The Game of the Day is all about relaxation and spelling?. Word Zen: The longer the word you can spell, the more points you earn, and watch for special multiplier tiles for extra points! As you progress on your journey through 'Word Zen,' unlock items in your Zen Garden, where you can relax and enjoy soothing visuals and sounds.
Click --> Play Word Zen
Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.
Thứ Sáu, 30 tháng 12, 2011
Gardens of Time on Facebook: A getting started guide
Jump in your time machine and search your way through the Gardens of Time to preserve its history and become the newest recruit of the Time Society. Collect beautiful artifacts found in breathtaking scenes and place them in your garden decorating it any way you wish. As your garden grows so does your reputation, which unlocks even more locations to travel to. It is up to you to search through time and protect the world from evil. Gardens of Time is a beautiful hidden object game played on Facebook and developed by Playdom. Gamezebo's Gardens of Time quick start strategy guide will provide you with detailed images, tips, tricks, and hints on how to play your best game.
Quick Start Guide
Playdom Gardens of Time
Getting Started
Gardens of Time is played on Facebook and you will need to have a current account to play. If you need to register for a free account click here.
Once you have a Facebook account you are ready to play and can click on the "Free - Play Now" button at the top of this page.
You will have to allow the game to access your information on Facebook, send you email, and post to your profile page when you tell it to for live feed bonuses to share with neighbors.
Once you start the game you will be taken on a brief tutorial where you are to find six items in ancient Egypt to show you how to maneuver around the game screen.
You will also be shown how to purchase one of the items found in the scene and how to place it in your garden.
You start out with 60 energy, 6,000 silver coins, and 10 gold bars.
Game controls - These are found in the upper right corner as you click on the icon with the wrench the menu will expand. You can toggle off game music, sound effects and more. You can also zoom in and out of the scene with the buttons under the settings area.
Full screen mode - You can change the game to full screen mode which is much easier to play by clicking on the button at the upper right with the arrows shown in four directions.
Move the scene - You can move the screen by holding your left mouse button down and dragging the scene where you want it.
Game chapters - There are currently six chapters each with six scenes that can be searched allowing you to level up and over time if you choose obtain four star mastery by replaying the scenes for your best scores. You can use the arrows on each side of the scene menu to scroll between chapters. If a scene is locked, click on it and it will tell you how many reputation points you need to earn to unlock it or you can purchase an instant unlock using gold bars.
Game updates - Gardens of Time will update every other week adding five new puzzles to the game during each update. Be sure to check back daily!
Game mentors - "Alistair Wells" will be the first of many characters that will mentor you through the game and help you with your induction into the Time Society. Read any text spoken by your mentor characters and click on "Next" when you are finished.
Game Currency
There are two types of currency in Gardens of Time.
Coins - This is the basic currency and you will start out with 6,000 when you begin the game. These are silver coins and you will earn these when you complete hidden object scenes, visit neighbors, and in the form of free gifts from your neighbors in mystery boxes. You can also help out your neighbors or click on live feed links to earn more coins.
Gold bars - This is the premium currency and is used to buy special items for your garden and also can be used to speed up processes such as the wait time on construction for an item, which will allow you to access the scene it unlocks immediately.
Playdom Gardens of Time Gold Buy
Purchase additional gold - You can purchase additional gold several ways. Click on the "Add" button next to each currency indicator at the top left of the screen. You can use a major credit card, PayPal, pay by mobile phone, or Facebook Credits. Gift cards from stores can be redeemed here, and you can also click on a link to earn free gold by visiting certain sponsors and purchasing certain items.
Playdom Gardens of Time Coin Exchange
How to gain additional coins/coin exchange - You can not purchase coins the way you can purchase gold. If you click on "Add" you will be taken to the coin exchange screen shown above. This will allow you to either trade the gold you have on hand for coins or you can specify a certain number of gold bars you wish to trade for coins. Note these rates could change in the future.
Leveling up - Each time you level up in the game you will earn either a coin bonus, or a coin and gold bar bonus. Be sure to use your gold bars wisely.
Playdom Gardens of Time Temporal Energy Indicator
Temporal Energy
You will need energy in order to run your time machine and search for hidden objects in the various scenes.
Each time you choose a location to search energy points will be deducted from your overall total in quantities of at least 10 energy points per location searched. This amount may increase as you advance in the game.
You always have a maximum of 60 temporal energy points. If you earn more via gifts from neighbors or neighbor visits you will notice the number will be over 60 but will turn yellow instead of the normal white.
Playdom Gardens of Time More Energy
How to obtain more energy - Once you run out of energy you can either wait and let it regenerate over time, ask friends to send it to you, or you can purchase more using gold bars.
Purchasing energy - If you run completely out of energy you will be given the option to purchase more or request it from friends. When purchasing, the minimum amount available is five energy points for three gold bars and it is distributed in different bundle packs shown in image above. The more you spend the less you will pay per gold bar.
Request energy - From the purchase screen shown in the image above there is also a link to request that your friends send you energy. If your friends respond to the request you will be sent five energy points, or "energy cans," which can be claimed in the messages area of the game at any time. (See "Claiming gifts" below.)
Tip - There is a tab along the top of the energy request area that lets you send the request to "Gardens of Time friends" which shows you a list of all of your Facebook friends that play the game even if they are not yet added to your neighbor list. If you see friends playing the game on this list be sure to send them an invitation to be your neighbor or click on the "Neighbors" tab above the game screen. This will take you to a detailed screen that also gives you this information.
Energy cans - Energy cans contain five energy points each. You can access any energy cans gifted to you by clicking on the open box icon, which is where gifts are stored. Click on "Use" and one energy can at a time will be applied to your energy meter.
Instant energy refill - Each time you level up in the game your temporal energy meter will be reset at its maximum level.
Tip - Friends can also gift you one energy can as the daily free gift. Be sure to send these out to neighbors so they will send you one in return. Once you accept this gift, you must go into the gift section (opened box icon) to claim this item and use it.
Tip - If you find yourself very low on energy and you have the funds to spare, check to see how close you are to leveling up. (Place cursor on XP meter) If you are fairly close purchase a building or decor item that will get you there and the energy meter will be refilled to its maximum as a reward for leveling up.
Playdom Gardens of Time Reputation Indicator
Reputation
Reputation is critical in order for you to unlock additional scenes in the game.
Reputation is noted with a crown icon over any item which can be seen by placing your cursor over it.
Purchasing artifacts, buildings, and decor items from the store and placing them in your garden will increase your reputation. Buildings and artifacts only contribute points once their construction is complete. (See "Purchasing and placing items in your garden" below)
Placing decor items can earn you small amounts of reputation with no wait time.
Completing reputation quests and Wonder quests can earn you large amounts of reputation points. (See "Wonders" below)
Reputation meter - Your reputation level can be seen in the upper right hand corner of the game screen and at any time you can place your cursor over this area and it will tell you how many more reputation points you need until you unlock the next scene. You can also click on a locked scene at any time and you will be notified how many reputation points you need to unlock that scene.
Tip - Items already placed in your garden represent a specific amount of reputation which can be seen by placing your cursor over it. If you place an item in storage you will lose the reputation it gains you so be sure to keep all items in the garden once placed. You can remove structures and replace them with items that yield larger amounts of reputation points. Be sure not to lose any reputation points when moving or replacing items.
Playdom Gardens of Time XP
XP - Experience Points
XP allows you to level up in the game. Each time you complete a hidden object scene, build a building, place decor, visit a neighbor, complete a quest, or click on a bonus reward link in a live feed you will earn additional XP.
XP indicator - This is located at the top center of the game screen. Place your cursor here at any time to see how many XP you need to reach the next level of the game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Play Hidden Object Scenes
Finding Hidden Objects
The game is divided into six chapters (this number may increase) and you will need to complete a certain number of scenes per chapter. Once the scene icon is colored you can play it and you can move between locations if you like.
Be sure to look for the "Quest" banner on any scene involved in a current quest that is on the board.
If you see a padlock the scene is locked and you must continue to increase your reputation to unlock them, which means building and placing items in your garden. You will need money to do this so you will move back and forth between hidden object scenes and placing items in your garden. Remember you must wait for the construction of buildings to complete before you earn reputation points.
You can level up while completing these scenes as the number of XP you earn while searching, building, and visiting neighbors will all contribute to how fast you level up.
Click on the quest icons that are located along the left side of the game screen. (See "Quests" below for detailed information.)
Playdom Gardens of Time Scene Selection
Adventures - Click on the time machine in the center of your garden or on the "Adventures" tab at the bottom left and a menu will appear. Click on the open scene you wish to search and this will cost you at least 10 energy points.
Unlocking scenes - Some scenes will require you to have a certain number of neighbors, certain level of reputation, or both. You can use gold bars at any time to unlock any scene in any order you choose but only within the chapters you have unlocked.
Mastery stars - You will see in the upper right side of the scene choice screen how many stars you have earned. The first set of scenes requires you to earn 24 stars before you can move on to chapter two. You can always find this information in the upper right corner of the chapter menu.
Moving between chapters - Once you have reached level two you can use the arrows to toggle back and forth between chapters. You will reach level two before you complete the star mastery of level one. You may even reach level two before any scenes in it are unlocked. If this is the case keep working on chapter one until you earn enough reputation points to unlock a scene in the next chapter. Clicking on any scene icon will result in a message telling you exactly what you need to unlock it. Gold bars can always be used to unlock any scene instantly but it will be quite expensive.
The maximum number of stars you can earn for a scene is four, which means you have obtained mastery of that scene. You can go back to any scene at any time and keep replaying it to earn completed stars. When you finish a scene you will notice that you only earn a percentage of the star based on your score. You will have to play a scene several times before you can master it.
Playdom Gardens of Time Hidden Object Scene
How to locate hidden objects - You will now be taken to the scene where items are hidden. Along the bottom of the screen you will see the description of the item. Once you find it click on it and it will appear larger for a second and you will see briefly the score you earned for finding it and then the item will disappear from the scene.
Once you find an item listed at the bottom of the screen the word will disappear and another will appear in its place until you find the maximum of twelve hidden objects in a scene.
Item placement - The items listed at the bottom will be different each time you play and the higher your star mastery the odds are much higher that the hardest to find items will appear in the list for you to find. Items in the scene are always the same; so once you learn where an item is, remember it and the next time you play you will be able to click on it faster. The faster you can click on these items without a mistake the more points you will earn for speed and skill.
Chain bonuses - Quickly finding item without any mistakes will earn chaining bonuses, which can increase your point bonus multiple times. Try not to make a mistake and your points will really add up. If you do make a mistake the chain bonus will start over.
Hints - See "Hints" below.
Playdom Gardens of Time Bonus
Final scoring/ranking - Once you finish a hidden object scene you will be shown a summary of your score with a breaking down of timing and skill bonus and percentage of stars earned. You will also see a screen showing the ranking of other players in the game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Share Bonus Neighbors
Challenging a neighbor - Once you see the ranking menu note there is a "VS" button next to the names of high scorers in the game. You can at any time click on the challenge button and challenge this person to this particular puzzle. You will both earn a bonus for participating, with the winner earning the larger of the two bonuses. You will be notified of who won the challenge once it is accepted and completed.
Accepting a challenge - If someone challenges you, you will be notified in the messages area when you load the game. If you click on "Accept" you will be taken to that chapter menu and will see a tiny "VS" icon on that scene. Click on it to play and try to beat the score of the person who challenged you.
Playdom Gardens of Time Split Screen Find Differences
Locate the Differences
Usually in one scene per chapter y]ou will be asked to locate the differences between two split vertical screens. The differences will be items missing from one side or the other.
You will be asked to find six differences and you can use any hints available to you to help, but note they will decrease your overall skill and timing bonuses.
Once you find an item that is not on the other side click on it (on either side) and it will change the other side to match. If you click on the side where the item is absent it will appear and if you click on the side where it is present it will cause it to appear in that location on the other side.
Do this as fast as you can even though there is no time limit, as the faster you complete this the more points you will score overall.
The scoring screen is the same as the hidden object screens and you can also challenge others on this puzzle in the ranking menu by clicking on the "VS" button. If you challenge others you will play with a 60 second timer finding as many differences as you can in that minute.
Playdom Gardens of Time Hints
Hints
At the bottom left corner of any hidden object scene you will see a hints menu.
There are four types of hints and the first one which is "One extra item" will be unlocked when you start the game. You will get an unlimited amount of these per scene but they will decrease your skill level score if used.
One extra item - Unlocked at level one, and has unlimited uses but decreases your skill level score. Causes one item to show itself to you and you must wait one minute for the button to regenerate with color before you can use it again. This hint can not be gifted to you by friends since it is unlimited.
Goggles - This unlocks at level five and when you click on it there are goggles attached to your cursor. Anywhere you place it will glow if that item is in your search list. You are given four of these hints per game screen unless someone has gifted you some more and this will decrease your skill level bonus score a little bit if used.
Thermometer - This unlocks at level 10 and will tell you if you are getting warmer as you get closer to an item in the search list. You are given three per scene. This can be gifted to you by neighbors once unlocked.
Flash - This unlocks at level 15 and briefly flashes all the answers on the screen for a few seconds until you can find the one you need. You are given three of these types of hints per scene. This can be gifted to you by neighbors once unlocked.
Time between uses - It may take a certain amount of time after a hint is used before you can use it again. When the color returns to the entire button you can use the hint again. Note the number at the bottom corner as this tells you how many of each hint you have left of a particular type.
The higher the level you reach the more hints available to you.
Gifting hints - Hints can be gifted to you by neighbors as the daily free gift. Send these out so others will send them to you.
Green "+" symbol - If you see a green "+" symbol next to a hint where the number usually is this means you are out of that type of hint and can click on the green symbol to request friends send you more. This will trigger another page to appear so be sure to do it before you start your game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Random Clicking
Random Clicking
If you decide to just quickly click all over the screen in an attempt to hit a correct answer you will be penalized with a five second blank out of the scene. This occurs in any type of hidden object or find the difference scenes so make sure there is a brief pause between clicks. Speed does count but the game knows when it is too quick.
This penalty will hurt your timing and skill bonuses severely so please be sure never to quickly click on a scene while searching for hidden objects or differences.
There is a countdown screen that will appear and as soon as it counts down from five you will be able to proceed.
Playdom Gardens of Time Mastery
Playdom Gardens of Time Star Mastery
Scoring/Star Count/High Scores/Rankings
As you search for items you will earn points for each item you find.
Once you have found all of the items in a scene you will earn time bonuses and skill bonuses that will be listed in a summary screen right after you finish.
Chaining bonuses - Each time you click on a correct answer without any mistakes you are starting a chain bonus. The more items you can correctly identify without a mistake in between will allow you to earn a huge number of points and will increase your skill and timing bonuses as well.
Star mastery - Each time you play a scene you earn a percentage of a star which is shown as a portion of a circle drawn around a star.
You will need to play a scene several times to complete one star and to completely master a scene you will need to earn four stars.
Difficulty level - The more stars you have earned on a scene the harder it will be to find items in that scene as the items listed will become more difficult.
Tip - In the scene menu for a specific chapter you will see the stars listed under the icon. You can go back to play any scene as many times as you wish. Some people prefer to complete the quests or chapter first and then go back to do star mastery. It is up to you how you want to play. Just note that you have to pay in energy points each time you play so if energy is scarce it is best to use it on your quests first.
You will have several quests that have goals asking you to earn a specific number of stars in a location. You will have to visit this one location and search it several times to increase your star count to the level needed to complete the goal.
At the end of each hidden object scene you will see a summary score and at the top you will see what percentage of a star you have earned for completing it.
Moving to the next chapter - Look at the upper right corner of the chapter scene menu. Once you have earned the maximum number of stars required for a chapter you will advance to the next chapter in the game. You may have advanced to the next chapter but you will only be able to unlock a scene within it once you have the required number of reputation points or if you are willing to purchase an instant unlock with gold bars. You may have to add items to your garden until you have enough reputation points to unlock the scene.
Playdom Gardens of Time Quests
Playdom Gardens of Time 2 Star Egyptian Tomb Paradox
Quests
Completing quests is critical to leveling up, earning money and reputation points, unlocking wonders, and moving through the various chapters of the game.
The quest icons can always be found on the left side of the game screen.
There are usually three icons and each one represents a different category of quests. When you click on the icon you will be shown the current quest for that category and you may see one or more goals to complete before the quest is finished.
Top icon - This lists your goals for hidden object scenes. You may have a goal such as earn two stars in a specific scene. (When you visit the scene menu you will see a "Quest" ribbon on any scene with a current goal attached to it.)
Middle icon - This has to do with goals associated with visiting neighbors.
Bottom icon - This has to do with goals or quests associated with decorating your garden.
As you complete goals (there may be just one or several) a green check mark will appear next to the goal and you will see the words "progress" appear next to the icon that it applies to on the main game screen. The game will also prompt you to read goals if they have changed due to your progress.
