If you thought Zynga was done releasing Winter Holiday themed items in FrontierVille, then think again, as tonight's FrontierVille update brought with it a series of new decorative items that will make anyone want to suit up for a fun time playing out in the snow... Ok, so maybe only I would want to do that, but the items are pretty cool nonetheless - I promise!
You can now pick up a wide variety of decorative items, like flowers, and even larger nature-inspired items. Meet us behind the break for a full look at all of the available items, including their prices.
As with all item releases in FrontierVille, it becomes complicated to talk about them due to the fact that many users (but certainly not all) have completed the "Rithmatic" class in School House, which offers a permanent discount on coin-items in the shop. That being the case, these prices are those discounted prices, so if you've yet to complete that School House lesson, keep in mind that you prices will be just slightly higher in your own store.
Here's the list of newly released items:
Wintry Crate - 30 Horseshoes
Snow Launcher - 35 Horseshoes
Packed Sleigh - 22 Horseshoes
Menorah - 3,515 coins
White Poinsettias - 8 Horseshoes
Red Poinsettias - 10 Horseshoes
The North Pole - 7,125 coins & 10 Wood
Parol - 8,075 coins & 20 Wood
Heart Shape Pond - 39 Horseshoes
Icy Fishing Pond - 37 Horseshoes
The Wintry Crate is kind of like a Mystery Crate, except the items that it could possible contain are also available as general purchase items in the store. If you purchase one, you'll have a chance to getting either a Snow Launcher, a Heart Shape Pond, or an Icy Fishing Pond. As you can see from the pricing list above, you would be getting a discount on whichever item you randomly ended up with, but if you wanted to get all three at a discounted price, you'll need to remember that you could very well end up with duplicates in the other crates that you purchase.
Regardless of the item you choose, each and every one of these will only be available for a limited time - the next 22 days, to be exact, or until the end of the month / year. If you're like me, and might have a wild urge to celebrate the holidays in FrontierVille during random months next year, keep that time limit in mind and stock up to make sure you have all of the holiday goodies necessary when your creative mood strikes.
As a special note, these items haven't been pushed out to all users as of this writing, so if you don't see them in your store, make sure to keep checking back to see if they have gone live for you. In the meantime, feel free to make a shopping list so you don't forget to buy that extra special item for yourself.
Earn money online
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
FarmVille: Ornament Trees return, but at a very high cost
If you're one of the many FarmVille players that started playing the game sometime this year, and didn't have a chance to celebrate the winter holidays in the game in 2009, you'll be happy to know that Zynga has continued the process of re-releasing some of the best items from last year's theme, so that you can have a chance to "catch up."
Two such items were released in tonight's FarmVille update - those being the Ornament Tree I and Ornament Tree II. As their names suggest, these trees are standard evergreen trees, that grow ornaments and bows, rather than any kind of food. Both of the trees can be harvested every two days, returning the tree to an "ornament-less" state, and you'll gain 150 coins for each harvest. The only real difference between these trees, at least functionally, is in the color of ornaments that grow on them. Ornament Tree I grows orange and red ornaments, presents, and bows, while Ornament Tree II grows blue and silver presents, ornaments, and bows.
However, upon this year's re-release of the trees, the price has been increased... how do I say this politely... drastically. Last year, each tree cost just 1,500 coins (visual proof is below). Now, the price is 20 Farm Cash for Ornament Tree I and 15 Farm Cash for Ornament Tree II. Not only are the trees no longer available for coins, but, adding insult to injury, the price is equal to that of many limited edition decorations.
One could argue that these trees are just like any other limited edition decoration, as they will only be available for 23 days, but the simple fact that the price has been increased so much in just a year's time is more than a bit insulting to those players that have been with the game this entire time - even more so to those newer players who were looking to catch up with those veterans.
Either way, whether you purchased these trees last year, or if you're just picking them up this year, they are available to master, with both trees reaching a One-Star level of mastery after 113 harvests. It's the decision in whether or not to actually splurge on these trees that will be the issue at hand.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Were you playing FarmVille last year? What do you think of this dramatic price increase from last year's holiday theme? If you're a new player, would you be willing to spend this much Farm Cash on a single tree?
Two such items were released in tonight's FarmVille update - those being the Ornament Tree I and Ornament Tree II. As their names suggest, these trees are standard evergreen trees, that grow ornaments and bows, rather than any kind of food. Both of the trees can be harvested every two days, returning the tree to an "ornament-less" state, and you'll gain 150 coins for each harvest. The only real difference between these trees, at least functionally, is in the color of ornaments that grow on them. Ornament Tree I grows orange and red ornaments, presents, and bows, while Ornament Tree II grows blue and silver presents, ornaments, and bows.
However, upon this year's re-release of the trees, the price has been increased... how do I say this politely... drastically. Last year, each tree cost just 1,500 coins (visual proof is below). Now, the price is 20 Farm Cash for Ornament Tree I and 15 Farm Cash for Ornament Tree II. Not only are the trees no longer available for coins, but, adding insult to injury, the price is equal to that of many limited edition decorations.
One could argue that these trees are just like any other limited edition decoration, as they will only be available for 23 days, but the simple fact that the price has been increased so much in just a year's time is more than a bit insulting to those players that have been with the game this entire time - even more so to those newer players who were looking to catch up with those veterans.
Either way, whether you purchased these trees last year, or if you're just picking them up this year, they are available to master, with both trees reaching a One-Star level of mastery after 113 harvests. It's the decision in whether or not to actually splurge on these trees that will be the issue at hand.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Were you playing FarmVille last year? What do you think of this dramatic price increase from last year's holiday theme? If you're a new player, would you be willing to spend this much Farm Cash on a single tree?
FarmVille: CityVille Sam asks "Won't you be my neighbor?"
In an attempt to get FarmVille players to try out their new city-building game CityVille, Zynga has released a two-part cross-promotion in FarmVille, adding a new "neighbor" to players' friends bars at the bottom of the gameplay area, in addition to adding a large billboard to one side of users' farms.
If you attempt to "visit" Sam by clicking on her picture in the neighbor bar, as though she were any other friend, you won't be taken to a new farm; instead, you're shown a large ad asking you if you'd like to check out CityVille. If you agree, CityVille simply loads in a new window. If you decline, the window will disappear and you can go back to farming as usual.
However, where Sam's presence in your friends list really doesn't affect gameplay, the billboard truly can, as it is so massive that is actually blocks the better part of three or four plots' worth of land from your view (for perspective, the picture at the top of this post is the billboard's size after zooming out three times). Since it's placed outside of your farm's limits, it doesn't technically stop you from using this portion of your land, but you won't be able to see what's behind it.
This can be rectified, however, as Zynga has added another function to clicking on Sam's picture - that being to click on a check box that will allow you to "Remove sign from farm." Make sure that you're certain about removing the sign, though, as it doesn't appear that there's any way to get it back once you do.
With most Zynga games now offering some sort of pop-up advertising CityVille, it doesn't surprise me that they've added such a large cross-promotion to FarmVille. We're just glad that you can remove it once you're done looking at it.
What do you think of the addition of the CityVille billboard to FarmVille? Did you remove it from your farm, or are you happen to see the sign when you login to your game?
If you attempt to "visit" Sam by clicking on her picture in the neighbor bar, as though she were any other friend, you won't be taken to a new farm; instead, you're shown a large ad asking you if you'd like to check out CityVille. If you agree, CityVille simply loads in a new window. If you decline, the window will disappear and you can go back to farming as usual.
However, where Sam's presence in your friends list really doesn't affect gameplay, the billboard truly can, as it is so massive that is actually blocks the better part of three or four plots' worth of land from your view (for perspective, the picture at the top of this post is the billboard's size after zooming out three times). Since it's placed outside of your farm's limits, it doesn't technically stop you from using this portion of your land, but you won't be able to see what's behind it.
This can be rectified, however, as Zynga has added another function to clicking on Sam's picture - that being to click on a check box that will allow you to "Remove sign from farm." Make sure that you're certain about removing the sign, though, as it doesn't appear that there's any way to get it back once you do.
With most Zynga games now offering some sort of pop-up advertising CityVille, it doesn't surprise me that they've added such a large cross-promotion to FarmVille. We're just glad that you can remove it once you're done looking at it.
What do you think of the addition of the CityVille billboard to FarmVille? Did you remove it from your farm, or are you happen to see the sign when you login to your game?
New FarmVille Animals: Mistletoe Donkey & Winter Goat
Looking to add a bit of a festive touch to your animal pens in FarmVille this holiday season? Then why not add one of the game's two newest themed animals to your herd?
The two new animals come in the form of a Mistletoe Donkey (what appears to be a regular donkey, outfitted with a red and white scarf and a sprig of mistletoe hanging from his head) and a Winter Goat (a regular brown goat with a green scarf and earmuffs). You might recognize this Winter Goat from the FarmVille Holiday Limited Edition Showcase 2 video (what a mouthful!) that was released on Monday.
Both of these animals cost Farm Cash, with the Mistletoe being the more expensive of the two, at 18 Farm Cash. The Winter Goat, then, costs 14 Farm Cash. The Donkey can be harvested from everyday, while the Winter Goat is a two-day harvest animal. The Donkey's higher price tag is further explained by the fact that you'll earn 100 coins from harvesting it, while the Goat only offers 54 coins at each harvest.
Sure, neither of these animals are going to help you quickly earn a mountain of in-game riches, but we all know that you're not spending 18 (or even 14) Farm Cash on an animal because of its possibility for profitability.
Both of these animals will be available in the game for the next 16 days, and remember, you can easily send these items to friends as an in-game gift by just clicking on the "Send" button and choosing a friend, instead of clicking on "Buy" to add these animals to your own farm.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
What do you think of these two new animals? Which other animal do you want Zynga to give a holiday spin to this year?
The two new animals come in the form of a Mistletoe Donkey (what appears to be a regular donkey, outfitted with a red and white scarf and a sprig of mistletoe hanging from his head) and a Winter Goat (a regular brown goat with a green scarf and earmuffs). You might recognize this Winter Goat from the FarmVille Holiday Limited Edition Showcase 2 video (what a mouthful!) that was released on Monday.
Both of these animals cost Farm Cash, with the Mistletoe being the more expensive of the two, at 18 Farm Cash. The Winter Goat, then, costs 14 Farm Cash. The Donkey can be harvested from everyday, while the Winter Goat is a two-day harvest animal. The Donkey's higher price tag is further explained by the fact that you'll earn 100 coins from harvesting it, while the Goat only offers 54 coins at each harvest.
Sure, neither of these animals are going to help you quickly earn a mountain of in-game riches, but we all know that you're not spending 18 (or even 14) Farm Cash on an animal because of its possibility for profitability.
