Gameloft rockets N.O.V.A. iOS shooter game onto Facebook

Remember our little chats about 3D gaming on Facebook? Well, this is what we were talking about. Gameloft has launched N.O.V.A., its popular iOS first-person shooter series, on Facebook. Titled N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance Elite, the game throws you into a galactic battle for the livelihood of Earth ... or something like that. The free-to-play social game expectantly runs on the Unity Engine, as do most 3D games on Facebook, and already has a virtual goods shop available. This marks Gameloft's, normally a mobile phone developer, third game on Facebook. And boy, is it a strong (looking) one.

"For over 10 years, Gameloft has established itself as the leading developer on all mass-market platforms for downloadable video games," Gameloft president Michel Guillemot said. "With this in mind, we've expanded our reach to include games for social networks. This also illustrates our resolve to be closer to our fans on all platforms of their choosing."

According to Digital Trends, the game is heavily inspired by Microsoft's Halo series, which is most definitely apparent. However, to say it's a rip-off would probably be selling it short entirely too early. Isn't it difficult enough for a sci-fi-themed shooter game to avoid the all-too-easy Halo comparison? We'll be the judge of whether N.O.V.A. dodges the Halo bullet in our preview, so stay tuned.

[Video Credit: Gameloft]

Are you psyched to try out this game on Facebook? Do you think N.O.V.A. will establish a traditional gameplay type well enough for it to stick (and where others have failed)?

FarmVille Scam Alert: Obvious Giant Cream Egg Tree scam is obvious

Giant Cream Egg Scam
They're everywhere! Phony Giant Cream Egg Trees are running rampant through FarmVille. Well, at least scammers offering free ones are. FarmVille Freak has found the next big FarmVille scam, offering free Giant Cream Egg Trees. Wait, isn't the item offered through the Market called a Giant Spring Egg Tree? Exactly. These scammers don't seem to do their homework, but does it really matter? Aren't people going to click on it anyway simply because it reads "Free" somewhere on it? Not if you can help. Spread the word to your friends and those affected that this is a scam and they should get their computers checked out immediately. Problem solved ... for now.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Check out the rest of our Easter 2011 coverage right here.

Have you seen this scam circulating through your News Feed? How do you think Zynga should handle what's arguably become a serious issue?

Family Village game on Facebook pushes privacy boundaries

Everyone is fascinated by the concept of learning more about their family roots. Case in point: NBC's Friday night reality show 'Who Do You Think You Are,' where celebs such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Cattrall and Steve Buscemi dig deep into their family's past while America watches.

Now, there's a new Facebook game from Funium -- Family Village -- that's designed to do the same for you. There's a catch, though. You're required to give up some serious personal information in order to uncover any new family info. I'm not talking about things like your hometown and birthday, but things like your parents name, place of birth, birthdays, etc. It's necessary info to properly play the game, but it also inadvertently reminds me of the numerous phishing scam emails I get every month.

Family Village works like this: Create an avatar in a virtual village (much like you'd see in FarmVille or any other Facebook game) and then move your parents and other relatives into your town, assign them a place to live and give them jobs so they can earn coins which can, in turn, be used to upgrade your town with new buildings, roads, etc. The game is driven by a series of tasks -- many of which require you to enter people's birthdays and other personal info.

Gallery: Family Village on Facebook


As you enter your relatives' info, the game will pull up old articles, census data or other bits of information that may be relevant to your family. You can check it out and then determine whether the information is relevant or not. If so, you can save the info (or print it out), then continue populating your village with the rest of your family tree, and, ideally, uncovering more information as time moves on.

Admittedly, the concept of a game that helps you discover your roots is a fascinating one, but with the recent reports that Facebook plans to cash in on users' personal information more than ever, the Family Village's release couldn't really come at a worse time.

And, even though the Funium gives the generic promise to take 'great care to protect your family information inside Family Village' and says its 'servers are located behind firewalls' -- that's not really saying much, especially in the digital age wracked with headlines about supposedly secure Android apps exposing personal information and recent Capital One, JP Morgan Chase and Best Buy hacks doing the same.

Family Village: Are you OK with handing out that much personal info?
Yes -- I trust that it's safe.On the fence.No -- better safe than sorry.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
UPDATE 4/22: Funium's general council gave us this official statement on the game's privacy:

    "Privacy is of key importance to Funium as well as its players. Please understand that Funium does not share anyone's information with Facebook. Rather it is Facebook that shares the user's information with us. The relationship is one-way. And, unless the user specifically allows it, no one visiting your village can see anything but first names and last initials for villagers. We allow users to share their family tree with other family members but it is the player who determines who their family tree is shared with, not Funium."

Zynga, Lady Gaga wear the Poker Face in promotion deal talks

You can see it now, can't you? Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and Lady Gaga dance battling in his corner office over the final details of a promotion deal. The Wall Street Journal reports that both the FarmVille creator and the prosthetic-privy musician are in talks regarding a promotion deal for her upcoming album, Born This Way, on May 23.

The two Internet dynamos--for entirely different reasons--have collaborated before during Zynga's campaign to raise money for Japan after its horrific earthquake. Through Zynga, Gaga donated a cool $1.5 million, but now it's her turn (and Zynga's) to make some money ... lots of it.

Fast Company has created a list of possibilities for the promotional deal ranging from the completely logical and almost expected to the not-gonna'-happen. Our guess is Lady Gaga will become a character in one of Zynga's games, most likely FarmVille, CityVille or FrontierVille, like the recent Rango promotion in FrontierVille. Then again, Lady Gaga could come to Mafia Wars like Dr. Dre did and plop her music video on the home page. We're gonna' try and find out what this is all about--you sit tight and keep those guesses coming.

[Image Credit: Durian Boy]

What do you think Zynga has in store for Lady Gaga in its games? What would you like to see Gaga do with this partnership?

CityVille City Hall upgrades coming soon

Our friends over at CityVille Chat tell us that that you will soon be able to upgrade your City Hall in the CityVille. Some of the benefits for upgrading your City Halll will be higher population limits and extra rewards, such as Zoning Permits.

The images above show how the City Hall upgrades affect the appearance on the building, from Level 1 to Level 3.

Please note that this is an unreleased item -- so that means there's no guarantee on when/how/if this new feature will make its appearance in game.

N.O.V.A. Elite on Facebook: A standard-setting sci-fi shooter

NOVA combat
Every generation of gaming has one game that sets a standard for the rest of the industry for whatever reason. Pong for the Atari put the home console movement in, well, motion. Super Mario 64 defined what a 3D game should look and play like. More recently, Crysis--a sci-fi shooter released in 2007 that took some serious hardware to run well--set the standard for what PC games are capable of. N.O.V.A. Elite by Gameloft is Facebook's Crysis. Frankly, this is the most stunning social game to date, visually speaking. Of course, some praises are in order for the Unity 3D game engine itself, but it's Gameloft who took those tools and crafted a game that looks as if it could fit in on today's handheld systems. Then again, every beauty has a few blemishes.

Everything from the game's particle effects to lighting is a technological feat on Facebook. It's simply enthralling to launch a rocket into a squad of enemies, watch the plume of fire turn into one of smoke and move on to the next victim. These are things you simply cannot accomplish with standard Flash-based social games, and it's exactly why N.O.V.A. sets a standard for future Facebok games that decide to take this route.

Of course, gameplay happens in real time, randomized death matches of 12 players. For a first-person shooter, the gameplay is essentially standard fare: Run around the map looking for targets, shoot said targets until they die, reload, and repeat. If you've never played a first-person shooter before, this will all feel extremely alien. On the outset, you'll only have access to a few weapons and what you can scavenge while playing a match, but there are plenty of guns available for coins or Facebook Credits.

NOVA Home Screen
While many traditional social gamers were already off-put by strange words like "first-person shooter" and "Unity Engine," N.O.V.A. is a fine entry point into this burgeoning genre of social gaming. And it's all thanks to your friends. Despite being a real-time combat game, Gameloft has integrated the common social game tropes like gift giving. However, the developer has taken that one step further by allowing friends to join one another in matches. This isn't your usual visit to your friend's farm, but you and your buddy going head-to-head in an all-out skirmish.

