FarmVille Sneak Peek: Garden Trellis Bench, Stone Cottage, Egg Basket and more

A set of new unreleased FarmVille images has surfaced today, giving us a sneak peek of some of the items we can expect to launch in the game not only for the upcoming Easter holiday celebration, but perhaps as a continuation to the current English Countryside theme.

These items are the Garden Trellis Bench, the Stone Cottage (the one building in this release), the Bluebells Knoll, and the Spring Flower Egg Basket. Personally, the name of the last item - the Spring Flower Egg Basket - seems entirely too long, so we'd assume that the item will undergo a name change before officially be released in the game's store, or in some other method if that's what Zynga intends. Also, this is one of the smallest decorations we've seen, at least from its preview image, which gives us a pretty good feeling that the decoration will be available for coins, rather than Farm Cash. Anything could happen of course, but that's a fairly educated guess.

Speculation aside, we'll make sure to bring you all of the news about these items and more as they launch in the game, so keep checking back.

Are you excited for Easter items to be added to FarmVille, in addition to the already released Spring items?

FarmVille English Countryside Sneak Peek: The Royal Wedding

Not only will you be able to stream Price William and Kate Middleton tying the knot on YouTube, but Zynga wants you to reenact it ... on a dirty English farm. The Royal Wedding is coming to FarmVille, according to a leaked image found by FarmVille Feed.

It's doubtful that it will actually recreate the real Royal Wedding--that would just be creepy--but who says it can't source a bit of inspiration, eh? No information is available on the Royal Wedding other than, well, it exists. Don't worry, this is one we cannot afford to miss (comedy is a fine motivator), so we'll have the news as soon as it happens.

Royal Wedding
Image Credits: Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images, FarmVille Feed

Are you psyched for the Royal Wedding's arrival in FarmVille? Will you attempt the ultimate Royal Wedding experience: playing it out in FarmVille and streaming it via YouTube?

Zynga confirms FarmVille Pig Breeding; stash those Love Potions

Geez, how many leaked images does it take to officially confirm something around here, huh? Alright, we'll settle down, because Zynga has confirmed to FarmVille Freak that Pig Breeding is coming sometime in the future to FarmVille. Aside from that terribly vague time frame, Zynga provided the above image, showing that Pig Breeding won't be much different than Sheep Breeding. You will still have to build your Pig Pen and expand it to hold more Pigs, not to mention Love Potions will be needed as well. The only thing you can do now to prepare is stock up on those Love Potions, and if you have an unfinished building, hoard those building supplies.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Are you excited to start Pig Breeding in FarmVille? What animal would you like to breed next in the game, if at all?

Game of the Day: Mystery of Mortlake Mansion

The Game of the Day asks do you like hidden object games? How about mystery games? How about both! Mystery of Mortlake Mansion: Summoned by an elderly magician to a strange mansion, your world is turned upside down when you suddenly become trapped within its walls. Why were you summoned there in the first place and where is the magician who asked for your help? Only by breaking the spell that has been cast upon the mysterious mansion, is there any hope for you to escape and unravel the answers to these troubling questions.
Click --> Play Mystery of Mortlake Mansion

Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.

FrontierVille Pet Shop Goals: Everything you need to know

Remember that old puppy you rescued and nursed back to health in FrontierVille? Well, good going, because he told all of his friends about you and now they all expect a home and food. If you associate Spring with all things cute (like myself), Zynga released a brand new building to the game in time for the season: The Pet Shop. Of course, a new series of five Goals is bundled in the content package, so join us behind the break to find out what lies ahead.

*Please keep in mind that you need to be at least Level 20 to begin these Goals. Sorry, newbies.

1. Heavy Petting

    Place the Pet Shop on your Homestead
    Tend 20 Geese on your Homestead
    Hire 2 neighbors


Pet ShopThis first Goal will take some time if you don't have close to 20 Geese, which cost 300 coins a piece. The Pet Shop will cost a measly 100 coins and 20 Wood to place, but we're sure the expenses will come later. To hire your friends, just click on their portrait on the bottom half of the game screen and click "Hire." Follow the on screen instruction, and it's that simple. Finish this Goal for 200 XP and some Chunky Chow.

