FarmVille Unreleased Cupcake Crop!

    farmville cupcake bushel     farmville cupcake mastery sign     farmville market stall
Attention all Cupcake lovers! FarmVille Freak Martijin from FarmVille Code Hunters, just shared with us this exciting new unreleased Cupcake Crop.

Maybe this crop will be released just in time to celebrate FarmVille's upcoming birthday this weekend. I hope so because I can't wait to grow crops of Cupcakes on my farm!

Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market. Zynga is the sole owner of all their copyrighted images.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Game developers give Facebook Credits mixed marks

Now that Facebook game developers have been testing out Facebook Credits in their games for a while now, its about time we found out what those developers thought of the new payment option for in-game items. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal does just that, and the verdict on the Credits so far seems decidedly mixed.

On one side, you have developers like Gonzo Games' Robert Van Gool, who bristle at the idea of paying a 30% fee to Facebook for the privilege of selling items using their currency. "Thirty cents off of every dollar adds up," Van Gool told the Journal. Others quoted in the piece don't like how the portability of Credits could encourage players to easily take their money to other games.

On the other side, there are some developers who've seen the Credits greatly increase their in-game purchase rates. Crowdstar CEO Peter Relan said his company's item sales have doubled since the Credits were introduced, and Arkadium's Kenny Rosenblatt and Jessica Rovell said 10% of their users have bought items with Credits, more than triple the rate for any other payment method. "With Facebook Credits, when someone wants to buy on an impulse, they can do it immediately," Rosenblatt said. "They don't have to leave Facebook to go fill out a form on another site."

Happy Aquarium Tree of Giving promises to deliver riches

CrowdStar has released another expensive idol for Happy Aquarium.

The Tree of Giving is available in Happy Aquarium's store for 90 Facebook Credits. This singular gold collector's item promises one Facebook Credit everyday for 14 days. Upon the fifteenth day, paying customers will be rewarded with an eqsuisite premium item. In addition, the Tree of Giving will reward players with coins every day.

Therefore, one could deduce that buying the Tree of Giving only costs 74 Facebook Credits (after the rebate) and offers an exclusive premium item and free coins forever.

Sounds like a fair deal and others seem to agree as there are only 5,000 left. Head to Happy Aquarium to check it out.

Click here to play Happy Aquarium>

Quote of the Moment: Controlling your spending

"There is a misconception that the social gamer goes online to engage in a 'free' game, and then becomes 'tricked' or 'lured' by the developers into spending money. This implies that the social gamer has somehow less control over his expenditure than if he was to go and spend £40 upfront for a new title on the Playstation3.

I would argue that latter is a process whereby the customer is less in control. There is no negotiating how much of that £40 cake he would actually like to eat, or will even be able to eat; this is how it's packaged, like it or not. The payment system in social gaming provides more control, allowing the customer to more accurately get what he wants. It allows the less interested gamer to spend less, and the more interested to spend more."

-Clubv3's Ciaran O'Connor argues that social gamers aren't just profligate morons in his new white paper, entitled "What is the Appeal of Social Games"

Restaurant City: Chill out in the new Lounge Bar with a Coco Colada

restaurant city lounge bar
Restaurant City is allowing players to unlock a new Lounge Bar for their restaurants. Much like the Sushi Bar, to unlock this swanky addition to any eatery, the player must master a new menu item. The menu item is the new Coco Colada beverage and it must be leveled up 10 times to unlock the lounge.
restaurant city lounge bar
The Coco Colada is not an easy beverage to level. It requires three ingredients per level: pineapple, coconut, and cherry. Fortunately, there are many ways to get ingredients:
restaurant city lounge bar
restaurant city coco coladaCherry is an all new ingredient and you can expect to be seeing it in more menu items in the future. Playfish has been kind enough to start everyone off with a free cherry: click here to get your free ingredient.

Once unlocked, the Lounge Bar will need to be operated by a friend, appointed as bartender. Drinks that have been mastered will be displayed on its shelves. Head over to Restaurant City to get started on this excellent means of serving drinks.

Click here to play Restaurant City>

Virtual Villagers: A First Look at Playing God

With today's release of Virtual Villagers, everyone can now play god on Facebook. But official PR aside, how good is it?

Virtual Villagers Quest Clear the LandJohn Passfield, the Creative Director of 3 Blokes Studios, who helped make the game, says that Virtual Villagers "is building on games like FrontierVille." This is very obvious to players once the game's Quest icons appears, which work nearly identically to FrontierVille's Goals. The two games even share a Quest or Goal achievement called "Clear the Land." On top of that, crops need to be planted and harvested, buildings require wood to build, and the plant life takes over when you've been away for too long.

But plenty of differences allow Virtual Villagers to stand on its own. Unlike FrontierVille, arduous loads of clicking have been replaced with drag-and-drops. Your villagers also don't stay still, and each one comes with his or her own stats page, which will develop over time. And while you start off with one villager, you don't have to work your butt off getting hitched in order to have a second pair of hands to work the land. I got another villager just after hitting Level 3! But, the game warns, "Older villagers start to slow down."
Virtual Villager Detail
Also, compared to the boxed homestead setup on FrontierVille, where you're constricted by walls of trees, the play area of Virtual Villagers is vast. You're on a huge freakin' island and your villagers have full run of the place. It'll take you a minute or two just to walk your characters around. But if you want to speed up the process, you're also allowed to use your mighty godfingers to pick 'em up and drop 'em willy-nilly.
Virtual Villagers: Huge Island
If you're waiting between energy refills in FrontierVille and want to try something new, claim your godhood in Virtual Villagers here. Your worshippers are waiting!
Virtual Villagers praying at Idol of Thunder

PopCap's Zuma's Revenge wins Great Game of the Year

PopCap's ball-breaker game Zuma's Revenge took home top honors in this year's Great Game Awards, sponsored by Game House. This is the second year for the event, and PopCap was arguably the star of the show, with nods for Game of the Year, Best Character Design, Most Innovative Game and Top Match-3 games.

2010 GREAT GAME AWARDS WINNERS:

GAME OF THE YEAR
Zuma's Revenge!(TM) - Adventure by PopCap Games

GAME OF THE YEAR - PLAYER'S CHOICE
Jewel Quest Mysteries -Trail of the Midnight Heart by iWin

BEST ART DESIGN
Mystery Legends(TM) - Sleepy Hollow by pixelStorm

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN
Plants vs. Zombies(TM) by PopCap Games

BEST NARRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Cate West - The Velvet Keys(TM) by Gamenauts

MOST INNOVATIVE GAME
Plants vs. Zombies(TM) by PopCap Games

MOST ADDICTIVE GAME
Faerie Solitaire(TM) by Subsoap

UP-AND-COMING DEVELOPER
Youda Games: Youda Farmer, Youda Marina, Youda Sushi Chef

TOP ADVENTURE GAME
Princess Isabella - A Witch's Curse by Gogii Games

TOP TIME MANAGEMENT GAME
Delicious - Emily's Taste of Fame by GameHouse

TOP HIDDEN OBJECT GAME
Mystery P.I.(TM) - The New York Fortune by PopCap Games

TOP MATCH-3
Zuma's Revenge!(TM) - Adventure by PopCap Games

TOP SIM / TYCOON
My Kingdom for the Princess by Nevosoft

The entire lineup of games are all excellent -- Youda Sushi Chef was a definite fave this year -- but there seems to be something missing from this list, social games. Looks like these Awards are limited to downloadable games, which is nice and all, but it would be even nicer to see all casual games included in next year's awards.

Playstation Home sees real-estate boom

If you've ever worried about the size of your apartment, chances are Playstation Home offers a solution-a larger virtual apartment to accommodate all of your friends at once. According to senior manager of Sony's developer support group, Justin Cooney, "People are wanting to do things in Home – they're spending a lot of time in Home."

And a lot of people at that: Cooney reports some 14 million users of the virtual space, 85% of whom are repeat users. Personal spaces are one area of note, and Cooney says lots of people buy apartments for their very own Playstation Homes-by the hundreds of thousands.

The most popular is the Summer House. Says Cooney: "This apartment did over $350,000 in [North America] alone."

PlayFirst's Chocolatier: Sweet Society gives ladies what they crave

PlayFirst Chocolatier Sweet Society
Does the idea of building your own "grand chocolate empire" sound irresistibly delicious? And we're not talking Willy Wonka bars here, but something more classy and Victorian England, say, circa 1882? If so, then PlayFirst's "Chocolatier: Sweet Society" was made for you.
Chocolatier: Sweet Society Chocolate Recipes
We first covered this game last June, but on yesterday's Casual Connect Seattle, PlayFirst officially announced the game for the world. Since then, Playfirst has improved content by expanding chocolate recipes and incorporating elements from the PC version (originally released in 2007) such as the Factory Optimizer.
Chocolatier: Sweet Society Factory Optimizer
Judging by the core demographic of Facebook social games, where a majority of players are women, PlayFirst decided that their game was the perfect match for Facebook's audience.

According to PlayFirst CEO, Mari Baker, "In limited release, we've already reached over a quarter million players and we're confident this game will please the sweet tooth of Facebook gamers everywhere." Right now, the player statistics for daily and monthly usage on AppData are good, but pretty modest -- hovering around 74k and 390k, respectively.
Chocolatier: Sweet Society Chocolates Gifts
To start playing, or if you just feel like oogling all the yummy artwork, log into Facebook and click here.

More million-sellers for Xbox Live

Xbox Live Arcade has come a long way since Geometry Wars. According to Scott Austin, the director of marketplace games for the Microsoft service, arcade experiences are getting higher and higher quality to remain competitive. "Some of these titles are competing with retail for share-of-wallet."

He also said that since the announcement of Uno as the first million-seller, a number of other titles have followed, including Castle Crashers and Battlefield 1943. With those numbers, reports Austin, "the upside revenue potential is well over $15 million."

Getting into Xbox Live Arcade can be most competitive, and Austin states that the new Xbox Indie Games "are a much lower bar to entry." With indie games, he tells the audience of developers at the Casual Connect conference in Seattle, "the quality bar is not as competitive." Which leads Austin to make a suggestion to publishers and developers: "It can also be a great platform to test out games."