Wonder quests - See "Wonders" for more information.
Note - Sometimes there are less than three icons as quests only appear at certain points of the game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Quest Complete
Finishing a quest - Once you complete a goal a green check mark will appear next to it within the quest menu. Once you complete the entire quest a reward message will appear showing you what you have earned. You will be given a large bonus that you can share with your neighbors via the live feed if you choose. If not just click on the "X" in the upper right corner.
A new quest usually appears as soon as you complete one.
Playdom Gardens of Time Build Menu Playdom Gardens of Time Build Categories
Purchasing and Placing Items to Decorate Your Garden
You can place buildings, decor items, artifacts, and pathways in your garden. Click on the "Build" tab at the bottom left.
Once this opens run your cursor along the tabs to see what categories are opened. If you place just decoration items you will earn a much smaller amount of reputation points but have no wait time to get them.
Gold bar purchases - Purchasing items with gold bars will give you premium goods with the largest number of XP and reputation points available in the game.
Buildings and wonders - These earn you the second highest amounts of reputation points in the game. (See "Wonders" below for more information)
Purchasing artifacts - These are unlocked by searching hidden object scenes and leveling up in the game. Once you complete a scene successfully this artifact will unlock and you can purchase it and place it in your garden for XP and reputation points.
Purchasing buildings - These will earn you large amounts of XP and reputation points. Click on the "Buildings" tab and then run your cursor over any building to see its stats. Cost is located along the bottom and the construction time, XP, and reputation points earned are listed along the top. Once you have made your choice click on "Buy" and you will hear a cash register sound.
Placing items - Next you will have the item stuck to your cursor. Place it anywhere in the green grid where you see green under the item. If you see red there isn't enough room. Click to lock the item in place.
If your item has a construction time you will see construction begin on that building. Place your cursor over the construction site at any time to see how much time is left until completion.
Playdom Gardens of Time Click to Finish Construction
Wait for construction to complete - Once construction has completed you will see the icon shown in the image above. Click on it and the reputation points will be added to your score. You will not earn these points until you complete the structure construction.
Purchasing decor items - There is no construction time for decor items they will place immediately for you and earn instant reputation points.
Note - Whenever your reputation point goals change within a quest the game will prompt you to read them. (See "Quests" above.)
Playdom Gardens of Time Build Mode Menu
Redesigning Your Garden
You can move or flip items in another direction or you can sell the items for a reduced rate or store them for future use.
All you need to do is click on the "Build" button and then click on any item you wish to control.
A pull down menu will appear that offers you the options to move, flip, store, or sell for a specific amount. Click on what you want and proceed. You will need to confirm selling the items and you will not earn back what you paid for an item.
Storage/inventory- If you have an item in storage you want to retrieve click on the build menu and then on the opened box inventory button to access it.
Gift storage - After you accept any gift in the messages area it will be found in the gift area. Click on the opened box icon to locate gifts you wish to place in your garden.
Playdom Gardens of Time Expansion
Expanding Your Garden
Click on "Build" then click on the "Grid Expansion" tab, which is the next to last tab next to gifts.
You will have to have a certain number or silver coins, reputation points, or neighbors in order to purchase expansions. Sometimes it could be a combination of these items that is required.
You can always use gold to bypass the other requirements and expand immediately. There is always an option to purchase with gold bars listed to the right of your available expansion.
The entire garden will increase in size once you purchase an expansion and you can begin to rearrange your garden or add more items right away.
Playdom Gardens of Time Neighbors Menu
Inviting/Visiting your Neighbors/"The Befuddled Fairgoer"
Neighbors are critical to your success in Gardens of Time. Be sure to check the "Messages" area of the game frequently to accept any friend requests sent to you and be sure to send out invitations daily. (You will be allowed to invite up to 50 people every 24 hours.) Look at the top or the bottom of the game screen and click on "Invite Friends" or on the icon of a man and woman at the bottom left corner with a green "+" sign next to them to bring up the invite neighbor menu at any time.
Neighbor menu - Your neighbors are listed along the bottom of the game screen. Click on the "Visit" button to go to their garden and help them out for coin, XP, and energy bonuses.
Playdom Gardens of Time Neighbor Visit Bonus
Neighbor visit daily reward - Each time you visit a neighbor in a 24 hour period you will earn 15 coins, 50 XP, and one energy can.
Playdom Gardens of Time Befuddled Fairgoer
Playdom Gardens of Time Get Ready to Blitz
"The Befuddled Fairgoer" - Each of your Neighbors will have a "Befuddled Fairgoer" walking around their garden. You may not see people walking around at first, but if you wait a few moments they will enter through the gate entrance at the bottom left side of the screen. You will notice this befuddled person has a "!" symbol above their head. Once you find them click on their character. Now you will be allowed to help them find items they have dropped. You will be taken to a scene where you are given 60 seconds to find as many of the items listed at the bottom of the screen as possible. As soon as you find one item in the list a new one immediately appears. This is also known as "Blitz" or "Blitzing."
Note - If you exit the hidden object scene before you finish the 60 second search you will lose the bonus points and will not be able to continue the game if you reload it.
Note - Be sure you do not click too many times in succession because there is a five second screen dark out penalty for rapid clicking.
Note - If you wait too long to look for the "Befuddled Fairgoer" they may disappear from the garden so be sure to look right away.
Note - If you do not see any people walking around your neighbor's garden you have probably already visited them in a the last 24 hours and will need to try again later.
You will earn a final score and a coin and XP reward when you are finished.
Be sure to also look around your neighbor's garden and see how many beautiful artifacts have been added. The more you play the more of these items you can place in your own garden for others to see when they visit you.
Playdom Gardens of Time Help Neighbor
Neighbor Requests
From time to time a message such as the one shown in the image above will appear on your game screen. Usually if you leave the game for a few minutes or don't click on anything for awhile these will show up.
These messages will only appear if you have neighbors you haven't visited in a 24 hour period.
Click on "Help Neighbor" and you will be taken to their garden as if you were on a normal neighbor visit and you will earn coins, XP, and energy for helping out the "Befuddled Fairgoer."
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonder Quest
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonders Quest Complete
Wonders
Wonders can only be placed by completing quests and then hiring friends to help you build them.
Click on the "Build" tab and when the menu expands you will see several category tabs. The tab with the pyramid on it is the "Wonders" tab. You can run your cursor over any wonder to see what quest must be completed to earn it and how many reputation points you will earn once it is completed.
The the first wonder which is "Big Ben" can be earned once you complete the "Loose Ends" quest.
Once you complete a wonders quest a message will appear as in the second image above. Click on the "Build" tab and then on the "Wonders" tab. You will now see that the word "Use" has appeared under the unlocked wonder. Click on "Use" and place the wonder in your garden.
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonder Construction
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonder Construction Help
Once placed you will be prompted to ask for help to complete its construction. Place your cursor over the wonder and click on the message "Ask your friends to help out"
Next, a menu will appear showing you how to finish the building. "Big Ben" requires that you hire three neighbors. Click on "Hire Neighbors" and you will be taken to a menu that allows you to send to "Gardens of Time" friends. Note that this list contains all of your Facebook friends that are playing the game. Some will be on your neighbors list and some may not. This is a great way to get new neighbors and show you who among your friends are playing. Click on the names of those you would like to hire and wait for them to accept. Once all the open positions have been filled you will be notified to complete construction by clicking on the wonder and you will be credited with however many reputation points it is worth.
Using gold bars to complete wonders - You also have the option to use gold bars instead of going through the process of asking friends to help and waiting on their responses. You will have to pay per hiring slot and this can be very expensive but will save you a lot of time as it unlocks the wonder immediately. There is a "Finish Instantly" button along side the "Hire Friends" button if you choose to spend your gold bars on it. This hires all friends for you and completes the wonder instantly awarding you with reputation points.
Wonders earn you large amounts of reputation points. "Big Ben" earns you 700 reputation points once you place it and complete its construction. Some of the later wonders you can earn will reward you with thousands of reputation points.
Accepting help from your friends - After you send out the requests for help you will have to wait for friends to respond. This will earn them a coin and or XP bonus if they help you out. When you reload the game again you will see any responses in the "Message Center" under either the "All" tab or the "Wonders" tab located along the top.
Click on "Accept" to anyone that has responded and once you have all positions filled you can complete your wonder by clicking on the construction icon over it.
Note - There is a meter inside each wonder construction icon that hovers above it that shows what percentage of construction is completed. This is a good reminder that you need to check the wonders area and send out help requests if it is taking a long time to finish a wonder. If you only need three friends to help and twenty respond they will all earn a reward bonus, not just the people that you accept help from in the wonders area.
Playdom Gardens of Time Free Gifts
Daily Free Gifts/Sending and Claiming
You will be able to send one free gift per 24 hours to your neighbors.
Click on the "Free Gifts" tab at the top left of the game screen or click on the gift box icon at the bottom left of the game screen, or "Return Favor" when someone sends you a gift.
You will be able to choose a mystery gift box or other items based on your level. The more you level up the more free gifts unlock for you to choose from.
You can send to several people at once if you would like. Check off the names of those you wish to send to and simply click on "Send." Your neighbor will have to accept the gift and will hopefully return the favor.
Tip - Sending hints to people is a great gift as in the higher levels of the game they may really need them and hopefully they will return the favor to you.
Tip - Most people tend to send you what you send them so be mindful of what you need and send that item out to your neighbors when sending free daily gifts.
Claiming gifts - When you are sent a gift you will be notified via the "Messages" area that opens each time you load the game or you can access it by clicking on the envelope icon at the center bottom of the screen. Once you click on "Accept" you have the option to click on "Return the Favor" which lets you gift that item back to the sender. All claimed items can be found in the gifts or inventory area which is the opened box icon at the bottom center or within the build menu area. Click on "Use" below an item to place it in your garden or to use it in your game
This article originally appeared on Gamezebo.
Looking for a few new friends to play Gardens of Time with on Facebook? Have any other must-know cheats or tips for this game?
Quick Start Guide
Playdom Gardens of Time
Getting Started
Gardens of Time is played on Facebook and you will need to have a current account to play. If you need to register for a free account click here.
Once you have a Facebook account you are ready to play and can click on the "Free - Play Now" button at the top of this page.
You will have to allow the game to access your information on Facebook, send you email, and post to your profile page when you tell it to for live feed bonuses to share with neighbors.
Once you start the game you will be taken on a brief tutorial where you are to find six items in ancient Egypt to show you how to maneuver around the game screen.
You will also be shown how to purchase one of the items found in the scene and how to place it in your garden.
You start out with 60 energy, 6,000 silver coins, and 10 gold bars.
Game controls - These are found in the upper right corner as you click on the icon with the wrench the menu will expand. You can toggle off game music, sound effects and more. You can also zoom in and out of the scene with the buttons under the settings area.
Full screen mode - You can change the game to full screen mode which is much easier to play by clicking on the button at the upper right with the arrows shown in four directions.
Move the scene - You can move the screen by holding your left mouse button down and dragging the scene where you want it.
Game chapters - There are currently six chapters each with six scenes that can be searched allowing you to level up and over time if you choose obtain four star mastery by replaying the scenes for your best scores. You can use the arrows on each side of the scene menu to scroll between chapters. If a scene is locked, click on it and it will tell you how many reputation points you need to earn to unlock it or you can purchase an instant unlock using gold bars.
Game updates - Gardens of Time will update every other week adding five new puzzles to the game during each update. Be sure to check back daily!
Game mentors - "Alistair Wells" will be the first of many characters that will mentor you through the game and help you with your induction into the Time Society. Read any text spoken by your mentor characters and click on "Next" when you are finished.
Game Currency
There are two types of currency in Gardens of Time.
Coins - This is the basic currency and you will start out with 6,000 when you begin the game. These are silver coins and you will earn these when you complete hidden object scenes, visit neighbors, and in the form of free gifts from your neighbors in mystery boxes. You can also help out your neighbors or click on live feed links to earn more coins.
Gold bars - This is the premium currency and is used to buy special items for your garden and also can be used to speed up processes such as the wait time on construction for an item, which will allow you to access the scene it unlocks immediately.
Playdom Gardens of Time Gold Buy
Purchase additional gold - You can purchase additional gold several ways. Click on the "Add" button next to each currency indicator at the top left of the screen. You can use a major credit card, PayPal, pay by mobile phone, or Facebook Credits. Gift cards from stores can be redeemed here, and you can also click on a link to earn free gold by visiting certain sponsors and purchasing certain items.
Playdom Gardens of Time Coin Exchange
How to gain additional coins/coin exchange - You can not purchase coins the way you can purchase gold. If you click on "Add" you will be taken to the coin exchange screen shown above. This will allow you to either trade the gold you have on hand for coins or you can specify a certain number of gold bars you wish to trade for coins. Note these rates could change in the future.
Leveling up - Each time you level up in the game you will earn either a coin bonus, or a coin and gold bar bonus. Be sure to use your gold bars wisely.
Playdom Gardens of Time Temporal Energy Indicator
Temporal Energy
You will need energy in order to run your time machine and search for hidden objects in the various scenes.
Each time you choose a location to search energy points will be deducted from your overall total in quantities of at least 10 energy points per location searched. This amount may increase as you advance in the game.
You always have a maximum of 60 temporal energy points. If you earn more via gifts from neighbors or neighbor visits you will notice the number will be over 60 but will turn yellow instead of the normal white.
Playdom Gardens of Time More Energy
How to obtain more energy - Once you run out of energy you can either wait and let it regenerate over time, ask friends to send it to you, or you can purchase more using gold bars.
Purchasing energy - If you run completely out of energy you will be given the option to purchase more or request it from friends. When purchasing, the minimum amount available is five energy points for three gold bars and it is distributed in different bundle packs shown in image above. The more you spend the less you will pay per gold bar.
Request energy - From the purchase screen shown in the image above there is also a link to request that your friends send you energy. If your friends respond to the request you will be sent five energy points, or "energy cans," which can be claimed in the messages area of the game at any time. (See "Claiming gifts" below.)
Tip - There is a tab along the top of the energy request area that lets you send the request to "Gardens of Time friends" which shows you a list of all of your Facebook friends that play the game even if they are not yet added to your neighbor list. If you see friends playing the game on this list be sure to send them an invitation to be your neighbor or click on the "Neighbors" tab above the game screen. This will take you to a detailed screen that also gives you this information.
Energy cans - Energy cans contain five energy points each. You can access any energy cans gifted to you by clicking on the open box icon, which is where gifts are stored. Click on "Use" and one energy can at a time will be applied to your energy meter.
Instant energy refill - Each time you level up in the game your temporal energy meter will be reset at its maximum level.
Tip - Friends can also gift you one energy can as the daily free gift. Be sure to send these out to neighbors so they will send you one in return. Once you accept this gift, you must go into the gift section (opened box icon) to claim this item and use it.
Tip - If you find yourself very low on energy and you have the funds to spare, check to see how close you are to leveling up. (Place cursor on XP meter) If you are fairly close purchase a building or decor item that will get you there and the energy meter will be refilled to its maximum as a reward for leveling up.
Playdom Gardens of Time Reputation Indicator
Reputation
Reputation is critical in order for you to unlock additional scenes in the game.
Reputation is noted with a crown icon over any item which can be seen by placing your cursor over it.
Purchasing artifacts, buildings, and decor items from the store and placing them in your garden will increase your reputation. Buildings and artifacts only contribute points once their construction is complete. (See "Purchasing and placing items in your garden" below)
Placing decor items can earn you small amounts of reputation with no wait time.
Completing reputation quests and Wonder quests can earn you large amounts of reputation points. (See "Wonders" below)
Reputation meter - Your reputation level can be seen in the upper right hand corner of the game screen and at any time you can place your cursor over this area and it will tell you how many more reputation points you need until you unlock the next scene. You can also click on a locked scene at any time and you will be notified how many reputation points you need to unlock that scene.
Tip - Items already placed in your garden represent a specific amount of reputation which can be seen by placing your cursor over it. If you place an item in storage you will lose the reputation it gains you so be sure to keep all items in the garden once placed. You can remove structures and replace them with items that yield larger amounts of reputation points. Be sure not to lose any reputation points when moving or replacing items.
Playdom Gardens of Time XP
XP - Experience Points
XP allows you to level up in the game. Each time you complete a hidden object scene, build a building, place decor, visit a neighbor, complete a quest, or click on a bonus reward link in a live feed you will earn additional XP.
XP indicator - This is located at the top center of the game screen. Place your cursor here at any time to see how many XP you need to reach the next level of the game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Play Hidden Object Scenes
Finding Hidden Objects
The game is divided into six chapters (this number may increase) and you will need to complete a certain number of scenes per chapter. Once the scene icon is colored you can play it and you can move between locations if you like.
