While the first and last tasks are incredibly simple, the Electric Roses requirement might actually slow some farmers down. That is, if all of your land is already covered in plots of growing crops, you can't very well add 100 new squares just to instantly plant these Roses. Perhaps now would be the time to break out some Instant Grow or use Farm Cash? That of course will be up to you, as to whether or not you know your land will be freed up in time to finish this quest before it expires in just under a day.
Either way, once you finish tonight's goal, you'll receive a Chrome Cow, 100 XP and 2,500 coins. Personally, I've been looking forward to adding a Chrome Cow to my animal collection for days, so I couldn't be happier. Just look at this thing - it's a silver cow that hovers above your land with jetpacks! How cool is that!?
Remember, if you want your chance at this exclusive Chrome Cow (and don't want to pay Farm Cash to have it), make sure to complete this goal before it expires.
Check out the rest of our GagaVille coverage right here. >
What do you think of tonight's GagaVille goal and prize? Will you purchase additional Chrome Cows if they are released in the store?
Saturday, December 24, 2011
FarmVille: Dress your avatar (and farm) up for the 4th of July with top hats, pinwheels and more
Ready to play dress-up with your FarmVille avatar? No, we haven't jumped into a six-year-old's tea party (although tea is a great summer drink); rather, we've been given a few new avatar clothing choices to celebrate the Fourth of July on our farms. These three options are the American Top Hat [pictured], the American Cap and the American Ribbon. The Top Hat costs just 50,000 coins (allowing everyone to get in on the patriotic fun without spending real world cash), while the American Cap and American Ribbon cost 3 and 1 Farm Cash each, respectively.
In addition, there are a few new decorative items available in the July 4th theme. The Summer Pinwheel and Summer Pinwheel II items go for 5,000 coins and 1,000 coins each (again, respectively), while the Bald Eagle decorative bird costs 18 Farm Cash. Finally, an American Gnome holds animated sparklers, and can be added to your gnome collection (or just your Fourth of July celebration) for 15 Farm Cash.
For these Pinwheels, it should be noted that while both items animate (as though the pinwheels are spinning in the wind), the Pinwheel II item is much smaller in scale, even though there are three individual pinwheels included. If you're looking for a larger item to make an equally large statement, you'll either have to purchase these in bulk, or stick with the standard Pinwheel option.
Whatever your choice, you'll have just two weeks to make it, as these items will disappear from the store after that time.
Check out the rest of our July 4th coverage right here.
What do you think of these new patriotic July 4th clothing items for your avatar? Are you more concerned with purchasing dozens of animated pinwheels or this new gnome?
In addition, there are a few new decorative items available in the July 4th theme. The Summer Pinwheel and Summer Pinwheel II items go for 5,000 coins and 1,000 coins each (again, respectively), while the Bald Eagle decorative bird costs 18 Farm Cash. Finally, an American Gnome holds animated sparklers, and can be added to your gnome collection (or just your Fourth of July celebration) for 15 Farm Cash.
For these Pinwheels, it should be noted that while both items animate (as though the pinwheels are spinning in the wind), the Pinwheel II item is much smaller in scale, even though there are three individual pinwheels included. If you're looking for a larger item to make an equally large statement, you'll either have to purchase these in bulk, or stick with the standard Pinwheel option.
Whatever your choice, you'll have just two weeks to make it, as these items will disappear from the store after that time.
Check out the rest of our July 4th coverage right here.
What do you think of these new patriotic July 4th clothing items for your avatar? Are you more concerned with purchasing dozens of animated pinwheels or this new gnome?
Cafe World Ice Cream Cart: Serve sweet frozen treats to your guests
If you've completed the Ice Cream Cart goals in Cafe World, you now have the opportunity to actually use this Ice Cream Cart to serve some sweet and frozen goodies to your cafe's customers. Similar in many ways to the Drink Bar, the Ice Cream Cart comes with a menu that's been separated into multiple parts - four, to be exact.
The four sections are Classic Flavors, Swirled Flavors, Crazy Flavors and Super Sundae. As you'd expect, each section contains a series of ice cream cones and other goodies that must be created using energy. You'll receive different amounts of servings for each product you produce, and typically, the more energy an item costs to make, the more servings you'll receive (though not by much). So, for example, if you wished to serve Vanilla Ice Cream Cones in your Cafe, you'd spend nine energy to scoop up five cones. Meanwhile, if you wanted to serve Mint Ice Cream Cones, you'd instead spend 35 energy and would receive eight full servings.
Where things become a bit different is in the additional crew aspect of your Ice Cream Cart. When you start a "shift," your crew will "auto-serve" ice cream and will give you double the mastery points on each of these sweet treats while your shift is active. You'll need to "remind" your crew to check in for their shifts before starting.
For those that want to master these Ice Cream dishes quickly, you have an added incentive to do so, as mastering all of these Ice Cream treats to at least Level 1 within the next week will unlock the Super Sundae, giving you triple rewards. Good luck if you go for that particular feat!
Now that we've found out how the Ice Cream Cart actually functions, are you disappointed in the result, or are you happy to see a similar functionality to the Drink Bar? Will you work to master all of these Ice Cream dishes, or does this feature simply give you something else to avoid?
The four sections are Classic Flavors, Swirled Flavors, Crazy Flavors and Super Sundae. As you'd expect, each section contains a series of ice cream cones and other goodies that must be created using energy. You'll receive different amounts of servings for each product you produce, and typically, the more energy an item costs to make, the more servings you'll receive (though not by much). So, for example, if you wished to serve Vanilla Ice Cream Cones in your Cafe, you'd spend nine energy to scoop up five cones. Meanwhile, if you wanted to serve Mint Ice Cream Cones, you'd instead spend 35 energy and would receive eight full servings.
Where things become a bit different is in the additional crew aspect of your Ice Cream Cart. When you start a "shift," your crew will "auto-serve" ice cream and will give you double the mastery points on each of these sweet treats while your shift is active. You'll need to "remind" your crew to check in for their shifts before starting.
For those that want to master these Ice Cream dishes quickly, you have an added incentive to do so, as mastering all of these Ice Cream treats to at least Level 1 within the next week will unlock the Super Sundae, giving you triple rewards. Good luck if you go for that particular feat!
Now that we've found out how the Ice Cream Cart actually functions, are you disappointed in the result, or are you happy to see a similar functionality to the Drink Bar? Will you work to master all of these Ice Cream dishes, or does this feature simply give you something else to avoid?
Live Gamer will provide Civilization World analytics support (that's a lot of data)
Seriously, we don't even want to look at those data logs--our brains might fry. VentureBeat reports that Firaxis and 2K Games have enlisted New York-based Live Gamer to handle the Civilization World's analytics data and Facebook Credit payment support.
This news is convenient for 2K Games considering Facebook Credits are about to become the official currency for all things Facebook commerce including games. But even more interesting is what this news implies: CivWorld is going to be massive.
Seriously, the publisher went and hired a company dedicated entirely to monitoring its first Facebook game (and its payments)--and that's everything from clicks to time spent to behavior patterns.
And in a game as visibly deep and intricate as CivWorld, that's going to produce a metric ton of data. Don't get too freaked out about this potential Big Brother scenario, because developers use this information to improve the game as it grows.
Civilization World in action
And better yet, New York-based Live Gamer will handle CivWorld's Facebook Credits payment system entirely, leaving the Firaxis and 2K Games teams to focus solely on improving the game. Well, at least in theory. And all the cool kids are doing it--EA and THQ use Live Gamer to monitor their social games' analytics, according to VentureBeat. CivWorld is in the middle of its closed beta test, and is expected to launch ... sometime soon, we hope.
[Image Credit: Firaxis]
Does this news scare you of how complex CivWorld might be, or are you ready to take on the challenge? How do you think CivWorld will do against, say, Empires & Allies?
This news is convenient for 2K Games considering Facebook Credits are about to become the official currency for all things Facebook commerce including games. But even more interesting is what this news implies: CivWorld is going to be massive.
Seriously, the publisher went and hired a company dedicated entirely to monitoring its first Facebook game (and its payments)--and that's everything from clicks to time spent to behavior patterns.
And in a game as visibly deep and intricate as CivWorld, that's going to produce a metric ton of data. Don't get too freaked out about this potential Big Brother scenario, because developers use this information to improve the game as it grows.
Civilization World in action
And better yet, New York-based Live Gamer will handle CivWorld's Facebook Credits payment system entirely, leaving the Firaxis and 2K Games teams to focus solely on improving the game. Well, at least in theory. And all the cool kids are doing it--EA and THQ use Live Gamer to monitor their social games' analytics, according to VentureBeat. CivWorld is in the middle of its closed beta test, and is expected to launch ... sometime soon, we hope.
[Image Credit: Firaxis]
Does this news scare you of how complex CivWorld might be, or are you ready to take on the challenge? How do you think CivWorld will do against, say, Empires & Allies?
Playdom's closing Tiki Farm and, nope, there are no refunds
When it launched in 2009, Playdom's Facebook game Tiki Farm promised to whisk you away to a tropical island where it's nothing but you, your crops and exotic pets, such as a pair of blue-footed boobies.
Sad to say, we come bearing bad news, island dwellers. Playdom plans to shutter Tiki Farm on July 16 (Tiki Resort, another Playdom game, was quietly canceled several weeks ago). The tropical-themed farm game went from an all-time high of 6.4 million players a month to a dismal 260K players per month, according to AppData.
Based on the drop in the game's popularity, the game's closure doesn't come as a surprise. A notice on the Tiki Farm Facebook fan page, says its shutting down the game to "focus on building new more engaging games." OK, fair enough. The surprising part, however, is the finality of the last sentence of the notice that says "refunds on the basis that the game is no longer available to play."
tiki resort facebook shuttered
It would, admittedly, be absurd to expect Playdom or any other social game company refund all of a player's money when a game is closed, but this also highlights an important ethical question that all Facebook and freemium game makers must face. When you close an online game that some have spent thousands of dollars to play -- should the company (in this case, Playdom) be required to throw their big spenders a bone? At the very least offer additional credits that can be used in another game?
We've reached out to Playdom to see what, if anything, Tiki Farm's big spenders will get when the game closes. In the meantime, we'll be donning our virtual grass skirts and paying one last visit to our quiet tropical/farming paradise.
Sad to say, we come bearing bad news, island dwellers. Playdom plans to shutter Tiki Farm on July 16 (Tiki Resort, another Playdom game, was quietly canceled several weeks ago). The tropical-themed farm game went from an all-time high of 6.4 million players a month to a dismal 260K players per month, according to AppData.
Based on the drop in the game's popularity, the game's closure doesn't come as a surprise. A notice on the Tiki Farm Facebook fan page, says its shutting down the game to "focus on building new more engaging games." OK, fair enough. The surprising part, however, is the finality of the last sentence of the notice that says "refunds on the basis that the game is no longer available to play."
tiki resort facebook shuttered
It would, admittedly, be absurd to expect Playdom or any other social game company refund all of a player's money when a game is closed, but this also highlights an important ethical question that all Facebook and freemium game makers must face. When you close an online game that some have spent thousands of dollars to play -- should the company (in this case, Playdom) be required to throw their big spenders a bone? At the very least offer additional credits that can be used in another game?
We've reached out to Playdom to see what, if anything, Tiki Farm's big spenders will get when the game closes. In the meantime, we'll be donning our virtual grass skirts and paying one last visit to our quiet tropical/farming paradise.
Halo creator Bungie sets its sights on Facebook, mobile games (and making piles of cash)
It almost goes without saying, but it's almost stupid to not consider mobile and social these days as a game developer. So--surprise--another game creator has entered the mobile/social space, the creators of the Halo franchise, Bungie. The ex-Microsoft developer revealed to Develop today in an interview that its Bungie Aerospace publishing division will focus solely on independent mobile and social game projects.
Its first game is called Crimson (pictured), the same as its previously revealed mobile tech for cross-platform games, and it looks like it will launch on iPad by the looks of its website. Still, no details have been revealed about the game other than Harebrained Schemes, a mobile games developer, is working on it.
During his interview with Develop, Bungie COO Pete Parsons revealed that it's about time Bungie uses its expertise as a developer to enter the publishing realm, but also joked, "Well, it's like every other developer publisher relationship where the developer does the work and the publisher takes the credit and the money... I'm kidding of course."
Parsons went on to say that he sees Bungie's deal with Harebrained Schemes as a partnership rather than a publishing deal. But more importantly, Parsons alluded to a network that will exist across all Bungie games and all the platforms it develops (and publishes) on. It's designed to track analytics for all of its games, provide united leader board services and to be deployed through both Facebook and Apple's Game Center. (So, Bungie is lookin' at Facebook, eh?)
Check out the full interview here, where the Parsons and Harebrained Schemes head Jordan Weisman go into detail regarding the risks, rewards and intrigue of mobile/social game development. We'll be here, waiting for the imminent Halo Facebook game--make our dream a reality, guys?
[Image Credit: Bungie]
What else do you think or hope Bungie is working on for Facebook and mobile? Do you think the creator of Halo has a chance against EA, Disney, Epic Games and the like on these new frontiers?
Its first game is called Crimson (pictured), the same as its previously revealed mobile tech for cross-platform games, and it looks like it will launch on iPad by the looks of its website. Still, no details have been revealed about the game other than Harebrained Schemes, a mobile games developer, is working on it.
During his interview with Develop, Bungie COO Pete Parsons revealed that it's about time Bungie uses its expertise as a developer to enter the publishing realm, but also joked, "Well, it's like every other developer publisher relationship where the developer does the work and the publisher takes the credit and the money... I'm kidding of course."
Parsons went on to say that he sees Bungie's deal with Harebrained Schemes as a partnership rather than a publishing deal. But more importantly, Parsons alluded to a network that will exist across all Bungie games and all the platforms it develops (and publishes) on. It's designed to track analytics for all of its games, provide united leader board services and to be deployed through both Facebook and Apple's Game Center. (So, Bungie is lookin' at Facebook, eh?)
Check out the full interview here, where the Parsons and Harebrained Schemes head Jordan Weisman go into detail regarding the risks, rewards and intrigue of mobile/social game development. We'll be here, waiting for the imminent Halo Facebook game--make our dream a reality, guys?
