Friday, December 30, 2011

FrontierVille Beehive Collection offers Apple Tree Boosts as reward

To go along with the release of the Beehive animal building in FrontierVille, Zynga has released a new collection called the Beehive Collection. You'll be able to find these five new items either while whacking the actual frame of the Beehive during construction (check out our full guide to building the Beehive), or while collecting the Daily Bonus from the building.

Here's what to keep an eye out for:

Raw Honey
Propolis
Honeycomb
Royal Jelly
Pollen

Once you collect these five items, you'll be able to trade them in for five Apple Tree Ready Boosts. To be clear, you'll receive all five Boosts for turning in the collection just once, so if you're in a jam, and want to harvest some extra Apple Trees without waiting for them to regrow naturally, this is a great collection to keep in mind.

What do you think of this new Beehive collection? Do you think the reward is worth trading in these items, or will you hold onto them?

FarmVille LE English Countryside Trees: European Beech & Juniper Trees

In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the release of two new trees in the current English Countryside limited edition item theme. These two trees are available to place on either your Home Farm or on your second farm in the English Countryside, but remember - if you'd like to have one of these trees on both of your farms, you'll need to purchase two of them.

The two trees are the European Beech Tree and the Juniper Tree, and, as you might have guessed, they both go for Farm Cash: 10 and 5 Farm Cash each, respectively. Also, if you'd like to refrain from purchasing the European Beech Tree, you can always just purchase the Juniper Tree and then hope to receive a European Beech tree from a Mystery Seedling when placing it in the Orchard.

Both of these trees are masterable, with the first star of mastery coming after 75 harvests of each tree, and they'll both be available to purchase in the store for the next two weeks.

Which of these two trees do you like more? Are you glad to see Zynga releasing more realistic trees to the game, or do you miss the more outlandish trees of updates past?

FarmVille LE English Countryside Animals: Cleveland Bay Horse & Sebright Chicken

Two new animals are now available to purchase in FarmVille this evening, with both of these animals coming in the English Countryside limited edition item theme. We've brought you a sneak peek of both of these animals in the past, and they come in the form of the Cleveland Bay Horse and the Sebright Chicken.

The Cleveland Bay Horse is the more expensive of the two animals (while neither one are cheap), being available for 26 Farm Cash. The Sebright Chicken, meanwhile, costs 20 Farm Cash. That's a pretty hefty price for a single chicken, but if you're a collector, you'll want to make sure to take a look at this pretty white option.

Remember, if you purchase the Cleveland Bay Horse, you'll have a chance to breed the horse in the Horse Stable to produce a Cleveland Bay Foal, which can then be shared with friends. To find a foal yourself, just watch out for news posts from your friends that have purchased the horse and successfully bred one themselves.

Both of these animals can be placed on either of your farms, and they'll be available in the game's store for the next two weeks.

Which of these animals do you like better? Are you a horse or chicken collector in FarmVille? How many animals do you have in your collections?

FarmVille LE English Countryside Buildings: English B&B & Riding School

It's interesting. After Zynga announced that they wouldn't be releasing as many items in FarmVille in the future, so that they could maintain the stability of the new English Countryside expansion, we haven't seen a slow down in new item releases - in fact, we've seen an increase! Not that we're complaining...

Tonight is no different, as two new buildings have been added to the limited edition English Countryside item theme in the form of the English B&B (B&B meaning Bed & Breakfast) and the Riding School. The Riding School goes along with the equestrian / sports items we gave you a sneak peek of in the past, and horse-lovers everywhere will want to add this large structure to their farms, even if it does cost 25 Farm Cash to do so. Unfortunately, this also happens to be the cheaper of the two buildings, as the English B&B costs 30 Farm Cash.

Both of these buildings come with fairly large footprints on your land, but the English B&B specifically is one of the largest buildings we've seen released to date. Keep that in mind when you head into the store to purchase one, as you might have to reorganize some items on your farm before making the splurge. No matter which item you choose to purchase, these two buildings are available for purchase on both the Home Farm and your second farm, but only for the next two weeks.

Which of these two buildings will you add to your farms? Will you purchase both items for the English Countryside farm, or for your Home Farm?

FarmVille LE English Countryside Decorations: Red Phone Booth, Cricket Gnome & More

As part of tonight's FarmVille update, we've seen the release of five new decorative items in the current English Countryside limited edition item theme. All five of these items are available to purchase for either your Home Farm or your second farm in the English Countryside, but remember, if you'd like to have one of these items on each of your farms, you'll need to buy them twice.

Interestingly, only one of these five items is priced for Farm Cash - that being the Cricket Gnome. It's not unusual to see Gnomes priced for Farm Cash (in fact, it would be unusual if one were available for coins), so you can expect to add the Cricket Gnome to your collection for 15 Farm Cash. You'll gain 1500 experience points for purchasing this cute little fella, which should make a nice addition to your collection, no matter which farm you place him on.

Meet us behind the break for a look at the other four decorations released this evening.
For the other four decorations, you'll need to be willing to spend anywhere from 2,000 to 150,000 coins to add these items to your farm. Starting with the least expensive item, we have the fourth installment in the "Spring Flowerbed" series - the Spring Flowerbed IV item which is available for 2,000 coins. A Jumping Fence (like that found in Equestrian activities) costs 8,000 coins each, while a Red Phone Booth goes for 50,000 coins. Finally, the most expensive of the four is the Cricket Garden, at the aforementioned 150,000 coin price tag.

It's worth noting that while the Cricket Garden is a fairly pricey item, it isn't very large, taking up an area no larger than a single plot of land. Keep that in mind when you go to shell out that many coins - it's not as visually impressive of an item as you might expect, as you can see from the store's preview image below.

Regardless of the item(s) you choose to purchase, you'll need to do so within the next two weeks, before they expire from the store.

Which of these decorations are you most excited about adding to your farm?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Zynga survey hints at FrontierVille Saloon; drink and gamble on the homestead

If you thought a Bank complete with a FrontierVille stock market was goofy enough, how does a Saloon sound in the game? According to another of Zynga's sneaky surveys, the team is working on a public gathering place for pioneers with the Saloon. More importantly, it needs your help to figure what exactly the Saloon should include, hence the survey posted in the FarmVille forums.

There are 10 choices for possible features to be included with this future building. We could list all of them, but you'll see them when you take the survey. Instead, here are some of our favorites. Brew Crafting: Who doesn't look at FrontierVille and see the possibilities for Moonshine recipes? Blackjack and Slot Machines: What goes better with drinking than gambling?

And finally, a social spot to hang with friends in real time: Because the ultimate catalyst for drinking illegal alcohol and gambling is more people. It's unknown when this feature will be released, but it looks like Zynga is ready to go huge with these two features.

Three new Facebook games to add to your must-play list

If you take a look at who's playing what games on Facebook, the answers will sound all sound rather familiar. Here's a hint: They all come from a game developer whose name rhymes with finga' (I'm talking about Zynga, people). CityVille still leads the pack, followed by FarmVille and then Texas Hold 'Em Poker, aka Zynga Poker.

These three golden games have had the popularity vote all locked up, like, forever -- but if you look beyond cold hard stats, you'll see that there are plenty of newer games that you should add to your social gaming repertoire. Here's a list of three up-and-commers worthy of your time and devotion.

gardens of time playdom

Gardens of Time
Playdom

This hidden object game from Playdom is one of the first of this genre to arrive on Facebook and delivers the same seek-and-find puzzles (plus great looking scenery) that you'd find in a Mystery Case Files or other downloadable game of the same ilk. In addition to finding stuff in pretty pictures, this game incorporates some classic Facebook gaming elements, in this case, building your own garden and stocking it with artifacts discovered during your journey.

This game is free to play, but there is (like most Facebook games) the option to spend a little real-life cash as well. If you decide that you don't want to spend one red cent on this game, the key to prolonging the experience is to acquire as many Garden of Time friends as possible -- ones that will gift you lots of free energy (which is used up as you play new puzzles and regenerates over time) to keep you going as long as possible.

Play Gardens of Time on Facebook >


diamond dash wooga
Diamond Dash
Wooga

Diamond Dash from Wooga takes the basic match-3 collapse-style game and gives it the Bejeweled Blitz treatment. Kick those twitch reflexes into overdrive while clicking on sets of three more more diamonds of the same color -- as many as humanly possible -- before the clock runs out. Like Bejeweled, Zuma, etc -- this puzzle game is simple to play but difficult to master and you'll quickly use up your lives (one game costs one life to play) trying to beat you and your friends' high scores.

Play Diamond Dash on Facebook >


zombie lane digital chocolate

Zombie Lane
Digital Chocolate

One could describe this game as the undead version of FarmVille -- but instead of plowing plants and collecting the resulting bounty, Zombie Lane revolves around killing cartoon zombies and collecting the rewards. A series of missions, such as kill X number of X of zombies, harvest X number of strawberries, etc, drives the game forward, but there's still plenty of freedom to do what you want, including smacking and/or shooting zombies at random or visiting the in-game market and spend your hard-earned coin to spruce up your property (and, adding extra fencing to protect your virtual self from flesh-chomping deadites).

Like many other Facebook games, you can play as long as you don't run out of energy, and when that happens, there's the option to ask friends to send you food (which restores your energy) or use Facebook Credits to buy more. If you don't like either of those options, you can click over and play one of your other favorite Facebook games while your energy refills over time.

Perfect Getaway on Facebook: Where your final destination is boredom

Playing this game begs the question: Is this how the crew of the Love Boat felt all the time? Welcome to Perfect Getaway, the cruise ship party game that never ends--literally. You'll never leave the boat, because you can't. Perfect World Entertainment's first entry into the social games arena throws you onto a cruise ship as its captain. It's your job to make sure everyone on the ship is as happy as possible. The game has a distinct anime art style that's undeniably cute, and its gameplay moves extremely fast, giving off the feeling of progression. However, it's not you that's going on the Perfect Getaway, it's your customers.

And despite this game's solid balance and incredibly fast flow, the fact that I personally will never get to go on any of these perfect getaways is tough to get over, given the game's title. Perfect Getaway plays a lot like business management sims that have come before it like Nightclub City and Diner Dash, though the fact that it may or may not have used those games as inspiration isn't the issue.