When asked about Microsoft's plans to offer pre-order for Xbox Live titles, Austin responds: "Theoretically, you don't need pre-orders in the world of digital distribution. When there's unlimited supply, in theory, they don't need pre-orders."

But our customers, he says, really love pre-orders. "We'll be investigating that," he says, and releasing some solutions in the coming months. "Our consumers really love the latest and greatest content."

The Social Network movie trailer pops up in Social City

A trailer of The Social Network has landed on the front page of Social City's The New City Gazette, an in-game newsletter where Playdom makes its game announcements. If you haven't heard about it now, "The Social Network" is a movie about the founding of Facebook, directed by David Fincher, and starring Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The film hits theaters on October 1.
the social network movie trailer
Usually, players get a treat for subjecting themselves to surveys and promo videos, so I was hoping that viewing this would net me some of Social City's premium currency -- City Bucks. But nope, there's no freebies to be had here. In the end, the trailer stops and you're merely given the option to "Learn More," which takes you directly to the film's official website. Boo.

This is still an intriguing film with a well-crafted trailer. Case in point, the song used in the trailer is a cover of Radiohead's "Creep," which seems to set the tone of the film perfectly. If you like playing Facebook games, you should give this trailer a peek -- it might offer some insight on your favorite gaming platform's murky origins.

FarmVille winery restrictions limited to underage players only

We previously reported that some FarmVille players' wineries have been producing alcohol-free juice drinks instead of wine. Sources tell us that the FarmVille Prohibition will not be a universal change, and will affect underage players only. So, if you're 'legal,' your FarmVille winery will still keep producing bottles of sake, sangria and wine. Guess those of us who are 21+ (emphasis on the '+') can stop whining about our missing wine now.

farmville winery with wine and without winery

Mafia Wars Mumbai Challenge Mission opens for business

Mafia Wars Mumbai Challenge Mission Chapter 1: Hooray for Hollywood is officially open for business. So far Mumbai seems to be a pretty standard Challenge Mission, much like London and Africa. You have about two weeks to complete the jobs in each Chapter, and you'll need to collect lots of Bollywood Film Reels to get 'em all done.

Reels can be collected in Mumbai every 24 hours, and they can also be earned while doing jobs, fighting or robbing, as free gifts sent from friends, and by recruiting new members to your mafia.


mafia wars my crew

As usual, the omnipresent Heat Meter makes an appearance, and after doing a few jobs the meter will fill up, turn red, and you'll be forced lay low for 8 hours until the 'heat' loses your scent. You can wait it out, or kill time by going back to finish what you've started in New York, Cuba, Thailand or Las Vegas. Just make sure you don't exhaust that daily energy supply.

mafia wars chapter 1 jobs

Mumbai Chapter 1 consists of four jobs: Steal a Bollywood Script, Re-Write the Film's Villain, Get the Script Greenlit, Put Out A Casting Call. Once you're done with all of these jobs you will be able to move on to Chapter 2, which unlocks in about a week, and then Chapter 3, which unlocks in 12 days.

mafia wars mumbai rewards

Of course, you will be rewarded for your hard work after completing each chapter -- with these exclusive items.

Chapter 1: Bambaiyya Rahah (Vehicle), A 60, D 55
Chapter 2: Bollywood Superhit (Weapon), A 47, D 81
Chapter 3: Slumdog Billionaire (Bodyguard) A 86, D 115

The first two rewards aren't really over-the-top in terms of stats, but couldn't hurt to have that Slumdog Billionaire in your corner. After all, nobody said becoming the new king of Bollywood was gonna be easy.

FarmVille: The New York Times can suck it -- a green thumb, that is

FarmVille Freak JS' FarmVille Garden I
Last week, we reported on a crotchety New York Times editorial that expressed shock and dismay over the growth of the social games industry, took its turn bashing FarmVille, and ended by telling "60-some-million FarmVille players to consider growing some actual plants."
FarmVille Freak JS' FarmVille Garden II
With such a flagrant putdown by a paper of record, we can't help but give it the finger. And not the digitus tertius of disdain, because what would that prove? But these two photos of FarmVille Freak JS' home garden should deliver a strong pair of two green thumbs-down.

PetVille Enchanted Kingdom: Fairytales power a new Magic Door set

Magic Doors in PetVille tend to be a mixed blessing, because players have two hurdles to face. First, you have to be at Level 10 to even access your attic, where the doors are. And secondly, you need to collect enough keys to unlock all the colorful padlocks that keep you from even clicking on the themed goods available. But you are allowed to 'look, but not buy' the items by way of the World icon and going to the Outdoors store.
PetVille Frog Prince smooch
Players hoping to see a comeback of the Enchanted Crates from April will be disappointed. What we've got instead is a very generic assortment of fairytales-inspired decor, ranging from lots of roadside flowers to some classic princess gowns. The most interesting items are the transforming Frog Prince and a Limited Edition, flying and fire-breathing baby lavender dragon.
PetVille Enchanted Kingdom
Though the game does promise more items are "Coming Soon", the Enchanted Kingdom really doesn't hold a candle to the Fairy Meadows outdoors set in terms of cuteness or creative whimsy. Here are more pics below:
PetVille Knight Armor, beanstalk, and flowers
PetVille Shoe house and Fairy Godmother
PetVille Princess gowns PetVille Limited Time Only Purple Dragon

Zynga Combo Cards now available at GameStop, Walgreens

   
FarmVille, Mafia Wars and other Zynga game gift cards have been available since February, but now Zynga combo cards have started to arrive at select retailers -- possibly a move on Zynga's part to stay competitive with the new Facebook Credits gift cards that arrived in Target in earlier this month.

Zynga combo cards can be purchased for $10 and $25 at Walgreens and GameStop in the US, and they can apparently be used for a variety of Zynga games, including Zynga Poker, even though the game is not featured on the cards. After cards are activated at the cash register, you can redeem them by entering the PIN number on the back into the according game.
zynga game cards

Pet Society Bunny Dispenser: Collect six bunny toys from the comfort of your home

Playfish has added one of the weirder items to grace our presence in Pet Society, the Bunny Dispenser. For 8 Playfish Cash, or about $2, you'll get this goofy gadget containing six collectible bunny toys, straight from your home (hey, at least it's not as weird as what Crowdstar is up to).

Each use of the dispenser seems to cost 250 coins and it's unknown whether you're guaranteed a new bunny every time. The bunnies come in six varieties: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple and light blue. However, we're kind of in the dark on why we couldn't just go to the market and buy each bunny ourselves for 1 Playfish Cash a piece. Don't question a cute thing?

Sorority Life: Shake your booty with these American Apparel shorts

Debuting today in the official Playdom Gear shop are the new Sorority Life running shorts. Just in case you SL fans want to advertise publicly on your rear end that you play the game, of course.

These shorts are American Apparel (of course), are 100% ring-spun cotton, and come in sizes from XS to XL. They'll set you back about $23.99 plus shipping, but who could resist these little short-shorts? They only come in this blue color, so if you're picky you'll have to settle with this color scheme.

Have you ever bought any clothing or gear for your favorite Facebook game? Would you?

Happy Aquarium: Leaf Collection and limited edition Sharks begin the search for leaves and Pearls

Crowdstar has released a new collection to Happy Aquarium called the Leaf Collection as well as new, limited edition sharks for players to buy with either Pearls or Facebook Credits (but will they ever compare to the new queen of the tank?).

First things first, this new Leaf Collection is open to players Level 21 and above, tasking them with finding nine different leaves in tribute to the fall. Find all nine by visiting your friends and perusing through their treasure chests and you'll be rewarded with the Leaf Fish. However, some leaves are rarer than others, so don't expect this to be a cakewalk.

More on the new updates after the break.
Happy Aquarium Chompers     Happy Aquarium Nurse Shark     Happy Aquarium Pink Shark     Happy Aquarium Tiger Shark     Happy Aquarium Whale Shark


In other news, five new shark pets are available in the store. Here are the five new pets, each with only about 6000 left a piece as of this writing:

    Whale Shark: 60 Pearls or 50 Facebook Credits ($5 USD)
    Pink Shark: 79 Pearls or 66 Facebook Credits ($6.60 USD)
    Chompers: 79 Pearls or 66 Facebook Credits ($6.60 USD)
    Tiger Shark: 79 Pearls or 66 Facebook Credits ($6.60 USD)
    Nurse Shark: 66 Pearls or 57 Facebook Credits ($5.70 USD)



Each of these fish will reach adulthood, if fed regularly, in 32 hours. Again, like most fish in Happy Aquarium, there are only a limited amount of these available. So, get to saving now if you want to turn your tank into a complete shark's den.

Happy Pets' new Discounted Dragons are Ready to Fire and Fly

Happy Pets Release the Dragons event
After five days of waiting, the Dragon Release Event is here! Already, we've learned plenty of important and exciting things about Happy Pets' newest permanent additions to the pet shop. Keep reading to learn more!
Happy Pets discounted dragons
Happy Pets Green Mythic Dragon shooting fireFirst of all, there are six dragons at the store: White Fable Dragon, Blue Legend Dragon, Red Legend Dragon, Brown Fable Dragon, Green Mythic Dragon, and the Black Mythic Dragon.

After today's 30% discount (which is only available for 6 hours), their prices will go up from 46 Facebook Credits (or $4.60 USD) to 66 FB Credits (or $6.60 USD). Secondly, the dragons require completion of the Dino Den before purchase! This means that players who have yet to build their Dino Dens are probably not going to complete them in time to take advantage of this discount.

Thirdly, Dragons can breed with the T-Rex Dinosaur to produce offspring. Horns and wings are part of the dragon traits, and these six new dragons sport three kinds of horns.

And finally, as you can tell from the image on the right, these dragon babies are definitely of the fire-breathing variety. But it'll take putting one in a room for us to know whether those wings of theirs can rival those of the Parrot.

FameTown on Facebook: New fame game from former Disney exec launches Nov. 1

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner plans to make his mark on Facebook with a new game called FameTown, which will launch on November 1.