Be sure to look for the "Quest" banner on any scene involved in a current quest that is on the board.
If you see a padlock the scene is locked and you must continue to increase your reputation to unlock them, which means building and placing items in your garden. You will need money to do this so you will move back and forth between hidden object scenes and placing items in your garden. Remember you must wait for the construction of buildings to complete before you earn reputation points.
You can level up while completing these scenes as the number of XP you earn while searching, building, and visiting neighbors will all contribute to how fast you level up.
Click on the quest icons that are located along the left side of the game screen. (See "Quests" below for detailed information.)
Playdom Gardens of Time Scene Selection
Adventures - Click on the time machine in the center of your garden or on the "Adventures" tab at the bottom left and a menu will appear. Click on the open scene you wish to search and this will cost you at least 10 energy points.
Unlocking scenes - Some scenes will require you to have a certain number of neighbors, certain level of reputation, or both. You can use gold bars at any time to unlock any scene in any order you choose but only within the chapters you have unlocked.
Mastery stars - You will see in the upper right side of the scene choice screen how many stars you have earned. The first set of scenes requires you to earn 24 stars before you can move on to chapter two. You can always find this information in the upper right corner of the chapter menu.
Moving between chapters - Once you have reached level two you can use the arrows to toggle back and forth between chapters. You will reach level two before you complete the star mastery of level one. You may even reach level two before any scenes in it are unlocked. If this is the case keep working on chapter one until you earn enough reputation points to unlock a scene in the next chapter. Clicking on any scene icon will result in a message telling you exactly what you need to unlock it. Gold bars can always be used to unlock any scene instantly but it will be quite expensive.
The maximum number of stars you can earn for a scene is four, which means you have obtained mastery of that scene. You can go back to any scene at any time and keep replaying it to earn completed stars. When you finish a scene you will notice that you only earn a percentage of the star based on your score. You will have to play a scene several times before you can master it.
Playdom Gardens of Time Hidden Object Scene
How to locate hidden objects - You will now be taken to the scene where items are hidden. Along the bottom of the screen you will see the description of the item. Once you find it click on it and it will appear larger for a second and you will see briefly the score you earned for finding it and then the item will disappear from the scene.
Once you find an item listed at the bottom of the screen the word will disappear and another will appear in its place until you find the maximum of twelve hidden objects in a scene.
Item placement - The items listed at the bottom will be different each time you play and the higher your star mastery the odds are much higher that the hardest to find items will appear in the list for you to find. Items in the scene are always the same; so once you learn where an item is, remember it and the next time you play you will be able to click on it faster. The faster you can click on these items without a mistake the more points you will earn for speed and skill.
Chain bonuses - Quickly finding item without any mistakes will earn chaining bonuses, which can increase your point bonus multiple times. Try not to make a mistake and your points will really add up. If you do make a mistake the chain bonus will start over.
Hints - See "Hints" below.
Playdom Gardens of Time Bonus
Final scoring/ranking - Once you finish a hidden object scene you will be shown a summary of your score with a breaking down of timing and skill bonus and percentage of stars earned. You will also see a screen showing the ranking of other players in the game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Share Bonus Neighbors
Challenging a neighbor - Once you see the ranking menu note there is a "VS" button next to the names of high scorers in the game. You can at any time click on the challenge button and challenge this person to this particular puzzle. You will both earn a bonus for participating, with the winner earning the larger of the two bonuses. You will be notified of who won the challenge once it is accepted and completed.
Accepting a challenge - If someone challenges you, you will be notified in the messages area when you load the game. If you click on "Accept" you will be taken to that chapter menu and will see a tiny "VS" icon on that scene. Click on it to play and try to beat the score of the person who challenged you.
Playdom Gardens of Time Split Screen Find Differences
Locate the Differences
Usually in one scene per chapter y]ou will be asked to locate the differences between two split vertical screens. The differences will be items missing from one side or the other.
You will be asked to find six differences and you can use any hints available to you to help, but note they will decrease your overall skill and timing bonuses.
Once you find an item that is not on the other side click on it (on either side) and it will change the other side to match. If you click on the side where the item is absent it will appear and if you click on the side where it is present it will cause it to appear in that location on the other side.
Do this as fast as you can even though there is no time limit, as the faster you complete this the more points you will score overall.
The scoring screen is the same as the hidden object screens and you can also challenge others on this puzzle in the ranking menu by clicking on the "VS" button. If you challenge others you will play with a 60 second timer finding as many differences as you can in that minute.
Playdom Gardens of Time Hints
Hints
At the bottom left corner of any hidden object scene you will see a hints menu.
There are four types of hints and the first one which is "One extra item" will be unlocked when you start the game. You will get an unlimited amount of these per scene but they will decrease your skill level score if used.
One extra item - Unlocked at level one, and has unlimited uses but decreases your skill level score. Causes one item to show itself to you and you must wait one minute for the button to regenerate with color before you can use it again. This hint can not be gifted to you by friends since it is unlimited.
Goggles - This unlocks at level five and when you click on it there are goggles attached to your cursor. Anywhere you place it will glow if that item is in your search list. You are given four of these hints per game screen unless someone has gifted you some more and this will decrease your skill level bonus score a little bit if used.
Thermometer - This unlocks at level 10 and will tell you if you are getting warmer as you get closer to an item in the search list. You are given three per scene. This can be gifted to you by neighbors once unlocked.
Flash - This unlocks at level 15 and briefly flashes all the answers on the screen for a few seconds until you can find the one you need. You are given three of these types of hints per scene. This can be gifted to you by neighbors once unlocked.
Time between uses - It may take a certain amount of time after a hint is used before you can use it again. When the color returns to the entire button you can use the hint again. Note the number at the bottom corner as this tells you how many of each hint you have left of a particular type.
The higher the level you reach the more hints available to you.
Gifting hints - Hints can be gifted to you by neighbors as the daily free gift. Send these out so others will send them to you.
Green "+" symbol - If you see a green "+" symbol next to a hint where the number usually is this means you are out of that type of hint and can click on the green symbol to request friends send you more. This will trigger another page to appear so be sure to do it before you start your game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Random Clicking
Random Clicking
If you decide to just quickly click all over the screen in an attempt to hit a correct answer you will be penalized with a five second blank out of the scene. This occurs in any type of hidden object or find the difference scenes so make sure there is a brief pause between clicks. Speed does count but the game knows when it is too quick.
This penalty will hurt your timing and skill bonuses severely so please be sure never to quickly click on a scene while searching for hidden objects or differences.
There is a countdown screen that will appear and as soon as it counts down from five you will be able to proceed.
Playdom Gardens of Time Mastery
Playdom Gardens of Time Star Mastery
Scoring/Star Count/High Scores/Rankings
As you search for items you will earn points for each item you find.
Once you have found all of the items in a scene you will earn time bonuses and skill bonuses that will be listed in a summary screen right after you finish.
Chaining bonuses - Each time you click on a correct answer without any mistakes you are starting a chain bonus. The more items you can correctly identify without a mistake in between will allow you to earn a huge number of points and will increase your skill and timing bonuses as well.
Star mastery - Each time you play a scene you earn a percentage of a star which is shown as a portion of a circle drawn around a star.
You will need to play a scene several times to complete one star and to completely master a scene you will need to earn four stars.
Difficulty level - The more stars you have earned on a scene the harder it will be to find items in that scene as the items listed will become more difficult.
Tip - In the scene menu for a specific chapter you will see the stars listed under the icon. You can go back to play any scene as many times as you wish. Some people prefer to complete the quests or chapter first and then go back to do star mastery. It is up to you how you want to play. Just note that you have to pay in energy points each time you play so if energy is scarce it is best to use it on your quests first.
You will have several quests that have goals asking you to earn a specific number of stars in a location. You will have to visit this one location and search it several times to increase your star count to the level needed to complete the goal.
At the end of each hidden object scene you will see a summary score and at the top you will see what percentage of a star you have earned for completing it.
Moving to the next chapter - Look at the upper right corner of the chapter scene menu. Once you have earned the maximum number of stars required for a chapter you will advance to the next chapter in the game. You may have advanced to the next chapter but you will only be able to unlock a scene within it once you have the required number of reputation points or if you are willing to purchase an instant unlock with gold bars. You may have to add items to your garden until you have enough reputation points to unlock the scene.
Playdom Gardens of Time Quests
Playdom Gardens of Time 2 Star Egyptian Tomb Paradox
Quests
Completing quests is critical to leveling up, earning money and reputation points, unlocking wonders, and moving through the various chapters of the game.
The quest icons can always be found on the left side of the game screen.
There are usually three icons and each one represents a different category of quests. When you click on the icon you will be shown the current quest for that category and you may see one or more goals to complete before the quest is finished.
Top icon - This lists your goals for hidden object scenes. You may have a goal such as earn two stars in a specific scene. (When you visit the scene menu you will see a "Quest" ribbon on any scene with a current goal attached to it.)
Middle icon - This has to do with goals associated with visiting neighbors.
Bottom icon - This has to do with goals or quests associated with decorating your garden.
As you complete goals (there may be just one or several) a green check mark will appear next to the goal and you will see the words "progress" appear next to the icon that it applies to on the main game screen. The game will also prompt you to read goals if they have changed due to your progress.
Wonder quests - See "Wonders" for more information.
Note - Sometimes there are less than three icons as quests only appear at certain points of the game.
Playdom Gardens of Time Quest Complete
Finishing a quest - Once you complete a goal a green check mark will appear next to it within the quest menu. Once you complete the entire quest a reward message will appear showing you what you have earned. You will be given a large bonus that you can share with your neighbors via the live feed if you choose. If not just click on the "X" in the upper right corner.
A new quest usually appears as soon as you complete one.
Playdom Gardens of Time Build Menu Playdom Gardens of Time Build Categories
Purchasing and Placing Items to Decorate Your Garden
You can place buildings, decor items, artifacts, and pathways in your garden. Click on the "Build" tab at the bottom left.
Once this opens run your cursor along the tabs to see what categories are opened. If you place just decoration items you will earn a much smaller amount of reputation points but have no wait time to get them.
Gold bar purchases - Purchasing items with gold bars will give you premium goods with the largest number of XP and reputation points available in the game.
Buildings and wonders - These earn you the second highest amounts of reputation points in the game. (See "Wonders" below for more information)
Purchasing artifacts - These are unlocked by searching hidden object scenes and leveling up in the game. Once you complete a scene successfully this artifact will unlock and you can purchase it and place it in your garden for XP and reputation points.
Purchasing buildings - These will earn you large amounts of XP and reputation points. Click on the "Buildings" tab and then run your cursor over any building to see its stats. Cost is located along the bottom and the construction time, XP, and reputation points earned are listed along the top. Once you have made your choice click on "Buy" and you will hear a cash register sound.
Placing items - Next you will have the item stuck to your cursor. Place it anywhere in the green grid where you see green under the item. If you see red there isn't enough room. Click to lock the item in place.
If your item has a construction time you will see construction begin on that building. Place your cursor over the construction site at any time to see how much time is left until completion.
Playdom Gardens of Time Click to Finish Construction
Wait for construction to complete - Once construction has completed you will see the icon shown in the image above. Click on it and the reputation points will be added to your score. You will not earn these points until you complete the structure construction.
Purchasing decor items - There is no construction time for decor items they will place immediately for you and earn instant reputation points.
Note - Whenever your reputation point goals change within a quest the game will prompt you to read them. (See "Quests" above.)
Playdom Gardens of Time Build Mode Menu
Redesigning Your Garden
You can move or flip items in another direction or you can sell the items for a reduced rate or store them for future use.
All you need to do is click on the "Build" button and then click on any item you wish to control.
A pull down menu will appear that offers you the options to move, flip, store, or sell for a specific amount. Click on what you want and proceed. You will need to confirm selling the items and you will not earn back what you paid for an item.
Storage/inventory- If you have an item in storage you want to retrieve click on the build menu and then on the opened box inventory button to access it.
Gift storage - After you accept any gift in the messages area it will be found in the gift area. Click on the opened box icon to locate gifts you wish to place in your garden.
Playdom Gardens of Time Expansion
Expanding Your Garden
Click on "Build" then click on the "Grid Expansion" tab, which is the next to last tab next to gifts.
You will have to have a certain number or silver coins, reputation points, or neighbors in order to purchase expansions. Sometimes it could be a combination of these items that is required.
You can always use gold to bypass the other requirements and expand immediately. There is always an option to purchase with gold bars listed to the right of your available expansion.
The entire garden will increase in size once you purchase an expansion and you can begin to rearrange your garden or add more items right away.
Playdom Gardens of Time Neighbors Menu
Inviting/Visiting your Neighbors/"The Befuddled Fairgoer"
Neighbors are critical to your success in Gardens of Time. Be sure to check the "Messages" area of the game frequently to accept any friend requests sent to you and be sure to send out invitations daily. (You will be allowed to invite up to 50 people every 24 hours.) Look at the top or the bottom of the game screen and click on "Invite Friends" or on the icon of a man and woman at the bottom left corner with a green "+" sign next to them to bring up the invite neighbor menu at any time.
Neighbor menu - Your neighbors are listed along the bottom of the game screen. Click on the "Visit" button to go to their garden and help them out for coin, XP, and energy bonuses.
Playdom Gardens of Time Neighbor Visit Bonus
Neighbor visit daily reward - Each time you visit a neighbor in a 24 hour period you will earn 15 coins, 50 XP, and one energy can.
Playdom Gardens of Time Befuddled Fairgoer
Playdom Gardens of Time Get Ready to Blitz
"The Befuddled Fairgoer" - Each of your Neighbors will have a "Befuddled Fairgoer" walking around their garden. You may not see people walking around at first, but if you wait a few moments they will enter through the gate entrance at the bottom left side of the screen. You will notice this befuddled person has a "!" symbol above their head. Once you find them click on their character. Now you will be allowed to help them find items they have dropped. You will be taken to a scene where you are given 60 seconds to find as many of the items listed at the bottom of the screen as possible. As soon as you find one item in the list a new one immediately appears. This is also known as "Blitz" or "Blitzing."
Note - If you exit the hidden object scene before you finish the 60 second search you will lose the bonus points and will not be able to continue the game if you reload it.
Note - Be sure you do not click too many times in succession because there is a five second screen dark out penalty for rapid clicking.
Note - If you wait too long to look for the "Befuddled Fairgoer" they may disappear from the garden so be sure to look right away.
Note - If you do not see any people walking around your neighbor's garden you have probably already visited them in a the last 24 hours and will need to try again later.
You will earn a final score and a coin and XP reward when you are finished.
Be sure to also look around your neighbor's garden and see how many beautiful artifacts have been added. The more you play the more of these items you can place in your own garden for others to see when they visit you.
Playdom Gardens of Time Help Neighbor
Neighbor Requests
From time to time a message such as the one shown in the image above will appear on your game screen. Usually if you leave the game for a few minutes or don't click on anything for awhile these will show up.
These messages will only appear if you have neighbors you haven't visited in a 24 hour period.
Click on "Help Neighbor" and you will be taken to their garden as if you were on a normal neighbor visit and you will earn coins, XP, and energy for helping out the "Befuddled Fairgoer."
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonder Quest
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonders Quest Complete
Wonders
Wonders can only be placed by completing quests and then hiring friends to help you build them.
Click on the "Build" tab and when the menu expands you will see several category tabs. The tab with the pyramid on it is the "Wonders" tab. You can run your cursor over any wonder to see what quest must be completed to earn it and how many reputation points you will earn once it is completed.
The the first wonder which is "Big Ben" can be earned once you complete the "Loose Ends" quest.
Once you complete a wonders quest a message will appear as in the second image above. Click on the "Build" tab and then on the "Wonders" tab. You will now see that the word "Use" has appeared under the unlocked wonder. Click on "Use" and place the wonder in your garden.
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonder Construction
Playdom Gardens of Time Wonder Construction Help
Once placed you will be prompted to ask for help to complete its construction. Place your cursor over the wonder and click on the message "Ask your friends to help out"
Next, a menu will appear showing you how to finish the building. "Big Ben" requires that you hire three neighbors. Click on "Hire Neighbors" and you will be taken to a menu that allows you to send to "Gardens of Time" friends. Note that this list contains all of your Facebook friends that are playing the game. Some will be on your neighbors list and some may not. This is a great way to get new neighbors and show you who among your friends are playing. Click on the names of those you would like to hire and wait for them to accept. Once all the open positions have been filled you will be notified to complete construction by clicking on the wonder and you will be credited with however many reputation points it is worth.
Using gold bars to complete wonders - You also have the option to use gold bars instead of going through the process of asking friends to help and waiting on their responses. You will have to pay per hiring slot and this can be very expensive but will save you a lot of time as it unlocks the wonder immediately. There is a "Finish Instantly" button along side the "Hire Friends" button if you choose to spend your gold bars on it. This hires all friends for you and completes the wonder instantly awarding you with reputation points.