[Image Credit: Bungie]
What else do you think or hope Bungie is working on for Facebook and mobile? Do you think the creator of Halo has a chance against EA, Disney, Epic Games and the like on these new frontiers?
Social game creators gaga for Google Plus already (is Facebook that bad?)
Apparently so, considering several heads of major social game studios are already interested in what Google Plus can do for their games, Gamasutra reports. Google's next answer to Facebook just launched its invite-only closed beta tests of the Plus service, and the monolithic search and web apps company has yet to make a peep about how Google Games is to fit in all this. Though, we're sure it will now (somehow) that developers are going gaga for Google Plus mere days after its release.
What's most interesting to developers like Kabam and publishers like RockYou is the Circles feature in Google Plus. Circles are customized groups for friends to share information that are tailored toward specific interests.It does have the potential for games shared through it to go viral throughout connected Circles, but again we don't even know how games fit in this equation.
While Kabam Ceo Kevin Chou is visibly cautious, he said, "In terms of whether or not the platform can eventually be a great place for games -- and specifically for Kabam... -- I think it's certainly something we're heavily evaluating, should we decide to go head in that direction."
However, publishers like RockYou have an insider view on Google's game(s) plan, and have already hinted that RockYou will work with Google on future game projects. RockYou SVP Jonathan Knight said to Gamasutra, "People who play games on social networks typically have groups of people they play games with, who don't necessarily overlap with 'true' friends they see socially."
But, Facebook has been doing that for months now, no? While I'm admittedly skeptical of Google Plus (I am not in the beta currently) based on its work with Buzz and that "+1" button, this could certainly work if stretched over the Chrome Web Store, the Android Market and anywhere else games are sold through Google.
However, it's interesting that developers are so interested in another platform just as Facebook prepares to drop an Iron Curtain around its social game ecosystem, reportedly controlling developers' pricing on other platforms so as to keep them inside. Perhaps developers are right to run away, but who is to say Google would never impose the same restrictions? Now with Google Plus as its secret weapon, we'll be watching Google Games rather closely.
What's most interesting to developers like Kabam and publishers like RockYou is the Circles feature in Google Plus. Circles are customized groups for friends to share information that are tailored toward specific interests.It does have the potential for games shared through it to go viral throughout connected Circles, but again we don't even know how games fit in this equation.
While Kabam Ceo Kevin Chou is visibly cautious, he said, "In terms of whether or not the platform can eventually be a great place for games -- and specifically for Kabam... -- I think it's certainly something we're heavily evaluating, should we decide to go head in that direction."
However, publishers like RockYou have an insider view on Google's game(s) plan, and have already hinted that RockYou will work with Google on future game projects. RockYou SVP Jonathan Knight said to Gamasutra, "People who play games on social networks typically have groups of people they play games with, who don't necessarily overlap with 'true' friends they see socially."
But, Facebook has been doing that for months now, no? While I'm admittedly skeptical of Google Plus (I am not in the beta currently) based on its work with Buzz and that "+1" button, this could certainly work if stretched over the Chrome Web Store, the Android Market and anywhere else games are sold through Google.
However, it's interesting that developers are so interested in another platform just as Facebook prepares to drop an Iron Curtain around its social game ecosystem, reportedly controlling developers' pricing on other platforms so as to keep them inside. Perhaps developers are right to run away, but who is to say Google would never impose the same restrictions? Now with Google Plus as its secret weapon, we'll be watching Google Games rather closely.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Facebook slaps back at Google+ Games with new game features
What a cowinkydink! Just as Google announced that it will now offer social games through Google+, Facebook announced a number of new changes to games on its platform. Announced in a blog post last night (much like Google+ Games was), the most notable of the changes is the new game ticker feature. This provides players with a smaller News Feed off to the right side of their games that will automatically update with game-related updates as they play.
What's important about this change is that players can see what their friends are up to in other games without having to leave the game they're currently playing. (We should mention that these changes, like all changes to almost everything on the Internet, are rolling out to users slowly.) For instance, if a friend smacks you with a triple-word score in Words with Friends while you're busy playing GnomeTown, you will see that almost immediately and be able to jump into that game straight from GnomeTown.
Facebook has also given gamers more control over who sees their game-related News Feed posts down to each individual app. This is now done in the Privacy Settings under Account Settings on the home page--just like how you remove apps or alter permissions. Finally, with what might come across sounding like the Ode to Joy for Facebook gamers with 13-inch screens (like myself), Facebook is working with developers to increase the screen size of games to make more use of your screens' width.
Facebook Games changes
While I've yet to have these changes make it to my own Facebook, they already sound impressive. However, we can't help but see some glaring similarities between these changes and Google+ Games. Namely, the (100 percent) separate News Feed for games from your standard News Feed sounds quite a lot like how Google is handling how game news is fed to players. However, we'll reserve any more comparisons until we see both Google+ Games and these Facebook changes in the digital, um, flesh. With two major competitors in the social games space now, there can only be one winner: the players.
[Via CNet]
[Image Credits: Facebook, Scitechie.com]
Are you excited by these new games features headed to Facebook? Do you think this will be enough to compete with Google+ Games, or is there even a competition to be had?
What's important about this change is that players can see what their friends are up to in other games without having to leave the game they're currently playing. (We should mention that these changes, like all changes to almost everything on the Internet, are rolling out to users slowly.) For instance, if a friend smacks you with a triple-word score in Words with Friends while you're busy playing GnomeTown, you will see that almost immediately and be able to jump into that game straight from GnomeTown.
Facebook has also given gamers more control over who sees their game-related News Feed posts down to each individual app. This is now done in the Privacy Settings under Account Settings on the home page--just like how you remove apps or alter permissions. Finally, with what might come across sounding like the Ode to Joy for Facebook gamers with 13-inch screens (like myself), Facebook is working with developers to increase the screen size of games to make more use of your screens' width.
Facebook Games changes
While I've yet to have these changes make it to my own Facebook, they already sound impressive. However, we can't help but see some glaring similarities between these changes and Google+ Games. Namely, the (100 percent) separate News Feed for games from your standard News Feed sounds quite a lot like how Google is handling how game news is fed to players. However, we'll reserve any more comparisons until we see both Google+ Games and these Facebook changes in the digital, um, flesh. With two major competitors in the social games space now, there can only be one winner: the players.
[Via CNet]
[Image Credits: Facebook, Scitechie.com]
Are you excited by these new games features headed to Facebook? Do you think this will be enough to compete with Google+ Games, or is there even a competition to be had?
Zynga vs Vostu Part 5: U.S. judge calls off Brazilian Vostu shut-down
Honestly, we're almost as bewildered as you might be on this one. TechCrunch reports that a U.S. judge has filed a TRO (temporary restraining order) against the Brazilian court that granted Zynga a preliminary injunction against developer Vostu, demanding that it take down four of its games that allegedly copy Zynga games directly in the face of a massive daily fine. Basically, a San Jose court is telling a Brazilian court that it cannot go through with its ruling in Zynga's favor.
Some brief background: Zynga filed suit in a U.S. court against Brazilian developer Vostu in June for copying its games. Vostu then retorted publicly, pointing fingers at Zynga for doing the very same thing, and filed a lawsuit of its own with the same allegations in July. Most recently, Zynga filed a second lawsuit against Vostu in Brazilian court for the very same allegations, this time bringing Google down with it as Orkut, a Google-owned company, hosts Vostu's games.
"Brazil has an important interest in enforcing its copyright laws," says U.S. District Judge Davila in the recently-issued TRO. "Zynga-which chose the U.S. forum first-now seeks to enforce an injunction it obtained abroad that would paralyze this Court's ability to decide this case."
Zynga copy Vostu
I guess this is what happens when you file lawsuits in two courts (internationally, mind you) regarding the same allegations. Now, we have two courts from across both sides of the equator that will duke it out over who can make what ruling. In essence, as TechCrunch's Michael Arrington puts it, this U.S. judge is saying that his court's desire to retain decision on this case outweighs the Brazilian court's rights to enforce its copyright laws.
This battle of the copycats just got incredibly nasty (and somewhat confusing), but speaks volumes to one of the most pressing issues the social games industry faces today. As Sean Ryan, director of games partnerships at Facebook, put it recently (in Inside Social Games's words): "The days of monetizing by making a clone of a clone are over." The sooner social games companies stop "borrowing" each others' ideas, the sooner we'll move on from insane international legal battles like so. And social games on the whole will be better for it.
Do you think this legal battle has gotten out of hand? Which do you think is in the right in this case?
Some brief background: Zynga filed suit in a U.S. court against Brazilian developer Vostu in June for copying its games. Vostu then retorted publicly, pointing fingers at Zynga for doing the very same thing, and filed a lawsuit of its own with the same allegations in July. Most recently, Zynga filed a second lawsuit against Vostu in Brazilian court for the very same allegations, this time bringing Google down with it as Orkut, a Google-owned company, hosts Vostu's games.
"Brazil has an important interest in enforcing its copyright laws," says U.S. District Judge Davila in the recently-issued TRO. "Zynga-which chose the U.S. forum first-now seeks to enforce an injunction it obtained abroad that would paralyze this Court's ability to decide this case."
Zynga copy Vostu
I guess this is what happens when you file lawsuits in two courts (internationally, mind you) regarding the same allegations. Now, we have two courts from across both sides of the equator that will duke it out over who can make what ruling. In essence, as TechCrunch's Michael Arrington puts it, this U.S. judge is saying that his court's desire to retain decision on this case outweighs the Brazilian court's rights to enforce its copyright laws.
This battle of the copycats just got incredibly nasty (and somewhat confusing), but speaks volumes to one of the most pressing issues the social games industry faces today. As Sean Ryan, director of games partnerships at Facebook, put it recently (in Inside Social Games's words): "The days of monetizing by making a clone of a clone are over." The sooner social games companies stop "borrowing" each others' ideas, the sooner we'll move on from insane international legal battles like so. And social games on the whole will be better for it.
Do you think this legal battle has gotten out of hand? Which do you think is in the right in this case?
Game of the Day: Bloons 2 - Spring Fling
bloons 2 spring fling game of the day
Bloons 2 is back with a whole new slew of spring-themed levels. Once again, the monkey takes up his trusty darts, boomerangs, lasers, and more; and aiming them squarely at those pesky balloons. The difference this time is that Ninja Kiwi assumes you've already played Bloons and Bloons 2, so the difficult has been drastically increased for Spring Fling. From the beginning, you'll see that the levels require careful timing, precision, and a little luck. So whether you've played Bloons 2 or not, if you're looking for a challenge, Bloons 2: Spring Fling has it right here.
Click here to play Bloons 2: Spring Fling!
bloons 2 spring fling game of the day bloons 2 spring fling game of the day
Pro Tips:
Bloons 2 shows you the strength and direction of your last shot. Use that to carefully adjust your throws.
If Spring Fling is too difficult, check out Bloons 2 first to learn the ropes.
Click here to play Bloons 2: Spring Fling!
What do you think of Bloons 2: Spring Fling?
Bloons 2 is back with a whole new slew of spring-themed levels. Once again, the monkey takes up his trusty darts, boomerangs, lasers, and more; and aiming them squarely at those pesky balloons. The difference this time is that Ninja Kiwi assumes you've already played Bloons and Bloons 2, so the difficult has been drastically increased for Spring Fling. From the beginning, you'll see that the levels require careful timing, precision, and a little luck. So whether you've played Bloons 2 or not, if you're looking for a challenge, Bloons 2: Spring Fling has it right here.
Click here to play Bloons 2: Spring Fling!
bloons 2 spring fling game of the day bloons 2 spring fling game of the day
Pro Tips:
Bloons 2 shows you the strength and direction of your last shot. Use that to carefully adjust your throws.
If Spring Fling is too difficult, check out Bloons 2 first to learn the ropes.
Click here to play Bloons 2: Spring Fling!
What do you think of Bloons 2: Spring Fling?
Kabam trades dragons for desert planets in Edgeworld for Facebook
Prepare to activate your "Check Your Edgeworld Base!" phone alarms. Kabam, creator of strategy Facebook hits like Dragons of Atlantis and Kingdoms of Camelot, has launched Edgeworld on Facebook and Google+ Games. (Kabam is also the first Facebook developer to launch a game on Google+ Games.) Edgeworld takes a visibly different approach to strategy games than its predecessors, with a focus on real-time combat between players.
The game also focuses heavily on mood, with rallying, futuristic music and a story that unfolds as you play. You've been enlisted as commander of a rogue faction of The Union, a collection of nations who landed on the planet Cerulea to harvest the resources and technology of an advanced, ancient alien race known as The Ceruleans.
You know, standard sci-fi fare. Like most real-time strategy games on Facebook (and elsewhere, really), you must gather resources to build an efficient base, muster defenses for that base and execute strategic attacks against both other players and the storyline factions.
Edgeworld in action
That said, players can choose to focus on either the sprawling campaign, much like Empires & Allies, or to go to war with other players. Regardless, your "safe status" will eventually disappear as you progress in the game, so you'll have to fight opposing players eventually. (Within three days of starting the game, to be exact.) While players can purchase protection from other players, the easiest way to ensure your survival in this game is to form alliances with fellow commanders for mutually-assured protection.
The game seems to have been heavily influenced by traditional strategy franchises like Starcraft and Command and Conquer. However, competing Facebook strategy game maker Kixeye claims that Kabam copied its Backyard Monsters in Edgeworld's creation. Regardless of where Kabam sourced its inspiration from, Edgeworld looks to be a blast, and already enjoys over 400 thousand players. With strategy games looking (and sounding) like this, it's no wonder that nearly 80 million Facebook gamers are playing strategy games on the platform. Just remember to sleep, kay?
Click here to play Edgeworld on Facebook Now >
Have you tried Edgeworld out yet, and if so, what do you think so far? Do you think this is the start of a growing trend in social games?
The game also focuses heavily on mood, with rallying, futuristic music and a story that unfolds as you play. You've been enlisted as commander of a rogue faction of The Union, a collection of nations who landed on the planet Cerulea to harvest the resources and technology of an advanced, ancient alien race known as The Ceruleans.
You know, standard sci-fi fare. Like most real-time strategy games on Facebook (and elsewhere, really), you must gather resources to build an efficient base, muster defenses for that base and execute strategic attacks against both other players and the storyline factions.