Gallery: NOVA Elite


We've all been wondering when social games were going to become more social. Well, you're looking at it. At least for the moment. By allowing players to interact with one another in real time, N.O.V.A. has accomplished what only a few other games could: truly social gameplay. Unfortunately, making such a far leap to the opposite end of the social gaming spectrum has its drawbacks.

NOVA rocket launcher
Gameloft is asking quite a lot of its audience with N.O.V.A. First of all, the game states its own system requirements, something that will certainly scare away plenty of potential FarmVille converts. (Not to mention it's something I don't personally agree with.) Second, while a veteran of franchises like Halo and Call of Duty will pick the gameplay up from muscle memory alone, this game is terribly complex for the average social gamer. And third, it requires an external install (the Unity player) and up to 1 gigabyte of storage to keep game files on your system for quicker load times.

These are a few of the major reasons why casual gamers stay away from games like N.O.V.A. And while it's possible that Gameloft isn't even looking at those folks as a potential audience, it definitely should consider them. Especially when there are 300 million of them. Regardless of Gameloft's focus, N.O.V.A. is a step forward for social games in both visuals and social interaction.

FrontierVille: Building customization options disappear, but is it a bug?

If you've ever been in the mood to redecorate your land in FrontierVille, one of the easiest (and need I say free?) ways to do just that is to change the colors, trim details, and roofs of your buildings. While we used to be able to click on most of our buildings and then customize them in a variety of ways (mentioned above), now, it looks like many of the options for each building have vanished.

Users on the FrontierVille forums spotted this problem that I can personally confirm exists, as I'm suffering from it on my Homestead. When customizing my School House, for instance, all you can customize is the walls. I can't change the type of roof; I can't alter the decoration at the side of the building. Unfortunately, this isn't the only building that's been altered, either intentionally or through some sort of bug, as the Covered Wagon, Foundry, Storage Shed, and Barn (among others) have now all suffered the same fate. But is this a bug, or was it intentional? Mizz Faith, a moderator on the Zynga forums, says that she's checking into the situation, but as of this writing, that's all we know.

Hopefully, this is just a glitch, as I would personally be really disappointed if I wasn't able to change the look of my buildings ever again, to match the seasons, holidays, or just my mood. What do you guys think?

Would you be upset if your buildings had to stay in their current color schemes forever?

FarmVille GagaVille Sneak Peek: Electric Rose Crop, Chrome Hay Bale

So, we're all super excited about GagaVille coming to FarmVille, right? I mean, even if you're not a fan of Lady Gaga, just think of all of the new items that will be added to the game. For collectors and mastery-sign fans alike, this is set to be one giant event, and it will apparently start with Chrome Hay Bales and a new Electric Roses crop. Why? We've found images of those two items that are as of now unreleased in the game, which means it can only be a matter of time before they're released.

The Electric Roses look to actually glow, giving them the potential to steal the title of prettiest FarmVille crop ever (at least in my book). Of course, we'll have to see what the final product actually looks like growing side-by-side in a large field before I make that choice. As for the Chrome Hay Bale, it's your basic square Hay Bale, but with a shiny, metallic twist!

We'll make sure to bring you continued coverage on everything related to Lady Gaga's appearance in FarmVille / GagaVille, so keep checking back.

In the meantime, tell us what you think of these two brief sneak peeks in the comments. Do you like the idea of glowing crops, or do you appreciate more realistic crops and decorations?

Cafe World Sous Chef Goals: Everything you need to know

If you're still struggling with stoves in Cafe World that aren't super (that is, don't offer one-click cooking), you can now change that (at least temporarily) through an ongoing feature called the Sous Chef. As you complete a set of six new Sous Chef Station goals, you'll be able to hire a crew of chefs comprised of your friends, and will then be able to instantly cook dishes on all of your stoves with one click.

As we said though, to be able to do this, you'll first need to complete some goals. The first is called Build a Sous Station.

Place Sous Chef Station
Collect 5 Counters
Collect 5 Cabinets

As usual, you'll need to ask your friends to send you the required counters and cabinets, while placing the Sous Chef Station is as simple as clicking on the "Place" button in the goal menu and finding an empty square in your cafe. For finishing this first goal, you'll unlock the Sous Chef feature proper, which you can learn more about behind the break.
Before Sous Chef Remy can actually go to work in your Cafe, you'll need to hire him a crew of line cooks and other assistants. This is done by simply asking your friends to fill one of six positions on your Sous Chef Crew. You can also fill each position for either three or five Cafe Cash, although you might want to skip that option as it can become expensive fast. Why? There's a catch to this Sous Chef feature - your crew will only remain active for seven days, at which point you'll have to hire friends all over again to re-enable the one-click instant cooking for all of your stoves.

You'll also need to train your crew before being able to put them to work, which is where the rest of our goals come in. First, goal two has you simply "Hiring the Chef's Crew," which is what we discussed above.

For goal three, you'll have to actually start the training process. The third goal has you cooking just a handful of dishes, along with collecting some kitchen utensils.

Cook 3 Clubhouse Sandwhich
Collect 5 Knives
Collect 7 Tasting Spoons

Again, ask your friends to send you these items, and while you're waiting, you can cook your Clubhouse Sandwich, which takes 18 hours to prepare.

As for the fourth goal, we're getting more into actual cooking, but you'll still have to collect some items from friends.

Serve 10 Chips and Guacamole
Serve 10 Tikka Masala Kabobs
Collect 12 Calamata Olives

Chips and Guacamole takes three minutes to cook, while Tikka Masala Kabobs take one hour.

There are just two goals left, with the fifth goal being more of the same - some cooking and some item collecting.

Serve 10 Spitfire Roasted Chicken
Serve 5 Crackling Peking Duck
Collect 10 Tahitian Punch

Spitfire Roast Chicken takes a full day to cook, while Crackling Peking Duck takes slightly less time at 18 hours.

Finally, the last of these six goals goes back to almost solely item collection tasks, aside from four servings of a dessert.

Serve 4 Chocolate Cream Pie
Collect 7 Pastry Knives
Collect 10 Bags of Pastry Flour

Chocolate Cream Pie takes just four hours to cook, which should still give you plenty of time to collect at least a portion of the required knives and bags of flour. Once you finish this goal, you'll be able to fully take advantage of the Sous Chef feature in your cafe, but remember, you can only use the instant one-click universal cooking for seven days before having to recharge your crew. Does that make the feature worth it? I suppose I can see the draw of completing it at least once, just to say you have, but after that the choice will ultimately be up to you.

What do you think? Will you continue to take advantage of this feature by refilling your crew every week, or do you already have super stoves filling you cafe, making this feature fairly useless?

Disney / Playdom reaches $3 million settlement in children's privacy case

If you've been one to question whether your information is safe online, then heads-up. Playdom (now owned by Disney) has reached a $3 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in a case concerning the US Child Online Privacy Protection Act.

Before Playdom acquired Acclaim back in 2010, the company ran a game called Pony Stars, which has since closed down. During its run however, the game drew in more than 821,000 youngsters, with the FTC accusing Acclaim (and subsequently now Playdom and Disney) of collecting kids' ages and email addresses, and then posting that information live without parental consent. Another 403,000 children posted their information on other social sites run by the company. While this is of course disheartening to hear, it seems like after Acclaim was purchased by Playdom last year, that this was more of an oversight than an intentional practice, as Kotaku notes that a report claimed that this was in violation of Playdom's own internal policies.

While this case deals primarily with childrens' privacy, hopefully the high price tag on the settlement will make other social game developers take note. Online privacy is a huge deal, and if you violate users' trust, be prepared to pay the price.

Does hearing about this violation make you change your thoughts about Playdom or Disney's games? Do you allow your children to play online games, or do you keep them from the online space due to issues such as these?

FarmVille Scotland Animal Sneak Peek: Westie, Purple Stallion and more

A new group (a quartet, if you will) of animals look to be coming to FarmVille this weekend, all in the current Scotland limited edition item theme. The animals are the Westie, the Purple Stallion, Purple Stallion Foal, and a Scottish Flag Sheep.

