Not entirely unlike the Pioneer Trail, or even FarmVille, Zynga's newest Facebook game - Adventure World - allows you to decorate a Base Camp that serves as this game's "Homestead" or "Home Farm." And just like in those other popular games, you'll be able to expand your Base Camp to hold more goodies, whether functional, or just those used for decoration.
While Adventure World starts you off with a fairly large section of land, covered in shrubs, trees and other debris, it's inevitable that we'll eventually run out of room. Even if we didn't, just look at those cool items waiting off in the shadows! There are new treasure sites (like the one pictured above), but there's even an Adventure Society Plane just waiting to be unlocked. To purchase these expansions, you can either click on something in this shadow-covered land, which automatically brings up the Expansion menu, or you can access it the "old fashioned way," by clicking on the Hammer / Bricks icon in the game's tool menu and then clicking on the Expansion tab (at the far right).
Either way, once you open this menu, you'll see that there are currently six expansions available to purchase, but they are locked based on your in-game level, or the amount of coins you currently have to spend. The first expansion costs 3,000 coins, and once you click on it to purchase it, you'll be allowed to move a large expansion area over to one of the shadowy spaces in your Base Camp. Click on the ground to purchase the selected expansion plot and voila! The shadows disappear and you can now interact with whatever item you've unlocked.
If you wish to use this land for decoration, you can do that as well, by first clicking on all of that new debris to spend energy clearing it away. As of right now, there's no "Zoning Permit" or "Land Grant" that's needed to unlock these expansions; you'll just need good old coins. It's not entirely impossible that such a roadblock might be added in the future, however, so your best bet might be to focus on expanding sooner, rather than later.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Base Camp expansion system in Adventure World? Do you like purchasing just single sections of land, or would you prefer each side of the Base Camp to simply extend further with each expansion? Sound off in the comments.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Adventure World Cheats & Tips: Avatar Appearance Guide
If you're like me, your first instinct with Zynga's newest Facebook game Adventure World was probably to immediately start making your way through Expeditions. After all, it's not everyday that you have a chance to gain access to the lost city of El Dorado, even if it is virtually. Here's something you might have missed though - did you know you can change your avatar's appearance? With so many characters walking around in the same tan outfits, this is a great way to spend a few coins to really set yourself apart from your peers (even more helpful when joining Expeditions, as your friends can tell you apart).
To change your avatar's appearance or clothing, click on the Crate in the bottom right corner of the screen, and from there click on the brown hat. This brings up a menu like the one below, where you'll see your avatar moving through a series of animations, and can choose from a variety of facial features (eyebrows, noses, and even facial hair or glasses), along with clothing options for both tops and bottoms.
Simply browse through these sections, clicking on items as you choose to try them on. Again, it's important to note that you avatar is constantly moving in the preview area, as this will show you what he or she will actually look like while moving, while wearing these new items. You'll need to then click on the large green button that appears underneath your avatar to actually purchase the individual items you try on, so don't forget to do that before closing the window or changing tabs.
If you do happen to close the window (or change tabs) before purchasing any of your changes, they'll unfortunately be lost, requiring you to enter the menu and try on (and actually purchase) these items from scratch. In this, there's unfortunately not any way (currently) to try on full outfits to see how new tops look with new pants, unless you purchase one outright. When you purchase a new item, it will instantly be equipped, so you'd have to purchase one or the other on a whim and hope it doesn't actually look good with the other item you had thought of.
All in all, it's likely that more clothing items will be released in the future to give us even more customization options, but for now, take a look at the selection available and see if you can create an avatar that more represents your own personal style.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
Have you edited your avatar's appearance in Adventure World, or are you saving your coins for other items, such as Base Camp Expansions, instead? Sound off in the comments.
To change your avatar's appearance or clothing, click on the Crate in the bottom right corner of the screen, and from there click on the brown hat. This brings up a menu like the one below, where you'll see your avatar moving through a series of animations, and can choose from a variety of facial features (eyebrows, noses, and even facial hair or glasses), along with clothing options for both tops and bottoms.
Simply browse through these sections, clicking on items as you choose to try them on. Again, it's important to note that you avatar is constantly moving in the preview area, as this will show you what he or she will actually look like while moving, while wearing these new items. You'll need to then click on the large green button that appears underneath your avatar to actually purchase the individual items you try on, so don't forget to do that before closing the window or changing tabs.
If you do happen to close the window (or change tabs) before purchasing any of your changes, they'll unfortunately be lost, requiring you to enter the menu and try on (and actually purchase) these items from scratch. In this, there's unfortunately not any way (currently) to try on full outfits to see how new tops look with new pants, unless you purchase one outright. When you purchase a new item, it will instantly be equipped, so you'd have to purchase one or the other on a whim and hope it doesn't actually look good with the other item you had thought of.
All in all, it's likely that more clothing items will be released in the future to give us even more customization options, but for now, take a look at the selection available and see if you can create an avatar that more represents your own personal style.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
Have you edited your avatar's appearance in Adventure World, or are you saving your coins for other items, such as Base Camp Expansions, instead? Sound off in the comments.
Adventure World Deep Jungle Quests: Everything you need to know
As we've told you before, Zynga's newest Facebook game Adventure World comes with it tons of new maps, taking you through the dense jungles and even through dark and gloomy caves while trying to gain access to the lost city of El Dorado. Early on in the gameplay (via the game's tutorial), you're given the Master Key to opening El Dorado, but are slowed when you realize that before the key will turn, you'll need to find and replace four idols to the surrounding pillars. The first idol is the Monkey Idol, and you'll unlock access to completing this new adventure as soon as you gather three friends to help, along with some supplies in the form of Food, Fuel and Water.
This new adventure takes place in an area known as the Deep Jungle. Just like an Expedition, this Deep Jungle area contains quests within itself (side-quests, if you will) that can also be completed as you go along. Your overall goal, yes, it to collect the Monkey Idol, but there's so much more to it than that. Here's a guide to surviving the Deep Jungle, and coming back with the Monkey Idol in one piece.
Main Quests in the Deep Jungle
Find the Monkey Idol, Part 1
Recover the Monkey Idol
Of course, the Monkey Idol can't just be right as you walk in the door, but is instead on the far side of this massive map. There are plenty of cloud covering your view, traps to disarm and snakes to kill, but if you can continually wait for your energy to recharge, you'll eventually make it to the end to "recover" this Idol. Here's a picture of it for your reference.
Find the Monkey Idol, Part 2
Recover the Idol... Quick!
Ok, so maybe that last idol was fake. And maybe you're now stuck in a pit full of snakes underground, but that's nothing you can't handle, right? As the quest window tells you, the real Monkey Idol is behind the wall in front of you, so clear out the snakes in the pit and use your Master Key on the keyhole in front of you. This cases the wall to drop, revealing the real Monkey Idol!
Find the Monkey Idol, Part 3
Return to Base Camp
Place the Monkey Idol
At this point, you will have completed the main quests for Deep Jungle, but it should be noted that you can click on the first, false Monkey Idol at any time, but will not have a chance to go back and complete the side quests below after that point. Continue only when you feel that you've completed everything you wanted to. Note: If this changes in the future, we'll make sure to let you know.
Deep Jungle Side Quests
Hungry Monkeys!
Harvest 4 Banana Trees
Feed Bananas to 4 Monkeys
Banana Trees tend to be found in the far corners of the map, or in areas that are otherwise hard to get to due to tons of bushes or snakes. Here's a picture of them for your reference.
Gather Rare Flowers
Collect 5 Blue Flowers
Collect 5 Orange Flowers
Collect 5 Pink Flowers
These flowers are scattered throughout the map, so just keep an eye on when clearing bushes or whacking snakes to see if you notice any flowers nearby. You might also need to enter into caves hidden under "Blooming Bushes" to find flowers and the Vases below. Here's the location of two hidden caves (the Ladders are revealed under the Blooming Bushes) for your reference.
Snake Handling
Defeat 5 Bush Snakes
Defeat 5 Quick Snakes
Hire a Friend to Help
Luckily, you can complete all of these tasks on your own, so don't panic about the "hiring a friend" bit. Since you already had to ask for three friends' help before even starting these quests, you'll then see your three friends scattered through the map waiting for you to call on them. Just click on their picture and then click on the "Hire" button that appears. You'll then "take control" of that friend's avatar, and can perform three actions with the tools they currently have in their own game. That is, if they're a much higher level than you, and have upgraded tools, you'll gain the power of those tool for your short time with them in the game. Just hire one friend and you'll complete this task. As for the other two, remember that Quick Snakes are those that roam freely, while Bush Snakes hide inside bushes that shake.
Society Work
Get 5 Jade Vases
Get 3 Red Vases
Get 2 Azure Skulls
Get a Leafy Reinforcement from the Arrowhead Collection
Like in most other maps, we're asked to collect Jade and Red Vases, which are scattered randomly throughout the map. If you don't think they're worth collecting, due to the energy you'll "waste" doing so, keep in mind that collecting these type of items normally give you free energy in return (sometimes more than you spent), so it's definitely worthwhile. As for the Leafy Reinforcement, you can earn it in any Jungle Map at random - so, something like Snake Marsh, for instance. I suppose, then, you could also earn it while going through the Deep Jungle, but I would be surprised if they made it that easy.
With these story-based quests, there's no time limit for completing them, so if you're currently in the middle of an Expedition, feel free to go and complete it before your time runs out instead of rushing through these quests. The Monkey Idol will be waiting for you when you're ready for it, and hopefully you'll have earned some much better tools to help you get there faster. Happy exploring!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Deep Jungle quests, or the entire gameplay of Adventure World so far? Sound off in the comments.
This new adventure takes place in an area known as the Deep Jungle. Just like an Expedition, this Deep Jungle area contains quests within itself (side-quests, if you will) that can also be completed as you go along. Your overall goal, yes, it to collect the Monkey Idol, but there's so much more to it than that. Here's a guide to surviving the Deep Jungle, and coming back with the Monkey Idol in one piece.
Main Quests in the Deep Jungle
Find the Monkey Idol, Part 1
Recover the Monkey Idol
Of course, the Monkey Idol can't just be right as you walk in the door, but is instead on the far side of this massive map. There are plenty of cloud covering your view, traps to disarm and snakes to kill, but if you can continually wait for your energy to recharge, you'll eventually make it to the end to "recover" this Idol. Here's a picture of it for your reference.
Find the Monkey Idol, Part 2
Recover the Idol... Quick!