Edgeworld in action
That said, players can choose to focus on either the sprawling campaign, much like Empires & Allies, or to go to war with other players. Regardless, your "safe status" will eventually disappear as you progress in the game, so you'll have to fight opposing players eventually. (Within three days of starting the game, to be exact.) While players can purchase protection from other players, the easiest way to ensure your survival in this game is to form alliances with fellow commanders for mutually-assured protection.
The game seems to have been heavily influenced by traditional strategy franchises like Starcraft and Command and Conquer. However, competing Facebook strategy game maker Kixeye claims that Kabam copied its Backyard Monsters in Edgeworld's creation. Regardless of where Kabam sourced its inspiration from, Edgeworld looks to be a blast, and already enjoys over 400 thousand players. With strategy games looking (and sounding) like this, it's no wonder that nearly 80 million Facebook gamers are playing strategy games on the platform. Just remember to sleep, kay?
Click here to play Edgeworld on Facebook Now >
Have you tried Edgeworld out yet, and if so, what do you think so far? Do you think this is the start of a growing trend in social games?
Want a faster CityVille? Then it's time to let Zynga store some data
Or not, if you're the paranoid type (like me). A new loading screen has appeared in CityVille, and it's Zynga asking players to let it store some information on their computers to help the game load faster. If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. Zynga has introduced this option to two of its other popular games that you may have heard of: FarmVille and FrontierVille.
While the option is rolling out slowly to players, your loading screen will soon appear with a button in the upper right hand corner that reads,"Want to Load Faster? Press Here." This opens up the Flash Player settings, and asks if you would like to allow Zynga to save some user data on your computer, which is said to in turn help your CityVille load much faster.
However, if you had issues (not technical, ethical) with the option when it was offered in Zynga's other games, then you're probably not going to gel with this either. However, Zynga played it smart this time around and has offered a full guide and FAQ on not only how to install the speed boost, but how to remove it in the event that you don't dig it.
CityVille Load Faster
Zynga also brings up an interesting point here: If you've allowed Zynga this access through FarmVille, then you're already experiencing faster load times in CityVille. That's because each game is using the exact same domain name, "zcache.zgncdn.com." I would imagine that all Zynga games use this domain, meaning that if you allowed it through one game, then all Zynga games could load much faster for you. That is, of course, if you're cool with it.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you seen this option appear in your CityVille? Would you ever allow Zynga or any other Facebook game developer, for that matter, to store information on your computer in the name of better load times?
While the option is rolling out slowly to players, your loading screen will soon appear with a button in the upper right hand corner that reads,"Want to Load Faster? Press Here." This opens up the Flash Player settings, and asks if you would like to allow Zynga to save some user data on your computer, which is said to in turn help your CityVille load much faster.
However, if you had issues (not technical, ethical) with the option when it was offered in Zynga's other games, then you're probably not going to gel with this either. However, Zynga played it smart this time around and has offered a full guide and FAQ on not only how to install the speed boost, but how to remove it in the event that you don't dig it.
CityVille Load Faster
Zynga also brings up an interesting point here: If you've allowed Zynga this access through FarmVille, then you're already experiencing faster load times in CityVille. That's because each game is using the exact same domain name, "zcache.zgncdn.com." I would imagine that all Zynga games use this domain, meaning that if you allowed it through one game, then all Zynga games could load much faster for you. That is, of course, if you're cool with it.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you seen this option appear in your CityVille? Would you ever allow Zynga or any other Facebook game developer, for that matter, to store information on your computer in the name of better load times?
FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail: We're not on the homestead anymore
While this is certainly true for obvious reasons, its rings true for so many more. The Pioneer Trail in FrontierVille has been coming at a snail's pace (in molasses ... with a bum leg), but soon--we're told the expansion will launch sometime today--we will finally embark on a brand new journey. And by "brand new," we don't just mean new areas--we've seen them already, really--but new, never-before-seen features in a Zynga game.
Like we guessed, Zynga has made Pioneer Trail a brand new app, meaning once you accept a Goal within stock FrontierVille involving a kidnapping by the dastardly Gratchett Gang, you will be launched into a new version of the game. But don't worry: Your homestead is coming too, and just how you left it. Though, there will be a few nifty new buttons on your main Neighbor Bar.
We're concerned most with the Travel button, which starts your journey to rescue those folks from the Gratchett Gang. If you hadn't noticed already, Zynga is taking FrontierVille's story focus into overdrive, and Pioneer Trail features several cutscenes that set the tone for each map.
The Pioneer Trail
Once you start on the trail in Beaver Valley, you must select three friends to fill the roles of Doctor, Hunter and Carpenter. (Admittedly, we've seen this before in The Oregon Trail by Blue Fang, but it takes a decidedly different approach.) Players also have the option of taking some non-player character (NPC) friends, though that's not nearly as rewarding. The idea here is to choose three of your most reliable friends who will actively help by visiting and providing materials. Once that's through, you can begin clicking around the environment, which features full ambient sound and new audio tracks for each portion of the trail. When you click on, say, a tree, your carpenter will take the action rather than your character. The same goes for hunting and administering medicine, but your personal avatar has two special roles.
Pioneer Trail Story Scroll
During your travels, your character will find Story Scrolls (pictured above), which present choices that will either make future endeavors on the trail easier or more difficult. Most decisions are cut and dry, but later the "right" choices become more ambiguous. The second role your avatar fills is that of a haggler. Along the way, you'll meet up with Trader Bart from time to time, and he'll offer you deals like, say, three pieces of meat for two medicine. Depending on your inventory, this could be a no-brainer, but Bart is certainly not above swindling.
We should mention that everything done on the trail is governed by a new resource system called Rations. Every action players take on the trail will consume a Ration. Players start with just 10, but each real friend added to your traveling party will add another five Rations for a grand max of 25. Players can visit you on the trail to provide you with Rations, and they're frequently the reward of Goals and simply collecting from debris and other areas along the way.
Gallery: FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail
Speaking of friends, it's entirely possible to fire any of your three main buddies for being inactive, which will publicly call them out on the Facebook News Feed. (So, it's in your best interest to pop in on your friends' trail groups every once in awhile.) Friends that aren't part of your traveling troupe also play a vital role in Giganterous Social Missions. For instance, when a flash fire breaks out on the poor McBaggins' (remember them?) home in the High Plains, it's up to you to recruit as many friends as possible to throw buckets of water at the fire. Your friends' avatars will appear as doing so every time you log into the game during Social Missions--just like when they visit your homestead.
Of course, there is a competitive element to Pioneer Trail. As you progress through the trail, you'll earn Trail Points and prize tickets on the way to Fort Courage, which will be tallied against your friends' totals. Luckily, you can play the storyline over and over to best your friends scores. But there are other reasons to play through the game more than once, like Hidden Goals. As you clear things on the trail, small blue exclamation points will appear in areas off the beaten path. These simple to accomplish yet hard to find Goals will boost your score in relation to your friends, and it's said to be impossible to find every Hidden Goal during a single play through.
Giganterous Social Missions
Aside from all the new things you can do on the trail, which certainly add up to a huge amount of content, the expansion itself is literally massive. Each map on the Trail is five times as big as the largest available homestead, and is covered in brand new artwork that can be purchased to recreate your favorite scenes from the trail. The new maps and artwork are stunning compared to existing Zynga games.
And, better yet, a new game feature entirely is coming called the Matchmaking System. While Pioneer Trail will not launch with this feature, it will match players up with similar FrontierVille pioneers that aren't Facebook friends to journey with, ensuring that--eventually--you'll always have friends to play with. This time around, Zynga has moved three massive, beautiful maps away from the farm, so to speak, and--guess what?--it looks like a whole lot of fun. Perhaps the time has finally come for the developer to move even further away from crop sharing in cyberspace, and I already like where it's headed. FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail launches today.
Click here to play FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail Now >
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
What do you think of Zynga's expansion to FrontierVille thus far? Do you like where Zynga is going with its Facebook games, and what more would you like to see from the developer?
Like we guessed, Zynga has made Pioneer Trail a brand new app, meaning once you accept a Goal within stock FrontierVille involving a kidnapping by the dastardly Gratchett Gang, you will be launched into a new version of the game. But don't worry: Your homestead is coming too, and just how you left it. Though, there will be a few nifty new buttons on your main Neighbor Bar.
We're concerned most with the Travel button, which starts your journey to rescue those folks from the Gratchett Gang. If you hadn't noticed already, Zynga is taking FrontierVille's story focus into overdrive, and Pioneer Trail features several cutscenes that set the tone for each map.
The Pioneer Trail
Once you start on the trail in Beaver Valley, you must select three friends to fill the roles of Doctor, Hunter and Carpenter. (Admittedly, we've seen this before in The Oregon Trail by Blue Fang, but it takes a decidedly different approach.) Players also have the option of taking some non-player character (NPC) friends, though that's not nearly as rewarding. The idea here is to choose three of your most reliable friends who will actively help by visiting and providing materials. Once that's through, you can begin clicking around the environment, which features full ambient sound and new audio tracks for each portion of the trail. When you click on, say, a tree, your carpenter will take the action rather than your character. The same goes for hunting and administering medicine, but your personal avatar has two special roles.
Pioneer Trail Story Scroll
During your travels, your character will find Story Scrolls (pictured above), which present choices that will either make future endeavors on the trail easier or more difficult. Most decisions are cut and dry, but later the "right" choices become more ambiguous. The second role your avatar fills is that of a haggler. Along the way, you'll meet up with Trader Bart from time to time, and he'll offer you deals like, say, three pieces of meat for two medicine. Depending on your inventory, this could be a no-brainer, but Bart is certainly not above swindling.
We should mention that everything done on the trail is governed by a new resource system called Rations. Every action players take on the trail will consume a Ration. Players start with just 10, but each real friend added to your traveling party will add another five Rations for a grand max of 25. Players can visit you on the trail to provide you with Rations, and they're frequently the reward of Goals and simply collecting from debris and other areas along the way.
Gallery: FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail
Speaking of friends, it's entirely possible to fire any of your three main buddies for being inactive, which will publicly call them out on the Facebook News Feed. (So, it's in your best interest to pop in on your friends' trail groups every once in awhile.) Friends that aren't part of your traveling troupe also play a vital role in Giganterous Social Missions. For instance, when a flash fire breaks out on the poor McBaggins' (remember them?) home in the High Plains, it's up to you to recruit as many friends as possible to throw buckets of water at the fire. Your friends' avatars will appear as doing so every time you log into the game during Social Missions--just like when they visit your homestead.
Of course, there is a competitive element to Pioneer Trail. As you progress through the trail, you'll earn Trail Points and prize tickets on the way to Fort Courage, which will be tallied against your friends' totals. Luckily, you can play the storyline over and over to best your friends scores. But there are other reasons to play through the game more than once, like Hidden Goals. As you clear things on the trail, small blue exclamation points will appear in areas off the beaten path. These simple to accomplish yet hard to find Goals will boost your score in relation to your friends, and it's said to be impossible to find every Hidden Goal during a single play through.
Giganterous Social Missions
Aside from all the new things you can do on the trail, which certainly add up to a huge amount of content, the expansion itself is literally massive. Each map on the Trail is five times as big as the largest available homestead, and is covered in brand new artwork that can be purchased to recreate your favorite scenes from the trail. The new maps and artwork are stunning compared to existing Zynga games.
And, better yet, a new game feature entirely is coming called the Matchmaking System. While Pioneer Trail will not launch with this feature, it will match players up with similar FrontierVille pioneers that aren't Facebook friends to journey with, ensuring that--eventually--you'll always have friends to play with. This time around, Zynga has moved three massive, beautiful maps away from the farm, so to speak, and--guess what?--it looks like a whole lot of fun. Perhaps the time has finally come for the developer to move even further away from crop sharing in cyberspace, and I already like where it's headed. FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail launches today.
Click here to play FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail Now >
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
What do you think of Zynga's expansion to FrontierVille thus far? Do you like where Zynga is going with its Facebook games, and what more would you like to see from the developer?
FarmVille lover Emma Stone nerds out with Sims-playing Jimmy Fallon on Late Night
Avid moviegoers are finding that there's no escaping actress Emma Stone this summer. So far, Stone has showed up in three Hollywood films nearly one week after another -- Friends With Benefits (July 22), Crazy Stupid Love (July 29), and The Help, which came out two days ago. At the same time though, Stone is learning there's no escape from talking about her old love, FarmVille.
Stone first revealed her "obsession'" in an interview with women's fashion magazine ELLE in June. So yesterday, when Late Night host Jimmy Fallon asked the actress a fairly innocent question, "Are you on Facebook?", we knew what to expect.
"It's a fake farm, but it doesn't feel fake, Jimmy," declares Stone. What we didn't expect is that Fallon was just as "obsessed" with playing The Sims "a long time ago" himself. The host is probably referring to an offline PC version of The Sims, not the shiny new Facebook version released earlier this week. Which is to say, Fallon should totally give The Sims Social a spin (once Electronic Arts gets it back up). He's sure to love it.
FarmVille celebrity players
Finally, Emma Stone isn't the only FarmVille playing celebrity we've run across. Rumors have been around that Wyclef Jean, Annalynne McCord, Avril Lavigne, Ellen, and Rachel Ray all farm on FarmVille. Actress Mila Kunis outed herself as FarmVille obsessed last year. Finally, everyone must've heard of Lady Gaga's GagaVille by now, which was one of the farthest-reaching marketing stunts ever seen in a Facebook game.
Stone first revealed her "obsession'" in an interview with women's fashion magazine ELLE in June. So yesterday, when Late Night host Jimmy Fallon asked the actress a fairly innocent question, "Are you on Facebook?", we knew what to expect.
"It's a fake farm, but it doesn't feel fake, Jimmy," declares Stone. What we didn't expect is that Fallon was just as "obsessed" with playing The Sims "a long time ago" himself. The host is probably referring to an offline PC version of The Sims, not the shiny new Facebook version released earlier this week. Which is to say, Fallon should totally give The Sims Social a spin (once Electronic Arts gets it back up). He's sure to love it.