Wonders earn you large amounts of reputation points. "Big Ben" earns you 700 reputation points once you place it and complete its construction. Some of the later wonders you can earn will reward you with thousands of reputation points.
Accepting help from your friends - After you send out the requests for help you will have to wait for friends to respond. This will earn them a coin and or XP bonus if they help you out. When you reload the game again you will see any responses in the "Message Center" under either the "All" tab or the "Wonders" tab located along the top.
Click on "Accept" to anyone that has responded and once you have all positions filled you can complete your wonder by clicking on the construction icon over it.
Note - There is a meter inside each wonder construction icon that hovers above it that shows what percentage of construction is completed. This is a good reminder that you need to check the wonders area and send out help requests if it is taking a long time to finish a wonder. If you only need three friends to help and twenty respond they will all earn a reward bonus, not just the people that you accept help from in the wonders area.
Playdom Gardens of Time Free Gifts
Daily Free Gifts/Sending and Claiming
You will be able to send one free gift per 24 hours to your neighbors.
Click on the "Free Gifts" tab at the top left of the game screen or click on the gift box icon at the bottom left of the game screen, or "Return Favor" when someone sends you a gift.
You will be able to choose a mystery gift box or other items based on your level. The more you level up the more free gifts unlock for you to choose from.
You can send to several people at once if you would like. Check off the names of those you wish to send to and simply click on "Send." Your neighbor will have to accept the gift and will hopefully return the favor.
Tip - Sending hints to people is a great gift as in the higher levels of the game they may really need them and hopefully they will return the favor to you.
Tip - Most people tend to send you what you send them so be mindful of what you need and send that item out to your neighbors when sending free daily gifts.
Claiming gifts - When you are sent a gift you will be notified via the "Messages" area that opens each time you load the game or you can access it by clicking on the envelope icon at the center bottom of the screen. Once you click on "Accept" you have the option to click on "Return the Favor" which lets you gift that item back to the sender. All claimed items can be found in the gifts or inventory area which is the opened box icon at the bottom center or within the build menu area. Click on "Use" below an item to place it in your garden or to use it in your game
This article originally appeared on Gamezebo.
Looking for a few new friends to play Gardens of Time with on Facebook? Have any other must-know cheats or tips for this game?
Zynga's Brian Reynolds trying deeper, more clever social game design
Hey, you asked for it. Zynga's chief game designer Brian Reynolds never rests, and even now he's working to bring deeper game mechanics to social games without increasing their complexity, Gamasutra reports. Good call, Reynolds, because we're not sure these games could become more complex, really. (Have any of you seen Kingdoms of Camelot?)
In an interview with the game industry news site, the FrontierVille creator was asked whether he expected to social games to become deeper. Reynolds replied, "I think we'll continue to learn how to design games that way. We'll be better and better at hiding the friction, but making there be depth."
In fact, that's what the former Civilization designer has been up to all along. The mechanics you see happening in FrontierVille today were intentionally designed to intuitively teach you how to play without reading a manual or 700 pop-ups. How close he got to that point is up for debate, but he presses on regardless in the name of deeper Facebook games.
So extremely simple parts that just happen to have very subtle interactions with each other -- that was what we were trying to do with FrontierVille. For example, have a lot of little systems, but we don't make the player have to read a book on how to play before they can start. It's more like, 'Oh look, there's a whole world of stuff; just click on stuff. No matter what you click on, something good will happen!' And then, eventually, you notice that animals work a little bit different from plants, and then maybe you notice, 'Oh look, if I put a sheep here, then the grass doesn't grow back.'
Reynolds continues to explain (check the full interview here) that positive reactions this garners from players, and that this feeling is one he wants to create in his games more regularly without introducing too many complexities like menus and guides. While some would argue that games like FarmVille and CityVille could use even less complexity, this is at least exciting for what Reynolds aspires to in social games. And if the next innovation in social games comes from Reynolds and Zynga, we know it will stir massive waves.
Are you excited to see what Reynolds has in store for Zynga, and inevitably, social games? How would you make social games deeper without being complex?
In an interview with the game industry news site, the FrontierVille creator was asked whether he expected to social games to become deeper. Reynolds replied, "I think we'll continue to learn how to design games that way. We'll be better and better at hiding the friction, but making there be depth."
In fact, that's what the former Civilization designer has been up to all along. The mechanics you see happening in FrontierVille today were intentionally designed to intuitively teach you how to play without reading a manual or 700 pop-ups. How close he got to that point is up for debate, but he presses on regardless in the name of deeper Facebook games.
So extremely simple parts that just happen to have very subtle interactions with each other -- that was what we were trying to do with FrontierVille. For example, have a lot of little systems, but we don't make the player have to read a book on how to play before they can start. It's more like, 'Oh look, there's a whole world of stuff; just click on stuff. No matter what you click on, something good will happen!' And then, eventually, you notice that animals work a little bit different from plants, and then maybe you notice, 'Oh look, if I put a sheep here, then the grass doesn't grow back.'
Reynolds continues to explain (check the full interview here) that positive reactions this garners from players, and that this feeling is one he wants to create in his games more regularly without introducing too many complexities like menus and guides. While some would argue that games like FarmVille and CityVille could use even less complexity, this is at least exciting for what Reynolds aspires to in social games. And if the next innovation in social games comes from Reynolds and Zynga, we know it will stir massive waves.
Are you excited to see what Reynolds has in store for Zynga, and inevitably, social games? How would you make social games deeper without being complex?
FrontierVille Sneak Peek: The Oregon Trail Timed Goal, 'Oregon, Ho!'
FrontierVille's Orgeon Trail
You read that right, fellow pioneers. Zynga could be going all English Countryside on FrontierVille as early as May with the Oregon Trail expansion around the corner. FrontierVille Info found exactly how it will be introduced: a leaked Timed Goal known as "Oregon, Ho! (Or On the Trail)." You might have noticed how often the fan site has made predictions concerning the The Oregon Trail, and they've finally paid off. Check behind the break for details on how this mission might pan out.
Oregon Trail Ho Timed Goal
FrontierVille Info has found a few details on the new Timed Goal, but nothing has been confirmed by Zynga and its subject to change. The new Timed Goal will have players completing these three tasks:
Collect Nine Pages from the Medical Journal
Watch FronterVille's Oregon Trail Video
Collect Ten Snake Bite Kits
You can imagine that the pages from the Medical Journal and the 10 Snake Bites will be friend gifts or part of a larger mission, but what's most important is the second requirement. Soon, it appears that Zynga will release a trailer for the expansion, so you can imagine this is serious stuff. If this was just another content update, there would be no reason for the developer to release a trailer and force you to watch it--this expansion is going to be big.
While I would like to see something new, I can't help but expect this to be identical to FarmVille's English Countryside, but out West. FrontierVille Info reports that the Timed Goal will expire May 31, which points to the first or second week of May for this mission to release. Keep your fingers crossed that we're right.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Do you think that this information is enough to expect that the Oregon Trail is coming soon? What do you think the new expansion will be like?
You read that right, fellow pioneers. Zynga could be going all English Countryside on FrontierVille as early as May with the Oregon Trail expansion around the corner. FrontierVille Info found exactly how it will be introduced: a leaked Timed Goal known as "Oregon, Ho! (Or On the Trail)." You might have noticed how often the fan site has made predictions concerning the The Oregon Trail, and they've finally paid off. Check behind the break for details on how this mission might pan out.
Oregon Trail Ho Timed Goal
FrontierVille Info has found a few details on the new Timed Goal, but nothing has been confirmed by Zynga and its subject to change. The new Timed Goal will have players completing these three tasks:
Collect Nine Pages from the Medical Journal
Watch FronterVille's Oregon Trail Video
Collect Ten Snake Bite Kits
You can imagine that the pages from the Medical Journal and the 10 Snake Bites will be friend gifts or part of a larger mission, but what's most important is the second requirement. Soon, it appears that Zynga will release a trailer for the expansion, so you can imagine this is serious stuff. If this was just another content update, there would be no reason for the developer to release a trailer and force you to watch it--this expansion is going to be big.
While I would like to see something new, I can't help but expect this to be identical to FarmVille's English Countryside, but out West. FrontierVille Info reports that the Timed Goal will expire May 31, which points to the first or second week of May for this mission to release. Keep your fingers crossed that we're right.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Do you think that this information is enough to expect that the Oregon Trail is coming soon? What do you think the new expansion will be like?
FrontierVille Sneak Peek: Oregon Trail items blow in from the West
Oregon Grape Flower Haning Pelts
That's it, the floodgates have opened. Details of FrontierVille's first ever expansion, The Oregon Trail, are likely all over the Internet. FrontierVille Info gives us the latest in 13 leaked images of items we might find while on the Oregon Trail including all nine pages from the Medical Journal for the Oregon, Ho! Timed Goal. Check after the break for a look at the rest of this extremely exciting--ahem, cautiously excited, of course--early content.
FrontierVille Medical Journal 1 FrontierVille Medical Journal 2 FrontierVille Medical Journal 3 FrontierVille Medical Journal 4 FrontierVille Medical Journal 5
Here are all the items that may or may not be part of an Oregon Trail expansion:
Medical Kit
Oregon Grape Flower
Medical Journal Page
Oregon Trail Cooties
Oregon Trail Measles
Oregon Trail Picklefinger
Oregon Trail Scoots
Oregon Trail Skunkticks
FrontierVille Medical Journal 6 FrontierVille Medical Journal 7 FrontierVille Medical Journal 8 FrontierVille Medical Journal 9 FrontierVille Medical Journal 10
You can likely already tell that most of those items will almost certainly be the nine Medical Journal Pages needed for one of the Goal's requirements. As for the other items, we haven't an idea in the slightest other than they appear to be decorations. Though, the black briefcase sure does look like a Snake Bite Kit. It shouldn't be long before more information and images appear, so sit tight--and stop staring at the Oregon Trail in-game banner ... it's weird.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Are you excited to see more information released about the imminent Oregon Trail expansion? When do you think the Timed Goal will finally drop?
That's it, the floodgates have opened. Details of FrontierVille's first ever expansion, The Oregon Trail, are likely all over the Internet. FrontierVille Info gives us the latest in 13 leaked images of items we might find while on the Oregon Trail including all nine pages from the Medical Journal for the Oregon, Ho! Timed Goal. Check after the break for a look at the rest of this extremely exciting--ahem, cautiously excited, of course--early content.
FrontierVille Medical Journal 1 FrontierVille Medical Journal 2 FrontierVille Medical Journal 3 FrontierVille Medical Journal 4 FrontierVille Medical Journal 5
Here are all the items that may or may not be part of an Oregon Trail expansion:
Medical Kit
Oregon Grape Flower
Medical Journal Page
Oregon Trail Cooties
Oregon Trail Measles
Oregon Trail Picklefinger
Oregon Trail Scoots
Oregon Trail Skunkticks
FrontierVille Medical Journal 6 FrontierVille Medical Journal 7 FrontierVille Medical Journal 8 FrontierVille Medical Journal 9 FrontierVille Medical Journal 10
You can likely already tell that most of those items will almost certainly be the nine Medical Journal Pages needed for one of the Goal's requirements. As for the other items, we haven't an idea in the slightest other than they appear to be decorations. Though, the black briefcase sure does look like a Snake Bite Kit. It shouldn't be long before more information and images appear, so sit tight--and stop staring at the Oregon Trail in-game banner ... it's weird.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Are you excited to see more information released about the imminent Oregon Trail expansion? When do you think the Timed Goal will finally drop?
Thứ Hai, 26 tháng 12, 2011
FarmVille: Shaklee Home item available as part of new cross-promotion
Zynga has launched a new cross-promotional item in the FarmVille marketplace this evening. The building is called the Shaklee Home, and it comes from the folks at the company of the same name - Shaklee, which produces environmentally friendly household products, among many other items. It's fitting, then, that the home looks "Green," in terms of its environmental impact.
This long and very large building costs 75,000 coins in the game's store, and comes fully equipped with solar panels on the roof, and large windows to let in the (virtual) light. There's a roof deck for sunbathing or catching up on a good book, or you can simply look at the ivy climbing up the sides of the walls. While the building is lovely, it looks very similar to the Outdoor Spa released during the Mother's Day theme - so similar in fact that it made me do a double take. While I'm not saying this diminishes the quality of the Shaklee Home, I have a feeling some farmers might avoid purchasing one due to its similarity.
Either way, this new building will be available in the game's store for less than one week (around six days, to be exact), so you won't have very much time to make up your mind as to whether or not to purchase it.
Will you? We'd love to know what you think of this new cross-promotional building. Do you think its too similar to other buildings released previously, or do you simply like collecting these limited edition items?
This long and very large building costs 75,000 coins in the game's store, and comes fully equipped with solar panels on the roof, and large windows to let in the (virtual) light. There's a roof deck for sunbathing or catching up on a good book, or you can simply look at the ivy climbing up the sides of the walls. While the building is lovely, it looks very similar to the Outdoor Spa released during the Mother's Day theme - so similar in fact that it made me do a double take. While I'm not saying this diminishes the quality of the Shaklee Home, I have a feeling some farmers might avoid purchasing one due to its similarity.
Either way, this new building will be available in the game's store for less than one week (around six days, to be exact), so you won't have very much time to make up your mind as to whether or not to purchase it.
Will you? We'd love to know what you think of this new cross-promotional building. Do you think its too similar to other buildings released previously, or do you simply like collecting these limited edition items?
Eidos' Ian Livingstone: Facebook games will have a 'second boom' [Interview]
Mr. Ian Livingstone is no salesman. He's one of the men behind Warhammer creator (and Dungeon and Dragons' envoy to the UK) Games Workshop and the Life President of Eidos Interactive. So, why did Livingstone recently invest in UK-based Appatyze, a social games advertisement platform? If you hadn't noticed, most social games are not enjoying exposure on Zynga's scale, and something needs to be done about it. To Livingstone, one of the men behind Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider, advertising might be a way to increase the amount of successful developers and enamored social gamers elsewhere. Livingstone recently took a short break from an event at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)--which now honors our favorite past time, video games--to explain why he invested in Appatyze and to give us predictions for the medium from an industry icon's perspective.
For someone who co-founded two of the arguably most influential games companies, why did you decide to get into social games advertising rather than the games themselves?
Games have been my life-I love playing games, I love the industry. I also do a lot of investing in start up companies. At my ripe old age of 61, I'd rather put my finger in everybody else's pies rather than make things myself. (Laughs.) I get a lot of people asking me to invest or to advise or to sit on boards of games companies. I think it's a very exciting time in the games industry-it's almost like the second Golden Age of games has arrived.
And around that space, there are opportunities and challenges: 'How do these content creators who had historically relied on publishers get visibility? How are their products discovered?' And one of the solutions, I would suggest, is advertising. And Appatyze, it allows developers to sell their ad inventory to the highest bidder, and in turn they can then spend that revenue advertising their app on other peoples' applications. So, it's good for advertisers and it's good for developers. It's a very elegant solution-the people behind it I've known for some time, and they're respected industry veterans with a great track record and fantastic integrity. I look at things long and hard before I put my name to it, and I'm very excited to be associated with Appatyze. And at GDC, I spoke to a number of industry veterans and legends, and when I talked to them about it they were also very excited. I think it's got a great chance to succeed.
AppatyzeWhy did you decide upon backing a more hands-off, auction house-style approach to selling advertising rather than directly selling ads to social game companies?
My expertise is designing and creating games. I think about games at almost tragic proportions. So, a lot of my time is thinking about elegant games mechanics, why people play games and just being so delighted that such a huge proportion of the population now plays games. Way back in the early days of games, when the Atari 2600 came around in the U.S., 40 percent of people were playing games. They were accessible, they were intuitive and they were a social experience. Games became harder over the years with some of the consoles with a complex controller, and it was daunting to many people.
But now games become social, of course with the Wii in the living room and social games on Facebook and social media devices like the iPhone and iPad allow huge amounts of people to enjoy the experience of games. It's not always complex, it's something for everybody now: male or female, hardcore or casual, there's something for everybody to enjoy. I would personally enjoy concentrating on making games myself, but this opportunity to be with Appatyze I just thought was such a great solution. I couldn't say no to it.
Now, about increasing potential game discovery, because that's been a pretty big problem in the past few months for Facebook games. Do you think that Appatyze will do good to increase the amount of games that get exposure?
Well, it's certainly going to help developers. If they allow the install of the Appatyze bar, then of course, they're going to come up on the radar through Appatyze and therefore be able to either take revenue from advertisers or they can use Appatyze to get consumers to play with their app. Developers are motivated by money as well, and they can start earning money really within the the 15 minutes of signing up. And they do keep up to 80 percent of their advertising revenue generated through the system.
You mentioned that you would be more interested in creating games yourself. Do you think this is an industry where you think you'll be staying for a long time?