Ok, so maybe that last idol was fake. And maybe you're now stuck in a pit full of snakes underground, but that's nothing you can't handle, right? As the quest window tells you, the real Monkey Idol is behind the wall in front of you, so clear out the snakes in the pit and use your Master Key on the keyhole in front of you. This cases the wall to drop, revealing the real Monkey Idol!
Find the Monkey Idol, Part 3
Return to Base Camp
Place the Monkey Idol
At this point, you will have completed the main quests for Deep Jungle, but it should be noted that you can click on the first, false Monkey Idol at any time, but will not have a chance to go back and complete the side quests below after that point. Continue only when you feel that you've completed everything you wanted to. Note: If this changes in the future, we'll make sure to let you know.
Deep Jungle Side Quests
Hungry Monkeys!
Harvest 4 Banana Trees
Feed Bananas to 4 Monkeys
Banana Trees tend to be found in the far corners of the map, or in areas that are otherwise hard to get to due to tons of bushes or snakes. Here's a picture of them for your reference.
Gather Rare Flowers
Collect 5 Blue Flowers
Collect 5 Orange Flowers
Collect 5 Pink Flowers
These flowers are scattered throughout the map, so just keep an eye on when clearing bushes or whacking snakes to see if you notice any flowers nearby. You might also need to enter into caves hidden under "Blooming Bushes" to find flowers and the Vases below. Here's the location of two hidden caves (the Ladders are revealed under the Blooming Bushes) for your reference.
Snake Handling
Defeat 5 Bush Snakes
Defeat 5 Quick Snakes
Hire a Friend to Help
Luckily, you can complete all of these tasks on your own, so don't panic about the "hiring a friend" bit. Since you already had to ask for three friends' help before even starting these quests, you'll then see your three friends scattered through the map waiting for you to call on them. Just click on their picture and then click on the "Hire" button that appears. You'll then "take control" of that friend's avatar, and can perform three actions with the tools they currently have in their own game. That is, if they're a much higher level than you, and have upgraded tools, you'll gain the power of those tool for your short time with them in the game. Just hire one friend and you'll complete this task. As for the other two, remember that Quick Snakes are those that roam freely, while Bush Snakes hide inside bushes that shake.
Society Work
Get 5 Jade Vases
Get 3 Red Vases
Get 2 Azure Skulls
Get a Leafy Reinforcement from the Arrowhead Collection
Like in most other maps, we're asked to collect Jade and Red Vases, which are scattered randomly throughout the map. If you don't think they're worth collecting, due to the energy you'll "waste" doing so, keep in mind that collecting these type of items normally give you free energy in return (sometimes more than you spent), so it's definitely worthwhile. As for the Leafy Reinforcement, you can earn it in any Jungle Map at random - so, something like Snake Marsh, for instance. I suppose, then, you could also earn it while going through the Deep Jungle, but I would be surprised if they made it that easy.
With these story-based quests, there's no time limit for completing them, so if you're currently in the middle of an Expedition, feel free to go and complete it before your time runs out instead of rushing through these quests. The Monkey Idol will be waiting for you when you're ready for it, and hopefully you'll have earned some much better tools to help you get there faster. Happy exploring!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Deep Jungle quests, or the entire gameplay of Adventure World so far? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Lighthouse Cove Barn and Garage
If you were starting to doubt just how functional the upcoming Lighthouse Cove farm in FarmVille would be, some of those fears should be put to rest with Zynga's newest teaser image. While this is the same section of the farm that we've seen time and time again (with the mermaid, whale and boat dock), this picture also shows us what's going a bit further to the west, in the form of the farm's barn and garage (the red and blue buildings, respectively).
The text for this teaser image states that we'll be able to "[r]estore the cove, create a thriving restaurant, master your animals and crops and complete the ultimate farming cove experience with the coastal lighthouse!"
Of course, we already brought you details on this restaurant, in that it will be this third farm's Crafting Cottage, but the idea of restoring the cove is an interesting one. Perhaps this will be more like the English Countryside than not, seeing us fix the Barn and Garage using excess building parts, rather than starting them from scratch. Whatever the case, this farmer is incredibly excited to see more, and we'll make sure to let you know all additional details surrounding Lighthouse Cove as we know more.
Do you think we'll have to fix buildings in Lighthouse Cove, or could this "restore" wording deal with repairing the lighthouse or boat dock - things that are unique to this third farm? Speculate with us in the comments!
The text for this teaser image states that we'll be able to "[r]estore the cove, create a thriving restaurant, master your animals and crops and complete the ultimate farming cove experience with the coastal lighthouse!"
Of course, we already brought you details on this restaurant, in that it will be this third farm's Crafting Cottage, but the idea of restoring the cove is an interesting one. Perhaps this will be more like the English Countryside than not, seeing us fix the Barn and Garage using excess building parts, rather than starting them from scratch. Whatever the case, this farmer is incredibly excited to see more, and we'll make sure to let you know all additional details surrounding Lighthouse Cove as we know more.
Do you think we'll have to fix buildings in Lighthouse Cove, or could this "restore" wording deal with repairing the lighthouse or boat dock - things that are unique to this third farm? Speculate with us in the comments!
FarmVille Mystery Game (09/11/11): Aviary animals take flight for one week only
You have to hand it to the FarmVille team at Zynga - when they release a new feature in FarmVille (in this case the Aviary), they are quick to release plenty of animals to fill it. That idea has been carried into this week's Mystery Game, as seven birds are available in the now regular setup of "win all six regular animals, and you'll win a free prize."
To be specific, the six available birds contain those that we gave you a sneak peek of earlier, along with a cute chubby yellow bird that is easily one of the cutest animals I've ever seen in the game. Here's a complete list of the available birds:
Blue Sumatra Rooster
Araucana Chicken
Dabbler Duck
Ancona Duck
Sebastopol Goose
Orpington Chicken
Each dart for this week's game costs 20 Farm Cash, and while you may end up having to pay more than 120 Farm Cash to earn all six of the above birds, if you can complete the collection, you'll receive the Black Necked Swan as a free gift. Actually, the word "free" doesn't really fit here, after all of the Farm Cash you've spent to earn the Swan, but I digress. She'll be there waiting for you, if you want to earn her, but only for one week, when the birds of this Mystery Game will take flight.
What do you think of the birds in this week's Mystery Game? Will you try to earn all of the birds so you can walk away with the Black Necked Swan? Let us know in the comments.
To be specific, the six available birds contain those that we gave you a sneak peek of earlier, along with a cute chubby yellow bird that is easily one of the cutest animals I've ever seen in the game. Here's a complete list of the available birds:
Blue Sumatra Rooster
Araucana Chicken
Dabbler Duck
Ancona Duck
Sebastopol Goose
Orpington Chicken
Each dart for this week's game costs 20 Farm Cash, and while you may end up having to pay more than 120 Farm Cash to earn all six of the above birds, if you can complete the collection, you'll receive the Black Necked Swan as a free gift. Actually, the word "free" doesn't really fit here, after all of the Farm Cash you've spent to earn the Swan, but I digress. She'll be there waiting for you, if you want to earn her, but only for one week, when the birds of this Mystery Game will take flight.
What do you think of the birds in this week's Mystery Game? Will you try to earn all of the birds so you can walk away with the Black Necked Swan? Let us know in the comments.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Zynga Mobile steals away Disney Interactive exec Adam Sussman
Just despicable: When Zynga isn't buying out companies, it's downright hiring buying out people. According to paidContent, Disney Games SVP Adam Sussman has left the company to join Zynga Mobile, which Disney confirmed to paidContent's Staci D. Kramer. Sussman joined Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) in January of this year, coming from EA's mobile division.
The former SVP was responsible for global publishing at Disney's games department, but paidContent believes Sussman will focus solely on mobile games while with Zynga Mobile, working under David Ko. In his move to Zynga Mobile, Sussman joins former Playdom VP of global distribution Paul LaFontaine as the second Disney Games executive to leave this week alone.
Companies like Disney, EA and similar major gaming companies have suffered several losses of high-level executives--including EA COO John Schappert (which has since been confirmed)--to Zynga and other competitors this year. Even a delayed IPO (initial public offering) can't scare high-level games industry execs away from the big red dog.
The continuous string of bad news already had analysts questioning whether Disney and Playdom could hang with its competitors months ago, and the fact that the company is having trouble holding onto its key players doesn't help today. Despite its losses, games like Gardens of Times do consistently well for Disney Playdom.
So, perhaps there is still hope for the company that it can squeeze out another hit and continue to hang with the top five Facebook game developers. You know, another hit like ... a Facebook game actually revolving around Disney characters? (Um ... duh?)
[Image Credit: Disney]
Do you think Disney Playdom can still compete with Zynga, EA and Wooga despite its losses and worried analysts? Why do you think the developer has yet to make a Facebook game using Disney characters? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The former SVP was responsible for global publishing at Disney's games department, but paidContent believes Sussman will focus solely on mobile games while with Zynga Mobile, working under David Ko. In his move to Zynga Mobile, Sussman joins former Playdom VP of global distribution Paul LaFontaine as the second Disney Games executive to leave this week alone.
Companies like Disney, EA and similar major gaming companies have suffered several losses of high-level executives--including EA COO John Schappert (which has since been confirmed)--to Zynga and other competitors this year. Even a delayed IPO (initial public offering) can't scare high-level games industry execs away from the big red dog.
The continuous string of bad news already had analysts questioning whether Disney and Playdom could hang with its competitors months ago, and the fact that the company is having trouble holding onto its key players doesn't help today. Despite its losses, games like Gardens of Times do consistently well for Disney Playdom.
So, perhaps there is still hope for the company that it can squeeze out another hit and continue to hang with the top five Facebook game developers. You know, another hit like ... a Facebook game actually revolving around Disney characters? (Um ... duh?)
[Image Credit: Disney]
Do you think Disney Playdom can still compete with Zynga, EA and Wooga despite its losses and worried analysts? Why do you think the developer has yet to make a Facebook game using Disney characters? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Adventure World Jungle Run Expedition: Everything you need to know
Just yesterday, Zynga dropped their biggest Facebook game yet - Adventure World, which sees you tackling an adventure leading to the opening of the lost city of El Dorado through a main storyline and series of Expeditions. These expeditions are repeatable, and will see you tackling a series of specific quests on different maps. In our third Expedition, available at Level 5, we're asked to make our way through Jungle Run, which has a two day time limit. You'll need 150 Supplies, along with a single unit of Food, Fuel and Water to make your way through the Expedition, and your maximum final prizes are 880 coins and 1 Fuel (along with the XP and coins, etc. that you'll earn by simply making your way through the Expedition's quests).
Get to the Finish!
