FarmVille introduces a new limited edition crop -- Wasabi

As part of its ongoing Japanese theme, FarmVille introduces a new limited-edition crop -- Wasabi. You need to be a level 42 farmer to plant this new crop.

Wasabi stats are as follows:

Cost: 200 coins
Sells for: 330 coins
XP: 2
Grow time: 16 hours

FarmVille intros new limited edition tree -- Asian Pear

The Japenese theme continues with new crops, building and a tree. An Asian Pear tree in fact, which cost 6,000 each. Plant as many as possible to create your own Japanese-themed farm.

FarmVille Japanese theme gets a little larger with more limited edition items

       
More Japanese themed items appeared in the FarmVille Market tonight. Here is a list of what you will find:

Limited Edition Japanese Items:

* Japanese Manor - 42 Farm Cash
* Edo Style Home – 36 Farm Cash
* Manga Store – 27 Farm Cash
* Zen Garden II - 18 Farm Cash
* Lush Knoll - 4 Farm Cash
* Sakura Flowers – 45,000 Coins
* Lamp Sculpture – 36,000 Coins
* Small Lamp-12,000 Coins

What Japanese items have you bought for your farm so far?

Get a restaurant surprise with free Cafe World lotto ticket

Cafe World lotto ticket
Cafe World has just granted all of their fans one free lotto ticket. This lotto ticket can be claimed by clicking here. Once you click that link, you'll be presented with a Fan Club Lotto ticket like the one above. There are three spaces that can be clicked on (or "scratched off") that can give you a surprise, but you can only scratch off one space per ticket.. According to the Cafe World wall, this lotto ticket can grant coins, Cafe Cash, or even items. When we scratched ours off, we got one free Cafe Cash. Become a fan of Cafe World and click here to claim your free lotto ticket.

FrontierVille Cheats & Tips: Animal cheatsheet with all values

Are you the type of social gamer who likes to make sure everything you are doing is carefully calculated, so that you're getting the maximum XP, food, and gold in FrontierVille? We have a full guide to the FrontierVille animals, telling you how much each animal is worth. This handy chart will be updated going forward with new information, but this is the latest and greatest information. How much coins is a chicken worth? How much food will a goat provide? This chart gives you all of the detail about FrontierVille animals.

Looking for our FrontierVille Tree Cheatsheet? Click here!

Last updated January 20, 2011:

YoVille: Moroccan Mystery Box Items Revealed

YoVille Mystery Box
The Moroccan Mystery box that was recently released got a very positive review from most of the YoVille players. We know that many of you want to find out about what's hidden inside! The YoVille Lounge Forums prepared a list of the items found in the box. Don't forget that the new box can also earn you coins and YoCash.

What did you get from the box? YoVille Mystery Box Results

This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

Pet Society: Homes of High Society Pets

Ever wonder what it's like to be royalty? Jean-Pierre has always been a little prince, living it up in 5-star luxury. He was especially excited when the Versailles-themed items were released earlier this month. Kellie from High Society Pets gives us this exclusive tour of her pet's palace, including the Hall of Mirrors, where Jean-Pierre takes tea with visiting pets of importance, his conservatory playhouse, and his dressing room.

I think Kellie did a fabulous job of decorating, don't you? Check out more of her pet's home at High Society Pets.

Hall of Mirrors:
Pet Society Hall of Mirrors
Sleeping Chambers:
Pet Society Sleeping Chambers
Conservatory Tea Room (made from Playhouse):
Pet Society Conservatory Tea Room
Dressing Room (made from Display Room):
Pet Society Dressing Room
The picture below comes from another player, Jessica, who re-created the Versailles Hall of Mirrors or Galerie des Glaces. Looks like this little princess could be a good match for Jean-Pierre!
Pet Society Galerie des Glaces
This article originally appeared on Pet Society Anonymous.

EA signs deal with Live Gamer; doubles down on microtransactions

Paying nickels and dimes to buy additional content in games isn't going away anytime soon, and, in fact, it looks like EA may be doubling down on microtransactions by announcing a new partnership with Live Gamer, which will run all of EA's "microtransaction projects" and will help "accelerate the company's online gaming strategy."

The press release doesn't mention any specific games, but just off the top of my head, this deal seems particularly relevant to EA's social gaming arm, Playfish, responsible for Pet Society and FIFA Superstars on Facebook, as well as its casual gaming portal Pogo, which has had microtransactions for a while now. EA has also started to integrate more microtransactions in its blockbuster console games as well: Madden NFL Football debuted microtransactions in the 2010 edition, Dragon Age and Dead Space (among other EA console games) also rolled out additional downloadable content.

A recent study says microtransactions will grow to $7 billion globally by 2015, so it's no surprise that Live Gamer's picking up new clients, which includes THQ and Real Networks' GameHouse. I'm sure we'll be hearing similar news from other traditional game publishers in the near future -- the success of selling virtual goods has everyone seeing dollar signs.

Cafe World: Free Grill Father Super Stove when you level up in Mafia Wars

In Cafe World, Super Stoves streamline cooking in the game into a one-click process, but harnessing that convenience costs 32 Cafe Cash. There's also a suited up version, called the Grill Father, that goes for 35 Cafe Cash. This puts it somewhere around $4-5 per stove.

But you can get the Grill Father for free by leveling up 5 times in Mafia Wars. New players will have to make it to Level 15. To get started, look for the tiny icon of the Grill Father Super Stove on the left side of your Cafe World game screen. Click on the notice (image above) and answer "Yes" to be redirected to the Mafia Wars game.

Cafe World: Dinner at Twilight Eclipse is a guys-only affair

Cafe World Twilight
We haven't seen a Twilight Eclipse release since Crowdstar's Happy Pets and Happy Aquarium sets earlier this month. But just when we thought the Twilight fever has passed, Zynga's Cafe World comes out with 27 new decor pieces for Team Edward and Team Jacob. And like the Crowdstar sets, Bella is strangely absent...
Cafe World Twilight Gifts
There's also three new giftable snacks: Garlic Necklace, Apple of Temptation, and Vampire Staked Steak. The last of which, is also a new cafe recipe which earns 2,010 Coins from 335 servings in one day.
Cafe World Vampire Staked Steak
For those who want to collect both Twilight hunks, Edward is listed as Twinkling Vampire, is animated to sparkle, and costs 15 Cafe Cash. Jacob is the shirtless, Transforming Werewolf and costs 16 Cafe Cash. The most expensive premium item is the Red Plasma Fountain, which costs 18 Cafe Cash. For regular currency, the honor goes to the Vamperial Throne, which costs 35,000 Coins.
Cafe World Twilight decor
And for a bit of a heads-up, while the Blood and Bats Entrance looks like it should be a blood-dripping doorway, it actually doesn't move. So if you're thristing for the red ooze effect, grab A Family Portrait for 3 Cafe Cash under the windows section instead.

Restaurant City's Bazaar Week provides a taste of Moroccan Luxury

restaurant city bazaar morocco
Falafel lovers rejoice! Restaurant City has rolled out a Moroccan Bazaar theme that is both luxurious and exotic. A Bazaar is a permanent market selling a great variety of things, similar to what you might call a flea market. Yet, traditional Bazaars have taken on a now iconic look, and with Restaurant City's new theme you can fill your eatery with the eastern items. As usual, the Restaurant City update features new items, appliances, decor, and recipes. You can even turn your restaurant into a full-fledged, trendy hookah bar. Let your imaginations run wild my friends!

Continue reading to see pictures and prices of all the new Bazaar Week items.
restaurant city bazaar morocco
Chairs
Turkish Sofa - 1,200 Coins or Free Gift
Blue Moroccan Chair - 1,500 Coins
Red Moroccan Chair - 1,800 Coins
Pink Moroccan Chair - 2,000 Coins
Blue Moroccan Sofa - 2,600 Coins
Pink Moroccan Sofa - 2,600 Coins
Red Moroccan Sofa - 2,600 Coins


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Tables
Large Gilded Table - 3 Playfish Cash
Star Side Table - 900 Coins or Free Gift
Octagon Side Table - 1,300 Coins
Small Gilded Table - 1,600 Coins
Large Octagonal Side Table - 1,800 Coins


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Wall Decorations
Moroccan Wall Lamp - 6,000 Coins with email permission


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Decorations
Exotic Vase - 4 Playfish Cash
Red African Floor Lamp - 5 Playfish Cash
Tunisian Rug - 6 Playfish Cash
Moroccan Archway - 8 Playfish Cash
Moroccan Market Archway - 14 Playfish Cash
Pink Moroccan Corner Sofa - 1,000 Coins or Free Gift
Silver Kettle - 1,000 Coins or Free Gift
Moroccan Divider - 1,700 Coins
Moroccan Divider Block - 1,700 Coins
Red Moroccan Corner Sofa - 2,800 with email permission
Gold Kettle - 3,000 Coins with email permission
Hookah - 6,500 Coins
restaurant city bazaar morocco
Blue African Floor Lamp - 10,000 Coins
Hookah Customer - 14,000 Coins
Turkish Rug - 15,000 Coins
Humble Waiter - 17,000 Coins


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Functional
Mosaic Toilet - 8 Playfish Cash - Works without breaking 8 times longer and works 60% faster
Mosaic Sink - 12,000 Coins


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Wallpapers
Dark Tunisian Wallpaper - 3,200 Coins
Light Tunisian Wallpaper - 3,200 Coins


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Floor Tiles
Brown Moroccan Tile - 35 Coins
Red Imperial Tile - 45 Coins
Brown Imperial Tile - 45 Coins
Turkish Stone Tile - 70 Coins


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Kitchen Appliances
Turkish Stove - 20 Playfish Cash - serves 15% faster


restaurant city bazaar morocco
Recipes
Mint Tea - Tea Leaves, Mint, Water
Doner Kebab - Flour, Lamb, Onion, Salad
Moroccan Lamb Shank - Lamb, Lamb, Mint, Coriander

Click here to play Restaurant City>

Games.com Super End of Summer Contest

End of Summer Contest

Celebrate the final days of summer with a Scavenger Hunt for Stamps to adorn your Player Profile! Visit the games below and complete the described Dare. Complete all three Dares before 9/7 and you will win the 'Dog Days of Summer' Stamp for your player profile!
Dog Days - Sarah Quest Stamp
Sarah Quest: The Pharaoh's Trap
DARE: Finish Level 5 in "Story" mode to win this Stamp.
Take Dare Now
+
Finish level 5 in the Book of Treasures Stamp
The Book of Treasures
DARE: Finish Level 5 in "Quest Mode" to win this Stamp.
Take Dare Now

+
Lost Island Mahjongg Purity Stamp
Lost Island Mahjongg
DARE: Solve a puzzle without using hints to win this Stamp.
Take Dare Now

=
Dog Days of Summer
Dog Days of Summer
This Stamp is yours when you complete the Dares in the three featured games!