FarmVille celebrity players
Finally, Emma Stone isn't the only FarmVille playing celebrity we've run across. Rumors have been around that Wyclef Jean, Annalynne McCord, Avril Lavigne, Ellen, and Rachel Ray all farm on FarmVille. Actress Mila Kunis outed herself as FarmVille obsessed last year. Finally, everyone must've heard of Lady Gaga's GagaVille by now, which was one of the farthest-reaching marketing stunts ever seen in a Facebook game.
Infographic: The average FarmVille fan plays for 15 minutes a day
Why do you look so confused? Hey, not every FarmVille player is a super fan like you are. An infographic put together by Hasai, a social media strategy firm that explores Americans' use of social media, reports that the 63 million active FarmVille players spend an average of 15 minutes a day tending to their digital crops.
While that number is already grossly inaccurate, according to AppData, it's nevertheless interesting to get a glimpse at the average FarmVille player. (Blame the breakneck speed at which this genre moves.) Why is the average so low?
When you compare the vast amount of monthly players to the relatively small group of daily players, that would surely skew the numbers. Hasai goes on to point out that, over a year, that's 5,475 minutes spent playing the virtual sharecropper--two weeks worth of a full-time job. (Come to think of it, I'd love to see higher times in this average.)
The infographic also shares an interesting statistic overall: Online video games, the second most heavily-used Internet activity, make up 10 percent of all Internet activity in the U.S. And yes, that includes Facebook gaming. Honestly, I thought this percentage would have been larger, considering the amount of online gaming platforms there are even outside of Facebook. Well, there you have it: Not every FarmVille player is the super addict that your average evening news spot makes them out to be. You know, like this lovely lady claims to have been? Find the full infographic below (click on it to make it larger)
[Via Mashable]
[Image Credit: Reve News]
Do you know anyone who spends more than 15 minutes daily playing FarmVille? Why do you think that number might be so low? Sound off in the comments. Add CommentAdd Comment
American Identity -- Hasai
While that number is already grossly inaccurate, according to AppData, it's nevertheless interesting to get a glimpse at the average FarmVille player. (Blame the breakneck speed at which this genre moves.) Why is the average so low?
When you compare the vast amount of monthly players to the relatively small group of daily players, that would surely skew the numbers. Hasai goes on to point out that, over a year, that's 5,475 minutes spent playing the virtual sharecropper--two weeks worth of a full-time job. (Come to think of it, I'd love to see higher times in this average.)
The infographic also shares an interesting statistic overall: Online video games, the second most heavily-used Internet activity, make up 10 percent of all Internet activity in the U.S. And yes, that includes Facebook gaming. Honestly, I thought this percentage would have been larger, considering the amount of online gaming platforms there are even outside of Facebook. Well, there you have it: Not every FarmVille player is the super addict that your average evening news spot makes them out to be. You know, like this lovely lady claims to have been? Find the full infographic below (click on it to make it larger)
[Via Mashable]
[Image Credit: Reve News]
Do you know anyone who spends more than 15 minutes daily playing FarmVille? Why do you think that number might be so low? Sound off in the comments. Add CommentAdd Comment
American Identity -- Hasai
MelVille, or Moby Dick in a language Facebook gamers understand
How do you revive a 150-year-old literary classic in the digital age? (Forget the fact that it's a shame you should have to.) You present it in a way that the wouldn't-be readers of this generation can relate to, the biggest thing on the Internet right now, Facebook games.
Game designer David Fox has made brilliant use of Moby Dick author Herman Melville's surname, and transformed arguably his greatest work into a Facebook game of sorts. Scratch that.
It's not really a Facebook game. MelVille simply applies common Facebook game tropes like energy, experience points and levels to the actual novel of Moby Dick in its entirety. Players, or rather readers, spend one energy for each page turned, and it refills at a rate of one energy per minute. (In true Facebook game fashion, you could always pay up in Facebook Credits, if you just can't wait to turn the page.)
Each page turned also grants readers with one experience point, signified by a familiar star that bounces across the pages as you turn them. Player--ahem--readers then can share their progress with their friends. While there isn't anything glaringly wrong with Facebook games to begin with, this is perhaps one of the most justifiable excuses for wasting time playing them.
Moby Dick on Facebook
Giving "Sorry, I had to harvest my strawberries" as the reason you were late for your date probably wouldn't have nearly the same oomph as "Sorry, I got lost in Moby Dick. Wonderful read, isn't it?" Congratulations, Mr. Fox--you just released the most profound Facebook game to date.
Click here to play read MelVille on Facebook Now >
[Via Kotaku]
Have you ever read Moby Dick sans Facebook game? While this is clearly a clever form of satire, would you ever read the book the whole way through on Facebook?
Game designer David Fox has made brilliant use of Moby Dick author Herman Melville's surname, and transformed arguably his greatest work into a Facebook game of sorts. Scratch that.
It's not really a Facebook game. MelVille simply applies common Facebook game tropes like energy, experience points and levels to the actual novel of Moby Dick in its entirety. Players, or rather readers, spend one energy for each page turned, and it refills at a rate of one energy per minute. (In true Facebook game fashion, you could always pay up in Facebook Credits, if you just can't wait to turn the page.)
Each page turned also grants readers with one experience point, signified by a familiar star that bounces across the pages as you turn them. Player--ahem--readers then can share their progress with their friends. While there isn't anything glaringly wrong with Facebook games to begin with, this is perhaps one of the most justifiable excuses for wasting time playing them.
Moby Dick on Facebook
Giving "Sorry, I had to harvest my strawberries" as the reason you were late for your date probably wouldn't have nearly the same oomph as "Sorry, I got lost in Moby Dick. Wonderful read, isn't it?" Congratulations, Mr. Fox--you just released the most profound Facebook game to date.
Click here to play read MelVille on Facebook Now >
[Via Kotaku]
Have you ever read Moby Dick sans Facebook game? While this is clearly a clever form of satire, would you ever read the book the whole way through on Facebook?
Kingdoms of Camelot players quit by the thousands in protest
Kabam, a Facebook game developer dedicated to providing hardcore titles, has had some mixed success these past few weeks -- they were accused by rival Kixeye of copycatting games, won a technology award, was written up by the Los Angeles Times as a Zynga contender, and was the first Facebook developer to put a game (i.e. Edgeworld) onto Google+ Games.
But last Friday, Kabam screwed up big time with their strategy title, Kingdoms of Camelot, when its engineers accidentally turned a bunch of premium virtual goods (the stuff you buy with real money) into free, giftable items. Opportunists quickly spent the entire night amassing "astronomical" amounts of these freebies, thus wrecking the power balance between the 2 million players of the game.
Kabam fixes this problem by creating a script that takes all the illicit freebies away from its players, but this unleashes havoc as 70,000 innocent players also have their premium virtual goods taken away. And then a separate problem emerged, when other players lost access to their inventory. Since these troubles started, angry players have quit playing Kingdoms of Camelot by the tens of thousands, while others have created forum threads and Facebook pages calling for a boycott of the game and Kabam.
Kingdoms of Camelot Appdata August 2011
In an attempt to reward loyal players and prevent more from quitting, Kabam offered "two huge gifts: A Divine Inspiration and an Obsidian Rune!" during that weekend. The sudden spike in daily traffic on August 8 is from players checking in to see if those gifts made it to their accounts that day.
An average Facebook gamer might spend 15 minutes per day on a game, but a Kingdoms of Camelot player would spend an average of 3 hours with a 90% log-in rate. They also open up their wallets for more premium items too. Kabam understands deeply, how much it's hurt a very dedicated and profitable player base. Hopefully, they can clean up this mess soon.
But last Friday, Kabam screwed up big time with their strategy title, Kingdoms of Camelot, when its engineers accidentally turned a bunch of premium virtual goods (the stuff you buy with real money) into free, giftable items. Opportunists quickly spent the entire night amassing "astronomical" amounts of these freebies, thus wrecking the power balance between the 2 million players of the game.
Kabam fixes this problem by creating a script that takes all the illicit freebies away from its players, but this unleashes havoc as 70,000 innocent players also have their premium virtual goods taken away. And then a separate problem emerged, when other players lost access to their inventory. Since these troubles started, angry players have quit playing Kingdoms of Camelot by the tens of thousands, while others have created forum threads and Facebook pages calling for a boycott of the game and Kabam.
Kingdoms of Camelot Appdata August 2011
In an attempt to reward loyal players and prevent more from quitting, Kabam offered "two huge gifts: A Divine Inspiration and an Obsidian Rune!" during that weekend. The sudden spike in daily traffic on August 8 is from players checking in to see if those gifts made it to their accounts that day.
An average Facebook gamer might spend 15 minutes per day on a game, but a Kingdoms of Camelot player would spend an average of 3 hours with a 90% log-in rate. They also open up their wallets for more premium items too. Kabam understands deeply, how much it's hurt a very dedicated and profitable player base. Hopefully, they can clean up this mess soon.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The mad science behind a Facebook game's success
Before making the decision to invest your valuable time and money on a Facebook game, you might want to take a moment to stop and think, "Just how long is this game going to be around?"
If you've played a lot of Facebook games, you can often go with your gut. For instance, if it's made by Zynga, it will most likely have a longer shelf life than a game from a smaller company for several reasons: Zynga spends a buttload of money advertising its games and it has the most powerful weapon of all -- a loyal group of players who are willing, dying really, to try the company's next big game.
Inside Social Games has published an in-depth piece on how to predict a Facebook game's success that essentially boils down to this: If the game is still attracting new players after three months, it has got a chance in hell of sticking around.
Case in point: Kixeye's underrated Backyard Monsters. The tower defense game is not the most well-known game on Facebook, but in the context of the ISG formula, it's one game that might be worth playing if you're looking for something new to add to your social gaming repertoire.
> How to Spot a Breakout Facebook Game [Inside Social Games]
If you've played a lot of Facebook games, you can often go with your gut. For instance, if it's made by Zynga, it will most likely have a longer shelf life than a game from a smaller company for several reasons: Zynga spends a buttload of money advertising its games and it has the most powerful weapon of all -- a loyal group of players who are willing, dying really, to try the company's next big game.
Inside Social Games has published an in-depth piece on how to predict a Facebook game's success that essentially boils down to this: If the game is still attracting new players after three months, it has got a chance in hell of sticking around.
Case in point: Kixeye's underrated Backyard Monsters. The tower defense game is not the most well-known game on Facebook, but in the context of the ISG formula, it's one game that might be worth playing if you're looking for something new to add to your social gaming repertoire.
> How to Spot a Breakout Facebook Game [Inside Social Games]
It's the end of the LEGO Universe as we know it, and we don't feel fine
Really, it's a total bummer. The LEGO Universe team announced on the game's message boards that the recently free-to-play MMO (massively multiplayer online game) will close its colorful, plastic doors on Jan. 31, 2012.
The game launched to fanfare just over a year ago, because, you know, it's LEGO. Unfortunately, even going free-to-play this summer couldn't keep the dream alive.
The LEGO Group chalks the game's death sentence up to something terribly simple: a lack of players to support its new found free-to-play model. Even a game that's free to play needs healthy percentage of players to pay up--just look at how Facebook games survive.
As a thank you to its dedicated fans, The LEGO Group will provide players that subscribe as of Dec. 31 the full game's final month for free. Here's the full statement from The LEGO Universe team:
Hello Adventurer, today we are very sad to announce that LEGO Universe will be closing on Janurary 31, 2012. This was a very difficult decision to make, but unfortunately LEGO Universe has not been able to attract the number of members needed to keep the game open.
We are thankful to have had the opportunity to share this adventure wiith an amazing community of players. We hope you will continue to enjoy LEGO Universe for the last few months. As a thank you, if you are a paying subscriber on December 31, 2011, we will provide you the full game for the final month for free.
Again, we want to thank the fantastic community of players who made LEGO Universe such a vibrant, fun and creative experience.
Sincerely,
The LEGO Universe Team
It's always a shame to see an online game be forced to shut its doors, but especially so in this case. LEGO made for some fond and uniquely elaborate childhood memories. Come one, with what other single brand of toys could you make space rangers storm a medieval castle protected by dinosaurs? Don't you even dare say "Mega Bloks."
[Via Kotaku]
Were you a fan of LEGO Universe? What are your best memories of LEGO as a kid?
The game launched to fanfare just over a year ago, because, you know, it's LEGO. Unfortunately, even going free-to-play this summer couldn't keep the dream alive.
The LEGO Group chalks the game's death sentence up to something terribly simple: a lack of players to support its new found free-to-play model. Even a game that's free to play needs healthy percentage of players to pay up--just look at how Facebook games survive.
As a thank you to its dedicated fans, The LEGO Group will provide players that subscribe as of Dec. 31 the full game's final month for free. Here's the full statement from The LEGO Universe team:
Hello Adventurer, today we are very sad to announce that LEGO Universe will be closing on Janurary 31, 2012. This was a very difficult decision to make, but unfortunately LEGO Universe has not been able to attract the number of members needed to keep the game open.
We are thankful to have had the opportunity to share this adventure wiith an amazing community of players. We hope you will continue to enjoy LEGO Universe for the last few months. As a thank you, if you are a paying subscriber on December 31, 2011, we will provide you the full game for the final month for free.
Again, we want to thank the fantastic community of players who made LEGO Universe such a vibrant, fun and creative experience.
Sincerely,
The LEGO Universe Team
It's always a shame to see an online game be forced to shut its doors, but especially so in this case. LEGO made for some fond and uniquely elaborate childhood memories. Come one, with what other single brand of toys could you make space rangers storm a medieval castle protected by dinosaurs? Don't you even dare say "Mega Bloks."
[Via Kotaku]
Were you a fan of LEGO Universe? What are your best memories of LEGO as a kid?
Move over Slap Chop: Ninjas slice 250,000 pieces of fruit every 60 seconds
Mobclix rolled out an infographic that shows what happens on mobile devices in every minute, and - surprise, surprise - a big chunk of that time involves playing games.
According to the chart, in 60 seconds: 208,333 minutes of Angry Birds are played; 180 million coins are collected in TinyZoo friends; 80 copies of Fruit Ninja are sold, and 250K pieces of fruit are sliced in the game. Damn, that's a lot of fruit.
fruit ninja, angry birds mobile infographic
Too bad we can't say the same for Fruit Ninja Frenzy on Facebook, which seems to be steadily losing players. The Facebook version is a decent game, but there's just something awesome about using your finger to chop fruit like a highly trained ninja.