Get the First Champion's Sunstone
Get the Second Champion's Sunstone
Get the Third Champion's Sunstone
Get the Fourth Champion's Sunstone
In Jungle Run, you're presented with an ancient obstacle course, and must make your way to the finish line (the end of the map) while collecting four "Chamption Sunstones." If you can't see them on your own while traveling through the map (some blend in with their surroundings), then just enter into the Quest Menu above and click on the "Show Me" button to have the camera pan to the item's location.
Clear the Obstacles!
Clear 5 Sprung Spike Traps
Use 5 Banana Peels to Clean Up
As you go along the path, you'll find wooden spikes sticking up from the ground and must whack them with your Machete to clear them. They're fairly tall, so you should have no problem spotting them on the paths in front of you. As for the Banana Peels, these are rather small, and a very pale yellow, so you may need to really scan the landscape to find enough.
Take a Breather
Investigate 3 Hidden Rest Stops
Get 3 Azure Skulls
Get 5 Ruby Vases
Ask friends for 3 Fly Swatters
In this Expedition, we find our first friend request task, which should be taken incredibly seriously, as remember - you're on a time limit of two days to finish all three quests. Specifically, these Fly Swatters are earned by sending out individual gift requests to your friends. If you don't have very many friends that have jumped into Adventure World with you, this might be a bit difficult to complete, so make sure to check and see if your friends have started playing before panicking.
As for the hidden rest stops, they are hidden behind groups of clouds. Just click on the land next to the clouds and the clouds will clear automatically as you approach. From there, just click on the blue Azure Skull and you'll complete the "discovery" of that hidden rest stop.
Once you complete these three quests, you will have finished the ancient obstacle course and will be rewarded with your prizes. Remember, you can replay these Expeditions at any time (that is, if you have the Supplies necessary to leave Base Camp), so if you find one that you particularly like, keep playing it over and over to raise your level and become a better adventurer! Happy travels!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Jungle Run Expedition in Adventure World? Have you started or finished this Expedition yet? Let us know in the comments.
Get to the Finish!
Get the First Champion's Sunstone
Get the Second Champion's Sunstone
Get the Third Champion's Sunstone
Get the Fourth Champion's Sunstone
In Jungle Run, you're presented with an ancient obstacle course, and must make your way to the finish line (the end of the map) while collecting four "Chamption Sunstones." If you can't see them on your own while traveling through the map (some blend in with their surroundings), then just enter into the Quest Menu above and click on the "Show Me" button to have the camera pan to the item's location.
Clear the Obstacles!
Clear 5 Sprung Spike Traps
Use 5 Banana Peels to Clean Up
As you go along the path, you'll find wooden spikes sticking up from the ground and must whack them with your Machete to clear them. They're fairly tall, so you should have no problem spotting them on the paths in front of you. As for the Banana Peels, these are rather small, and a very pale yellow, so you may need to really scan the landscape to find enough.
Take a Breather
Investigate 3 Hidden Rest Stops
Get 3 Azure Skulls
Get 5 Ruby Vases
Ask friends for 3 Fly Swatters
In this Expedition, we find our first friend request task, which should be taken incredibly seriously, as remember - you're on a time limit of two days to finish all three quests. Specifically, these Fly Swatters are earned by sending out individual gift requests to your friends. If you don't have very many friends that have jumped into Adventure World with you, this might be a bit difficult to complete, so make sure to check and see if your friends have started playing before panicking.
As for the hidden rest stops, they are hidden behind groups of clouds. Just click on the land next to the clouds and the clouds will clear automatically as you approach. From there, just click on the blue Azure Skull and you'll complete the "discovery" of that hidden rest stop.
Once you complete these three quests, you will have finished the ancient obstacle course and will be rewarded with your prizes. Remember, you can replay these Expeditions at any time (that is, if you have the Supplies necessary to leave Base Camp), so if you find one that you particularly like, keep playing it over and over to raise your level and become a better adventurer! Happy travels!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Jungle Run Expedition in Adventure World? Have you started or finished this Expedition yet? Let us know in the comments.
FarmVille Upgrade window asks for permission to publish app activity to the ticker [UPDATE]
Many FarmVille players, myself included, were recently met with a new FarmVille Upgrade window upon entering their farms. We were asked to give Zynga (via the FarmVille app) our permission to publish games and app activity... but to where? According to the in-game pop-up, this all points to the new Facebook Games Ticker (which, as we reported earlier, can be considered a way for your friends to stalk you while online).
This ticker will show your friends when you've logged into a specific app, such as FarmVille, or can simply be used as a way to prove that you're online (and are capable of accepting their requests or messages) without you needing to be signed into Facebook Chat. Either way, the details about this FarmVille Upgrade were incredibly shaky when it comes to privacy, as are most other things when it comes to Facebook.
As usual, the general rule of thumb is to never store or publish information on Facebook that you wouldn't be comfortable with the entire world seeing, regardless of how locked down your profile may be to "strangers." For these specific options, though, you can see exactly what Zynga is asking for below. It all looks pretty straightforward, and looks like permissions we've given the developer before.
Since things are so cryptic, this also could be a precursor to the upcoming ability to add FarmVille neighbors that aren't your Facebook friends. Either way, your gameplay experience shouldn't change when allowing these "upgrades" to occur, so if you're confident about what you're sharing online, feel free to do just that.
UPDATE: Zynga has commented officially on the pop-up, since it caused confusion. Here's their statement:
Hey Farmers! You may have seen our latest message 'FarmVille Upgrade', and we'd like to assure you it is not spam, nor will clicking "OK" affect what is posted on your Newsfeed. We're simply only collecting permissions to better enhance your game play, by allowing you to view your game achievements and other special events using some of Facebook's new channels. We will be slowly rolling out these features over the next several weeks, so please stay tuned for new enhancements!
What do you think these FarmVille Upgrades really stand for? Did you receive the pop-up on your farm? Did you allow or refuse Zynga's latest request for your information? Sound off in the comments.
This ticker will show your friends when you've logged into a specific app, such as FarmVille, or can simply be used as a way to prove that you're online (and are capable of accepting their requests or messages) without you needing to be signed into Facebook Chat. Either way, the details about this FarmVille Upgrade were incredibly shaky when it comes to privacy, as are most other things when it comes to Facebook.
As usual, the general rule of thumb is to never store or publish information on Facebook that you wouldn't be comfortable with the entire world seeing, regardless of how locked down your profile may be to "strangers." For these specific options, though, you can see exactly what Zynga is asking for below. It all looks pretty straightforward, and looks like permissions we've given the developer before.
Since things are so cryptic, this also could be a precursor to the upcoming ability to add FarmVille neighbors that aren't your Facebook friends. Either way, your gameplay experience shouldn't change when allowing these "upgrades" to occur, so if you're confident about what you're sharing online, feel free to do just that.
UPDATE: Zynga has commented officially on the pop-up, since it caused confusion. Here's their statement:
Hey Farmers! You may have seen our latest message 'FarmVille Upgrade', and we'd like to assure you it is not spam, nor will clicking "OK" affect what is posted on your Newsfeed. We're simply only collecting permissions to better enhance your game play, by allowing you to view your game achievements and other special events using some of Facebook's new channels. We will be slowly rolling out these features over the next several weeks, so please stay tuned for new enhancements!
What do you think these FarmVille Upgrades really stand for? Did you receive the pop-up on your farm? Did you allow or refuse Zynga's latest request for your information? Sound off in the comments.
Pioneer Trail: Building Boosts now available for Horseshoes
Remember back in March/April, when Zynga partnered with Intuit to offer Intuit Business Boosts after completing themed goals in Pioneer Trail (then FrontierVille)? Those bonuses were some of the best things to happen to the game, as they allowed you to instantly recharge a building's Daily Bonus, allowing you to collect the Daily Bonus more than once in a 24 hour period. In terms of goals that ask you to collect three or four Daily Bonuses from a specific building, this meant tons of time saved, and more progress made. The only problem? They were one-time-use objects that eventually ran out.
Now, if you're willing to pay Horseshoes, you can return to the glory days of those Building Boosts, as they are now available to purchase from the store for Horseshoes (under the Special tab). For 15 Horseshoes, you'll purchase a single Business Boost, which is - again - a single-use object. That being said, the value here isn't that great, but if you're looking at spending three or four days waiting to complete a goal that you've otherwise completed, I can definitely see the draw in purchasing one to move on (and save your patience from being so tested).
There doesn't look to be an expiration date on these Building Boosts, so they should be available permanently in the store. Hopefully though, we'll see a return of the Intuit (or any free) Business Boosts in the future, so we can save our Horseshoes for another time.
What do you think of these Business Boosts? Will you purchase them to speed up your progress at completing specific goals? Sound off in the comments.
Now, if you're willing to pay Horseshoes, you can return to the glory days of those Building Boosts, as they are now available to purchase from the store for Horseshoes (under the Special tab). For 15 Horseshoes, you'll purchase a single Business Boost, which is - again - a single-use object. That being said, the value here isn't that great, but if you're looking at spending three or four days waiting to complete a goal that you've otherwise completed, I can definitely see the draw in purchasing one to move on (and save your patience from being so tested).
There doesn't look to be an expiration date on these Building Boosts, so they should be available permanently in the store. Hopefully though, we'll see a return of the Intuit (or any free) Business Boosts in the future, so we can save our Horseshoes for another time.
What do you think of these Business Boosts? Will you purchase them to speed up your progress at completing specific goals? Sound off in the comments.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Cafe World Manny's Mobile Meal Catering Order: Everything you need to know
Last week, we gave you a look at the second portion of the Cafe World two-year anniversary event, which takes us to the Philippines to help Manny on a Journey. While that may have been an already complex series of goals (and even a building project), Manny's story becomes even more in-depth today, as the accompanying catering order has finally launched. This order asks you to cook up a storm for a Filipino feast, and comes with the usual free recipe for completing this order with a three star rating.
Unfortunately, this is another order that will likely be impossible for some chefs to complete, unless they've already completed Manny's goals enough times to unlock all of the new Filipino recipes launched in this particular event. To be specific, you'll need to serve Lechon 475 times, Sisig 45 times and Filipino Paella 140 times. I suppose you could get lucky and have some really, really helpful friends do the cooking in these tasks for you (while you showered them with thanks, of course), or you could even pay your way through the goals with Cafe Cash to unlock the dishes more quickly that way. Either way, you're looking at some lengthy gameplay before you can even be eligible for completing this catering order on your own.