In case you're wondering why the Purple Stallion belongs in the Scottish theme, we need only look at the color's significance in the country, what with all of the purple flowers (the Purple Heather or Purple Thistle, the national emblem of Scotland) growing there. Don't be surprised to see other purple items pop up in this theme as well. Actually, this whole idea of a purple theme does give us an idea as to what the next Mystery Game will contain, but of course that remains to be seen.

As for the other two animals, it looks as though the Westie is just a general dog animal, and not a dog that we can actually raise from a puppy into an adult. For the Scottish Flag Ewe, this is most likely just a decorative sheep, that, while capable of breeding, will likely not pass on the pattern.

Either way, we'll make sure to bring you all of the details about these animals when they officially launch in the game, so keep checking back.

What do you think of these Scottish animals? Do you like the look of the Purple Stallion, or do you appreciate more realistic animals?

FarmVille Mystery Game (06/21/11): Father's Day items arrive a bit late

A full two days late, we see a new Mystery Game being released in the FarmVille marketplace. Unfortunately, the theme of this Mystery Game is also a bit out of date, as Father's Day items are now available to "win" for your farm for 20 Farm Cash per dart.

Here are the confirmed prizes for this week's game:

Blue Leopard Ram
Brown Leopard Boar
Gold Mini Stallion
Gold Stallion
Golden Pony
Golfer Duck

Keep a special eye out on that Boar and Ram, as you'll be able to add the Leopard pattern to your Sheep and Pig breeding escapades by adding them to your collections. While you're certainly not guaranteed to receive one for your 20 Farm Cash investment, if you do, at least you'll know you've saved some money over what normally amounts of a 30 Farm Cash or more price tag buying these males outright in the store.

Unfortunately, regardless of its late start date, you won't be given any extra time to purchase darts for this week's game, as it will still expire on Sunday evening, technically five days from now. Make sure you buy a dart fast so you don't miss out!

What do you think of this week's Mystery Game prizes?

FarmVille: Latest Birthday Mystery Box offers highly sought after Unicorns

Rejoice FarmVille players! If you've ever wanted to get your hands on a Unicorn in FarmVille, but started playing the game too late, or just missed out on their releases (for whatever reason), you've now been given a limited time opportunity to get your hands on up for six of them for your farm! That's right, the latest in the series of Birthday Mystery Boxes offers us a set of Unicorns as prizes.

For the price of 25 Farm Cash, you'll be guaranteed one of the following:

Candy Cane Unicorn
Pink Unicorn
Purple Unicorn
Shamrock Unicorn
White Unicorn
Yellow Unicorn

Fortunately, unlike past Birthday Mystery Boxes, this one won't be around for just a day, as we've been given three days to purchase one or more of these Boxes. Sure, the mystery of not knowing which animal you'll receive is a bit upsetting, but they're all super cute, and you really can't go wrong. Will you join me in purchasing one?

What do you think of this Unicorn-filled Birthday Mystery Box? Do you already have a Unicorn collection on your farm, or are you using this box to start one?

CityVille Toy Store Upgrades: Everything you need to know

The Toy Store has now joined the growing list of businesses that can be upgraded in CityVille, so if you haven't deleted all of your Toy Stores due to lack of space and their poor profits, you can now make them more profitable by upgrading them (even if they're your friends' franchises).

The Toy Store can be upgraded from its starting place at Level 1, all the way to Level 3, with each level giving it a better payout, but also requiring more Goods in return. For instance, the Level 2 Toy Store earns 400 coins for every 100 Goods supplied, up from the 180 coins that the original Toy Store earned. To upgrade your Toy Store, you'll need to earn points, which are earned by simply collecting from and supplying your Toy Store(s) repeatedly.

You can either wait until you earn 50 points for the first upgrade by yourself, or you can ask your friends to help you, with each friend offering you two points towards this first upgrade. After you've hit that, you'll need to go through the process all over again to reach Level 3, where your payout increases again to 670 coins, and the Goods demanded increases to 160.

If you happen to have more than one Toy Store, know that you have to upgrade each one individually. Also, the building will change in size and appearance as its upgraded, so don't ask your friends to help you if you'd rather delay losing the quaint look of your Toy Store as it is now. At this rate, we'll be seeing many more businesses allowing for upgrades in the future, so keep checking back with us as we give you details over each upgrade as they're launched.

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

What do you think of the Toy Store upgrades? Which business or community building would you like to see upgraded next?

Better Business Bureau processed 436 Zynga complaints in 36 months, study says

And several other, more happy-go-lucky statistics were included in a study conducted by Single Grain, an SEO firm. The study reveals interesting statistics like of the 20 percent of people in US that have played a social game, 35 percent of them have never played a video game before. Of course, the seven ways of telling us that more women play Facebook games than men are included. (It's just not a survey without them.)

However, as you scroll down the infographic, the findings become a bit darker (and weirder), like Single Grain's finding that, "The Better Business Bureau processed 436 complaints about Zynga in the last 36 months." And to think that 90 percent of the company's revenue is thanks to virtual goods purchases. Speaking of weirder, did you know that the FarmVille maker's employees, when chosen for quarterly awards, have a choice between "a car filled with vested stock" or "a weekend spree in a $200,000 Lamborghini?"

It's true, and they're even offered trips to Vegas with acupuncture and massage treatments. In addition to one in every five Facebook users having played FarmVille, digital farmers outnumber real farmers in the US 80 to one. Not to mention half of all Facebook log-ins are to play games. According to Single Grain's findings, Zynga is having a grand old time--except for those nasty BBB reports. Oh well, there's always Vegas to help wash those worries away.

Social Gaming infographic

[Via All Facebook]

[Image Credit: Inquisitr]

What do you think of these recent findings about Zynga and Facebook gaming? Do you think there is any weight to those 436 Better Business Bureau complaints?

Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition whips up screenshots, but no release date

At the beginning of July, EA and Playfish quietly announced the existence of a Restaurant City iPhone game, now called Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition. While we plan on having a Q&A with the developer closer to the game's launch (the date is still unknown to even us), we have been given some screenshots, and even a logo, to help tide us over. Ok, so these will probably only make us more excited, rather than calming us down, but there you have it.

This first shot seems to show that we won't lose much of the "design-a-restaurant" gameplay found on the Facebook version, with its transition to the smartphone (although it does look like we may only be able to have one theme at a time, rather than swapping out on the fly). Also, it doesn't look like we'll be able to expand to an outdoor grassy area, as this particular screenshot seems to have decorated one of the four corners of its indoors to look that way instead. However, the basics are here: there are stoves with individual chefs, drink stations and all of the tables and chairs we'd expect, along with bathroom facilities at the far right. So far so good.

What does look to be a bit different is the design of our ingredients and cooking screen. This particular screenshot shows off the ingredient trading feature, which will again allow us to trade ingredients with friends to more easily complete recipes. It's presumable that the entirety of the cooking menu (including the recipe select screen) would have just as streamlined an appearance, in order to make browsing simple on the smaller screen.

I wish we had more information as to what to expect with Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition, as I'm just as excited about trying out this new game as you are, but I suppose for now, we'll have to simply scan and re-scan these pictures for any new details we may have missed while waiting for more news to be announced. You can be sure we'll let you know when there is.

Are you excited for Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition on iPhone? Which item themes are you hoping Playfish brings into the mobile version of the game? Do you want an entirely new decorative theme for your new restaurant, or will you try to duplicate your Facebook restaurant?

FarmVille Vineyard Animals: American Quarter Horse and Mule Deer

With tonight's FarmVille update, we see a continuation of the current Vineyard limited edition item theme, this time with two new animals being added to the barnyard. The American Quarter Horse and Mule Deer may not instantly scream "vineyard," but I highly doubt that animal collectors will complain (at least, not about the ability to add new animals to their collections).

The prices, though, might have some farmers up at arms, as the American Quarter costs 26 Farm Cash, while the Mule Deer costs 18 Farm Cash. Keep in mind that the American Quarter Horse has the ability to be bred, producing the American Quarter Foal which can then be shared with friends. On that note, if you're tired of absorbing the high costs of horses on your own, but still want to add one to your collection, have you ever tried splitting the cost with someone who collects Foals? You could keep your horse, and eventually (with luck) share a foal or two with them, and both of you will be happy! Just remember to only undertake something like that with someone you trust.