The game, created by Los Angeles-based developer Diversion, lets you pick a make-believe movie star and then take them from the D-list to the A-list by earning points doing jobs (like meeting the cast and director) and improving their social standing by attending parties or charity events and hiring publicists, agents and assistants to help their career.

Like FarmVIlle and the rest of the lot, FameTown will be free to play but will offer virtual goods that can be purchased using real-life cash.

Napster founder Shawn Fanning is involved in this project, and Eisner is the sole investor in Diversion, giving the company $300,000 to get this project off the ground.

Eisner says FameTown isn't far off from real-life Hollywood, and while that might be the case, but the description sounds like umpteen other games we've been playing on Facebook for a year already. Unless Eisner and friends plan to put a lot of marketing muscle behind this game (much like ESPN is doing with ESPNU), this Tinsel Town simulator sounds like it will have a difficult time breaking into the Facebook gaming A-list.

FarmVille Windows Phone Demo for 2 Free Farm Cash

farmville windows phone free farm cash
A new FarmVille sponsored link it out, this time sponsored by the new Windows Phone.

You can earn 2 free farm cash for participating in this offer, "watching the new Windows Phone become your phone". The offer has you watch a demo of the Windows Phone using your Facebook's profile information.

Farmers are reporting that you can still earn the free farm cash by "not allowing" permission to your Facebook info. This sponsored link seems appropriate with all of yesterday's Facebook recent uproar of selling out users including FarmVille users personal information.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Doom creator John Romero launches Ravenwood Fair on Facebook

If you play video games and don't know John Romero, you're most likely familiar with his creations, Doom and Quake. These two games set the tone for all first-person shooters, mixing fast-paced action with lots of guns and lots of gore.

Now the man whose previous games launched a million PTA meetings is exploring his softer side with a new Facebook game called Ravenwood Fair. Not only are there no guns or blood in this new game, but it stars a cast of cuddly woodsy animals who smile, say hello and make adorable 'ooh' and 'ahh' noises.

ravenswood fair facebook

The goal of the game is to build a fair, while earning FUN points to level up and coins which can be used to purchase items, decorations, et al in the in-game store. Facebook Credits can be purchased to buy more exclusive items and -- like most of the other games on Facebook -- your neighbors will play a part in your experience. Visit friends' fairs daily to earn extra coins and other bonuses.

Overall the game has a bit of a Renaissance Fair Vibe, with jaunty music and animals dressed up in peasant garb -- all you need is a live action role playing pit and you might be able to charge admission.

Ravenwood Fair also seems to be borrowing heavily from one of its peers -- FrontierVille. Not that that's a bad thing, in fact, it's quite the opposite. When you perform an activity, you're rewarded with a shower of bonuses that you must click before they disappear. The game also directs your experience with a series of missions that show up on the left hand side of the screen and an energy bar determines just how much you'll be able to get done in a single sitting.

Facebook developer LOLApps is the official company behind the game, which was initially set to launch last week, but delayed by Facebook because several of the companies existing games, including Critter Island, were violating Facebook's terms and sending player's personal information to advertisers and data mining companies.

"We learned that we were in violation of Facebook's policies relating to sharing information with third-parites. We have worked closely with the Facebook team to ensure that our applications and games are in compliance with their policies and look forward to continuing to partner with them to bring the safest possible experience to our users," says LOLApps in an official statement.

If you're not spooked by LOLApps and other Facebook games' recent privacy gaffes, then you should consider taking a trip to Ravenwood Fair. Much like FrontierVille, this is a charming game created with video game sensibilities that hopefully will lead the way to more sophisticated (or, to use Romero's words, "more gamed up") Facebook games.

FarmVille Tree Orchard coming soon

FarmVille is planning to release a new Orchard. Like the Chicken Coop, Pig Pen, Nursery, and other special buildings, the Orchard will allow you to house and breed your precious fruit-bearing trees. Stay tuned for more details.
farmville orchard trees
Thank you to Rhys for finding this unreleased FarmVille Orchard with menu!

[Via FarmVille Freak]

FarmVille Ossabaw Pig Giftable for a limited time

For a limited time only the Ossabaw Pig is available to send to your FarmVille neighbors as a free gift! Send them now because they will surely be taken off the free gift page soon.
farmville ossabaw pig gift
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Will you send the Ossabaw Pug to your neighbors?

FarmVille Turkey Roost: Everything you need to know

FarmVille Turkey Roost
Just in time for Thanksgiving, FarmVille has rolled out the Turkey Roost to all players! This new buildable is exactly the same as the barns and chicken coops in that you can store your turkeys within the roost and harvest them all as one. When you log in to FarmVille right now, you'll be prompted to place the roost. You can click anywhere on your farm, as long as you have room for the fairly large building.

How to Build Your Turkey Roost

The Turkey Roost requires 10 Wooden Boards, 10 Nails, and 10 Bricks, or a total of 30 materials. You can get these by requesting them on your wall from your friends, or receiving them in Special Deliveries. If you're too impatient to wait, you can also purchase the entire Turkey Roost for 29 Farm Cash.


FarmVille turkey roost building

Harvesting the Roost

Once you finish your Turkey Roost, you can look inside it and collect turkeys. They need turkeys to work, but thankfully you can ask for turkeys specifically after you look inside the Turkey Roost. You can harvest your Turkey Roost every 24 hours, and from it, you can find coins, baby turkeys to share with your friends (not for yourself), and Fruit Cake. The Fruit Cake will supposedly be needed in a short time, so it's important to collect these. The more turkeys you have, the higher the chance you have to get baby turkeys for friends and Fruit Cake.
FarmVille Turkey Roost

Upgrading the Turkey Roost

The Turkey Roost can be upgraded two times. Here are the stages, their requirements, and how many turkeys each stage can hold:

Stage 1 - 10 boards, 10 nails, 10 bricks (20 turkeys)
Stage 2 - 15 boards, 15 nails, 15 bricks (30 turkeys)
Stage 3 - 20 boards, 20 nails, 20 bridges (40 turkeys)

The Turkey Roost will only be available to purchase in the Market until December 1st. Beyond that, you will be able to complete any roost in construction, but you will not be able to start a new one.

Is the Turkey Roost what you had hoped it would be, or were you wishing for something different?

FarmVille Unreleased Unicorn, Thanksgiving Animals, and more

Check out these unreleased animals that could be coming soon to FarmVille! There is a new beautiful white Unicorn, a Spotted Pot Belly Pig, and a Long Eared Owl. There are also two Thanksgiving animals, the Thanksgiving Horse and the Thanksgiving Sheep. At this time, there is no evidence of a Unicorn Foal or a Thanksgiving Foal, which is disappointing.

Like all unreleased items, these may or may not actually make it into the game. We're certainly hoping they are, because the game could definitely use a Unicorn, and the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up quickly.

Are you excited for these unreleased items? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Find more stories on our 2010 Thanksgiving Guide for FarmVille, Mafia Wars & more.

FarmVille Unreleased UFO Ride, Mayflower, and Harvest Fountain

Three more unreleased FarmVille items have come to our attention tonight, two of which are Thanksgiving themed, and one which is an extension of the Country Fair theme. The Mayflower is the original ship that brought the Pilgrims to America in 1620. While it might look silly perched on the grass on your farm, it's the perfect decoration to really get into the Thanksgiving spirit. The Harvest Fountain has a turkey on top spouting water down into a floral basin. Finally, the new UFO ride is a fun carnival ride that spins around while animated, excellent for your country fair.

Like usual, these unreleased items may not make it into the game, but it seems likely they will. We want to make sure you have the latest scoop on any possible new FarmVille items!

City of Wonder releases Lake Palace hotel for India Week

India Week is under way in City of Wonder, and today's new release is a large luxury hotel named Lake Palace. This is a small replica of the real life 83-room hotel in Udaipur, India. This large hotel piece is white and sprinkled with the occasional greenery.

The Lake Palace costs 39 gold, which definitely isn't a steal by any means. It does give out 390 XP, 2680 Happiness, and 360 Culture, so it is a sufficient buy for the money. It is a limited item, but there are still 18,000 left as of this writing and we don't see them going away too quickly. The Victoria Terminus, which was released a few days ago still has over 14,000 left, so these India buildings are not flying off the shelf too quickly.

So far, we haven't seen a ton of new items for India Week. It seems as if the theme is smaller and more subdued than others, but these items are definitely intricate and highly detailed.

Treasure Isle: New backpack options make our lives easier

Treasure Isle released an update today that is making players extremely happy. The backpack has now gotten an major upgrade - the ability to sell multiple items at once!

If you play Treasure Isle at all, you know just how unruly it can be to store up all the fruit, collections, and decorations that you get while digging. Especially spoiled rotten fruit, which store up in your backpack and previously had to be deleted one by one. Deleting items individually was a huge chore that took a long time to do, and at times I would log off in frustration rather than attempt to clear out my backpack.

Now, when you click on "Sell" on any item in your backpack, you can page through and sell them all in one swoop instead of individually. The players on the forums have already created a thank you thread in the forums to Zynga for hearing their complaints and reacting with this great feature addition.

Restaurant City Candy Factory Week feeds the sweet tooth

Been hankering for something sugary since spending all your coins shopping? Well, Playfish might be able to help with through Restaurant City's Candy Factory Week going on right now. This week-long theme brings a slew of sweet decorations, recipes and even a Challenge for us to complete.

Since this is Restaurant City, let's start with the new recipes: Sugar Rush and Snowflake Cake. The former requires three Candy ingredients and one lone Sugar to learn, but mastering it will reward players with the Candy Maker functional item. Only available through Dec. 13, the Candy Maker will net you 1,800 coins every four hours. The latter is a simpler dish, only requiring one Vanilla, Cream and Egg and doesn't reward anything other than being delicious. (Though, it does have a particularly important purpose.)