FarmVille Crafting Mastery Guide

As you know FarmVille Crafting Mastery is now available for all farmers.

To begin your Crafting Mastery just continue making your Goods. When your Recipe levels increase you will unlock more levels of mastery which will give you more XP and Coins.


Each Recipe is organized by Star Levels. The higher tier level of your Crafting Building, the higher the Craft Mastery will be for that Recipe. Each Recipe will have five Mastery or Star Levels available per each Crafting Recipe. If it seems confusing, refer to the chart below, provided by Zynga, that displays what Recipe Level is required before you can unlock a specific Mastery Star.
farmville crafting mastery guide

    Zynga's Example: "If you have a 1-star Bakery on your farm, the first recipes available to you were Pumpkin Bread, Strawberry Shortcake and Spicy Muffin. You can earn your first Mastery star in those three recipes once that you reach recipe level 20. If you upgrade your Bakery to 2-star, you unlock a new slew of recipes: Patty Pan Tart, Triple Berry Pie and Peanut Butter Cookie. For these recipes you need to reach recipe level 23 to get your first Mastery star.

In order to get a second Mastery star for Pumpkin Vinegar (which requires a 4-star Winery) you will need to raise your recipe level to 39."

If you would like to check your current progress for a specific Recipes Craft Mastery, ..

Craft Mastery Rewards & Craft Mastery Signs

So, you may ask what is the point in participating in Crafting Mastery? Just like with Crop Mastery, mastering a Craft Recipe rewards you with additional XP (experience points) and bonus Coins. Not to mention, you get a cool Crafting Mastery Sign for your farm to let everyone know that you are a master crafter.

After earning your first star with a Crafting Recipe, you will be rewarded with a Recipe Mastery Sign. You can find the Craft Recipe Mastery Sign in your FarmVille Gift Box. By placing your sign on your farm you can simply hover over the sign to check your Mastery progress and what you need to reach the next Star Level.

Whenever you earn more star levels, your sign will automatically update to reflect your current mastery status.

Crafting Building Mastery Signs can also be placed in storage.

The chart below reflects the specific Recipe Mastery level with coordinating XP and Coin Rewards.
farmville crafting mastery guide
Upon earning each star level, you will be given the opportunity to share a FaceBook newsfeed notice with your FarmVille neighbors. Up to 5 neighbors can receive a free good from your post.

Remember, that any progress up to this point is retroactive, meaning that all your hard work will automatically count towards your Crafting Mastery.

Some of you may find as soon as Crafting Mastery was released you immediately earned Crafting Mastery for some Recipes by finding the Crafting Mastery Signs in your FarmVille Gift Box.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.

What do you think of Crafting Mastery so far? Do you like this new feature?

FrontierVille Varmint Cannon arrives

frontierville varmint cannon

Varmint Cannons have started to roll onto FrontierVille, as mentioned earlier this week. Of course, you can't just buy a cannon -- that would be too easy. You're going to have to put in a little elbow grease and get help from your friends before you can blast varmints in one click. To get started on building your very own varmint blaster -- head to the Market, and buy the Cannon Quest. It costs 5,000 coins and can be found under the *Special* tab. It's pretty hard to miss, just look for the picture of the bear skull with the two crossed cannons behind it.

frontierville cannon quest in market

frontierville missions

Once you've purchased that, you will launch a series of missions. The first mission is to Build a Foundry!

BUILD A FOUNDRY MISSION

frontierville varmint cannon

To start construction on the Foundry you will need three things:

1. A Saltpeter, created by completing and turning in the Manure Collection
2. Craft fire
3. Build a Foundry

The Foundry can be purchased in the Market for 50,000 coins and 50 Wood.

frontierville foundry

Once you buy the foundry, place it on your property and start whacking it. You'll need to give it 25 whacks total (each whack requires 1 Energy) and you'll spend 10 Wood per whack. So bascially, it'll take 25 Energy and 250 Wood to raise the frame on the foundry. You'll earn 2 XP per whack, for a total of 50 XP when you're done. Once you've completed all that whacking, the frame will look like this (see image below).



But, hold up pardner! Not so fast. The job ain't done yet. You'll then need to collect 25 building materials required to get the Foundry in working order. Here's what you'll need:

    5 Shingles
    5 Mallets
    5 Pegs
    5 Cement
    5 Windows

As per usual, there are several ways you can get all of the materials you need:

1. Ask friends to send you materials. Click the 'Ask Friends' button, which will launch the friend selector.
2. Buy materials using horseshoes
3. Receive materials as free gifts from neighbors

frontierville finish your foundry

Once you have all of the materials, click 'Finish.' You will be rewarded with 100 XP, 500 coins and you'll have the option to share extra 'poop' with your friends via a Facebook wall post.

frontierville foundry finished

WHAT WE NEED IS A SNAKE CANNON MISSION:

Phew! Mission one complete. But wait, there's more! Cannon mission #2 will arrive as soon as #1 is done. This goal is called "What We Need is a Snake Cannon," and you'll need to pull off three things to get 'er done.


frontierville snake cannon


1. Craft or Buy One Powder Keg

To Craft a Powder Keg, open the Foundry building that you just completed, and you will be taken to the Crafting Workbench. You'll need a saltpeter (which you can get by turning in the Manure Collection) and 5 Fires (which can be made in the Wagon) -- to make one Powder Keg.

frontierville crafting workbench

If you don't want to do the extra work, you can always opt to buy the Powder Keg in the Market. You can buy one Powder Keg for 1 Horseshoe or 5 Powder Kegs for 4 Horseshoes.
frontierville powder kegs

2. Get 10 Insurance Waivers from Neighbors

Post a message to your Facebook wall asking friends to send you Insurance Waivers, and if they do so, they will also be rewarded with an Insurance Waiver.

frontierville insurance waiver


3. Buy Snake Cannon

To purchase a snake cannon, click on the Foundry and select 'Buy Cannon.' That will pop the cannon store, and you should be able to buy a Snake Cannon for 5,000 coins.
frontierville buy snake cannon

frontierville foundry cannon collection

See below to take a peek at what the Snake Cannon looks like once it's placed on your homestead.



Once you've completed this Goal, you will be rewarded with 100 XP and three Powder Kegs, and the option to share experience with friends via your Facebook Wall.

frontierville need snake cannon rewards

Once you've got your snake cannon ready to go -- the next mission will arrive...

SERIOUSLY, IT IS A CANNON THAT SHOOTS SNAKES MISSION

cannon that shoots snakes

The goals in this mission are as follows:

Clear one skull:

Fire Snake Cannon Twice:

Purchase A Bucket:

Developing...

FarmVille Official Podcast - August 27, 2010

This week's official FarmVille Podcast is hosted by Lexilicious.

Some exciting news featured in this week's podcast includes Nursery Barn expansion and a new feature that will allow farmers to collect XP and coins by helping out on their neighbors farms!

You can listen to the video above, read the podcast summary below, or read the entire transcript provided by Zynga at the bottom of the post. FarmVille Freak Podcast Summary – August 27th 2010

Pigpens Released

* Constructible building.
* Stores up to 20 Pigs.
* Only one Pigpen per farm.
* To read more details about Pigpens read on FarmVille Freak by clicking here.

Crafting Recipe Mastery

* Gain XP, Coin Rewards, and Crafting Mastery Signs for your farm.
* Do not have to "do anything" to start, just continue making Goods.
* Crafting Mastery is retroactive meaning you will be rewarded for your progress thus far before the release.
* Mastery Signs can be found in your Gift Box.
* To read more details about Crafting Mastery visit our FarmVille Freak Guide by clicking here.

LE Wild West Theme

* New theme released this week.
* More items will be coming next week.

Where do you mobile farm, Photo Contest?

* Win up to 500 FV$ farm cash.
* Ends at 11:59 PM on August 31st 2010.
* Take a picture of yourself playing your FarmVille on your mobile device.
* Visit the FarmVille Mobile Forums (zynga.com) for more details.

Coming Soon to FarmVille

* Nursery Barn expansion will be debuting in the coming weeks.
* Wild West themed Mystery Game.
* More LE Wild West theme.
* Improved neighbor visit. This new feature will allow you to complete functions on your neihgbors' farms, you can harvest their trees, collect from their animals, and plow fallow land. Not only will you be rewarded XP and Coins for helping out on their farm, so will your neighbor. (Similar to neighbor visits on FrontierVille).

Official FarmVille Podcast Transcript click here.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FrontierVille FarmVille Quest Guide: How to get your FarmVille mule

frontierville farmville quest
A few days ago many farmers experienced pop-ups in FarmVille that promoted the new FarmVille and FrontierVille cross-promotion. The promotion is for a Quest to complete in FrontierVille. Clicking on these pop-ups did not trigger more details and the in-game pop-ups have since vanished. Because of this there was general confusion about how to get to the quest and if the prize (Mule) would be for FarmVille or FrontierVille. Just to clear things up, the Mule is for use in FarmVille, not FrontierVille.

Use this guide to complete the FrontierVille FarmVille Quest and get your Mule for FarmVille.
frontierville farmville quest 1
First of all, you need to install and play the FrontierVille app. If you already play FrontierVille, then good for you because that's one less step.

FrontierVille's FarmVille Quest I Guide

1. Install the FrontierVille app on FaceBook. Click the following link which redirects you to FrontierVille.

http://apps.facebook.com/frontierville/index.php?promoId=ftv_5wayin_farm&cat=xpromo&subcat=farm&creative=ftv_5wayi

2. Complete the goal, "The Farmville Quest I" in FrontierVille.

Requirements for The FarmVille Quest I:

    Plant 20 Crops.*
    Harvest 20 Crops.
    Buy 3 Cows from the FrontierVille Market.


*Hint: Clover takes only 5 minutes to grow.

3. Click on "Claim Mule button" and head over to Farmville. You can then find your Mule in your Farmville Gift Box.
farmville mule
Rewards for Completing FarmVille Quest I Goal

    FrontierVille: 250 Coins, 50 XP
    FarmVille: Mule


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille freaks of the week: Meet the Shafer family

Ever heard of Family time? How about FarmVille family time? The Shafer family knows how to spend a little quality time together . . . while farming of course.