Both the American Quarter Horse and Mule Deer will be available for the next two weeks. You'll gain fairly large experience point bonuses for splurging, so they're something to look into, should you have tons of Farm Cash burning a hole in your pocket.

Will you purchase either of these animals for your farm? Has your spending on animals in FarmVille decreased as everything costs more and more Farm Cash, or do you still purchase all new animals that are released?

FarmVille Vineyard Trees: Cypress Tree and Monterey Cypress Tree

Forget the standard 5 / 10 Farm Cash pricing for new tree pairs in FarmVille; apparently, the folks at Zynga want a bit more money from us still, as they have released a new pair of trees in the Vineyard limited edition item theme this evening, with one costing a whopping 15 Farm Cash!

To be specific, the Cypress Tree is the level one tree in this equation, and it costs 5 Farm Cash. The Monterey Cypress then is the level two tree, meaning that you can skip purchasing it entirely, should you wish to just acquire one through the luck of Mystery Seedlings. If not, be prepared to shell out 15 Farm Cash to purchase one outright for either of your farms.

Regardless of your choice, FarmVille Freak has already laid out the ground rules for mastering these two trees, so here are the stats:

Cypress Tree Mastery

    Level 1: 75 Harvests
    Level 2: 150 Harvests
    Level 3: 225 Harvests


Monterey Cypress Tree Mastery

    Level 1: 75 Harvests
    Level 2: 150 Harvests
    Level 3: 225 Harvests


Remember, there's no easy to way to master these level one trees, unless you purchase quite a few of them from the store. If you're looking for those exclusive mastery signs, sure a single tree will work in the long run, but I can't blame you if you decide to purchase multiple trees just to speed up the process. If you choose to stock up, you've got just two weeks to do so, so make it fast.

Will you purchase either of these trees for your FarmVille tree collections? Do you practice Orchard Rotation to master trees more quickly, or do you allow trees to grow on their own and harvest them naturally?

FarmVille Vineyard Buildings: Vineyard Restaurant and Vineyard Windmill

Two beautifully decorated buildings were added to FarmVille's Vineyard limited edition item theme this evening, but unfortunately, their loveliness comes at a high Farm Cash price (not that we're surprised). The Vineyard Restaurant [pictured] is designed after a wine barrel turned on its side, and is a fairly large building, all things considered. It costs 25 Farm Cash to add to your farm.

Meanwhile, a Vineyard Windmill costs 20 Farm Cash. This lovely yellow version has stones surrounding its base, and vines crawling up the side, so it's definitely more than a standard recoloring of previously released windmills.

Interestingly, these buildings are marked as being part of the Vineyard item theme, but they don't actually have an expiration date as of this writing. In fact, none of the game's limited edition buildings have expiration countdowns, but we'd attribute that to a bug in the system, rather than a declaration that they'll be permanent additions to the store (c'mon, we can't be that lucky). If everything turns out as expected, these buildings should disappear from the store in around two weeks, so you'd better shop fast if you want them at all.

Will you purchase either of these buildings for your farm(s)? Have you created a Vineyard in your English Countryside, or are you saving these items for decorating back home? Would you purchase these buildings if they were cheaper, or even available for a great deal of coins instead?

FarmVille Vineyard Decorations: Grape Cart, Chaise Lounge, Vineyard Picnic and more

Here's something you don't see everyday (in FarmVille): a set of decorative items have been released for Farm Cash, but a few are actually affordable. Yes, take it all in farmers, as two of the decorative items released in the Vineyard limited edition item theme cost 1 and 2 Farm Cash each, making them downright bargains, all things considered.

All told, there were just five new decorative items released this evening, and the most expensive one of the bunch is the Vineyard Balloon (a hot air balloon with a grape pattern on the side) for 8 Farm Cash. I don't know about you, but that's pretty exciting stuff! If you have just a handful of Farm Cash to spend, you can purchase either a Vineyard Picnic for 2 Farm Cash (a picnic table covered in themed decorations like a grape vine and wine glasses), or a Grape Cart for a single Farm Cash.

Should you still wish to save your Farm Cash for other things, you can round out your trip through the store by checking out the Chaise Lounge (complete with a grape bunch on a nearby table) for 20,000 coins or the Vineyard Signage for 10,000 coins. Honestly, there hasn't been this cheap of an overall item release in quite some time. Sure, the new Vineyard animals and buildings cost a pretty penny, but at least you can decorate your farm for cheap!

Will you purchase any of these Farm Cash decorations because of their low price tags, or are you determined to save your Farm Cash for something else?

FarmVille Vineyard Animal Mystery Game (07/31/11): Win a free Wine Horse for completing the game

Apparently, enough users purchased dozens or even hundreds of Farm Cash last week to earn the "free" French Unicorn in last week's FarmVille Mystery Game to warrant a second round of this new feature. This week, a set of Vineyard animals are available to win as part of the Mystery Game, but if you can win all six, you'll also walk away with a free Wine Horse (ya know, the one we brought you a sneak peek of last week).

As it stands, each attempt at this week's Mystery Game costs 20 Farm Cash, so even if you're lucky enough to earn different item on your first six tries, you'll still need to shell out 120 Farm Cash before laying claim to the Wine Horse. Add that to the fact that you may need to pop many more balloons than six to actually complete the game and you have a costly endeavor.

If you're interested in going for that impressive feat, or if you just want to purchase a single dart, here's what you can expect to find inside the game:

Vineyard Cat
Vineyard Cow
Vineyard Dog
Vineyard Duck
Vineyard Goat
Vineyard Mini Horse

As you might expect, the Wine Horse, Mini Horse and Cow all produce offspring, just in case that sort of thing increases your desire to purchase a dart. In addition, if you happened to pick up a Vineyard Goat for 120,000 coins during its "bugged" release in the store, you should see that the item is now fully functional on your land, and is no longer invisible (as of this writing, I haven't had mine taken away, so it looks to be permanent). Unfortunately, the Mystery Game won't register that you have already "won" this prize, so you'll have to go for a second to complete the game, but hey - there's still nothing wrong with snagging a 20 Farm Cash item for just 120,000 coins.

Remember, this Vineyard animal Mystery Game will only be available to play for a single week, so act fast if you want a chance at winning all six items and at that elusive Wine Horse.

Did you finish last week's Mystery Game to earn a free French Unicorn? Will you try to complete this week's game for a free Wine Horse as well? How much Farm Cash would you be willing to spend on this week's game, just to earn the Wine Horse?

he Sims Social 4 Comments The Sims Social: Celebrate the last days of summer with new Summer House theme

With the mass popularity of the Sims Social on Facebook, it's no surprise that Playfish / EA are continually adding new decorative items to the game's store, allowing you to personalize your home in new ways. Specifically, this week sees the launch of a "Summer House" theme of items, with items being available for your living room, bedroom and even outdoor areas. There are also plenty of decorative items here to take a look at, so we'll do our best to give you a complete guide to these new items. Check them out!