Check behind the break for a look at the new items, decorations and Challenges in this week's theme.
Restaurant City Candy Week updates
There are several other functional items and decorations to collect like the Super Sweet Drink Dispenser, which serves drinks 18 percent faster than other machines, and the Bubble Gum Stove, an stove that cooks four percent faster and blows bubbles in the process. As for the decorations, everything is included to turn your restaurant into the next Wonka Chocolate Factory from Lollipop Trees to Candy Kings and Candy Pixie Workers that all look awfully inspired by the classic movie.
Restaurant City Challenge Elf Service
The first new Challenge in this week's theme, "Elf Service," involves helping a group of hungry elves who have had all their Snowflake Cake stolen from them. What you need to do is master the Snowflake Cake, feed 100 of these starving present engineers and find out who stole all of the Snowflake Cakes. Head Chef Maggie will be helping you out in the forums daily, so be sure to check back in for clues.
Restaurant City Challenge Present Hunt
Your second mission, titled "Present Hunt!," tasks you with finding 100 presents on Gourmet Street and in your friends' restaurants. After that, you'll have to find out who was up to such as dastardly deed as to slow Santa's mission down, which of course Maggie will available to help out with. Both Challenges should be available by clicking their relevant icons on the home screen, which are an elf and a snow globe, respectively.
Restaurant City Presents
That's quite a lot of content to truck through, so you better get started before it all goes away in preparation for a predictably chillier theme. Find more details on all of the changes and updates this week on the Restaurant City Blog.

Restaurant City Challenges: Everything you need to know

Restaurant City Challenges
Just in time for everyone's favorite season of the year (yes, I'm speaking for all of you because it is that awesome), there's a brand new feature available in Restaurant City called Challenges. Much like Goals in Cafe World and FrontierVille, these are specific missions that will reward players with items, coins and more once completed.

As new Challenges become available they'll appear in the sidebar of your game while a trophy icon on the task bar will take you directly to the new Challenge Menu (pictured). But what's most unique about these Challenges is that they'll reset at midnight daily, making every new Challenge another reason to log in daily (as if you needed any more). As you progress through these daily tasks you'll frequently be notified of your progress through mini notifications--the Challenge Menu will also update in real time.

Another interesting feature to Playfish's take on Challenges is that it'll be making heavy use of its forums to guide you along in your various quests through hints and free gifts. Currently there are two holiday-themed Challenges in the game, which were added as part of the game's sweetest (literally) theme, Candy Factory Week. Check out this post to find out more about Restaurant City's first two Challenges and get to solving those mysteries.

ESPNU College Town: ESPN Arcade Skeeball brings Carniball to school

ESPN Arcade Carniball
While arcades can only be found in random malls and shore towns since their downfall in the 90s, Playdom and ESPN are trying their damnedest to keep the arcade spirit alive. Well, at least on Facebook with the new ESPN Arcade Skeeball item in ESPNU College Town. The second in a series of three ESPN Arcade items, this Skeeball game is absolutely free and can be obtained through the news section your game by clicking the button below the news story.

From there, you'll be taken to a new page, asking you to click a link to redeem your brand spankin' new arcade game. Do this and you'll be launched back into ESPNU College Town with a confirmation message. Just click "Continue" and you can find the item in your gift inventory, ready to join QB Assault in an arcade pool party.

But don't think that's all there is to this item. Like QB Assault, clicking on the Skeeball item gives players the option of playing Carniball on ESPN Arcade. Another game of precision, Carniball tasks players with "throwing" the wooden balls by clicking to grab the ball and releasing at just the right time and speed to ensure points. Now, you have ESPN Arcade to thank for not one, but two ways to kill time while waiting around to collect from those properties and maintain those venues.

Mafia Wars Cake Jailbreak Event will break from the slammer soon

With the Serial Assassins gifting event soon to end and everyone stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner, Zynga will soon be adding an extra sweet gifting event Mafia Wars. Titled "Cake Jailbreak," this event will operate just like those before it. Players will have three cakes--a Birthday Cake, Wedding Cake and Cupcakes--stuffed with escape tools to gift between their friends that will most likely be released over a week's time.

Each cake will have three levels of Mastery and an item attached to it that will grow as you gain Mastery in each given cake. Gifting each cake will be as easy as sending them out from the Free Gifts page. Master all three pastries completely and you'll win Mugshot, a pump shotgun with a beastly 95 Attack and 136 Defense. Stay tuned to Mafia Wars for when this new event releases and right here for more details.

Treasure Isle: Garden-building bonus quest lets you grow more fruit

Many of Zynga's games depend on "Energy" to play, and you're always going to hear fans wishing they had more of it. But Treasure Isle has a feature that lets you grow your own Energy -- the Small Garden. Everyone gets two of these at the start of the game. You use them to grow fruit from seeds you buy at the store, then you can harvest the fruit for Energy. Normally, you can buy another Garden Plot for 70 Island Cash, but now there's a way to get one for free!
Treasure Isle Build Garden Bonus Quest
The latest bonus quest, called "Build Garden", has three tasks for you to earn you a free, extra plot. First, you buy a Plough, which you'll find in the Store under "Decorations" for 500 Coins. Secondly, you need to make a hundred digs anywhere you like. Finally, you'll need to get five people to click on your Facebook posts to "Get Some Field Hands" (a.k.a. your fellow Treasue Isle players) to complete the quest.

You can also finish the quest by paying 112 Island Cash, but since you can buy a plot for 70 Island Cash, it's obviously better to do the work yourself. The "Build Garden" bonus quest is set expire on December 6th, so finish it while you can.

Ravenwood Fair Cheats & Tips Walkthrough

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Ravenwood Fair is an addictive role playing game set deep in the scary Woods where you as a fearless entrepreneur decide to clear the land and build a fun Fair for all the woodland animals to enjoy. Ravenwood Fair is a delightful game full of quests and interesting story lines developed by LOLapps for Facebook.

Ravenwood Fair allows you to create an amazing Renaissance fair deep in the woods while you complete quests and guide the discussions of adorable woodland friends that visit you while keeping them safe from the scary creatures of the deep woods. Build games and attractions to keep visitors coming to the Fair and earn energy, sap, food, and wood to help you build even more. Gamezebo's Ravenwood Fair strategy guide and walkthrough will provide you with a quick start guide, tips, tricks, and hints on how to win.

Getting Started
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Ravenwood Fair can be found on Facebook by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page or on the direct link here - http://apps.facebook.com/ravenwoodfair

You must have a current Facebook account to play. If you need one you can register for it here - http://www.facebook.com

When you begin the game you will be asked to follow a checklist of items such as "Like" the game at Facebook, give permissions to publish accomplishments and images on your Facebook profile and to give your email address for notifications. Once you do all of these things this bar will disappear above your game.

You will start out with 200 Coins, 15 Wood, and 25 Energy. The secondary currency in the game is Facebook credits which will allow you to purchase higher end items as well as instant completions of some projects. You can purchase more Facebook credits with a major credit card if you wish. You can also play the game using only coins as your currency but there will be many items you will not be able to place in your Fair.
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Next you will be asked to choose your Gender and the character you choose will be your avatar during the game. You can click on it at anytime in the game and the word "Makeover" will appear. Click on that and you can purchase different clothing for your character or change its gender for a fee.

The Woods are very spooky and dense with trees. Most trees take at least 2 clicks to chop them down and some as many as 4. Each time you click is equivalent to chopping with an Axe once. A meter will appear showing how many times you will need to swing to chop a tree down. Each time you click on a tree you will also notice that logs, (Wood), Mushrooms (Food), Lightning Bolts (Energy), Stars (XP), and Coins (Basic Currency) will scatter around the area. There are also other items that will show up less frequently such as sap, ladybugs, candy corn, and others. All of these items can be used in other capacities to either build new items or complete quests. You will need to click on these items to collect them off the ground.

The XP (Experience points) help you to level up so the more you do the faster you will progress in the game.

Each level unlocks additional quests, and items in the store you can purchase.

Game Elements
Here are the basic game screen elements and what they represent:
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A. Game Currency - Here you will see the game's currencies and how much of each you have. There are 2 types of currency used in the game. Coins are the basic currency and you will see these appear when you perform certain actions such as chopping trees, building, etc. The secondary currency is Facebook Credits which can be purchased with a major credit card. You can purchase exclusive higher end items with Facebook credits and you can purchase items you can access instantly versus having to find or earn them which will help you build certain structures and complete quests much faster or even instantly.
B. Wood - This is your Wood Stock and you will need this wood in order to build games, buildings and decorative items to place in your Fair. When you note a purchase price next to an item in the shop you will also see a wood price as well. For example, instead of just coins or Facebook Credits, you may have to pay 1200 coins and 40 pieces of wood in order to purchase an item.

C. Food Indicator - The Mushroom icon represents the amount of food you have in the game. Food is important because it can be traded for energy which you need to perform actions in the game. NOTE - There are other types of food icons found in the game as you proceed but the Mushroom is the basic representation of food.

D. Energy Indicator - This is your energy meter and you start out with 25 energy and use 1 energy when one action is performed such as swinging and axe, or cutting an item. You will note the blue energy meter going down as you use it and every 5 minutes your energy regenerates 1 point at a time. If you completely run out of energy you can purchase it, ask for friends to send it, trade food for it, or wait for it to regenerate on its own.

E. XP Indicator/Fun Rating - Here you can see how many XP (Experience Points/Stars) you have earned in the game and how many you need to reach the next level in the game. The bar meter lets you see how far along you are at a glance. Here you will also see your Fun rating which increases the more fun items you add to your Fair such as games and decor. If a neighbor visits you and helps you out with a fun item they will increase your fun rating number as well.

F. Quest List - Here you will find your current Quest list. These are activities for you to complete that will earn you a large cash, XP, or other reward when finished. As soon as you finish a quest a new one will appear in its place. There are always new quests being added to the game as well as new buildings, games, and decorative items.

G. Game Character, Items to Collect after Action - Here you will see the Raccoon in a dress located in the center as the Female avatar Character in the Story. If you have chosen the Male avatar you will be a brown bear character. (This character represents you in this Role playing Game)

H. Conversation/Text Area - This game is a RPG (Role Playing Game) and the characters talk to each other when you click on their characters. You will choose the response of each character and this gives you a chance to control what happens in the game. NOTE - Seeing a certain message repeatedly from a character may be a hint that you need to look for or build an item.
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(Bottom View of Game Screen)

I. Powers - These are the hidden Powers you can find in the Woods while clearing trees and brush away. Powers give you a one time use advantage you can use when you choose. The badger power shown in the image above will cause a tree to chop down with a single chop saving you energy.