    "Hello Farmgoddess,

    We just wanted to send you a couple pictures of our Farmville Freak Family, including the littlest farmfreak. We have all been playing since the game was introduced. All four laptops are logged on to Facebook and playing farmville. It's what we do for fun at our house, LoL. The littlest Farmville freak you see in the pictures is only 16 months and already "addicted". We also have a 5 year old who isn't pictured, but has her own farm and can navigate through the game with the best of 'em. Thanks for taking a look. We love the site!

    -The Shafer Family, FarmVille Freaks"

farmville shafer familyfarmville shafer family
We all know that group farming is more fun! Thank you for sharing with us Shafer family.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

How do you farm?

FarmVille Unreleased Combine Building Feed Icons

    farmville combine build     farmville combine
Thank you to FarmVille player Linkaholic for finding these unreleased Combine Building Feed Icons and menu!
farmville super combine tractor
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Spooky Mausoleum, Spooky Skeleton, Grave Open, Grave Closed & Coffin haunting us this Halloween

Thank you FarmVille player Linkaholic for finding these unreleased FarmVille Spooky Mausoleum, Spooky Skeleton, Grave Open, Grave Closed, Grave v2, & Coffin items!

Along with the rest of the exciting FarmVille Halloween items we've stumbled upon, it should definitely be an eventful holiday.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Game Cards free "Fertilize All" perk

farmville free fertilize all
FarmVille is now giving away free "Fertilize All" with the purchase of FarmVille game cards! This announcement can be found above your FarmVille screen.

You can purchase FarmVille Game Cards at these local retailers:

    Target
    7-Eleven
    Best Buy
    GameStop
    Wal-Mart


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Is "Fertilize All" a good enough perk to get you to purchase a FarmVille Game Card?

BeeVille on Facebook: Virtual bee-keeping game doesn't bring the buzz

Beeville facebook
There's a new "ville" game on Facebook, and it's not related to FarmVille or Zynga's other 'ville' games. Beeville launched on October 20, and its a game that lets you house your own honeybees. The game, made by Playkoko, is an interesting take on an aquarium game and when you play, you'll notice that it basically feels like FishVille sans water and fish.

Players can buy different types of bees that provide varied XP bonuses. These bees mature over time, and require feeding in order to stay healthy and keep growing. There are all sorts of silly bees, including a Gaga Bee (who looks similar to Lady Gaga) and a Punk Bee. You can level up by buying new kinds of bees, and upgrade your beehive with different style hives and new backgrounds. The in-game store sells oodles of decorations as well.

Overall, a simulation game starring bees is an interesting idea, but it'd be hard to call BeeVille anything other than a me-too Facebook game at this point. We're not sure why we'd choose to play this over the far superior games that seem to be popping up left and right. Give Beeville a shot and see if it gets you 'buzzing.'

Mafia Wars Italy Cooked Books: Where to find them

mafia wars italy cooked book
If there's one thing that's likely to stand in your way of making progress in Mafia Wars, it's those darn consumable items required to complete jobs and defeat bosses. Just when you thought you were done with hunting down consumables, Mafia Wars Italy arrives and everyone's been on the hunt for severed pinkies and other new consumable items to get the job done.

You'll need Cooked Books to complete the 'Snag a Lucrative Disposal Contract' job in Mafia Wars Italy Region 5 Napoli.
mafia wars cooked book
You'll need a total of 89 Mafia Wars Cooked Books to master all four levels of the 'Snag a Lucrative Disposal Contract' job. That breaks down into the following per mastery level:

Bronze : 13 Cooked Books needed
Silver : 17 Cooked Books needed
Gold : 25 Cooked Books needed
Ruby : 34 Cooked Books needed

Mafia Wars Cooked Books are not available as gifts and cannot be traded. There are two ways to find this significant item:

1. Complete the 'Blackmail A Track Official' job in Region 4: Palermo.
2. Complete the 'Interrogate a Lackey' job in Region 4: Palermo.

AM Linkage: Jack Black rocks Blizzcon, Facebook privacy breech fallout

Jack Black and Tenacious D rock out at Blizzcon 2010 (video) [VentureBeat]

It's Not Just Facebook: MySpace Transmitted Personal Data [Mashable]

Understanding what Facebook apps really know (FAQ) [Cnet]

Creating stronger privacy controls inside Google [Official Google Blog]

Apple to Invest in Facebook? Facebook says "No" [TNW]

Mafia Wars Italy Hidden Charges: Where to look for them

mafia wars italy hidden charges
If there's one thing that's likely to stand in your way of making progress in Mafia Wars, it's those darn consumable items required to complete jobs and defeat bosses. Just when you thought you were done with hunting down consumables, Mafia Wars Italy arrives and everyone's been on the hunt for severed pinkies and other new consumable items to get the job done.

Depending on your path, you'll need Hidden Charges to complete the 'Support Your Local Hooligan Firm' or the 'Blow Up a Police Station' jobs in Mafia Wars Italy Region 5: Napoli.
mafia wars italy hidden charges
You'll need a total of 112 Hidden Charges to master all four levels of the 'Support Your Local Hooligan Firm' job. That breaks down into the following per mastery level:

Bronze : 17 Hidden Charges needed
Silver : 20 Hidden Charges needed
Gold : 25 Hidden Charges needed
Ruby : 50 Hidden Charges needed

The 'Blow Up a Police Station' job requires a total of 91 Hidden Charges:

Bronze : 15 Hidden Charges needed
Silver : 17 Hidden Charges needed
Gold : 25 Hidden Charges needed
Ruby : 34 Hidden Charges needed

Hidden Charges are not available as gifts and cannot be traded. There is only one way to find these missing explosive devices:

1. Complete the 'Snag a Lucrative Disposal Contract' job in Region 5: Napoli.

ESPNU College Town enjoys South District and balancing from recent update

ESPNU Venues
If this most recent update to ESPNU College Town is any indication, the folks at Playdom are listening. Based on player feedback, the studio has changed the event timers to all sporting events so that they all complete in the same time regardless of division--their only differences now are the payout between Divisions (Division I events will always pay most) and the event timers for each different sport. According to a forum post accompanying the update, Playdom plans to release shorter events soon to give players more options.

Finally, the team has made Entertainment venues like the recent Windows 7 Tech Lab put out double the cash, making these buildings much more useful. Most importantly, there is now a third district to expand into: the South district. However, this will be invisible to you if you're below Level 12. Oh, and Playdom also fixed the friend request system so that it actually works, but who needs those?

FrontierVille Sixth Kid Goals: Everything you need to know

FrontierVille Babies
The time has finally come in FrontierVille. You've been through five pregnancies before, so this should be nothing, right? Wrong. This just might be the most difficult in the game to date, and it's purely due to what it requires. Or should we say how much it requires. We'd say that we had some hot tips for you to accomplish this Goal series, but this is truly a battle of wits and determination. Though, we did try making the requirements that require a bit more sleuthing, so to speak, easier to find. So, enjoy all four missions in this series in one spot for your enjoyment reference.

LoomNot Again?!?:
-Get 50 Baby Names (request from friends)
-Have 700 Cloth (Visit lots of friends. Never stop, actually)
-Harvest 250 Cabbage

A Tisket, a Tasket!:
-Have one Basket (collect from the Inn at random)
-Have one Purple Button (collect from the Tailor Shop at random)
-Buy two Seven-Course Meals from the Market

Candy is Dandy!:
-Have one Apricot Candy (collect from harvesting Apricot Trees)
-Have 1,500 Wood (Now, this is just getting ridiculous.)
-Get 40 Baby Clothes (request from friends)

The Blessed Event!:
-Accept Help from 25 Neighbors (We hear begging works sometimes.)
-Have five Cribs inside the Barn (All that Wood should prove useful.)
-Purchase a Loom at the Market (pictured)

Finish all four missions and your sixth and (tentatively) final kid will be brought into the world. We imagine that only the most hardcore of you are this far in the game--believe us, that is OK. Just don't expect any content for some time considering we all have General Stores to expand and new employees to hire. Though, there is a lot of scuttlebutt going around about some Gold Rush being on the way at some point.

Treasure Isle Fishing: Everything You Need to Know

Treasure Isle fishing
Players can now fish for energy in Treasure Isle, and each fish represents different amounts of energy that you can earn. At a glance, this sounds awesome, since energy is something players are always short on, but here comes the bad news -- in order to fish, you need the following:

    Be at Level 7.
    Spend 3,500 Coins for the Strong Fishing Pole.
    12 Energy for each time you fish.
    Pay between 625 Coins to 25 Island Cash for batches of fishing bait.


You need to be at Level 7 because if you're not, you can't buy the Strong Fishing Pole from the store and you won't be able to receive fish as gifts. Right now, there are 4 kinds of bait in the game (though luckily, the game starts you off with 3 of each kind, so you get a dozen free bait to begin):
Treasure Isle new raised bait prices

    Basic Bait needed for Muddy Waters; costs 6,250 Coins for a batch of 25.
    Good Bait needed for Stony Waters; 25,000 Coins for a batch of 25.
    Special Bait needed for Lush Waters; 9 Island Cash for a batch of 5.
    Magic Bait needed for Rainbow Waters; 25 Island Cash for a batch of 5.

Treasure Isle Muddy Waters    
Different fish appear in different kinds of environments, and you're going to begin with Muddy Waters. These look like little puddles in the ocean around your island, and they have a time limit on them. Muddy Waters lasts for an hour and a half before it disappears and is replaced by a different puddle, such as Rainbow Waters, which lasts for a day. Note that you can also fish on your friends' islands, and you'll want to too, because they'll likely have different environments than you. This means you won't have to wait out the time limits on your own island to get a different type of water to fish in.
Treasure Isle fish in storage
Here's a list of fish we've found so far, the amounts of energy they give off, and how long you've got 'til they go bad:

The Big One - 250 Energy - Never expires!
Swordfish - 100 Energy - 2 days
Yellowfin Tuna - 60 Energy - 2 days
Catfish - 30 Energy - 2 days
Salmon - 22 Energy - 2 days
Mahi Mahi - 19 Energy - 2 days
Sea Bass - 16 Energy - 3 days
Red Snapper - 13 Energy - 3 days
Rainbow Trout - 10 Energy - 3 days
Sardine - 7 Energy - 3 days
Anchovy - 4 Energy - 3 days

Each of these fish also comes with a mastery bar. Each mastery bar lets you know how many of each fish you've caught, the rarity of the fish, and in what environments you can find the fish.
Treasure Isle Yellowfin Tuna
Treasure Isle Catfish Mastery Bar
Treasure Isle Salmon Mastery Bar
Treasure Isle Mahi Mahi mastery
Treasure Isle Sea Bass mastery
Treasure Isle Red Snapper Mastery Bar
Treasure Isle Rainbow Trout Mastery Bar
Treasure Isle Sardine Mastery Bar
Treasure Isle Anchovy Mastery Bar
You will also reel in items that aren't fish. There's Sunken Treasure, for example, which lets you choose one of three different items, but the choices are completely random.
Treasure Isle Sunken Treasure
Item collections -- such as Bottom of the Sea Junk, Marine Plants, and The Petite Fish Lady -- will also pop-up while you're fishing, and like the ones from treasure-hunting, mastering these collections will get you free stuff :
Treasure Isle Bottom of the Sea Junk
Bottom of the Sea Junk Mastery Rewards
Mastery Level 1: Bananas (10 Energy)
Mastery Level 2: Mangoes (15 Energy)
Mastery Level 3: Pineapples (25 Energy)
Mastery Level 4: Dragonfruit (45 Energy)
Treasure Isle Marine Plants
Treasure Isle The Petite Fish Lady

Verdict: Based on everything here, it's easy to tell that Zynga put a lot of thought into setting this up. And even though there's no finesse involved in the fishing, since all you do is click one spot over and over again, this still remains pretty fun due to the variety and randomness of the item drops.