2. Tell Me About the Rabbits

    Harvest 20 Wheat on your homestead
    Harvest 20 Corn on your homestead
    Collect 15 Flea Powders


This second mission in the series will take some time, for sure. The 20 Wheat will cost you 7,300 coins and take at least 24 hours to harvest, while the 20 Corn will run you 4,500 coins and take at least 12 hours to harvest. So, either way this Goal will take a whole day if you don't have any Boosts. This is fine considering you have to collect 15 Flea Powders by asking your friends through the Goal window. This Goal will reward you with 100 Food and one Goldfish.

3. Sick as a Dog

    Have or Collect one Chicken Broth
    Have or Construct one Comforter
    Collect one Doghouse Daily Bonus


The Chicken Broth is part of the Chicken Collection, so this could take a while, if you're unlucky. The Comforter is crafted in the Chicken Coop using 15 Cloth and one Downy Feather, which can be found as a reward for completing the entire Chicken Coop Collection. So, sit tight on this one it's going to take a while. If you don't have a Doghouse already, you must build one and collect its Daily Bonus once to finish the Goal. Do this and enjoy one more Chunky Chow and a Lizard in Aquarium as your reward.

More Puppies!
4. Animal House

    Clobber 2 Groundhogs
    Clobber 2 Snakes
    Collect 10 Marrow Bones


This Goal could easily be the toughest, especially considering how tough it can be to find Critters at times. Harvest lots of Potatoes for Groundhogs to appear more frequently. As for Snakes, just keep clearing that debris and eventually two will pop up. The 10 Marrow Bones are gifts that you must request from friends, which is something we're all familiar with. This Goal rewards players with 250 XP and a Dog Crate.

5.Puppies, Puppies, Puppies

    Complete the Pet Shop
    Purchase a new Puppy in the Pet Shop
    Get the Puppy to follow you


Finally, it's time to complete the Pet Shop, which you can read all about right here. Then, it's time to buy your first Puppy from the Pet Shop and get it to follow. All of these tips are available in this post. Complete this Goal and receive 250 XP and a Bunny in a Hutch. Enjoy the herd of pets you've just tacked onto your family.

Building the FrontierVille Pet Shop: Everything you need to know

Who doesn't love puppies? No one, that's who. If you were hoping more was to come from that old Basset Hound in the Doghouse, you're in luck. Zynga has introduced the Pet Shop to FrontierVille, and there are three breeds to purchase and befriend. Sure, this sounds pretty awesome, but you need to build the thing first. Find out how after the break.

You'll unlock access to the Pet Shop upon taking on the first Goal in the series, which can be found right here. Placing it costs a mere 100 coins and 20 Wood. However, it will take nine Whacks at one Energy and seven Wood a piece to complete the building's foundation. After that, this building's menu will appear, demanding the following items:

    15 Kennels
    15 Dog Beds
    10 Scratching Posts
    10 Litter Boxes
    10 Aquariums
    1 Pet Crate


The 15 Kennels and Dog Beds are acquired by asking friends directly through the window menu, while the Scratching Posts, Litter Boxes and Aquariums are found through posting News Feeds about them through the same menu. However, you will not be able to complete the Pet Shop until completing the final Goal in the series, "Animal House." Find out how to complete that mission right here, and enjoy your flashy new Pet Shop.

Puppies in the future
At the moment, Puppies will simply follow you around the Homestead and rest in the Doghouse once purchased. However, Zynga plans to add plenty more functions to the little pups in due time. Here are all eight Puppies you can find in the Pet Shop, along with their astronomical prices:

    Chocolate Lab: 60,000 Coins
    Brown Husky: 100,000 Coins
    Sable Collie: 100,000 Coins
    Black Husky: 30 Horseshoes
    Black Collie: 100,000 Coins
    Black Lab: 18 Horseshoes
    White Husky: 24 Horseshoes
    Grey Collie: 30 Horseshoes
    Yellow Lab: 100,000 Coins


Now that you've spent all time and money putting this thing together, I guess you have no choice but to drop another 60 thousand on a Puppy. Have fun making that up that loss. Hey, at least they're cute and will learn things later on--consider this an investment.