Social games? Yeah, I mean, it's extraordinary what has happened. What happened on the first of December of last year when Zynga launched CityVille and 44 days later they had 100 million MAUs (monthly active players); these are extraordinary numbers. It's another great example of why games resonate with humans. There's something there for everybody to play and social games plays a major part in making games, if you like simple and socially acceptable.
I don't mean to say that triple-A games on consoles are going to disappear, but I think there's going to be a polarization and the rich will get richer. So, you're more likely to see the next Call of Duty sell 35 million units next time and FIFA will sell 20 million units. The best in class will get even more successful, but the middle ground will disappear as people play the best in class on their consoles, and they'll be snacking on iPhone games or games on Facebook.
OK, so what I'm getting is your prediction of the future is that there will just be polarity between triple-A games and the casual/social games, so-
At the moment, we all know there's a larger proportion of females, the soccer moms as you call them in the US [playing Facebook games]. I think when Unity [3D Engine] or Unreal gets a greater handle on the Facebook environment, I think you'll see production values rise and people who haven't played social games but have played console games will also enjoy games on Facebook.
Ian Livingstone with Lara Croft
What are your thoughts on the social gaming industry now? What's missing there that needs to be filled?
I think at the moment even if they're social games, they're not really social in the true sense. There's no real time, there is asynchronous movement at the moment and therefore asynchronous social linking. When it becomes real time and with mechanics drawn from traditional games, I think there's going to be a second boom. But in the meantime, you can't argue with 270-odd million playing games on Facebook. I just think it's going to be an higher proportion going forward, and more traditional gamers will play.
You mentioned that you were interested in designing your own games or that you can venture out on your own, regardless of your position with Eidos. So, are there any interests in bringing Eidos into the program you've backed, Appatyze?
We haven't discussed that yet, [but] I'm hoping that at some point we can take some of Eidos' great portfolio of IP and migrate it to Facebook. Also, one thing I'm sure of is that EA will be there sooner rather than later, and that some of their brand IP is certainly going to translate well onto Facebook. I would hope that one day that Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex and other Eidos stable IP will also be available on Facebook.
[Image Credit: Kotaku]
Do you think good advertising is the answer to lesser-known games (and their developers) gaining more exposure? Which Eidos property do you hope will become a Facebook game?
For someone who co-founded two of the arguably most influential games companies, why did you decide to get into social games advertising rather than the games themselves?
Games have been my life-I love playing games, I love the industry. I also do a lot of investing in start up companies. At my ripe old age of 61, I'd rather put my finger in everybody else's pies rather than make things myself. (Laughs.) I get a lot of people asking me to invest or to advise or to sit on boards of games companies. I think it's a very exciting time in the games industry-it's almost like the second Golden Age of games has arrived.
And around that space, there are opportunities and challenges: 'How do these content creators who had historically relied on publishers get visibility? How are their products discovered?' And one of the solutions, I would suggest, is advertising. And Appatyze, it allows developers to sell their ad inventory to the highest bidder, and in turn they can then spend that revenue advertising their app on other peoples' applications. So, it's good for advertisers and it's good for developers. It's a very elegant solution-the people behind it I've known for some time, and they're respected industry veterans with a great track record and fantastic integrity. I look at things long and hard before I put my name to it, and I'm very excited to be associated with Appatyze. And at GDC, I spoke to a number of industry veterans and legends, and when I talked to them about it they were also very excited. I think it's got a great chance to succeed.
AppatyzeWhy did you decide upon backing a more hands-off, auction house-style approach to selling advertising rather than directly selling ads to social game companies?
My expertise is designing and creating games. I think about games at almost tragic proportions. So, a lot of my time is thinking about elegant games mechanics, why people play games and just being so delighted that such a huge proportion of the population now plays games. Way back in the early days of games, when the Atari 2600 came around in the U.S., 40 percent of people were playing games. They were accessible, they were intuitive and they were a social experience. Games became harder over the years with some of the consoles with a complex controller, and it was daunting to many people.
But now games become social, of course with the Wii in the living room and social games on Facebook and social media devices like the iPhone and iPad allow huge amounts of people to enjoy the experience of games. It's not always complex, it's something for everybody now: male or female, hardcore or casual, there's something for everybody to enjoy. I would personally enjoy concentrating on making games myself, but this opportunity to be with Appatyze I just thought was such a great solution. I couldn't say no to it.
Now, about increasing potential game discovery, because that's been a pretty big problem in the past few months for Facebook games. Do you think that Appatyze will do good to increase the amount of games that get exposure?
Well, it's certainly going to help developers. If they allow the install of the Appatyze bar, then of course, they're going to come up on the radar through Appatyze and therefore be able to either take revenue from advertisers or they can use Appatyze to get consumers to play with their app. Developers are motivated by money as well, and they can start earning money really within the the 15 minutes of signing up. And they do keep up to 80 percent of their advertising revenue generated through the system.
You mentioned that you would be more interested in creating games yourself. Do you think this is an industry where you think you'll be staying for a long time?
Social games? Yeah, I mean, it's extraordinary what has happened. What happened on the first of December of last year when Zynga launched CityVille and 44 days later they had 100 million MAUs (monthly active players); these are extraordinary numbers. It's another great example of why games resonate with humans. There's something there for everybody to play and social games plays a major part in making games, if you like simple and socially acceptable.
I don't mean to say that triple-A games on consoles are going to disappear, but I think there's going to be a polarization and the rich will get richer. So, you're more likely to see the next Call of Duty sell 35 million units next time and FIFA will sell 20 million units. The best in class will get even more successful, but the middle ground will disappear as people play the best in class on their consoles, and they'll be snacking on iPhone games or games on Facebook.
OK, so what I'm getting is your prediction of the future is that there will just be polarity between triple-A games and the casual/social games, so-
At the moment, we all know there's a larger proportion of females, the soccer moms as you call them in the US [playing Facebook games]. I think when Unity [3D Engine] or Unreal gets a greater handle on the Facebook environment, I think you'll see production values rise and people who haven't played social games but have played console games will also enjoy games on Facebook.
Ian Livingstone with Lara Croft
What are your thoughts on the social gaming industry now? What's missing there that needs to be filled?
I think at the moment even if they're social games, they're not really social in the true sense. There's no real time, there is asynchronous movement at the moment and therefore asynchronous social linking. When it becomes real time and with mechanics drawn from traditional games, I think there's going to be a second boom. But in the meantime, you can't argue with 270-odd million playing games on Facebook. I just think it's going to be an higher proportion going forward, and more traditional gamers will play.
You mentioned that you were interested in designing your own games or that you can venture out on your own, regardless of your position with Eidos. So, are there any interests in bringing Eidos into the program you've backed, Appatyze?
We haven't discussed that yet, [but] I'm hoping that at some point we can take some of Eidos' great portfolio of IP and migrate it to Facebook. Also, one thing I'm sure of is that EA will be there sooner rather than later, and that some of their brand IP is certainly going to translate well onto Facebook. I would hope that one day that Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex and other Eidos stable IP will also be available on Facebook.
[Image Credit: Kotaku]
Do you think good advertising is the answer to lesser-known games (and their developers) gaining more exposure? Which Eidos property do you hope will become a Facebook game?
Get paid in dimes with free Facebook Credits from Facebook
We've long been used to getting freebies from Zynga, Playfish, Crowdstar, and the like, by watching advertisements and answering surveys. Now Facebook is doing it too, as Facebook Credits is quickly becoming the de jure standard of premium virtual money in Facebook games.
Starting last Thursday, users can get at least 1 free Facebook Credit (which roughly equals $0.10 USD) for each online video advertisement viewed. This is all to promote Facebook Deals, which is a service that notifies users of local discounts that can go even lower if you manage to get a bunch of friends to pay up too. So yeah, Facebook is clearly jumping into competition with sites like GroupOn, BuyWithMe, and LivingSocial.
Facebook Credits can be redeemed in Facebook Deals, but Mashable speculates that -- due to Zynga, Crowdstar and Digital Chocolate being among the first to run such ads in their games -- this offer will mostly capture the eyeballs and pockets of Facebook gamers. Which is all well and good, because we know ten cents can buy you a lot more in fun than it can on a daily group deal.
Starting last Thursday, users can get at least 1 free Facebook Credit (which roughly equals $0.10 USD) for each online video advertisement viewed. This is all to promote Facebook Deals, which is a service that notifies users of local discounts that can go even lower if you manage to get a bunch of friends to pay up too. So yeah, Facebook is clearly jumping into competition with sites like GroupOn, BuyWithMe, and LivingSocial.
Facebook Credits can be redeemed in Facebook Deals, but Mashable speculates that -- due to Zynga, Crowdstar and Digital Chocolate being among the first to run such ads in their games -- this offer will mostly capture the eyeballs and pockets of Facebook gamers. Which is all well and good, because we know ten cents can buy you a lot more in fun than it can on a daily group deal.
FrontierVille Cheats and Tips: Clover Ready Boosts good for easy coins
Having trouble paying the bills on the Homestead? Or rather, are you low on cash in FrontierVille? It's OK, we're all friends here. Don't worry, we have a fix to that, thanks to FrontierVille Info. The fansite has posted a neat little trick for how to essentially make coins out of nothing. You can imagine that this a surely a glitch, so join us behind the break ASAP. That is, if you want to be rich in a matter of minutes.
Step One: Buy Clover Ready Boosts 5x from the Boosted General Store for 1,050 coins
Step Two: Sell Clover Ready Boosts 5x from the Inventory for 2500 coins
Step Three: Profit (literally)
Clover Ready Boosts
That's it. It really is that easy. With this strategy, you could make hundreds of thousands of coins in an instant. There's no doubt that Zynga will be onto the glitch soon enough, so take advantage while you still can. And take this as a warning: Take advantage of this glitch at your own risk, be wary of the consequences if Zynga reprimands those who make us of the glitch.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Have you made use of this glitch before? Do you plan to use this method to make some extra cash? What are your thoughts on using glitches?
Step One: Buy Clover Ready Boosts 5x from the Boosted General Store for 1,050 coins
Step Two: Sell Clover Ready Boosts 5x from the Inventory for 2500 coins
Step Three: Profit (literally)
Clover Ready Boosts
That's it. It really is that easy. With this strategy, you could make hundreds of thousands of coins in an instant. There's no doubt that Zynga will be onto the glitch soon enough, so take advantage while you still can. And take this as a warning: Take advantage of this glitch at your own risk, be wary of the consequences if Zynga reprimands those who make us of the glitch.
[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Have you made use of this glitch before? Do you plan to use this method to make some extra cash? What are your thoughts on using glitches?
Rockstar, L.A. Noire gets talkative with Social Club features
I doubt the second thing Rockstar and 2K Games said when creating L.A. Noire was, "You know what this technological feat of a storytelling game needs? Social features!" Nonetheless, here they are, as Rockstar has thrown is its much-awaited interactive crime drama, L.A. Noire, into the Social Club, Gamercast reports. Alright, so maybe "interactive crime drama" is a bit much for a game that just released, but considering it was the first video game ever accepted into the Tribeca Film Festival, it might be fitting. The Social Club is not only a social hub for Rockstar fans, but a source of information and a repository for special in-game items.
The Rockstar Social Club has been around since the release of Grand Theft Auto way back when, and the company has consistently added new titles including GTA: Chinatown Wars and Red Dead Redemption. Sure, having a community to consult for help on difficult cases with L.A. Noire is handy, but we know why everyone comes flocking: the items. Luckily for you, joining the Rockstar Social Club by linking your Xbox Live or PlayStation Network account could net you an exclusive item in the game.
It's the Chicago Lightning Detective Suit, and its enhancements to your shotgun and machine gun accuracy will come in handy when dispatching perps. While plenty of developers and publishers are using social media to enhance console games--just look at what EA2D is up to for EA with Dragon Age Legends--few are creating their very own platforms like Rockstar. Recently, Naughty Dog teased some social features in its upcoming Uncharted 3. Regardless of whether developers are using Facebook directly to introduce social features to their console games, the allure of social games was likely an inspiration. And free stuff--that's always inspiring.
[Image Credit: Rockstar]
Have you signed up for the Rockstar Social Club? Do you think social layers add or detract from a console game experience?
The Rockstar Social Club has been around since the release of Grand Theft Auto way back when, and the company has consistently added new titles including GTA: Chinatown Wars and Red Dead Redemption. Sure, having a community to consult for help on difficult cases with L.A. Noire is handy, but we know why everyone comes flocking: the items. Luckily for you, joining the Rockstar Social Club by linking your Xbox Live or PlayStation Network account could net you an exclusive item in the game.
It's the Chicago Lightning Detective Suit, and its enhancements to your shotgun and machine gun accuracy will come in handy when dispatching perps. While plenty of developers and publishers are using social media to enhance console games--just look at what EA2D is up to for EA with Dragon Age Legends--few are creating their very own platforms like Rockstar. Recently, Naughty Dog teased some social features in its upcoming Uncharted 3. Regardless of whether developers are using Facebook directly to introduce social features to their console games, the allure of social games was likely an inspiration. And free stuff--that's always inspiring.
[Image Credit: Rockstar]
Have you signed up for the Rockstar Social Club? Do you think social layers add or detract from a console game experience?
Chủ Nhật, 25 tháng 12, 2011
Zoo World 2: Will this sequel breathe new life into RockYou's zoo game?
When interest starts to wane in a Facebook game, most creators will launch a big, fancy in-game feature designed to keep players coming back for more. And, it seems to work, at least for a while. FarmVille got a big boost when it rolled out a second farm set in the English Countryside and FrontierVille's upcoming Pioneer Trail expansion will likely do the same.
RockYou's taking a different tact with its zoo simulation game, Zoo World, which was one of the most popular games on Facebook about a year or so ago. Instead of launching a big add-on to the game, RockYou rebuilt the game from the ground up and launched it as a sequel -- Zoo World 2 -- which is now live on Facebook.
A side-by-side comparison of the two Zoo Worlds shows that the new game has amped up the graphics and has built in more ways to customize your zoo to your liking.
zoo world 2
rockyou zoo world
Pretty graphics aside, Zoo World 2 also runs much faster than its laggy predecessor and employs a new energy system, meaning it now costs energy to feed and breed animals and to harvest kiosks for cash. Like any other Facebook game that uses energy, once it runs out, it will refill over time or there's the option to pay real-life cash to fill it up on the fly.
There are still plenty of similarities between the two games, such as the ability to harvest and breed animals and a series of quests, which direct you to do things like 'Buy 1 Animal' and 'Breed two babies,' and help drive the game forward.
Right now, the original Zoo World is still alive and kicking (go here if you want to play it), and there's no word yet whether RockYou plans to keep it around, or if it will eventually be phased out in order to drive players to the newer game. In the meantime, we'll see if Zoo World 2 has what it takes to put this zoo simulation game back on top of the Facebook gaming charts.
RockYou's taking a different tact with its zoo simulation game, Zoo World, which was one of the most popular games on Facebook about a year or so ago. Instead of launching a big add-on to the game, RockYou rebuilt the game from the ground up and launched it as a sequel -- Zoo World 2 -- which is now live on Facebook.
A side-by-side comparison of the two Zoo Worlds shows that the new game has amped up the graphics and has built in more ways to customize your zoo to your liking.
zoo world 2
rockyou zoo world
Pretty graphics aside, Zoo World 2 also runs much faster than its laggy predecessor and employs a new energy system, meaning it now costs energy to feed and breed animals and to harvest kiosks for cash. Like any other Facebook game that uses energy, once it runs out, it will refill over time or there's the option to pay real-life cash to fill it up on the fly.
There are still plenty of similarities between the two games, such as the ability to harvest and breed animals and a series of quests, which direct you to do things like 'Buy 1 Animal' and 'Breed two babies,' and help drive the game forward.
Right now, the original Zoo World is still alive and kicking (go here if you want to play it), and there's no word yet whether RockYou plans to keep it around, or if it will eventually be phased out in order to drive players to the newer game. In the meantime, we'll see if Zoo World 2 has what it takes to put this zoo simulation game back on top of the Facebook gaming charts.
Jack of All Tribes on iOS combines prehistorical city-building with resource management
G5 Entertainment has launched their newest offering for iOS: Jack of All Tribes combines elements of city-building and combat with tons of resource management as you find yourself swept back in time to save a land of prehistorical villages from the elements, and from raiders. Playing as Jack, you literally plunge into an adventure after your roller coaster train derails, sending you through a wormhole. From there, you're introduced to Rainbow, a native that can help you understand her people's relationship with nature and the elements.
A shaman has foretold of your arrival - that you will bring peace and prosperity to the land - so (most of) the villagers are eager to follow your direction. Through each level (there are 40 in all), you'll be given a smaller set of tasks, from building cottages and huts to gathering a specific amount of food or wood. As you progress further in the game, you'll even be able to mine for gold, build bridges to reach new areas, and fight off raiders that would steal your supplies for their own use.