Both of these animals will be available in the game for the next 16 days, and remember, you can easily send these items to friends as an in-game gift by just clicking on the "Send" button and choosing a friend, instead of clicking on "Buy" to add these animals to your own farm.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
What do you think of these two new animals? Which other animal do you want Zynga to give a holiday spin to this year?
FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Winter Manor, Ornaments, Lighted Fence & More
In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the release of seven new items in the Winter Holiday theme of items. Some of these items were revealed in the Holiday Limited Edition Showcase 2 video that Zynga released earlier this week, with the new selection of items including both new buildings and new decorative items, like ornaments.
Meet us behind the break for a full look at these new items, including their prices.
To start, there are two new buildings available to add to your farm that are sure to give it the "Holiday Village" look you might be going for. The first is the Winter Cottage, available for 350,000 coins. You'll receive a 3500 experience point boost for making the splurge, and if you'd like to sell the item at the end of the season, you can do so for 17,500 coin - not a great return, but a return nonetheless.
The only building is the Winter Manor, which we first saw in the Holiday Showcase video I mentioned earlier. This building costs Farm Cash - 42 to be exact. You'll receive 4,000 experience points if you purchase the manor, and you can then sell it at the end of the season (or whenever you'd like, really) for 20,000 coins.
As for the decorations, there are five to choose from, with three of these being available for nothing but regular coins. First though, let's take a look at the two premium Farm Cash items. The first is the Bunny Slope, an animated sledding slope that has a bunny literally sledding down a snowy hill. There are red and green flags that blow in the wind, and the bunny will hop back up to the top of the slope after it has slid down. It costs 28 Farm Cash to add to your farm, and rewards you with 2,800 experience points for your purchase.
The other premium item is the Polar Bear Globe, which is available for 25 Farm Cash. Another animated item, this one was also seen in the Holiday Showcase vide from this week, and it has what appears to be a mother and baby polar bear walking alongside an igloo inside a snow globe. The Polar Bears themselves do not move; rather, the snow inside the ball moves around as though you had just picked the globe up and given it a good shake.
The three coin items are less extravagant, but are still very cool in their own way. The Lighted Fence is available to purchase for 5,000 coins per one section of fencing. This fencing stays true to its name, as its yellow lights offer a permanent glow once it has been placed on your land.
The other two items are large singular ornaments that come in two shapes, and are each about the size of your in-game avatar (meaning that they're pretty large). They are the Heart Ornament and the Pointed Ornament, and both come with the exact same in-game stats, so your only choice will be between shapes, if you choose to only purchase one. Both ornaments cost 10,000 coins to add to your farm, and will grant you with 100 experience points as a bonus. You can sell either for 500 coins.
All told, these items will be available to purchase in the store for the next 16 days, giving you plenty of time to do some rearranging, if you're having trouble fitting all of these new items on your farm (or is that just me?).
Meet us behind the break for a full look at these new items, including their prices.
To start, there are two new buildings available to add to your farm that are sure to give it the "Holiday Village" look you might be going for. The first is the Winter Cottage, available for 350,000 coins. You'll receive a 3500 experience point boost for making the splurge, and if you'd like to sell the item at the end of the season, you can do so for 17,500 coin - not a great return, but a return nonetheless.
The only building is the Winter Manor, which we first saw in the Holiday Showcase video I mentioned earlier. This building costs Farm Cash - 42 to be exact. You'll receive 4,000 experience points if you purchase the manor, and you can then sell it at the end of the season (or whenever you'd like, really) for 20,000 coins.
As for the decorations, there are five to choose from, with three of these being available for nothing but regular coins. First though, let's take a look at the two premium Farm Cash items. The first is the Bunny Slope, an animated sledding slope that has a bunny literally sledding down a snowy hill. There are red and green flags that blow in the wind, and the bunny will hop back up to the top of the slope after it has slid down. It costs 28 Farm Cash to add to your farm, and rewards you with 2,800 experience points for your purchase.
The other premium item is the Polar Bear Globe, which is available for 25 Farm Cash. Another animated item, this one was also seen in the Holiday Showcase vide from this week, and it has what appears to be a mother and baby polar bear walking alongside an igloo inside a snow globe. The Polar Bears themselves do not move; rather, the snow inside the ball moves around as though you had just picked the globe up and given it a good shake.
The three coin items are less extravagant, but are still very cool in their own way. The Lighted Fence is available to purchase for 5,000 coins per one section of fencing. This fencing stays true to its name, as its yellow lights offer a permanent glow once it has been placed on your land.
The other two items are large singular ornaments that come in two shapes, and are each about the size of your in-game avatar (meaning that they're pretty large). They are the Heart Ornament and the Pointed Ornament, and both come with the exact same in-game stats, so your only choice will be between shapes, if you choose to only purchase one. Both ornaments cost 10,000 coins to add to your farm, and will grant you with 100 experience points as a bonus. You can sell either for 500 coins.
All told, these items will be available to purchase in the store for the next 16 days, giving you plenty of time to do some rearranging, if you're having trouble fitting all of these new items on your farm (or is that just me?).
Friday, January 13, 2012
FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Missions: Everything you need to know for Day 5
If you've been completing FrontierVille's 12 Days of Christmas Missions, you probably already know that today is Day 5. The Fifth Day requires a good deal of work to be done for your neighbors, so be careful not to do any unnecessary neighbor work. Unfortunately, unlike normal energy, your neighbor energy doesn't recharge. You won't get more energy to help your neighbors until tomorrow. So use it wisely if you want to complete FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Missions: Day Five.
Otherwise, FrontierVille Christmas Mission Day 5 is pretty straightforward. Here's what you have to do:
Tend Five Neighbor Cows
Tend Five Neighbor Oxen
Collect Five Friends to Go Caroling!
Tending five cows and five oxen is as simple as it sounds. But like I said earlier, help your neighbors carefully. Especially if you don't have a lot of neighbors (like me), scout out which friends have cows and oxen first. It would be tragic to discover you tended five oxen for the only neighbor with cows. Make a mistake and completing FrontierVille Christmas Mission Day 5 will be an impossible feat.
frontierville christmas missions day 5
As for collecting five friends to go caroling, this should also be straightforward assuming you have five friends that play FrontierVille consistently. All you have to do is click the "Ask Friends" button (pictured at the top) and post the notice to your wall. After five friends help you out by clicking "I Want In" on your wall, FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Missions: Day 5 will be a thing of the past. Well done folks.
frontierville christmas missions day 5
Note: FrontierVille has reported some issues on Facebook. If you're having trouble finishing FrontierVille Christmas Mission Day 5, just be patient and it will be working fine before long.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Otherwise, FrontierVille Christmas Mission Day 5 is pretty straightforward. Here's what you have to do:
Tend Five Neighbor Cows
Tend Five Neighbor Oxen
Collect Five Friends to Go Caroling!
Tending five cows and five oxen is as simple as it sounds. But like I said earlier, help your neighbors carefully. Especially if you don't have a lot of neighbors (like me), scout out which friends have cows and oxen first. It would be tragic to discover you tended five oxen for the only neighbor with cows. Make a mistake and completing FrontierVille Christmas Mission Day 5 will be an impossible feat.
frontierville christmas missions day 5
As for collecting five friends to go caroling, this should also be straightforward assuming you have five friends that play FrontierVille consistently. All you have to do is click the "Ask Friends" button (pictured at the top) and post the notice to your wall. After five friends help you out by clicking "I Want In" on your wall, FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Missions: Day 5 will be a thing of the past. Well done folks.
frontierville christmas missions day 5
Note: FrontierVille has reported some issues on Facebook. If you're having trouble finishing FrontierVille Christmas Mission Day 5, just be patient and it will be working fine before long.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Game of the Day: Quote Slide
Today's game is Quote Slide. It's another in our new line of newspaper inspired online daily games. Everyday you will get a new puzzle to play in Quote Slide. After you've finished today's puzzle, you'll have to come back for a new one, and a new game of the day!
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 New Game of the Day hub.
Play Quote Slide now -->
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 New Game of the Day hub.
Play Quote Slide now -->
FarmVille Winter Countdown items revealed - here's what to expect over the next 11 days
Last last night / early this morning, we brought you the news of the new FarmVille Winter Countdown, a new event that will have you and your friends sending each other a series of 12 items, over the next 12 days, with these items falling into the Winter Holiday theme, or just a general winter theme. While only one item will be revealed each day, we've come across the complete list of the as-of-now unreleased items. Here are the items we'll be able to send and receive throughout the rest of this event:
Day 2 - Snowflake I
Day 3 - Snowflake II
Day 4 - Blue Soldier
Day 5 - Silver Ornament
Day 6 - Gold Ornament
Day 7 - Gold Soldier
Day 8 - Dark Brown Teddy Bear
Day 9 - Snow Pile I
Day 10 - Snow Pile II
Day 11 - White / Gold Nutcracker
Day 12 - White Teddy Bear
At the end of this event, if you've managed to receive all 12 of these items, you'll be eligible to receive a Mystery Animal Crate at the end, and rumor has it, this Mystery Animal Crate will contain the Disco Cow we told you about a few days ago in a FarmVille Sneak Peek.
As a reminder, since most of these items are re-releases from last year, even if you already have most of these items from last year, you must receive a new one in order for your participation to count for that day.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Day 2 - Snowflake I
Day 3 - Snowflake II
Day 4 - Blue Soldier
Day 5 - Silver Ornament
Day 6 - Gold Ornament
Day 7 - Gold Soldier
Day 8 - Dark Brown Teddy Bear
Day 9 - Snow Pile I
Day 10 - Snow Pile II
Day 11 - White / Gold Nutcracker
Day 12 - White Teddy Bear
At the end of this event, if you've managed to receive all 12 of these items, you'll be eligible to receive a Mystery Animal Crate at the end, and rumor has it, this Mystery Animal Crate will contain the Disco Cow we told you about a few days ago in a FarmVille Sneak Peek.
As a reminder, since most of these items are re-releases from last year, even if you already have most of these items from last year, you must receive a new one in order for your participation to count for that day.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Magic Islands on Facebook - Build a town, create an army, take over the world!
While there are plenty of city-building games available on Facebook, and even quite a few games that allow you to build up an army or head into battle against others, MegaZebra is hoping to combine the best of both of these worlds with their newest Facebook game - Magic Islands.
Magic Islands seems to be especially worthwhile for those players on a slower internet connection, as it is played through mostly static images. That isn't to say there isn't a lot going on here, however, as you'll be able to build a resource-heavy or arms-heavy society and then take your resources (or military powers) and spread your domination to the far reaches of the Earth.
Meet us behind the break for more details about Magic Islands on Facebook.
You'll start building your Magic Islands by creating a town hall - securing a Home Island that will be your safe haven as you start to build up an army capable of conquering the entire world. Your Town Hall serves as the central hub of your Home Island. AS you upgrade the Town Hall, you'll unlock access to purchasing and building other kinds of structures, all of which will help you in your quest for world domination.