FrontierVille Swap Meet Goals: Everything you need to know

With the warm weather now hitting the majority of the country, it seems like the perfect time to hold a swap meet. Zynga apparently agrees, as they have launched a two-part goal series in FrontierVille called simply the "Swap Meet" goals. These goals deal with your in-game wishlist, and those of your friends'.

The first goal is called Prairie Swap Meet! and it asks you to complete three simple tasks.

Add Three Items to your Wishlist
Remove One Item from your Wishlist
Tend Five Neighbor Crops

For those that don't use the feature, you can add and remove items to/from the wishlist very easily by simply heading in to look at your Collections. Then just click on the small paper icon at the bottom left of each collectible to add that item to your wishlist. To remove, click on the red X below items currently on the list. Finishing this first goal gives you just 55 XP.
For goal two, you'll need to go back to the wishlist feature, but this time, send some items to your friends.

Send 2 Wishlist Items
Chop down 5 Pine Trees
Finish a collection

It doesn't appear to matter which collection you turn in, so long as you turn in a single collection in your own game. Also, there doesn't appear to be anything stating that the Pine Trees have to be fully grown, so we might get lucky with this one, but remember, with goals this new, things are subject to change at any time.

Finishing this second mission gives you 25 XP and 200 coins. As of right now, this is where the Swap Meet quest line ends. A pretty disappointing set, if you ask me, but I suppose they are easy to complete, so I can't really complain too much. We'll make sure to let you know if more quests in the Swap Meet line are released in the future, so keep checking back.

What do you think of these Swap Meet goals? Do you wish there were more goals to complete, or do you just not see the point of these goals altogether?

FrontierVille Building a Shower: Everything you need to know

With today's FrontierVille update, we've seen the launch of a new building and quest line dealing with a new character in the game - Lt. Flintlock (like the pistol). Lt. Flintlock apparently has taken a liking to Bess, and has decided to set up camp near our Homesteads. The troops are on their way to Fort Courage, but before they leave, they'd like to shower and get some rest, which is where you come in. You'll need to build the troops a shower, which is a new complete building project in the game.

While this feature is slowly rolling out to players, once you have it in your game, the Shower will be unlocked for users level 25 and above. It requires six new building ingredients to complete. Remember, this goes along with a new mission set as well, so don't scoff it off just yet. To build the Shower, you'll need to collect 10 each of Rusty Faucets, Bath Robes and Towel Racks (which are earned through general news feed posts), and 15 each of Pull Chains, Clay Reservoirs, and Privacy Cloths. These are earned via specific requests you'll send to each of your friends.

Once you build the Shower, you'll be able to give the soldiers a shower once every eight hours. You'll have a chance at receiving energy, water-themed animals, water well building parts, coins and experience points every time you collect the Daily Bonus from the Shower as well.

Once you've completed both the Shower building and the Shower Goals, you'll see the troops have packed back up and are ready to continue on to Fort Courage. Just as rapidly as they appeared, they disappear, and will be gone from your land the next time you load the game.

This likely won't be the last we see of Lt. Flintlock in FrontierVille, so hurry and complete this Shower to get on his good side. You probably wouldn't like him when he's angry.

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

What do you think of the Shower / Help the Troops feature in FrontierVille?

FrontierVille Fort Courage / Shower Goals: Everything you need to know

Along with building a Shower for Lt. Flintlock in FrontierVille, you'll also need to complete a five-part set of goals detailing Fort Courage and the new Shower building. The first goal sees you simply placing a Shower on your land.