Perfect Getaway Set Sail
In order to keep patrons aboard your tiny vessel peachy keen, you have to placate them with activities to do, shops to spend money at and objects to interact with like pools. Most of these actions cost Energy, which you get very little of to start. So, using abilities like Whale Watching and Shopping Sprees to boost happiness should be used sparingly. However, the number one thing you can do to increase your customers' happiness is Set Sail.

Gallery: Perfect Getaway
This is essentially the crux of the game, sailing to new locations to constantly restore your patrons' happiness and earn coins from what they spend money on. Then, you must use those coins to buy new attractions. The process is largely cyclical, with the only thing changing being the scale of it all. Thankfully, your journey to creating the ultimate cruise ship is governed by quests, which fly by so quickly they create the illusion of you progressing.

Perfect Getaway Pool Party
But while are you are, in fact, leveling up and gaining new attractions and abilities to maintain your peoples' happiness, you're not really getting anywhere. You're still on the same old boat. Yes, it can be upgraded and customized to your hearts content, into something completely new from the last time you logged in, but it's still the same old boat.

While all the people paying up are seeing the best of what Cuba, the Bahamas Jamaica and more have to offer, you're stuck picking up their towels and boosting your Leisure points to pay your crew to keep the hot dogs coming. Perfect Getaway is one fine Facebook game, logistically speaking, but your actions in the game don't quite live up to its name.

Cafe World 2nd Deep Fryer Goals: Everything you need to know

If you're like many Cafe World players, you might be dissatisfied with the amount of food (or lack thereof) you can cook in your lone Deep Fryer in a day. With missions coming out all of the time that require you to deep fry Ice Cream or any number of other unhealthy goodies, it's only fair that we should be given double the workspace to finish those goals twice as fast. Zynga has agreed, as they have released the ability to have a second Decafe wep Fryer in your cafe via the "2nd Deep Fryer" goals.

You won't just be handed a second Deep Fryer from Amelia - you'll first have to prove that you can "Fry Hard" by completing a five part goal series, that is entirely separate from the lengthy Fry Hard missions released earlier this year. For the first of these five new quests, you'll need to put your original Deep Fryer to good use.

Cook 1 Deep Fried Turkey
Ask for 4 Bottles of Vegetable Oil
Spice 4 Neighbors' Stoves

As usual, the bottles of Vegetable Oil are earned through individual requests sent to your neighbors. While you're waiting for them to arrive, you can cook the Deep Fried Turkey, which takes eight hours to cook, should you not use any spices to help it along.
For Part II of V, you'll need to serve even more food, but none of it has to do with the Deep Fryer itself.

Serve 5 Chips and Guacamole
Serve 5 Triple Berry Cheesecake
Ask for 8 Oil Strainers

Chips and Guacamole takes only three minutes to prepare and serve, while Triple Berry Cheesecake takes a full twelve hours to prepare. As for the Oil Strainers, remember, they are earned through simply asking friends to send them to you.

Part III of V gets back to the deep fried tasks, by having you cook more Deep Fried Turkeys, along with collecting more items.

Ask for 6 Fryer Aprons
Ask for 8 Spider Strainers
Cook 2 Deep Fried Turkeys

Again, Deep Fried Turkeys take a full eight hours to prepare. Too bad you can't have access to the second deep fryer already, huh? You could cook both at once, saving yourself tons of time and/or a few spices. Fear not, though, as this mission is the one that unlocks the second Deep Fryer Slot for you in your cafe, so you're getting closer to that magical moment that ends your suffering!

Although you may think you're finished, you're actually not, as there are two more goals to complete, which require you to actually construct your second Deep Fryer.

Place your 2nd Deep Fryer
Cook 2 Funnel Cakes
Ask for 8 Pan Burners

Funnel Cakes take five minutes to cook, so they can be finished quickly. The actual construction of your second Deep Fryer won't be required for this goal, but you will (of course) need to complete the item's construction if you actually want to use it. The 2nd Deep Fryer requires 32 ingredients - Eight each of Large Vats, Metal Skewers, Oil Canisters, and Propane Tanks.

Finally, Part V of V asks you to have completed the 2nd Deep Fryer's construction, and then put both of your Deep Fryers to work cooking some yummy fried goodies.

Complete building your 2nd Deep Fryer
Serve 4 Deep Fried Turkeys
Serve 4 Funnel Cakes

These tasks are fairly self-explanatory. At least with the addition of a second slot for fried cooking, you'll be able to finish these tasks twice as fast as you would have otherwise, which is definitely a good thing. Now if we can only get a second slot in the Pizza Oven, that would be ok too.

What do you think of the 2nd Deep Fryer Goals in Cafe World? Would you have preferred your second Deep Fryer to come from a straight purchase, or do you like having to complete goals to unlock it?

FrontierVille Tack Room Collection helps you boost your horse's XP

Along with today's release of the upgraded Horse Corral and Horse Corral Upgrade goals in FrontierVille, you can also complete a new collection in the game in the form of the Tack Room Collection. This collection is fairly easy to complete, as you'll earn the five new items through collecting the bonus from your upgraded Corral.

Here are the five items to watch out for:

Breast Collar
String Roper Cinch
Silver Stirrups
Braided Reins
Silver Headstall

As you can see, all of the items are themed appropriately, and if you can find all five of them, you'll receive a free Apple and 25 XP for turning the collection in (along with bragging rights, if you're into finishing every collection before your friends). The Apple is a "Horse Boost" that doubles the amount of XP your active Horse will earn for a limited time. This Apple Treat is normally eight Horseshoes in the market, so that's a pretty good prize, all things considered.

Have you started earning the items necessary to complete the Tack Room Collection, or are you still trying to complete the upgrade to your Horse Corral?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

FarmVille Irish Trees: Giant Boom, Giant Gorse, Service and Wild Service Trees

It's not everyday, or every FarmVille update, that we see four new trees being released in the store at the same time, but such is the case with tonight's release. Four new trees have been added to the current Irish limited edition item theme, with two simply be giant versions of the Boom and Gorse Trees that were launched last week.

Appropriately, these are the Giant Boom and Giant Gorse Trees, and both will cost your 10 Farm Cash to purchase from the store (that's for each tree, unfortunately). If that price is too high for you, the plain Service Tree does cost less, at 5 Farm Cash. It's partner, the Wild Service Tree (which also happens to be the tree appearing from Mystery Seedlings) costs 10 Farm Cash as well, but again, it can be earned for free via a seedling, so there's really no reason to spend your Farm Cash in the store.

If you're going to buy these trees from the market, you have two weeks to do it, at which point you'll be limited to just the Mystery Seedling options, leaving these Level 1 trees (the Giant Gorse and Service Trees) out of your collection, potentially for good.

Will you purchase any of these Irish Trees for your farm? Are you just a tree collector, or do you like to master them as well?

FarmVille Irish Animals: Irish Cob Horse and Pochard Duck

Tonight's FarmVille update sees the launch of two animals in the Irish limited edition item theme. Don't be fooled though - only one of these animals is truly new, as we're seeing a re-release of an animal first seen back in March.

The truly new animal is the Pochard Duck, which costs 16 Farm Cash from the store. This duck nets you 1600 experience points for purchasing it, and it can be harvested every two days if not placed inside a Duck Pond. Meanwhile, the re-released animal is the Irish Cob Horse. If it looks familiar, you might have purchased one for your farm during the St. Patrick's Day event earlier this year.

If you missed your chance then, know that the Irish Cob Horse thankfully retains its price tag of 26 Farm Cash (that is, the price didn't go up, as we've seen in the past). Plus, you'll still have a chance of breeding an Irish Cob Foal from the adult if you place it in your Horse Stable, so nothing has changed there. Whether you're purchasing an additional Irish Cob Horse, or are just picking your first up, you'll only have the next two weeks to decide whether or not to buy one.

Did you purchase an Irish Cob Horse during the St. Patrick's Day event, or are you just picking one up this evening? Will you add the Pochard Duck to any of your Duck Ponds?

FarmVille Irish Decorations: Irish Windmill, Gerberas Flowerbed, Irish Fountain and more

Tonight's FarmVille update greatly expands upon the current Ireland limited edition item theme with two new buildings and four new decorations. All told, there are three items for both Farm Cash and coins, so you'll be able to pick and choose from the same amount of items depending on your wallet.

The two buildings are the Irish Castle and Irish Windmill. If the Irish Castle looks familiar, it should, as it was first seen in the St. Patrick's Day event back in March. While the price is still high at 45 Farm Cash, luckily, the price isn't higher than upon its first release. As for the Irish Windmill, you'll be set back 25 Farm Cash, but rest assured that this item isn't simply a re-coloring of previously released Windmills, as it does come with some added details and foliage for decorations.

Meet us behind the break for a complete look at the new decorations in this theme.


For the new decorations, only one costs Farm Cash, while the other three go for coins. The Irish Fountain costs 12 Farm Cash, but is a fairly large, three-tiered fountain that would make a statement in any virtual garden. Meanwhile, you can accessorize that garden with an Irish Garden Table for 50,000 coins, an Irish Flower Pot for 10,000 coins and Gerberas Flowerbed for 5,000 coins.

None of these items are that large, but luckily they're all cheap enough that you can buy multiple and really make a statement. Do it fast though - you'll only have two weeks to buy these from the market before they expire. Could we see them again? Perhaps, but do you really want to take that chance?

What do you think of these Irish buildings and decorations? Do you think they'll fit with your English Countryside items, or are they too different?

FarmVille Mystery Game (06/05/11): Add new Rams to your Sheep Breeding catalog

If you've been wanting to add some new patterns of Rams to your Sheep Breeding outfit in FarmVille, this week's Mystery Game will allow you to do just that, as it is comprised entirely of multi-colored Rams, each in a different pattern. However, don't get too excited - you won't be receiving a discount over purchasing these types of Rams in the market, as this week's Mystery Game has an incredibly high dart price: 30 Farm Cash each.