But it's obvious that fishing costs a lot of energy -- more energy than it takes to go treasure-hunting. And lastly, most the fish can expire if you leave them in storage for too long, in the same way that the fruits do. What would be nice is if there was an option to put the fish in cold storage.

Mafia Wars cited as inspiration for new Shenmue social game

As much as serious gamers like to brush off Facebook games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars -- usually dismissing them with a wave of the hand, saying 'they're not really games," -- the hard truth is that these so-called 'un-games' are having a major impact on the traditional video game space.

Aside from games like Madden, Assassin's Creed and Dragon Age making the jump to Facebook, Yu Suzuki, the creator of classic video games such as Space Harrier, Outrun, Virtua Fighter and the Shenmue series, says he decided to create a socialized version of Shenmue -- called Shenmue City -- after playing Zynga's text-based role-playing game Mafia Wars on Facebook.

Suzuki says he made the game because he wanted to revisit the world of Shenmue without the monumental investment required to make a full-fledged Shenmue game. Keeping in mind that Suzuki spent $70 million on the original Shenmue for Dreamcast (which was a disappointment sales-wise) it's understandable -- and enlightened even -- that this same guy was willing to create an extension of the franchise without the big budget. And, it's clear that many other developers have been toying with the same idea.

From a larger perspective, we're clearly seeing the beginning of what could be possible with big brands -- household names and otherwise -- on Facebook. And it all points toward what analysts and industry insiders have been saying for the past six months -- we're gearing up for a brand Blitzkrieg on Facebook in 2011. Stay tuned.

FrontierVille Crop Boosts: Everything you need to know

By now, you're probably aware that you can upgrade your General Store in FrontierVille. Through this quest set, you not only upgrade the visual look of your General Store, but you also unlock a series of Boosts that will help you more quickly advance through the game's repetition missions (Harvest X number of crops, Groom X number of animals, etc.).

While Boosts are now available to help you in feeding animals and harvesting trees, meet us behind the break for a full guide concerning the new Crop Boosts available from the store.
These new crop boosts (not to be confused with the previously released Wither Protection and Unwither Crop boosts), are available to purchase from a new menu within the upgraded General Store - simply click on your General Store and click "Buy Boosts" to access this new menu/store.

They will cause any "unready" crop to become instantly ready, and are purchased in sets of five, with one individual boost making one individual plot ready to be harvested.

For reference, the prices of each boost will vary (even among Horseshoes and coins), depending on your level, with four prices being available for the full range of current levels. In the guide below, we will list the cheapest, and the most expensive price of each particular boost, to give you an idea of the range of coins and/or Horseshoes you will have to spend.

Finally, please note that the 5% store discount from the Rithmatic school house lesson will apply to these prices.

Crop Boosts -

    Clover Ready Boost - 1,050 coins - 8,350 coins
    Tomato Ready Boost - 3,125 coins - 25,000 coins
    Pumpkin Ready Boost - 1 Horseshoe - 10 Horseshoes
    Potato Ready Boost - 3 Horseshoes - 20 Horseshoes
    Flax Ready Boost - 4 Horseshoes - 28 Horseshoes
    Corn Ready Boost - 4 Horseshoes - 35 Horseshoes
    Wheat Ready Boost - 6 Horseshoes - 49 Horseshoes
    Cabbage Ready Boost - 5 Horseshoes - 40 Horseshoes
    Peas Ready Boost - 9 Horseshoes - 69 Horseshoes
    Cotton Ready Boost - 11 Horseshoes - 85 Horseshoes
    Sunflower Ready Boost - 5 Horseshoes - 42 Horseshoes
    Eggplant Ready Boost - 2 Horseshoes - 14 Horseshoes


Finally, a Peanut Ready Boost is also available to purchase, but only after you complete all four of Hank's General Store missions. After this point, you will be able to purchase the Boost for between 12 Horseshoes and 98 Horseshoes, depending on your level.

And there you have it - an easy, albeit fairly expensive way to easily complete quests that ask you to harvest a certain amount of a particular crop. Be sure to check back with us in the future, as we bring you guides for the Animal and Tree Boosts in the future.

Pet Society Steampunk items now available

Last week, we let our excitement boil over to 11 with the announcement that this week would be Steampunk Week in Pet Society. We were given a small taste of the items that would be available then, and we can even more excitedly share the full theme of items that have actually hit the market now.

Meet us behind the break for all of the Victorian furniture, mechanical wonders and leather clothing that you can handle!

This theme begins with a truly awesome start, as you can now add fully brass flowers to your garden, via the Glow in the Dark Mechanical Flower Seed that's available for 3 Playfish Cash.

From there, the brass color theme gives way to a mass amount of Victorian furniture, most of which will only be available in the game for one week only. You can pick up a brass table, complete with parchment and magnifying glass, a stately armchair, two versions of curved staircases, and an animated desk that is to die for (figuratively, of course), with a code scrolling across a computer screen, and steam raising from quaint little tea-cup.

You can purchase a Vintage Brass Bed for the the bedroom for just 900 coins, a robot named Brass Bob that dances (at the price of 10 Playfish Cash), and even a mechanical bird that will be only available for a limited time (less than a day, as of this writing).

This theme contains quite a few functional or simply animated items, like an awesome Mechanical Camera that allows you to take sepia screenshots, a set of animated, mechanical wings (available tomorrow evening), a red and copper colored floating airplane, and a wallpaper and flooring set that looks as though you are inside a tall tower, or even inside a flying airship. This duo is particularly interesting, in that it changes color as the day turns from day to night. There are four settings available - Dawn, Daytime, Sunset and Night, with the scene changing according to the time in your own time zone.

With all of these swoon-worthy items (this only scratches the surface of what's available), it's only fitting that your animal friend should also receive a bit of pampering, along with their home, and you can now buy a Vintage Leather Outfit for both girl or boy pets for 800 and 700 coins each, respectively. For reference the boy's costume is cheaper because it has one less element. Regardless, you can also outfit your pet with a stylish monocle for 150 coins, and a Short Circuit Hat for 500 coins.

What can we say? We love Steampunk, and this week's theme in Pet Society definitely doesn't disappoint. Keep in mind the limited time availability on some of these items, and make sure you pick them up while you can!

Joy to the world, Bejeweled 3 is here!

It's a monumental day in the world of PC gaming -- both Bejeweled 3 and the World of Warcraft Cataclysm arrive in stores, causing a frenzy among gamers of all stripes.

buy bejeweled 3 nowAt Games.com, our enthusiasm is directed toward PopCap's gem-matching game, which is getting its first serious refresh in six years. Bejeweled 3 keeps the game's classic match-3 gaming experience intact, but has completely overhauled the graphics and sound and has thrown in a few twists to keep things fresh.

Some of those twists include Quest modes, a timed Lightening mode (inspired by PopCap's Facebook game Bejeweled Blitz) and a new Zen mode which you can play forever and activate "options for meditation and stress relief, including breath modulation, ambient sounds, binaural beats and mantras for focusing your thoughts."

Gallery: Bejeweled 3: First look

Four examples of some of the new Bejeweled modes you'll encounter in the game:

- Poker: Make matches to create winning Poker hands and -- as the game progresses -- avoid making 'outlawed' hands, when a flip of a coin will determine whether it's game on or game over
- Diamond Mine: Explode gems to tunnel beneath the earth, and discover gold, artifacts and Hypercubes along the way
- Butterflies: Match butterfly gems to free them before they reach the top of the board. If they elude your gem-matching skills, the spider waiting for them at the top wins.
- Ice Storm: Keep a wall of rising ice at bay by matching gems as fast as possible in a limited amount of time.



Bejeweled 3 has also overhauled its badge and achievements system, and you'll also be able to check out your game stats after you finish a round.

Aside from the fact that Bejeweled 3 has sold millions of copies and has rocked the casual gaming "Best of" charts for the past decade, probably one of our favorite stats about the game is that a copy is sold every 4.3 seconds. If you're ready to have your 4.3 seconds, you can purchase Bejeweled 3 for $20 in online (right here on Games.com) and in stores.

FrontierVille Cheats and Tips: The Dinner Triangle

For the more popular pioneers out there, waking up to a ton of visits from friends in FrontierVille can at times be more of a pain than a blessing. Especially for those with fully expanded homesteads. This is because visitors can appear almost anywhere on the map such as behind trees, buildings or even tall crops. And you and I both know that the little star that above our characters' heads barely helps us keep track of our own pioneer much less others if it were placed on them.

This is exactly why Zynga introduced an item called the "Dinner Triangle" a ways back to FrontierVille. This functional item will literally summon all of your visiting friends and family to its location when clicked. Obviously, this is essentially the end to all of your neighbors' hide-and-seek games. Not to mention how handy it would be for missions like the recent Family Quests. However, the item costs 10,000 coins and 10 Wood to purchase from the Market.

So, just make sure you're well in between quests before picking this terribly useful item up as it'll set you far back for a while. Though, if you consider yourself a lucky fellow, the Dinner Triangle can appear in Mystery Boxes, but I wouldn't bank on that happening anytime soon. If your shy neighbors are truly bugging you that much, just pony up and buy the item. Besides, if you're friends visit you in such numbers that often, it'll pay for itself in no time.