> 250,000 Ninjas Chop Fruit Every 60 seconds on Mobile [Infographic] [Social Times]
According to the chart, in 60 seconds: 208,333 minutes of Angry Birds are played; 180 million coins are collected in TinyZoo friends; 80 copies of Fruit Ninja are sold, and 250K pieces of fruit are sliced in the game. Damn, that's a lot of fruit.
fruit ninja, angry birds mobile infographic
Too bad we can't say the same for Fruit Ninja Frenzy on Facebook, which seems to be steadily losing players. The Facebook version is a decent game, but there's just something awesome about using your finger to chop fruit like a highly trained ninja.
> 250,000 Ninjas Chop Fruit Every 60 seconds on Mobile [Infographic] [Social Times]
Wayne Brady is a serious gamer, but he ain't down with the FarmVille
When Let's Make a Deal host (and hilarious Chappelle Show cameo) Wayne Brady isn't, well, making deals with contestants, he's playing video games. During an interview with USA Today, Brady revealed his intense passion for the pastime, stating that his 30-minute breaks between shows consist of Halo: Reach and Mortal Kombat. But he also name-dropped another game.
"I like to be left alone when I'm not working," Brady told USA Today. "So the last thing I want to do is go to a (game like Zynga's) Farmville and have a community. I want the single player experience. I play a storyline all the way through. The more cinematic the game is, the more can replay it."
Well, Facebook games haven't come terribly far since FarmVille when it comes to cinematic experiences. So, we'll avoid trying to sway Brady just yet. Instead, we'll just remind him of two particularly lovely ladies that he might like to hear are down with digital farming. Both Superbad's Emma Stone and Mila Kunis of That '70s Show fame have admitted to being hooked on FarmVille.
So, you might want to at least give it a shot to up your game. Nah--even we won't recommend Facebook games to boost your appeal with the ladies. Hey, you may as well just wait until those nifty Unreal Engine-powered games hit Facebook.
What do you think of Brady's opinions on Facebook games? Are you looking for more cinematic experiences in your social games? Any luck yet?
"I like to be left alone when I'm not working," Brady told USA Today. "So the last thing I want to do is go to a (game like Zynga's) Farmville and have a community. I want the single player experience. I play a storyline all the way through. The more cinematic the game is, the more can replay it."
Well, Facebook games haven't come terribly far since FarmVille when it comes to cinematic experiences. So, we'll avoid trying to sway Brady just yet. Instead, we'll just remind him of two particularly lovely ladies that he might like to hear are down with digital farming. Both Superbad's Emma Stone and Mila Kunis of That '70s Show fame have admitted to being hooked on FarmVille.
So, you might want to at least give it a shot to up your game. Nah--even we won't recommend Facebook games to boost your appeal with the ladies. Hey, you may as well just wait until those nifty Unreal Engine-powered games hit Facebook.
What do you think of Brady's opinions on Facebook games? Are you looking for more cinematic experiences in your social games? Any luck yet?
Asteroids: Gunner to crash-land onto your earthly iPhone, iPad shortly
How do you revive one of most recognizable classic games of all time? Turn it into a mobile social game, duh. Atari will soon release Asteroids: Gunner, the next take on its hit franchise, to iOS devices everywhere. The game, which is said to hit Nov. 10, turns the retro staple into a freemium dual-stick shooter, meaning power-ups and upgrades are available for both in-game currency and real cash.
And by "dual stick" we mean that players will push their thumbs frantically in opposite circles to both avoid running into asteroids and blow them to smithereens. The social comes in with both Game Center and OpenFeint support with a myriad of achievements to brag about with friends. We'd say that Asteroids: Gunner marks a shift in Atari's direction, but we'd be lying.
Atari has been keen on social on mobile gaming for some time now, having launched a Facebook version of Asteroids and two original games: puzzler Faeries vs Darklings and Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game Heroes of Neverwinter. While the three games have enjoyed tepid results, Atari is far from finished.
In addition to Asteroids: Gunner, the company has a mobile version of iconic brick-breaker Breakout in the works for iOS, too. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at the next Asteroids later this week. (Spoiler: You're going to blow things up--including yourself--a lot.)
Are you interested in Atari's new take on gaming? Do you think this new direction could restore a bit Atari's former dominance over the games industry?
And by "dual stick" we mean that players will push their thumbs frantically in opposite circles to both avoid running into asteroids and blow them to smithereens. The social comes in with both Game Center and OpenFeint support with a myriad of achievements to brag about with friends. We'd say that Asteroids: Gunner marks a shift in Atari's direction, but we'd be lying.
Atari has been keen on social on mobile gaming for some time now, having launched a Facebook version of Asteroids and two original games: puzzler Faeries vs Darklings and Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game Heroes of Neverwinter. While the three games have enjoyed tepid results, Atari is far from finished.
In addition to Asteroids: Gunner, the company has a mobile version of iconic brick-breaker Breakout in the works for iOS, too. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at the next Asteroids later this week. (Spoiler: You're going to blow things up--including yourself--a lot.)
Are you interested in Atari's new take on gaming? Do you think this new direction could restore a bit Atari's former dominance over the games industry?
Monday, December 12, 2011
Pioneer Trail 3F Mastery Garden Goals: Everything you need to know
When the 4F Animal Mastery Club released to Pioneer Trail (then known as FrontierVille), Zynga granted players the ability to master their animals on the homestead. Now, pioneers everywhere can master their crops, but for far more than just bragging rights. The 3F Mastery Garden is here, and along with it a number of Goals and features brand new to the game.
For one, the new building will unlock the Crop Mastery feature, but also Super Crops. These beefed up crops have a higher chance of appearing when harvesting normal crops as you increase their Mastery rating, and provide much bigger rewards for less Energy spent. But enough about what Crop Mastery will do for you, here's how to get your grubby mitts on it:
A Growing Interest
Harvest Fifteen Corn
Harvest Twenty Pink Roses
Collect 10 Composters
Harvesting 15 Corn will cost a total of 3,375 Coins and take at least 12 hours to complete, while 20 Pink Roses will cost 6,000 Coins and take 14 hours at least to finish. The 10 Composters appear to be sourced from friend requests, as per usual. For completing this Goal, you will score 500 XP, 500 Coins and 10 Super Clover Seeds, which will come in handy next.
Get Yer Garden Goin'
Collect One 3F Garden Daily Bonus
Harvest any five Super Crops
Clear 8 Rocks
This Goal assumes you have already completed the 3F Mastery Garden. So, if you clicked "Place Garden" when the feature appeared on your homestead (remember folks, all Zynga game features are on slow roll-outs), you're already on your way. Once you place the foundation and whack it a few times at the cost of Wood and Energy, clicking it again will cause this window below to appear. Unfortunately, you will need to ask your friends through general News Feed posts for 10 of each of the three items up top, while 15 each of the three items down below will require you to ask friends directly.
Finish your 3F Mastery Garden
Once your 3F Mastery Garden is complete, you will have access to Crop Mastery and all of the extra Crop Mastery Goals that come with the new building. (Of course, clicking on the finished building will allow you to collect the Daily Bonus.) You already have 10 Super Clover Seeds, so plant and harvest them. Clear eight simple rocks, and enjoy access to the new Orchid crop, 700 XP and 700 Coins.
Romance Blossoms
Complete the Clover 3F Mission
Collect three Orchid Arrangements
Harvest 25 Melons
To access the extra, repeatable Goals, just click on the 3F Mastery Garden and then click "Mastery Missions." The Clover 3F Mission, "The Clover Grower," requires you to harvest 80 Clover, which will cost 800 Coins and take at least five minutes. You're also asked to tend 20 Sheep and collect 15 Loam, the latter of which come from friend requests. Finally, 25 Melons can be found by sharing the new crop from the Free Gifts page, so they're free to plant. Finish this daunting tasks and enjoy a Straw Hat, 900XP and 900 Coins.
About Crop Mastery
Make Yer Granny Proud
Complete the Grape 3F Mission
Master Eggplants to Level 1
Tend 50 Neighbor Crops
The Grape 3F Mission, "The Grandeur of Grapes," requires you to harvest 55 Grapes, which will cost 14,025 Coins and take at least 12 hours to grow. The repeatable mission also asks you to harvest 15 White Roses, and those will cost 3,000 Coins total and will grow in at least 10 hours. Again, the mission will demand you ask your friends for 15 more Loam.
Back to the Goal at hand, you must master Eggplant to Level 1, a feat that will require you to be at least Level 19 and have 15 neighbors. Finally, you will need to visit at least 10 friends to tend 50 neighbor crops. For all of this, you will score Gardening Overalls, 900XP and 900 Coins. You'll also be done with these immense and be able to enjoy Crop Mastery in peace.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
What do you think so far of the 3F Mastery Garden so far? Are you impressed by the Crop Mastery feature, or underwhelmed?
For one, the new building will unlock the Crop Mastery feature, but also Super Crops. These beefed up crops have a higher chance of appearing when harvesting normal crops as you increase their Mastery rating, and provide much bigger rewards for less Energy spent. But enough about what Crop Mastery will do for you, here's how to get your grubby mitts on it:
A Growing Interest
Harvest Fifteen Corn
Harvest Twenty Pink Roses
Collect 10 Composters
Harvesting 15 Corn will cost a total of 3,375 Coins and take at least 12 hours to complete, while 20 Pink Roses will cost 6,000 Coins and take 14 hours at least to finish. The 10 Composters appear to be sourced from friend requests, as per usual. For completing this Goal, you will score 500 XP, 500 Coins and 10 Super Clover Seeds, which will come in handy next.
Get Yer Garden Goin'
Collect One 3F Garden Daily Bonus
Harvest any five Super Crops
Clear 8 Rocks
This Goal assumes you have already completed the 3F Mastery Garden. So, if you clicked "Place Garden" when the feature appeared on your homestead (remember folks, all Zynga game features are on slow roll-outs), you're already on your way. Once you place the foundation and whack it a few times at the cost of Wood and Energy, clicking it again will cause this window below to appear. Unfortunately, you will need to ask your friends through general News Feed posts for 10 of each of the three items up top, while 15 each of the three items down below will require you to ask friends directly.
Finish your 3F Mastery Garden
Once your 3F Mastery Garden is complete, you will have access to Crop Mastery and all of the extra Crop Mastery Goals that come with the new building. (Of course, clicking on the finished building will allow you to collect the Daily Bonus.) You already have 10 Super Clover Seeds, so plant and harvest them. Clear eight simple rocks, and enjoy access to the new Orchid crop, 700 XP and 700 Coins.
Romance Blossoms
Complete the Clover 3F Mission
Collect three Orchid Arrangements
Harvest 25 Melons
To access the extra, repeatable Goals, just click on the 3F Mastery Garden and then click "Mastery Missions." The Clover 3F Mission, "The Clover Grower," requires you to harvest 80 Clover, which will cost 800 Coins and take at least five minutes. You're also asked to tend 20 Sheep and collect 15 Loam, the latter of which come from friend requests. Finally, 25 Melons can be found by sharing the new crop from the Free Gifts page, so they're free to plant. Finish this daunting tasks and enjoy a Straw Hat, 900XP and 900 Coins.
About Crop Mastery
Make Yer Granny Proud
Complete the Grape 3F Mission
Master Eggplants to Level 1
Tend 50 Neighbor Crops
The Grape 3F Mission, "The Grandeur of Grapes," requires you to harvest 55 Grapes, which will cost 14,025 Coins and take at least 12 hours to grow. The repeatable mission also asks you to harvest 15 White Roses, and those will cost 3,000 Coins total and will grow in at least 10 hours. Again, the mission will demand you ask your friends for 15 more Loam.
Back to the Goal at hand, you must master Eggplant to Level 1, a feat that will require you to be at least Level 19 and have 15 neighbors. Finally, you will need to visit at least 10 friends to tend 50 neighbor crops. For all of this, you will score Gardening Overalls, 900XP and 900 Coins. You'll also be done with these immense and be able to enjoy Crop Mastery in peace.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
What do you think so far of the 3F Mastery Garden so far? Are you impressed by the Crop Mastery feature, or underwhelmed?
Trash Tycoon creator Guerillapps provides tips, tricks and insights
Look, recycling and resource management have always been snore-inducing topics. But those very issues have the world in quite a scary predicament right now, and New York City-based social game maker Guerillapps looks to change that with Trash Tycoon. Since our first look at the game, we recently sat down with the new developer's CEO Raviv Turner and community manager Chris Dugan to learn more about Trash Tycoon and get some pointers on how to make the most of the eco-friendly game.
"We had this idea that sometime in the near apocalyptic, but fun, future the city got destroyed with trash," Turner gushes to us. "But waste is your best friend--it's a resource, right? With this, we also hope to change the set of mind among our players looking at waste. Again, the idea was to create a 100 percent pure, fun and engaging experience, not to educate. So, we try to stay away from edutainment, take it to a fun place, but there is still this subtext once you're done playing for the day. Maybe the player is going to look at waste a different way."
Turner tells us that the developer has over 90 days worth of content planned, and later joint team features that make liberal use of its support from Terracycle will be implemented. Guerillapps is working with its strategic partners like Terracycle and Carbon Fund to help its players hopefully make a tangible difference in the environment. While players can only donate to the cause directly with Facebook Credits now, Guerillapps is working with Carbon Fund so its commercial partners will allow the company to donate to the cause through virtual goods bought even without Facebook Credits. But onto how to get by in Trash Tycoon:
Trash Tycoon map
Games.com: I noticed that you need to be at least Level 8 to access the next portion of the city in Trash Tycoon. So, what's the best or fastest way a player can reach that point?
Dugan: The map really is massive, and even in the area that's not fog-of-warred off it's nice to see how much there is to do and to clean up. The best way to reach Level 8 is really diligence, as with any Facebook game, and being on top of your productions as well as prioritizing.
You can level up a number of ways: through just cleaning up trash, you gain experience points for completing goals. With the goals, there are very obvious short term goals and there are long term goals, and you have to plan your playing time around those deadlines.