For that price, you'll have a chance to win one of six Rams:

Hooded Ram
Masked Ram
Red Dots Ram
Sploch Ram
Stripes Ram
Yellow Stars Ram

Unfortunately, just because you get a Ram of a specific pattern, remember that you won't be guaranteed to receive Lambs that have that pattern as well. Furthermore, the only real chance you'll have of passing on the color of these Rams is if the Ewe you mate with has a partially matching color as well. Will these Rams be worth a purchase then? That will ultimately be up to you to decide, but if you've ever wanted six different patterns right at your fingertips - here's your best chance.

Will you play this week's Mystery Game for a Ram? Which type of Ram are you hoping to win?

FarmVille's 2nd Birthday is June 18, celebrate with farmers near you

Did you buy your present yet? If FarmVille were a girl, it would daddy's girl to Zynga, so it's only fitting for the father of the most iconic social lady game to date to ring its second birthday with a global bang. On June 18, the second year of FarmVille's existence in the Internet, over 2 thousand cities and 7 thousand players (as of this writing) are planning to meet up with their fellow farmers. Then, the drinks will flow, food will be feasted and celebrations will be had in honor of the ultimate Facebook addiction.

To join a meetup, all you have to do is search for your area--or an area you're digging on if you like to travel-- and click on the "Count me in!" button. If a meetup has not been made in your area, you can create and moderate your own. Most meetups have planners already, luckily, though you can volunteer your help to planners if you're feeling extra generous.

And don't worry, these things aren't going to be awkward, we promise. How am I so confident? Come on, even if you have nothing in common with the other people at your meetup, you all have the common denominator: FarmVille! Really, if only high school reunions had FarmVille in common.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Second Birthday coverage right here.

Have you signed up for a meetup in your area? What do you think of Zynga meetups? How else will you celebrate FarmVille's birthday?

Friday, December 23, 2011

Rocket Ninja's Neil Haldar: 3D will separate the wheat from the chaff on Facebook

Games with 3D graphics are nothing new--you know that. But Facebook games with 3D graphics are, according to Rocket Ninja executive producer Neil Haldar (pictured). The company recently unleashed Shr3d, a 3D graphics engine for Flash (the platform on which almost all Facebook games are created) that requires no extra downloads.

We dug the company's first game using the technology, Wrestler: Unstoppable, but is begs a few questions. How will 3D change social games? More importantly, are social gamers ready for 3D? We sat down with Haldar recently to hash out the future of 3D in Facebook games--check it out:

Why did Rocket Ninja decide to create their own 3D Flash games engine?

Well, the way the company got started was we were really looking at ways of how to originally get into the web-based MMOs (massively multiplayer online games) space. And one of the ways the company was looking to innovate there was to remove the requirement of a significant download.

So, we started it as web-based, tried to make it as open as possible and get into the platform that is most ubiquitous and has the most number of users. [Ed. Note: Haldar is referring to the Adobe Flash Player used to display almost all Facebook games.] Second, we absolutely held up to our belief that we need to be a download-free experience in 3D.

The 3D part is important, because we wanted to deliver a different kind of gaming experience to those web browsers. It's pretty easy for an awful lot of people to throw some Flash together, make a lot of 2D stuff and have it run across a screen, but 3D requires a lot of skill and know-how. And that's what really sets us apart-as game developers, how can we express fun and entertainment inside of a web browser.

Why did you decide with your first project to add the 3D element to an existing game rather than create your own game?

The answer to that is in two parts. The first is, as you know, we started off building our own game on Facebook that was intended to be a test, and much like everyone it was a fish game called Ocean Kingdom. We learned a lot of what it takes to acquire a user, give them tools to be viral with their friends, to have them keep playing the game and eventually, you know, shake a couple coins out of them.

We learned that it's much harder to start off from scratch, especially when we need to ask the player to trust us when it comes to game content type. But also in terms of, 'Hey, I'm also bringing you 3D-trust me! 3D is much more fun, trust me!' when the whole world out there is 2D. To solve some of these things we realized that we could help accelerate other developers' games. A lot of developers are realizing that the jig is up [Ed.Note: due to Facebook's many changes in 2010.]. Things like that we think we can solve for a lot of other developers.

The second part is that, as we were thinking about the kinds of games and the kinds of community systems that best benefit from the expertise and technology that we have, this Wrestler game was a great opportunity for us. And the longer we looked at it, the more we were convinced that this would be a great acceleration product for us-something we could lend better game design to. If we could enable 3D with audio and sound to make the game experience more compelling, people would probably play the game more, and we might be able to shake a couple extra nickels and pennies out of them.

Wrestler: Unstoppable
Now, you're talking about providing these services to other developers, but are there plans to release future Rocket Ninja games developed in house?

There are a lot of really talented developers out there, and at the same time there are a lot of genius game designers and programmers that originally put the 3D engine together. You know, our experience with Wrestler was that, 'Yes, we did accelerate someone else's game, we really sort of adopted it and made it our own.' So, with the passion that the original developer had for that, they joined us as our employee full time.

We sort of blurred the lines of developing a game in house or accelerated someone else's game. These are the games that I would want to play, because I think it's a game that an awful lot of other people would want to play, but the question is: Why haven't they? If we can answer that 'why' with the tools we have in our arsenal, then that's probably a great candidate for us to add to the fold.

Now, do you think that 3D is the next answer to that 'Why?' and if so, how is 3D going to change how social games are played? Because I've yet to see many 3D Facebook games that make liberal use of the 3D space.

I know there aren't many 3D games on Facebook, but they are coming. The next major release of Adobe Flash will have incorporated technology called 'Molehill.' [This] is essentially Adobe's answer to 3D-high-quality 3D experiences within Flash. So, how does that help with the gameplay? I've been making games for a long time, and generally with every platform what happens when you make the jump from 2D the 3D is that the user is so excited about manipulating 3D objects that the emotional connection between the consumer and the game just grows leaps and bounds.

The transition to 3D is going to be very real-it's going to separate the wheat from the chaff amongst developers on social networks. When you unleash 3D onto a platform [like Facebook] that's originally been 2D, I think you're going to see an awful lot of new kinds of games coming out of that.

Shr3d EngineI've seen some social games that use 3D, but the social features take a back burner to the novelty of 3D. So, how do we change the average middle-aged mother's expectations of social games?

When you take a look at Wrestler, it's not just a social game originally built in 2D, but it has an enormous, thriving social community within the game. We allow players to play with total strangers through loose organizations. That's different than your peanut butter and jelly 2D game on Facebook. The availability of 3D will ultimately make the gaming experience much more interesting for the end user-even for grand mom. It's like the isle of Facebook gaming is full of accidental gamers.

Eventually those gamers will have greater, more sophisticated tastes. They too want different kinds of scenarios-they too want deeper pieces of entertainment to interact with. We're sort of on that cusp, and the ability for us to provide [download-free] 3D now puts us a little ahead of the pack. More importantly, it allows us to trail blaze and understand, 'What does happen when we have grand mom playing a 3D game on Facebook?' Will it change how they buy things, how they play the game, are they less social or are they more social? We're now sifting through the data to find out what that future world on Facebook looks like.

Do you think 3D necessarily leads to complexity?

No. I think there's a desire by younger developers to make 3D for 3D's sake. We think the tact of 3D should be easy to approach-navigation of 3D space is difficult for your casual consumer. So, we're not asking you to navigate 3D worlds or play first-person shooters. The 3D we have right now is pretty big, but it's simplistic using a 2D interface to interact with 3D objects. That's the right approach for starters.

Without the 3D tool set, we could not begin to approach solving interesting gameplay problems without adding to a quagmire of 2D complexity. I take a look at how FarmVille runs at it height versus Empires & Allies just 18 months later, and there are probably one hundred times as many things on my screen trying to grab my attention.

Are there any more projects you can talk about using the Shr3d engine?

Oh yeah, we certainly do. We have ongoing discussions with a bunch of different developers trying to figure out whether we can make ends meet or whether there are other games out there that belong in our acceleration pipeline. First and foremost we're a games company-you're not going to see us making medial device imaging or some crap like that. We do not intend to license our technology to anybody. Everything done to games with our technology will be something we do ourselves. Whether we built it in house or whether we accelerated somebody else's and made it our own has yet to be seen

EA won't poo-poo on PopCap, CEO Riccitiello promises

Phew--EA had us worried for a second. (But keep on your toes.) After announcing that it bought casual and social games icon PopCap for a cool $650 million and some change, gamers and the press alike worried how this would affect the Seattle-based independent developer. But according to EA CEO John Riccitiello, there's no need to worry--PopCap will be treated as a "if it's not broke" situation, according to Shacknews.

For anyone who is concerned that EA will suck the creative energy out of PopCap like one of its plant-eating zombies, don't worry, but some changes will be made. "Some of their most important designers and creators and producers are stuck to perpetually working on language localization, individual handset adaptations, individual carrier adaptations," Riccitiello said during an investors call. "It's a lot of work... It's very unproductive work for great designers." This looks to be one of wrongs EA looks to right with the acquisition.

Regardless of whether you believe Riccitiello, one thing is for sure: EA means serious business when it comes to mobile and social gaming. However, whether PopCap will be enough for the company to compete with the likes of Zynga is, of course, up in the air. And considering the companies' collective players on Facebook combined just surpasses a single Zynga game, Empires & Allies, the duo certainly has lots of work to do.

FarmVille Crafting Silo is here with new recipes and Mastery signs

After numerous rumors and sneak peeks, the Crafting Silo in FarmVille has arrived. Well, it's rolling out slowly, at least. The new building will take special materials when you harvest Trees and Animals on your farm like Manure, Yarn, Milk, Flowers and more. Then, the building will take those materials and send them over to the existing Craftshop to create new recipes.

Better yet, those new recipes will have their very own Mastery signs. The Crafting Silo has three levels of development, so we imagine the interface for the building will look much like previous releases like the Storage Cellar. However, whether the Silo automatically takes these resources or we have to put them into the SIlo manually is unknown. But what we do know is that the Crafting Silo is most likely built with Hinges, Screwdrivers and Tin Sheets--all of which can be found in the Free Gifts page. Such is life with slow roll outs, but you'll learn more as soon as we do.

Have you started your Crafting Silo yet in FarmVille? What do you think of the crafting buildings in the game so far?