Jack of All Tribes places you in the role of an overseer, as you tap on objects thus commanding your villagers to complete tasks associated with them. House plots are clearly marked on the land, and by tapping on a lot, you can send two or more villagers to complete its construction. Each hut or home adds more villagers to your current level, allowing you to multi-task even further by having these same villagers move on to construct more homes, while your new helpers harvest Food from fields or berry bushes.
Gameplay is made even more complex with the addition of both Wood and Food production facilities. While they will automatically add Food and Wood to your totals (Wood is otherwise earned by chopping down trees), you'll need to lose at least one villager per building to keep them open. You can add or take away villagers from each building, adding a huge element of strategy to each level, as you must look at your goals and decide just how quickly you need those resources to move on. Furthermore, each new structure you want in your city costs Wood, so if you don't have enough Wood to build a new home, and yet your town only has two citizens, your progress will be incredibly slow and you may not pass the level in the expert time given.
Speaking of score, at the end of each level, you're given a score based on the number of buildings you constructed, along with other bonuses for how thoroughly you completed each of your required tasks, and how quickly you completed them. If you complete them fast enough, you'll unlock a special flag on the world map, along with receiving trophies and other rewards along the way that make your villagers work faster, become hungry less often, and so on.
Another game element, combat, is included via both dinosaurs and raiders, and even some tower defense. While you can simply tap on a raider's head to scare them off, if you build a Dinosaur Pen they'll chase them off automatically. The same can be said for towers which are located on the outskirts of some villages: these towers toss coconuts at the enemies, thus driving them back.
In order to earn more funds in each level, you'll be able to upgrade your cottages and huts to produce more rent, add entertainment structures like baths or theaters, or even allow your villagers to ride on your pet dinosaur for the fun of it. All of your actions have two purposes: to not only complete each level's overarching goals, but to keep your villagers fed and satisfied. The happier they are, the faster they work and vice versa.
All told, Jack of All Tribes is far more difficult to describe in words than through actual practice. The game is available on both iPhone and iPad in two separate apps, costing $2.99 and $4.99 each, respectively. You can download a free trial of either game to see if the gameplay is to your liking, but I'd be willing to wager that the downright adorable graphics alone will be enough to keep you coming back for more.
A shaman has foretold of your arrival - that you will bring peace and prosperity to the land - so (most of) the villagers are eager to follow your direction. Through each level (there are 40 in all), you'll be given a smaller set of tasks, from building cottages and huts to gathering a specific amount of food or wood. As you progress further in the game, you'll even be able to mine for gold, build bridges to reach new areas, and fight off raiders that would steal your supplies for their own use.
Jack of All Tribes places you in the role of an overseer, as you tap on objects thus commanding your villagers to complete tasks associated with them. House plots are clearly marked on the land, and by tapping on a lot, you can send two or more villagers to complete its construction. Each hut or home adds more villagers to your current level, allowing you to multi-task even further by having these same villagers move on to construct more homes, while your new helpers harvest Food from fields or berry bushes.
Gameplay is made even more complex with the addition of both Wood and Food production facilities. While they will automatically add Food and Wood to your totals (Wood is otherwise earned by chopping down trees), you'll need to lose at least one villager per building to keep them open. You can add or take away villagers from each building, adding a huge element of strategy to each level, as you must look at your goals and decide just how quickly you need those resources to move on. Furthermore, each new structure you want in your city costs Wood, so if you don't have enough Wood to build a new home, and yet your town only has two citizens, your progress will be incredibly slow and you may not pass the level in the expert time given.
Speaking of score, at the end of each level, you're given a score based on the number of buildings you constructed, along with other bonuses for how thoroughly you completed each of your required tasks, and how quickly you completed them. If you complete them fast enough, you'll unlock a special flag on the world map, along with receiving trophies and other rewards along the way that make your villagers work faster, become hungry less often, and so on.
Another game element, combat, is included via both dinosaurs and raiders, and even some tower defense. While you can simply tap on a raider's head to scare them off, if you build a Dinosaur Pen they'll chase them off automatically. The same can be said for towers which are located on the outskirts of some villages: these towers toss coconuts at the enemies, thus driving them back.
In order to earn more funds in each level, you'll be able to upgrade your cottages and huts to produce more rent, add entertainment structures like baths or theaters, or even allow your villagers to ride on your pet dinosaur for the fun of it. All of your actions have two purposes: to not only complete each level's overarching goals, but to keep your villagers fed and satisfied. The happier they are, the faster they work and vice versa.
All told, Jack of All Tribes is far more difficult to describe in words than through actual practice. The game is available on both iPhone and iPad in two separate apps, costing $2.99 and $4.99 each, respectively. You can download a free trial of either game to see if the gameplay is to your liking, but I'd be willing to wager that the downright adorable graphics alone will be enough to keep you coming back for more.
FarmVille: Swiss items return for one day only as Birthday Classics
If you've ever regretted not purchasing a specific animal, decoration or building in FarmVille's Swiss theme that was available way back in July of last year, you've got one more chance to purchase them. As part of FarmVille's second birthday celebration, the team has launched a new series of one-day-only celebrations that will each highlight one particular theme from the game's past. This first day consists of Swiss items, as they've (re)released 21 different items to the store for your shopping pleasure (including a couple of entirely new items). Again, unfortunately these items will only be available for one day, so you'll need to be super quick about buying them before they expire from the store.
There are five new animals, along with a slew of decorations to choose from, so meet us behind the break for a full rundown of these extremely limited items.
Here's a rundown of the 21 items you'll be able to purchase today only:
Animals:
Bison - 18 Farm Cash
Breton Horse - 22 Farm Cash
Simmental Cow - 14 Farm Cash
Ibex - 16 Farm Cash
Swiss Warmblood (horse) - 26 Farm Cash
Buildings:
Swiss Tower - 34 Farm Cash
Swiss Chalet - 85,000 coins
Swiss Cottage - 32 Farm Cash
Decorations:
Floral Pool - 12 Farm Cash
Floral Sculpture - 40,000 coins
Matterhorn - 100,000 coins
Milk Jug Chart - 12,000 coins
Miss Swiss Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Mr. Swiss Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Ornate Carriage - 22 Farm Cash
Ornate Fountain - 22 Farm Cash
Swiss Alphorn - 20 Farm Cash
Swiss Alps - 42 Farm Cash
Swiss Gate - 10,000 coins
Swiss Lake - 42 Farm Cash
Swiss Wall (fencing) - 10,000 coins
Even as of this writing, you're down to just a few hours of being able to pick these items up before they once again expire, likely to never be seen from again (let's face it, this re-release itself was a major, unexpected fluke). Don't miss out on your second (or perhaps your first, if you're a new player) chance at these items; there are some lovely options available here, for players of every budget, so make sure to at least glance at them while you still have the chance. Don't forget, even though this event may only last for a single day, check back with us tomorrow as we discover what the next re-released theme will be!
There are five new animals, along with a slew of decorations to choose from, so meet us behind the break for a full rundown of these extremely limited items.
Here's a rundown of the 21 items you'll be able to purchase today only:
Animals:
Bison - 18 Farm Cash
Breton Horse - 22 Farm Cash
Simmental Cow - 14 Farm Cash
Ibex - 16 Farm Cash
Swiss Warmblood (horse) - 26 Farm Cash
Buildings:
Swiss Tower - 34 Farm Cash
Swiss Chalet - 85,000 coins
Swiss Cottage - 32 Farm Cash
Decorations:
Floral Pool - 12 Farm Cash
Floral Sculpture - 40,000 coins
Matterhorn - 100,000 coins
Milk Jug Chart - 12,000 coins
Miss Swiss Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Mr. Swiss Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Ornate Carriage - 22 Farm Cash
Ornate Fountain - 22 Farm Cash
Swiss Alphorn - 20 Farm Cash
Swiss Alps - 42 Farm Cash
Swiss Gate - 10,000 coins
Swiss Lake - 42 Farm Cash
Swiss Wall (fencing) - 10,000 coins
Even as of this writing, you're down to just a few hours of being able to pick these items up before they once again expire, likely to never be seen from again (let's face it, this re-release itself was a major, unexpected fluke). Don't miss out on your second (or perhaps your first, if you're a new player) chance at these items; there are some lovely options available here, for players of every budget, so make sure to at least glance at them while you still have the chance. Don't forget, even though this event may only last for a single day, check back with us tomorrow as we discover what the next re-released theme will be!
FarmVille Birthday Mystery Crate offers miniature ponies for a very limited time
Talk about limited edition - a new Birthday Mystery Animal Crate (celebrating the game's second birthday) has appeared in the FarmVille marketplace, but this Crate can only be purchased for the next four hours! This Crate isn't something to immediately scoff at however, regardless of its high price of 24 Farm Cash. Why? Simple - it gives you a chance to receive one of six miniature ponies that will add a simply adorable touch to your farm, especially if you don't place them in your Horse Stable.
Here's what you can find inside today's box:
Candy Cane Miniature Pony
Miniature Black Stallion
Miniature Pinto
Miniature White Stallion
Nightmare Miniature Pony
Valentine Miniature Pony
I don't know about you, but having any pony on my farm just makes me say "Aww." If you're the same, make sure to shop right now (seriously, the time is ticking people!) so you can add one of these adorable little cuties to your farm before it's too late! Even if you don't manage to snag one of these crates, rumor has it another will be released tomorrow with different contents, so check back with us then to see what's inside.
Here's what you can find inside today's box:
Candy Cane Miniature Pony
Miniature Black Stallion
Miniature Pinto
Miniature White Stallion
Nightmare Miniature Pony
Valentine Miniature Pony
I don't know about you, but having any pony on my farm just makes me say "Aww." If you're the same, make sure to shop right now (seriously, the time is ticking people!) so you can add one of these adorable little cuties to your farm before it's too late! Even if you don't manage to snag one of these crates, rumor has it another will be released tomorrow with different contents, so check back with us then to see what's inside.
FarmVille: English Countryside 28 x 28 land expansion now available for Farm Cash
At the end of May, Zynga launched the ability for FarmVille farmers to expand their second farm in the English Countryside to 26 x 26 for 100 Farm Cash. Now just a few short weeks later, another expansion has been launched, before this past 26 x 26 expansion has even been made available for coins!
The 28 x 28 land expansion is called the English Domain, and its price is even more ridicul-- err, even higher than the last. You'll need to shell out a whopping 140 Farm Cash for this expansion, as there's no other way (currently) to expand to that level for "free." Unless you have a very generous friend that's willing to buy this much Farm Cash for you, you're looking at over $15 for a single expansion, and that's only if you can purchase the required Farm Cash during the current 40% off sale. If you miss that, the price for 140 Farm Cash jumps up to over $26!
That's a downright huge price tag, and I'm personally very interested in seeing how many people actually go through with the cost. Hopefully the number is low, so Zynga will feel better about releasing coin versions of both of these expansions sooner, rather than later. We'll make sure to let you know if and when they do.
The 28 x 28 land expansion is called the English Domain, and its price is even more ridicul-- err, even higher than the last. You'll need to shell out a whopping 140 Farm Cash for this expansion, as there's no other way (currently) to expand to that level for "free." Unless you have a very generous friend that's willing to buy this much Farm Cash for you, you're looking at over $15 for a single expansion, and that's only if you can purchase the required Farm Cash during the current 40% off sale. If you miss that, the price for 140 Farm Cash jumps up to over $26!
That's a downright huge price tag, and I'm personally very interested in seeing how many people actually go through with the cost. Hopefully the number is low, so Zynga will feel better about releasing coin versions of both of these expansions sooner, rather than later. We'll make sure to let you know if and when they do.
Thứ Sáu, 23 tháng 12, 2011
CityVille Sneak Peek: New amusement park rides coming soon
With the launch of the Street Carnival in CityVille, Zynga apparently isn't satisfied with the amount of items we've been given to decorate with, and plan to do something about that in the coming days and weeks. Specifically, we've been told that a whole set of amusement park rides will be coming to the game. But wait - don't we have amusement park rides already?
Let's examine this for a minute. If you've been collecting Carnival Tickets, you have the opportunity to redeem them for a large Fun House, Fun Slide, or Rocket Ship Ride. A Carousel was made available in the game for months before finally being removed, and decorations like a Bounce House and Tea Cup Ride (Ferris Wheel) are also available for purchase via the game's store. So, that being the case, what exactly could Zynga be talking about here? If we look at the sneak peek picture they've provided (ignoring the Strength Test), we aren't told much, as another Ferris Wheel is pictured, along with something that looks like a Sky Coaster.
Even if those are the only two (three, counting the midway game) items that come to the game in the future, there's still the issue of how they'll be released. Will they be decorations or actual businesses that require Goods and earn a profit? Either way, I'm excited about this potential to create a miniature theme park in my city (perhaps even with roller coasters!), so I can only hope that Zynga comes through here in a big way. We'll make sure to let you know if they do.
What sorts of amusement park rides would you like to see released in CityVille? Are there particular roller coasters from real-world theme parks that you'd be excited to see?
Let's examine this for a minute. If you've been collecting Carnival Tickets, you have the opportunity to redeem them for a large Fun House, Fun Slide, or Rocket Ship Ride. A Carousel was made available in the game for months before finally being removed, and decorations like a Bounce House and Tea Cup Ride (Ferris Wheel) are also available for purchase via the game's store. So, that being the case, what exactly could Zynga be talking about here? If we look at the sneak peek picture they've provided (ignoring the Strength Test), we aren't told much, as another Ferris Wheel is pictured, along with something that looks like a Sky Coaster.
Even if those are the only two (three, counting the midway game) items that come to the game in the future, there's still the issue of how they'll be released. Will they be decorations or actual businesses that require Goods and earn a profit? Either way, I'm excited about this potential to create a miniature theme park in my city (perhaps even with roller coasters!), so I can only hope that Zynga comes through here in a big way. We'll make sure to let you know if they do.
What sorts of amusement park rides would you like to see released in CityVille? Are there particular roller coasters from real-world theme parks that you'd be excited to see?
FarmVille: Convert Farm Cash to coins in the store
In what can only be described as a "backwards" release, Zynga has released the ability to convert your Farm Cash to coins in FarmVille's store. You'll find this new ability in the "Farm Aides" tab, and will see that currently, three options are available to turn anywhere from two to 100 Farm Cash into coins. Here are the packages that are available:
2 Farm Cash --> 1,000 coins
15 Farm Cash --> 10,000 coins
100 Farm Cash --> 100,000 coins
Am I the only one that thinks this system should be in the reverse? Are there really that many farmers that will choose to "waste" Farm Cash on coins, when there are plenty of different ways to earn coins on our own, for free? Shouldn't we be allowed to turn our coins into Farm Cash instead? Now that's a system I'd get behind.
If we're holding out hope, it could be that Zynga is first releasing this method, and will then release the reverse sometime in the future, but then again, that isn't very practical from a business standpoint. If anything, the coins to Farm Cash system would likely see us receiving so little Farm Cash for so many coins as to make it not even worth it. Is that cynical? Perhaps, but Zynga's track record has proven that we shouldn't hold our breath for a positive outcome here.
Will you turn your Farm Cash into coins in the game's store, or will you keep farming to earn coins the old fashioned way, saving your Farm Cash for other things?
2 Farm Cash --> 1,000 coins
15 Farm Cash --> 10,000 coins
100 Farm Cash --> 100,000 coins
Am I the only one that thinks this system should be in the reverse? Are there really that many farmers that will choose to "waste" Farm Cash on coins, when there are plenty of different ways to earn coins on our own, for free? Shouldn't we be allowed to turn our coins into Farm Cash instead? Now that's a system I'd get behind.
If we're holding out hope, it could be that Zynga is first releasing this method, and will then release the reverse sometime in the future, but then again, that isn't very practical from a business standpoint. If anything, the coins to Farm Cash system would likely see us receiving so little Farm Cash for so many coins as to make it not even worth it. Is that cynical? Perhaps, but Zynga's track record has proven that we shouldn't hold our breath for a positive outcome here.
Will you turn your Farm Cash into coins in the game's store, or will you keep farming to earn coins the old fashioned way, saving your Farm Cash for other things?
CityVille: Oddities Museum and Lemonade Stand continue our fun in the sun
Looking for something cool to do inside on this blisteringly hot weekend? Why not add a few new decorations to your town in CityVille? Conveniently, Zynga has released two such decorations in the game just this morning, but they'll only be around for a limited time.
The Oddities Museum is a new business that costs 25 City Cash, and requires 140 Goods to operate once you purchase it. It produces 784 coins by default, unless you add some nearby decorations to boost this number - perhaps the Girl Flying Kite decoration which is also now available for 1,000 coins. If 25 City Cash is too high of a price, what about 15 City Cash? That's the price of the new Lemonade Stand, which is unfortunately just a decoration, rather than a business. As is stands, it gives off a 6% bonus to the payout of nearby buildings, but it is (admittedly) rather expensive, considering its function.