Each building that you'd like to construct requires varying amounts of resources, which come in the form of Gold, Stone, and Wood. You'll complete quests to start the game, allowing you to complete the construction on some basic buildings, with these quests rewarding you with mass amounts of these resources. Otherwise, you can use your constructed buildings, like Stone Pits, Gold Mines and the like to generate more of these resources, that can be collected over time. You can upgrade these structures to produce more Gold, Stone, etc. per hour, and therefore more resources overall in a 24 hour period.
In order to upgrade your town more quickly at the start of your journey, you can spend Diamonds, the game's premium currency to instantly complete the construction on any building. Your town can only hold so many different buildings at the start, and you'll be able to upgrade this capacity as you go along.
In addition to gathering resources, you'll be able to perform research into various technologies, the first of which is Architecture. The items that you research will have a real impact on your gameplay experience. In this Architecture example, for instance, you'll be able to speed up the construction time for buildings once you've learned it. You can either wait for the required amount of time to pass so that you'll learn these new technologies, or you can ask your friends for instant help.
Magic Islands doesn't really become a game about social activity until you've finished the first few quests in the game, and have upgraded your Island to the point of having a Shipyard, capable of creating ships that can travel to other settlements and perform various actions. As for battles themselves, this too will require some upgrading on your Home Island, as you'll need to unlock and build the Barracks, where troops can be produced just as buildings like the Stone Pit produce Stone, as an example.
In this way, the gameplay does seem to be rather slow to start, but can easily be quickened by spending Diamonds to instantly complete tasks. Once you have unlocked the ability to form armies, you'll have different kinds of units (Soldiers, Guards, and so on), and will be able to send your troops out to battle. You'll also be able to visit the lands of your friends to see how their progress has gone in comparison to your own.
Magic Islands has already gathered a few thousand players in the very short time that it's been available. We're not sure if it has enough staying power to really make a mark in the Facebook gaming world, but we're glad to see a game that combines more than one genre in a way that technically works.
Magic Islands seems to be especially worthwhile for those players on a slower internet connection, as it is played through mostly static images. That isn't to say there isn't a lot going on here, however, as you'll be able to build a resource-heavy or arms-heavy society and then take your resources (or military powers) and spread your domination to the far reaches of the Earth.
Meet us behind the break for more details about Magic Islands on Facebook.
You'll start building your Magic Islands by creating a town hall - securing a Home Island that will be your safe haven as you start to build up an army capable of conquering the entire world. Your Town Hall serves as the central hub of your Home Island. AS you upgrade the Town Hall, you'll unlock access to purchasing and building other kinds of structures, all of which will help you in your quest for world domination.
Each building that you'd like to construct requires varying amounts of resources, which come in the form of Gold, Stone, and Wood. You'll complete quests to start the game, allowing you to complete the construction on some basic buildings, with these quests rewarding you with mass amounts of these resources. Otherwise, you can use your constructed buildings, like Stone Pits, Gold Mines and the like to generate more of these resources, that can be collected over time. You can upgrade these structures to produce more Gold, Stone, etc. per hour, and therefore more resources overall in a 24 hour period.
In order to upgrade your town more quickly at the start of your journey, you can spend Diamonds, the game's premium currency to instantly complete the construction on any building. Your town can only hold so many different buildings at the start, and you'll be able to upgrade this capacity as you go along.
In addition to gathering resources, you'll be able to perform research into various technologies, the first of which is Architecture. The items that you research will have a real impact on your gameplay experience. In this Architecture example, for instance, you'll be able to speed up the construction time for buildings once you've learned it. You can either wait for the required amount of time to pass so that you'll learn these new technologies, or you can ask your friends for instant help.
Magic Islands doesn't really become a game about social activity until you've finished the first few quests in the game, and have upgraded your Island to the point of having a Shipyard, capable of creating ships that can travel to other settlements and perform various actions. As for battles themselves, this too will require some upgrading on your Home Island, as you'll need to unlock and build the Barracks, where troops can be produced just as buildings like the Stone Pit produce Stone, as an example.
In this way, the gameplay does seem to be rather slow to start, but can easily be quickened by spending Diamonds to instantly complete tasks. Once you have unlocked the ability to form armies, you'll have different kinds of units (Soldiers, Guards, and so on), and will be able to send your troops out to battle. You'll also be able to visit the lands of your friends to see how their progress has gone in comparison to your own.
Magic Islands has already gathered a few thousand players in the very short time that it's been available. We're not sure if it has enough staying power to really make a mark in the Facebook gaming world, but we're glad to see a game that combines more than one genre in a way that technically works.
Wishful Features: Fullscreen mode in Cafe World
Zynga seems to have realized that most players like being able to play their Facebook games in fullscreen on their monitors, as most every Zynga game currently comes equipped with such a mode. FarmVille, FrontierVille, CityVille, etc. - they all allow you to play the game using a full-screen mode, reducing the need to scroll around the environment by clicking and dragging on the screen. After all, what better way to engage your users in a longer playing experience than to give them the ability to cover up every other window / detail pertaining to the outside world, including a clock?
Why, then, hasn't Cafe World, one of Zynga's older games, been given the same treatment. With most of my friends' cafes, and my own cafe being expanded to the maximum current size, the amount of scrolling we have to do to see all of our stoves, and especially all of our tables can be more than a bit annoying at times, especially when a pop-up appears every few seconds, but that's something we've already discussed.
Not only would adding a fullscreen mode in Cafe World allow multi-tasking to be that much easier (that is, it would make the cooking of meals a lot easier, as you could more easily queue tasks in your avatar's task queue without having to scroll around first), but it would also improve the Drink Bar and Coffee Machine systems significantly. No longer would you have to drag your mouse all around your cafe to find computer controlled guests that want coffee or drinks, as they would all be visible in one shot, while in a fullscreen gameplay mode.
In a bit of two-sided news, Zynga has acknowledged the fact that many users want fullscreen gameplay in Cafe World, but the addition of such a mode doesn't seem very promising as of this writing. Zynga writes:
With high-speed internet, a high-end computer with plenty of RAM, recent updates and the right browser, Café World runs great! But, we want everyone to be able to play the game. We work, everyday (even on weekends), to find ways to improve performance, loading, memory issues and lag. We want to make sure the game is accessible to people with computers from 5 months to 5 years old.
Back to full screen: when you make some thing bigger, you increase issues with lag, loading, memory and performance.
If you'd like to see the complete explanation, head over to the Zynga forums.
While this seems like a pretty justifiable explanation for why a fullscreen mode doesn't exist in Cafe World, user have been waiting for the feature, which has been touted as a "coming soon" addition to the game, for over a year. Hopefully the change will come sooner, rather than later, so we can move this one off of the Wishful Features list, and onto the "Fulfilled" list.
Why, then, hasn't Cafe World, one of Zynga's older games, been given the same treatment. With most of my friends' cafes, and my own cafe being expanded to the maximum current size, the amount of scrolling we have to do to see all of our stoves, and especially all of our tables can be more than a bit annoying at times, especially when a pop-up appears every few seconds, but that's something we've already discussed.
Not only would adding a fullscreen mode in Cafe World allow multi-tasking to be that much easier (that is, it would make the cooking of meals a lot easier, as you could more easily queue tasks in your avatar's task queue without having to scroll around first), but it would also improve the Drink Bar and Coffee Machine systems significantly. No longer would you have to drag your mouse all around your cafe to find computer controlled guests that want coffee or drinks, as they would all be visible in one shot, while in a fullscreen gameplay mode.
In a bit of two-sided news, Zynga has acknowledged the fact that many users want fullscreen gameplay in Cafe World, but the addition of such a mode doesn't seem very promising as of this writing. Zynga writes:
With high-speed internet, a high-end computer with plenty of RAM, recent updates and the right browser, Café World runs great! But, we want everyone to be able to play the game. We work, everyday (even on weekends), to find ways to improve performance, loading, memory issues and lag. We want to make sure the game is accessible to people with computers from 5 months to 5 years old.
Back to full screen: when you make some thing bigger, you increase issues with lag, loading, memory and performance.
If you'd like to see the complete explanation, head over to the Zynga forums.
While this seems like a pretty justifiable explanation for why a fullscreen mode doesn't exist in Cafe World, user have been waiting for the feature, which has been touted as a "coming soon" addition to the game, for over a year. Hopefully the change will come sooner, rather than later, so we can move this one off of the Wishful Features list, and onto the "Fulfilled" list.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Angry Birds Seasons Halloween update means a new bird is in town
Oh, and let's not forget about the 30 "bone-chilling" new levels and the bunch of new Game Center achievements to earn. Rovio unleashed a new update to Angry Birds Seasons today, and confirmed our suspicions that a new bird was in the works.
We're not sure of the new avian's name, but at least we know what it does. This orange little bugger isn't much of anything when first launched, but tap the screen while it's in midair and the bird will balloon several times its size.
Of course, this means it'll gain an enormous amount of weight, so the bird might be ideally used once inside a pig structure. The list of Game Center achivements to earn includes defeating 300 skeletons, finishing all 30 new stages, earning three stars on every level and more. And, like all Angry Birds updates, this one is absolutely free.
Angry Birds Seasons update
Well, given that you've already purchased Angry Birds Seasons for the buck. Look, we may be sick of Angry Birds around here, but not even we can help getting just a little giddy over a newly announced bird. This must be the power Rovio has over everyone else--must ... fight it ... but, I need that bird. And I just bought it. Now we have a better idea as to how Angry Birds might be worth more than $1 billion.
We're not sure of the new avian's name, but at least we know what it does. This orange little bugger isn't much of anything when first launched, but tap the screen while it's in midair and the bird will balloon several times its size.
Of course, this means it'll gain an enormous amount of weight, so the bird might be ideally used once inside a pig structure. The list of Game Center achivements to earn includes defeating 300 skeletons, finishing all 30 new stages, earning three stars on every level and more. And, like all Angry Birds updates, this one is absolutely free.
Angry Birds Seasons update
Well, given that you've already purchased Angry Birds Seasons for the buck. Look, we may be sick of Angry Birds around here, but not even we can help getting just a little giddy over a newly announced bird. This must be the power Rovio has over everyone else--must ... fight it ... but, I need that bird. And I just bought it. Now we have a better idea as to how Angry Birds might be worth more than $1 billion.
Capcom veteran Inafune doesn't rely on social game metrics 'slavishly'
Since his 23-year stint with Capcom abruptly ended nearly a year ago, Japanese game designer Keiji Inafune (pictured) is already at work making new games, namely social games. With two games in the works for both DeNA and Gree--J.J. Rockets and Island of Dr. Momo, respectively--Inafune looks to do things a little differently in the mobile social games space, according to a talk with Gamasutra.