While you're cooking (or waiting on your friends to cook), you can ask your friends for the two collectible items in this order: 12 Monster Skewers and 16 Banana Leaves. Both of these are earned by sending out individual requests to friends, so earning all 28 may take you a few days, depending on the number of neighbors you have available to ask for help.
If you can complete this entire order within the first three days, you'll earn the three-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 3,200 Cafe Points, 70,000 coins and the Cassava Cake recipe. In addition, since this order is technically part of the two-year anniversary event, finishing with the three star rating also gives you a bonus of 10,000 Travel Passes. If three days proves to be too short, but you can finish within five days, you'll receive two stars, 8 Catering Points, 2,300 Cafe Points and 50,000 coins. Finally, if you finish at any point after the first five days have passed, you'll receive just a single star, 4 Catering Points, 1,400 Cafe Points and 30,000 coins. Again, you must finish with the three star rating to unlock the new recipe and the extra Travel Passes, so feel free to "cancel" your order if you run out of time and start over for another try.
What do you think of this newest catering order? How many of these three required dishes have you already unlocked in your cafe? Let us know in the comments.
Unfortunately, this is another order that will likely be impossible for some chefs to complete, unless they've already completed Manny's goals enough times to unlock all of the new Filipino recipes launched in this particular event. To be specific, you'll need to serve Lechon 475 times, Sisig 45 times and Filipino Paella 140 times. I suppose you could get lucky and have some really, really helpful friends do the cooking in these tasks for you (while you showered them with thanks, of course), or you could even pay your way through the goals with Cafe Cash to unlock the dishes more quickly that way. Either way, you're looking at some lengthy gameplay before you can even be eligible for completing this catering order on your own.
While you're cooking (or waiting on your friends to cook), you can ask your friends for the two collectible items in this order: 12 Monster Skewers and 16 Banana Leaves. Both of these are earned by sending out individual requests to friends, so earning all 28 may take you a few days, depending on the number of neighbors you have available to ask for help.
If you can complete this entire order within the first three days, you'll earn the three-star rating, 12 Catering Points, 3,200 Cafe Points, 70,000 coins and the Cassava Cake recipe. In addition, since this order is technically part of the two-year anniversary event, finishing with the three star rating also gives you a bonus of 10,000 Travel Passes. If three days proves to be too short, but you can finish within five days, you'll receive two stars, 8 Catering Points, 2,300 Cafe Points and 50,000 coins. Finally, if you finish at any point after the first five days have passed, you'll receive just a single star, 4 Catering Points, 1,400 Cafe Points and 30,000 coins. Again, you must finish with the three star rating to unlock the new recipe and the extra Travel Passes, so feel free to "cancel" your order if you run out of time and start over for another try.
What do you think of this newest catering order? How many of these three required dishes have you already unlocked in your cafe? Let us know in the comments.
CityVille: Finish your Bridge, Dam and more with discounted materials
If you've been putting off building one of the larger structures in CityVille (like the Bridge or Dam, as examples), because you didn't want to gather the required building materials from friends, or simply didn't want to pay the high prices to purchase those materials with City Cash, the team at Zynga is hoping that buy putting these items on sale (well, some of these items anyway), it might be enough to persuade you to open your wallet.
To be specific, a sale is now being held for up to 40% off building materials in the game. The materials are unfortunately limited to a specific set of buildings: the Bridge, Sailboat Hotel, Dam, Mall, Mall 2, Pirate Ship Attraction and Go Kart Attraction, and the rest of the game's many, many buildings are left unaffected. To make matters worse - between the two of us - the sale really isn't that good.
For example, let's say you wanted to finish your Pirate Ship Attraction. This one's building materials still cost 3 City Cash each. Perhaps if that were three City Cash in total for all of a particular ingredient I needed (say, two Ship's Prows or five Overhead Bars), that might be an acceptable price, but in our particular example, we're still looking at six City Cash for the Ship Prows and 15 City Cash for the Overhead Bars. Wouldn't it still be smarter (if not more time consuming) to ask friends for these items instead?
I suppose if you're looking for an easier way of completing these specific buildings, then you'll want to take advantage of this apparently limited time opportunity. Just don't feel any unneeded pressure to purchase building materials; the free way is still available, and doesn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Will you spend City Cash on any of these discounted building materials, or have you already completed the construction on all of these buildings? Let us know in the comments.
To be specific, a sale is now being held for up to 40% off building materials in the game. The materials are unfortunately limited to a specific set of buildings: the Bridge, Sailboat Hotel, Dam, Mall, Mall 2, Pirate Ship Attraction and Go Kart Attraction, and the rest of the game's many, many buildings are left unaffected. To make matters worse - between the two of us - the sale really isn't that good.
For example, let's say you wanted to finish your Pirate Ship Attraction. This one's building materials still cost 3 City Cash each. Perhaps if that were three City Cash in total for all of a particular ingredient I needed (say, two Ship's Prows or five Overhead Bars), that might be an acceptable price, but in our particular example, we're still looking at six City Cash for the Ship Prows and 15 City Cash for the Overhead Bars. Wouldn't it still be smarter (if not more time consuming) to ask friends for these items instead?
I suppose if you're looking for an easier way of completing these specific buildings, then you'll want to take advantage of this apparently limited time opportunity. Just don't feel any unneeded pressure to purchase building materials; the free way is still available, and doesn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Will you spend City Cash on any of these discounted building materials, or have you already completed the construction on all of these buildings? Let us know in the comments.
CityVille Governor's Run Family Goals: Everything you need to know
If you've been stocking up on pigs and sheep in FarmVille with the knowledge (or even just hope) that the FarmVille team would launch pig and sheep mastery in the game, your wait is over. Now, if you're wondering how exactly this will work with the literally thousands of possibilities for different kinds of pigs and sheep to be bred in the game, let me calm your fears: this doesn't result in the addition of an equal number of mastery signs; rather, the system is pretty straightforward, once you get past the "rules."
Basically, there are two sets of both sheep and pigs that determine which kind of mastery sign you'll earn. In Sheep Breeding, for an example, if the animal is specifically labeled as a Ram or Ewe, it's considered a "Sheep Pen Ram" or "Sheep Pen Ewe," which makes sense. All Sheep Pen Rams and Sheep Pen Ewes are combined into those two categories and work cumulatively towards a pair of mastery signs. That is, if you have a a purple Ewe on one farm and a pink or yellow Ewe on another farm (or even those with patterns), when harvesting them, they'll all be treated equally, working towards the same mastery sign.
This entire process is replicated when it comes to pigs. If it's a Boar or Sow, it works towards cumulative breeding pig mastery signs. On the other hand, if the animal is a basic pig or basic sheep that can be purchased from the store and doesn't immediately relate to breeding (some examples being a Party Pig, Grape Sheep, Polka Dots Sheep and so on), these do have their own individual signs, giving you plenty of additional signs to work towards.
As you might have guessed, the amount of mastery points required for these cumulative breeding signs are fairly substantial. In the case of pigs, the Pig Pen Boar sign's first star comes at 467 harvests, while the Pig Pen Sow's first star is earned after 588 harvests. For sheep, the Ewe sign's first star is earned at 840 harvests, while the first Ram star is acquired at 560 harvests.
Keep in mind, while pig and sheep mastery is fairly exciting, we still haven't seen the launch of Calf and Foal mastery in the game. That too is "coming soon," and we'll make sure to let you know when it launches in full.
Will you breed more sheep and pigs just to earn these new mastery signs? Will you purchase additional sheep or pigs from the store? Sound off in the comments.
Basically, there are two sets of both sheep and pigs that determine which kind of mastery sign you'll earn. In Sheep Breeding, for an example, if the animal is specifically labeled as a Ram or Ewe, it's considered a "Sheep Pen Ram" or "Sheep Pen Ewe," which makes sense. All Sheep Pen Rams and Sheep Pen Ewes are combined into those two categories and work cumulatively towards a pair of mastery signs. That is, if you have a a purple Ewe on one farm and a pink or yellow Ewe on another farm (or even those with patterns), when harvesting them, they'll all be treated equally, working towards the same mastery sign.
This entire process is replicated when it comes to pigs. If it's a Boar or Sow, it works towards cumulative breeding pig mastery signs. On the other hand, if the animal is a basic pig or basic sheep that can be purchased from the store and doesn't immediately relate to breeding (some examples being a Party Pig, Grape Sheep, Polka Dots Sheep and so on), these do have their own individual signs, giving you plenty of additional signs to work towards.
As you might have guessed, the amount of mastery points required for these cumulative breeding signs are fairly substantial. In the case of pigs, the Pig Pen Boar sign's first star comes at 467 harvests, while the Pig Pen Sow's first star is earned after 588 harvests. For sheep, the Ewe sign's first star is earned at 840 harvests, while the first Ram star is acquired at 560 harvests.
Keep in mind, while pig and sheep mastery is fairly exciting, we still haven't seen the launch of Calf and Foal mastery in the game. That too is "coming soon," and we'll make sure to let you know when it launches in full.
Will you breed more sheep and pigs just to earn these new mastery signs? Will you purchase additional sheep or pigs from the store? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille: Sheep and Pig Mastery now available
If you've been stocking up on pigs and sheep in FarmVille with the knowledge (or even just hope) that the FarmVille team would launch pig and sheep mastery in the game, your wait is over. Now, if you're wondering how exactly this will work with the literally thousands of possibilities for different kinds of pigs and sheep to be bred in the game, let me calm your fears: this doesn't result in the addition of an equal number of mastery signs; rather, the system is pretty straightforward, once you get past the "rules."
Basically, there are two sets of both sheep and pigs that determine which kind of mastery sign you'll earn. In Sheep Breeding, for an example, if the animal is specifically labeled as a Ram or Ewe, it's considered a "Sheep Pen Ram" or "Sheep Pen Ewe," which makes sense. All Sheep Pen Rams and Sheep Pen Ewes are combined into those two categories and work cumulatively towards a pair of mastery signs. That is, if you have a a purple Ewe on one farm and a pink or yellow Ewe on another farm (or even those with patterns), when harvesting them, they'll all be treated equally, working towards the same mastery sign.
This entire process is replicated when it comes to pigs. If it's a Boar or Sow, it works towards cumulative breeding pig mastery signs. On the other hand, if the animal is a basic pig or basic sheep that can be purchased from the store and doesn't immediately relate to breeding (some examples being a Party Pig, Grape Sheep, Polka Dots Sheep and so on), these do have their own individual signs, giving you plenty of additional signs to work towards.
As you might have guessed, the amount of mastery points required for these cumulative breeding signs are fairly substantial. In the case of pigs, the Pig Pen Boar sign's first star comes at 467 harvests, while the Pig Pen Sow's first star is earned after 588 harvests. For sheep, the Ewe sign's first star is earned at 840 harvests, while the first Ram star is acquired at 560 harvests.