J. Conversation Box - This is where the dialogue shows up when you click on a character and interact with them.

K. Neighbor Menu - This is where your Neighbors will appear once they accept your friend request. Click on their image to visit their Fair. (See Visiting Neighbors below)

L. Game Settings - Click on the arrow to expand this menu as shown above. Here you can zoom in and out of the game and toggle sound on and off.

M. Game Controls - Here you will find the Multi-tool Cursor, Cancel button, Game Shoppe to purchase items and your inventory which is where any gifts given to you will be placed until you use or sell them.

Using and Replenishing Energy
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All actions your character performs take energy. Energy is measured at the blue meter at the top right of the screen.

You are given a maximum of 25 energy which increases as you level up. Your energy replenishes on its own at a rate of 1 energy point per minute. Energy can also be found as blue lightning bolts while chopping down trees or visiting neighbors. Click on these bolts to add the energy to your total.

If you run out of energy you can trade food for it. There are a few increments you can choose from and you can also request that your neighbors send you energy via the live feed on Facebook.

How to Clear the Land
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When you begin the game you will notice there are many spooky trees and you will need to chop these down to clear the land on which you will build your Fair with games, buildings and decor items which will make money for you at various intervals.

When you place your cursor over a tree it will highlight in yellow and a message will appear showing you how many chops are needed to chop it down. Some will require only 2 and some will require 4 or more.

Each click is one swing of the axe and costs you 1 energy point. Each time you chop you will find stars, sap, energy, coins, and wood laying around the area. You are to click on these items as they are added to your grand totals and you will use these items for various things. XP will help you level up, coins will help you purchase items, Wood will help you build items, food will help you purchase more energy, and sap will help with various quests.
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Begin clearing the land right away and you will begin to build up your stores of items to help you in other areas of the game.

As you clear the land you will notice that there are also thorns to clear as well as rocks. Note that these are removed in the same manner as the trees. Click on them to see how many times is needed to clear them and each click will cost you 1 energy point and earn you additional items as you clear the items away.

How to Purchase, Place and Build items
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Once you have the land cleared you will want to begin completing quests many of which will require you to build items on the land to start your Fair. Many items in addition to currency will require you to have other materials in stock to help you purchase them. For example, in addition to an item costing 500 coins it may also require you to have 50 wood in stock.

Click on the "Shoppe" button at the menu area in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This will open the Game's store and along the top there are various tabs dividing all the categories in which you can purchase from. Note the type of currency an item is purchased with and also note especially in the games area how much the game will earn you and how often.

Note: You will have to re-stock all items in the stores and games at various intervals and this will cost you as well.

Once you are ready to purchase an item simply click on the "Buy" button and then you will place the item.

Note: Purchasing a game or building does not mean you are purchasing it in its completed state. You are purchasing the framework for the item and will need to build it once you place the framework on the land which will cost you "Actions" to build. Each game or building has a certain number of Actions you will need to spend to build it. Actions cost 1 energy but will also earn you additional XP and materials.

Once you have clicked on the buy button you can now place the framework on the cleared land. Click on the location you wish to place it and if it does not turn red you can place the item by clicking on the area.

Now you will see a framework of the building or game. Place your cursor over it to see how many times you will need to pound or hit the structure to build it. Each time you click on it you will in essence hit the hammer and this will cost you 1 energy point. NOTE - Some buildings will need additional items which will be listed. You may have to chop down more trees to search for these items or you can request friends gift them to you or purchase them using Facebook Credits if you don't want to wait. Once the building or Game is finished it will need to be stocked and then it will begin to make money for you.

Hidden Surprises/Powers
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ravenwood fair cheats
Hidden Surprises - As you steadily work at chopping down trees you will find hidden surprises in the woods.

As you clear away thorns and rocks and stumps you will find abandoned games and buildings that once you clear them can be used in your Fair like any other and you will gain fun ranking points from them.

Keep an eye out for areas with thick trees, and thorns as you might just find a hidden surprise.
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Powers - In addition to buildings and games you may also find hidden items known as powers. If you find them they will store at the bottom left corner of your screen and give you a one time use power.

The first power you will see will be the Badger. If you use him you can chop down any tree with just one click!

Attracting Visitors to your Fair
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The more games and buildings you have at your Fair the more Visitors you will attract and they will spend money on your games and attractions.

Visitors will play and help run the games and you can have conversations with the visitors by clicking on them. At the bottom of the screen you will see a dialogue box and you can choose the response of the character to help direct the way the store plays out in your game. Many of these center around quests and completing quests help to keep the storyline moving.

As you level up continue to add more items to your fair to make it attractive to the other woodland creatures.

You will also need to scare away anything in the Woods that scare your visitors such as birds and other creatures that come out of the trees.

Comforting Scared Visitors/Protectors/Fighting Monsters
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ravenwood fair cheats
Every so often you will notice one of your Visitors acting nervous or frightened. If you place your cursor over this visitor you will see a countdown clock alerting you to the fact that you have a certain amount of time to calm down this visitor.

Calm the visitor down by clicking on them. This will cost you 1 energy point and will earn you 10 coins. The visitor is now happy again so they continue to spend money at your attractions.

You can also comfort a visitor of a Neighbor's friend if you run across a scared visitor in your Neighbor's fair while visiting.
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Protectors - Protectors are items you can purchase in the Shoppe which will for a period of time protect your visitors from scary creatures in the woods. You will need to calm visitors less when you have a protector in place. Protectors will need to be recharged at intervals and cost 1 energy to do so. The image above is showing the "Happy Oak" Protector which costs 600 Coins and requires 60 Wood to build it.

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Fighting Monsters - Occasionally you will see a Monster appear at your Fair and you will need to Banish him. One of the first monsters you will see is the Black Robed "Grimm" or the Wood like "Domovoi" Click on him 2 or 3 times to beat him up and he will go away. It will cost you 1 energy each time you strike him but you will receive a reward and can share this bonus on your live feed if you choose. As you level up different types of monsters will appear in the game.

Role Playing Components of the Game
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ravenwood fair cheats
Ravenwood Fair is a RPG or "Role Playing Game" and you can have conversations with any of the creatures that visit your Fair. Simply click on them and a topic will appear at the bottom center of the screen. You will be given a choice of responses which will guide the storyline of the game.

Completing Quests
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ravenwood fair cheats
Quests are tasks that you are to complete for huge coin and XP bonuses. Quests are listed at the left side of the screen and there are always new ones being added. Click on an icon at the left side of the screen to see what the requirements are.

Sometimes you will have simple quests that require you to chop trees until you find a certain amount of items and they will progressively become more difficult until it takes quite a while to complete a quest.

Once you complete a quest you can share the news with your friends on your Facebook profile page and live feed and your Neighbors can click on this for a cash, Wood, or food bonus for their Fairs. As soon as one quest is completed a new one will appear in the queue.

New Quests will be added to the game as the game is updated each week so be sure to check frequently.

Inviting/Visiting your Neighbors
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Neighbors are an important part of the game and the more you have the more opportunities you have for extra currency and XP. You can send out invitations from the top left of the game screen and once your friend accepts they will be shown at the bottom of the screen in the Neighbor area. Click on their icon to visit their Fair.

Once you reach their area you will note their are 5 golden lightning bolts along the left of the screen. You can work at any building for your neighbor up to 5 times once every 24 hours.

You will earn 1 energy and 25 coins for each neighbor you visit every 24 hours and you can perform 5 tasks for your neighbors using the golden energy at the left of the screen. Whatever you do for them will benefit the both of you. If you work in a building you will increase their fun rating and earn coins for yourself. If you chop down trees you will get to keep the Stars, Wood, Coins, Sap or whatever results from chopping that tree.

Sending and Receiving Gifts from your Neighbors
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You can send one free gift to a neighbor once every 24 hours.

Click on the "Send Gift" icon at the top of the game screen and choose the item you wish to send. You can send one type of gift to everyone or a different gift to different friends. Click on the item you wish to send and a list of your friends names will appear. Click on the box and then hit send and they will have to go to their acceptance page at Facebook to accept your gift.

To Receive gifts sent to you Click on "Home" and then click on the area at the mid right of the page where you can see gifts have been sent to you. Once in the page you can accept each gift individually. These gifts will go directly into your inventory until you are ready to use them. You can place them in your Fair right away or you can sell the items if you wish.

Note: Friends can send you 1 energy point as a gift as well as sap and other items needed to complete quests. Be sure to ask neighbors for what you want and send gifts daily so they will send to you. You can save a lot of money using gifts.

Congratulations!
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You have completed the basic game play guide for Ravenwood Fair by LOLapps at Facebook. Be sure to check back often for game updates, Staff and user reviews, user tips, forum comments and much more.

Click here to Play Ravenwood Fair >

FrontierVille toys finally available as a free gift

Toys as Gifts
Toys -- we need lots of 'em to fill up that new Toy Factory in FrontierVille. The only way we've been able to get said toys is by begging friends to send them to us via Facebook Wall post, even though we were told that they would also be available to send/ receive as free gifts to/from neighbors.

Just when we were starting to think 'WTF?,' the toys finally make an appearance in Free Gifts area of the game. So now we can start gifting each other with wild abandon -- not to mention ask our friends for Toys via the Toy Factory menu. So that means double the supply of toys coming in. In other words, you'll be well above Scrooge status in no time (and that much closer to wrangling in your own Winter Mare, which you can get in exchange for 500 toys). Now, go forth and spread the love by giving virtual toys to all the girls and boys.

FrontierVille Kwanzaa Kinara and Flashing Tree bring cheer of all kinds

FrontierVille Kwanzaa and Christmas
Finally, the dancing around the bush has ended. Zynga and FrontierVille have finally decided to address and celebrate the rest of the true holidays this season (the first being Hanukkah, of course): Kwanzaa and Christmas. While most of the recent events in FrontierVille have been mostly Christmas-esque, it's only now that our fellow pioneers can recognize both of the final winter holidays in 2010: Kwanzaa and Christmas.