"So I don't rely on metrics slavishly; I give them quick looks, absorbing them and reflecting them against my own thoughts to analyze what they mean," Inafune told Gamasutra." Game creators have to be really good at that internal sort of analysis; otherwise you're just looking toward marketing data for your game ideas, and a computer can do that."
Inafune went on to say, "If you rely on those, then basically what you've got is a set of numbers that don't necessarily tell you anything. Just because you know what someone's favorite food doesn't mean you really know the person." Compelling, huh? The creator of storied franchises like Mega Man thinks social games might herald of the future of video games. Period.
"I think that eventually, we're see a new kind of game which is neither console nor social, one that overcomes the obstacles that both current game styles have to deal with," Inafune said to Gamasutra. "I don't know what that's going to be yet, though, so that's why I'm trying to learn more about this market."
The designer went on to say that the persistent "me-too" trend in social game creation needs to stop if we're to see this happen. And Keiji, we couldn't agree more. In pursuit of this fresh new form of social game, Inafune recently opened his own studio, Comcept. Now, how do we make such games profitable enough for more designers to bite?
"So I don't rely on metrics slavishly; I give them quick looks, absorbing them and reflecting them against my own thoughts to analyze what they mean," Inafune told Gamasutra." Game creators have to be really good at that internal sort of analysis; otherwise you're just looking toward marketing data for your game ideas, and a computer can do that."
Inafune went on to say, "If you rely on those, then basically what you've got is a set of numbers that don't necessarily tell you anything. Just because you know what someone's favorite food doesn't mean you really know the person." Compelling, huh? The creator of storied franchises like Mega Man thinks social games might herald of the future of video games. Period.
"I think that eventually, we're see a new kind of game which is neither console nor social, one that overcomes the obstacles that both current game styles have to deal with," Inafune said to Gamasutra. "I don't know what that's going to be yet, though, so that's why I'm trying to learn more about this market."
The designer went on to say that the persistent "me-too" trend in social game creation needs to stop if we're to see this happen. And Keiji, we couldn't agree more. In pursuit of this fresh new form of social game, Inafune recently opened his own studio, Comcept. Now, how do we make such games profitable enough for more designers to bite?
Google: Games platform 'is not ready to handle' opening up to creators
There's a reason that Google+ Games has been a slow burn since its launch this summer: It can't handle much more. Speaking exclusively with Gamasutra, Google+ game developer advocate Todd Kerpelman said, "And that is our larger goal, to bring in more developers, and eventually open it up to anybody that wants to develop on Google+. Just right now the system is not ready to handle that."
Google has been quite exclusive with which developers it allows to bring their games onto Google+ Games, working with only the biggest names in casual and social games like Rovio, Zynga, PopCap and Kabam to name a few. (Well, there aren't many more than that, really.) While this is partially due to the fact that Google+ would likely be crushed if the gates were opened to everyone at once, the company is still working out how exactly it wants to handle developers.
"I'm not sure what our plans are - to be completely open versus something like an Apple-style, curated business - that's still to be determined, and we're still working it out," Kerpelman said to Gamasutra. "...The platform has only been out a couple of months, so we've got a way to go."
Gamasutra notes that, if Google opted to open up Google+ Games like it has the Android Market--which is essentially a wild west of games and apps--it would almost certainly have to handle counterfeit games. And that's something, according to Kerpelman, Google simply doesn't want in its online marketplaces anymore. (Who else just screamed hallelujah?)
This news comes just as a Google engineer name-dropped the Google+ Games platform specifically in a rant, implying that the initiative was an afterthought for Google. We're impressed by the platform's pristine presentation (and we're sure game makers love that tiny 5 percent price tag), but Kerpelman's right: Google's got a way to go, and updates like this are certainly steps.
Google has been quite exclusive with which developers it allows to bring their games onto Google+ Games, working with only the biggest names in casual and social games like Rovio, Zynga, PopCap and Kabam to name a few. (Well, there aren't many more than that, really.) While this is partially due to the fact that Google+ would likely be crushed if the gates were opened to everyone at once, the company is still working out how exactly it wants to handle developers.
"I'm not sure what our plans are - to be completely open versus something like an Apple-style, curated business - that's still to be determined, and we're still working it out," Kerpelman said to Gamasutra. "...The platform has only been out a couple of months, so we've got a way to go."
Gamasutra notes that, if Google opted to open up Google+ Games like it has the Android Market--which is essentially a wild west of games and apps--it would almost certainly have to handle counterfeit games. And that's something, according to Kerpelman, Google simply doesn't want in its online marketplaces anymore. (Who else just screamed hallelujah?)
This news comes just as a Google engineer name-dropped the Google+ Games platform specifically in a rant, implying that the initiative was an afterthought for Google. We're impressed by the platform's pristine presentation (and we're sure game makers love that tiny 5 percent price tag), but Kerpelman's right: Google's got a way to go, and updates like this are certainly steps.
Sky Pirates of Neo Terra soars through Facebook and iOS this fall
Your straddling pod racer territory rather closely there, Day 21--we're keeping an eye on you. The Vancouver, B.C.-based social game developer announced Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, a futuristic racing game based on a graphic novel of the same name, set to hit Facebook and iOS this fall.
The game is displayed in full 3D, though players will need to download Unity in order to join the fun. Sky Pirates hands players the reins of sky-bound racing vehicles and pits them against the online competition in real time.
According to Day 21, this is a first for Facebook. (At least the "racing" part is.) Designed for players aged 10 and up--we all know kids are on Facebook already--the characters and artwork in Sky Pirates is by comic and pop surrealism artist, Camilla d'Errico. In the magic-meets-machine world of Neo Terra, Glidewing racing is the most popular sport, but this year the evil Pirate King just might and get the chance to name the next leader of the tribes ... did we get that about right?
Sky Pirates in Action
Players get to choose between a number of racers and vehicles, and compete with five of their friends in races on over a dozen different tracks. Once they get the hang of piloting a Glidewing, players can customize their very own and take flight against the ruthless Pirate King. And if you happen to win one of the Great Races, you will get the chance to be immortalized in the accompanying web comic. A full 3D racing game on Facebook that's attached to an ongoing web comic? We're intrigued.
The game is displayed in full 3D, though players will need to download Unity in order to join the fun. Sky Pirates hands players the reins of sky-bound racing vehicles and pits them against the online competition in real time.
According to Day 21, this is a first for Facebook. (At least the "racing" part is.) Designed for players aged 10 and up--we all know kids are on Facebook already--the characters and artwork in Sky Pirates is by comic and pop surrealism artist, Camilla d'Errico. In the magic-meets-machine world of Neo Terra, Glidewing racing is the most popular sport, but this year the evil Pirate King just might and get the chance to name the next leader of the tribes ... did we get that about right?
Sky Pirates in Action
Players get to choose between a number of racers and vehicles, and compete with five of their friends in races on over a dozen different tracks. Once they get the hang of piloting a Glidewing, players can customize their very own and take flight against the ruthless Pirate King. And if you happen to win one of the Great Races, you will get the chance to be immortalized in the accompanying web comic. A full 3D racing game on Facebook that's attached to an ongoing web comic? We're intrigued.
Row Sham Bow CEO: 'This isn't just a profession' [Interview]
For Phil Holt (pictured), CEO of Orlando-Fla.-based social game start-up Row Sham Bow, social games have been a part of his professional life for far longer than the nearly seven months since he co-founded the studio. During his second, 5-year stint with EA at its Tiburon studio, also in Orlando, Holt has seen the company adapt to social gaming's effects on the industry at large.
Only little more than six months before Row Sham Bow released its first game, Woodland Heroes, Holt realized that social games are the future of the industry. We sat down with Holt recently to find out what specifically drove him to co-found his own studio, what he hopes Row Sham Bow will change about these games and where Woodland Heroes goes from here.
On the company website it seems that the team disappointed with the state of social games. If that's the case, what is it about the space that has drawn you in?
I think it's a fascinating space. I was trying to describe this to somebody the other day: You have zero barrier to entry on an open platform-anybody can develop for it. You don't have to become a licensed developer, nobody is reviewing your content--approving or not approving it. Literally, if you've got the wherewithal to deploy on the platform you can.
It's measured in hundreds of millions of people, and the technology everyone uses is off-the-shelf. It's widely available. That I think is unique in the history of technology: That a marketplace that is that big, is that wide open and has such a low barrier to entry has never happened before. To me it's like, "Holy crap, that's a massive audience." The innovation in the social space is more focused around how data can drive design decisions.
Woodland Heroes concept art
What is it about social games industry specifically that you hope to change with Row Sham Bow?
We hope that we're going to go into this space and learn very rapidly, and use the trail blazed as way of not repeating a lot of the mistakes. With that said, we feel like the games are more--if you talk to people that play a lot of social games, you listen to the way they describe their experience. They're like, 'Yeah, I'm still playing Game X.' They sort of sheepishly admit the fact that they're playing.
You start digging deeper and it's like, 'Well, I can't really tell you why I'm playing.' And they never use the words like, 'I'm having a blast.' It's more like, 'I just can't stand leaving whatever I'm building alone.' It's a compulsive experience. It's more akin to the people you see in a casino late at night still dropping nickels in the slot machine--it's the psychological compulsion that drives people to play these things rather than, 'I'm playing it, because I'm having a blast.' That pure entertainment and pure fun I think is really lacking in the space, and that's the kind of thing we're trying to bring. At the same, we want to learn from the people who came before us.
Do you think that the Facebook platform is capable of merging compulsion and joy of play?
Absolutely. I can't think of anything that would prevent it. I'm a child of the '70s, and I spent a lot of my youth in the arcades. Those games, from a technology standpoint, are so primitive by comparison to any of the games out there today. Yet they got a few simple things right: The games are instantly learnable--you learn how to play and arcade game with one quarter. [They're] instantly accessible and impossible to master. Brilliant game design.
That's a very rewarding experience. Now, arcade games are based on dexterity. The Facebook platform I don't think is going to reward that type of play mechanic, at least I'm not going to do it. The thing that we try to do is that you need to make decisions in the game, and things need to have consequences. At its base terms, I think is the foundation of creating strategy. And that I think creates a compelling experience.
I think that what you do, as a designer, is create an emotional attachment to the experience--you've got some level of commitment to the game. I think that one of the ultimate challenges in the free-to-play space is there is no financial commitment. So, the design has to create the commitment, and one of the ways to do that is you become emotionally invested in the characters or your progress or the purchases you've made. And if you feel like, if the stakes are high enough, that you're going to lose something like that, then you're going to care.
Gallery: Woodland Heroes on Facebook
What are Row Sham Bow's goals as a studio? Do you hope to take the fight to Zynga and EA, so to speak, or carve out a niche for yourself in the space, and what's your battle plan?
Well, you can never out-Zynga Zynga and out-EA EA. That is a losing strategy. No matter how big you are, I think you have the define your way into the world. We certainly feel like there are some under-served parts of the market. I think it has to do with blending more traditional game mechanics with the data-driven design that's prevalent on the platform. What I think the existing players have done so well is ease-of-use, a good first-time user experience and really ramping people up.