Harvest 30 Potatoes
Place the Shower
Craft 1 Sawhorse in the Barn

Sawhorses are crafted using five Planks and two Tools, with Planks themselves being a craft item from the Covered Wagon, which take 7 Wood and 250 coins each to make. Finishing this first goal gives you 100 coins, 250 XP, and one Care Package. Part II of V asks you to deal with some trees, along with a ton of Peppermint Bushes

Chop Trees 20 Times on your Homestead or a Neighbors'
Harvest 50 Peppermint
Collect 10 Soap Dishes

The Peppermint must be done on your own Homestead. Meanwhile, you can collect the Soap Dishes by posting a general news feed item asking all of your friends to help. Finishing this goal gives you 200 Coins, 25 Cloth and 300 XP.

Part III of V still doesn't require you to use your new Shower, but that's coming shortly.

Craft 3 Fancy Clothing in the General Store
Hire 5 Neighbors
Visit 15 Neighbors

Unfortunately, hiring neighbors will take you quite a long time, as you can only ever hire (at most) three at one time. Meanwhile, the Fancy Clothing are made from two Ribbon and two Clothes each, with the Clothes being another crafted item that's created inside the Cabin using 6 Cloth and 500 coins each. For completing this goal, you'll earn 500 coins, 350 XP and one Fast Hands Boost.

Moving on, Part IV of V actually requires you to use your new Shower, so make sure to check out our complete guide to building it.

Clean Soldiers 3 Times
Collect 15 Loofahs
Have or Collect 2 Downy Feathers

You can only clean soldiers once every eight hours. The Loofahs are earned via individual requests sent to friends, and finally, the Downy Feathers are the reward for completing either the Goose or Chicken Coop Collections. Finishing this mission gives you 750 coins, 500 XP, and one Equestrian Horse, a black iron horse decoration.

Finally, Part V of V sees Lt. Flintlock trying to woo Bess in the short time that he'll be on your Homestead.

Tend 20 Non-Rideable Horses on your Homestead or your Neighbors'
Collect 5 Daily Bonuses from the Barn
Harvest 40 Pink Roses

If you still have any of those Intuit Business Boosts, now would be the time to break them out, or you're looking at waiting four days to complete this single quest. Meanwhile, make sure to tend regular (old) Horses for this task, or your work won't count. For finishing off the Shower / Fort Courage mission set, you'll receive 1,000 XP, 1,000 coins and one Toy Solider decoration.

Just as quickly as they arrived on your Homestead, finishing this mission set will see them quickly moving on their way, leaving your Homestead the next time you refresh the game. The Shower can remain on your land, however, to allow you to continue collecting its daily bonus, which grants you everything from coins and experience points to some Water Well building ingredients, among other goodies. I suppose that being the case, we can't really complain if the soliders come and go so quickly.

FrontierVille Shower Collection offers Energy and Cloth as rewards

While the new Shower in FrontierVille may not seem like an ordinary building, it too falls under the general rule of thumb that every new item has its own collection. The new Shower Collection can be found by scrolling all the way to the end of the Collections menu. The five items therein can be earned by collecting the Daily Bonus from your Shower, once it has been completed on your land.

Here's what to keep an eye out for:

Dirty Water
Suds
Sponge on a Stick
Scrub Brush
Scented Soap

For turning in the Shower Collection, you'll receive a fairly average set of prizes: three Energy and five Cloth. Considering that you can earn both of these items simply by visiting friends, via the visiting neighbors daily bonuses, it doesn't give this collection much clout whatsoever. If I were you, I might save these collectible items just in case we need them in a quest down the line, as the rewards really won't help you that much.

What do you think? Is this one collection to ignore, or will you complete it just to say that you did?

CityVille Movie Star Goals: Everything you need to know

A few days ago, we gave you the heads-up that some glitz and glam would be coming to CityVille by way of a new in-game character named Bella Bennett. Bella's a movie star, whose next film is taking place in your town! You'll need to complete five goals to finish off this project, with the first being called Star in the City!

Star in the City stars us off relatively easily:

Collect from any Hotel Suite in your city one time
Have 1 Television Tower in your City
Ask friends for 3 Autograph Books

If you don't already have a Television Tower in your city, you can purchase one from the store for 12,000 coins. It's a community building that will let you add 350 more citizens to your town. Finishing this first goal gives you the Frog Pond decoration, which may not seem very Hollywood-themed, but just think - all films have to have some sort of natural backdrop, right? The Frog Pond offers a 12% bonus to the payout of surrounding buildings.
The second goal is called Luxury Shopping, which will see you collecting from tons of businesses (so I hope you have plenty in your town).