The new Kwanzaa Kinara is asking for 8,500 coins and 20 Wood while the Flashing Tree is going for a whopping 52 Horseshoes. Now, we're not even going to try to explain the discrepancy in price between these two items, but asking about $6 for a tree with lights on it would be considered absurd by some and outright crazy by others. Anyway, these two items are limited edition, so if you want to celebrate the holidays your way on the homestead, now is the time as both of these festive decorations will be going away in just 22 days.

Crime City Cheats & Tips Walkthrough

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Crime City is a Facebook game that lets you take command of your own hood and build your career within the crime world. Open up businesses to collect money, commit crimes to earn rewards and respect, increase your wealth and influence to be the best mafia lord in the city. These are just a few of the things you can do to get started playing Crime City by referring to this quick start guide.

Build your Hood
Your hood is your neighborhood where you construct buildings to help you collect resources and materials to do crimes in several locations. When you start in the game, you'll have your own steel mill and get to build your first business, a laundromat. Use these buildings to jump start your career in crime to support you in the list of jobs needed to be accomplished.

As you progress through the game, you'll need more cash to buy equipment and vehicles to attain goals. Expand your hood by constructing more buildings. Go and click on the store icon and you are presented with 3 types of buildings.
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The first two is what you'll need. Money buildings provide you with cash, which you can collect at certain periods. Some need resources for it to be completed, such as paint, concrete blocks or drills. Ask help from your mafia members and friends for them to send it over.
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Resource buildings provide energy and steel. There is no urgent need to build another steel mill at earlier stages since you will have enough to construct your other buildings. For energy, the coffee shop is a must. It will help you finish more jobs when your energy runs out.

Special buildings are beneficial but only if you're willing to spend some real money and credits to get ahead of your rivals.

The rest are for decorative purposes. Having roads, adding trees and road signs will make your neighborhood more "city friendly". Don't forget to expand your hood to make room for more buildings.

Currency and Resources
There are 3 main currencies you need to collect in order to progress through the game.

    Money (cash)
    Diamonds
    Respect


Money is needed to purchase items in the store. You can collect them from doing jobs and buildings you've constructed in your hood. You can also get money from rivals when you fight and rob their hood. You'll get more of it when you finish goals and level up.

Diamonds are used to purchase equipment such as armor, vehicles, and weapons. You gain them by finishing jobs, robbing rivals and attaining goals. The bigger the jobs, the more diamonds you earn.

Respect is gained when you fight and rob rivals. This is also needed for items in the store.

Energy is the most important resource you'll need. The more you have and increase its maximum level through skill points, you'll be able to finish more jobs.
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You can gain energy through time by waiting, collecting it from resource buildings, visiting your mafia members and doing jobs.

Steel is needed to construct some buildings in your hood. You can collect it from the steel factory or when visiting mafia members.

Job Preparation and Completion
At earlier levels, jobs are easy to accomplish. You'll need few energy points and equipment needed are cheap. But, as your progress, jobs will take several steps to accomplish.

To complete jobs, it's best to follow the story line and accomplish the list of goals that appear.
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All goals will give you a list of tasks to do at each location. You can click on the links within the window to make it easier for you to proceed to the place. Some jobs will entail you to deal with buildings and some to interact with other people (avatars). To aid you on what needs to be done, look around and you'll see green arrows on top of buildings and people.
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These are job indicators. Hover your mouse over each to know how much energy and number of steps are needed to accomplish the job. Clicking on it will sometimes reveal the equipment required for the job. If you have enough resources, go ahead and purchase it.

For jobs that take a lot of steps, your energy level might not be enough to finish it in one go. A tip here is to go to your hood and collect energy from your coffee shop. You can also visit your mafia members. You'll get 20 energy points for every visit.
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Location Mastery for Skill Points
It's recommended, not only for goal purposes, but to gain skill points, to master each location. At the bottom, just above your neighbor's list, you'll see a bar with a number beside it. A yellow arrow is also shown. This is your mastery bar that indicates your mastery level for each location.

By clicking on the arrow, it will show yellow arrows that will indicate all the jobs you need to complete to master one level. Take note that these arrows are hidden by default.
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You can opt to do the jobs to gain rewards. It is recommended to wait for it to appear on the goal's list so you can get that extra goal bonus. You can also go back to the location to increase your mastery level and you'll get more rewards for each job.

Each time you master each location, you'll get 1 skill point to use to increase your skills within your profile.

Collections and Getting Busted
As mentioned, constructing more buildings in your hood will be beneficial for you to gain more money and energy.

Take note that each building has an "expiry" date (or time). The faster you can collect from it, the shorter grace period you have until the cops bust your building. The longer you wait before you collect, the more money you will lose.
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You'll know if your building has been busted if you see an image of a police car within the collect bubble.

Upgrade Buildings
Improving your buildings will increase the number of rewards you'll get. Upgrade the laundromat to the highest level as soon as you can. This will help you accumulate cash to purchase items.

The coffee shop is another key building you need to upgrade. The more energy you can collect every time it is ready, the quicker you can finish a job.

Rob and Fight Against Rivals
Fight against your rivals and rob their buildings. This will give you instant rewards.

When you visit the rival's list, the sure way to win is to pick someone who has less mafia members. Once you enter your rival's hood, double check their profile and check their mafia's attack and defense strength as well.
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Look at the "total item attack and defense" points and compare it to yours. You can find your stats at the bottom, just above your neighbor's list. The number of mafia members, your attack and defense stats will help you decide whether you should continue and rob or fight with your chosen rival. If yours is higher overall, then you'll sure to win.

Take note that not all rival hoods can be robbed. You'll only see the "rob" indicator if their buildings are ready to be collected.

The Empire Times
This is where you'll find any rivals who stopped by your neighborhood, whether you've been robbed or fought with them during your absence.
crime city cheats
Featured items from the store will also be shown, which you can purchase for Facebook credits. New areas will be announced as well.

FrontierVille Mystery Reindeer Crate: Collect all three to find Rudolf

Mystery Reindeer Crate
It looks like Zynga has decided to join in the reindeer games this holiday season by introducing the Reindeer Mystery Crate to FrontierVille for just the remainder of December. For only 15 more days, you'll be able to buy this limited edition Mystery Animal Crate for 30 Horseshoes, or about $4, with a chance at one of three different reindeer. Inside the most festive box will either be a Brown, Gray or White Reindeer equipped with bells, reins and ready to go.

Even the White Reindeer has a red nose, so let that serve as Rudolf's unofficial cameo on the homestead. Unfortunately, there's currently no option to buy a single reindeer like with most Mystery Animal Crates. So, act fast and do whatever luck-conjuring rituals you have up your sleeves to get the Mystery Reindeer you desire by Dec. 31 when these magical bucks are set to disappear for good.

Baseball Superstars: The League goes for a grand slam on Facebook

Just in time for the playoff season in the states (Philadelphia NL East Champs! ... sorry), Gamevil has released its very own baseball simulator on Facebook, Baseball Superstars: The League. The Korean and Los Angeles-based developer best known for the Zenonia series of RPGs (role-playing games) on the iPhone released this social version of its hit baseball sims on iOS.

Of course, EA Sports and Playfish have already staked their claim to the sub genre on Facebook with World Series Superstars, but already Gamevil has one thing going for it: global multiplayer. That's right, once you choose your team's name, logo and specialty between Power, Accuracy and Speed, you can jump into games immediately with anyone playing the game.

While you will certainly need Facebook friends to play in Exhibition games, those looking for a fast and easy Quick Play game, the world's digital baseball managers await you. There's also a Home Run Derby mode as well as full-blown tournaments, which are coming soon. And the gameplay is surprisingly interactive, having players actually swing at pitches with clicks.
Baseball Superstars Logo
Baseball Superstars features a full-blown pitching system as well, in which players select from a variety of pitches and choose exactly where they land in or around the strike zone. There are also a number of commands you can give to base runners to attempt to steal bases. All in all, this looks like an impressively full-featured baseball game on Facebook at launch.
While much of the game has players tweaking their stadiums like most sports games on Facebook, it's the actually Quick Plays and Exhibition games that are the meat and potatoes of Baseball Superstars, and what could make this game a competitor to existing social sports games. "It builds upon our years of strategic advances in the global games market, and shows that we can adapt and offer a unique yet competitive social games experience," VP and head of Gamevil USA Kyu Lee said in a release.
Baseball Superstars gameplay
Baseball Superstars is just Gamevil's second release on Facebook after Train City, which didn't do so hot, according to AppData. Considering the hype train that is US baseball in September and October, baseball fans (the closet Facebook game-loving ones, at least) are going to be on the hunt for a new experience on Facebook.

And it looks like Gamevil will be there to meet them with a Facebook game that actually focuses on, you know, the baseball? Hey, the second time can still be a charm, too, right?

NHL Superstars coming to Facebook in October

Adding to its popular brand of "Superstars" titles on Facebook, Electronic Arts has announced the production of NHL Superstars for Facebook. This new game, as reported by ShackNews, comes on the heels of EA's NHL 12 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 breaking franchise records for the biggest launch week in the franchise's history.

As for the franchise's jump onto the Facebook ice, we're told this: "NHL Superstars will bring an all-new NHL experience to millions of hockey fans by enabling players to build and manage their ultimate team of professional hockey players. With dynamic and accessible gameplay, fans can compete head-to-head in games against their Facebook friends from around the world."

While specific details are still lacking as to what we can exactly expect from NHL Superstars, we can't imagine EA / Playfish breaking the mold. We'll likely be able to collect cards that contain professional hockey players, and then trade those cards out to create the best team possible. Each player will likely have stats, and we'll be able to use those players in virtual hockey games against others for supremacy.

We don't have a specific release date for NHL Superstars, although the game is set to take to the ice sometime in October. We'll make sure to give you a complete look at the game when we know more.

Soon, you might score some Angry Birds with that Starbucks macchiato

Angry Birds Starbucks
"Hey, I'll take a grande caramel cappuccino ... with an Angry Bird on top? Yeah, that works." We doubt most Starbucks baristas would do this nonsense just for you, but you might at least be playing a lot more Angry Birds in Starbucks locations soon. In fact, according to Bloomberg, you may soon take trips to Starbucks specifically to play Rovio's wildly successful game.