Keep in mind, while pig and sheep mastery is fairly exciting, we still haven't seen the launch of Calf and Foal mastery in the game. That too is "coming soon," and we'll make sure to let you know when it launches in full.
Will you breed more sheep and pigs just to earn these new mastery signs? Will you purchase additional sheep or pigs from the store? Sound off in the comments.
Basically, there are two sets of both sheep and pigs that determine which kind of mastery sign you'll earn. In Sheep Breeding, for an example, if the animal is specifically labeled as a Ram or Ewe, it's considered a "Sheep Pen Ram" or "Sheep Pen Ewe," which makes sense. All Sheep Pen Rams and Sheep Pen Ewes are combined into those two categories and work cumulatively towards a pair of mastery signs. That is, if you have a a purple Ewe on one farm and a pink or yellow Ewe on another farm (or even those with patterns), when harvesting them, they'll all be treated equally, working towards the same mastery sign.
This entire process is replicated when it comes to pigs. If it's a Boar or Sow, it works towards cumulative breeding pig mastery signs. On the other hand, if the animal is a basic pig or basic sheep that can be purchased from the store and doesn't immediately relate to breeding (some examples being a Party Pig, Grape Sheep, Polka Dots Sheep and so on), these do have their own individual signs, giving you plenty of additional signs to work towards.
As you might have guessed, the amount of mastery points required for these cumulative breeding signs are fairly substantial. In the case of pigs, the Pig Pen Boar sign's first star comes at 467 harvests, while the Pig Pen Sow's first star is earned after 588 harvests. For sheep, the Ewe sign's first star is earned at 840 harvests, while the first Ram star is acquired at 560 harvests.
Keep in mind, while pig and sheep mastery is fairly exciting, we still haven't seen the launch of Calf and Foal mastery in the game. That too is "coming soon," and we'll make sure to let you know when it launches in full.
Will you breed more sheep and pigs just to earn these new mastery signs? Will you purchase additional sheep or pigs from the store? Sound off in the comments.
A Bit Lucky goes all in on hardcore Facebook games with Lucky Space
We know you're all thinking it, so we'll just come out and say it: Sci-fi is huge in Facebook games right now. (Like, crazy big.) The next developer to take a crack at the theme is A Bit Lucky with Lucky Space. The San Mateo, Calif.-based developer's second social game launches today, and it's light years away from Lucky Train.
In Lucky Space, players inherit a lifeless, barren alien planet purchased by Dr. X in his final days in search of the riches he was so sure are buried deep beneath its purple crust. You'll establish a thriving space colony with one mission: strip mine the planet for all its worth in rare gems and resources. Of course, it won't be long before you discover that Dr. X was onto more than just shiny rocks and black gold.
As you expand your colony and upgrade its buildings with unique components like the Force Field Dome and Ultra-Power Laser Extractor, you'll slowly uncover the remnants of an alien civilization. Through a series a quests and the help of your friends, you will dig out alien ruins while protecting your colony from a series of natural (to this world, maybe) disasters like meteor strikes. While the game is dubbed "hardcore," it doesn't look or sound as if combat is a focus in Lucky Space.
Gallery: Lucky Space on Facebook
"Lucky Space was inspired by our love of the sci-fi genre and the desire to innovate within the social gaming space," A Bit Lucky CCO Jordan Maynard said in a release. "We've been able to blend social gaming with hardcore PC gameplay mechanics to create a new and engaging experience."
Regardless of the game being deemed "hardcore" with a lack of combat, a tenant of most Facebook games given the silly adjective, Lucky Space sounds like it might have players depend on their friends more than in most social games. You will need friends not just to visit your colony for a few boosts, but to trade rare components and identify mysterious alien artifacts. One thing we know for sure is that the game looks like a vibrant, even jolly take on Facebook games skewed for the hardcore crowd. But don't just take our word for it, check out the trailer below and see for yourself.
Click here to play Lucky Space on Facebook Now >
What do you think of A Bit Lucky's second Facebook game so far? Do you think there's still room for Facebook games within the sci-fi genre, or are you on the lookout for something new? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
In Lucky Space, players inherit a lifeless, barren alien planet purchased by Dr. X in his final days in search of the riches he was so sure are buried deep beneath its purple crust. You'll establish a thriving space colony with one mission: strip mine the planet for all its worth in rare gems and resources. Of course, it won't be long before you discover that Dr. X was onto more than just shiny rocks and black gold.
As you expand your colony and upgrade its buildings with unique components like the Force Field Dome and Ultra-Power Laser Extractor, you'll slowly uncover the remnants of an alien civilization. Through a series a quests and the help of your friends, you will dig out alien ruins while protecting your colony from a series of natural (to this world, maybe) disasters like meteor strikes. While the game is dubbed "hardcore," it doesn't look or sound as if combat is a focus in Lucky Space.
Gallery: Lucky Space on Facebook
"Lucky Space was inspired by our love of the sci-fi genre and the desire to innovate within the social gaming space," A Bit Lucky CCO Jordan Maynard said in a release. "We've been able to blend social gaming with hardcore PC gameplay mechanics to create a new and engaging experience."
Regardless of the game being deemed "hardcore" with a lack of combat, a tenant of most Facebook games given the silly adjective, Lucky Space sounds like it might have players depend on their friends more than in most social games. You will need friends not just to visit your colony for a few boosts, but to trade rare components and identify mysterious alien artifacts. One thing we know for sure is that the game looks like a vibrant, even jolly take on Facebook games skewed for the hardcore crowd. But don't just take our word for it, check out the trailer below and see for yourself.
Click here to play Lucky Space on Facebook Now >
What do you think of A Bit Lucky's second Facebook game so far? Do you think there's still room for Facebook games within the sci-fi genre, or are you on the lookout for something new? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Zynga looks to give CityVille a boost, launches on Google+ Games
CityVille might have just scored a much-needed shot in the arm, as Zynga's most popular Facebook game has launched on Google+. Zynga announced the move today, and the game is already playable on the platform. Unfortunately, folks who decide to take the plunge into CityVille on Google+ Games will have to start all over again.
But considering its top game has been in decline in both monthly and daily players for some time, it's clear that Zynga is looking for new users with this move. Before today, CityVille was exclusive to Facebook for Western audiences, though the developer will soon expand the game to Asian audiences on the Tencent social network.
It was previously understood that Zynga had an agreement with Facebook that prevented the company from launching its games on directly-competing platforms. It looks like there is some fine print in that exclusivity deal that allows Zynga to do just that. This is especially evident considering Zynga has already released Zynga Poker to Google+ Games. With the largest Facebook game now on Google+ Games, Facebook's competitor just received reinforcements in its battle for social gaming dominance. (Now, Google+ has a whopping 18 social games!)
However, this move also speaks to Zynga's growing understanding that it needs to expand to grow its thriving business. With games like EA's The Sims Social gaining fast on the red dog's top spot with now over 60 million monthly players, competition is growing for the developer on Facebook.
Zynga is also hopeful that diversification will help the company grow and increase revenues ahead of its planned $1 billion IPO (initial public offering), the prospects of which have become shaky lately. Hopefully for Google, the presence of a huge name like CityVille will instill confidence in developers to bring new game ideas to Google+.
[Via VentureBeat]
Do you plan to try out CityVille on Google+ Games? Do you think CityVille has seen its best days, or will this expansion help the game find its second wind? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Here we go, mayors. A new feature has been launched in CityVille that will help one of the biggest concerns I personally have with the game (and I know I'm not alone). A new Neighborhoods feature has launched to players above level 30, with at least 620 population, that will allow you to move homes (including high rises) into smaller areas to save space. This feature, you guessed it, is similar to the Mall feature, but here's a complete rundown of how this works for homes.
First and foremost, yes, you can have more than one Neighborhood in your town, and there are different types of Neighborhoods depending on the kinds of homes you'd like to store. Gated Communities cost 10,000 coins and store up to 15 Family Residences. Uptown Estates cost 15,000 coins and store 15 Apartments and finally, Palm Towers cost 20,000 coins and store 15 Vacation Home.
For our example, let's say you wanted to build a Gated Community in your town. You'd go into the store to purchase the base, as seen below, and would then need to whack that base six times to build up the frame.
From there, you'll instantly have access to two storage spots, of a possible five on the first "block," or "floor," if we're comparing this to the Mall. To fill these spaces, simply click on your empty Neighborhood and then click on "Fill" under one of the empty spaces. This will cause all of the buildings that can fit inside to glow. Click on one and voila! It's stored inside your Neighborhood, which will change shape and complexity as new buildings are added to it.
To unlock additional space inside your Neighborhoods, you'll need to ask your friends to staff extra spots, as seen above. The rate of one user per one storage slot isn't bad, really. Once your first block is full, you'll have to go through the process of asking for building materials to open up the second block. In our particular example of the Gated Community, you'll need five each of Red Bricks, Crossing Signs, Roof Tiles, Cement and Lumber. These are earned either by purchasing them outright with City Cash, or by asking your friends to send them to you.
When you've unlocked your second block, the process will repeat (and so on until you've unlocked and filled all three blocks, with more building materials being required the second time). Again, at first, these Neighborhoods may be incredibly space-consuming, but once they're full, you'll find them to be fairly space-saving, especially if you choose to place the largest homes in each category into storage. Don't worry about losing their stats, though, as you'll be able to collect rent as normal while they're inside. That is, you'll be able to click on your Neighborhood, and will then be asked to spend a larger amount of energy to collect from all "ready" buildings inside, just as you collect profits from your Mall.
All told, these are some fairly time consuming building projects, but if you're willing to go through with building them (and have plenty of friends around that are willing to help you out), you'll end up saving tons of space for future purchases, whether residential in nature or otherwise. We'll make sure to let you know when other kinds of Neighborhoods, for other kinds of homes are released, so keep checking back with us.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Neighborhoods feature? Is the space you saved substantial enough to warrant building them? Sound off in the comments.
But considering its top game has been in decline in both monthly and daily players for some time, it's clear that Zynga is looking for new users with this move. Before today, CityVille was exclusive to Facebook for Western audiences, though the developer will soon expand the game to Asian audiences on the Tencent social network.
It was previously understood that Zynga had an agreement with Facebook that prevented the company from launching its games on directly-competing platforms. It looks like there is some fine print in that exclusivity deal that allows Zynga to do just that. This is especially evident considering Zynga has already released Zynga Poker to Google+ Games. With the largest Facebook game now on Google+ Games, Facebook's competitor just received reinforcements in its battle for social gaming dominance. (Now, Google+ has a whopping 18 social games!)