Both the Oddities Museum and Lemonade Stand will only be available in the game for four days, so shop fast if you want them.
With all of the summer-themed items released in CityVille over the past few weeks, have you taken advantage and created a large summer boardwalk, park, or beachfront area in your town?
The Oddities Museum is a new business that costs 25 City Cash, and requires 140 Goods to operate once you purchase it. It produces 784 coins by default, unless you add some nearby decorations to boost this number - perhaps the Girl Flying Kite decoration which is also now available for 1,000 coins. If 25 City Cash is too high of a price, what about 15 City Cash? That's the price of the new Lemonade Stand, which is unfortunately just a decoration, rather than a business. As is stands, it gives off a 6% bonus to the payout of nearby buildings, but it is (admittedly) rather expensive, considering its function.
Both the Oddities Museum and Lemonade Stand will only be available in the game for four days, so shop fast if you want them.
With all of the summer-themed items released in CityVille over the past few weeks, have you taken advantage and created a large summer boardwalk, park, or beachfront area in your town?
Six Gun Galaxy brings a violent, dreary wild west to Facebook
Six Gun Galaxy from KlickNation sees you creating a character in a post-apocalyptic world on Facebook, where you're left to rebuild a town and help other survivors in various towns by completing quests. The storyline is filled with the expected elements from the theme. A war has devastated the planet, leaving military men feeling responsible and outlaws to feel they can ravage what's left. The average citizen needs your help with hunting for food from the wild animals that roam even the cities' streets, and while cash is still a factor, objects like tobacco have been given just as much value in society.
While Six Gun Galaxy contains a theme that's not overly common for Facebook games, the gameplay itself doesn't really revolutionize the city-building or quest-based adventure genres. You'll have your own town to build, starting with nothing but a home and Blacksmith's shop. You can add new items like Laundry Facilities or Gun Shops, and also add decorations and roads to customize the look of your town even more. Buildings payout profits over time, including cash and experience points, along with Iron, which is another form of "currency" used for building additional buildings.
Apart from the game's city-building aspect, an even larger portion of the game is dedicated to traveling from town to town (more locations unlock as you level up) and completing quests for the locals. You'll have to gather and trade supplies at the Market, help chase off wild animals, deliver items to different locations, and so on. Combat comes into play fairly early on, as you'll fight bandits in term-based battles by simply clicking on their avatars on the map. Unfortunately, there doesn't look to be a way to tell exactly how strong an enemy is before entering combat, so you very well may end up on the losing end before you can even pull out your weapon. Luckily, you can turn the tides of battle by having teammates join you along the way (teammates can be purchased with cash), or by upgrading your character with new equipment and weapons.
As you might expect, most every action in the game requires energy, which therefore runs out far more quickly than you might like. You can collect food from wild animals and then spend that food on energy refills, or spend Platinum, the game's premium currency.
Gallery: Six Gun Galaxy Facebook
While each location in the game has a specific amount of quests available to complete, you can play the game with relative freedom, only undertaking quests when you really feel like it. The rest of the time can be spent tracking down wild animals, goods to trade, building up your own city, and so on, completely outside of pushing the story forward. Of course, that can only last you for so long, so we hope that more quests will continually be added to Six Gun Galaxy in the future to keep us coming back for more.
Play Six Gun Galaxy on Facebook -->
Have you tried Six Gun Galaxy on Facebook? What do you think of frontier-based games on Facebook? Does the fact that this game is actually post-apocalyptic, rather than simply "old" influence your likelihood to play it?
While Six Gun Galaxy contains a theme that's not overly common for Facebook games, the gameplay itself doesn't really revolutionize the city-building or quest-based adventure genres. You'll have your own town to build, starting with nothing but a home and Blacksmith's shop. You can add new items like Laundry Facilities or Gun Shops, and also add decorations and roads to customize the look of your town even more. Buildings payout profits over time, including cash and experience points, along with Iron, which is another form of "currency" used for building additional buildings.
Apart from the game's city-building aspect, an even larger portion of the game is dedicated to traveling from town to town (more locations unlock as you level up) and completing quests for the locals. You'll have to gather and trade supplies at the Market, help chase off wild animals, deliver items to different locations, and so on. Combat comes into play fairly early on, as you'll fight bandits in term-based battles by simply clicking on their avatars on the map. Unfortunately, there doesn't look to be a way to tell exactly how strong an enemy is before entering combat, so you very well may end up on the losing end before you can even pull out your weapon. Luckily, you can turn the tides of battle by having teammates join you along the way (teammates can be purchased with cash), or by upgrading your character with new equipment and weapons.
As you might expect, most every action in the game requires energy, which therefore runs out far more quickly than you might like. You can collect food from wild animals and then spend that food on energy refills, or spend Platinum, the game's premium currency.
Gallery: Six Gun Galaxy Facebook
While each location in the game has a specific amount of quests available to complete, you can play the game with relative freedom, only undertaking quests when you really feel like it. The rest of the time can be spent tracking down wild animals, goods to trade, building up your own city, and so on, completely outside of pushing the story forward. Of course, that can only last you for so long, so we hope that more quests will continually be added to Six Gun Galaxy in the future to keep us coming back for more.
Play Six Gun Galaxy on Facebook -->
Have you tried Six Gun Galaxy on Facebook? What do you think of frontier-based games on Facebook? Does the fact that this game is actually post-apocalyptic, rather than simply "old" influence your likelihood to play it?
FarmVille White Mustang Lonely Animal: Everything you need to know
A new feature has launched in FarmVille this evening in the form of a lonely, lost White Mustang that will appear on your farm the next time you login. You'll see a pop-up at the bottom of your screen, and can click on the "Check it Out" button to see the White Mustang, which has actually been placed outside of your farm's limits (where billboards would show up otherwise).
From the time the Mustang arrives, you'll have a period of three days to ask five friends to help you "coax" the Mustang onto you farm, so that you can keep it forever. Asking your friends is achieved through individual friend requests, rather than a wall post. If you aren't able to complete this task in time, you can pay Farm Cash to keep the Mustang instead, or, you can simply pay 20 Farm Cash at any time if you'd rather not ask your friends for help.
Either way, once you've unlocked the White Mustang it will be yours without any further work, and can be found in your Gift Box. It can be placed inside your Horse Stable, and can be bred.
What's even more exciting about this feature is what can potentially happen in the future. Zynga has told us that after 14 days, we'll apparently be given the ability to find another lonely animal on our farm, meaning that this might be the start of an on-going feature. Hopefully, each of these lonely animals is completely new to the game, as it would definitely keep us asking friends for help for a long time to come.
What do you think? Would you continue to use this kind of feature, even if it relied almost entirely on your friends (that is, unless you want to pay Farm Cash), just to earn exclusive animals?
From the time the Mustang arrives, you'll have a period of three days to ask five friends to help you "coax" the Mustang onto you farm, so that you can keep it forever. Asking your friends is achieved through individual friend requests, rather than a wall post. If you aren't able to complete this task in time, you can pay Farm Cash to keep the Mustang instead, or, you can simply pay 20 Farm Cash at any time if you'd rather not ask your friends for help.
Either way, once you've unlocked the White Mustang it will be yours without any further work, and can be found in your Gift Box. It can be placed inside your Horse Stable, and can be bred.
What's even more exciting about this feature is what can potentially happen in the future. Zynga has told us that after 14 days, we'll apparently be given the ability to find another lonely animal on our farm, meaning that this might be the start of an on-going feature. Hopefully, each of these lonely animals is completely new to the game, as it would definitely keep us asking friends for help for a long time to come.
What do you think? Would you continue to use this kind of feature, even if it relied almost entirely on your friends (that is, unless you want to pay Farm Cash), just to earn exclusive animals?
FarmVille Marans Chicken Mystery Egg: What's inside?
Late last week, Zynga launched the Marans Chicken as part of the current Parisian limited edition item theme in FarmVille. At a price of 20 Farm Cash, the chicken definitely isn't cheap, so you might be interested in learning what you could potentially find from opening one of its eggs (that is, what you could give away to friends, or what they could give back to you if they had purchased one as well). Well, FVNation has figured out the prize list for the Marans Chicken, but unfortunately, it's nothing to get excited about.
Here's what's inside:
Old English Hen
Dorking Chicken
Silkie Chicken
Clover chicken
Scots Grey Chicken
Cornish Chicken
Butler Gnome
Town Fountain
English Bench
Fuel
Does that list seem familiar? It should, as the contents are those found in many other eggs, and specifically the English Mystery Egg. The biggest problem here isn't so much that there aren't tons of new items here (or any), but the simple fact that you apparently can't earn more Marans Chickens from a Marans Chicken Mystery Egg (as of this writing) is disappointing at best, and a deal breaker at worst. Is the chicken worth a purchase, at 20 Farm Cash, if you can only earn these old items by opening its eggs?
Hopefully additional items will be added to the egg, and if we find out that's the case, we'll make sure to let you know.
Are you disappointed in this Mystery Egg's contents? What other items would you rather see given out in eggs instead?
Here's what's inside:
Old English Hen
Dorking Chicken
Silkie Chicken
Clover chicken
Scots Grey Chicken
Cornish Chicken
Butler Gnome
Town Fountain
English Bench
Fuel
Does that list seem familiar? It should, as the contents are those found in many other eggs, and specifically the English Mystery Egg. The biggest problem here isn't so much that there aren't tons of new items here (or any), but the simple fact that you apparently can't earn more Marans Chickens from a Marans Chicken Mystery Egg (as of this writing) is disappointing at best, and a deal breaker at worst. Is the chicken worth a purchase, at 20 Farm Cash, if you can only earn these old items by opening its eggs?
Hopefully additional items will be added to the egg, and if we find out that's the case, we'll make sure to let you know.
Are you disappointed in this Mystery Egg's contents? What other items would you rather see given out in eggs instead?
Thứ Sáu, 16 tháng 12, 2011
FarmVille: New Craftshop recipes use Lighthouse Cove crops
If you thought your Lighthouse Cove crops in FarmVille were only going to be good for completing goals or earning new mastery signs, think again. Zynga has released a series of new Craftshop recipes using these new crops which will see you combining "old" crops with these new bushels. Here's a complete rundown of the new crops so you know exactly what to grow (and what to stock up on) should you wish to craft any of these items in bulk.
Bright Yellow Tractor: 4 Clam, 10 Tarragon and 6 Elderberry Bushels
Mechanic Scarecrow: 3 Hay Bushels, 3 Apple Wood Baskets and 4 Wheat Bushels
Sheep Topiary: 4 Tarragon Bushels, 2 Wool Bundles and 5 Green Tea Bushels
Apple Red Seeder: 4 Seafood, 10 Dill and 6 Onion Bushels
Bonsai: 3 Kennebec Potato, 2 Cherry and 4 Basil Bushels
Tree House: 4 Lady Slipper Bushels, 2 Apple Wood Baskets and 4 Chandler Blueberry Bushels
Apple Red Harvester: 4 Lobster, 10 Daylily and 6 Basil Bushels
Post Office: 10 Cove Cranberry Bushels, 4 Poplar Wood Baskets and 6 Cauliflower Bushels
Evergreen Train: 10 Red Clover Bushels, 4 Poplar Wood Baskets and 6 Hay Bushels
Keep in mind, farmers, that if you're new to crafting these items, you won't be able to craft many of them until you earn mastery stars by crafting other things. Luckily, ones like the Bright Yellow Tractor and Sheep Topiary recipes are open by default, so at least you can earn some mastery stars while completing these new recipes. Also, keep track of how long each of these recipes take to complete, as some of them aren't exactly fast (the Harvester, for instance).
We'll make sure to let you know if additional Craftshop recipes are released in the future, along with what you'll take to actually craft them. Keep checking back with us for more.
What do you think of these new Craftshop recipes? Which items would you like to have more of on your farm?
Bright Yellow Tractor: 4 Clam, 10 Tarragon and 6 Elderberry Bushels
Mechanic Scarecrow: 3 Hay Bushels, 3 Apple Wood Baskets and 4 Wheat Bushels
Sheep Topiary: 4 Tarragon Bushels, 2 Wool Bundles and 5 Green Tea Bushels
Apple Red Seeder: 4 Seafood, 10 Dill and 6 Onion Bushels
Bonsai: 3 Kennebec Potato, 2 Cherry and 4 Basil Bushels
Tree House: 4 Lady Slipper Bushels, 2 Apple Wood Baskets and 4 Chandler Blueberry Bushels
Apple Red Harvester: 4 Lobster, 10 Daylily and 6 Basil Bushels
Post Office: 10 Cove Cranberry Bushels, 4 Poplar Wood Baskets and 6 Cauliflower Bushels
Evergreen Train: 10 Red Clover Bushels, 4 Poplar Wood Baskets and 6 Hay Bushels
Keep in mind, farmers, that if you're new to crafting these items, you won't be able to craft many of them until you earn mastery stars by crafting other things. Luckily, ones like the Bright Yellow Tractor and Sheep Topiary recipes are open by default, so at least you can earn some mastery stars while completing these new recipes. Also, keep track of how long each of these recipes take to complete, as some of them aren't exactly fast (the Harvester, for instance).
We'll make sure to let you know if additional Craftshop recipes are released in the future, along with what you'll take to actually craft them. Keep checking back with us for more.
What do you think of these new Craftshop recipes? Which items would you like to have more of on your farm?
Sims Social survey lets you sound off on item prices, favorite features and more
It's that time folks - time to let your collective voices be heard! EA wants to know how much fun (or not) you're having with the Sims Social on Facebook, and they've released a fairly long survey to help you tell them. This survey contains all sorts of questions, ranging from the basics of how often you play the game, to allowing you to rate your opinion on item pricing (are they too cheap? too expensive?) and what some of your favorite features are in the game.
Of course, the point of all of this is to gather enough opinions to actually sway the way the game develops in the future. Hopefully, with questions dealing with how much we like to "build" items with parts (bookcases, double beds, etc.), and the option to say that you don't like it at all, we may actually see a lessening in those kinds of items, if enough users agree. You can even rank various gameplay features (decorating your house, visiting friends, customizing your Sim, etc.) in the order that you like them. In this way, perhaps we'll see more focus being placed on the most (overall) liked feature, and you'll be able to say you helped to make that happen.
Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of survey that will allow you to give your opinion on future item sets, but there are plenty of blank text boxes for you to say exactly what you want to the developers in a place that you know they'll see it. Again, this survey is prety lengthy (when compared to other Facebook game surveys anyway), so you'll want to make sure you have around 5-10 minutes to set aside to take it.
We've taken this survey as well, and if we start to notice any gameplay changes arising because of options listed here, we'll make sure to let you know. In the meantime, head over to this link right here to take the survey for yourself.
Of course, the point of all of this is to gather enough opinions to actually sway the way the game develops in the future. Hopefully, with questions dealing with how much we like to "build" items with parts (bookcases, double beds, etc.), and the option to say that you don't like it at all, we may actually see a lessening in those kinds of items, if enough users agree. You can even rank various gameplay features (decorating your house, visiting friends, customizing your Sim, etc.) in the order that you like them. In this way, perhaps we'll see more focus being placed on the most (overall) liked feature, and you'll be able to say you helped to make that happen.
Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of survey that will allow you to give your opinion on future item sets, but there are plenty of blank text boxes for you to say exactly what you want to the developers in a place that you know they'll see it. Again, this survey is prety lengthy (when compared to other Facebook game surveys anyway), so you'll want to make sure you have around 5-10 minutes to set aside to take it.
We've taken this survey as well, and if we start to notice any gameplay changes arising because of options listed here, we'll make sure to let you know. In the meantime, head over to this link right here to take the survey for yourself.
FarmVille: 24x24 and under land expansions 50% off this weekend
If you're a new(er) player to FarmVille that hasn't had a chance to expand their Home or English Countryside farms, or, if you've just held off until expanding your farms until now, Zynga is offering some major incentive to doing so this weekend. All expansions in both the Home Farm and the English Countryside farm that are 24x24 and smaller are now 50% off. This sale will last until Sunday evening at 9PM PST.
Let's put this into perspective. The two most recent expansions to the Home Farm are for 30x30 and 32x32. While the 32x32 land expansion is technically still on "sale" for 5 days only, it still goes for 180 Farm Cash. Both of these expansions, then, wouldn't be part of this weekend sale. As for English Countryside expansions, there are four that many farmers have likely not unlocked: starting with 26x26 and up, simply because of their prices (2.5 million coins, 5 million coins, 195 Farm Cash and 195/215 Farm Cash respectively). This, again, takes us to the 32x32 sized farm, but none of these are included in the sale.