During an interview with Bloomberg, Rovio SVP Wibe Wagemans said that his company is in talks with the Seattle-based coffee company to set up virtual goods offers and perhaps even digital scoreboards in Starbucks locations. Keep in mind, however, that this is the same guy who made lofty claims like, "We are now the fastest-growing consumer brand in history."

But what honestly leads us to believe that this isn't merely poppycock is that the Finnish game developer has conducted similar partnerships with national companies in the past. Take Barnes and Noble bookstores, for instance, which offered Nook e-reader owners a free Mighty Eagle download earlier this year--just for visiting with their device in tow.

And don't forget that you can already find a bunch of Angry Birds-themed retail items like plush dolls and t-shirts in the book seller's stores. More importantly, who runs the in-house Barnes and Noble cafes? Yup, Starbucks. So, despite Starbucks's refusal to comment on or acknowledge whether it's talking to Rovio, all signs are pointing at least to a dash of Mighty Eagle with your mocha macchiato.

And Starbucks would be kind of dumb not at least dip one toe into the Angry Birds nest. With toys, cook books and a feature film in the works, Rovio's flagship brand is huge. Not to mention that a Facebook version of the game is in the works, according to Wagemans, which would all but blow this franchise wide open. It's a good time for Angry Birds, and they're looking to share the wealth ... anywhere, really.

Social game network Hi5 suffers 'significant' layoffs, pushes onward

Hopefully not sounding too crass, but this is one of the unfortunate if efficient advantages of technology. TechCrunch reports that Hi5, a social game network looking to compete with Google+ Games and Facebook in 2012, has laid off 28 employees. The decision, confirmed by infamous pundit and Hi5 president and CTO Alex St. John, was made in response to new tech:

"We have also been building the next generation site in a new architecture, .NET framework, and have moved away from Open Source and Java technology," St. John told TechCrunch. "As we have recently turned the corner on our technology migration efforts we have been able to significantly reduce the number of positions required to support the older hi5 site and are in the process of re-organizing the company to focus entirely on the development and deployment of our next generation social play site."

Simply put, technological advances in how the future Hi5 website will work has led to automation in web support that was before handled by multiple employees. Since the new website can handle much of those tasks on its own, 28 of those full-time and contract workers were deemed no longer necessary. TechCrunch recalls this is far from the first time Hi5 has trimmed the fat, so to speak.

The company, originally a general-use social network, has since pivoted toward capitalizing on social gaming. Early next year, it will unveil its next generation social gaming network with 28 fewer people to celebrate, sadly. "The departing folks were very talented and we hated to let them go but our business is changing rapidly now," St. John said to TechCrunch. "We hope that other great companies in this area snap them up quickly."

Even with its automated enhancements, it will be interesting to see just whether Hi5 can hop into the ring with the big league players, Facebook and Google. Its strategy doesn't seem to be one of scale, so we're intrigued to see what's up St. John's sleeve. Regardless, best wishes to those 28 unfortunate folks--may you find super awesome gigs elsewhere.

Zynga reveals Mafia Wars 2, to be a 'badass' Facebook game [Video]

To most, Facebook gaming is nothing but farmland, cows and rainbows with a dash of brand endorsement. Zynga, one of the stereotype's main offenders, hopes to set the record straight with Mafia Wars 2. A full-blown sequel to the original text-based Facebook RPG (role-playing game), Mafia Wars 2 will bring the franchise into "a vast 3D world where being bad never felt so good."

Judging from this early artwork and the ... interesting trailer below, it seems as if Zynga could make good on previous speculation that its next Mafia Wars game would take a more literal approach in paying homage to its inspirations.

The trailer is set to Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song," you know, so its badassery really sets in. Jokes (about the narration) aside, the video is impressively-edited with its stylistic, "golden" approach to blood and gore.

Unfortunately, all we know about Mafia Wars 2 is apparently how badass it's going to be. While that may be all some need to get psyched, you can check out and "Like" the game's official Facebook fan page to find out more about the game.

Oh, and you'll score some early items for the game by hopping on board early like some accessories for your character and decorations. These already tell us a great deal about the game--fully customizable 3D avatars, anyone? Alright, now we know you're hyped.

Facebook temporarily stops games from accessing phone numbers and addresses

Well, it looks like you're safe... for now. All Facebook reports that due to (expectantly) unsavory feedback over the weekend as a result of the recent privacy changes to Facebook applications, the functionality has been disabled for the time being. That means games will not be able to access your phone number or address until Facebook reinstates the function. Why they've introduced this functionality at all is beyond me (but I have a hunch), but this is what the company had to say in an official blog post last night:

    Over the weekend, we got some useful feedback that we could make people more clearly aware of when they are granting access to this data. We agree, and we are making changes to help ensure you only share this information when you intend to do so. We'll be working to launch these updates as soon as possible, and will be temporarily disabling this feature until those changes are ready. We look forward to re-enabling this improved feature in the next few weeks.

Before making the above statement, the Facebook team mentioned that it has made accepting the terms of applications and games an explicit process. They also hinted toward the purpose for the change and wrote, "With this change, you could, for example, easily share your address and mobile phone with a shopping site to streamline the checkout process, or sign up for up-to-the-minute alerts on special deals directly to your mobile phone."

In other words, it's for advertising and marketing purposes. (Did you really expect anything else?) According to Facebook, this feature isn't going away, it's just going through some "changes." So, stay tuned for when it finally does go live once again and check out our guide on how to prepare for it.

Obviously, most of you probably believe that this change shouldn't be reinstated period, but that's just wishful thinking. So, how do you think, if at all, Facebook can bring back the feature while appeasing to both the dissenters (us) and the loyalists (the advertisers)?

Playfish infographic shows off its numbers and has some fun

Ever wondered how many social gamers it would take to fill, say, England? Probably not, but according to Playfish, its entire player base of 55 million could fill the country with some overflowing into the English Channel and surrounding ocean. The social game developer recently released a neat infographic, titled "Playfish in Numbers." It reveals some entertaining factoids surrounding the metrics it has measured across its games including Pet Society, Restaurant City and Madden NFL Superstars.

For instance, Playfish claims that Madden NFL Superstars' 2.2 million quarterbacks (teams created) could roughly fill Houston, Texas. (That's entirely too much testosterone for one city to handle.) There are plenty more facts like these in the image that spans several mouse scrolls, but they're largely just to brag--and rightfully so--with interesting did-you-know facts. Come to think of it, this bears a striking resemblance to the informative infographic LOLapps recently published surrounding Ravenwood Fair. (Now, why hasn't Zynga published one of these?)

Find the full infographic behind the break.

Playfish in Numbers full

Pirates Saga on Facebook: Cutthroat PvP piracy is not for the weak

Pirates Saga on Facebook
There seems to be an interesting fascination with pirates on Facebook and in Facebook games. Players flocked to Pirates Ahoy! by Playfish before it all but died and now many reside in Mighty Pirates by CrowdStar. But Can't Stop Games wants in on the peg-legged action and has released Pirates Saga, its very own take on the pirate phenomenon. So, how is it different than other pirate games?

Well for starters, Pirates Saga is 100 percent real time gameplay, which includes other players. The game features a combat system that sometimes occurs regardless of whether you're ready. While this sounds like a load of fun--which it is--it also has its shortcomings.

Find our full impressions of Pirates Saga behind the cut.

Combat in Pirates Saga
In Pirates Saga, you're the captain of a ship reclaimed by the evil pirate Blackbeard after he killed your father in cold blood and left you prisoner aboard his ship. As soon as you escape, it's time to teach his raiders a lesson and find the treasure of Eldorado. The world of Pirates Saga is displayed isometrically in pseudo-3D as if it were on a map (literally), a nice touch for the artsy folks. Players are in constant control of their ship and will likely never touch down on land. Combat, exploration, everything is done from your vessel, which essentially serves as your avatar. As you progress in the game, you will be able to upgrade your crew members, which affect different skills like fishing, cannons and gathering. Not to mention that your ship can be upgraded as well through purchases using Gold and other salvaged materials.

The game's main method for progression is quests, somewhat of a staple in Facebook games now. These tasks will guide you along, offer bonus experience points and materials as well as add purpose to your overall journey. They will lead you into gathering resources from floating debris, collect fish from Hatcheries and put a dent into Blackbeard's fleet along the way. It should be mentioned that while everything in the game occurs in real time, you do have a finite amount of Energy that refills over time (another staple of Facebook games). Fortunately, combat does not consume Energy, but it will take chips from your ship's health that also regenerates over time.

World Map
While combating enemy ships, an action bar will appear with a customizable list of actions including your standard cannon shot, specialty shots that cost Gleemers (the game's paid currency) and miscellaneous items like health potions. Clicking one action will cause it to repeat indefinitely every few seconds until another action is chosen or you sail out of range from the enemy. But beware, other ships and players can attack you while you're in the middle of a fight, which some will see as a worthy challenge while others will see as a bother.

And as expansive, inventive and refreshingly entertaining as Pirates Saga is, this will be the game's most divisive feature. Although realistic, sailing into uncharted waters and far from island cities puts you at risk of attack from several enemies at all times. Sure, it's a fun challenge, but being preyed on by more experienced players or coming back to the game from making a sandwich only to find that your ship was sunk by a patrolling raider ship becomes tiresome.

Exploring in Pirates Saga
This cutthroat style of gameplay sure is true to what this time in history might have been like, but it also makes for quite a hardcore Facebook game. Not to mention that because everything occurs in real time (as well as how beautiful the game looks), Pirates Saga is a resource hog like none other. In short, Pirates Saga is one helluva Facebook game, but tread lightly for both your own casual enjoyment's (and your computer's) sake.

Zynga lobbies for FarmVille subsidies in clever parody news piece

Something like this could probably really happen knowing the absurdity of the Internet -- parody technology news site TechPuma reports that Zynga has hired DC lobbying firm "Wendrick, Struggles, Bowdin and Lippinsky" to push for corn, cattle and fertilizer subsidies for FarmVille in an upcoming online food bill. Of course, nothing in this social game lobbying (get it?) story is real, but it sure does make for a good laugh, doesn't it?