However, this move also speaks to Zynga's growing understanding that it needs to expand to grow its thriving business. With games like EA's The Sims Social gaining fast on the red dog's top spot with now over 60 million monthly players, competition is growing for the developer on Facebook.
Zynga is also hopeful that diversification will help the company grow and increase revenues ahead of its planned $1 billion IPO (initial public offering), the prospects of which have become shaky lately. Hopefully for Google, the presence of a huge name like CityVille will instill confidence in developers to bring new game ideas to Google+.
[Via VentureBeat]
Do you plan to try out CityVille on Google+ Games? Do you think CityVille has seen its best days, or will this expansion help the game find its second wind? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Here we go, mayors. A new feature has been launched in CityVille that will help one of the biggest concerns I personally have with the game (and I know I'm not alone). A new Neighborhoods feature has launched to players above level 30, with at least 620 population, that will allow you to move homes (including high rises) into smaller areas to save space. This feature, you guessed it, is similar to the Mall feature, but here's a complete rundown of how this works for homes.
First and foremost, yes, you can have more than one Neighborhood in your town, and there are different types of Neighborhoods depending on the kinds of homes you'd like to store. Gated Communities cost 10,000 coins and store up to 15 Family Residences. Uptown Estates cost 15,000 coins and store 15 Apartments and finally, Palm Towers cost 20,000 coins and store 15 Vacation Home.
For our example, let's say you wanted to build a Gated Community in your town. You'd go into the store to purchase the base, as seen below, and would then need to whack that base six times to build up the frame.
From there, you'll instantly have access to two storage spots, of a possible five on the first "block," or "floor," if we're comparing this to the Mall. To fill these spaces, simply click on your empty Neighborhood and then click on "Fill" under one of the empty spaces. This will cause all of the buildings that can fit inside to glow. Click on one and voila! It's stored inside your Neighborhood, which will change shape and complexity as new buildings are added to it.
To unlock additional space inside your Neighborhoods, you'll need to ask your friends to staff extra spots, as seen above. The rate of one user per one storage slot isn't bad, really. Once your first block is full, you'll have to go through the process of asking for building materials to open up the second block. In our particular example of the Gated Community, you'll need five each of Red Bricks, Crossing Signs, Roof Tiles, Cement and Lumber. These are earned either by purchasing them outright with City Cash, or by asking your friends to send them to you.
When you've unlocked your second block, the process will repeat (and so on until you've unlocked and filled all three blocks, with more building materials being required the second time). Again, at first, these Neighborhoods may be incredibly space-consuming, but once they're full, you'll find them to be fairly space-saving, especially if you choose to place the largest homes in each category into storage. Don't worry about losing their stats, though, as you'll be able to collect rent as normal while they're inside. That is, you'll be able to click on your Neighborhood, and will then be asked to spend a larger amount of energy to collect from all "ready" buildings inside, just as you collect profits from your Mall.
All told, these are some fairly time consuming building projects, but if you're willing to go through with building them (and have plenty of friends around that are willing to help you out), you'll end up saving tons of space for future purchases, whether residential in nature or otherwise. We'll make sure to let you know when other kinds of Neighborhoods, for other kinds of homes are released, so keep checking back with us.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Neighborhoods feature? Is the space you saved substantial enough to warrant building them? Sound off in the comments.
Adventure World Level Up Giveaway gives more prizes for fan page 'Likes'
Leave it to Zynga to release yet another giveaway in one of its games requiring players to Like that game's particular Facebook fan page. Such is the case now with Adventure World, as a "Level Up Giveaway" has now launched, giving players a chance to walk away with either 100, 200 or 300 Adventure Cash (the game's premium currency) as the page gains more and more "Likes."
As of this writing, the fan page has around 600,000 Likes, but when it reaches three milestones: 1, 2 and 3 millions fans each, a giveaway will be held between all people that currently Like the fan page, and also enter the contest specifically via email. Don't worry - you'll only have to send them your name and Facebook ID so they know who exactly to reward.
Again, there will be three giveaways in all, with the first giving 25 people 100 Adventure Cash each. The second will reward 25 players 200 Adventure Cash each, and finally, the third giveaway will reward 25 fans a whopping 300 Adventure Cash each. As energy is such a valuable commodity in Adventure World, this Adventure Cash would give you plenty of room to purchase Energy Packs to really push yourself along further in the story of unlocking El Dorado. For a complete look at the rules and how to send in your email entry, check out the game's official forums.
What would you do with 100, 200 or 300 Adventure Cash? Would you spend it on Energy, or would you purchase building supplies? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
As of this writing, the fan page has around 600,000 Likes, but when it reaches three milestones: 1, 2 and 3 millions fans each, a giveaway will be held between all people that currently Like the fan page, and also enter the contest specifically via email. Don't worry - you'll only have to send them your name and Facebook ID so they know who exactly to reward.
Again, there will be three giveaways in all, with the first giving 25 people 100 Adventure Cash each. The second will reward 25 players 200 Adventure Cash each, and finally, the third giveaway will reward 25 fans a whopping 300 Adventure Cash each. As energy is such a valuable commodity in Adventure World, this Adventure Cash would give you plenty of room to purchase Energy Packs to really push yourself along further in the story of unlocking El Dorado. For a complete look at the rules and how to send in your email entry, check out the game's official forums.
What would you do with 100, 200 or 300 Adventure Cash? Would you spend it on Energy, or would you purchase building supplies? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Adventure World: New chapters revealed after El Dorado
While we all know that Zynga's newest game, Adventure World, starts out as a quest to solve the mystery of El Dorado by gathering the Mastery Key and four totems, did you know that the game is far from over after this first mission is complete? That's right, after solving the mystery of El Dorado, Zynga announced that we'll be taken through Chapters 2 and 3 of the game (each likely as lengthy as the first - or longer).
While there's no way to guarantee when each user will make their way to these newest chapters individually, we do know their locations, thanks to a screenshot posted by the big Z on the game's Facebook fan page. Chapter 2 takes us to Egypt, where we'll solve the "Riddle of the Sphinx." Meanwhile, Chapter 3 is set in Tibet, where the "Mystery of the Yeti" waits to be solved.
Unfortunately, while we also know that Indiana Jones will showing up in the game next month, we haven't been told how great of an impact he will have on these two Chapters, if at all. It could be that we'll need to wait until Chapter 4 and beyond to see Indy come into the actual story of the game, depending on how far ahead the team at Zynga had developed the game before making this announcement.
Either way, we'll make sure to bring you continued coverage on the quests, expeditions and story missions in Adventure World, so keep checking back with us for more.
Are you excited to travel to Egypt and Tibet in Adventure World? How far have you made it in the story so far? Sound off in the comments.
While there's no way to guarantee when each user will make their way to these newest chapters individually, we do know their locations, thanks to a screenshot posted by the big Z on the game's Facebook fan page. Chapter 2 takes us to Egypt, where we'll solve the "Riddle of the Sphinx." Meanwhile, Chapter 3 is set in Tibet, where the "Mystery of the Yeti" waits to be solved.
Unfortunately, while we also know that Indiana Jones will showing up in the game next month, we haven't been told how great of an impact he will have on these two Chapters, if at all. It could be that we'll need to wait until Chapter 4 and beyond to see Indy come into the actual story of the game, depending on how far ahead the team at Zynga had developed the game before making this announcement.
Either way, we'll make sure to bring you continued coverage on the quests, expeditions and story missions in Adventure World, so keep checking back with us for more.
Are you excited to travel to Egypt and Tibet in Adventure World? How far have you made it in the story so far? Sound off in the comments.
Adventure World Mountain Quests: Everything you need to know
After making your way through the Deep Jungle in Adventure World, and successfully retrieving the Monkey Idol, you'll unlock the ability to head up the mountain in - you guessed it - Mountain quests. You're going after the Bird Idol here, but you'll have some steep requirements to meet before you can leave Base Camp on the trek. You'll need to collect 20 each of Food, Fuel and Water, and will need to gather six friends to help you out on this quest. Technically, their job will be to "pull you up the mountain elevator," so they must be gathered before you're allowed to start on this quest for the Bird Idol. They can also be used while on the quests, giving you three free energy for each friend.
Once you begin, there's no time limit associated with these Quests, unlike the time limits found in Expeditions, so don't feel the need to rush through. Take your time with completing these quests and you'll get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of rewards. Here's a complete guide to doing just that.
Main Quests on the Mountain
Recover the Bird Idol Part 1
* Get the Box of TNT
* Get the Fuse Cord
* Get the Detonator
These three items are scattered about the map, and are guarded by a new kind of enemy: the Ram. By simply exploring the various "islands" or cliffs in this map (they look more like islands, if you ask me), you'll come across these three items on your own, but can always click on the "Show Me" button within the quest window to be shown exactly where they lie.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 2
* Set the TNT Below the Cliff
Once you've defeated Papa Cliff Jumper and have gathered all of the materials for your TNT bundle, you can place it in the highlight on your map, at the very top end. There's a Ram up here guarding the path, so keep that in mind.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 3
* Use the Plunger to Blast a Path!
* Recover the Bird Idol
The Plunger is found past a rock that must be blown up with dynamite (see the screenshot above), which can be purchased back at Base Camp for 1,000 coins. It's a single-use item, so you'll have to purchase one each time you want to use dynamite on a map. Once you've used the Plunger, you'll have to fight one last Ram before finding the Bird Idol on the platform you've just formed.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 4
* Return to Base Camp
* Place the Bird Idol
Unlike last time (when recovering the 20 Comments), once you collect the Bird Idol on the top of the cliff, you really will be done (no secret cave this time around). You'll just need to head home and place it outside the entrance to El Dorado to be completely finished.
Mountain Side Quests
Society Work
* Get 10 Jade Vases
* Get 5 Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Azure Skulls from Hidden Caves
* Get a Ram Horn Grip from the Mountaineer Collection
The Mountaineer Collection items drop from any Mountain map, including this one, so as you complete tasks, you might be lucky enough to come across enough collectibles to turn this one in (the Ram Horn Grip is the prize) before everything is said and done. As for the Ruby & Jade Vases (especially Jade Vases), they're scattered around the map as you might expect, hidden behind trees or under clouds, so make sure to explore every nook and cranny of the map to find them all. As an example, you'll be able to find four Jade Vases on the very first "island" you start the Mountain quests on. As for the Azure Skulls, the Hidden Caves are found under "Blooming Bushes," which are small areas of ground cover, the size of a regular bush, with white flowers on top. Once you interact with these bushes, they'll disappear, revealing a ladder into the cave. Here, you'll find Red Vases as well. Check out the screenshots below for the locations of both Hidden Caves, and an example of what you'll see when entering one.