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

EA Mobile Labor Day Sale: Grab some social / casual games on the cheap

This Labor Day weekend, Electronic Arts (specifically EA Mobile) is looking to help you cure any boredom you might be facing by offering a slew of iPhone / iPad games on deep, deep discounts - as in, up to 80% off.

If you're familiar with these sales (let's face it, EA Mobile throws one when anything resembling a holiday comes around), you'll recognize a lot of the games being offered. Depending on your platform, you can pick up tons of iPhone / iPod Touch games for 99 cents each, while even more iPad games are available for $1.99. Here's the full list, so get ready!

iPhone / iPod Touch - $0.99 each

    Battlefield: Bad Company 2
    Dead Space
    Dragon's Lair II
    FIFA 10
    FIFA 11
    Fight Night Champions
    NBA Jam
    NCAA Football
    Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
    Shift 2 Unleashed
    Need for Speed Undercover
    Real Racing
    Risk
    Scrabble
    The Sims 3
    The Sims 3 Ambitions
    The Sims 3 World Adventure
    Tetris
    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon


iPad - $1.99 each

    Battlefield Bad Company 2
    Battleship
    Command & Conquer Red Alert
    Clue: Secrets & Spies
    Coconut Dodge
    Dead Space
    Draw Jump
    FIFA 11
    Flight Control
    The Game of Life
    Max and the Magic Marker
    Mirror's Edge
    Monopoly
    Monopoly Here & Now: World Edition
    NBA Jam
    Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
    Shift 2 Unleashed
    Pictureka!
    Real Racing
    Reckless Racing
    Risk
    Scrabble
    SimCity Deluxe
    Snood
    Tetris
    Tiget Woods PGA Tour 12
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon
    Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
    Yahtzee


Now would be a great time to remind you that Scrabble (if you don't have it already) can now be played across platforms, including with friends on Facebook. That is, if you have Scrabble on iPhone and your friend plays the game on Facebook, you can play a game with each other, which is a cool little technology.

If EA Mobile adds more games on either platform to this sale, we'll make sure to let you know, but for now, let's go shopping!

Which of these iPhone/iPad games do you plan on buying this Labor Day weekend?

FarmVille Zoo Habitat: Everything you need to know

It may not be Wednesday, or even Sunday, but that hasn't stopped Zynga from updating FarmVille this evening with the launch of the third animal breeding building in what will eventually be a series of six. This newest building is the Zoo, and while that may sound a lot like a Wildlife Habitat, this Zoo instead allows you to store and breed some animals that you'd expect to see in Zoos, like Elephants, Bears, Penguins, Lions, Kangaroos and more. If anything about that list is exciting, it's that we'll finally be able to store those massive Elephants and reclaim all of that space on our land!

The Zoo must be built from scratch, just like the others, but you very well may have these items in your inventory already, as they've been used in other building projects before:

    10 Wrenches
    10 Pipes
    10 Shrubs


Once that's done, you'll have a new building that can store up to 20 of the above animals (again, there are 12 pages of available animals to store; this was just a slight preview), and you'll even be given a free Elephant upon completion.

From here, the Zoo works similarly to the other breeding habitats that have been released previously, in that you'll be able to collect from the Zoo once daily for a chance at either Animal Feed or a Rare / Common Mystery Baby. These babies come in round baby baskets, with yellow standing for common babies and blue standing for rare babies. Again, as usual, the common babies take just 10 Animal Feed to grow into adulthood, while rare babies take 30 Animal Feed.

Of course, there are also some goals available to complete along with this new building, and we'll make sure to give you a guide to finishing those goals as soon as possible you can check out our complete guide to completing those goals right here.

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

What do you think of the Zoo building? Were you hoping for the Aviary first, or are you happy to finally have a place to store bigger animals like Penguins and Elephants?

FarmVille Zoo Habitat Goals: Everything you need to know

Along with tonight's release of the Zoo Habitat in FarmVille comes a six-part goal series that will reward you with plenty of XP and coins, along with some new animals and Animal Feed for completing them. As a heads-up, this goal series (while lengthy) comes with the standard time limit of 14 days. If you're still working on the Pet Run Habitat goals, you'll want to finish those up as soon as possible and move onto these before they both expire - yikes!

Look the Part

    Get 6 Zookeeper Hats
    Place 1 Zoo on your Farm
    Buy 1 FarmVille Flag


The FarmVille Flag costs just 500 coins, while you'll need to post a general request to your wall asking for the Zookeeper Hats. Finishing this first goal gives you 50 XP, 1 Spotted Penguin and 2,500 coins.

A Grand Opening

    Get 6 Zoo Tickets
    Finish Building 1 Zoo
    Harvest 5 Zoo Animals


For a complete look at building the Zoo, check out our guide. Again, collecting the Zoo Tickets is a general news feed post, while the five Zoo Animals can be anything from Elephants and Penguins to Kangaroos or Bears. Finish this second goal and you'll receive 50 XP, 1 Snow Leopard (formerly an iPhone exclusive animal) and 2,500 coins.

Monkey Masquerade!

    Get 6 Monkey Masks
    Harvest 1 Zoo
    Harvest 30 Fruit Crops


It doesn't matter which fruit crop you harvest, so feel free to grow Strawberries, or another short-growth time crop to easily finish this one off. For finishing this third goal, you'll reach the halfway point and will also receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and 5 Animal Feed.

It Takes a Village...

    Get 6 Baby Bonnets
    Raise 1 Baby Zoo Animal
    Harvest 25 Peanuts


Each time you harvest from your Zoo, you'll have a chance of earning a baby animal, or you can always claim an extra posted by your friends on their walls. Depending on the baby, you'll either have to use 10 or 30 Animal Feed to help it grow. This goal rewards you with 50 XP, 2 Black Elephants and 2,500 coins.

They Work for Peanuts!

    Get 6 Peanut Bags
    Achieve Level 1 Mastery of Black Elephants
    Harvest 50 Fruit Crops


To ensure you finish the mastery task as quickly as possible, you'll want to place the Elephants inside your Zoo, as you'll be able to harvest from them once per day like clockwork (or use Farm Cash to make them "ready" again faster). For finishing this goal, you'll earn 50 XP, 5 Animal Feed and 2,500 coins.

In Full Swing

    Get 6 Zoo Guides
    Put 5 Zoo Animals in a Zoo
    Harvest 30 Vegetable Crops


If you've already filled your Zoo with 20 animals, you can always try to remove five and then place them back in to see if this counts (I don't see why it wouldn't, but stranger things have happened). For finishing this final goal in the Zoo Habitat series, you'll receive 50 XP, one Black Gallinule (a bird) and 2,500 coins.

Again, you'll need to finish these goals within two weeks, or they'll expire, taking all of these rewards with them! Hop to it farmers!

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

What do you think of these Zoo Habitat Goals? Have you already started working on them, or are you still waiting for them to roll out in your game?

FarmVille Zoo Mystery Box helps you fill your new Zoo Habitat

If you don't already have 20 animals that are ready to be placed inside your new Zoo Habitat in FarmVille, or you're just looking to add new (well, re-released) critters to your overall animal collection, why not take a look at the Zoo Mystery Box that's been released in the store this evening? This Box contains six animals that can all be stored inside the Zoo Habitat and therefore bred, but of course, the animal that you receive will be random (that is, a random animal of the six).

For 20 Farm Cash, you can purchase a single Zoo Mystery Crate, which will contain one of the following:

Amur Leopard
White Kangaroo
Chinese Dragon
Red Panda
Caiman's Lizard
Rainbow Panda

This Zoo Mystery Box will only be available for the next five days, so while you may be tempted to purchase six of these boxes to be done with it (and have a full set of animals), keep in mind that duplicates are possible, and there's no telling just how many boxes you'll need to actually purchase before it's all said and done. Good luck if you're going for one specific animal of the six, or if you'd like a complete set without breaking the bank!

Which of these six animals is your favorite? Do you already have some of these animals on your farm?

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary theme grows in surprise market update

A (small) new set of Animal Sanctuary items has been released in FarmVille this evening, containing two new animals and some decorations.

These animals are the Peafowl and Mini Zebra Pegasus. The Peafowl costs 20 Farm Cash, while the Mini Zebra Pegasus costs 35 Farm Cash. Purchasing either one of these animals gives you a large bundle of XP as a reward, with the Peafowl giving off 2000 XP and the Mini Zebra Pegasus rewarding you with 3500 XP.

As for the decorations, you can buy a Hippo-Pond (a fairly large water feature surrounded by plants and rocks, with a hippo swimming in the water) for 18 Farm Cash, a Zoo Fence for 5,000 coins or a Zebra Bench for 10,000 coins. While it's nice to see this theme receive more coin-only items, I have to admit I'm still a little disappointed in the lack of a "wow" factor. While there's no guarantee that this theme will grow any larger, we'll make sure to let you know if it does (and if my call for a more impressive coin-only item is answered).

In the meantime, make sure to take a look at these items within the next 19 days, as they'll expire after that point, with no guarantee that they'll ever return.

What do you think of tonight's surprise market update in the Animal Sanctuary theme?

Empires & Allies Power-Up Factory: Everything you need to know

Today, Zynga is going to pump ... you up! ('90s SNL fans, anyone?) The developer has released an interesting update to Empires & Allies called the Power-Up Factory.

This brand new building, introduced through a few simple Goals, allows players to build their own power-ups for us in battle. And while building the factory is certainly simple, building the power-ups inside might throw you for a loop. Let's check it out:

The Salt Mine

    Place the Power-Up Factory
    Complete the Power-Up Factory


The first Goal in this series is almost too simple. Just either click the "Build Now" button when it's presented to you, or find the building in your Inventory and place it on your Empire. Then, click the factory three times at one Energy per click to build it. And ... that's it--no friends to staff it, no special resources from friends needed. Your reward comes in the form of an EMP and a Flash Grenade, tools you'll need in the Power-Up Factory.

Empires Allies Power-Up Factory
Factory Floor

    Build 3 Power-Ups
    Use 2 Power-Ups in Combat


This is where the tough part comes in. Every single power-up requires you to ask your friends for a multitude of special resources. For instance, just one Field Repairs I power-up requires four Power Supplies, two Laser Sights and four Monkey Wrenches, all of which you must find by asking your friends to send them to you.