FarmVille creator Zynga and Citi join forces for exclusive game rewards

    Mystery Animal Crate     Lightning Stove
Citi Bank cardholders will be delighted when they check their ThankYou Rewards account today. Well, those that happen to be social gamers, that is. Zynga announced today that it has joined forces with Citi to add a new category of ThankYou Rewards to Citi's long list of goodies: virtual items. Starting immediately, players of hit Zynga games like FarmVille, FrontierVille and Cafe World can redeem their ThankYou Points for exclusive items in several of the company's Facebook games. Starting at 600 ThankYou points, players can begin to redeem virtual rewards as well as physical Zynga Game Cards for a boost to the tune of $25 for 3,500 ThankYou Points. Exclusive items in some of Zynga's games include:

FarmVille:
-Purple Harvester (1,400 Points)
-Red Pinto Horse (1,000 Points)

FrontierVille:
-Mystery Animal Crate (1,000 Points)
-Pink Deer (1,500 Points)

Cafe World:
-Lightning Stove (3,500 Points)
-Outdoor Fountain (2,000 Points)

This partnership with Citi marks Zynga's second collaboration with a credit company--the first being with American Express and its Membership Rewards Program. (This is also why some of those items might look familiar.) If this strategy catches on, expect other social game developers to hop onto Zynga's tailwind. Terry O’Neil, Executive VP of North American Cards at Citi says that Zynga ThankYou Rewards keep Citi's ThankYou Point offerings relevant and meets a demand for social game rewards. I'd say hundreds of millions of players is relevant enough, wouldn't you?

Bejeweled 3: We're giving away 10 free copies of the game

bejeweled logo
Update: This contest has ended. Head to Blog.Games.com or our Facebook fanpage for more awesome giveaways.

PopCap Games has unleashed Bejeweled 3 on the world, and productivity is about to hit a standstill. If experience tells us anything, this new Bejeweled (like the others before it) will most likely have you swapping gems day and night if you don't keep yourself in check. (And, if you don't, well, we'll most likely be right along there with you).

Bejeweled 3 is available for download online (right here on Games.com) and at retail for $20 -- but, if you're lucky, you can enter to win a code that will let you download the game for the low price of FREE. And, considering the holiday season tends to be a little spendy, it sure would be nice to get something for FREE, wouldn't it?


Gallery: Bejeweled 3: First look


To enter to win a free download code for Bejeweled 3, please do the following:
Step 1: Go to the Games.com Facebook fanpage: (http://www.facebook.com/gamescom).

Step 2: 'Like' the fanpage so you can see the latest Facebook game news, tips, and cheats.

Step 3: Enter the giveaway by heading to the fanpage and tell us what item you're most likely to have bejeweled (as in encrusted with jewels). Wedding ring, cell phone (or something more creative?)

Over the next few days, we'll randomly select 10 winners, message them on Facebook with the free code and directions on how to download the game. Sound easy enough?

Get started by heading to the Games.com fanpage to enter for a free downlodable copy of Bejeweled 3.


Bookmark this site!

Have Zynga's FarmVille and FrontierVille become more like 'BegVille?'

Beg for those items!
Alright, so it isn't Deliverance bad yet. But since quests have been recently added to FarmVille, the community has responded less than favorably, if a recent poll on the forums is any indication. With 470 votes as of this writing, 37 percent of them have claimed that Quests in FarmVille are "Not for me." While this is isn't necessarily an overwhelming majority, it most definitely speaks to how a large number of farmers might feel about the relatively new feature.

And despite a pretty small majority voting against Quests in their game, the rest of thread seems to imply a much worse situation with some commenters alluding to FrontierVille, which many claim has too many Goals. But that isn't their only beef with Quests and Goals. It seems as if a large amount of players are unhappy with how quests operate with one player writing, "Not in favour... especially if they involve constant begging from neighbours all the time. Lately, we seem to do that 90% of the time as it is. They should change the name of the game to BegVille."

"BegVille," huh? Let's get a better understanding of (and a way to stop) this interesting, chuckle-worthy moniker after the break.

FarmVille Quest Poll
What the forum member seems to have meant by calling both FrontierVille and FarmVille "BegVille" is that he feels too many of the requirements in both Goals and Quests involve asking our friends for various items that are essentially intangible in the game world. For instance, FrontierVille's recent "Playtime" Timed Mission requires players to ask their friends for 20 items in just 48 hours. While this is vastly easier thanks to the new Zynga Message Center, it's still a daunting quest to finish. And the same goes for the Winter Wonderland Quest in FarmVille, which asks farmers to tap their friends for items at nearly every turn.

And what does this get us? A nearly endless list of requests in our Message Center nearly every time we log into either FarmVille or FrontierVille. Games like Cafe World and Mafia Wars aren't off the hook either, but we'll get back to them.

FarmVille Quests
Unfortunately for some and a good old time for others, this is intrinsic to Zynga's quest design and, quite frankly, one of the few things that keeps the precious "social element" in its games. There is always Gifting, but is sending a generic message to your friend truly social? Without these item requests, players wouldn't interact with one another outside of random visits in FrontierVille (most of which are driven by Goals anyway) and Co-Op Jobs in FarmVille. Wait, that's it!

While some players think thousands of item requests are fine and dandy, there's a large amount of us that want something more... interactive. Cafe World has its Catering Orders, Mafia Wars has its Secret Missions and FarmVille has its Co-Op Crafting Jobs yet none of them are integral to our progress in each game. They can easily be ignored in the wake of hundreds of crops, recipes and odd jobs to master. It's only FrontierVille, the major culprit, that doesn't feature something similar.

Secret Santa
With that being said, why not make collaboration as rich a source of XP and items as personal bests like Mastery? For instance, take the recent Headless Horseman Goals for Halloween in FrontierVille. Instead of each homestead having its very own Horseman (though, he did appear in friends' homesteads, which is a start) for pioneers to defeat with the "help" of friends, why not make the Horseman a collective enemy to defeat with a progress bar much like Cafe World's Catering Jobs or FarmVille Co-Ops?

Players would rally their friends to gather the required items to contribute to a collective achievement rather than a personal one, rewarding everyone involved with coins and rare items rather than the individual. Or if you're that attached to your rare items, these Quests could easily be repeatable with a randomized loot system and Mastery (I'm looking at you, Secret Missions). And what do you know, it's a brand new way to progress through your game that actually involves your friends working toward a larger goal.

Obviously, this is far from limited to holiday events and would require some creativity from the games' respective design teams to think up new ideas for collaborative missions that fit into each game's world (bandits in FrontierVille, anyone?). Not to mention that this type of Quest would be released way less frequently than what's possible with the current Quests. But if that's what it takes to keep players from calling these games names like "BegVille," I'm willing to wait. Are you?

FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Goals: Everything you need to know for Day 10

The FrontierVille advent calendar has opened yet another of its doors and inside is today's 12 Days of Christmas Goal, "On the Tenth Day O' Christmas." On a surprising note, this Goal is considerably easier than yesterday's, but only for you seasoned pioneers.

While anyone can buy, raise and sell 10 Adult Goats, which would take about 100 Energy and 1,950 coins total to do from scratch, only players who have reached and completed the Jackalope Lodge will be able to complete this Goal in a timely fashion. But do this and collect from the Lodge twice to be two steps closer to completing Day 10 of this 12-mission series. Lastly, all you need to do is buy and build the Snowman, which I imagine most of the game's dedicated have already accomplished.

But for those of you that haven't, the Snowman costs 100 coins from the Market to place. From there, you'll need to collect several items from friends to complete the Snowman after whacking it a few times. Finally, players can customize their Snowman with different arms, faces, hats and scarves. Constructing the Snowman will complete this Goal and inch you one day closer to that Partridge in a Pear Tree. No matter how you slice it, this Goal will take a few days to complete, but check out our guides for the Jackalope Lodge and Buildable Snowman for some tips on how to get those done quickly.

Love Mafia Wars? Then prove it and join the "I Love Mafia Wars" Family

Well, do you? Then Zynga is asking you to prove your devotion and join the brand new "I Love Mafia Wars" Family for exclusive benefits. However, signing up requires what some players would deem the unthinkable: providing your e-mail and mailing address to Zynga (especially since the fiasco earlier this season). For those who are OK with giving that information up, enticing benefits await them like:

    Beta access to new features and releases (you'll be one of the first)
    Exclusive Contests and Prizes for members
    Email notifications of upcoming features
    Priority registration to MW Fan events
    Periodic "Member Only" promotions
    Other Benefits to come!


To guaranteed access to beta content before anyone else is certainly appealing, but is worth giving up your e-mail much less you mailing address? That's up for you to decide, but mobsters who are already interested can sign up right here. Now, if only a program like this was around when those premium MADE in Vegas tickets were still on sale. As for some of the "other benefits to come," how does early access to this supposed Mafia Wars 2 sound?

Cookie Monster YouTube game asks 'Will it Sink or Float?'

Our beloved blue fur ball from the around the corner on Sesame Street, Cookie Monster, has become somewhat of a YouTube sensation lately. And his most recent outing on the ubiquitous video site is, thankfully for you parents' sake, much more educational. In the "Sink or Float" YouTube game, Cookie Monster and his friend Emma ask for your help in testing whether five different objects will either sink or float in a tank of water.

Like most standard interactive YouTube games, clicking on one of the four options will jump you to the result, which will have another set of options toward the end of the video. More specifically, your task is to answer whether one of five items, Ernie's rubber ducky, a lemon, a lime, a coconut or a rubber band ball, will sink or float in water. The game's primary goal is to give kids a crash course in the scientific method. But if you have a fish tank (or in my case an aquatic turtle tank), just remember to keep it firmly sealed in case the little ones get any smart ideas.

With the bonafide blue beast recently attracting over 1.5 million people to his Saturday Night Live audition tape, a regularly updated video blog on Facebook and a his own Tumblr, we doubt Cookie Monster will be leaving the internet behind anytime soon. Let's just hope his future exploits are as fun as this one.

FarmVille Clumsy Reindeer available as Free Gift for limited time

Thanks to our good friends at FarmVille Freak, we're happy to bring the news that the Clumsy Reindeer has returned to FarmVille as a free gift. For a short time (most likely through Christmas), players can send one another as many of these doofy reindeer as they like. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a reindeer that could potentially sabotage Santa Claus' midnight mission on Dec. 25 without even knowing it.

Check out our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

Have you seen the Clumsy Reindeer in your game as a free gift yet? How many do you plan to send to your friends?

Game of the Day: Bounce Out

The game of the day rolls on and we have a classic for you. Bounce Out has been a part of games.com for several years and it's popularity never wanes. You won't be able to stop playing 'Bounce Out!', the fast and addictive game. Switch bouncy super balls around to match three or more of the same color and watch them bounce off the screen. Go for bigger combos to earn huge bonuses!

Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.

Play Bounce Out Now! -->

Zynga Unleashed: CEO Mark Pincus reveals Zynga Direct platform

Zynga broke big news about where the developer is headed today in San Francisco at its Unleashed news event. First, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus approached the stage and almost immediately said that 10 products will be announced today. The most notable of which is Zynga Direct, "a platform for a direct relationship with consumers," according to Pincus. This is likely what Pincus was referring to when he first uttered the words "dog-connected world."

Zynga later elaborated on what the company CEO called "Zynga Direct" with the announcement of Project Z, an "instant social" platform that is said to be the company's attempt at independence from Facebook. The codenamed project looks to connect players immediately through zTags, usernames for Zynga game players made possible through Facebook Connect.

Starting today, players can connect to Project Z through Facebook and reserve their zTags for when the service goes live officially. After claiming your zTag, you're rewarded with zCoins, implying that this service will integrate with Zynga's RewardVille program somehow.
Project Z
Nothing more was revealed about the service, but we're going to bet Zynga made this move in response to investors' fears that the company might be too reliant on Facebook. The service is still tethered to Facebook, but at least this is a step in that direction, especially ahead of Zynga's imminent initial public offering. In fact, Pincus even said, "We're committed to one vision, one mission that hasn't changed, it won't change. We want to be the biggest macro bet on social gaming."

Zynga Unleashed: CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles, Zynga Casino shown

Wow, Zynga's not messing around anymore, huh? The company's Unleashed event is going down as of this writing, and Zynga has announced a number of new games already including CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles and Zynga Casino among others. The first of which carries the torch for the 'Ville' franchise, according to Zynga Dallas creative director Bill Jackson.

Zynga later elaborated on the news of the three games on the company blog. CastleVille will feature a character known as Antonio, and is the first Zynga and first social game with a score recorded by a 75-piece orchestra, according to Jackson. The game, which doesn't yet have a release date, will take place in a medieval world that is, according to the developer, "the most beautiful game we've ever made."

CastleVille is said to adapt to the decisions you make and the characters you meet throughout the game. According to the announcement, players will uncover different items than their friends by simply making different decisions in the game. We've contacted Zynga to confirm whether this is the realization of the recently-revealed Kingdoms & Quests, or a new game entirely.
Hidden Chronicles
Hidden Chronicles, on the other hand, is Zynga's take on the growing hidden-object genre on Facebook that will "leverage social connections, and combine that with memory and skill," Zynga GM Roy Sehgal said. Players will uncover the mysteries of Ramsey Manor in this hidden-object game, and as they discover thousands of items they will be able to decorate and customize the manor. As for the game's social features, Zynga says players will be able to send each other challenge levels, gifts within levels and compare scores.
Zynga Bingo revealed
Zynga revealed Zynga Casino, which will be a collection of casino-style games within a single app, starting with Zynga Bingo, which Zynga Poker GM Lo Toney (pictured) displayed during the event. Eventually, players will find Zynga Poker within the overarching Zynga Casino Facebook app, and players will able to use chips earned in both games across either (sound familiar?). In addition to exchangeable currency between games, players will sit in themed rooms, and the company promises that it will be easier to find friends while they're playing.

Zynga Unleashed: Dream Zoo for iOS, three HTML5 games confirmed

Seriously, who doesn't a cherry giraffe with lemon swirls? During its Unleashed news event today, Zynga's mobile head David Ko announced Dream Zoo for iOS devices, a brand new mobile game that's surprisingly not part of the rampant 'Ville' franchise. Dream Zoo is the company's first zoo-themed game in which players to maintain their own zoo and head out on safaris to find new species of weird critters.

According to the game's release trailer on Facebook, there will be over 1,000 animals to collect in Dream Zoo at launch, and players will be able to breed "champion" animals ... whatever that means. It appears that the game will at least allow players to feed and clean their friends' animals, but nothing more of the social features within Dream Zoo have been revealed. Of course, no pricing or release date has been announced yet. (Not even the studio working on the game has been mentioned.)

Zynga also confirmed that FarmVille Express, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker are available on Facebook through the mobile browser. Powered by HTML5, a relatively new web-development tool, the three games can be accessed through either of Facebook's mobile apps or through the mobile web version of the social network. Just in case there was any doubt, Zynga wrote in the announcement on the company blog, "To be clear, we're serious about mobile, and zoos."

Zynga Unleashed: Mafia Wars 2 busts a cap in Google+ Games

Given the intimate relationship between Zynga and Facebook, could this be considered cheating? During the company's Unleashed news event today in San Francisco, Mafia Wars 2 GM Erik Bethke announced that the game has launched on Google+ Games just a day after hitting Facebook. In addition to already being the first direct sequel to a Zynga game, this is the third Zynga game to be released on Facebook's new nemesis.

The game plays exactly as it does on Facebook ... only without your stable of Facebook friends to back up your turf. A move like this certainly attests to the legitimacy of Google+ as a social game platform, but it still lacks the scale that social gamers enjoy on Facebook. It seems that this dual-release approach could become a trend for Zynga, if only to shut up wary investors that question whether the company can grow beyond Facebook ahead of its initial public offering.
Gallery: Mafia Wars 2 on Facebook
Just weeks before this, Zynga released its most popular social game, CityVille, to Google+ Games. Now with three games on the competing platform, we can assume Zynga has found a loophole of sorts in its seemingly-exclusive deal with Facebook. Despite even the support of the largest social game creator in the world, we wonder whether Google+ Games can hang. It all boils down to one question: What does Google+ Games have that Facebook doesn't? Alright, aside from a lack of banner ads?

Soaps, Elvis and old cars to make for Facebook game nostalgia bomb

Alright, Entertainment Games, we're interested--just what in the world are you cooking up? The Langhorne, Penn.-based casual games portal and developer has hired toy car designer Mike Andrews to help out with its upcoming social game for Facebook, Google+, mobile devices and the open web. Still nothing has been directly revealed about Entertainment Games's upcoming social game project.

"It is invigorating to focus my lifelong passion for cars and hot rods in an entirely new direction by designing an innovative customization and social game experience," Andrews said in a release. "Players will be enthralled, amused, and hopefully addicted to the eternal quest for the ultimate dream car."

Andrews is best known for his 26 years of work with Mattel on the Hot Wheels line of toy cars, and it's that type of extensive experience the game creator hopes to use in its mysterious social game. Before this, Entertainment Games acquired rights to the Elvis Presley license, who will be featured prominently throughout the game. And prior to that, the company took on soap opera specialist Michael Fairman for his ability to attract the coveted 25 to 54-year-old women demographic.

So, now we know that this "retro-based social game" will make liberal use of classic cars in addition to The King and possibly some soap opera-like themes. References to the effect social games has had on the soap opera industry or how nostalgia might be a brilliant hook to bring more baby boomers into Facebook gaming, now we just want to what the hell this game is.

Spartacus on Facebook: Tis but a flesh wound on the competition

Spartacus: Gods of Arena
When we first heard word that Starz would be releasing a social game to promote the release of its miniseries titled "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena," I was admittedly skeptical. Publisher 6waves and developer Large Animal Games have exceeded my expectations, for sure. Unfortunately, it's tough to envision this social game of the same name having life beyond the run of the miniseries. Luckily, it'll be worth some good fun while it lasts.

Join us after the break for a more detailed take on Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Equipment Menu
When Disney released its social app to accompany Tron Legacy and Telltale launched its Back to the Future Blitz, a clear-as-day Bejeweled clone, Large Animal Games was busy working on a legit Facebook game. And its originality shines throughout. (No, this game is not like Mafia Wars.) Players assume the role of "managing" a lineup of enslaved gladiators by training them, sending them into battle and equipping them with new weapons and armor to master the circuit of arenas in ancient Greece. Winning battles earns players denarii, the games main currency used to buy gear and more gladiators. Also rewarded for victories is a more figurative stat called Influence, which is used to rig fights on your favor and to buy premium gear. Think of it as the game's paid currency (and it operates in Facebook Credits).

In the arena, battles are largely automatic like games are in Madden NFL Superstars, but you have the ability to either Cheer or Jeer. Of course, Cheering when your gladiator lands a blow or blocks one will increase your chance of winning and bonuses afterward. Jeering the opponent when he lands a blow or blocks one will limit his chances of victory. The music and artwork are well-produced and engaging, but rip a little too much from the near-ubiquitous comic book, 300. Unfortunately, that's about for the battle system: click either of two buttons enough and you win. For some added depth, players can challenge their friends' gladiators, but its not a real-time fight that occurs.

Cheer or Jeer to win
And that's about it for Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which is sad to say. But at least the developer did more with this property when it could have easily created a shallow advergame. The game will be a blast to play on the laptop in between episodes of the new miniseries, but there isn't much point in sticking around once the TV battles are over.

FarmVille Official Podcast (1/24/10): Glass House announced, European adventure coming soon?

After delaying the podcast by a few days, Zynga has finally launched the latest edition of the official FarmVille podcast. As usual, FarmVille Community Manager Lexilicious was on hand to give listeners a sneak peek of some coming attractions that will be released in FarmVille in the coming weeks and months.

The most interesting bit of news came from Lexilicious' friend Charles, a British chap who gave us a very brief clue as to what to expect in FarmVille in the future - that being some "very exciting foreign news" and an "adventure." Does this mean that farmers will be able to take virtual trips overseas, where they can buy items in a new decorative theme? Or, perhaps this means that FarmVille will be given a standard neighbor, just like Frontier Jack in FrontierVille, or Samantha in CityVille, with this friend being able to help users in some way in the future. These two possibilities are just speculations, of course, but our interest is definitely piqued with this announcement.

Along with this small snippet, Lexi herself officially confirmed that the Glass House will be coming to FarmVille in the coming weeks. As we showed you in a FarmVille Sneak Peek, this building will be a new construction project that is completed in three stages. Once built, it will allow you to grow your own special crops that can be mastered. Each time you upgrade the building, you'll be able to breed even more new hybrid seeds. While a truly limitless supply of crops would of course be spectacular, it's more plausible to suspect that there will be a finite number of hybrid crops available in the entire game, but the order in which users unlock them will be different. Again, this is just our theory, and we very well may be wrong in our assumption. Either way, this seems like it will be an incredibly complex feature when it launches, so make sure to keep checking back, as we'll bring you all of the news about this feature when it launches.

As usual, the podcast also gave farmers a rundown of recent releases, so if you'd like to hear what Lexi has to say, you can listen to the podcast in full at the top of this post.