A couple of notes: First, ignore Fluffy the Ewe in the below screenshot - she is a "lost animal" that may not appear in this particular location in your own game, and shouldn't be used as a place marker. Second, if you don't happen to find a Ram Horn, you don't technically have to to complete this entire mission and recover the Bird Idol. You can skip this quest and simply head back to Base Camp and place the Idol in its place.
Butting Heads
* Defeat four Rams
* Defeat Papa Cliff Jumper!
The four Rams are scattered around the map (check out the screenshot above), while Papa Cliff Jumper is found at the top end of the map, next to the Detonator you need for the first story mission in this area. He has 12 hit points, and he takes away two energy points each time he hits you, so it might take you a while to whittle him down, depending on how much you've upgraded your whip.
On the Rocks
* Break five Small Rocks
* Break five Medium Rocks
* Break three Big Rocks
* Use Dynamite
A single use of Dynamite is available to purchase for 1,000 coins in your Tool Shop back in Base Camp. As for the 13 rocks, you'll find them blocking your path between islands, or blocking your path between collectibles like vases, so you shouldn't have any problem finding the ones you need. If you do need one or more of a particular kind of rock, remember to hit the "Show Me" button in the quest window to see the camera zoom to a rock's location. As for the dynamite, you'll find a rock on your path after finding the Fuse Cord that must be blown up for you to proceed, and another as you reach the top of the map.
Bird Watching
* Investigate Rare Birds
* Investigate Exotic Eggs
* Investigate Bird Nests
Just like the Vases and rocks, these Birds, Nests, and Eggs are scattered around the map, normally blocked by some kind of obstacle, whether that be a trap, bush, thorn, or rock (as examples). The nests are found in similar areas, but they blend in incredibly well (that is, they look almost identical to thorns), so keep a lookout for things that look like the item in the square below.
Once you finish all of these goals, you will have successfully retrieved the Bird Idol, and will be at the halfway point for opening El Dorado itself, back on Base Camp. We'll make sure to let you know how to recover the other two idols, so keep checking back with us!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Mountain / Bird Idol quests? Do you like it more than those quests for collecting the Monkey Idol? What sorts of adventures are you looking forward to next? Sound off in the comments.
Once you begin, there's no time limit associated with these Quests, unlike the time limits found in Expeditions, so don't feel the need to rush through. Take your time with completing these quests and you'll get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of rewards. Here's a complete guide to doing just that.
Main Quests on the Mountain
Recover the Bird Idol Part 1
* Get the Box of TNT
* Get the Fuse Cord
* Get the Detonator
These three items are scattered about the map, and are guarded by a new kind of enemy: the Ram. By simply exploring the various "islands" or cliffs in this map (they look more like islands, if you ask me), you'll come across these three items on your own, but can always click on the "Show Me" button within the quest window to be shown exactly where they lie.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 2
* Set the TNT Below the Cliff
Once you've defeated Papa Cliff Jumper and have gathered all of the materials for your TNT bundle, you can place it in the highlight on your map, at the very top end. There's a Ram up here guarding the path, so keep that in mind.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 3
* Use the Plunger to Blast a Path!
* Recover the Bird Idol
The Plunger is found past a rock that must be blown up with dynamite (see the screenshot above), which can be purchased back at Base Camp for 1,000 coins. It's a single-use item, so you'll have to purchase one each time you want to use dynamite on a map. Once you've used the Plunger, you'll have to fight one last Ram before finding the Bird Idol on the platform you've just formed.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 4
* Return to Base Camp
* Place the Bird Idol
Unlike last time (when recovering the 20 Comments), once you collect the Bird Idol on the top of the cliff, you really will be done (no secret cave this time around). You'll just need to head home and place it outside the entrance to El Dorado to be completely finished.
Mountain Side Quests
Society Work
* Get 10 Jade Vases
* Get 5 Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Azure Skulls from Hidden Caves
* Get a Ram Horn Grip from the Mountaineer Collection
The Mountaineer Collection items drop from any Mountain map, including this one, so as you complete tasks, you might be lucky enough to come across enough collectibles to turn this one in (the Ram Horn Grip is the prize) before everything is said and done. As for the Ruby & Jade Vases (especially Jade Vases), they're scattered around the map as you might expect, hidden behind trees or under clouds, so make sure to explore every nook and cranny of the map to find them all. As an example, you'll be able to find four Jade Vases on the very first "island" you start the Mountain quests on. As for the Azure Skulls, the Hidden Caves are found under "Blooming Bushes," which are small areas of ground cover, the size of a regular bush, with white flowers on top. Once you interact with these bushes, they'll disappear, revealing a ladder into the cave. Here, you'll find Red Vases as well. Check out the screenshots below for the locations of both Hidden Caves, and an example of what you'll see when entering one.
A couple of notes: First, ignore Fluffy the Ewe in the below screenshot - she is a "lost animal" that may not appear in this particular location in your own game, and shouldn't be used as a place marker. Second, if you don't happen to find a Ram Horn, you don't technically have to to complete this entire mission and recover the Bird Idol. You can skip this quest and simply head back to Base Camp and place the Idol in its place.
Butting Heads
* Defeat four Rams
* Defeat Papa Cliff Jumper!
The four Rams are scattered around the map (check out the screenshot above), while Papa Cliff Jumper is found at the top end of the map, next to the Detonator you need for the first story mission in this area. He has 12 hit points, and he takes away two energy points each time he hits you, so it might take you a while to whittle him down, depending on how much you've upgraded your whip.
On the Rocks
* Break five Small Rocks
* Break five Medium Rocks
* Break three Big Rocks
* Use Dynamite
A single use of Dynamite is available to purchase for 1,000 coins in your Tool Shop back in Base Camp. As for the 13 rocks, you'll find them blocking your path between islands, or blocking your path between collectibles like vases, so you shouldn't have any problem finding the ones you need. If you do need one or more of a particular kind of rock, remember to hit the "Show Me" button in the quest window to see the camera zoom to a rock's location. As for the dynamite, you'll find a rock on your path after finding the Fuse Cord that must be blown up for you to proceed, and another as you reach the top of the map.
Bird Watching
* Investigate Rare Birds
* Investigate Exotic Eggs
* Investigate Bird Nests
Just like the Vases and rocks, these Birds, Nests, and Eggs are scattered around the map, normally blocked by some kind of obstacle, whether that be a trap, bush, thorn, or rock (as examples). The nests are found in similar areas, but they blend in incredibly well (that is, they look almost identical to thorns), so keep a lookout for things that look like the item in the square below.
Once you finish all of these goals, you will have successfully retrieved the Bird Idol, and will be at the halfway point for opening El Dorado itself, back on Base Camp. We'll make sure to let you know how to recover the other two idols, so keep checking back with us!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Mountain / Bird Idol quests? Do you like it more than those quests for collecting the Monkey Idol? What sorts of adventures are you looking forward to next? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Milking Shorthorn Lonely Animal: Everything you need to know
Over the past few months, we've seen a few animals come and go as Lonely Animals in FarmVille, and now that the Cow Pasture has been launched (a new storage building specifically for cows), we see the addition of one more: the Milking Shorthorn. This particular lonely animal functions the same as the others, but here's a rundown for those that haven't seen this feature before.
You'll have a period of just three days to gather the help of five friends to "lure" the Milking Shorthorn onto your farm. You see, the cow is actually sitting outside of your farm area, and you aren't allowed to interact with her as you would a normal animal. Only when you lure her into your farm will you be able to place her inside a building, harvest from her, etc.
To gather the help of friends, you can click on the Cow and then ask for help via individual gift requests. You can also purchase the cow outright, skipping this feature, by paying Farm Cash (within the same window). One final option comes in the form of ignoring her altogether, if you don't care about earning this free cow, and you can do so by clicking on the "Ignore It" button inside the Lonely Animal menu window. It's presumable that this would then delete the cow from your screen entirely, but I'm not going to ignore the animal to find out!
What do you think of this newest Lonely Animal? Have you gathered the other Lonely Animals on your farm, or is this your first one? Sound off in the comments.
You'll have a period of just three days to gather the help of five friends to "lure" the Milking Shorthorn onto your farm. You see, the cow is actually sitting outside of your farm area, and you aren't allowed to interact with her as you would a normal animal. Only when you lure her into your farm will you be able to place her inside a building, harvest from her, etc.
To gather the help of friends, you can click on the Cow and then ask for help via individual gift requests. You can also purchase the cow outright, skipping this feature, by paying Farm Cash (within the same window). One final option comes in the form of ignoring her altogether, if you don't care about earning this free cow, and you can do so by clicking on the "Ignore It" button inside the Lonely Animal menu window. It's presumable that this would then delete the cow from your screen entirely, but I'm not going to ignore the animal to find out!
What do you think of this newest Lonely Animal? Have you gathered the other Lonely Animals on your farm, or is this your first one? Sound off in the comments.
Adventure World Ram Runner Expedition: Everything you need to know
After tackling the perils of the Mountains to retrieve the Bird Idol in Adventure World, you might be ready to take on even more Rams in the next Expedition: Ram Runner. This one requires quite a few Supplies to get started, along with other tools, and it comes with the shortest time limit we've seen on an Expedition yet: just four hours. As for the requirements, you need to have 700 Supplies, and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. As usual, we're here to give you a complete guide on what you need to do to finish this Expedition, so read on for more!
Claim the Ram Stein!
* Get the Ram Stein
For this particular Expedition, your goal will be to make it from one end of the linear trail to the other, while defeating Rams in the process. From the starting gate, you're met with two sets of traps, allowing two sets of Rams (with eight hit points each) to come after you when disarmed. You'll have to set the Rams free, however, as the traps block your path to continue. The truly unfortunate thing about this is that if you don't have a very highly upgraded Whip, you'll likely spend most if not all of your energy in just defeating the four of them. Luckily, you can bring five neighbors into this Expedition with you, giving you three bonus energy each (once they accept your request for help, that is), so you should be able to continue slightly onward after fighting these Rams with their help. The Stein itself is located on the last "island," as seen below.
Collect Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Ruby Vases
As usual, these Ruby Vases are scattered along the path, with most being blocked by some sort of obstacle, whether that be a rock, bush, thorn or otherwise. You only need to collect two, and you can find two on one of the central islands, as seen below (note: the empty square is the location of a Ruby Vase - I had just already picked it up).