SolTrain Cubic (Shelving Unit)

    Costs: 35 SimCash
    Value: $5,150


SolTrain Chair (Buildable item)

    Costs: 2,250 coins
    Value: $1,800


SolTrain Kingsize (Bed)

    Costs: 79 SimCash
    Value: $11,700
    Sleep Stat: 11


SolTrain Rays (Lamp)

    Costs: 3 SimCash
    Value: $450


BasketCase Travel (Requires Level 30)

    Value: $350


SolTrain UV Lite

    Costs: 12 SimCash
    Value: $1,750


BasketCase XL (Requires Level 30)

    Value: $600


SolTrain UV XL (Lamp)

    Costs: 22 SimCash
    Value: $3,250


Summer Tones (Painting - requires level 30)

    Value: $750


Woody Divider (Requires Level 24)

    Value: $1,300



SolTrain BagelUp

    Costs: 5 SimCash
    Value: $750


Woody Boxout B (Kitchen cabinet - requires Level 26 - Buildable item)

    Value: $1,650


Woody Boxout L (Kitchen Cabinet - requires Level 26 - Buildable item)

    Value: $1,650


SolTrain Panama (Outdoor Bed)

    Costs: 49 Sim Cash
    Value: $7,250


SolTrain Snug (Buildable item - requires Level 30)

    Value: $2,200


Palm Tree

    Costs: 1,750 coins
    Value: $1,650
    Happiness Stat: 3
    Social Stat: 3


SolTrain Parasol

    Costs: 59 SimCash
    Value: $8,700


SolTrain Swing (Buildable item - requires Level 30)

    Value: $4,850
    Sleep Stat: 3


UltiMax Top Deck (Stereo)

    Costs: 59 SimCash
    Value: $8,700
    Fun Stat: 5


In addition to all of these items, there's a full set of windows available in the Build menu is a new "Alpine" theme, which consists of a dark tan, almost orange colored frame. Four flooring options are available for either Social Points or (at most) a single SimCash per tile, and the theme is rounded out with a "SolTrain Beach" wallpaper that costs 55 Social Points per square.

As with previously released themes, these Summer House items don't appear to be limited edition; rather, they should be available permanently in the game's store. That being the case, you should be able to save up coins, or Social Points, or have time to purchase SimCash long into the future to create this theme in your home as far into the future as you like. If we see this change, we'll make sure to let you know.

What do you think of these Summer House items in Sims Social? What kinds of items would you like to see released next in the game?

Cafe World Red Phone Booth Goals: Everything you need to know

While we all have plenty of goals on our plate in Cafe World right now, what with the release of not one, but two five-part goal series dealing with the game's two-year anniversary, there's another goal series to complete concerning a Red Phone Booth. To be fair, this trio of goals deals with the two-year anniversary event itself, in that it will give you a bonus on all of the Travel Passes you earn. Remember, collecting more Travel Passes gives you a better opportunity of earning prizes both in-game (stoves and the like) and in the real world (trips to exotic locales). Here's a complete look at the Red Phone Booth goals.

Also, this is another case where the dishes you're asked to serve will likely vary from those listed here. It is impossible for us to predict which dishes each individual user will be required to cook, but for that we apologize.

Phone a Friend 1

    Place Red Phone Booth
    Serve 12 Biscuits of Tomorrow
    Call 3 Friends from your Phone Booth


Luckily, even though the Red Phone Booth is an item we'll place in our cafes, it doesn't need to be built like other items. Instead, you'll be able to look inside it and post messages ("phone calls") to your friends' walls. If they agree to be your Travel Buddy (it looks like you can collect 30 Travel Buddies in all), you'll earn points. As you earn Travel Buddies, you'll unlock items, as seen below:

3 Travel Buddies: Crispy Egg Rolls
6 Travel Buddies: Ivory Lightning Stove
10 Travel Buddies: Pineapple Cake
15 Travel Buddies: Double Travel Passes

Phone a Friend 2

    Call 6 Friends from your Phone Booth
    Spice 10 Neighbors' Stoves
    Serve 10 Napoleon's Napoleon


Remember, if you want to rush your way through this goal series to get back to the main two-year anniversary goals, you can use spices on your own dishes to make them cook faster. You can also check out your Gift Box to make sure you don't have extra servings lying around that you can use to instantly skip any cooking time here.

Phone a Friend 3

    Call 10 Friends from your Phone Booth
    Spice 10 Neighbors' Stoves
    Serve 15 Basil Finger Sandwiches


Again, this goal is fairly self-explanatory; just head inside your Red Phone Booth to post messages to your friends' walls, thus fulfilling the "call" task, and you'll be able to finish this one off basically in the time it takes to cook the dish you're required to. After that's done, you'll be able to celebrate by (hopefully) unlocking the double Travel Passes boost in your cafe, and can go back to completing tasks in the two-year anniversary event. Happy Cooking!


What do you think of these Red Phone Booth goals? Do you think they have a real purpose, or should the Phone Booth have been released without them?

CityVille: Russian-themed items available for a limited time

After releasing Mexican-themed items in CityVille in celebration of the Mexican Independence Day, it looks like Zynga wasn't ready to leave the international travel behind just yet, as it has released a set of Russian items into the store. As usual, you can expect to find businesses, homes, decorations and more available here, so read on for a complete overview of these items.

Cosmonaut Statue (Decoration)

    Costs: 10 City Cash
    Payout Bonus: 10% - extra 10% to Russian-themed items


Baranovsky House (Home)

    Costs: 500,000 coins
    Population: 250-480
    Rent: 110 coins every four hours


Balalaika Shop (Business)

    Costs: 40 City Cash
    Requires: 305 Goods
    Earnings: 1,648 coins


Russian Tea Room (Business)

    Costs: 30 City Cash
    Requires: 265 Goods
    Earnings: 1,468 coins


Winter Wheat (Crop)

    Costs: 4 City Cash per square
    Harvest Time: Instant
    Produces: 127 Goods per square


Russian Hall (Community Building)

    Costs: 75 City Cash
    Allows: 2,250 citizens added to maximum population cap


Matryoshka Dolls (Decoration)

    Costs: 10 City Cash
    Payout Bonus: 10% - extra 10% to Russian-themed items


Caviar Shop (Business)

    Costs: 65 City Cash
    Requires: 430 Goods
    Earnings: 2,198 coins


Rudzinskaya House (Home)

    Costs: 25 City Cash
    Population: 250-490
    Rent: 120 coins every four hours


Ballet Company (Community Building)

    Costs: 65 City Cash
    Allows: 1,400 citizens added to maximum population cap


Russian Folk Dancers

    Costs: 10 City Cash
    Payout Bonus: 10% - extra 10% to Russian-themed items


Alexandrov Apartments (Home)

    Costs: 55 City Cash
    Population: 1,350-2,650
    Rent: 165 coins every eight hours



Simcovich Apartments (Home)

    Costs: 65 City Cash
    Population: 1,850-3,650
    Rent: 185 coins every eight hours


On top of all of this, there's also a Russia Mystery Crate available for 40 City Cash that contains one of four items: the Russian Hall, Simcovich Apartments, Alexandrov Apartments or the Balalaika Shop. Unfortunately, that wraps up the theme at this point, with all of these items being available ranging from 11 to 12 more days in the store. With only one coin-related item available, I personally really hope that more items are added in the future, or I doubt I'll be the only one that skips this theme altogether. Am I right?

What do you think of these Russian themed items? Would you purchase many of these items if they cost coins rather than City Cash?

FarmVille Friends feature finally launches; add neighbors without being Facebook buddies

For the past few weeks, we've been given you details about a then unreleased feature in FarmVille called "FarmVille Friends," which will - to put it simply - allow you to add new FarmVille neighbors without being Facebook friends. Finally, this feature has launched in the game, allowing you to browse through a list of possible neighbor suggestions to find just the right people for you.

You'll be greeted with this feature automatically once the update has rolled around to your game. From there, you'll have to take a trip to the "Add Neighbors" tab at the top of the FarmVille game page to see a list of five strangers at a time that you could add as FarmVille neighbors without actually adding them as Facebook friends. You'll see their first names, in-game levels, profile pictures (where available), locations and the last time they played. You'll then either have the option of sending them a neighbor request directly or visiting their farm to see if they have many of the game's newest features to be sure they're really an active player.


If you happen to have any mutual Facebook friends with that person, that information will be displayed as well, and you can tell who the mutual friend is by hovering over the orange banner, as seen above. If you don't wish to add any of those five strangers as FarmVille neighbors, you can click on the "See More" button at right to refresh your selection.

Keep in mind, as you're able to see others in this feature, so too can people see you. You may appear in players' groups of five, where others can add you as FarmvVille neighbors instead. You'll see these requests in the Zynga Messaging Center upon logging into the game, and can simply click to accept or ignore the request as you see fit.

If you'd rather remove yourself from this feature entirely (that is, remove yourself from the pool of possible neighbors, and not add any strangers as neighbors yourself), this is accomplished by scrolling all of the way down the Add Neighbors tab and unchecking the "FarmVille Friends" box, as seen below. Should you change your mind later, you can always check the box again to put yourself back in the pool.