Empires Allies Field Repairs
Of course, you can buy the parts for Empire Points, but you may as well just the power-ups outright at that point. To use power-ups in battle, just click on the big green button and select which power-up you want to use. Unfortunately, information on the reward for completing this Goal isn't yet available. We're guessing the building wasn't so hard to create given that every single power-up requires you to ask numerous friends to create.

Check out the rest of our Empires & Allies Cheats and Tips right here. -->

Have you received these Goals and this building in E&A yet? What do you think of the requirements for creating power-ups?

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Sneak Peek: There will be dolphins?

Flipper Goes Farming? (Boy, does that sound like a straight to DVD release or what?) Just yesterday, we discovered that Zynga is working on a third FarmVille farm--known as Lighthouse Cove--after releasing English Countryside just months ago. Now, we have a sliver of an idea of what the new territory will look like, thanks a screen shot posted to the FarmVille fan page on Facebook. "Great News Everyone," the caption underneath the image reads. "FarmVille is taking farming to the coast! So stay tuned to find out more about your new farm with a cove!"

Oddly enough, the image shows absolutely nothing to do with this new farm, so we can't help but guess as to why that is. First of all, the image is one of a cove with a lighthouse, which is to be expected given the name of this expansion. But not one crop, tool, tree or farm animal? Well, there is one animal featured in the shot: two dolphins.

We can't even begin to explain why dolphins will be involved in this version of the game, but our best guess is that this adventure will focus a little less on tending to crops in the new farm and more on enjoying the scenery. Perhaps we'll see even more character development than the cursory storyline in English Countryside as farmers venture away from the soil for awhile. Either that, or we'll ride dolphins to an underwater farm off the coast of Lighthouse Cove. (Too much of a stretch?) Stay tuned.

[Image Credit: Zynga]

What do you think so far of the new expansion based on this first released image? How do you think or hope this game will be different than the previous FarmVille expansion?

Dexter Slice of Life on Facebook stalks new ground in branded games

And no, we're not just talking about how this Facebook game revolves around America's favorite serial killer. Dexter Slice of Life, the Facebook game in development at Ecko|Code (most recently of Weeds Social Club fame), looks to shake up the oft-scoffed at branded social games scene ... and leave a few nicks here and there. Ecko|Code Executive VP of Product Development Marc Fernandez is confident that Slice of Life will set a new standard for branded games on Facebook.

"We're big fans of the brand," Fernandez says of the Ecko|Code team, which already created a Dexter game for iOS devices. "We've continued to develop it and we have high hopes for it. When I sort of worked out Slice of Life, I wanted to do something very, very ambitious."

And based on both the game's teaser trailer and what Fernandez shared with us recently, Slice of Life is up to some never-before-seen concepts in a social game. Sure, 3D graphics have been done before, but is that a shockingly accurate recreation (for a Facebook game) of Dexter star Michael C. Hall in that trailer? Why yes, yes it is. But Fernandez is even more excited about how directly involved the game will be with Season 6 of Dexter when it airs Oct. 2.

Ecko|Code is working directly with the writers of Dexter so that Slice of Life will remain relevant every week with new content based off the episode that previously aired. For instance, when the game launches on Oct. 3--the day after the season premiere--the first thing players will do as Dexter is explore a scenario that was hinted at in the first episode. And this will continue throughout the season, each week bringing a new subplot of sorts from the show into Slice of Life.

Dexter Slice of Life
"That's unprecedented in these branded entertainment properties," Fernandez says. "When we launch we hope we'll have a bunch of it in the can already, but we're fighting every day to make sure that we can keep pace." But Ecko|Code isn't just working with the show's writers: Michael C. Hall directly contributed to Slice of Life with full voice over work. As you investigate and stalk your prey as Dexter, you'll be accompanied by his inner monologue.

"What's so cool about Michael C. Hall and the brand is that it's not so much about the dialog, but when Dexter's inner voice is talking," Fernandez gushes to us. "When you're playing the game and that inner voice is going off, it creates a really interesting layer of immersion there that I think people are going to enjoy."


The way players explore these subplots will always be the same: investigating, stalking and taking down bad dudes. (Like, really bad dudes--other killers.) When each week's mission releases, players will guide Dexter through an investigation of a potential hard criminal by finding clues and evidence proving his or her guilt. Once proven, you will assume direct control of Dexter as you stalk your prey, take cover to avoid getting caught, and eventually get close enough to knock 'em out ... and you know what happens after that.

Stealth-centric gameplay with enemy detection and a cover system might be a first for a Facebook game, but Ecko|Code didn't forget that this is a Facebook game, after all. That's where Dexter's Dark Passenger comes in. Along with the ability to customize your personal version of Dexter's infamous apartment complex, every player will create their very own Dark Passenger.

Through this dark side, players will be able to invade not just their friends' but anyone's territory to either kill an innocent or attack a building. When you log in and see that a player has killed an innocent on your turf, you will have to investigate that player's avatar, stalk and eventually take them out--just like during the game's story missions. While multiplayer isn't limited to your in-game Facebook friends, the more friends you have, the better your territory will fend off attacks.

Dexter Slice of Life gameplay
When asked whether it would be possible for players to slip up as Dexter and kill an innocent, Fernandez made clear that the only way that could ever happen in the game is if the writers included a scenario like that in the show. (Any Dexter fan will tell you the that Dexter follows a code of honor that prevents him from slaying innocent people.)

But after Season 6 of Dexter is over, Ecko|Code plans to retell some of the series' biggest moments. And beyond Slice of Life, branded games (and free-to-play) will always be a part of the studio's DNA. "The common understanding about branded games is that they suck," Fernandez admits bluntly. "Nobody thinks that movie or TV games are going to do anything. They have a bad reputation, but I believe that we have turned that around. Our job is to put [the brands] very finely on a ring to make something beautiful out of them."

Based on what we've seen and heard thus far, we're excited to see whether Ecko|Code makes good on its goals come Oct. 3, when the game releases on Facebook. Plus, we're just happy to finally have a place to satisfy our own Dark Passenger. That guy just won't shut up already about killing and maiming. We think he has a problem.

Are you psyched for this social rendition of Dexter on Facebook? What do you think of Ecko|Code's approach to branded games on Facebook?

Vote for the winner of the Design-a-Zombie Contest

Update: This contest has come to an end! The top 4 will receive a Facebook message from Alexander Armero this week. Be sure to check back in with blog.games.com for any future contests. Thanks for voting!

For the past two weeks you've been sending in your craziest zombie ideas to our Plants vs. Zombies: Design-a-Zombie Contest. Now, after picking the top ten ideas, it is time for you to vote for a winner.

After receiving dozens of zombie submissions, the following ten stood out as the best ideas. Read through the zombie ideas below, then vote on your favorite!

Which zombie idea is the best? (Poll Closed)
Clown Zombie 16.03%  (366 votes) 

Stilts Zombie 15.24%  (348 votes) 

Werewolf Zombie 13.45%  (307 votes) 

Evil Fairy Godmother Zombie 10.6%  (242 votes) 

Magician Zombie 10.47%  (239 votes) 

Devil Woman Zombie 10.34%  (236 votes) 

Creepy Cat Lady Zombie 7.49%  (171 votes) 

Blonde Bombshell Zombie 6.79%  (155 votes) 

Skin Head Zombie 6.09%  (139 votes) 

Lounge Singer Zombie 3.5%  (80 votes) 


Total Votes: 2,283
Comments (8) Share ThisCreate Your Own Poll 

Clown Zombie
Clown zombie would have a little zombie clown monkey. He would have big, brightly colored, bloody shoes with toes sticking out. He'd have a medium amount of health but he would move erratically (forwards, backwards and maybe into different rows!). As he walked the monkey would lob rotten bananas. When facing a plant, the monkey would jump off the clown's shoulder and they both would eat the plant faster. When up against a Wall-nut, the monkey would jump over it to attack the plant behind it. When injured badly, the clown would throw the monkey!
Submitted by Randy Ford.

Werewolf Zombie
Werewolf Zombie would be large, about the size of the giant zombie, and have above average strength. He would have straggly brown fur, with a big head and fangs bared. He skulks forward on 2 feet, with arms up in classic zombie style but alternately moving up and down -- so he moves slowly. He lets out an initial howl when he first enters the yard, and when facing a plant he growls and eats it savagely.
Submitted by Lauren Wilson.

Stilts Zombie
Stilts Zombie would be a normal zombie using stilts. This zombie would only begin to eat plants after both stilts fall off. He would walk fast with the stilts, bounding over plants, eager to eat the brains of the humans inside the house. But after one stilt breaks, the zombie would have to hop until the other one broke as well, at which point the Stilts Zombie would be reduced to a regular zombie. The wooden stilts would be easy to break, and the zombie would have average defense like any usual zombie. :)
Submitted by Marko Terzic.

Evil Fairy Godmother Zombie
Evil Fairy Godmother Zombie would wear a tutu and carry a wand. Her wand would make all plants, Peashooters etc, fall asleep. Her weakness? Gold! While one may be able to kill her with the right amount of Flamingpeas etc, the most efficient way to kill her would be by popping out a Gold Peashooter (a Peashooter that shoots gold at the enemy). All this Evil Fairy Godmother wants is to consume your gold, and with a Gold Peashooter, one can surely finish her off easily. When facing a plant that she has already put to sleep with her lovely wand, she would dance over them gracefully and end up either being run over by the lawn mower, or entering your house to search for your gold to no avail and will, unfortunately, end up eating your BRAIN!
Submitted by Ichbin Das Krümelmonster.

Skin Head Zombie
Skin Head/Punk Zombie would wear big doc martens, have punk/skin head hair, would have turned up jeans and a punk jacket. He would have high defense power. When being attacked by a flower he would use his doc marten boots to crush it. His hair would be like razor blades if he had a Mohican. He would also be able to pull sharp objects out of his jacket to throw at the flower. With his boots it would take just a few amount of shots to kill the plants, but with his other weapons it would take longer. LONG LIVE PUNK ZOMBIE.
Submitted by Beth Oldfield.