What's even more disappointing about this sale is the fact that Lighthouse Cove expansions aren't included. As we're limited (in Lighthouse Cove only) to a certain number of crops based on how big our farm is, and since these early expansions start out costing 30 Farm Cash each, it would have been great to see them included in this sale. Whether this means the prices will soon turn to coins instead is anyone's guess, but for now, I suppose this is one sale that most of us will simply have to miss out on.
Are you a farmer that can take advantage of this sale? Will you purchase any expansions for your farms this weekend?
Let's put this into perspective. The two most recent expansions to the Home Farm are for 30x30 and 32x32. While the 32x32 land expansion is technically still on "sale" for 5 days only, it still goes for 180 Farm Cash. Both of these expansions, then, wouldn't be part of this weekend sale. As for English Countryside expansions, there are four that many farmers have likely not unlocked: starting with 26x26 and up, simply because of their prices (2.5 million coins, 5 million coins, 195 Farm Cash and 195/215 Farm Cash respectively). This, again, takes us to the 32x32 sized farm, but none of these are included in the sale.
What's even more disappointing about this sale is the fact that Lighthouse Cove expansions aren't included. As we're limited (in Lighthouse Cove only) to a certain number of crops based on how big our farm is, and since these early expansions start out costing 30 Farm Cash each, it would have been great to see them included in this sale. Whether this means the prices will soon turn to coins instead is anyone's guess, but for now, I suppose this is one sale that most of us will simply have to miss out on.
Are you a farmer that can take advantage of this sale? Will you purchase any expansions for your farms this weekend?
Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Intuit Business promotion
It's been a few weeks since we've seen a rush of free FarmVille farm cash promotions being launched by Zynga, but it has finally come through for us this morning with an activity with Intuit. This Intuit Business promotion can be found under the bottom right of your gameplay area, but it may just be labeled as "complete this brand activity," rather than anything specific to Intuit. Trust me, this sponsored link window works the same as all of the others, it just comes labeled differently.
Once you start the promotion, you'll be asked to share your love for a small, local business in your community. This requires some thought on your part, as I found it to be incredibly difficult to enter something that the fields could actually recognize. That is, you're asked for the name of the business, along with your city and state location, and it will then search for any addresses matching that business description. Once you find one (perhaps you'll just be luckier than me and score a hit on your first try), you'll have to fill in a form asking for your name, email address and why you like this business the most. If I were you, or are just in this for the free Farm Cash, feel free to give them an out-of-use email address as, let's face it, that's an instant sign-up for Intuit's newsletter right there.
Either way, once you jump through these hoops, you'll finally be given your two free Farm Cash. Remember, these Farm Cash should automatically update into your account, but if they don't, refresh the page and see if that sets things right. As always, we'll make sure to bring you more news about free Farm Cash offers in the future, just as soon as they pop into the game. Keep checking back for more!
What will you do with your two free Farm Cash? Do you participate in activities such as this, that require some real information about yourself, rather than just answering surveys?
Once you start the promotion, you'll be asked to share your love for a small, local business in your community. This requires some thought on your part, as I found it to be incredibly difficult to enter something that the fields could actually recognize. That is, you're asked for the name of the business, along with your city and state location, and it will then search for any addresses matching that business description. Once you find one (perhaps you'll just be luckier than me and score a hit on your first try), you'll have to fill in a form asking for your name, email address and why you like this business the most. If I were you, or are just in this for the free Farm Cash, feel free to give them an out-of-use email address as, let's face it, that's an instant sign-up for Intuit's newsletter right there.
Either way, once you jump through these hoops, you'll finally be given your two free Farm Cash. Remember, these Farm Cash should automatically update into your account, but if they don't, refresh the page and see if that sets things right. As always, we'll make sure to bring you more news about free Farm Cash offers in the future, just as soon as they pop into the game. Keep checking back for more!
What will you do with your two free Farm Cash? Do you participate in activities such as this, that require some real information about yourself, rather than just answering surveys?
CityVille Governor's Run Toy Maker Goals: Everything you need to know
So, you've already helped the farmers in your quest to be governor in CityVille, and now it's time to help another group of citizens in your town: the toy makers. This newest trio of Toy Maker goals can be found after you've helped the farmers, and they'll also introduce a new Community Building to your town. Here's a complete rundown of what to expect, and how to earn the vote from these toy makers. Note: you must be at least level 50 to access these goals.
The Misfit Toy Maker
Place and Build a Toy Factory
Collect from the Toy Factory 10 Times
Unfortunately, this goal requires you to build a new community building in your town, so I hope you have enough room to do so. The Toy Factory sits on a 4x4 square plot of land, and would normally cost 1.25 million coins to buy in the market, although there are rumblings that you'll receive one for free in your inventory once you start these goals (I personally didn't receive one, but whether that's a glitch, or by design I can't say). The building adds a whopping 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap, and requires 12 staff members to complete. That is, you'll need to ask 12 friends to help you complete the construction of this one, so I hope they're helpful! For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 2,800 coins as a reward.
Toy Soldier
Ask friends for 12 Toy Blocks
Upgrade Toy Store to Level 2
Place 20 Hearts in your city
As we've told you before, the Hearts are markers you can place in your town to let your friends know exactly which items to interact with whenever they visit. You can add them to your town by accessing the "Get Help" button in the cursor menu in the bottom right corner of the screen. As for upgrading the Toy Store, you can find a complete guide to doing so right here. Finish this goal and you'll receive 1,400 Goods.
Playtime is Over
Ask friends for 15 Wooden Duckies
Build Toy Tower
Collect from Toy Tower 15 Times
The Toy Tower is a new business that costs 1.75 million coins to purchase from the store. Hopefully we'll receive a free one of these as well, but if not - we've been warned! Once built, it requires a whopping 475 Goods to operate, and will supply you with 2,393 coins by default when collecting its profits, if you don't surround the building with payout bonus decorations. As for the Wooden Duckies, just ask your friends to send them to you, and you'll eventually finish this one off (not that it'll be easy, but it's not impossible either). Finish this final Toy Maker goal and you'll receive 100 XP. Whether or not that's worth all of the Goods you've spent on your Toy Tower or not will be up to you.
At this point, you will have finished helping the Toy Makers in your run for Governor, but still have one more group to help before Act 2 of this new political feature will start. We'll make sure to let you know what that final part entails as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Toy Maker goals? Are they too complicated to be in the middle of a larger feature, possible causing some users to get stuck, or do you appreciate such a challenge?
The Misfit Toy Maker
Place and Build a Toy Factory
Collect from the Toy Factory 10 Times
Unfortunately, this goal requires you to build a new community building in your town, so I hope you have enough room to do so. The Toy Factory sits on a 4x4 square plot of land, and would normally cost 1.25 million coins to buy in the market, although there are rumblings that you'll receive one for free in your inventory once you start these goals (I personally didn't receive one, but whether that's a glitch, or by design I can't say). The building adds a whopping 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap, and requires 12 staff members to complete. That is, you'll need to ask 12 friends to help you complete the construction of this one, so I hope they're helpful! For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 2,800 coins as a reward.
Toy Soldier
Ask friends for 12 Toy Blocks
Upgrade Toy Store to Level 2
Place 20 Hearts in your city
As we've told you before, the Hearts are markers you can place in your town to let your friends know exactly which items to interact with whenever they visit. You can add them to your town by accessing the "Get Help" button in the cursor menu in the bottom right corner of the screen. As for upgrading the Toy Store, you can find a complete guide to doing so right here. Finish this goal and you'll receive 1,400 Goods.
Playtime is Over
Ask friends for 15 Wooden Duckies
Build Toy Tower
Collect from Toy Tower 15 Times
The Toy Tower is a new business that costs 1.75 million coins to purchase from the store. Hopefully we'll receive a free one of these as well, but if not - we've been warned! Once built, it requires a whopping 475 Goods to operate, and will supply you with 2,393 coins by default when collecting its profits, if you don't surround the building with payout bonus decorations. As for the Wooden Duckies, just ask your friends to send them to you, and you'll eventually finish this one off (not that it'll be easy, but it's not impossible either). Finish this final Toy Maker goal and you'll receive 100 XP. Whether or not that's worth all of the Goods you've spent on your Toy Tower or not will be up to you.
At this point, you will have finished helping the Toy Makers in your run for Governor, but still have one more group to help before Act 2 of this new political feature will start. We'll make sure to let you know what that final part entails as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Toy Maker goals? Are they too complicated to be in the middle of a larger feature, possible causing some users to get stuck, or do you appreciate such a challenge?
CityVille: Post your in-game achievements to the Facebook ticker
Here we are again, mayors. Another Zynga game is asking for additional permission to share your gameplay information with friends via the new Facebook ticker that appears along the right side of the screen when playing games on the site. First it was FarmVille, and now comes CityVille.
This "new permissions" set is at least far more detailed than the FarmVille request, which left many users wondering exactly what they were giving Zynga access to. Here, we're told straight up that by giving Zynga these additional permissions, you're simply allowing it to share your gameplay activity in the ticker (including achievements you've earned or goals you may have completed while playing) with your friends. Facebook apparently requires it to do so, so here we are.
You'll be able to give Zynga permission (or deny it) when you see a window like the one at right appear in your screen. From there, you can either hit "Allow" to let yourself appear in the ticker, or "Don't Allow" to keep yourself hidden. Your own gameplay experience won't change, and nothing in the game itself will change either. This all goes back to how much information you want to share with friends about your gameplay activity, all in the Facebook ticker. That being the case, feel free to choose whichever option you wish without the fear of penalty.
Will you allow Zynga to share your gameplay activity with your CityVille friends? What do you think of the Facebook ticker as a whole?
This "new permissions" set is at least far more detailed than the FarmVille request, which left many users wondering exactly what they were giving Zynga access to. Here, we're told straight up that by giving Zynga these additional permissions, you're simply allowing it to share your gameplay activity in the ticker (including achievements you've earned or goals you may have completed while playing) with your friends. Facebook apparently requires it to do so, so here we are.
You'll be able to give Zynga permission (or deny it) when you see a window like the one at right appear in your screen. From there, you can either hit "Allow" to let yourself appear in the ticker, or "Don't Allow" to keep yourself hidden. Your own gameplay experience won't change, and nothing in the game itself will change either. This all goes back to how much information you want to share with friends about your gameplay activity, all in the Facebook ticker. That being the case, feel free to choose whichever option you wish without the fear of penalty.
Will you allow Zynga to share your gameplay activity with your CityVille friends? What do you think of the Facebook ticker as a whole?
Thứ Tư, 14 tháng 12, 2011
Xbox 360 cures gamers' loneliness, goes social in Dashboard update
Alright, so maybe they weren't lonely, but we'll bet that, after this Xbox 360 Dashboard update, players friends list will magically grow. Microsoft's Major Nelson, or Larry Hryb, made the announcement earlier this week that the next major Xbox update will hit Dec. 6 on his blog. Come the week after next, players will be able to share to Facebook straight from the Dashboard.
But the updates go a bit deeper with the addition of Beacons, which allow players to broadcast status updates to their friends that share what games they would like to play with anyone interested. These open call-outs for in-game teammates can be pushed to players' Facebook Walls too. Other changes include cloud storage for games, meaning more space on players' hard drives and access to games from any Xbox 360.
In a way, you could say that makes games more "social" as well, lowering the barrier to playing games with friends in person (IRL, if you will) ever so slightly. But we can't help but notice Microsoft's growing focus on social, and wonder if it's a response at all to the arrival potential game changers like these to Facebook. It may only a matter of time before that competition heats up.
[Via Inside Social Games]
Are you excited at all by these changes to Xbox gaming? Do you think Xbox-like games could ever be popular/successful on Facebook?
But the updates go a bit deeper with the addition of Beacons, which allow players to broadcast status updates to their friends that share what games they would like to play with anyone interested. These open call-outs for in-game teammates can be pushed to players' Facebook Walls too. Other changes include cloud storage for games, meaning more space on players' hard drives and access to games from any Xbox 360.
In a way, you could say that makes games more "social" as well, lowering the barrier to playing games with friends in person (IRL, if you will) ever so slightly. But we can't help but notice Microsoft's growing focus on social, and wonder if it's a response at all to the arrival potential game changers like these to Facebook. It may only a matter of time before that competition heats up.
[Via Inside Social Games]
Are you excited at all by these changes to Xbox gaming? Do you think Xbox-like games could ever be popular/successful on Facebook?
MyTown 2 finally goes social: Visit friends' cities and purchase their businesses
Back at the beginning of November, we learned that Booyah's MyTown 2 - the city-building iOS game that allows you to check-in to local businesses and then place those businesses in your city - would finally receive social features. It may have taken the rest of the month to release those social features, but they've finally arrived via a new in-game update.
Once you update to this newer, beefier and most importantly social version of the game, you'll have a completely new button to press within the game's menu: Friends. This gives you two options for browsing different towns: either those towns that are owned by current friends, or those towns created by people in your local geographical area. As the game always relies on your current location, you'll be able to view the towns closest to you first, and view them in real time.
Once there, you can tap on any building with a handshake symbol to see what it is, its level and other stats, and also its price to build in your own town. This is called "Franchising," and it opens up a world of possibilities to your own town (literally). Now, instead of being forced to travel to the real world locations you'd like to purchase (or at least travel to within a few miles of them), you can simply browse other users' towns and franchise them directly. The more people that play in your city, the more likely it is that you'll find the specific business you want, but you don't have to stick to local businesses either.
You'll have one common friend - Booyahtopia - that offers buildings like the Ritz Hotel in London, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, or even an Apple Store in San Francisco. The catch with these sorts of businesses (that is, things that aren't in your same geographical area) is that they cost premium currency, rather than coins, to purchase.
Once you update to this newer, beefier and most importantly social version of the game, you'll have a completely new button to press within the game's menu: Friends. This gives you two options for browsing different towns: either those towns that are owned by current friends, or those towns created by people in your local geographical area. As the game always relies on your current location, you'll be able to view the towns closest to you first, and view them in real time.
Once there, you can tap on any building with a handshake symbol to see what it is, its level and other stats, and also its price to build in your own town. This is called "Franchising," and it opens up a world of possibilities to your own town (literally). Now, instead of being forced to travel to the real world locations you'd like to purchase (or at least travel to within a few miles of them), you can simply browse other users' towns and franchise them directly. The more people that play in your city, the more likely it is that you'll find the specific business you want, but you don't have to stick to local businesses either.
You'll have one common friend - Booyahtopia - that offers buildings like the Ritz Hotel in London, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, or even an Apple Store in San Francisco. The catch with these sorts of businesses (that is, things that aren't in your same geographical area) is that they cost premium currency, rather than coins, to purchase.
Zynga offered the Angry Birds maker $2.25 billion, and it walked away
We're just as baffled as you are, trust us. According to a recent New York Times report citing three anonymous sources, the FarmVille maker offered Angry Birds creator Rovio $2.25 billion in cash and stock this summer ... and the Finnish company passed. While this isn't the focus of the report, it's the most interesting news within the piece. Why?
The report largely echoes several stories from the past year: Not everything is as magical and wonderful at Zynga is one might think. (But it does make you wonder how or why a company would turn down over two billion clams.) According to the New York Times, a quarterly staff survey at Zynga garnered over 1,600 responses with "plenty of criticism, including one person who said he planned to cash out and leave after the initial public offering."
Zynga thrives on a ruthless culture, according to the New York Times, and that goes beyond what the recent Wall Street Journal report revealed. The report goes on to unveil that employees are "constantly measured" and are expected to meet intense deadlines. The pressure reportedly reaches breaking points, or outbursts from CEO Mark Pincus and other senior staff that drive some employees to tears.
By the same token, it's said that Zynga rewards employees with lavish trips to Las Vegas when the company hits milestones. All in all, this news is reminiscent of reports like Pincus's choice words to his designers and practices employed by the company early in its life. In other words, Zynga is under fire yet again, just before its imminent initial public offering. But seriously, what drives you to turn down $2.25 billion?
The report largely echoes several stories from the past year: Not everything is as magical and wonderful at Zynga is one might think. (But it does make you wonder how or why a company would turn down over two billion clams.) According to the New York Times, a quarterly staff survey at Zynga garnered over 1,600 responses with "plenty of criticism, including one person who said he planned to cash out and leave after the initial public offering."
Zynga thrives on a ruthless culture, according to the New York Times, and that goes beyond what the recent Wall Street Journal report revealed. The report goes on to unveil that employees are "constantly measured" and are expected to meet intense deadlines. The pressure reportedly reaches breaking points, or outbursts from CEO Mark Pincus and other senior staff that drive some employees to tears.
By the same token, it's said that Zynga rewards employees with lavish trips to Las Vegas when the company hits milestones. All in all, this news is reminiscent of reports like Pincus's choice words to his designers and practices employed by the company early in its life. In other words, Zynga is under fire yet again, just before its imminent initial public offering. But seriously, what drives you to turn down $2.25 billion?
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