And you're referring to creating the fertilizer (pictured below) and other items?
Yes, and items can take anywhere from five minutes from a whole day to create. And some goals require a variety of items like five that take five minutes and one that takes a day. So, you have to figure out how long you can be logged on for a certain time to knock out those five items, but you need to think more ahead to be like, 'This glass window is going to take an entire day to construct, so I'm gonna put it on and come back to it.'
I saw that in the early goals you're given the option to create and upcycling building you want. Is there any advantage to certain buildings, or do goals require items from all of them?
Goals will require items from all, but I'd say that the main advantage is that you're getting a randomized generation of trash, so you never know what you're going to have. So, it's the kind of thing where you could have a lot of plastic, but you might be running low on glass. So, you might have to go to friends neighborhoods and check their piles--not using your Energy points, but Friend points.
Or, of course with most Facebook games, there's the idea that time will replenish your stockpiles. The trash does replenish over time, and will inevitably give you what you need for the upcycling machines.
Worm HouseNow, would you recommend building multiple instances of each machine?
It sort of depends--for example, in the first neighborhood the dirt area you have to build upcycling machines and worm farms is quite limited. I found that it was best to have a couple of worm farms, and then one of each of the upcycling machines, a warehouse and some other dumpsters just to make sure you never overflow. It's most efficient to have at least one of each upcycling machine. Prioritize that first, and everything will just fall into place with everything else you have.
Now, the social features: Are there other advantages to adding friends other than the five free points you get daily?
There's obviously the gifting feature, which is present in many Facebook games, kind of the idea that you can circumvent having pay up for decorations that increase your Greeness value. Also, the prospect of constructing teams and having that sense of community, which we tried to implement through the chat feature.
What advantages does the in-game chat feature bring?
[There is real-time interaction in the game, so] say you have your Friend points and your friend is low on Energy and they really need to finish cleaning this building. Then, that's something you could talk about that in team chat [and work it out in real time.]
If you could choose one thing that players should focus on in Trash Tycoon to advance, what would you say that is?
Certainly, the goals. It's great to sort of branch out and make upcycled items on a whim, [but] if you're kind of carelessly spending your resources you're likely to run into walls much sooner than other players. You have to be very efficient in how you manage your resources--very much like the real world, obviously. It's a constant battle between 'I want to make these things' and 'I need to make these things.'
Thanks for filling us in, Raviv and Chris.
Have you tried playing Trash Tycoon yet on Facebook? What do you think of social games that have real-world implications?
"We had this idea that sometime in the near apocalyptic, but fun, future the city got destroyed with trash," Turner gushes to us. "But waste is your best friend--it's a resource, right? With this, we also hope to change the set of mind among our players looking at waste. Again, the idea was to create a 100 percent pure, fun and engaging experience, not to educate. So, we try to stay away from edutainment, take it to a fun place, but there is still this subtext once you're done playing for the day. Maybe the player is going to look at waste a different way."
Turner tells us that the developer has over 90 days worth of content planned, and later joint team features that make liberal use of its support from Terracycle will be implemented. Guerillapps is working with its strategic partners like Terracycle and Carbon Fund to help its players hopefully make a tangible difference in the environment. While players can only donate to the cause directly with Facebook Credits now, Guerillapps is working with Carbon Fund so its commercial partners will allow the company to donate to the cause through virtual goods bought even without Facebook Credits. But onto how to get by in Trash Tycoon:
Trash Tycoon map
Games.com: I noticed that you need to be at least Level 8 to access the next portion of the city in Trash Tycoon. So, what's the best or fastest way a player can reach that point?
Dugan: The map really is massive, and even in the area that's not fog-of-warred off it's nice to see how much there is to do and to clean up. The best way to reach Level 8 is really diligence, as with any Facebook game, and being on top of your productions as well as prioritizing.
You can level up a number of ways: through just cleaning up trash, you gain experience points for completing goals. With the goals, there are very obvious short term goals and there are long term goals, and you have to plan your playing time around those deadlines.
And you're referring to creating the fertilizer (pictured below) and other items?
Yes, and items can take anywhere from five minutes from a whole day to create. And some goals require a variety of items like five that take five minutes and one that takes a day. So, you have to figure out how long you can be logged on for a certain time to knock out those five items, but you need to think more ahead to be like, 'This glass window is going to take an entire day to construct, so I'm gonna put it on and come back to it.'
I saw that in the early goals you're given the option to create and upcycling building you want. Is there any advantage to certain buildings, or do goals require items from all of them?
Goals will require items from all, but I'd say that the main advantage is that you're getting a randomized generation of trash, so you never know what you're going to have. So, it's the kind of thing where you could have a lot of plastic, but you might be running low on glass. So, you might have to go to friends neighborhoods and check their piles--not using your Energy points, but Friend points.
Or, of course with most Facebook games, there's the idea that time will replenish your stockpiles. The trash does replenish over time, and will inevitably give you what you need for the upcycling machines.
Worm HouseNow, would you recommend building multiple instances of each machine?
It sort of depends--for example, in the first neighborhood the dirt area you have to build upcycling machines and worm farms is quite limited. I found that it was best to have a couple of worm farms, and then one of each of the upcycling machines, a warehouse and some other dumpsters just to make sure you never overflow. It's most efficient to have at least one of each upcycling machine. Prioritize that first, and everything will just fall into place with everything else you have.
Now, the social features: Are there other advantages to adding friends other than the five free points you get daily?
There's obviously the gifting feature, which is present in many Facebook games, kind of the idea that you can circumvent having pay up for decorations that increase your Greeness value. Also, the prospect of constructing teams and having that sense of community, which we tried to implement through the chat feature.
What advantages does the in-game chat feature bring?
[There is real-time interaction in the game, so] say you have your Friend points and your friend is low on Energy and they really need to finish cleaning this building. Then, that's something you could talk about that in team chat [and work it out in real time.]
If you could choose one thing that players should focus on in Trash Tycoon to advance, what would you say that is?
Certainly, the goals. It's great to sort of branch out and make upcycled items on a whim, [but] if you're kind of carelessly spending your resources you're likely to run into walls much sooner than other players. You have to be very efficient in how you manage your resources--very much like the real world, obviously. It's a constant battle between 'I want to make these things' and 'I need to make these things.'
Thanks for filling us in, Raviv and Chris.
Have you tried playing Trash Tycoon yet on Facebook? What do you think of social games that have real-world implications?
Watch thousands of people scream to make the Angry Birds fly [Video]
And here we thought Angry Birds was supposed to be a soothing, amusing time waster. When we first heard that Rovio's mobile game-turned-household name would become one of those stadium sound games used to kill time between innings (or in this case, races), we were admittedly curious. But this promotional video displaying what Finnish companies Uplause and Rovio have created certainly clears things up a bit.
For one, it effectively dispels all inklings that the Angry Birds have lost their luster--kids are still nuts for those peeved, parrot-like creatures. Second, it looks like accuracy is predetermined, meaning the bird in the slingshot will never miss. What decides whether the little piggies are going down is a power meter. The meter takes the generated noise and translates it into how hard the bird is going to hit the makeshift fort.
This video was taken during the first display of Uplause has accomplished at the 2011 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. And, well, everyone seems to have pretty much loved. But we're just gonna' guess that those guys in the Angry Birds costumes were Rovio employees--scratch that. We're just gonna hope that was the case.
[Via Pocket Gamer]
What do you think of this new technology? Do you hope the Angry Birds make it to a ball park or stadium near you?
For one, it effectively dispels all inklings that the Angry Birds have lost their luster--kids are still nuts for those peeved, parrot-like creatures. Second, it looks like accuracy is predetermined, meaning the bird in the slingshot will never miss. What decides whether the little piggies are going down is a power meter. The meter takes the generated noise and translates it into how hard the bird is going to hit the makeshift fort.
This video was taken during the first display of Uplause has accomplished at the 2011 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. And, well, everyone seems to have pretty much loved. But we're just gonna' guess that those guys in the Angry Birds costumes were Rovio employees--scratch that. We're just gonna hope that was the case.
[Via Pocket Gamer]
What do you think of this new technology? Do you hope the Angry Birds make it to a ball park or stadium near you?
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Farmer Jack B's surreal farm creation
Folks, I'll be honest, I don't know what's going on in this farm. What I do know, is that I'm a fan. I'm not quite sure what FarmVille artist Farmer Jack B set out to create when he began designing this, but it certainly came out very nice.
Most striking of course is the bizarre optical illusions. Usually farmers use that kind of 3D effect to build walls, hills, mountains, or something concrete. In this case, Farmer Jack B has created some kind of strange wall, with animals, trees, and other structures build in to them. You have to admit, it's pretty cool. Also worth noting is the really nice water effect created using hay bales.
Pro Tip: If you're struggling to create a stream of water as nice as Farmer Jack B's, notice how he lines his river with trees. That way, the edge of the hay bales is obscured and gives the river a clean, natural look.
Of course, I would be in no position to review farm art if I didn't bring up the very impressive collection of crop and animal mastery signs lining the south end of the farm. Well done Farmer Jack B, you've created a bizarre abstract farm that definitely earns a spot amongst our top FarmVille designs.
What do you make of Farmer Jack B's bizarre farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Most striking of course is the bizarre optical illusions. Usually farmers use that kind of 3D effect to build walls, hills, mountains, or something concrete. In this case, Farmer Jack B has created some kind of strange wall, with animals, trees, and other structures build in to them. You have to admit, it's pretty cool. Also worth noting is the really nice water effect created using hay bales.
Pro Tip: If you're struggling to create a stream of water as nice as Farmer Jack B's, notice how he lines his river with trees. That way, the edge of the hay bales is obscured and gives the river a clean, natural look.
Of course, I would be in no position to review farm art if I didn't bring up the very impressive collection of crop and animal mastery signs lining the south end of the farm. Well done Farmer Jack B, you've created a bizarre abstract farm that definitely earns a spot amongst our top FarmVille designs.
What do you make of Farmer Jack B's bizarre farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Pioneer Trail Crop Mastery Goals: Everything you need to know
Many of you are likely already planting the foundations of your 3F Mastery Gardens in Pioneer Trail. But while you're at it, scurrying to get your hands on the spankin' new Crop Mastery feature, you might notice that Zynga has threw in a number of repeatable missions for players to take a crack at.
These Crop Mastery Goals allow players to beef up their Mastery ratings on crops more easily, and score some extra reward while they're at it. Just click on the finished 3F Mastery Garden to access a bevy of Goals to occupy yourself with. So, here's everything you need to know about the Crop Mastery Goals in Pioneer Trail:
3F Missions 1
The Clover Grower
Harvest 80 Clover
Tend 20 Sheep
Collect 15 Loam
To harvest 80 Clover, you'll need 800 Coins and at least five minutes. If you don't own 20 Sheep to tend, they cost 280 Coins, while the 15 Loam are found through friend requests. For completing this Goal, enjoy 25 Clover Mastery and 10 Super Clover Seeds.
The Grandeur of Grapes
Harvest 55 Grapes
Collect 15 White Roses
Collect 15 Loam
The 55 Grapes will cost you 12,375 Coins and take at least 12 hours to grow. As for the the 15 White Roses, you will need 200 Coins and at least 10 hours before they grow. Again, the 15 Loam come from friend requests. Your reward for finishing this Goal includes 85 Grape Mastery and 10 Super Grape Seeds.
The Corn Collector
Harvest 40 Corn
Harvest 40 Blue Corn
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
To harvest 40 Corn, you will need 9,000 Coins, and those crops take 12 hours to grow. The 40 Blue Corn, on the other hand, will cost 9,120 Coins and take another 12 hours to grow. Healthy Soil is another item you must request from your friends. Enjoy 35 Corn Mastery and 10 Super Corn Seeds as your reward.
The Eggplant Expert
Harvest 70 Eggplants
Collect Three Inn Bonuses
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
Harvesting 70 Eggplant will cost a whopping 32,750 Coins and take just two hours to grow. Since you need to collect three Inn Daily Bonuses, this Goal will take at least three days to complete. Ask you friends for 15 Healthy Soil, and 70 Eggplant Mastery and 10 Super Eggplant Seeds are yours.
The Mighty Melon
Harvest 65 Melons
Collect Three 3F Garden Bonuses
Collect 15 Loam
Melons are found through the Free Gifts page, so acquiring 65 of them will take some time. To speed things up, put them on your Wish List so that your friends know that you're in need of them. Again, the Loam comes from your friends through requests, and this Goal will take three days at the very least, because of the Daily Bonus requirements. You'll score 140 Melon Mastery and 10 Super Melon Seeds as a reward.
3F MIssions 2
The Pineapple Professional
Harvest 60 Pineapples
Chop 20 Trees down
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
These 60 Pineapples will cost you 11,400 Coins and take a minimum of 10 hours to grow. If you've completed the recent Baby Bunyan Goals, then chopping down 20 Trees should be even easier. Again, ask your friends directly for 15 Healthy Soil. A nice 100 Pineapple Mastery and 10 Super Pineapple Seeds are yours for completing this Goal.
The Potato Producer
Harvest 60 Potatoes
Collect Three General Store Bonuses
Collect 15 Loam
The 60 Potatoes for this Goal will require you to have 5,400 Coins and to wait at least four hours for them to harvest. This Goal will also take three days with the Daily Bonus requirement, which should give you time to find 15 friends willing to put up Loam. You'll receive 50 Potato Mastery and 10 Super Potato Seeds for your efforts.
The Regal Roses
Harvest 20 Red Roses
Harvest 30 Pink Roses
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
Harvesting 20 Red Roses will cost you 8,000 Coins and will take at least a whopping one day and 12 hours to ripen. The 30 Pink Roses, however, will cost a total of 9,000 Coins and take just 14 hours to harvest. You should know where the 15 Healthy Soil come from by now. An impressive 125 Rose Mastery and 10 Super Rose Seeds await you as a reward.
The Superior Strawberries
Harvest 40 Strawberries
Collect Three School House Bonuses
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
To harvest 40 Strawberries, make sure you have reached The High Plains on the Pioneer Trail and unlocked access to the Wild Strawberries crop with enough Trail Points. The School House Daily Bonuses will take three days to complete, while the Healthy Soil comes, again, from friend requests. Your rewards for this Goal are 160 Strawberry Mastery and 10 Super Strawberry Seeds.