Devil Woman Zombie
I'd make a female zombie dressed in a red devil suit who breaths fire. When the zombie blew it's fire the plant will catch and burn out, but continue to catch the others ones on fire. To stop the fire from spreading the player would be forced to remove the surrounding plants, thus leaving the other zombies an easier way through. Her name would be She-fir-ombie.
Submitted by Shardae Parsons.

Magician Zombie
Magician Zombie is dressed in top hat and tails like a classical magician. When facing a plant, he would pull a zombie rabbit out of his hat, set it on the ground and it would e...at the plant. As the zombie rabbit eats the plant it would multiply, and these new zombie rabbits would start to eat other plants. The Magician Zombie would also have the power to disappear and reappear at another spot on the screen, if he is being attacked, by waving his magic wand.
Submitted by Russell Sapp.

Lounge Singer Zombie
Lounge Singer Zombie would be cheesy, carrying an old fashioned microphone and he would stop at random to serenade anyone around at th time. He would cause a distraction by singing, which could be a welcome momentary break fo a player. I picture an old leisure suit and a big toothy (albeit decayed) grin.
Submitted by John Nelson.

Creepy Cat Lady Zombie
Creepy Cat Lady Zombie would look old and dress old-school in something grandmas would wear. She would have a cat on her head or shoulder or what the hell, why not just have cats all over her? Her special ability would be to send weak, but fast small zombie cats.
Submitted by Bobby Minh Dao.

Blonde Bombshell Zombie
My perfect Zombie would be a blonde bombshell complete with a white dress, blonde big hair, and heels. She attacks plants by hugging and kissing them to death.
Submitted by Leitha Garrett Ingram.

Remember, the top four zombie ideas will win awesome prizes. Check out the prizes on the contest page right here.

Did you vote for your favorite zombie idea? Which one did you like best?

CityVille invaded by Empires & Allies' Captain Krunsch, but why?

And here we thought we were done with cross promotions between Zynga games. It looks like Captain Krunsch, one of the villains within Zynga's Empires & Allies, has invaded the beaches in CityVille. The little guy has appeared on a stretch of rocks to players that have expanded out to the Beach in the game, and he has something to say.

"I could run this town in my sleep," the message from the miniature character reads as he lands on CityVille shores on a rowboat, megaphone in hand. "And I plan on sleeping in the governor's mansion tonight!" Basically, Krunsch is after Governor Phil, a relatively minor character in the game, for whatever reason.

It was our understanding that RewardVille, Zynga's program that rewards players with in-game items for playing more Zynga games daily, was to do away with the cross-game promotions of the developer's past. But we can't think of a better reason for this event than to promote Empires & Allies, which has been steadily losing monthly players since it peaked at over 53 million earlier this summer, according to AppData.

Captain Krunsch talking to CityVille
Perhaps Zynga is looking to its tried and true method of keeping its players in multiple games, meaning RewardVille might not be providing the results the company was hoping for. Hey, maybe everything is peachy keen and Zynga simply wants to try something new. Regardless, how this event will tie both games' overall narratives together is the most interesting mystery Captain Krunsch has stirred up yet. We'll keep you posted.

[Image Credit: Zynga, Holly Spring]

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

Have you seen Captain Krunsch appear in your version of CityVille yet? What do you think this cross promotional event will be like?

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Facebook Pokémon clone MinoMonsters migrates to iOS for $1

You might remember MinoMonsters, game developer Josh Buckley's take on Pokémon for Facebook. Well, that game was either just a test or a flop for the 17-year-old entrepreneur, as his new studio has re-released the game as an iPhone and iPad app. In this new-and-improved MinoMonsters, players must journey across the Kingdom of Zancardi, capturing and battling creatures called Minos for, well, the sake of battling monsters. Come on, it's not as if Pokémon's plot is rock solid either.

The youngin's new studio is called MinoMonsters Inc., so you can tell the guy's dedicated to the concept, which will cost you $.99 on the App Store. Once purchased, you can start trading blows back and forth in turn-based bouts with opponents' monsters either within the game's story or your friends from anywhere in the world. Just like in Pokémon, players' monsters gain new abilities and will become stronger, which helps players find new monsters and defeat tougher opponents.
MinoMonsters in action
The first thing we noticed with these screens of the game in action are the impressive, seemingly hand-drawn graphics. Seriously, this game looks like an episode of Pokémon--look, the comparisons are inevitable at this point--at least when still. MinoMonsters (the company) promises that you can find players to do battle with in under 30 seconds. The game's primary competition on iOS, Monster Galaxy, doesn't seem to have multiplayer just yet. So, now MinoMonsters is the closest you're going to get a Pokémon game on your iPhone.

Click here to download MinoMonsters for $.99 on the App Store Now >

Are you craving that Pokémon experience on your iPhone? Do you think a game like MinoMonsters can feed the need?

Number of Diner Dash maker Playfirst staffers get axed in restructuring

An unspecified number of Playfirst employees were served the worst dish last week: unemployment. The San Francisco-based social and casual game maker, known best for its Diner Dash franchise, laid off a number of staffers due to "restructuring", according to Gamasutra. The website reports that the developer held more than 100 employees as of late last year, just as the studio opted to focus more on social and mobile games.

Unfortunately, that initiative hasn't fared so well for Playfirst, as the developer was forced to close all of its Facebook games, including Diner Dash and Chocolatier, due to poor performance in the face of big league players like Zynga and EA. In fact, Gamasutra reports that a number of ex-Zynga and Playdom employees that joined Playfirst have since left the company. Nevertheless, the developer looks to press on.

"Our future plans are to continue to focus on the mobile casual gaming space," Playfirst VP of marketing Katie Kihorany told Gamasutra. "Part of this focus means continually making sure that the organization is structured to allow us to focus on creating those great games. Unfortunately, sometimes that means restructuring, so that we can better achieve this goal."

The company would not disclose to Gamasutra exactly how many employees were let go last week. And if Playfirst's iconic Diner Dash franchise--which boasts over 550 million downloads--can't succeed on Facebook, what can? It's terribly unfortunate news like this that affirms the even more unfortunate notion that the fat cats of Facebook gaming will only get fatter.

[Via IndustryGamers]

This Scrubs game for Android says, 'It's never too soon for nostalgia'

Come on, Scrubs was canceled a little over a year ago. And it's last few seasons weren't even that great. (Yeah, I said it!) Luckily, it looks like mobile game maker HeroCraft has opted to focus on the golden years of J.D., Turk and Dr. Cox's escapades in its Android game based on the hit comedy. Simply know as "Scrubs", the game is scheduled to hit the Android Market on Dec. 14.

The Scrubs game, which was first revealed this summer for both iOS and Android devices, will throw players into the role of Sacred Heart's newest intern. With that, players will have to help patients and solve mysteries to help restore the hospital's reputation, according to PocketGamer. In other words, and based on the trailer below, it looks a lot like a hidden-object game.


However, HeroCraft has mixed things up with a few mini games to mix things up amongst the slew of hidden-object scenarios. Of course, the developer has made strides to inject some of the show's quirky humor into the game. The game has yet to be priced, but we're going to ballpark it somewhere between $.99 and "free"--call us dreamers. But for unlimited access to that version of Zach Braff's mug, we'd pay much, much more for the laughs alone.

Were you a big time Scrubs fan when the show was still on? Is an Android game enough to feed the need for J.D.?

The Godfather: Five Families takes an exclusive hit out on Google+

Google+ just made hardcore social gamers an offer they can't refuse. Kabam announced that its new ... family-oriented social game, The Godfather: Five Families, hits Google+ exclusively today, and it'll stay that way for the next 45 days. In fact, this is the first game to release exclusively on Google's games platform, meaning not both there and on Facebook, capiche?

The game, set in the Prohibition Era before the events of the first film, employs many of the same gameplay hooks found in existing Kabam games: build armies, sic armies against enemies or defend your friends asynchronously, repeat. However, this social take on the Oscar-winning franchise packs features that spice up the social strategy gaming formula, namely "Families".

Upon starting the game, players must choose to join one of five Families (get it?). The concept of "Families" introduces a level of tension to the alliances players make, because there can only be one Don. Perhaps it's thanks to features like this that Five Families is said to have enjoyed the most successful beta test in Kabam history.
Five Families in action
"The Godfather: Five Families has enjoyed the best ever beta period for a Kabam game," Kabam COO Chris Carvalho said in a release. "To support the exclusive launch on The Godfather: Five Families on Google+, Google will provide promotional support to maximize the game's visibility to Google+ users. This is our fourth title to launch on Google+ and they have repeatedly exceeded our expectations."

It's nice to hear that Google will somehow support Five Families, as the size of the network's audience could be a cause for concern, especially for a game launching exclusively on the platform. Then again, "hardcore" social gamers are said to be a dedicated bunch, and they'll certainly know where to find their next family.

Click here to play The Godfather: Five Families on Google+ Now >

Do you consider yourself "hardcore" social gamer? Do you plan on trying the game out on Google+, or will you wait until it hits Facebook?

Bejeweled is new and improved on iOS, while Blitz goes solo for free

Your second life of destroying shiny gems to techno music is about to enter its next chapter. Social and casual game maker PopCap announced that it has re-released Bejeweled to the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch in a brand new, much-improved app. This new hotness is said to sport Retina Display graphics, new game modes including Zen Mode from Bejeweled 3 and more.

More like a Diamond Mine mode pulled right from Bejeweled 3 as well, personal leaderboards and support for multiple player profiles and several achievement badges with four levels each (bronze, silver, gold and platinum). However, there is one catch: You're going to have to download the game again for $.99, as this game is officially replacing Bejeweled 2 + Blitz on the App Store. We know, we were shocked too, but who are you kidding? You and I both know you're already in the App Store.

Besides, it's not as if PopCap didn't include two new play modes and high-resolution graphics or anything. As for the Facebook-connected Bejeweled Blitz? It's now a stand-alone freemium game on the App Store, meaning you can play the game for absolutely free, but you have the option to purchase additional power-ups to boost your ranking among friends. (However, we're guessing that this change will introduce the Hearts system to this version of the game, which is a bummer.) In short, it's just like the Facebook game, but in your phone. The future is awesome, we know. Both games are slowly rolling out today.

Are you down with buying another version of Bejeweled for your iOS device, given the new features introduced? Where do you play Bejeweled Blitz more: on your phone or on Facebook?