Apparently, the bill was due for a vote in Congress on Jan. 15 to decide on online food quality issue and Facebook working conditions. TechPuma goes on to report that conditions are harsh on Facebook farms in FarmVille, forcing neighbors, family and friends to share labor while owners take breaks. (Those mouse clicks sure are rough on the wrist, boy. No, seriously.) The site mentions that because a majority of FarmVille workers reside outside of the U.S., Zynga may not even be eligible for subsidies.

According to TechPuma's coverage, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt will vote against the bill and said, "This is America, not some some third world country. We must pay our workers a fair wage and ensure that they have decent working conditions." It's one of the better FarmVille parodies I've seen and is written so well that those out of the know will probably interpret this as real. I can't imagine the amount of e-mails both Zynga and Capitol Hill are about the receive.

At least one person, Simon Dumenco, has had the mind to take the idea of FarmVille subsidies seriously. Last year, Dumenco wrote a piece for Advertising Age, suggesting that the U.S. government pay people not to play FarmVille in a bid to increase real world productivity and combat the recession.

Supermodel Facebook game by LOLapps gets the axe Jan. 31

Well, it was fun while it lasted, right? LOLapps has decided that Supermodel: The Game had a good run on Facebook and will shut down this Jan. 31. The game, which launched in April 2010, has held onto just over one thousand players since its release. Upon logging into the game, players will find a somber message from the developers informing them that the game will no longer be playable by the end of the month. The team thanks its players, but reminds them that any purchases made in the game are non-refundable regardless of it shutting down.

It's unfortunate that when compared to the studio's current hit, Ravenwood Fair, Supermodel is expectantly a wasteland.Taking on the gameplay model of games like Zynga's Mafia Wars, Supermodel was essentially a roleplaying game in which players assumed the role of a supermodel. Just like the games that inspired it, players can focus on a series of statistics to level up and take the game's various tasks.

Unfortunately, the game amounts to a list of buttons to click with even less animation than Mafia Wars and the like. In it's prime, Supermodel enjoyed sponsorships from major brands like Barbie, Modelina, and Express through virtual goods and in-game advertising, but sadly just couldn't garner the player base to make those investments worthwhile. LOLapps official reasoning for closing down the game? "Going forward we feel this is the right choice as it will allow to pour ourselves into future projects with the aim of creating fresher, deeper gameplay experiences." Let's just hope the studios next game can both avoid controversy and emulate Ravenwood Fair's success.

FarmVille Scam Alert! Do not click on 'Teacup Pig' News Feed Posts

Alright, this is just getting to be ridiculous. Another FarmVille scam has appeared in several players' Facebook News Feeds, according to FarmVille Freak. This time it involves giving away a Teacup Pig for free and is likely the work of the same scam artist who posted similar phony posts like the Knight Steed Foal and Kung Fu Duck. While the initial post looks strikingly similar to the real deal, it's far from legit.

Clicking on the offer will take you to a page that isn't even the real FarmVille, but a page titled "FarmVille Bonus." No such page exists officially through Zynga. This is clearly a ploy by someone looking to get your information for spamming purposes or worse. Whatever you do, do not click on this News Feed post and warn your FarmVille friends about this scam.

FarmVille phony bonus page
Remember, only accept News Feed posts when you are absolutely sure they are legit. Carefully examine these posts before clicking through--poorly drawn graphics and typos are dead giveaways for phony posts. If you've fallen for one before, be sure to scan your computer for malware with virus scanning software and to change your Facebook password and other private information.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Have you seen this scam circulating the News Feeds? What are your personal tips for avoiding or detecting scams?

Poll: Should Zynga's raunchy FrontierVille wall posts go away?

You've all surely seen Zynga's suggestive FrontierVille News Feed posts. If you've yet to witness the hilarity, we even covered the madness a while back. However, there are several forum members that have enough with the lewd messages. So much so that forum user flapdoodle21 (what does that even mean?) has claimed they will not play any Zynga games until these messages are removed. While many agree with this disgruntled pioneer's sentiment, an equal amount claim that it's not such a big and flapdoodle21 (I just had to say it one more time) needs to lighten. So, we come to you, fine Games.com readers for your two Horseshoes:

Should Zynga cut the raunchy FrontierVille posts?
Absolutely! No one needs to see this sinful filth!Lighten up, will ya people? They're just (hilarious) play on word jokes.Those News Feed posts have funny words on them? I just click away.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

CityVille Patrol: Cops 'n' robbers will take to the streets soon

Cops 'n' robbers will be headed to CityVille soon, as per this pop-up that appeared while I was visiting my virtual city today. There's not a lot of details on what this will entail, other than the hint that 'heroics with friends' will keep the bad guys away. I'm taking that to mean that you'll need to rely on your CVille pals to keep your streets free of crime.

I also like how the criminals are called 'mischievous characters' and based on their mug shots -- they look like the friendliest would-be convicts we've ever seen. Now that I'm thinking about it -- that's also the happiest cop I've ever seen as well. Move over Disneyland -- CityVille is now the happiest place on Earth.

Rumor: Will Zynga remove FarmVille Collections?

After over a year of being in FarmVille, Collections might be taken away from the game, a forum thread rumor suggests. Players are asking around on the FarmVille forums whether this feature might be removed from the farm after a user posted the above image. It shows the Needlepoint, an item from one of the game's permanent Collections, and reads, "Hurry to find more Needlepoint items, the Country Kitsch Collection won't be here for--"

The message within the pop-up cuts off after that. Oddly enough, the image of the Needlepoint is not found on the pop-up, but is replaced by a white box, which could lead skeptics to believe this is a hoax. However, this could just as easily be a loading glitch. FarmVille community manager Stumpgrinder chimed in with, "I haven't heard about these being withdrawn... I think that message has been up there for awhile though."

Bugs Collection
While it would be wise to trust a community manager, his response doesn't explain the far clearer image above. This time, a player found this pop-up claiming that another permanent Collection, the Bugs Collection, would be going away soon as well. Still fake? You decide, but you might want to turn in any Collections you have lying around before the feature potentially goes kaput.

[Image Credit: oneraven and Amber3]

Have you seen similar messages appear in your game? Why would Zynga remove this feature after an entire year?

FarmVille scam alert: fake Lucky Penny news feed posts

We're not sure what's going on, but a massive number of FarmVille scams are currently circulating the news feeds. The latest one takes advantage of players who are trying to collect Lucky Pennies for their Wishing Wells. The scam looks very similar to a legitimate FarmVille wall post in that the image and the text are very similar, however the "Get Lucky" link leads players to a different fanpage in an effort to get them to "like" the page.

The best ways to identify which ones of these are spam to first to check the text: the above gray text misspells the word "wishing" as "wisshing". The second way is to hover over the "Get Lucky" link to see where it will take you. In this case, you can see that instead of taking you to the FarmVille application (http://apps.facebook.com/onthefarm/), the link leads to a "FarmVille Bonus" fan page.

Another of these scams says it's by "FarmVille Latest" and takes you to a FarmVille Neighbors Club fanpage:
Always double check where a news feed post is going to take you. Remember there are no third-party fan pages that have access to give out Lucky Pennies, or any FarmVille item. If it isn't the official FarmVille application, it isn't legitimate.

FarmVille English Countryside Cheats and Tips: A new travelers guide

With FarmVille English Countryside (EC) inching closer, it's time to give you unsuspecting farmers a crash course in getting there for when the time comes. Well, at least we can tell what we know based on extensive previews from Zynga. We already know that Duke will crash land on your farm sometime soon, but now we have an even better idea of what to do once we touch down in England.

1. Fix and Send off the Airship
In order to fix Duke's Airship once it crashes, players will have to gather supplies from the farm. After fixing the Airship, you will be tasked with throwing a party. The party will function much like the New Year's Ball party did in the original FarmVille, so you will have to invite several guests to the shindig. Once you've reached the final level, you will have unlocked access to the English Countryside.

2. A not-so-easy landing
Once you arrive in EC, you'll be greeted by several characters including Lily, Duke and more. It will become immediately apparent that this expansion is far more story-driven than FarmVille ever has been. However, participating in the storyline isn't mandatory nor does is cost Energy. In fact, Energy doesn't exist in EC just as it doesn't in the original game. But we imagine you'll be enticed by the Goals' rewards to complete them.
Quest Map
3. Questing made easy
You should have by now noticed that EC is in shambles, and it's up to you to restore this decrepit farm to its former glory. This is done through the game's list of Goals that are represented through an interactive map. It's here that players will be able to track their progress, see what's ahead and their friends' position in the storyline in order to help them.

4. Almost everything will come with you
When you touch down in EC, take a look at your storage--it's not there! Don't be alarmed, this is intended, unfortunately. While your Gift Boxes are linked between games, your stored items are not. Players will likely receive most of their rewards in EC through the Gift Box, so that players have the choice of where to stick things like new decorations and Mastery signs.

[Source: FarmVille Freak]

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

How have you prepared for traveling to the English Countryside? Do you have any suggestions for travel preparations?

Quote of the Moment: 'Nintendo president Iwata is wrong about social games'

    Iwata-san has done an incredible job rebuilding Nintendo over the last few years. He is a great leader of that company, but in this particular case he is wrong. He is mistaken if [he thinks] this is some kind of fad that will go away. Social networks, as a way of powering our game and entertainment choices, is here to stay.

Former Sony Worldwide Studios boss Phil Harrison said this in an interview with IndustryGamers regarding Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's harsh words for social game creators during his Game Developers Conference keynote speech this month. Iwata believes that mobile and social games could diminish "high value" games, or $50 to $60 retail games. How, you ask? The Nintendo commander-in-chief said that social and mobile games are focused more on quantity than quality, amassing and copying software to increase revenue. If Iwata has seen what's in the works for iOS or some recent Facebook games, then his issue appears to be more with price points than anything.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

[Image Credit: Nsider 2]

What do you think about Iwata's opinion of social game developers? How do you think Nintendo will fare continuing its retail-centric strategy?