Collect from any 40 Businesses in your city
Collect from any neighbors' Cosmetic Store 5 Times
Gather 1 Boot from the Designer Collection

This quest unlocks the Artichoke Crop.

For the third goal, Recipe for Success, you'll need to harvest these new crops.

Harvest 30 Eggplants
Harvest 50 Artichokes
Collect from any French Restaurant in your city 3 times

Don't worry if you don't have more than one French Restaurant in your town - you can simply wait for it to recharge and then collect from it twice more to finish that task.

The fourth goal is Meet the Star, and asks you to once again collect items with the help of friends.

Ask friends for 7 Sweets
Collect from any 10 neighbors' Burger Joints
Collect from any Pool Hall in your city 5 Times

It's presumed that you'll be able to collect from more than one Burger Joint in the same town, so you may not have to visit 10 different cities.

Finally, the fifth goal in this series is called Shooting Sta! and it asks you to place the Frog Pond you won earlier, so I hope you didn't delete it.

Have 1 Frog Pond in your City
Ask friends for 3 Movie Posters
Visit 15 Neighbors

As you complete these final two goals, you'll unlock the Thrilling Chase decoration. This item is another movie set that rewards you with a 12% payout bonus after being placed near businesses and homes.

That marks the current end of the Hollywood themed goals in CityVille, but we'll make sure to let you know if more are added in the future.

[Source Goals 2-5: CityVille Chat]

What do you think of these Hollywood themed goals? Would you have preferred there to be more of them? Do you like the rewards you received for completing them?

CityVille Mystery Crate offers three new items at a high price

A new Mystery Crate has been added to the CityVille market this week, but don't get too excited just yet. There are only three items potentially available inside, and the Crate isn't cheap. Each Mystery Crate costs a whopping 40 City Cash, and for that price, you'll have a chance at either a single Residence, Business or Decoration.

The new Home is the Movie Star House, which offers 350-750 population, and pays out 800 coins in rent every 4.2 days. For the new Business, your citizens can chow down at the Greasy Spoon, a diner that pays out 1001 coins for every 180 Goods you supply. Finally, the new Decoration is the Roller Rink, which adds a 20% to the payout of surrounding buildings.

If you'd rather not take a chance on receiving an item that you don't want, you can also purchase each of these three items individually, but the prices are even worse. The Movie Star House sells for 55 City Cash, while the Roller Rink costs 50. The Greasy Spoon is the cheapest, at 45 City Cash, but that's still more expensive than the Crate itself. I suppose the high price is due to the fact that you're guaranteed to get the item you want, but these prices are wallet busters, make no mistake.

Will you shell out dozens of City Cash for a chance at one of these items, or will you purchase the specific item you want for even more

CityVille: Have some fun in the sun with new Summer items

Four new summer-themed items have been launched in the CityVille market, so I suppose our Spring Fling is now good and gone. For those that are tired of seeing items only available for City Cash (there are apparently quite a few of us), at least there are two items here for coins, while the others cost City Cash.

The Sunbather and Mango Tree are two new decorative items that add a 1% and 2% bonus to the payout of surrounding items, respectively. You can purchase a Sunbather for 1,500 coins and a Mango Tree for 3,000 coins. Meanwhile, the Beach Volleyball decoration costs 30 City Cash, and adds a 23% bonus payout to items, while the Cliff House is a new limited time home that costs 60 City Cash and pays out 126 coins per hour. The Home starts with a population of 300 citizens, but can be raised to 600 over time.

Ok, I have to say it. It's great to see some coin items finally released after weeks of seemingly nothing but City Cash items, but these are a bit disappointing to say the least. I know I'd be willing to pay thousands of coins for each of these City Cash items, and I doubt I'm alone. Hopefully, we'll be given the chance to purchase some equally nice goodies for coins sometime in the future, and we'll make sure to let you know if that's the case.