The thing I haven't talked about is that the art in our game--I would put it up against any game on the platform. I think it's stellar, and that used to be a huge motivation for people playing. The reason I loved games like Diablo 2 is because you wanted to see the next character, the next level. That sense of discovery through art is a major play motivation, and again most people have glossed over that.
Where did the team come up with the idea for Woodland Heroes?
When we started the company, many of us had experience in the space, and quite a few of us didn't. We wanted to create an environment that would get us up to speed quickly. So literally the first thing we did was release a game. And if you searched for it, you're not going to find it--it was a rock, paper, scissors game. We just wanted to go through the exercise of start-to-finish. And we learned a lot.
The other thing we did was play like literally everything out there in a very guided way. We sort of broke down the competitive titles. We also had a number of concepts that we had come to the company with. I didn't want us to be the kind of company that sat around and talked about ideas, but I wanted us to react to stuff that we could actually play with. So, we prototyped.
We spent about three week wherein anyone in the company could work on any idea and every few days we would get together and review what we had done. We slowly kind of whittled down to two ideas: Woodland Heroes was one of them, but it was called some different at the time. Woodland Heroes initially started as a space conquest type game. Somebody in the studio said, 'If we want this to be a little more broadly accepted, why not animals instead of space?'
The thing that we liked about it was the battle mechanic. We thought it was a great mechanic that we could build from. We started at the center of the game with what was going to be a fun, core loop that players would be involved in, and we built outward from there.
Woodland Heroes characterI haven't seen many social features in the game, so is there anything particularly compelling about them, as opposed to most social games?
Probably not yet, but today is actually our six-month anniversary. I'm just damn proud of the fact that in six months we were able to start a company, and hire a team. We opened our code editors and literally the first line of code was written six months ago. From zero to game launch in six months I think is pretty cool. So, we've got lots of ideas about what we want to do with social features, visitation and interactions with friends.
Again, we think there's more than just 'go visit your buddy's farm.' We want meaningful interactions that take place between friends, and whether that's cooperative or head-to-head, we've got plenty of ideas. We're going to try some stuff and see how the audience reacts. This is the fun part: Now really a key partner at the table is the audience, so we're going to build a game that the audience is reacting to. Ultimately, the audience is going to determine what the game becomes.
Does the game's strategy gameplay and setting set a precedent for Row Sham Bow, or will the studio pursue different genres and themes in the future?
I think one of the things that really is appealing to all of us is just how much creative freedom we have. Being a start-up, being in a space where you can build a game in six months you can just take a lot more creative risks. I don't think we're going to be bound by any set of genres, settings, character styles or art types. So, we're just going to use the same process that we used to create this game.
Woodland Heroes environment
Can you talk about any future plans for Woodland Heroes, or future Row Sham Bow games?
Right now, we're on a weekly cadence of major content updates. We're trying to push new things to the game every Tuesday. So, we're going to be on that cadence for awhile, continuing to add to the game and responding to the major issues that we see. There's some stuff we want to do around the world map where I think that usability is a little on the low side.
Ultimately, it's going to be where the audience is playing, what the data tells us about the audience and how we think we can best engage them. From the get-go, our focus has been on, 'How do we build a game that we've always wanted to play ourselves?' It's not that we've sat for years thinking, 'Man, it would be great to be a raccoon and fight some bears,' but just make a really fun experience. We're gamers ourselves--this isn't just a profession.
Only little more than six months before Row Sham Bow released its first game, Woodland Heroes, Holt realized that social games are the future of the industry. We sat down with Holt recently to find out what specifically drove him to co-found his own studio, what he hopes Row Sham Bow will change about these games and where Woodland Heroes goes from here.
On the company website it seems that the team disappointed with the state of social games. If that's the case, what is it about the space that has drawn you in?
I think it's a fascinating space. I was trying to describe this to somebody the other day: You have zero barrier to entry on an open platform-anybody can develop for it. You don't have to become a licensed developer, nobody is reviewing your content--approving or not approving it. Literally, if you've got the wherewithal to deploy on the platform you can.
It's measured in hundreds of millions of people, and the technology everyone uses is off-the-shelf. It's widely available. That I think is unique in the history of technology: That a marketplace that is that big, is that wide open and has such a low barrier to entry has never happened before. To me it's like, "Holy crap, that's a massive audience." The innovation in the social space is more focused around how data can drive design decisions.
Woodland Heroes concept art
What is it about social games industry specifically that you hope to change with Row Sham Bow?
We hope that we're going to go into this space and learn very rapidly, and use the trail blazed as way of not repeating a lot of the mistakes. With that said, we feel like the games are more--if you talk to people that play a lot of social games, you listen to the way they describe their experience. They're like, 'Yeah, I'm still playing Game X.' They sort of sheepishly admit the fact that they're playing.
You start digging deeper and it's like, 'Well, I can't really tell you why I'm playing.' And they never use the words like, 'I'm having a blast.' It's more like, 'I just can't stand leaving whatever I'm building alone.' It's a compulsive experience. It's more akin to the people you see in a casino late at night still dropping nickels in the slot machine--it's the psychological compulsion that drives people to play these things rather than, 'I'm playing it, because I'm having a blast.' That pure entertainment and pure fun I think is really lacking in the space, and that's the kind of thing we're trying to bring. At the same, we want to learn from the people who came before us.
Do you think that the Facebook platform is capable of merging compulsion and joy of play?
Absolutely. I can't think of anything that would prevent it. I'm a child of the '70s, and I spent a lot of my youth in the arcades. Those games, from a technology standpoint, are so primitive by comparison to any of the games out there today. Yet they got a few simple things right: The games are instantly learnable--you learn how to play and arcade game with one quarter. [They're] instantly accessible and impossible to master. Brilliant game design.
That's a very rewarding experience. Now, arcade games are based on dexterity. The Facebook platform I don't think is going to reward that type of play mechanic, at least I'm not going to do it. The thing that we try to do is that you need to make decisions in the game, and things need to have consequences. At its base terms, I think is the foundation of creating strategy. And that I think creates a compelling experience.
I think that what you do, as a designer, is create an emotional attachment to the experience--you've got some level of commitment to the game. I think that one of the ultimate challenges in the free-to-play space is there is no financial commitment. So, the design has to create the commitment, and one of the ways to do that is you become emotionally invested in the characters or your progress or the purchases you've made. And if you feel like, if the stakes are high enough, that you're going to lose something like that, then you're going to care.
Gallery: Woodland Heroes on Facebook
What are Row Sham Bow's goals as a studio? Do you hope to take the fight to Zynga and EA, so to speak, or carve out a niche for yourself in the space, and what's your battle plan?
Well, you can never out-Zynga Zynga and out-EA EA. That is a losing strategy. No matter how big you are, I think you have the define your way into the world. We certainly feel like there are some under-served parts of the market. I think it has to do with blending more traditional game mechanics with the data-driven design that's prevalent on the platform. What I think the existing players have done so well is ease-of-use, a good first-time user experience and really ramping people up.
The thing I haven't talked about is that the art in our game--I would put it up against any game on the platform. I think it's stellar, and that used to be a huge motivation for people playing. The reason I loved games like Diablo 2 is because you wanted to see the next character, the next level. That sense of discovery through art is a major play motivation, and again most people have glossed over that.
Where did the team come up with the idea for Woodland Heroes?
When we started the company, many of us had experience in the space, and quite a few of us didn't. We wanted to create an environment that would get us up to speed quickly. So literally the first thing we did was release a game. And if you searched for it, you're not going to find it--it was a rock, paper, scissors game. We just wanted to go through the exercise of start-to-finish. And we learned a lot.
The other thing we did was play like literally everything out there in a very guided way. We sort of broke down the competitive titles. We also had a number of concepts that we had come to the company with. I didn't want us to be the kind of company that sat around and talked about ideas, but I wanted us to react to stuff that we could actually play with. So, we prototyped.
We spent about three week wherein anyone in the company could work on any idea and every few days we would get together and review what we had done. We slowly kind of whittled down to two ideas: Woodland Heroes was one of them, but it was called some different at the time. Woodland Heroes initially started as a space conquest type game. Somebody in the studio said, 'If we want this to be a little more broadly accepted, why not animals instead of space?'
The thing that we liked about it was the battle mechanic. We thought it was a great mechanic that we could build from. We started at the center of the game with what was going to be a fun, core loop that players would be involved in, and we built outward from there.
Woodland Heroes characterI haven't seen many social features in the game, so is there anything particularly compelling about them, as opposed to most social games?
Probably not yet, but today is actually our six-month anniversary. I'm just damn proud of the fact that in six months we were able to start a company, and hire a team. We opened our code editors and literally the first line of code was written six months ago. From zero to game launch in six months I think is pretty cool. So, we've got lots of ideas about what we want to do with social features, visitation and interactions with friends.
Again, we think there's more than just 'go visit your buddy's farm.' We want meaningful interactions that take place between friends, and whether that's cooperative or head-to-head, we've got plenty of ideas. We're going to try some stuff and see how the audience reacts. This is the fun part: Now really a key partner at the table is the audience, so we're going to build a game that the audience is reacting to. Ultimately, the audience is going to determine what the game becomes.
Does the game's strategy gameplay and setting set a precedent for Row Sham Bow, or will the studio pursue different genres and themes in the future?
I think one of the things that really is appealing to all of us is just how much creative freedom we have. Being a start-up, being in a space where you can build a game in six months you can just take a lot more creative risks. I don't think we're going to be bound by any set of genres, settings, character styles or art types. So, we're just going to use the same process that we used to create this game.
Woodland Heroes environment
Can you talk about any future plans for Woodland Heroes, or future Row Sham Bow games?
Right now, we're on a weekly cadence of major content updates. We're trying to push new things to the game every Tuesday. So, we're going to be on that cadence for awhile, continuing to add to the game and responding to the major issues that we see. There's some stuff we want to do around the world map where I think that usability is a little on the low side.
Ultimately, it's going to be where the audience is playing, what the data tells us about the audience and how we think we can best engage them. From the get-go, our focus has been on, 'How do we build a game that we've always wanted to play ourselves?' It's not that we've sat for years thinking, 'Man, it would be great to be a raccoon and fight some bears,' but just make a really fun experience. We're gamers ourselves--this isn't just a profession.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
FarmVille Duck Pond and Ducklings suffering list of issues
Having trouble getting those Ducklings to just grow up already in FarmVille? As it turns out, you're not alone. FarmVille Freak reports that several readers have mentioned issues regarding their Ducklings in the brand new Duck Pond feature. The above image implies that players simply aren't seeing any options to choose what type of Duck for their little guys to grow into. But the site has compiled a list of issues that players are experiencing:
Not being able to choose which Duck to grow their Duckling into
Not being able to choose Duck even after 7 neighbors have helped
Not being able to see all the neighbors who helped raise Duckling
Not being able to exit the Raise Duckling Menu at all
Collectively, these issues render the Duck Pond useless for all intents and purposes. According to a forum post by Voltai, Zynga is currently looking into the issues, so sit tight.