The Wheat Winner
Harvest 35 Wheat
Tend 15 Adult Cows
Collect 15 Loam
The 35 Wheat will cost you 12,775 Coins and take a minimum of one day to grow. If you don't own 15 Adult Cows, they cost 765 Coins apiece in the Market. Find 15 Loam through asking your friends, and you'll receive a hefty 110 Wheat Mastery and 10 Super Wheat Seeds. Remember, these Goals are repeatable, so they might prove a lucrative alternative to approaching Crop Mastery ratings directly.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you attempted any of these repeatable Missions yet? What tips do you have to complete them even more quickly?
These Crop Mastery Goals allow players to beef up their Mastery ratings on crops more easily, and score some extra reward while they're at it. Just click on the finished 3F Mastery Garden to access a bevy of Goals to occupy yourself with. So, here's everything you need to know about the Crop Mastery Goals in Pioneer Trail:
3F Missions 1
The Clover Grower
Harvest 80 Clover
Tend 20 Sheep
Collect 15 Loam
To harvest 80 Clover, you'll need 800 Coins and at least five minutes. If you don't own 20 Sheep to tend, they cost 280 Coins, while the 15 Loam are found through friend requests. For completing this Goal, enjoy 25 Clover Mastery and 10 Super Clover Seeds.
The Grandeur of Grapes
Harvest 55 Grapes
Collect 15 White Roses
Collect 15 Loam
The 55 Grapes will cost you 12,375 Coins and take at least 12 hours to grow. As for the the 15 White Roses, you will need 200 Coins and at least 10 hours before they grow. Again, the 15 Loam come from friend requests. Your reward for finishing this Goal includes 85 Grape Mastery and 10 Super Grape Seeds.
The Corn Collector
Harvest 40 Corn
Harvest 40 Blue Corn
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
To harvest 40 Corn, you will need 9,000 Coins, and those crops take 12 hours to grow. The 40 Blue Corn, on the other hand, will cost 9,120 Coins and take another 12 hours to grow. Healthy Soil is another item you must request from your friends. Enjoy 35 Corn Mastery and 10 Super Corn Seeds as your reward.
The Eggplant Expert
Harvest 70 Eggplants
Collect Three Inn Bonuses
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
Harvesting 70 Eggplant will cost a whopping 32,750 Coins and take just two hours to grow. Since you need to collect three Inn Daily Bonuses, this Goal will take at least three days to complete. Ask you friends for 15 Healthy Soil, and 70 Eggplant Mastery and 10 Super Eggplant Seeds are yours.
The Mighty Melon
Harvest 65 Melons
Collect Three 3F Garden Bonuses
Collect 15 Loam
Melons are found through the Free Gifts page, so acquiring 65 of them will take some time. To speed things up, put them on your Wish List so that your friends know that you're in need of them. Again, the Loam comes from your friends through requests, and this Goal will take three days at the very least, because of the Daily Bonus requirements. You'll score 140 Melon Mastery and 10 Super Melon Seeds as a reward.
3F MIssions 2
The Pineapple Professional
Harvest 60 Pineapples
Chop 20 Trees down
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
These 60 Pineapples will cost you 11,400 Coins and take a minimum of 10 hours to grow. If you've completed the recent Baby Bunyan Goals, then chopping down 20 Trees should be even easier. Again, ask your friends directly for 15 Healthy Soil. A nice 100 Pineapple Mastery and 10 Super Pineapple Seeds are yours for completing this Goal.
The Potato Producer
Harvest 60 Potatoes
Collect Three General Store Bonuses
Collect 15 Loam
The 60 Potatoes for this Goal will require you to have 5,400 Coins and to wait at least four hours for them to harvest. This Goal will also take three days with the Daily Bonus requirement, which should give you time to find 15 friends willing to put up Loam. You'll receive 50 Potato Mastery and 10 Super Potato Seeds for your efforts.
The Regal Roses
Harvest 20 Red Roses
Harvest 30 Pink Roses
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
Harvesting 20 Red Roses will cost you 8,000 Coins and will take at least a whopping one day and 12 hours to ripen. The 30 Pink Roses, however, will cost a total of 9,000 Coins and take just 14 hours to harvest. You should know where the 15 Healthy Soil come from by now. An impressive 125 Rose Mastery and 10 Super Rose Seeds await you as a reward.
The Superior Strawberries
Harvest 40 Strawberries
Collect Three School House Bonuses
Collect 15 Healthy Soil
To harvest 40 Strawberries, make sure you have reached The High Plains on the Pioneer Trail and unlocked access to the Wild Strawberries crop with enough Trail Points. The School House Daily Bonuses will take three days to complete, while the Healthy Soil comes, again, from friend requests. Your rewards for this Goal are 160 Strawberry Mastery and 10 Super Strawberry Seeds.
The Wheat Winner
Harvest 35 Wheat
Tend 15 Adult Cows
Collect 15 Loam
The 35 Wheat will cost you 12,775 Coins and take a minimum of one day to grow. If you don't own 15 Adult Cows, they cost 765 Coins apiece in the Market. Find 15 Loam through asking your friends, and you'll receive a hefty 110 Wheat Mastery and 10 Super Wheat Seeds. Remember, these Goals are repeatable, so they might prove a lucrative alternative to approaching Crop Mastery ratings directly.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you attempted any of these repeatable Missions yet? What tips do you have to complete them even more quickly?
Adventure World Lost Children Expedition: Everything you need to know
Your last big hurdle before crossing the Level 20 mark in Adventure World comes with the Lost Children Expedition. After Level 20, you'll have access to more Expeditions and quests back on your base camp, but to get there, you'll first need to find a group of missing children and get them home in time for lunch! This particular Expedition has a whopping four day time limit, but also requires an equally large number of Supplies: 1800. You'll also need three each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. Are you ready? Let's get started.
Find Missing Children!
Find the first Missing Child
Find the second Missing Child
Find the third Missing Child
Find the fourth Missing Child
All four of the children are hidden in separate locations on the map, but all are blocked by all sorts of debris or traps. You'll need to make your way to the general area of a child's location and then look around for trap switches and the like to clear your path to them once and for all. Along the way, you'll come across plenty of snakes, both out in the open and hiding within bushes, with some having six hit points each. Just make sure you plan your moves ahead of time, adventurers, as you'll be able to avoid some snakes altogether, thereby saving plenty of Energy for other uses.
Find the Azure Skulls
Get the First Azure Skull
Get the Second Azure Skull
Get the Third Azure Skull
These Azure Skulls are located out in the open, but they're under cloud cover and plenty of traps or debris. That is, you'll have to chop your way through bushes and thorns, and then attack snakes in your path) before ever being able to pick them up. Hopefully, you'll receive some bonus energy for doing so, as you'll definitely need it by the time you've finally made your way through all of these obstacles.
Find the Childrens' Toys!
Find the Yellow Bird Toy
Find the Blue Bird Toy
Find the Red Sloth Toy
Find the Blue Sloth Toy
These toys are scattered around the map as other items tend to be, but some of them are a bit better hidden than others. For instance, not far from the location of the first child (seen above) is a cloud in the corner that you might miss. Sitting underneath this cloud, behind some thorns, snakes and bushels, sits the Blue Sloth Toy as seen below (note that I had cleared out the bed path (the one costing the least energy in my game) if you'd like to take my same route to the toy.
While there are only three tasks in this particular Expedition, which may make you think the four day time limit is unnecessary, keep in mind that this is one of the most debris-heavy maps we've seen. Depending on how well you've upgraded your tools, each of these debris pieces could take 1-3 whacks to remove, which will drain your Energy immediately, leaving you to waste time letting it refill. Just remember that you can also hire friends to help you on this Expedition, giving you three free energy each, or to visit your friends and complete tasks on their Base Camps to also unlock a single free Energy for each friend you visit. Good luck!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Lost Children Expedition? Have you upgraded your tools to the point that these debris-heavy maps aren't a big deal?
Find Missing Children!
Find the first Missing Child
Find the second Missing Child
Find the third Missing Child
Find the fourth Missing Child
All four of the children are hidden in separate locations on the map, but all are blocked by all sorts of debris or traps. You'll need to make your way to the general area of a child's location and then look around for trap switches and the like to clear your path to them once and for all. Along the way, you'll come across plenty of snakes, both out in the open and hiding within bushes, with some having six hit points each. Just make sure you plan your moves ahead of time, adventurers, as you'll be able to avoid some snakes altogether, thereby saving plenty of Energy for other uses.
Find the Azure Skulls
Get the First Azure Skull
Get the Second Azure Skull
Get the Third Azure Skull
These Azure Skulls are located out in the open, but they're under cloud cover and plenty of traps or debris. That is, you'll have to chop your way through bushes and thorns, and then attack snakes in your path) before ever being able to pick them up. Hopefully, you'll receive some bonus energy for doing so, as you'll definitely need it by the time you've finally made your way through all of these obstacles.
Find the Childrens' Toys!
Find the Yellow Bird Toy
Find the Blue Bird Toy
Find the Red Sloth Toy
Find the Blue Sloth Toy
These toys are scattered around the map as other items tend to be, but some of them are a bit better hidden than others. For instance, not far from the location of the first child (seen above) is a cloud in the corner that you might miss. Sitting underneath this cloud, behind some thorns, snakes and bushels, sits the Blue Sloth Toy as seen below (note that I had cleared out the bed path (the one costing the least energy in my game) if you'd like to take my same route to the toy.
While there are only three tasks in this particular Expedition, which may make you think the four day time limit is unnecessary, keep in mind that this is one of the most debris-heavy maps we've seen. Depending on how well you've upgraded your tools, each of these debris pieces could take 1-3 whacks to remove, which will drain your Energy immediately, leaving you to waste time letting it refill. Just remember that you can also hire friends to help you on this Expedition, giving you three free energy each, or to visit your friends and complete tasks on their Base Camps to also unlock a single free Energy for each friend you visit. Good luck!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Lost Children Expedition? Have you upgraded your tools to the point that these debris-heavy maps aren't a big deal?
CityVille: Enrique Iglesias has officially arrived!
As we told you at the end of September, the time has come for Enrique Iglesias to make a stop on his Euphoria Tour right in your town in CityVille! While this event may not be as large or widespread as Lady Gaga's GagaVille invasion of FarmVille, there are still goals to complete here, along with a building to construct. Ok, so this isn't just any regular building - it's a concert stage for Enrique himself!
First and foremost, you'll see the music sensation walking around your town's streets with an orange logo and picture above his avatar (he is rather tiny and hard to spot, after all). You'll be given a two-part goal series that sees you building his concert stage and having concerts, and will be given some exclusive limited edition items for completing them. Since building the concert stage is actually a requirement of the first goal, let's get right to that, shall we?
Enrique Concert!
Place and Complete Enrique's Euphoria Arena
Play 3 Euphoria Concerts
Collect all five parts of the Enrique Collection
While the base of the Arena already requires a few energy to complete, you'll still need to collect quite a few building materials to finish this one off. You'll need three each of Strobe Lights, Screaming Fans, Stadium Seats, Stage Lights and Speakers. The Strobe Lights and Stadium Seats are earned through individual requests sent to friends, while the other three items are earned through general news posts on your wall. Once it's complete, you can click on the Arena to start a concert, and by collecting from it, you'll earn random items from the Enrique Collection. By completing the three steps of this goal, you'll receive a Miami Speed Boat decorative item.
Backstage Pass
Ask friends for 2 Enrique Posters
Have Enrique's Speedboat in your City
Collect from 30 Residences
Just place a Miami Speed Boat over a watery section in your town and you'll finish this second requirement. As for the Homes, it doesn't matter which houses you collect from, or how often, so feel free to collect from a short-timed home that produces rent every five minutes, for example, to quickly complete this one as well. Finish this second goal and you'll see Enrique thank you for his experience in your town and you will receive the Miami Skyrise home. This house offers you 20 coins every five minutes and has a population of 500-980 citizens.
So, all told, this event really isn't that deep, but it does give you a limited time opportunity (a week) to earn a few items that will likely never return to CityVille. If you're into having items with such rarity, or you're just a fan of Enrique and his music, make sure to play the game this week to take advantage of the event while you still can!
Will you try to complete these Enrique Iglesias-themed goals in CityVille? If any other musician could come to CityVille, who would you want it to be?
First and foremost, you'll see the music sensation walking around your town's streets with an orange logo and picture above his avatar (he is rather tiny and hard to spot, after all). You'll be given a two-part goal series that sees you building his concert stage and having concerts, and will be given some exclusive limited edition items for completing them. Since building the concert stage is actually a requirement of the first goal, let's get right to that, shall we?
Enrique Concert!
Place and Complete Enrique's Euphoria Arena
Play 3 Euphoria Concerts
Collect all five parts of the Enrique Collection
While the base of the Arena already requires a few energy to complete, you'll still need to collect quite a few building materials to finish this one off. You'll need three each of Strobe Lights, Screaming Fans, Stadium Seats, Stage Lights and Speakers. The Strobe Lights and Stadium Seats are earned through individual requests sent to friends, while the other three items are earned through general news posts on your wall. Once it's complete, you can click on the Arena to start a concert, and by collecting from it, you'll earn random items from the Enrique Collection. By completing the three steps of this goal, you'll receive a Miami Speed Boat decorative item.
Backstage Pass
Ask friends for 2 Enrique Posters
Have Enrique's Speedboat in your City
Collect from 30 Residences
Just place a Miami Speed Boat over a watery section in your town and you'll finish this second requirement. As for the Homes, it doesn't matter which houses you collect from, or how often, so feel free to collect from a short-timed home that produces rent every five minutes, for example, to quickly complete this one as well. Finish this second goal and you'll see Enrique thank you for his experience in your town and you will receive the Miami Skyrise home. This house offers you 20 coins every five minutes and has a population of 500-980 citizens.
So, all told, this event really isn't that deep, but it does give you a limited time opportunity (a week) to earn a few items that will likely never return to CityVille. If you're into having items with such rarity, or you're just a fan of Enrique and his music, make sure to play the game this week to take advantage of the event while you still can!