Once you've become neighbors with these users, you'll be able to visit their farms and send them free gifts as normal, but it doesn't look like our interactions can spread much beyond that as of this writing. That makes this feature questionable in quality, but you can always try it out on a few neighbors to see if it positively changes your gameplay around the farm.

What do you think of this FarmVille Friends feature? Will you participate and add new players as neighbors?

6waves Lolapps puts up $10 million for indie social game developers

Is 6waves Lolapps looking to find the next FarmVille? It's possible, but what's more important is that the new found publisher-meets-developer duo is looking to give the little guy a chance. The company just announced that it has raised $10 million in what it calls the 6L Fund. With it, the publisher will grant independent social and mobile game creators the financial resources and support they need to (hopefully) create the next big thing on Facebook or elsewhere.

"There are game teams at all stages in the creative process that have fresh and potentially groundbreaking ideas," said SVP of Publishing at 6waves Lolapps Jim Ying in a statement. "With the capital and the resources that only 6waves Lolapps can deliver, they could help shape the future of social gaming."

The resources Ying referred to include cross promotion, funded user acquisition (essentially paying for more players through advertising), product management, localization, hosting, and the FLISO Game Engine. The latter is enhanced Flash--software game developers commonly use to create Facebook games--technology acquired by 6waves earlier this year.

Independent developers might want to bite, considering that 6waves Lolapps reaches about 38 million collective monthly players, according to AppData--that technically puts the company just under Diamond Dash maker wooga's over 41 million monthly players. Most importantly, this potentially gives indie social game makers a chance on Facebook, which some argue has otherwise all but dried up.

Starting Sept. 27, developers can submit their applications for the 6L Fund, and hopefully we'll see the fruits of their labor sometime next year. Who knows, maybe it's time for another indie developer to enjoy wild success. Just think, what was Rovio before Angry Birds?

What do you think of 6waves Lolapps looking to indie game creators for the next social or mobile hit? Do you think this strategy could result in the next big Facebook game?

Angry Birds creator wants to publish indie games, Rovio exec says

It makes you wonder: Could Rovio be just a little bit scared that it might not strike gold again? Chief marketing officer for the creator of Angry Birds Peter Vesterbacka (pictured) said to Develop in an interview that the developer is planning to open a publishing label.

"We have some plans for this area, but not ready to announce yet," Vesterbacka told Develop. "If we do something in the publishing area, you can expect it to be a bit different."

However, it seems as if the maker of your favorite annoyed avians wants to keep things 1.) indie (independently developed) and 2.) mobile. According to Develop, Rovio has already approached several mobile game studios to form a foundation for the new business. While the Finnish company's other ventures have arguably been leaps of faith--cookbooks ... seriously?--it certainly has experience in the publishing business.

Well, at least from the other end. Angry Birds made it to the US in 2009 though Chillingo, a mobile games publisher that is now owned by EA. Of course, Rovio was able to back out of deal once the acquisition occurred, but the company is currently in another publisher relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, through which it nabbed the rights to create Angry Birds Rio.

And honestly, it would be a no-brainer for an indie game developer to team up with Rovio. For one, if the company claims to be worth at least as much as Zynga, it at least has considerable resources to offer. And seriously, could you go wrong with a team that has somehow successfully hyped up slingshotting birds into pigs for two years running? I think not.

[Via TouchArcade]

What do you think of Rovio potentially becoming an indie games publisher? Would you try a new iPhone game just knowing it was published by the creator of Angry Birds?

FarmVille Pic of the Day: Myhomefarm23's angular English countryside

Today's featured farm was created by FarmVille Forums member, Myhomefarm23. This FarmVille English Countryside plot is a great example of intelligent farm design. Sure it's a farm art masterpiece, but it's also functional!

Myhomefarm23 went about creating this absurd tree design without a single orchard, laughing at anyone who squishes their beautiful trees into storage bins. Breathtaking rows of fruit trees line the path leading up to the Eiffel Tower located at the center of the farm, creating a truly spectacular effect. Not only that, but if you look closely, where there isn't trees, the farm is full of animals! This, folks, is an exceptional sheep and pig breeding design. If harvested consistantly, this farm could turn a huge profit! Just looking at this excellent farm makes me wish I was Myhomefarm23's neighbor, just so I could reap some of the rewards :)

I just hope Myhomefarm23 has plenty of Farm Hands and Arborists saved up or they're in for a lot of clicking!

What do you think of this great English Countryside design?

If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!

Tagged bulks up for a bout with Facebook, acquires WeGame

The imminent battle between Facebook and Google+ over social games domination has a potential, scrappy third contender. People often forget about Tagged, the San Francisco-based social network with a considerable 100 million plus users. Video games, our favorite thing to talk about, might change all that, as the company announced that it has purchased WeGame.

WeGame is a cross between a social network for gamers in vein of services like Raptr and an online store with digital copies of games. Of course, terms of the deal weren't disclosed, and it's unclear exactly how the social network will make use of its new gaming network-meets-game store.

This news is especially striking considering the fact that Tagged already offers social games to its users. In fact, the company hired former Pogo VP Andrew Pederson to oversee its social gaming efforts. Perhaps that venture hasn't produced results, or Tagged simply looks to further bolster its social gaming efforts. Unfortunately, we currently haven't a clue.

According to TechCrunch, Tagged will reveal the details of how WeGame's technology will be incorporated "in the coming months." The company in question is run by a mere four employees, so we imagine there is a good amount of automation going on there, something Tagged could be looking to take advantage of.

It's also worth noting that WeGame is heavily skewed toward the hardcore crowd, offering a number of games for sale that only fans of franchises like World of WarCraft might recognize. That said--and this is pure speculation--Tagged could be looking in a completely different direction than Facebook is and Google+ appears to be: the proverbial Call of Duty player. Hey, if the social network has found strong enough of a niche to thrive in the shadow of Facebook, perhaps it has found another.

Are you either a Tagged or WeGame user? What do you think of Tagged picking up another games service when it already offers games?

CrowdStar, others dock in Sibblingz Spaceport for mobile social games

If we haven't driven home yet that mobile will be massive in the future of social games, we clearly haven't done our job. Luckily, news like the fact that Sibblingz has signed on It Girl creator CrowdStar and a number of other developers to use its Spaceport service helps us make good on that.

TechCrunch reports that--in addition to CrowdStar--BitRhymes, IKIGames, LuckyLabs, Fortune Planet and DeezGames have signed on to use Spaceport to create mobile versions of their Facebook games. Spaceport is Sibblingz's cloud-based game development platform that allows developers like CrowdStar to create mobile games that work on both iOS and Android devices.

Essentially, it allows developers to create a mobile game once and have it run on multiple mobile devices. The platform makes use of coding languages like Javascript and HTML5, but neither of which are known for making robust or fully-featured games on iPhones or Android phones. However, Sibblingz claims that games built on Spaceport feature an app-like experience.

What Sibblingz means is that, while these games are built using simpler code languages, they will perform like, say CityVille Hometown by Zynga. That game was built using tools specifically for iOS devices and is thus more visually impressive and feature-rich than mobile browser games. However, according to TechCrunch, developers can even create games specifically for iPhones and iPads through Spaceport.

Sibblingz also says that developers can make games for Facebook's worst-kept secret, Project Spartan--an initiative to bring Facebook to mobile devices through browsers using HTML5 complete with full-featured apps and games--through Spaceport. Jeez, on paper it sounds like Spaceport can do anything but make the cash flow.

Regardless, what's important to take away here is that social game developers realize that mobile is where it's at. Frankly, it's one area where clear winners have yet to be defined, much unlike Facebook (ahem, Zynga and EA). At this point, anyone could come out a winner on mobile, and perhaps the companies that embrace cross-platform game creation like CrowdStar will have the upper hand.

Do you think these developers have a chance at winning the mobile race these social game creators are running with Spaceport? Who do you think will ultimately win the mobile social gaming war?

