Social City: Create a home for Santa in the new North Pole District

Attention Mayors! If you're looking for a sure-fire way to put yourself into the Christmas spirit, then check out the newest addition in Social City - the launch of a new free district to players that comes in the form of the North Pole.

Let me say this again, all users now have a new free district to play around in. Not only that, but the land is covered in snow, the starter items are trees that are also covered in the fluffy white stuff, you have a large, literal North Pole surrounded by gifts, and even two Gingerbread Houses that provide residents to your town. What's more, Santa and his troop of reindeer fly through the sky at random - how cool is that!?

Sure, we may be a bit over-excited at the thought of having a Christmas-themed land in Social City, but Playdom must be just as excited, as they have created an entirely new store for the North Pole district, filled with snow covered versions of some of the game's previous items (like the Windmill or Chocolate shop), and all new items, like a Xmas Post Office, Hot Chocolate Shop, and a whole series of snow covered Log Cabins and various Gingerbread-themed goodies.

Don't worry about running out of space up at the North Pole either, as today Playdom announced that they have automatically increased the size of the North Pole district for all players to 27x27 squares, giving you plenty of room for massive snow ball fights, and whatever winter-themed fun you can imagine.

Social City: Spin to win Christmas items in new raffle

If you're as excited about the new North Pole District in Social City as we are, you're probably looking for any additional ways to add themed items to your winter playground. In comes a new holiday-themed raffle to solve this need, as you now have a chance to add 7 more winter-themed items to your North Pole district, by simply spinning to win.

This newest raffle is available via Featured section of the game's store. It costs 8 City Bucks for each individual spin you'd like to do, and there are six items that can be won, at random, for each spin. As usual, there is no guarantee that you won't land on a duplicate item on subsequent spins, so if you're looking to collect all six, you'll either need to be extremely lucky (to land on each item only once, taking just six spins), or be willing to spend a lot of City Bucks to make sure you get them all.

If you are a lucky player that collects all six items, you'll be rewarded with the grand prize - Santa's Workshop, an incredibly decorated and highly animated leisure item that will add 43,000 Happiness Points to your town.

Just as most raffles are time limited, we're guessing that this raffle will only be around as long as the holidays, so start spinning now for your chance to add some exclusive Christmas spirit to your North Pole!

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?