Alec Baldwin's love for Words With Friends got him booted off a plane

Alec Baldwin really digs Zynga's Word With Friends, and an American Airlines flight attendant didn't like that so much, apparently. CNN reports that the actor was allegedly kicked off of a plane sitting on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport after an attendant confronted him for playing the mega popular Scrabble-style mobile game.

"Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt," Baldwin tweeted on Tuesday. The 30 Rock star seems to have taken the incident in stride, and soon after tweeted, "Now, as I was kicked off this flight, the word I was playing was UNITED." We think you get the joke.

Now, it's not clear whether Baldwin was kicked off of the airplane specifically for playing Words With Friends, as American Airlines refused to comment on exactly why the actor was removed from the plane and onto another flight. Baldwin continued his zingers against the airline, later tweeting that the company is "where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950's find jobs as flight attendants." Ouch!

When CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin tagged the actor in a tweet asking about Words With Friends, Baldwin (the actor) admitted, "It's...well....addicting," according to CNN. We feel your pain, Baldwin. Actually, we bet Emma Stone, Mila Kunis and Jimmy Fallon are right there with you.

[Via Mashable]

Are you hooked on Words With Friends like Alec Baldwin seems to be? Do you think the actor was right in his response?

Retro World contest: Enter to get your 15 minutes of fame

Still waiting for your 15 minutes of fame? Entertainment Games' new Retro World Photo contest might be your lucky break. Enter and you might win a starring role in this new point-and-click adventure game on Facebook alongside some of Hollywood's most memorable faces, such as Elvis "The Pelvis" Presley, Marilyn Monroe and a much (much) younger rendition of Dick Clark.

retro star contest

To enter the contest, submit a full-body picture of you wearing your best Sixties era getup. Two pictures will be chosen and the winners will star in a new episode of the game. Click here to enter the contest. While you're at it -- give the game a try. Love it or hate it, Retro World certainly offers something a little different than the rest of those 'Ville' games out there.

Monday, December 12, 2011

CityVille celebrates the Golden Arches with branded McDonald's Restaurant

After the disappointment concerning the Coca Cola promotion in CityVille (that was only temporarily - as in, for a few hours - available in the United States), Zynga is apparently looking to make it up to users by partnering with yet another real-world brand for a new business in the game. This time, we're talking Big Macs and French Fries, as you can now build your very own McDonald's in town (at least for the next 19 days).

Whether you'd like to build just a single McDonald's, or create a more true-to-life scenario (with one on practically every corner), you'll be able to nab one (or ten) McDonald's Restaurants from the store for 5,000 coins each. Each one must be built separately and supplied with Goods individually, just like the game's other businesses. It takes 100 Goods to operate, and will give you 500 coins each time those Goods are used.

As with previous branded businesses (the Capital One Bank, for one), you'll have incentive to repeatedly supply and collect from your McDonald's, as you'll receive a special, limited edition decoration once you've reached 50 points (that's 50 cycles of supplying and collecting). There's a catch, however: you need to earn those points within the next 26 days. The decoration wasn't given a name in the few in-game pop-ups detailing this event, but we do know it comes with an 18% payout bonus. If anything, it will likely be a statue, as that's the route we've seen the game take before.

With this, we have now had a branded fast-food restaurant, electronics store (Best Buy), soda factory and even a bank. I can only imagine what sorts of businesses we'll see released next, but whatever they turn out to be, we'll make sure to let you know!

Have you already built a McDonald's or two in your CityVille town? What do you think of the look of this particular branded business?

FarmVille Huge Jack-O'Lantern Goals: Everything you need to know

To coincide with the launch of the Huge Jack-O'Lantern in FarmVille last night, Zynga has now launched a new nine-part goal series across all three farms that deal with Halloween tricks and treats. That's right, there are nine goals to complete in all, with a two-week limit being placed on the whole bunch. As you can complete them even back in your Home Farm, however, you aren't limited to how many plots you can plant at once (that is, unless you farm simply can't hold anymore due to its size), so at least farming-specific tasks won't be as difficult as those found in Lighthouse Cove's many goals. Either way, here's a complete guide to making your way through these Huge Jack-O'Lantern goals!

A Peculiar Place

    Get 6 Halloween Masks
    Expand Jack-O'Lantern to Stage 1
    Harvest 100 Black Tulips


The six Halloween Masks can be earned by posting a general news item to your feed asking your friends to help you out. As for the Black Tulips, these are a limited time crop that takes a full day to grow. For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 100 XP, a Cauldron and 1,000 coins.

Something Amiss

    Get 6 Candy Buckets
    Upgrade Jack-O'Lantern to Stage 2
    Harvest 150 Squash


The stages of the Jack-O'Lantern are reached at 25, 50, 75, 100, and 150 Treats (thus far). You should have no problem earning a few dozen, however, even if all you did was collect bonuses posted by your friends as I'm sure that the vast majority of your neighbors will be readily participating in this event as well. Squash, meanwhile, takes a full two days to grow. For completing this second goal, you'll earn 100 XP, a Creepy Plant decoration and 1,000 coins.

Et Tu, Duckula

    Get 6 Lollipops
    Harvest Duckula's Castle
    Harvest 150 Black Tulips


Again, the Lollipops are earned through a general news feed item. The Duckula's Castle - once constructed - can be harvested from once every 24 hours. Finish this goal and you'll receive 100 XP, 1,000 coins and a Pumpkin Chicken (that's a cute tan chicken dressed as a pumpkin, of course).

An Unexpected Guest

    Get 6 Banquet Invitations
    Harvest 1 Orchard
    Harvest Pumpkin Chicken


Just place your Pumpkin Chicken out on your farm as soon as you receive it and you'll simply need to wait for it to be ready to harvest. There have been bugs in the past that prevent things from counting if you place the animals in storage buildings, so I'd suggest leaving it out in the open until you've passed at least this goal. Finishing this goal gives you 100 XP, a Candelabra (a re-released decoration from previous years' themes) and 1,000 coins.

A Poignant Proposition

    Get 6 Party Favors
    Expand Jack-O'Lantern to Stage 4
    Harvest 150 Pumpkins


Pumpkins take eight hours to grow. Once you finish this goal, you will have officially reached the halfway point of these goals, and you'll receive 100 XP, a Gargoyle Statue (another re-released decoration) and 1,000 coins.

A Magnificent Banquet

    Get 6 Table Centerpieces
    Master Pumpkin Chicken to One Star
    Harvest 150 Black Tulips


If you only rarely clean out your Gift Box, you might have some extra Table Centerpieces in your inventory, as they've been used before in goals in Lighthouse Cove (as have a few other items we've already seen in these goals). If not, this one is earned through direct requests sent to individual friends. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 250 XP, 2,500 coins and a Vampiress Duck.

Wolf? Where?!

    Get 10 Spooky Decorations
    Harvest 300 Pumpkins
    Harvest Vampiress Duck


Spooky Decorations are earned through individual gift requests. Finish this goal and you'll receive 500 XP, a Tombstone and 5,000 coins. Yet again, this Tombstone is a re-released item that you might already have on your farm or in storage.

Hitting the Books

    Get 10 Old Books
    Harvest Duckula's Castle
    Harvest 400 Red Tulips


The Old Books are earned through a news feed post, while Red Tulips take a full day to harvest. Remember, these goals aren't specific to one farm, so if you don't have 400 individual plots on a single farm, feel free to plant some on multiple farms until you reach the required total. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 500 XP, a Pumpkin Horse and 5,000 coins.

A Hairy Situation

    Get 12 Spooky Grails
    Harvest 500 Black Tulips
    Master Black Tulips to Two Stars


If you had already started planting Black Tulips before this goal series even launched, you very well may have mastered the entire crop (again, before the goal series started). That being the case you'll simply need to make your way through these various requirements until this mastery task completes itself in the end. Wasted time? Sure, but at least you'll receive some pretty cool prizes along the way. Speaking of, finishing this final goal in the Huge Jack-O'Lantern goal series gives you 500 XP, one Pegacorn and 5,000 coins.

While this goal series is a lengthy one, I wouldn't put it past the big Z to release another goal series, or even another Halloween-themed event in the game before things are said and done. If that happens to be the case, we'll make sure to let you know.

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

What do you think of these Huge Jack-O'Lantern goals in FarmVille? Are you excited to earn these prizes, or were you hoping for something more / different?

FarmVille: New Cranberry Sauce crafting recipe celebrates fall

If you've been looking for more recipes to craft inside your Lighthouse Cove Restaurant in FarmVille, here's one for you: a new, limited edition recipe has been added to the Restaurant this week, taking advantage of plenty of Cranberries. The recipe is one you'll be seeing a lot of in the future weeks and months, both in the in-game world and in the real world, thanks to holidays: Cranberry Sauce.

For this virtual version, you'll now have access to the recipe which starts at level one, but is only available to craft for the next 16 days. It takes three Cove Cranberry, three regular Cranberry and two Dill bushels for each Cranberry Sauce you'd like to craft. From there, it's the same process as always - waiting six hours for it to finish crafting, and then coming back in later to actually "complete" the process. As you craft the recipe more and more, you'll level it up.

Remember though, while other recipes require far more crafting to master, this one simply requires you to get to level 20 for the entire thing. At level 20, you'll not only walk away with the expected crafting recipe mastery sign, but it will come complete with all five stars to boot! Again, this is a limited time recipe, so you'll definitely have to put forth plenty of effort to unlock that mastery sign, but if you do, you'll be able to share it proudly knowing that those who miss out might never have a chance at it again. Want to be in on the action? Make sure to start crafting as soon as you can!

Will you try to mastery Cranberry Sauce during its brief time in the game? How many limited edition crafting recipes did you manage to master in past events?

FarmVille Halloween Items: Dark Peach Tree, Black Guinea Pig and more

In tonight's FarmVille update, we see some Halloween items from previous years coming back to the farm, along with plenty of new items if you've got some Farm Cash or coins on hand to spare. There are two pairs of trees, along with some animals and decorations, and even another costume idea if you've yet to decide what you want your avatar to be this year. Check out all of the items below in our complete rundown.