FrontierVille: Access Inventory, Missions, Collections, and more through new pop-up menu

For some time now, there's been a strange difference between the way you can access the various portions of your inventory in FrontierVille, and the way that you can access the Sell, Move, and Rotate buttons. For one, moving, selling, or rotating an object is as simple as clicking on the Arrow in the bottom right corner of the screen and quickly clicking the choice you want from the pop-up menu that appears directly above.

For everything else - your Inventory, Family Album, Badges, Collections, Gift Box, and Missions - you would first have to click on the Backpack in the bottom corner of the screen, wait for a new menu to appear in the center of the screen (a large menu, mind you, that is at times very unwilling to load at all), and then click on the particular icon you wanted, only to have to wait for its specific window to appear as well.

Melding the two together this week, Zynga is beginning a slow roll-out of an updated "Inventory Toolbar," according to FrontierVille Legend. This Inventory Toolbar functions in the exact same way as the Arrow Toolbar, in that you'll be able to click on the Backpack to instantly see a list of small icons appear above it, granting you one click (read: faster) access to your Missions menu, your inventory, your Badges, and so on. This may not seem like a huge change, but now that you'll have to load one less window to complete many tasks in the game, it should save everyone a bit of time overall.

Again, while most users already have the updated Backpack icon (with the small arrow in the top right corner of the icon), the actual toolbar that pops up above it may not be available to you just yet. Be patient, however, and it will come to you in time.

FrontierVille: RewardVille items revealed in full (many re-releases included)

Over the weekend, we gave you a sneak peek of items that we assumed would be part of FrontierVille's section of Zynga's new RewardVille rewards program. For those that are unfamiliar with this upcoming program, RewardVille will reward players for their loyalty by giving them zCoins that can be spent on (mostly) exclusive rewards in all sorts of Zynga games, including FrontierVille.

In our first look, we assumed that items like the Varmint Target and Spittoon would be a part of this RewardVille program, and that was correct. FrontierVille Legend has uncovered the complete list of initial rewards being given out for the game - all three pages of them. Most of these items are entirely new, and apparently exclusive to the RewardVille program, while others (like the Crooked Target Fence or Pet Rocks are second chance items that were first given away as part of the zLotto game that look place a few months ago. There are even some items here that were originally available in the store for Horseshoes, but have since expired from the market.

There will plenty of items to choose from (22 different items to start) ranging from just 16 zCoins in price all the way up to those costing 200 zCoins. Of course, you won't be able to earn the most expensive items in a single day, but if you'd like to take a look at the complete offerings available, meet us behind the break for screenshots.
The full list of available items at the launch of RewardVille look to be as follows:

Pet Rocks - 32 zCoins
Whiskey Jugs - 48 zCoins
Varmint Target - 40 zCoins
Spittoon - 16 zCoins
Rag Doll - 18 zCoins
Crooked Target Fence - 24 zCoins
Axe Target - 48 zCoins
Smoke Signaler - 72 zCoins

Jack-in-the-Box - 58 zCoins
Lemonade Stand - 96 zCoins
Brown Poop-cart - 77 zCoins
Duck Pinwheel - 64 zCoins
Zynga Buggy - 80 zCoins
Sewing Machine - 100 zCoins
Messy Table - 120 zCoins
Frontier Fountain - 110 zCoins

Liberty Cannon - 120 zCoins
Mystery Animal Crate - 130 zCoins
Jack Statue - 120 zCoins
Grey Squirrel - 140 zCoins
Pink Buggy - 160 zCoins
Ring of Fire - 200 zCoins

For the most dedicated of players, this list might be a little disappointing, considering how many items have actually been released in the game previously. We can only hope that with time, Zynga will create more 100% new items to add to this line-up of rewards, and we'll make sure to let you know if and when they do.

First though, Zynga has to launch RewardVille in the first place, and as the service is still a work in progress, any of these items can be removed and replaced, so keep that in mind. This serves more as a simple preview and "best guess" than as a guarantee.

FrontierVille: Earn a free Apple Tree from the FrontierVille fan page

Just minutes ago, Zynga launched a new FrontierVille fan page giveaway on Facebook. We've seen a few of these in the past - giving away things like free Food energy items - or even a free Ox, but this time, the freebie is much more organic, and comes in the form of a free Apple Tree.

While an Apple Tree might seem like a fairly useless gift, as most established FrontierVille players have plenty of them to go around on their Homesteads, this is actually a fairly nice gift, in terms of monetary value, as you'll have to pay 800 coins to purchase a single Apple Tree from the game's marketplace (or 760 coins if you have the "Rithmatic" store discount school lesson activated on your account).

Plus, if this is anything like the free Ox we received towards the beginning of the month, it could be that we as players will need a lot of Apple Trees for a quest or mission that will be released in the near future, and that Zynga is simply trying to prepare us, or give us a silent warning. After all, the free Ox came at a time when users were preparing to sell 50 of them as part of the New Years Resolution missions. Could this be another preview of things to come, or is it just a coincidence?

Either way, you can claim your free Apple Tree by heading over to the FrontierVille fan page on Facebook, or by simply clicking on this link. Your free Apple Tree will load into your inventory the next time you play the game. Claim one fast - it will likely only be available as a freebie for a limited time.

Have you already claimed your free Apple Tree in FrontierVille? Do you think this item has any significance to a future mission, or is it just something Zynga has released to pass the time?

Game of the Day: Hidden Expedition: Titanic

The Game of the Day is hidden object game classic. Hidden Expedition: Titanic: On April 14, 1912, the great steamship RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and within hours, sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. As part of the Hidden Expedition Adventure League, it is your job to explore the wreckage of this once-majestic ship and collect antique artifacts for the Titanic Museum.
Click --> Play Hidden Expedition: Titanic

Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.

Game of the Day: TextTwist

The Game of the Day is going to test those old spelling skills . TextTwist: Are you word wise? Do you love SCRABBLE? Take the Text Twist challenge! Win points when you unscramble the letters to make new words. TextTwist is a classic on Games.com and people play it for hours. Join the craze.
Click --> play TextTwist

Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.

CityVille stocked with a tofu burger business, community building and more

Two new shops have cropped up in CityVille along with several decorations. Zynga released a small update recently that brought the trio of shops and the accompanying decorations into the game, many of which cost just coins. Better yet, some are even free gifts on the Gift page. Of course, the best of which cost City Bucks, but what did you expect? This is a social game, people. Join us behind the break for a breakdown of all the new items.
New Businesses
Of course, the Tofu Burger and Grocery Store are Businesses. The former requires 1,100 population, costs 5,000 coins, can hold up to 125 Goods and earns 507 coins per pickup. The latter calls for 1,250 population, costs 5,750 coins, serves 130 Goods and nets 569 coins at a time.

Television Tower
The new Television Tower is a Community Building that costs 12,000 coins and provides 350 more population. After purchase, it takes six whacks to build and requires seven of your friends to fill its staff. However, you could always fill those positions at 4 City Bucks a pop.

New Decorations
Here's a breakdown of all the decorations:

-Rocket Babysitter: 200 coins, 1 percent payout
-Happy Shopper: 25 City Bucks, 18 percent payout
-Bounce Castle: 30 City Bucks 18 percent payout
-Parking Lot: 10 coins, acts as sidewalk
-Street Clock: Free Gift, 1 percent payout
-Racing Ride: Free Gift, 1 percent payout

[Via and Image Credit: CityVille Info]

Have you picked up any of these new businesses in CityVille yet? Which item is your favorite from this update?

CityVille Retail Collection: Grab those Tofu Burgers and Groceries

Many of you probably already know of the new Businesses that released today in CityVille. However, Zynga also decided to include a new Collection that can only be completed by collecting from these two Businesses. It's called the Retail Collection and it has five items: the Cash Register, Coupons, Price Tagger, something we're going to guess is called a Premium Shopping Bag (the text is cut off on both ends) and a Shopping Cart. Turning in the Collection rewards players with 3 Energy and 25 Goods, so hurry and add these items to your Wish List--I'm sure your friends are already all over these Businesses.

Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Have you purchased either of these Businesses yet? How do you think the Businesses and this Collection size up to the rest?

Lunchtime Poll: Should kids' social gaming behavior be chaperoned?

Media Chaperone, a Chicago-based web-monitoring company, has raised $1 million to help launch and fund Piggyback, its brand new Facebook app. VentureBeat reports that the new, free application is designed to allow parents to monitor their children's' behavior online with a heavy focus on social gaming and virtual goods purchases.

Through their own Facebook profiles, parents will know everything about their kids' progress in games like from achievements to level-ups to when they buy items and for how much. Sure, parents can reward them for good behavior with Facebook Credits, but we imagine they can punish them as well. While there have been horror stories of kids running amok on their parents' gaming devices and accounts, is this really the way to stop it? What happened to good old instillment of values? Is this the only insurance policy parents have left on their kids' Internet use?

Should kids' social gaming behavior be chaperoned?
Absolutely. How else am I to know what they're up to?I'll stick to teaching my kids to know better, thanks.Whatever will keep them out of my checking account!
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

FarmVille English Countryside prep: Hit level 20 fast using these nifty tips

In order to play the much-anticipated FarmVille English Countryside expansion (said to arrive sometime this week), you'll need to be at level 20 before you'll be able to gain access. While this won't be a problem for long-time players, newbies or a more sporadic farmer might need to do some quick leveling up in order to gain access to England as soon as its available. If you find yourself in this situation, Games.com - The Blog! offers these tips to ensure an expedited trip to your new farm across the pond.

farmvile strawberries

Plant Strawberries and/or Aloe Vera crops

Strawberries take four hours to mature and you will gain 1 XP every time they are harvested. Since you can plant and harvest strawberries up to six times in a 24-hour period (OK, you might lose a little sleep if you plant that often), you can rack up a bunch of XP points with these crops.

The same plant-and-harvest-more-often technique also works with Aloe Vera crops, which take six hours to mature.


farmville haybales level up guide
Buy Hay Bales
If you've ever wanted to create your own farm art using hay bales, this is the time to do it. Each hay bale you buy earns you 5 XP, so if you buy a bunch of them, you can gain XP like it's going out of style. Granted, this power leveling method can cost a lot of coin. If it's any consolation, you can sell the hay bales back for a fraction of the price you paid for them.

farmville collections trade in to level up fast
Trade in Collections
It took me a long time to really understand the value of Collections. I'd collect stuff and forget to trade it in. Then, I realized that, that was a mistake. Trade in the Country Kitsch, Feather or any of the other permanent in-game collections, and you'll score 250 XP (and 5,000 coins) a pop. Not bad, especially when feel the need, the need for speedy XP.

farmville ribbons level up fast

Focus on Easy Ribbon Achievements
FarmVille gives players ribbons as achievements and once you earn them, you'll also rewarded with a bundle of XP. Some of the easier ribbons to earn are Not Spoiled, Gifted!, which is earned by collecting gifts from friends (tho you'll need to hoard them until you earn the ribbons) and Local Celebrity, which simply requires you to have a certain number of friends.