Will you try to complete these Enrique Iglesias-themed goals in CityVille? If any other musician could come to CityVille, who would you want it to be?
FarmVille Apple Barrel: Everything you need to know
At the beginning of October, we brought you a sneak peek of a an Apple Bobbing feature in FarmVille that we thought would be coming to the game to celebrate the launch of Fall. As it turns out, we didn't have to wait long for this feature to arrive, as the Apple Barrel collection feature has officially begun rolling out to farmers this evening. This collection even gives you plenty of ways to earn Apples, but you'll only have three weeks to do so.
Once you place your Apple Barrel on your farm, you'll be able to either collect Apples traditionally by asking your friends to send them to you via individual gift requests, or you can purchase them for Farm Cash. You'll also apparently be able to earn Apples by harvesting Orchards, though we haven't been able to personally confirm that. While that works in the way we'd expect, if you want large bunches of apples at once, you can earn those by asking your friends to join your Apple Barrel Crew.
You'll be able to send out individual requests to friends to join your Crew, with each friend adding five Apples to your overall total. As of this writing, all of that work will help you unlock one of five prizes at five different Apple totals:
Fall Flowerbed - 15 Apples
Autumn Fireplace - 25 Apples
Harvest Gnome - 50 Apples
Ghost Pig - 125 Apples
Candy Corn Horse - 200 Apples
Again, you'll have three weeks to collect Apples, but let's say that you come up short by the time the event is over, or simply don't wish to bother collecting Apples to begin with. You'll also have the option of purchasing each item outright by "unlocking" them for the matching amount of Farm Cash. That is, the Fall Flowerbed is unlocked for 15 Farm Cash, while the Ghost Pig is unlocked for 125 Farm Cash. That's an expensive method, to be sure, but it's also a time-saver for those that aren't afraid of throwing down some serious Farm Cash for otherwise free items.
If additional prizes are added to the Apple Barrel in the future, we'll make sure to let you know. For now, make sure to gather as many Apples as you can in this Apple Barrel event before the (expected) Halloween Jack O' Lantern feature launches as well.
Have you started collecting Apples for this event yet? Which of the five prizes are you going for first, or do you want to win all five in the next three weeks?
Once you place your Apple Barrel on your farm, you'll be able to either collect Apples traditionally by asking your friends to send them to you via individual gift requests, or you can purchase them for Farm Cash. You'll also apparently be able to earn Apples by harvesting Orchards, though we haven't been able to personally confirm that. While that works in the way we'd expect, if you want large bunches of apples at once, you can earn those by asking your friends to join your Apple Barrel Crew.
You'll be able to send out individual requests to friends to join your Crew, with each friend adding five Apples to your overall total. As of this writing, all of that work will help you unlock one of five prizes at five different Apple totals:
Fall Flowerbed - 15 Apples
Autumn Fireplace - 25 Apples
Harvest Gnome - 50 Apples
Ghost Pig - 125 Apples
Candy Corn Horse - 200 Apples
Again, you'll have three weeks to collect Apples, but let's say that you come up short by the time the event is over, or simply don't wish to bother collecting Apples to begin with. You'll also have the option of purchasing each item outright by "unlocking" them for the matching amount of Farm Cash. That is, the Fall Flowerbed is unlocked for 15 Farm Cash, while the Ghost Pig is unlocked for 125 Farm Cash. That's an expensive method, to be sure, but it's also a time-saver for those that aren't afraid of throwing down some serious Farm Cash for otherwise free items.
If additional prizes are added to the Apple Barrel in the future, we'll make sure to let you know. For now, make sure to gather as many Apples as you can in this Apple Barrel event before the (expected) Halloween Jack O' Lantern feature launches as well.
Have you started collecting Apples for this event yet? Which of the five prizes are you going for first, or do you want to win all five in the next three weeks?
FarmVille Animal Habitat Expansions allow storage of 40 animals each
One of the biggest problems many farmers had with the new series of Animal Habitat Buildings in FarmVille is their small storage capacity of 20 animals each. This is especially true for the Horse Paddock and Cow Pasture, as they have almost entirely replaced the Horse Stable and Dairy Farm buildings on all farms. Either way, the 20 animal capacity has "forced" many farmers to build multiple buildings of each kind, just to have room for all of the grown Mystery Babies we claim from friends. Now, though, that is all about to change, as Animal Habitat Expansions have started a slow rollout in the game.
To be clear, each Animal Habitat can be expanded, but they must all be expanded separately. To begin, just head inside your Animal Habitat and click on the "Expand" button at the very top, next to the "Animals" tab. Each expansion requires you to collect the same items that the building was constructed with to begin with. So, for example, in the Cow Pasture you'll need to collect additional Hay Bundles, Stones and Tin Sheets.
The first expansion of each habitat looks to require 15 of each item, and will take your habitat from 20 animals max to 30 animals. If that's still not enough, you can collect 20 more of each individual ingredient and take your capacity to the now current max of 40 animals per Animal Habitat. As usual, you can ask your friends to send you these ingredients, or you can purchase them outright for Farm Cash.
Is 40 animals per habitat enough? That will ultimately be up to you to decide, but if the maximum capacity of Animal Habitats increases even further, we'll make sure to let you know. Now, if only we could have the amount of Animal Feed per Mystery Baby decreased...
Will you expand all of your Animal Habitats, or are there just one or two different buildings that should be larger on your farm?
To be clear, each Animal Habitat can be expanded, but they must all be expanded separately. To begin, just head inside your Animal Habitat and click on the "Expand" button at the very top, next to the "Animals" tab. Each expansion requires you to collect the same items that the building was constructed with to begin with. So, for example, in the Cow Pasture you'll need to collect additional Hay Bundles, Stones and Tin Sheets.
The first expansion of each habitat looks to require 15 of each item, and will take your habitat from 20 animals max to 30 animals. If that's still not enough, you can collect 20 more of each individual ingredient and take your capacity to the now current max of 40 animals per Animal Habitat. As usual, you can ask your friends to send you these ingredients, or you can purchase them outright for Farm Cash.
Is 40 animals per habitat enough? That will ultimately be up to you to decide, but if the maximum capacity of Animal Habitats increases even further, we'll make sure to let you know. Now, if only we could have the amount of Animal Feed per Mystery Baby decreased...
Will you expand all of your Animal Habitats, or are there just one or two different buildings that should be larger on your farm?
FarmVille Halloween Items: Dark Apple Tree, Batwing Horse, Bat Pumpkin and more
With tonight's FarmVille update, we not only see the launch of the Apple Bobbing / Barrel feature in the game, but there's also been an addition to the current Halloween limited edition item theme. It's interesting that the Apple Barrel feature comes out now, rather than a Halloween collection event, but either way, these new store items should be enough to tide you over until further developments (apparently) arise. Here's a look at the new items available in the store.
Trees
Dark Apple Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Dark Apple Tree - 14 Farm Cash
Halloween Lantern Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Halloween Lantern Tree - 14 Farm Cash
Yet again, we see two different pairs of Halloween trees released this evening, but neither really scream Halloween. The Dark Apple Trees are simply a dark purple color, while the Halloween Lantern Trees are more themed with hanging lanterns appearing when they're ready to harvest. However, I can definitely see these trees being used in a general Fall theme as well, and not specifically Halloween. Either way, remember that the two more expensive trees can be earned for free via Mystery Seedlings.
Animals
Dire Wolf - 10 Farm Cash
Batwing Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Bat Rabbit - 14 Farm Cash
Pink Patch Bull - 1.5 million coins
The Batwing Horse is a dark, black and green horse with large wings. It honestly does look like someone combined a bat and a horse. The same thing can be said for the Bat Rabbit, with its widespread wings, although the rabbit portion doesn't look like other rabbits traditionally released in the store. As for the Pink Patch Bull, this is a special item that's only available for a week.
Buildings
Werewolf Shack - 15 Farm Cash
Dilapidated House - 20 Farm Cash
Unfortunately, both of these buildings cost Farm Cash, although they do give players that want a spookier, gloomier Halloween theme something to get excited about (that is, as opposed to all of the happier, brighter items already released in the theme). The Dilapidated House is the larger of the two items, but the Werewolf Shack comes with some cool animations (eyeballs blinking in the windows) and extra details.
Decorations
Bat Pumpkin - 50,000 coins
Haunted Drive Inn - 18 Farm Cash
Giant Candelabra - 20,000 coins
Werewolf Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Here, the two coin items are less elaborate than the Haunted Drive Inn, as you'd expect, but they're still rather cool and are nicely sized items for the price(s). As with the other items released this evening (including the Avatar Costumes below), these decorations will be available in the game for the next two weeks.
Avatar Costumes
Wolf - 8 Farm Cash
Vampire I - 10 Farm Cash
Vampire II - 10 Farm Cash
Here, the two types of Vampire costumes go with either gender. Vampire I is for male avatars, while Vampire II is a dress and wing combo for female avatars. Remember, it's not this often that we see so many items release for avatars, so if you want your avatar to have fun costumes the rest of the year through (and into next), this is a great time to stock up.
In addition to these items, there's a new purchase / collection event going on that will reward you with a free Halloween Forest item (a heavily animated forest with four trees, blinking eyes in the shadows and ghosts) for purchasing eight items released this evening. You'll have to purchase the Dark Apple and Halloween Lantern Trees (both large and small), along with the Batwing Horse, the Dire Wolf, Werewolf Gnome and Werewolf Shack. That's an expensive set of items, sure, but if you purchase them all within a week, the exclusive Halloween Forest is yours.
Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.
What do you think of these limited edition Halloween items? Will you purchase eight of them to receive the Halloween Forest?
Trees
Dark Apple Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Dark Apple Tree - 14 Farm Cash
Halloween Lantern Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Halloween Lantern Tree - 14 Farm Cash
Yet again, we see two different pairs of Halloween trees released this evening, but neither really scream Halloween. The Dark Apple Trees are simply a dark purple color, while the Halloween Lantern Trees are more themed with hanging lanterns appearing when they're ready to harvest. However, I can definitely see these trees being used in a general Fall theme as well, and not specifically Halloween. Either way, remember that the two more expensive trees can be earned for free via Mystery Seedlings.
Animals
Dire Wolf - 10 Farm Cash
Batwing Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Bat Rabbit - 14 Farm Cash
Pink Patch Bull - 1.5 million coins
The Batwing Horse is a dark, black and green horse with large wings. It honestly does look like someone combined a bat and a horse. The same thing can be said for the Bat Rabbit, with its widespread wings, although the rabbit portion doesn't look like other rabbits traditionally released in the store. As for the Pink Patch Bull, this is a special item that's only available for a week.
Buildings
Werewolf Shack - 15 Farm Cash
Dilapidated House - 20 Farm Cash
Unfortunately, both of these buildings cost Farm Cash, although they do give players that want a spookier, gloomier Halloween theme something to get excited about (that is, as opposed to all of the happier, brighter items already released in the theme). The Dilapidated House is the larger of the two items, but the Werewolf Shack comes with some cool animations (eyeballs blinking in the windows) and extra details.
Decorations
Bat Pumpkin - 50,000 coins
Haunted Drive Inn - 18 Farm Cash
Giant Candelabra - 20,000 coins
Werewolf Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Here, the two coin items are less elaborate than the Haunted Drive Inn, as you'd expect, but they're still rather cool and are nicely sized items for the price(s). As with the other items released this evening (including the Avatar Costumes below), these decorations will be available in the game for the next two weeks.
Avatar Costumes
Wolf - 8 Farm Cash
Vampire I - 10 Farm Cash
Vampire II - 10 Farm Cash
Here, the two types of Vampire costumes go with either gender. Vampire I is for male avatars, while Vampire II is a dress and wing combo for female avatars. Remember, it's not this often that we see so many items release for avatars, so if you want your avatar to have fun costumes the rest of the year through (and into next), this is a great time to stock up.
In addition to these items, there's a new purchase / collection event going on that will reward you with a free Halloween Forest item (a heavily animated forest with four trees, blinking eyes in the shadows and ghosts) for purchasing eight items released this evening. You'll have to purchase the Dark Apple and Halloween Lantern Trees (both large and small), along with the Batwing Horse, the Dire Wolf, Werewolf Gnome and Werewolf Shack. That's an expensive set of items, sure, but if you purchase them all within a week, the exclusive Halloween Forest is yours.
Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.
What do you think of these limited edition Halloween items? Will you purchase eight of them to receive the Halloween Forest?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Best Buy returns to CityVille with more techie (and branded) treats
No, you'll never escape the branding, so you may as well have fun with it. Best Buy is going for another round in CityVille, providing players with even more decorations and in-game bonuses for exposing themselves to the Best Buy brand. We're just going to imagine you've already placed the Best Buy Business from when it first hit the game, and move on to the new stuff.
Sound good? A new collection has been added to the Best Buy business that, when completed through collecting from the business, will reward players with a new Best Buy Sign decoration. Each time you collect from the Best Buy, a collection item should randomly drop from the business. Collect the Smartphone, Coffee Maker, Free Shipping, Beats, and TV by Nov. 14, and the Best Buy Sign is all yours.
While you work on the new Collection, you can head on over to the Best Buy fan page and "Like" it to receive a Best Buy Holiday Surprises Sled decoration for your city. Once this promotion ends, the Best Buy Business will morph in a non-branded business that provides the same healthy bonuses. And considering we're this close to the holiday shopping season, expect more Best Buy branding where this came from (whether you like it or not).
Are you a fan of the branded content in CityVille? What do you think of how Zynga incorporates brands into its games?
Sound good? A new collection has been added to the Best Buy business that, when completed through collecting from the business, will reward players with a new Best Buy Sign decoration. Each time you collect from the Best Buy, a collection item should randomly drop from the business. Collect the Smartphone, Coffee Maker, Free Shipping, Beats, and TV by Nov. 14, and the Best Buy Sign is all yours.
While you work on the new Collection, you can head on over to the Best Buy fan page and "Like" it to receive a Best Buy Holiday Surprises Sled decoration for your city. Once this promotion ends, the Best Buy Business will morph in a non-branded business that provides the same healthy bonuses. And considering we're this close to the holiday shopping season, expect more Best Buy branding where this came from (whether you like it or not).
Are you a fan of the branded content in CityVille? What do you think of how Zynga incorporates brands into its games?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)