Mafia Wars 2: Like Facebook fan page to unlock prizes in final game

While little is known about Mafia Wars 2 in terms of it's actual gameplay, we do know that prizes are being offered for users that Like the game's Facebook fan page. If this entire promotion looks familiar, it's because EA/Playfish pulled this one during the Sims Social pre-launch hype, and now we're seeing it again here.

Either way, we know that there will eventually be nine prizes available to unlock, although only seven of them have been revealed. These prizes are limited to varying (increasing) amounts of Likes, and will be unlocked in the final game upon launch if we reach those milestones in time. Here's the complete rundown:

Black Mohawk Hair - 20,000 Likes
Casino Row T-Shirt - 50,000 Likes
Graffiti Wall - 100,000 Likes
Skull Bandana - 250,000 Likes
Animated Lions - 500,000 Likes
Tribal Tattoo - 1 million Likes
Stripes Baseball Cap - 1.5 million Likes

Two additional prizes have yet to be revealed. So far, the fan page has only gained 70,000 Likes, so we've only managed to unlock the Black Mohawk Hair and Casino Row T-Shirt as prizes. Since the game's announcement is so new, and the hype train has barely left the station, I'd imagine we'll see that number climb slowly at first, and then monumentally as the game comes closer and closer to launch. And once we find out what those final two prizes are, we'll make sure to let you know.

Are you excited about Mafia Wars 2? If the game doesn't offer any incentive for users to switch from the original to this new version, will you?

Earn 4 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Capital One promotion

At this rate, perhaps we should just rename FarmVille "Capital OneVille." Why? Yet another cross-promotional activity has launched in the game, allowing users to walk away with 4 free Farm Cash. Unlike the Capital One farm and goat, or even the Capital One free gift that can be sent to friends, this promotion is found where most other free Farm Cash promotions are located: underneath the FarmVille gameplay area.

This promotion is a fairly lengthy one. Once you launch the activity window, you'll need to watch a full Capital One trailer, and can then answer some quiz and survey about what you've seen or the Capital One brand in general. Don't worry - these "quiz" questions are incredibly easy, and if I had to make a guess, it likely wouldn't matter which way you answered; you'd still likely get the Farm Cash at the end.

After manually answering one fill-in-the-blank question, the activity will finally be complete, and you'll be the proud owner of 4 free Farm Cash. This is double the amount of Farm Cash we normally see released in such promotions, so at least it excuses a bit of the additional time it takes to complete this particular activity. As usual, you'll want to complete this promotion as soon as you see it pop-up underneath your game; there's no telling when it will expire, and you will have missed your chance.

FarmVille Trick or Treat Goals: Everything you need to know

To go along with the Trick or Treat event in FarmVille, that will see you tricking your friends' trees and animals to earn points on an overall leaderboard, a set of new goals has also been released. These Trick or Treat goals will be available in the game for the next two weeks, so here's a guide to finishing them all!

Let There Be Light (Sticks)!

    Get 8 Light Sticks
    Visit 3 Neighbors
    Harvest 200 Fruit


For this goal, the Light Sticks are earned by posting a general news item on your wall for all of your friends to click on. As for the fruit, remember that you can harvest any kind of fruit, regardless of harvest time, so long as you reach 200 individual squares harvested. Finish this first goal and you'll receive 50 XP, a Reverse Skunk (the coloring is backwards) and 2,500 coins.

The Bucketeers

    Get 8 Candy Buckets
    Harvest the Reverse Skunk
    Harvest 200 Flowers


This time, the Candy Buckets are earned by sending out individual requests to your friends. You'll receive 50 XP, a Granny Wolf and 2,500 coins for finishing this one.

Jack-O-Lighting

    Get 10 Jack-O-Lantern Flashlights
    Harvest the Orange Granny Wolf
    Harvest 200 Grain Crops


Unlike the Granny Wolf that's been available previously in a pink outfit, this one is a different animal, wearing orange clothing. While you're waiting for it to become ready to harvest, you'll need to post a general request on your wall for the flashlights. Finish this goal and you'll receive 50 XP, a RoboDinoNinja (a dinosaur dressed like a robot ninja, what else?) and 2,500 coins.

The Route to Loot

    Get 10 Candy Maps
    Place the Halloween RoboDinoNinja in a Zoo
    Harvest 100 Candy Corn


Candy Corn takes just four hours to grow. As for the Candy Maps, you'll be able to use those four hours to wait for your friends to send you some, via a general news item you post to your wall. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, a Hippo Tutu and 2,500 coins.

There's Always One...

    Get 12 Cardboard Box Costumes
    Master Reverse Skunk to Level 2
    Harvest 200 Vegetables


The Cardboard Box Costumes are earned by sending out individual requests to your friends. Finishing this goal gives you 50 XP, a Cardboard Robot costume for your avatar and 2,500 coins.

Trick or Treat?

    Get 12 Confetti Bombs
    Harvest the Zoo
    Harvest 150 Black Tulips


Black Tulips will only be available in the game's store for the next 15 days, but luckily, that gives you just enough to time to plant and harvest some for this particular goal, as the goal expires one day before the crop does! While waiting the full 24 hours for them to grow, you can post a general news item on your wall asking your friends to send the Confetti Bombs. Finishing this final Trick or Treat goal gives you a 50 XP, a Purple Dragon and 2,500 coins.

Even if you don't enjoy doing goals in FarmVille, I'd be willing to wager that many of you will appreciate that free Purple Dragon at the end. Heck, I know I will! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to complete these goals on my own farm!

Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.

What do you think of these Trick or Treat goals in FarmVille? Which of the prizes are you most excited about earning?

Jurassic Park to (hopefully) bring Mr. DNA to mobile, Facebook in 2012

It's just not Jurassic Park without the little guy. Ludia, the Vancouver-based creator of branded Facebook and mobile games like Family Feud and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, has announced that it will bring a Jurassic Park social game to mobile devices in 2012. This deal with Universal Studios marks the company's move into the movie industry through branded games.

"This exciting license is our gateway to the movie industry and reinforces our strategy of turning high-profile brands into successful interactive entertainment experiences," Ludia CEO Alex Thabet said in a release, according to Inside Social Games. But it sounds as if the game will be far less about dinosaurs wreaking havoc than about keeping dinosaurs in check.

In other words, it's going to be another property management game. (Ugh.) Ludia will throw players onto the ill-fated island shortly after the events of the first movie, and they'll be able to help rebuild Jurassic Park into a thriving, money printing machine. What sounds most interesting is the ability to breed dinosaurs using new DNA strands discovered in pieces of amber. See? There's no way Ludia can leave out Mr. DNA now.

Of course, players will need to seek the help of their Facebook friends to keep dino-related disasters from happening and more tourists forking over the cash. The game has yet to receive an official title, and will release on mobile devices before hitting social networks like Facebook.

Are you excited to see Jurassic Park become a social game? What are your thoughts on branded mobile and social games?

The Peanut Gallery runs Snoopy's Street Fair on iOS Nov. 17 [Video]

We're not usually the type to fawn over game trailers, but after hearing that lovely piano tune it's hard not to. Capcom and Beeline Interactive's Snoopy's Street Fair is set to launch on the App Store for free Nov. 17, TouchGen reports. At first glance, the game looks a lot like Beeline's Smurfs' Village. And, in theory, it probably is. But what's important here is the authenticity.

Seeing the game in motion looks like the strip come to life. (You know, aside from the TV specials.) Everything from the hand drawn graphics to the interface looks as if the venerable Mr. Schulz drew the artwork himself for the game. Players will help Chuck and the gang throw their own street fair, complete with attractions like Lucy's Psychiatric Help and lemonade stands.

The game looks like just another property management underneath the layer of nostalgia, but Beeline has mixed things up with a slew of mini games. Players will get to roast marshmallows, mix watercolors and squeeze lemons for lemonade in unique, timed romps for the high score. It looks like the game will have a number of collectible draws as well.


Capcom made a smart move getting into the branded games biz when it did, as IndustryGamers reports the Japanese publisher suffered a 28.1 percent loss in revenue year over year. Despite this, the company hailed mobile social game Smurfs' Village as the "driving force" behind an 89 percent jump in net sales since last year. Hey, if that means more adorable nostalgia fests like this, then count us in.