Not being able to choose which Duck to grow their Duckling into
Not being able to choose Duck even after 7 neighbors have helped
Not being able to see all the neighbors who helped raise Duckling
Not being able to exit the Raise Duckling Menu at all
Collectively, these issues render the Duck Pond useless for all intents and purposes. According to a forum post by Voltai, Zynga is currently looking into the issues, so sit tight.
CityVille: Item storage coming soon, thanks to new Warehouses
Over on the official CityVille forums, Zynga has announced that they will soon be bringing storage to CityVille via the introduction of new "Warehouses." These Warhouses will allow you to store an as-of-now undisclosed number of items, like winter holiday decorations (as an example), that may be outdated now that the holiday season has finally past.
The details concerning the Warehouses are incredibly slim. All we know at this point is that you'll be able to use Warehouses to "keep your decorations safe and sound as the year goes round!" The accompanying picture [pictured here] shows Samantha pulling a strand of lights out of a chest - perhaps this means that we'll be able to keep access to the snow and light coverings for homes and businesses even after the game heads back into the world of warmth this Spring.
Only time will tell at this point as to exactly how these Warehouses will function (we assume they will be actual "buildable" items that will take up space in your town, just as barns and the like offer Storage of Goods), but we'll make sure to bring you all of the details about them as we know more.
The details concerning the Warehouses are incredibly slim. All we know at this point is that you'll be able to use Warehouses to "keep your decorations safe and sound as the year goes round!" The accompanying picture [pictured here] shows Samantha pulling a strand of lights out of a chest - perhaps this means that we'll be able to keep access to the snow and light coverings for homes and businesses even after the game heads back into the world of warmth this Spring.
Only time will tell at this point as to exactly how these Warehouses will function (we assume they will be actual "buildable" items that will take up space in your town, just as barns and the like offer Storage of Goods), but we'll make sure to bring you all of the details about them as we know more.
Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash through One Born Every Minute promotion
If you were too late to snap up the Groupon and Bath and Body works FarmVille Farm Cash promotion that ran today, fear not, as a new free Farm Cash promotion is now making the rounds to players. This promotion is from the new Lifetime television series "One Born Every Minute," which deals with pregnancy.
By clicking on the Sponsored Link window as seen at right, you'll launch a new window, where you'll be asked to watch a trailer for the new show, and then answer a simple question. As the show is about pregnancy, so too is the question you're asked: "What did your husband do to make you smile while you were in labor?" Of course, this is a hilarious question for those male FarmVille players, or even players who don't have children, but as always, you can answer the question in any way you'd like in order to receive your two free Farm Cash.
Once the trailer is over and you've answered the survey question, you can close this window and you should see your Farm Cash total automatically rise by two. If not, a simple refresh of the game should do the trick of forcing the Farm Cash into your account.
By clicking on the Sponsored Link window as seen at right, you'll launch a new window, where you'll be asked to watch a trailer for the new show, and then answer a simple question. As the show is about pregnancy, so too is the question you're asked: "What did your husband do to make you smile while you were in labor?" Of course, this is a hilarious question for those male FarmVille players, or even players who don't have children, but as always, you can answer the question in any way you'd like in order to receive your two free Farm Cash.
Once the trailer is over and you've answered the survey question, you can close this window and you should see your Farm Cash total automatically rise by two. If not, a simple refresh of the game should do the trick of forcing the Farm Cash into your account.
FrontierVille Sneak Peek: Ski Rack & Snow Fort
While FarmVille may have already jumped full force into the Valentine's Day celebration, FrontierVille will apparently be sticking with winter-themed decorations, if two new images spotted by FrontierVille Legend come to fruition in the game.
The two items are a small Ski Rack decorative item, and a downright huge Snow Fort - that's right, a fort, complete with draw bridge - made entirely out of snow blocks. As of right now, it looks as though both items won't need construction (even though the Snow Fort is so large), and you should be able to purchase them right from the store (of course, prices right now are unknown).
These items might also be spotted as free gifts, or even as prizes from a new Mystery Crate - we won't know until they are actually released how you'll go about adding them to your Homestead. Also, it should be noted that Snow Fort does have a bit of a Christmas appearance to it, with the green garland and red flags. Could this be an item that Zynga skipped on releasing during the Winter Holiday season that we're just discovering now?
As usual, we'll make sure you're the first to know when and if these items launch in the game, so keep checking back.
The two items are a small Ski Rack decorative item, and a downright huge Snow Fort - that's right, a fort, complete with draw bridge - made entirely out of snow blocks. As of right now, it looks as though both items won't need construction (even though the Snow Fort is so large), and you should be able to purchase them right from the store (of course, prices right now are unknown).
These items might also be spotted as free gifts, or even as prizes from a new Mystery Crate - we won't know until they are actually released how you'll go about adding them to your Homestead. Also, it should be noted that Snow Fort does have a bit of a Christmas appearance to it, with the green garland and red flags. Could this be an item that Zynga skipped on releasing during the Winter Holiday season that we're just discovering now?
As usual, we'll make sure you're the first to know when and if these items launch in the game, so keep checking back.
Cafe World Salad Bar: Everything you need to know
It looks as though your restaurant in Cafe World will be able to receive a bit of an "all you can eat" flair in the future, as Zynga has officially released a Salad Bar buildable item in the game. This Salad Bar will require you to collect three (technically four) different kinds of items in order to complete its construction, but luckily, this seems like an incredibly easy item to build overall.
All told, you'll need to collect 2 Sneeze Guards, 4 Salad Boxes, and 2 Salad Tongs. You'll also need to technically collect a Display Case, but the simple action of moving the base of the Salad Bar from the Special item section of the store will be enough to complete that step for you.
As usual, collecting the other 8 items is a process that must be done with friends. You'll be able to click on the "Ask for More" button next to any particular ingredient to send out individual gift requests to those Cafe World neighbors that you think would be most likely to help you out. Note: There is currently an issue with asking your friends for items - keep trying and you should be able to get it to work, or simply wait until Zynga fixes the problem (they have acknowledged it) to start asking for items. You can also purchase each item individually, at a rate of 10 Cafe Cash per item.
To find out what your Salad Bar does once you build it, meet us behind the break. Once you build the Salad Bar, you will actually be able to serve salads to your customers, so you'll want to place it in a location that a lot of your customers walk by. The best place for this would of course be in a square right next to the entrance. Of course, to serve your customers though, you'll first have to stock your Salad Bar with supplies. This is done either with coins or with Cafe Cash. You can add varying amounts of "ingredients" to the Salad Bar for different amounts of coins. 10 supplies cost 27 coins, 50 supplies costs 176 coins, and 100 supplies costs 474 coins.
This basic setup of the Salad Bar gets you Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Ranch Dressing, but you'll be able to upgrade the Salad Bar to hold other ingredients (just like you can upgrade the Drink Bar or the Coffee Machine to serve different kinds of drinks). The more ingredients you unlock, the more profits you make from each salad sold, where the amount of "ingredients" you purchase for your salad equates to the number of servings you can sell (100 ingredients = 100 salads sold, and so on).
The actual unlocking of the different ingredients comes by completing a series of quests in the game, similar to any other goal set. These quests can be found by clicking on the "Unlock" button next to a particular ingredient. You'll then be able to follow the steps necessary to unlock each ingredient. For Cucumbers, as an example, you'll need to finish three steps:
Cook French Onion Soup 10 Times
Clean 10 Stoves
Spice 5 Friend Stoves
You'll be able to complete all of these tasks to unlock Cucumbers, and you can then move onto other ingredients, which require similar tasks to be completed (serve different kinds of drinks, collect items from friends, visit friends and so on). Unfortunately, if you wish to make any real money from your Salad Bar, you'll have to go through these new side-quests, but there's no timer for when you need to complete them, so feel free to take care of other goals first if you so choose.
Once you complete the first set of basic ingredients, you'll move onto "Basic Ingredient 2" and eventually "Basic Ingredient 3." With all of these new missions to complete, you're likely to always have something to do in Cafe World for quite some time - whether or not all of the "asking of friends" is worth it however, will be up to you.
All told, you'll need to collect 2 Sneeze Guards, 4 Salad Boxes, and 2 Salad Tongs. You'll also need to technically collect a Display Case, but the simple action of moving the base of the Salad Bar from the Special item section of the store will be enough to complete that step for you.
As usual, collecting the other 8 items is a process that must be done with friends. You'll be able to click on the "Ask for More" button next to any particular ingredient to send out individual gift requests to those Cafe World neighbors that you think would be most likely to help you out. Note: There is currently an issue with asking your friends for items - keep trying and you should be able to get it to work, or simply wait until Zynga fixes the problem (they have acknowledged it) to start asking for items. You can also purchase each item individually, at a rate of 10 Cafe Cash per item.
To find out what your Salad Bar does once you build it, meet us behind the break. Once you build the Salad Bar, you will actually be able to serve salads to your customers, so you'll want to place it in a location that a lot of your customers walk by. The best place for this would of course be in a square right next to the entrance. Of course, to serve your customers though, you'll first have to stock your Salad Bar with supplies. This is done either with coins or with Cafe Cash. You can add varying amounts of "ingredients" to the Salad Bar for different amounts of coins. 10 supplies cost 27 coins, 50 supplies costs 176 coins, and 100 supplies costs 474 coins.
This basic setup of the Salad Bar gets you Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Ranch Dressing, but you'll be able to upgrade the Salad Bar to hold other ingredients (just like you can upgrade the Drink Bar or the Coffee Machine to serve different kinds of drinks). The more ingredients you unlock, the more profits you make from each salad sold, where the amount of "ingredients" you purchase for your salad equates to the number of servings you can sell (100 ingredients = 100 salads sold, and so on).
The actual unlocking of the different ingredients comes by completing a series of quests in the game, similar to any other goal set. These quests can be found by clicking on the "Unlock" button next to a particular ingredient. You'll then be able to follow the steps necessary to unlock each ingredient. For Cucumbers, as an example, you'll need to finish three steps:
Cook French Onion Soup 10 Times
Clean 10 Stoves
Spice 5 Friend Stoves
You'll be able to complete all of these tasks to unlock Cucumbers, and you can then move onto other ingredients, which require similar tasks to be completed (serve different kinds of drinks, collect items from friends, visit friends and so on). Unfortunately, if you wish to make any real money from your Salad Bar, you'll have to go through these new side-quests, but there's no timer for when you need to complete them, so feel free to take care of other goals first if you so choose.