Plow a field, plant a cheap crop that yields the most XP (like Soybeans), then delete. Do it over again.
This leveling up technique, often called the Soybean Method, is a little underhanded and sneaky and requires you to have lots of coins to burn. But, if you're desperate to gain XP quickly, it works.

farmville friends level up guide
Get more FarmVille friends ASAP
The more FarmVille friends you have, the more farms you'll be able to visit and the more XP you'll be able to earn.
Each farm you visit can give you up to 5 XP -- so the more friends you have, well, you can do the math.

farmville expansions- level up fast guide

Expand!
That's right -- if you've got the coins, make sure you expand your farm ASAP. These upgrades will give you more room for crops and every expansion you buy will also yield a certain number of experience points. On that note:

Store Buildings and Decorations, and use extra space for crops
Crops yield XP, decor and many buildings* don't. (*The Greenhouse is an exception -- see the last leveling tip below)



Build the Greenhouse, like, right now
If you've been putting off building the Greenhouse -- don't. It costs five coins to buy the frame and then needs a total of 12 building supplies (four of each: nails, boards, bricks) to get started creating hybrid crops. Why are hybrid crops so great? Two of them in particular -- the Strasberry (a cross between a strawberry and rasberry) and the Purple Tomatoes take a mere 2 hours to grow and yield double the XP of a regular crop.

Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.

Got any other killer tips on how to level up fast in FarmVille?

Cafe World 7th Inning Snacks Catering Order: Everything you need to know

In honor of the upcoming Baseball season and Spring Training, Zynga has launched a baseball-themed Catering Order in Cafe World. This order is called "7th-Inning Snacks" and it will have you battering up our "corn dogs for a Spring Training party!"As usual, earning three stars on this order will reward you with a new, exclusive recipe that can only be unlocked through this method.

This new dish is the Ballpark Meal, which consists of some candy, a soda, and a hot dog, ready to eat at the big game. To see all of the steps required to finish this cafe order (there are four dishes to be cooked and two items to collect), meet us behind the break.


Once you start this mission, you'll need to go to work cooking four different dishes - Corndogs (a one-hour dish) a whopping 525 times, Philly Cheesesteaks (an 18-hour dish) 175 times, Rackasaurus Ribs (a 10-hour dish) 100 times, and Mystical Pizza (an 11-hour dish) 75 times. No, that isn't a typo concerning the Corndogs - you will really have to cook that single dish a whopping 525 times.

You'll be able to bring up to 12 of your friends into the catering job with you, for a total Catering Crew of 13 players. Hopefully, some of those players are fairly high level, so they have the amount of stoves necessary to crank out that many Corndogs within such a short amount of time. While you're waiting for your many, many dishes to cook, you can go about the process of collecting the two collectibles in this order: 8 Baseball Caps and 8 Baseball Mitts.

As usual, you'll earn these items by clicking on the "Ask" button and then sending individual gift requests to those friends that you think would be most willing to respond.

Luckily, as this Catering Order is quite complex, you have a longer initial time limit for the three-star rating at five full days, rather than just three. If you can manage to complete these six steps in that time, you'll receive 15 Catering Points, 7,500 Cafe Points, 200,000 coins and the Ballpark Meal recipe to cook in your cafe.

If you can finish the job in less than a week, you'll receive the two-star rating, 10 Catering Points, 5,000 Cafe Points, and 125,000 coins. Finally, if you finish at any time after the first week, you'll receive a single star, 5 Catering Points, 3,000 Cafe Points and 75,000 coins. Keep in mind that both the two and one-star ratings don't come with the free recipe, so if you need to use Cafe Cash to complete this order on time, whether or not you want the free recipe will be something to keep in mind.

As usual, you can skip any of these tasks with varying amounts of Cafe Cash (ranging from 30-36 Cafe Cash for each dish), and with the huge requirement of Corndogs, it would be totally understanding if some decided to go that route. Either way, we wish you luck if you attempt to finish this job in time - you'll likely need it.

What do you think of this complicated Catering Order? Is requiring 525 servings of a dish simply too much to ask?

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Shire Horse, Shire Foal, Short Hair Cat, & Brown Dutch Rabbit

A quartet of new animals look to be launching in FarmVille in the near future, although it isn't clear exactly whether or not these animals will be releasing in the original farm, the upcoming English Countryside expansion, or both. We have our guesses, but for now things are up in the air.

Two of these animals, the Shire Horse and the Shire Foal, clearly go hand in hand. Our guess is that the Shire Foal will be made available either as an animal to purchase from the store, or as a Mystery Game prize. You'll then place the Shire Horse in your Horse Stable and will, in theory, be able to breed it for a Shire Foal.

The other two animals aren't as straightforward, and could be made available in the game in any number of ways (although our money still lies with Mystery Game or store releases). They are the gray Short Hair Cat and the Brown Dutch Rabbit. Rabbits and Cats aren't two of the most readily available animals in the game (that is, horse and cow lovers would have much larger collections than cat or rabbit collectors, as examples), so we'll be excited to see how these animals are made available in the future.

We'll make sure to give you all of the details concerning these new animals if and when they officially launch in the game. For now, meet us behind the break for a look at a couple of animations for these animals in action.



Which of these four animals is your favorite? Are you the type to buy horses just so that you friends can receive the Foals they produce?

FarmVille: Green Rose Crafting Mastery Signs suffer known issues

If you're like me, you likely went straight to work growing Green Roses and the appropriate accompanying crop to start mastering your themed Good in your FarmVille Crafting Cottage. We brought you a full look at these new recipes in the past, with Bakers being able to craft Green Mocha Cakes, Spa owners crafting Green Potpourri and Winery owners being able to produce Green Rose Water.

As with past limited edition recipes, rather than being forced to make it to level 100 to receive 5-star mastery for the recipe, you only have to make it to level 20. However, once users reach level 20, they've been running into a problem - their mastery sign has only a single star, rather than five.

My mastery sign [pictured] is one that is suffering from the glitch, but rest assured that it is just that - a bug. You don't have to actually reach level 100 to master this recipe (since it has limited time availability, we're thankful for that), and Zynga has acknowledged the issue over on the game's official forums. The issue is reportedly "under investigation" and we imagine Zynga will release a fix for it sooner, rather than later.

FrontierVille Doghouse Quests: Everything you need to know

Just today, we brought you the news that a new Doghouse would be coming to FrontierVille. Well, it didn't take long for that "coming soon" to turn into reality, as a series of five new Doghouse quests have started rolling out in FrontierVille. Note: This is a slow rollout, as all tend to be in the game, so if you don't see this update available in your game when you login, be patient as you should get it sooner or later.

We have the preliminary information regarding these five quests, but remember, as they are so new (and are unavailable to all users as of this writing), things are subject to change at any time.

For the first part of this quest, you'll need to chop down a few trees, and will be introduced to an "old dog," that looks to come in the form of a Basset Hound.

Chop Trees 15 Times
Clear 10 Debris
Move the Old Dog

The rewards for completing this first quest are simple - 200 XP and 100 Food.
Part II of V has you collecting a few items, but it isn't anything too overwhelming.

Visit 10 Neighbors
Have a Doghouse
Collect 15 Dog Collars

Details right now are slim as to how much the Doghouse costs or how it will be built. We assume this will be another complex building project, requiring multiple collectible items to complete, and we'll make sure to bring you a validation (or a correction, if applicable) of that prediction as soon as we know more. Meanwhile, you'll be able to ask your friends to send you the Dog Collars. Your rewards for finishing this quest are 300 XP and 100 coins.

Part III of V will be one that will likely take users quite a bit of time, if they don't participate in the ideology of having tons of adult animals on hand at all times.

Sell 30 Adult Sheep
Sell 30 Adult Goats
Clobber 5 Snakes

If you don't have enough Sheep and Goats already on your land, make sure to browse through your inventory for extras, as you might have received them from various quest rewards on the news feed and then forgot you had them. You can also simply purchase both from the store and raise them to adulthood by feeding. Finishing this quest offers you 350 XP and a Wooden Fire Hydrant, a new decorative item made available only through this quest set (as of this writing).

Moving on, Part IV of V will ask you to harvest some crops that we haven't needed since Valentine's Day.

Harvest 30 White Roses
Have 1 Peppermint Extract
Collect 15 Scrub Brushes

The Peppermint Extract is available as the trade-in prize of the Peppermint Collection, while you'll need to ask your friends to send you the Scrub Brushes to finish this quest. Doing so will reward you with 450 XP and 300 Wood.

Finally, Part V of V will finish this quest set by asking you sell more animals, and place your Dog inside its new Doghouse.

Sell 15 Adult Oxen
Place Dog in Doghouse
Collect 2 Daily Bonuses from the Doghouse

Finishing all three of these tasks will reward you with your final prizes - 500 XP and 500 coins.

While these prizes may not be the best we've seen from FrontierVille mission sets in the past, the introduction of man's best friend to the game should be more than enough to make up for the amount of item collecting or animal selling that we have to do with this one. Of course, whether or not that's ultimately the case will be up to you.

Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Ecotopia launches in private beta; help Harrison Ford save the world

Last month, we told you that Harrison Ford had partnered with Facebook game developer Talkie and Conservation International to create a new game, showing players just how important the environment is, and challenging them to take steps to save it. The game is called Ectopia, and this week, Talkie has started rolling the game out to a group of private beta testers.

There are some new screenshots available of the game, which looks like your average city-builder, but actually comes with a story, and environmentally conscious tasks, other than simply building houses. You'll need to clean up your city, transform power plants into eco-friendly wind farms, and even go so far as to travel to the rainforest to discover new species of animals like frogs - all in the goal of learning about nature, the environment, and ways you can protect it.

Check out the rest of the game's screens behind the break.





For more information, or for a chance to enter the Private Beta yourself, you can sign up for Talkie's email subscription list, or simply like the game's Facebook page. The entire game should be ready to launch for the general public soon, and we'll make sure to let you know when it does.

[Final two image credit: Venture Beat]

Will you play Ecotopia when it launches in full on Facebook, or are you one of the lucky members of the closed beta?