Are you going to download Snoopy's Street Fair when it launches next month? What do you think of Capcom's approach to mobile social games?

Ultima creator Richard Garriott runs social game studio with ... a robot?

At this point, with a guy who flew into space and once ran the craziest haunted house in the nation within his house, I guess you should expect these things. The Huffington Post reports that Richard Garriott, creator of the famed Ultima PC game series and co-founder of social game studio Portalarium, manages his Austin, Texas-based studio remotely ... with a robot. Seriously.

Since July of this year, Garriott has conversed with Portalarium's 25 employees in meetings and casually (the robot is a mobile, remote-controlled machine equipped with cameras and microphones) from his New York home. According to The Huffington Post, all he needs is a broadband connection, his laptop, a microphone and two cameras to make it work.

"When I'm up north, I log in in the morning and can meander over to anyone's desk and really be a part of the casual conversations that are so essential to our work," Garriott told The Huffington Post. "Sometimes I feel like a spy, but fundamentally it feels like I am really there." But the game industry veteran didn't buy the $15,000 Anybot QB solely for this job.

When Garriott married his wife earlier this year in the spring, he purchased the robot to ensure that his mother could participate in the ceremony and reception, which took place in Paris. The game designer strapped a cardboard cut-out of his elderly mother to the robot, gave her the controls from her Las Vegas home and it was as if she was there. Hey, at least we now know how dedicated Garriott is to Portalarium's upcoming crown jewel, Lord British's New Britannia (and his mum).

[Via Kotaku]

[Image Credit: Beef and Pie Productions]

What do you expect will come of Garriott's reportedly ambitious social game? Do you think the designer can strike gold here like he did back in the '80s and '90s on PCs?

Producer on anticipated PS3 game ditches Sony for Facebook games

One the most anticipated PS3 games of 2012, The Last Guardian (pictured), just lost its executive producer to Facebook games. And in other news, the sky is falling. Jokes aside, former Sony Computer Entertainment president and executive producer on The Last Guardian Yoshifusa Hayama has left Sony for UK-based social games studio Bossa Studios, Eurogamer reports.

Hayama, who previously worked on the popular Final Fantasy series and cult classic Ico, will serve as creative director at Monstermind creator Bossa and work to bring the studio's first 3D Facebook game to life. The game is set to launch this year, according to Eurogamer, which we imagine means within the next 365 days. Hayama sounds exceedingly confident (refreshingly so even) in 3D Facebook games.

"The future of gaming is definitely online and thanks to recent developments with Flash 11, there is no reason why a social game can no longer be as visually stunning and as compelling as the big console titles," Hayama told Eurogamer. "Together at Bossa we have plans to bring a plethora of games to Facebook and eventually other appropriate social media channels, which include 3D elements and can be enjoyed by all age and interest groups."

Not only does this news follow the unfortunate reports of Ico creator Fumito Ueda had left Sony, but the increasing rate at which big time Japanese game creators are hopping on the social games bandwagon. This year alone saw the folks behind Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog and games like No More Heroes break onto the scene. At least where "compelling" social games are concerned, let's hope they're all onto something.

[Via Gamasutra]

Why are more and more Japanese game makers entering the social games space? Are you waiting for more "compelling" 3D social games?

Game of the Day: Madpet Madfrog

Madpet Madfrog is today's Game of the Day, and folks, this one is a goodie. The object of Madpet Madfrog is pretty simple. Help MadFrog jump down the river and perform various tricks and combos. The further you get down the river and the more tricks you execute, the higher your score will be.

As you move down the river, bouncing on alligators, birds and stars, you'll quickly pick up speed. Keep your reflexes sharp and a cool head, and you'll be putting up high scores in no time. Think you can beat my score of 6,947? Give it your best shot.

Click here to play Madpet Madfrog!
madpet madfrog game of the day     madpet madfrog game of the day
Pro Tips:

    Bouncing on birds and stars keeps your combo going so you can combine even more tricks.
    You don't need to hit each crocodile. As you speed up start looking further ahead, otherwise you'll meet a watery grave.


Click here to play Madpet Madfrog!

Were you able to complete all five tricks in a single jump? What was your high score?

Diamond Dash rushes to blast back at Bejeweled Blitz on iPhone, iPad

Watch out, PopCap: It looks like someone is gunning for your best game. Berlin, Germany-based social games maker wooga announced at the Le Web Conference in Paris that its Facebook hit Diamond Dash has finally hit iPhones and iPads everywhere. (The keyword in that sentence is "iPad", folks.) Better yet, the Facebook-connected game--announced way back in July--is 100 percent free to play.

Through Facebook Connect, players can compete for dominance between their friends on weekly leaderboards on their iOS device, and the game will track their progress should they hop back in on Facebook. While the game is free to play, you'll be governed by that dastardly Heart system--just the way it is on Facebook. However, you can also dole Hearts to your friends like you do on Facebook. (Of course, you can buy more, too.)

Wooga also promises players that the game, which is available in nine languages, will be updated frequently with new content. Diamond Dash hits the App Store the same day as its main competitor, Bejeweled Blitz, relaunches as an independent freemium game. While Diamond Dash is beating Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook in monthly players, according to AppData, the alternative gem crusher has some catching up to do on mobile devices. And the fact that it's first to officially hit the iPad certainly helps.


Click here to download Diamond Dash on the App Store for Free Now >

Do you prefer Diamond Dash or Bejeweled Blitz for your shiny smashing fix? Does the fact that the former is on iPad first sway you at all?

EA, Playfish developing 'the hell out of SimCity' for Facebook [Report]

Hey, if The Sims Social struck gold, it only makes sense at this point. Business Insider reports, citing nameless sources, that a China-based Playfish team has suspended all other projects to "develop the hell out of SimCity" for Facebook. Of course, the idea is that the second place developer is doing so to go toe-to-toe directly with CityVille, the number one game on Facebook.

Zynga's city-builder has held the top spot on Facebook for over a year, and EA is reportedly doing everything in its power to dethrone the king of social games. According to Business Insider, multiple sources within the company say that SimCity has been in development for over a year, around the same time that Zynga started work on CityVile. But when the game broke every record in the book over the past year, EA had no choice but to ramp up work on SimCity.

At the time, Zynga had more time and resources to pour into CityVille than EA did with SimCity, which had "doubled down" on The Sims Social. Since the game has now proven itself, putting a dent into Zynga's then spotless lineup, the veteran games publisher has placed a laser focus on the social iteration of game designer Will Wright's masterpiece.

According to the news outlet, Playfish's Norway and San Francisco teams are working on entirely new games for EA. And yes, it's OK to be more excited by that rumor than yet another city-builder. This better be good.

[Via IndustryGamers]

Are you excited by the thought of SimCity hitting Facebook? Do you think it could give CityVille a run for its (boatloads of) money?

GSN Digital and Toys for Tots let you feel less guilty for gaming at work

When your boss's shadow looms over your cubicle, now you can say, "Hey, it's for the kids!" GSN Digital has teamed up with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation for the fourth year in a row to let its stable of online gamers give back through nothing but play. Now through Dec. 31, GSN Digital players can raise Oodles, the game portal's in-game currency, through simply playing several online games.

For instance, gamers can earn Oodles for answering trivia questions correctly in BINGO Blitz, or nabbing high scores in games like Bejeweled 2 and Mahjongg Dimensions. You can then redeem those Oodles for either $5 or $10 donations to Toys for Tots through GSN Digital's Prize Center. Players with a more competitive spirit can enter certain online game tournaments in which 10 percent of all entry fees go to Toys for Tots. Those games include Wheel Of Fortune, Scrabble Cubes and Solitaire Rush.

While players can donate to Toys for Tots using Oodles through Dec. 31, the cash tournament donations will only run through Dec. 25, so get to competing if you want to help some unfortunate tikes enjoy their holiday. To date, GSN says it's raised $50,000 for Toys for Tots through events like these, so let's try and make that, say, $75,000 this year. To get in on this donation action, dive right in by clicking here.

Do you plan on giving to Toys for Tots this year through GSN Digital games? If not, how do you plan on spreading cheer to the unlucky folks this season?