Once you complete the first set of basic ingredients, you'll move onto "Basic Ingredient 2" and eventually "Basic Ingredient 3." With all of these new missions to complete, you're likely to always have something to do in Cafe World for quite some time - whether or not all of the "asking of friends" is worth it however, will be up to you.
Friday, January 6, 2012
FarmVille Fairy Tale Animals: Black Beauty Horse & Invisible Cat
Tonight's FarmVille update brought with it two new animals in the current Fairy Tale limited edition item theme, with one of these items being a re-release from a previous theme from around this time last year. The first animal is the Black Beauty Horse, which is new to the game. We gave you a sneak peek of this horse last week, but you can now purchase one for your farm for 26 Farm Cash - it's a hefty price for a "beautiful" horse (see what I did there?), but we're sure it will stand out as a nice new member of your horse collection.
Of course, the Black Beauty Horse will also spawn the Black Beauty Foal, if you place this horse in a Horse Stable with a stallion and are lucky enough to have it breed. To get a Black Beauty Foal on your own farm, you'd need to look out for a wall post from a friend in a such a situation and claim the free foal that they post on their wall.
Meanwhile, the second animals is the Invisible Cat, which was first released as part of the Alice in Wonderland theme way back in March of 2010. The price then was 22 Farm Cash, and luckily that's the price now. The harvesting stat remains the same as well, as you'll be able to harvest from this cat once every three days.
Both of these animals will be available in the game for the next two weeks.
Of course, the Black Beauty Horse will also spawn the Black Beauty Foal, if you place this horse in a Horse Stable with a stallion and are lucky enough to have it breed. To get a Black Beauty Foal on your own farm, you'd need to look out for a wall post from a friend in a such a situation and claim the free foal that they post on their wall.
Meanwhile, the second animals is the Invisible Cat, which was first released as part of the Alice in Wonderland theme way back in March of 2010. The price then was 22 Farm Cash, and luckily that's the price now. The harvesting stat remains the same as well, as you'll be able to harvest from this cat once every three days.
Both of these animals will be available in the game for the next two weeks.
FarmVille Fairy Tale Building: Fairy Cottage
In the latest FarmVille Fairy Tale Theme Showcase video (the second in the series) we were given a sneak peek at a new building that we thought would be called a Fairy Tale Cottage. It turns out that this building was part of tonight's FarmVille update, but with its release comes a "name change," as the building is actually just called the Fairy Cottage.
The Fairy Cottage can now be purchased from the store for 15 Farm Cash, which is a downright bargain price when compared to many of the other Farm Cash buildings released in the game previously. This building is a compact one, holding a lot of decorations in a relatively small space (not much taller than your in-game avatar), but if you go through with purchasing it, you'll receive 1,500 experience points as a reward. Should you choose to sell the building later on, you'll only receive 7,500 coins in return.
This building doesn't appear to animate, but it is rather cute, so if you're interested, you have the next two weeks to pick one up for your farm before it expires from the store.
What do you think of this new Fairy Tale building? What other buildings are you hoping Zynga adds to the theme?
The Fairy Cottage can now be purchased from the store for 15 Farm Cash, which is a downright bargain price when compared to many of the other Farm Cash buildings released in the game previously. This building is a compact one, holding a lot of decorations in a relatively small space (not much taller than your in-game avatar), but if you go through with purchasing it, you'll receive 1,500 experience points as a reward. Should you choose to sell the building later on, you'll only receive 7,500 coins in return.
This building doesn't appear to animate, but it is rather cute, so if you're interested, you have the next two weeks to pick one up for your farm before it expires from the store.
What do you think of this new Fairy Tale building? What other buildings are you hoping Zynga adds to the theme?
FarmVille Fairy Tale Decorations: Knight Gnome, Green Willow Tree, & More
As part of tonight's FarmVille update, we see the release of four new decorative items in the Fairy Tale limited edition item theme. These items are some of those that we saw in the latest Fairy Tale Theme Showcase video last week, and are split evenly between those that cost Farm Cash, and those that go for coins.
The premium items are the Knight Gnome (an accompaniment to the previously released Princess Gnome), and the Green Willow Tree. The Green Willow Tree is a fairly inexpensive item, as far as Farm Cash prices go, costing 6 Farm Cash and rewarding you with 600 experience points for purchasing it. The Knight Gnome, meanwhile, comes with the high price that we expect of gnomes, at 15 Farm Cash. You'll receive 1500 experience points for adding one to your farm.
Meanwhile, the two coin-only items are the Gumdrop Sprinkle and the Mermaid Fountain, which cost 8,000 and 240,000 coins, respectively. While it's not technically set up as one, the Gumdrop Sprinkle seems like it would be a perfect fencing for your other Fairy Tale items, as it is a skinny, rectangular object. Whether or not Zynga released them with that as the intentional design usage isn't clear, but it's an idea to keep in mind all the same.
These decorations will be available in the store for the next 14 days, so shop fast to ensure you don't miss them as they will expire from the store after that time.
The premium items are the Knight Gnome (an accompaniment to the previously released Princess Gnome), and the Green Willow Tree. The Green Willow Tree is a fairly inexpensive item, as far as Farm Cash prices go, costing 6 Farm Cash and rewarding you with 600 experience points for purchasing it. The Knight Gnome, meanwhile, comes with the high price that we expect of gnomes, at 15 Farm Cash. You'll receive 1500 experience points for adding one to your farm.
Meanwhile, the two coin-only items are the Gumdrop Sprinkle and the Mermaid Fountain, which cost 8,000 and 240,000 coins, respectively. While it's not technically set up as one, the Gumdrop Sprinkle seems like it would be a perfect fencing for your other Fairy Tale items, as it is a skinny, rectangular object. Whether or not Zynga released them with that as the intentional design usage isn't clear, but it's an idea to keep in mind all the same.
These decorations will be available in the store for the next 14 days, so shop fast to ensure you don't miss them as they will expire from the store after that time.
FrontierVille Find Rango Goal: Everything you need to know
Zynga has introduced its first promotional Goal to FrontierVille, according to FrontierVille Info. It revolves around the upcoming animated film, Rango, and couldn't be more fitting. (Remember when Megamind invaded FarmVille?) The Goal is titled "Find the Sheriff of Dirt," and it's up to us to find Rango all around the homestead. Join us after the break to learn how.
While I've yet to see the Goal appear in my game, it's rare that FrontierVille Info is terribly off. First, players will need to find Rango on their homestead nine times. Similar to critters, Rango is said randomly appear when performing basic tasks like feeding animals, clearing debris and chopping trees. All you need to do is click on him when he does and repeat this another eight times to complete this portion of the Goal.
Then, you will need to ask your friends for 10 Buckets of Water, which should be standard fare at this point. However, it has yet to be explained how the third requirement, watching the Rango trailer, will be accomplished. We imagine either a link to the video or the video itself will be embedded into the Goal's pop-up window. Either way, watching a two-minute video shouldn't be tough, and it shows in the reward: a measly 30 coins and three Tools. However, we highly doubt the reward is so low for a Goal like this considering Zynga and Nickelodeon, the studio behind the movie, would like to make sure you complete it. This is an advertising effort, after all.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
While I've yet to see the Goal appear in my game, it's rare that FrontierVille Info is terribly off. First, players will need to find Rango on their homestead nine times. Similar to critters, Rango is said randomly appear when performing basic tasks like feeding animals, clearing debris and chopping trees. All you need to do is click on him when he does and repeat this another eight times to complete this portion of the Goal.
Then, you will need to ask your friends for 10 Buckets of Water, which should be standard fare at this point. However, it has yet to be explained how the third requirement, watching the Rango trailer, will be accomplished. We imagine either a link to the video or the video itself will be embedded into the Goal's pop-up window. Either way, watching a two-minute video shouldn't be tough, and it shows in the reward: a measly 30 coins and three Tools. However, we highly doubt the reward is so low for a Goal like this considering Zynga and Nickelodeon, the studio behind the movie, would like to make sure you complete it. This is an advertising effort, after all.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
FrontierVille Find Rango Badges revealed with new decorations
Rango Statue
FrontierVille Info is at it again, and has found the details and rewards for a new set of FrontierVille Badges surrounding the upcoming Rango Goal. As it stands, players will have to find Rango nine times to complete the Goal, but for every third time he's found you will receive a Badge and a reward. Find him three times and receive 300 coins and a Fast Hands Boost. Find him six times to get another 300 coins and a Rango Clothesline. Finally, finding the elusive chameleon nine times will net you another 300 coins and a Rango Statue. More importantly, this gives us a good idea of what the little lizard might look like when he appears, so be on the lookout.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Have you found Rango yet on your homestead? What do you think of these rewards?
FrontierVille Info is at it again, and has found the details and rewards for a new set of FrontierVille Badges surrounding the upcoming Rango Goal. As it stands, players will have to find Rango nine times to complete the Goal, but for every third time he's found you will receive a Badge and a reward. Find him three times and receive 300 coins and a Fast Hands Boost. Find him six times to get another 300 coins and a Rango Clothesline. Finally, finding the elusive chameleon nine times will net you another 300 coins and a Rango Statue. More importantly, this gives us a good idea of what the little lizard might look like when he appears, so be on the lookout.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Have you found Rango yet on your homestead? What do you think of these rewards?
Thursday, January 5, 2012
FarmVille English Countryside: Using the Pub
While most FarmVille farmers may be used to having a choice in their crafting buildings, between Bakeries, Wineries, and Spas, in the English Countryside, you have but one choice - the Pub. Luckily, this building is readily available to purchase for farmers when they arrive in the English Countryside, and it costs you just 100,000 coins to do so.
The Pub takes up a fairly large footprint, if you're concerned about saving space, and functions as other Crafting Buildings have in the past. That is, it starts as a 1-Star Pub, with only two recipes available to craft, but can be expanded all the way up to a 5-Star Pub by leveling up the recipes that you currently have access to with Bushels.
To get you started, we've made a list of the recipes you can expect to create and master for the first two levels of the Pub, as Levels 3-5 are unknown as of this writing. Meet us behind the break to see what's in store for you once you purchase a Pub for your second farm.
As we said, the Pub starts at level 1, and functions just as you'd expect. While planting and harvesting the 15 new English Countryside crops (check out our full guide for details on each crop), you'll receive Bushels, with those bushels going to create various goods. For Level 1, you'll have just two recipes available to you:
Oliviaberry Beer: 3 Hops Bushels and 5 Red Currant Bushels
Duke's Stout: 4 Hops Bushels and 4 Barley Bushels
These recipes will level up through "experience points" as you continually craft them, or as your friends purchase the units that you craft. You'll have just two crafting tables to work with at the start, but you'll only need to level up recipes six times (either one recipe six times, or a combination of the two) in order to be eligible to upgrade your Pub to the next level, unlocking another table and more recipes to craft.