Trees

Black Cherry Tree - 5 Farm Cash
Giant Black Cherry Tree - 5 Farm Cash
Dark Peach Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Dark Peach Tree - 14 Farm Cash

The pair of Black Cherry Trees are re-releases here, which explains their cheaper price tags (too bad all tree couldn't still go for those prices, huh?). There's nothing different amount them, and the mastery points are the same, so there's no reason to purchase more if you already have a supply growing on your farm(s). As for the Dark Peach Trees, the Giant version can be earned for free from Mystery Seedlings (as you might have suspected), so there's also no reason to purchase it either (unless you simply can't wait for Mystery Seedlings and have to have one of these trees right now.

Animals

Hackney Palomino - 26 Farm Cash
Black Cherry Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Black Guinea Pig - 700,000 coins
Nightmare Chicken - 20 Farm Cash
Witch Cat - 12 Farm Cash

Here, the Black Cherry Horse and Witch Cat are re-releases, while the Hackney Palomino is yet another animal being released in the Halloween theme that really has nothing to do (visually, I mean) with the holiday. Still, if you're a Horse collector, get ready to spend some Farm Cash adding it to your collection.

Buildings

Pumpkin Tree House - 25 Farm Cash

This one's only animation is a crow that sits on the top of the actual Pumpkin House, which is disappointing, as it would've been great to see the spider webs or lantern swinging in the breeze. Still, the item looks cool enough; I just don't know if it looks 25 Farm Cash cool enough. Maybe that's just me.

Decorations

Eyeball Flower Bush - 80,000 coins
Eyeball Lake - 18 Farm Cash
Halloween Table - 100,000 coins
Bat Tree - 5 Farm Cash
Halloween Planter - 30,000 coins

Here, the Bat Tree is technically a new item, even though a very similar item has been released in the game in the past with the same name. This version of the Bat Tree is skinny, with a pumpkin resting alongside the trunk, while the older Bat Tree is much larger with a face that lights up through cutouts in the trunk. I point out these two differences as the in-store picture of this newest Bat Tree does look pretty similar to the item you might already have on your farm. If you're a collector, keep in mind that they are indeed different.

Also, if you purchase six of these items (trees and the like included), you'll receive an Owl Pumpkin for free. This Owl sits atop a barrel decorated with pumpkins and is therefore just a decoration, unable to be "harvested."

Avatar Costumes

Ghost - 150,000 coins
Skeleton Suit - 5 Farm Cash

You might already have the costume in your closet if you purchased it last year, so don't panic if it's not showing up in your market. As for the Skeleton Suit, this one's one of the cheapest options available (so far) this year, so if you'd like to dress up as a classic Halloween character, there you go.

These Halloween items will be available in the game's store for the next two weeks. Make sure to do some shopping fast, as it's likely that many more items will be released between now and Halloween proper, and you won't want to get overwhelmed!

Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.

What do you think of tonight's new and re-released Halloween items? Which ones will you purchase for decorations on your farm?

FarmVille: Home Farm Unwither Ring back for five days only

Here we go again, farmers! Your opportunity to purchase one of the most exclusive (yet functional) items in the entirety of FarmVille is now once again here. If you've yet to purchase an Unwither Ring for your farm, you now have the opportunity to do so by heading into the game's store on your Home Farm and shelling out Farm Cash to do so. How much Farm Cash? A whopping 250, to be exact.

If you're new to the game, or just need a refresher, the Unwither Ring is a permanent addition to your farm that will stop your crops from withering ever again. It doesn't matter how long you leave them; you can go on vacation, or simply stop playing the game for an extended period of time, but will come back to fresh crops when you do finally return.

As usual, if you already have a ring, or know someone who might get more use out of it (or just appreciate the gesture), you can also send an Unwither Ring to a special farmer in your life. This particular version comes in a blue box, but functions the same as those released previously. To make things especially clear, when you click on the item in the store, you're told that this Unwither Ring will be locked to your "Home Farm," so you'll still have to worry about withering crops on your English Countryside and Lighthouse Cove farms.

With the current rate of exchange for Farm Cash, this Unwither Ring costs more than $40 - is it worth it? Some farmers must think so, or Zynga wouldn't keep releasing the ring for purchase. Still, it does leave me to wonder what other in-game goodies I could be spending all of that money on instead...

Have you purchased an Unwither Ring on any of your farms? Do you think the peace of mind is worth the high price tag?

Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots on iOS: A bomb-filled blast of a branded game

Prepare to get blown up ... a lot. But that's OK, because Halfbrick has created one beautiful branded game in Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots ($.99 iPhone; $1.99 iPad) for iOS devices. It's easy to consider this version a direct sequel to the original Fruit Ninja for how fresh it feels and the bevy of new concepts it brings to the table. And it's damn difficult--alright, Arcade Mode was getting a bit soft anyway.

Those looking for a challenge will feel right at home in Puss in Boots (PiB) in both of its gameplay modes: Desperado and Bandito. The former, unfortunately, isn't much more than your standard Classic Mode from the original. Fruit is flung, you're given just three hearts that disappear when you miss fruit and slicing a bomb means game over. However, there are these magic beans that are thrown from time to time and--if you have all three hearts--you'll score 25 points for chopping them, but they can also restore hearts when you're low.

Of course, there is a number of new backgrounds to unlock and fresh blades with amusing effects, like the Guitar Blade and Cat Claws Blade. PiB boasts both OpenFeint and Game Center support, so it's your choice which mobile social game network to hang out on. Regardless, both of which have achievements to collect, though the former seems to have plenty more than the latter. But enough with the boring stuff.
Gallery: Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots on iOS
We've saved the best for last: Bandito. This gameplay mode alone is what will make this game feel as if it's a direct sequel to Fruit Ninja. Essentially, Bandito is a gauntlet of goofy yet hellish challenges that test your reflexes more than any Fruit Ninja game has thus far. (Well, maybe aside from Fruit Ninja Kinect.) And the parlor game feel this mode emanates fits perfectly with the Renaissance flair of Dreamworks's world.

There are four Acts to Bandito: San Ricardo, Cat Cantina, Sky Castle and the Finale. The locations merely change the backdrop, but each Act will provide you with four randomized challenges, one of which always more challenging than the rest. Oh, and you only have three hearts throughout the entire session. (No pressure, right?) The challenges range from slicing fruits that appear between various formations of bombs to slicing fruits that appear in windows surrounded by bombs and slicing all of the fruit bouncing around one giant bomb. So, yes, there are a lot of bombs.
Fruit Ninja Puss in Boots Bandito
You're scored after each challenge based on your accuracy, the amount of fruit you managed to slice and your reflexes. The latter we imagine measures the time between when a fruit appears and your slice, or the time between consecutive dices. Your days of pussyfooting (too easy) in Zen Mode are over. Sadly, this writer has yet to even see the Finale, so consider that a measure of the challenge that lies before you. But it's the variety in each time you play Bandito that will bring you back for more.

Halfbrick could have easily rereleased stock Fruit Ninja with some fancy new blades, Puss in Boots's voice and branding all over it in time for the movie that hits Oct. 28. But the developer took care not to diminish its prized franchise, which is nearly everywhere these days. For all intents and purposes, Puss in Boots is the spiritual successor to Fruit Ninja.

Click here to download Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots on the App Store Now >

Are you a Fruit Ninja fan waiting for the next big game? What do you think of Halfbrick's approach to branding in Puss in Boots?

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Lucky Space update hits the (new) desert, and we have pics [Exclusive]

Lucky Space content update
Wait a tick: Wasn't the first planet essentially a desert that was just all ... purple? At any rate, A Bit Lucky has released a major content update to Lucky Space with a brand new planet to explore that looks more traditionally "desert". The update allows the game's 280,000 monthly players to complete time-sensitive missions and compete in a new scoring system.

According to A Bit Lucky, the timed missions are generally set in three, five or seven-day intervals. For instance, one of the new timed missions on the desert planet, Red Gold, tasks players with mining as much ore as possible in three days. Should they mine enough ore, players will earn Space Bucks and other rare items for their colonies. It sounds like the new scoring system will contain friendly and global leaderboards, and we're guessing those will include these new timed missions.
Gallery: Lucky Space on Facebook
Exclusive 1Exclusive 2Exclusive 3Exclusive 4
"Since launching Lucky Space earlier this fall, we've been hard at work creating new content to keep our fans entertained and engaged," A Bit Lucky director of product management Whalen Rozelle said in a release. "The addition of challenges, leaderboards and trophies are sure to bring out the competitive nature of gamers, adding another dynamic to the game."

Based on these exclusive screen shots provided by A Bit Lucky, it looks like more of the same but on a new rock and with more pressure to win. We love hearty competition as much as the next gamer, but we just hope this new content in Lucky Space takes on the same humor as its launch. Keep breaking that fourth wall, guys--no, seriously. It's hilarious.

Have you been digging Lucky Space since it released earlier this fall? If not, do you think this content will pique your interest?

Frogger may be 30 years old, but he's leaping onto the iPhone for free

Look, for an amphibian that insists on leaping into oncoming traffic, Frogger is damn old. But Frogger turns 30 this year, and he's determined to ring in the milestone with a bang. Konami has released Frogger Free for iOS on the App Store, a Facebook-connected version of the classic (with three new modes, mind you) for the ultimate price of zero dollars and zero cents.

For ultimate nostalgia trip, players can enjoy Frogger in all its retro glory with multiple control styles including swipe, touch and tilt. Those control options extend into the game's three new gameplay modes: Turbo, Nighttime and Inferno. Turbo we imagine simply sends those cars and trucks into overdrive, while Nighttime seems to simply change the color scheme. Inferno, however, leaves a trail of flames in Frogger's wake that limits players' moves as they lead more frogs across the highway.

This version of Frogger features and Facebook Connect, meaning players can share their accomplishments with their friends across local, friendly and global leaderboards. The game also features 10 achievements for players to collect, but we all know none will be as prestigious as surpassing the ultimate high score: 896,980 points. This game follows Frogger's first original game on Facebook, Frogger Pinball. With two new, free ways to celebrate how Frogger's miraculous survival of 30 years of jay-hopping, you pretty much have no excuse.

Click here to download Frogger Free for iPhone and iPad on the App Store Now >

Are you still a Frogger fanatic after all these years? Where can the frog go from here?