Collect Jade Vases
* Get 5 Jade Vases
These Jade Vases are far more common on the map, as you'll simply need to collect more of them. You'll find them behind bushes, near Rams or by other obstacles. It should be pointed out that there are more than five Jade Vases on the map for you to collect, giving you the chance to use some strategy in your choices. If you see a Ram directly nearby a Vase, or tons of obstacles standing between you and a Vase, it might be better to skip it and save your energy points for Vases later in the Expedition.
All told, this isn't an incredibly difficult Expedition in terms of the quests you're required to beat; instead, it's simply one of the most energy intensive tasks we've seen to date due to all of the Rams (and their eight hit points each) standing in your way. You can avoid some Rams altogether, if you plan your moves ahead of time, and your friends can come in and help you out with their free three energy. Still, you'll need to be vigilant if you want to finish this Expedition in the short four-hour time limit you've been given, so make sure you're fully prepared (with a full energy bar) before you ever begin!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Ram Runner Expedition? Is it one of the most difficult Expeditions you've encountered so far, or are your tools upgraded enough to make this one simple? Sound off in the comments.
Claim the Ram Stein!
* Get the Ram Stein
For this particular Expedition, your goal will be to make it from one end of the linear trail to the other, while defeating Rams in the process. From the starting gate, you're met with two sets of traps, allowing two sets of Rams (with eight hit points each) to come after you when disarmed. You'll have to set the Rams free, however, as the traps block your path to continue. The truly unfortunate thing about this is that if you don't have a very highly upgraded Whip, you'll likely spend most if not all of your energy in just defeating the four of them. Luckily, you can bring five neighbors into this Expedition with you, giving you three bonus energy each (once they accept your request for help, that is), so you should be able to continue slightly onward after fighting these Rams with their help. The Stein itself is located on the last "island," as seen below.
Collect Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Ruby Vases
As usual, these Ruby Vases are scattered along the path, with most being blocked by some sort of obstacle, whether that be a rock, bush, thorn or otherwise. You only need to collect two, and you can find two on one of the central islands, as seen below (note: the empty square is the location of a Ruby Vase - I had just already picked it up).
Collect Jade Vases
* Get 5 Jade Vases
These Jade Vases are far more common on the map, as you'll simply need to collect more of them. You'll find them behind bushes, near Rams or by other obstacles. It should be pointed out that there are more than five Jade Vases on the map for you to collect, giving you the chance to use some strategy in your choices. If you see a Ram directly nearby a Vase, or tons of obstacles standing between you and a Vase, it might be better to skip it and save your energy points for Vases later in the Expedition.
All told, this isn't an incredibly difficult Expedition in terms of the quests you're required to beat; instead, it's simply one of the most energy intensive tasks we've seen to date due to all of the Rams (and their eight hit points each) standing in your way. You can avoid some Rams altogether, if you plan your moves ahead of time, and your friends can come in and help you out with their free three energy. Still, you'll need to be vigilant if you want to finish this Expedition in the short four-hour time limit you've been given, so make sure you're fully prepared (with a full energy bar) before you ever begin!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Ram Runner Expedition? Is it one of the most difficult Expeditions you've encountered so far, or are your tools upgraded enough to make this one simple? Sound off in the comments.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
CityVille Reel World Timed Goal: Everything you need to know
A new timed goal has launched in CityVille this week, taking us back to the great outdoors for some fishing. If you're level 35 or above, you'll have access to this goal, which can be started at any point in your game - it's up to you when exactly you'll begin. Using our guide to the goal, you should be able to prepare yourself as much as possible before actually starting the goal, and that way you'll have a better chance of earning the gold trophy and the prizes that come with it.
The Reel World
* Get 10 Fishing Lures
* Harvest 30 Pumpkins
* Collect 8 Times from a Seafood Restaurant
A Seafood Restaurant costs just 7,500 coins to purchase from the store, and if you're a veteran player in the game, it's highly unlikely that you don't already have at least one sitting in your town. It requires 140 Goods to operate, so your best bet to completing this particular task quickly would be to make it the only business that currently has Goods, so all citizens will flock to it, causing it to sell out much faster than normal. Pumpkins, meanwhile, take 18 hours to harvest, so unless you follow our suggestion of having pumpkins already to harvest before starting this goal, that's some serious time you'll spend (waste), waiting for them to grow.
If you can complete these three tasks within the first 24 hours of starting the goal, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, a Sailboat, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Unfortunately, you must complete this goal at this top level to receive the Sailboat. If you don't finish within the first day, but can complete the goal before the 72-hour mark has passed, you'll receive the Silver Trophy, 2,600 coins and 1,200 Goods, while finishing at any point after that cutoff gives you the Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.
Luckily, it seems that these timed goals are becoming a bit easier with each one that's released. So long as you plan ahead with the pumpkin task, you should have no real trouble finishing this one off in 24 hours, but we still wish you good luck in your attempt!
What do you think of this latest timed goal? Have you received the Gold Trophy on any timed goals in the past? Sound off in the comments.
The Reel World
* Get 10 Fishing Lures
* Harvest 30 Pumpkins
* Collect 8 Times from a Seafood Restaurant
A Seafood Restaurant costs just 7,500 coins to purchase from the store, and if you're a veteran player in the game, it's highly unlikely that you don't already have at least one sitting in your town. It requires 140 Goods to operate, so your best bet to completing this particular task quickly would be to make it the only business that currently has Goods, so all citizens will flock to it, causing it to sell out much faster than normal. Pumpkins, meanwhile, take 18 hours to harvest, so unless you follow our suggestion of having pumpkins already to harvest before starting this goal, that's some serious time you'll spend (waste), waiting for them to grow.
If you can complete these three tasks within the first 24 hours of starting the goal, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, a Sailboat, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Unfortunately, you must complete this goal at this top level to receive the Sailboat. If you don't finish within the first day, but can complete the goal before the 72-hour mark has passed, you'll receive the Silver Trophy, 2,600 coins and 1,200 Goods, while finishing at any point after that cutoff gives you the Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.
Luckily, it seems that these timed goals are becoming a bit easier with each one that's released. So long as you plan ahead with the pumpkin task, you should have no real trouble finishing this one off in 24 hours, but we still wish you good luck in your attempt!
What do you think of this latest timed goal? Have you received the Gold Trophy on any timed goals in the past? Sound off in the comments.
CityVille Campaign Committee Goal: Everything you need to know
If you're looking for a way to earn extra coins, XP and Zoning Permits in CityVille, and you have a lot of friends that are always willing to help you out, you might be interested in the new "Campaign Committee" goal that was launched this week in the game. This feature is open to users that are at least level 15 and have at least one City Hall building in their town. As of right now, this is a one-time only feature, and instead of showing up on the left-hand side of your screen as other goals appear, this one must be activated by you by collecting from your City Hall when it's ready.
The next time you collect your profits from your City Hall, you'll see a new menu, asking you whether or not you'd like to start this new goal. You'll have just 24 hours to collect as much help from your City Hall staff members as you plan your campaign for your run for Governor. There are three levels of prizes associated with this goal, with more upgraded City Halls unlocking better prizes, and the amount of friends that ultimately help you also affecting your rewards. For a Level 2 City Hall, the three level of rewards are 10,000 coins, 40 XP and 3 Zoning Permits.
Once you start the goal (remember, it's a manual start - you can choose to do so whenever you're ready), you'll be able to post wall posts to your friends' walls asking them to come help you out. If you happen to have many spaces filled by Samantha or just blank staff positions, you can fill those by asking friends as well. When a friend responds to your call for help, you'll see a green check mark appear next to their name on the list. After the 24 hour period has passed, you'll receive whatever prizes you've received for your current level (note: you can track your current status on prizes by looking inside the goal's menu, as seen below).
Again, this Campaign Committee goal is a one-time-only activity for your town. Perhaps if it goes over well enough with users, we'll see another opportunity to ask our friends for help with campaign "donations," but for now, just focus all of your efforts on earning the most rewards from this feature while you can.
What do you think of the Campaign Committee feature in CityVille? Would you like to see this be an ongoing feature in your town? Sound off in the comments.
The next time you collect your profits from your City Hall, you'll see a new menu, asking you whether or not you'd like to start this new goal. You'll have just 24 hours to collect as much help from your City Hall staff members as you plan your campaign for your run for Governor. There are three levels of prizes associated with this goal, with more upgraded City Halls unlocking better prizes, and the amount of friends that ultimately help you also affecting your rewards. For a Level 2 City Hall, the three level of rewards are 10,000 coins, 40 XP and 3 Zoning Permits.
Once you start the goal (remember, it's a manual start - you can choose to do so whenever you're ready), you'll be able to post wall posts to your friends' walls asking them to come help you out. If you happen to have many spaces filled by Samantha or just blank staff positions, you can fill those by asking friends as well. When a friend responds to your call for help, you'll see a green check mark appear next to their name on the list. After the 24 hour period has passed, you'll receive whatever prizes you've received for your current level (note: you can track your current status on prizes by looking inside the goal's menu, as seen below).
Again, this Campaign Committee goal is a one-time-only activity for your town. Perhaps if it goes over well enough with users, we'll see another opportunity to ask our friends for help with campaign "donations," but for now, just focus all of your efforts on earning the most rewards from this feature while you can.
What do you think of the Campaign Committee feature in CityVille? Would you like to see this be an ongoing feature in your town? Sound off in the comments.
Clarins looks to beautify Facebook with Spa Life, its first social game
Is it only a matter time now before mom pants get their own Facebook game? Clarins, a well-known French brand of beauty products, recently released its own Facebook game, Spa Life. The game doesn't stray far away from games like Cafe World or Restaurant City, but applies the same principles to managing a spa rather than an eatery. Developed by Freshplanet, Spa Life has players managing an influx of customers looking for everything from a "mani-pedi" to facials and more.
Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.
According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."
Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.
For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.
Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >
Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.
According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."
Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.
For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.
Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >
Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, "finally?" During a panel named "The Rise of Social Games" at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we've come to love.
Honestly, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn't get into why it's taken this long for Disney to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer--and we enjoyed quite a bit--peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company's name, according to Pleasants. "We think it's an advantage, if you put game play first," Pleasants said.
It's comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam's Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]
Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we've come to love.
Honestly, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn't get into why it's taken this long for Disney to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer--and we enjoyed quite a bit--peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company's name, according to Pleasants. "We think it's an advantage, if you put game play first," Pleasants said.
It's comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam's Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]
Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
New Pioneer Trail World Map: Are four more expansions on the way?
Pioneer Trail World Map
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
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