For Level 2, you'll unlock two additional recipes, bringing your Pub cookbook to four recipes total. You'll receive the following:
Barley Crumpets: 3 English Rose Bushels, 2 English Pea Bushels, 2 Barley Bushels
Floral Scones: 2 Bluebell Bushels, 3 English Rose Bushels, 2 Cornflower Bushels
As you sell Goods to friends, you'll earn 80% of the purchase price as your profit. This is the quickest way to level up recipes (that is, actually selling the Goods you produce), so if you're looking to quickly earn those exclusive mastery signs for mastering these Goods, make sure to remind your friends to buy everything you're selling.
All English-specific features aside, you'll be able to use the Pub just as you would the Crafting Building back on your own farm. You can use the building to purchase Goods, even if those Goods are from the Home Farm's crops, and you can use the building to turn in those Goods for fuel. As you have one overall Fuel level for both Farms, it doesn't really matter where you turn in these Goods, as you'll receive the same amount of Fuel either way.
While this sounds good and all, remember, if you want to create these Crafting Recipes, you'll need to accept the fact that all activity will be suspended in your Home Farm while you work in England due to the current "Pause" feature. If you're ok with that, then craft away!
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Will you work on mastering these Crafting Recipes, or are you still trying to master all of the recipes from your original farm?
The Pub takes up a fairly large footprint, if you're concerned about saving space, and functions as other Crafting Buildings have in the past. That is, it starts as a 1-Star Pub, with only two recipes available to craft, but can be expanded all the way up to a 5-Star Pub by leveling up the recipes that you currently have access to with Bushels.
To get you started, we've made a list of the recipes you can expect to create and master for the first two levels of the Pub, as Levels 3-5 are unknown as of this writing. Meet us behind the break to see what's in store for you once you purchase a Pub for your second farm.
As we said, the Pub starts at level 1, and functions just as you'd expect. While planting and harvesting the 15 new English Countryside crops (check out our full guide for details on each crop), you'll receive Bushels, with those bushels going to create various goods. For Level 1, you'll have just two recipes available to you:
Oliviaberry Beer: 3 Hops Bushels and 5 Red Currant Bushels
Duke's Stout: 4 Hops Bushels and 4 Barley Bushels
These recipes will level up through "experience points" as you continually craft them, or as your friends purchase the units that you craft. You'll have just two crafting tables to work with at the start, but you'll only need to level up recipes six times (either one recipe six times, or a combination of the two) in order to be eligible to upgrade your Pub to the next level, unlocking another table and more recipes to craft.
For Level 2, you'll unlock two additional recipes, bringing your Pub cookbook to four recipes total. You'll receive the following:
Barley Crumpets: 3 English Rose Bushels, 2 English Pea Bushels, 2 Barley Bushels
Floral Scones: 2 Bluebell Bushels, 3 English Rose Bushels, 2 Cornflower Bushels
As you sell Goods to friends, you'll earn 80% of the purchase price as your profit. This is the quickest way to level up recipes (that is, actually selling the Goods you produce), so if you're looking to quickly earn those exclusive mastery signs for mastering these Goods, make sure to remind your friends to buy everything you're selling.
All English-specific features aside, you'll be able to use the Pub just as you would the Crafting Building back on your own farm. You can use the building to purchase Goods, even if those Goods are from the Home Farm's crops, and you can use the building to turn in those Goods for fuel. As you have one overall Fuel level for both Farms, it doesn't really matter where you turn in these Goods, as you'll receive the same amount of Fuel either way.
While this sounds good and all, remember, if you want to create these Crafting Recipes, you'll need to accept the fact that all activity will be suspended in your Home Farm while you work in England due to the current "Pause" feature. If you're ok with that, then craft away!
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Will you work on mastering these Crafting Recipes, or are you still trying to master all of the recipes from your original farm?
Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Kelly Ripa's OCRF Promotion
If you're looking to skip the Bon Voyage Tea Party in FarmVille and jump straight to the English Countryside (which costs 60 Farm Cash to do), then you might be interested in taking part in a new free Farm Cash promotion that has started appearing on users' farms this week.
The promotion is from Kelly Ripa's virtual Tea Party, in association with OCRF, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. It can be found by clicking on the Sponsored Link window [pictured] at the bottom of the FarmVille gameplay area, as you would find most other free Farm Cash promotions. This activity is incredibly simple, and has you choosing different outfits for a pair of animated characters, choosing the color of their tea set and china, and then simply receiving your Farm Cash at the end. There are no fan pages to like, nothing to donate to, and no personally identifiable information to give out.
These are two of the easiest Farm Cash you'll ever earn, and you can then go right into your game and spend them on whatever you'd like - even putting it towards that admittedly expensive trip to England.
We'll make sure to let you know if more promotions launch in the future, so keep checking back.
Have you completed this new free Farm Cash activity, or has it not cycled around to your game yet?
The promotion is from Kelly Ripa's virtual Tea Party, in association with OCRF, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. It can be found by clicking on the Sponsored Link window [pictured] at the bottom of the FarmVille gameplay area, as you would find most other free Farm Cash promotions. This activity is incredibly simple, and has you choosing different outfits for a pair of animated characters, choosing the color of their tea set and china, and then simply receiving your Farm Cash at the end. There are no fan pages to like, nothing to donate to, and no personally identifiable information to give out.
These are two of the easiest Farm Cash you'll ever earn, and you can then go right into your game and spend them on whatever you'd like - even putting it towards that admittedly expensive trip to England.
We'll make sure to let you know if more promotions launch in the future, so keep checking back.
Have you completed this new free Farm Cash activity, or has it not cycled around to your game yet?
Plant CityVille Lettuce crops, give to Japan earthquake victims
Still haven't gotten around to donating to the Japan earthquake victims? Fret not, as Zynga has given you a second chance in CityVille with the new Lettuce crop. For every single head of "Earthquake Relief Lettuce" purchased for 8 City Cash, Zynga will donate the proceeds to Save the Children, according to CityVille Info.
The company recently ended a round of donation promotions in FarmVille, FrontierVille, Cafe World and more, raising over $1 million for Save the Children to donate to Japan. It's unsure whether this is start of another round, though we're sure Zynga could easily raise another $1 million if that were the case.
Like the Sweet Potato crop before it, these Lettuce crops grow instantly, never wither and are worth 425 Goods. Roughly, 8 City Cash amounts to $1, though you can only buy the currency in bundles of 15 for $2. Either way, every dollar counts to help alleviate the devastation in Japan, so plant a head of lettuce, will ya?
[Source: CityVille Info]
Have you donated to the Japanese earthquake victims yet? What do you think of Zynga's approach to giving to disaster victims?
The company recently ended a round of donation promotions in FarmVille, FrontierVille, Cafe World and more, raising over $1 million for Save the Children to donate to Japan. It's unsure whether this is start of another round, though we're sure Zynga could easily raise another $1 million if that were the case.
Like the Sweet Potato crop before it, these Lettuce crops grow instantly, never wither and are worth 425 Goods. Roughly, 8 City Cash amounts to $1, though you can only buy the currency in bundles of 15 for $2. Either way, every dollar counts to help alleviate the devastation in Japan, so plant a head of lettuce, will ya?
[Source: CityVille Info]
Have you donated to the Japanese earthquake victims yet? What do you think of Zynga's approach to giving to disaster victims?
FarmVille English Countryside works on Apple iPhone, iPad too
It's not April Fools Day just yet, so we're 100 percent sincere with this one, folks. FarmVille English Countryside works with FarmVille for iOS devices just like it does the original game. However, according to Zynga forum Super Moderator Serendipity, there are a few catches to how it all works. For instance, your FarmVille mobile game will only have access to the farm that you're currently working on through Facebook. In other words, your paused farm is inaccessible via your iPhone too.
If your FarmVille game was running in the background while you traveled to English Countryside on Facebook, your mobile game will receive an error and restart as your English farm. Here's a full guide to how your new farm will work on your iOS device:
The gift inventory is shared across both England and Home farms but certain items will be locked in inventory if associated with the opposite farm (I.E. England items will be locked from use while on your Home farm). All pending gifts can be accepted across farms.
Neighbors are shared across farms and you will visit whichever farm that neighbor is currently viewing.
If Mary is working on her English farm and I go visit her, I will go to her English farm. While visiting, I can fertilize plots and feed her chickens (if present), the same as with the home farm.
Storage inventory is unique to each farm. This means storage items are not shared.
The market will have unique items, differentiating between your Home farm and English farm. Items will appear locked on the farm you are not currently visiting.
The sheep pen will only display the offspring as white.
In other words, every rule that applies to the differences between FarmVille classic and English Countryside while on Facebook also apply to FarmVille for iOS. Your gifts are usable between both farms, but only if they're universal items like common building materials and Special Delivery Boxes. Visiting friends via mobile will take you the farm they're currently playing on--just like how it works on the web. So, enjoy all the same functionality (that's up for debate) you did before with FarmVille for iOS with an English twist.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Have you tried accessing your English farm through your iPhone or iPad yet? Would you have liked it better if you could have accessed one farm on mobile and other through Facebook?
If your FarmVille game was running in the background while you traveled to English Countryside on Facebook, your mobile game will receive an error and restart as your English farm. Here's a full guide to how your new farm will work on your iOS device:
The gift inventory is shared across both England and Home farms but certain items will be locked in inventory if associated with the opposite farm (I.E. England items will be locked from use while on your Home farm). All pending gifts can be accepted across farms.
Neighbors are shared across farms and you will visit whichever farm that neighbor is currently viewing.
If Mary is working on her English farm and I go visit her, I will go to her English farm. While visiting, I can fertilize plots and feed her chickens (if present), the same as with the home farm.
Storage inventory is unique to each farm. This means storage items are not shared.
The market will have unique items, differentiating between your Home farm and English farm. Items will appear locked on the farm you are not currently visiting.
The sheep pen will only display the offspring as white.
In other words, every rule that applies to the differences between FarmVille classic and English Countryside while on Facebook also apply to FarmVille for iOS. Your gifts are usable between both farms, but only if they're universal items like common building materials and Special Delivery Boxes. Visiting friends via mobile will take you the farm they're currently playing on--just like how it works on the web. So, enjoy all the same functionality (that's up for debate) you did before with FarmVille for iOS with an English twist.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Have you tried accessing your English farm through your iPhone or iPad yet? Would you have liked it better if you could have accessed one farm on mobile and other through Facebook?
Mysterious blue police box appears in FarmVille's English Countryside
A mysterious blue police box made an appearance on my new FarmVille English Countryside farm today, and -- being the tried-and-true Doctor Who fan that I am -- can't help but wonder if this is a tongue-in-cheek nod to one of the best (and oldest) shows in British TV history, or if this is just a mere coincidence. Anyway, if a guy wearing a bow tie or one of those tenacious Daleks show up on the farm one day, I might lose my mind (in the good kind of way).
doctor who
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
doctor who
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)