Will you shell out City Cash for either the Beach Volleyball court or the Cliff House, or are you standing firm that Zynga should release more coin items before it's too late?

inFAMOUS Anarchy combines CityVille and Mafia Wars on Facebook

Have you been holding out on purchasing inFAMOUS 2 for your PlayStation 3? Do you have a few minutes to spare on a new Facebook game? Did you even like the first inFAMOUS game? If you answered yes to any of those questions (specifically the second), then you'll be happy to know that Sony has partnered with Mob Science to produce inFAMOUS Anarchy, a new companion-game of sorts for Facebook.

inFAMOUS Anarchy has already been adopted by almost 450,000 monthly active users, but you might have a hard time finding the game via a Facebook search (and by hard time, I mean that it's seemingly impossible to find without a direct link). Click on this link to find it, and follow along as we give you an in-depth look at what to expect.

From the start, you'll be able to choose your character's gender, as you won't actually be playing as Cole from the main series. Zeke is back from the main game to serve as your guide this time around, and introduces you to the concept of rebuilding your home in Amp City, and saving it from the monsters that will try to invade. While in a unique theme, inFAMOUS Anarchy really plays as a fairly basic city-building experience (like, say, CityVille), but with Amps in place of Goods and crops, and monsters to fight as an additional gameplay element.

You'll start with a single Apartment building that requires Amps to produce profits. You'll grow Amps in electrical "farming" plots, with different types of Amps, like Batteries or Coal, being the game's version of Corn or Strawberries. There's a Power Plant in your town that must be staffed with friends, quests to complete along the left side of the screen, and your friends' towns to visit across the bottom of the screen. Every basic city-building element seems to be represented here (including an energy bar that dictates just how long you can play in a single sitting), but where things at least attempt to be different is in the combat.

You'll be able to click on the Map button to bring up a choice of new districts to visit. You'll unlock more locations as you level up, but are first given Amp City Avenue. These locations are crawling with Tweakers and other enemies, along with buildings that you can "Do Jobs" in for extra cash and experience points. You'll simply need to click on enemies to "beat them up," using a few energy and rewarded with a bit of cash in return. Back in your own town, monsters may appear and you'll have to defeat them via multiple clicks to bring back the peace.

In terms of other elements, you can visit Zeke's city and craft items using collectibles you'll find at random while playing. These can be anything from decorations and buildings for your city to armor for your character. You can also complete up to five tasks per day, per friend, as you'd expect. For true social elements, you can fight other players, moving your in-game karma meter either to the light or dark side, and you'll need to use things like the aforementioned armor to tilt the favor of battle your way. It's not a new element to Facebook gaming by any stretch of the imagination (see: Mafia Wars), but it does give you something else to spend your energy on should you get bored.

Gallery: inFAMOUS Anarchy Facebook


Since most of the gameplay here is already available in established titles like CityVille, it's unfortunate to not see Mob Science and Sony push for more out of the license. Still, the game is fairly in-depth, such as it is, and if you like the setting or characters, there are touches of fan service here that will keep you coming back. It's still unfortunate to not see a true inFAMOUS game being released on the Facebook platform, but I suppose this will have to tide us over for now.

Play inFAMOUS Anarchy on Facebook -->

Have you tried inFAMOUS Anarchy? Do you think the game is too much like other city-building games on Facebook, or do you just like its original theme?

FrontierVille: Find friends to be your hunter, doctor and carpenter on the Pioneer Trail

It seems that up until the official launch of the Pioneer Trail expansion in FrontierVille, Zynga is going to graciously offer us a new hint or bit of information about what to expect from this new feature. Today, we've learned that we'll need to gather a group of at least three friends for a crew so that we can take on the trail together.

Specifically, the clue states that "Everybody's got a job to do out on the Pioneer Trail! Yer hunter can shoot varmints fer meat, yer doc can find medicine to keep you healthy, and yer carpenter can scavenge parts to keep the wagon rollin'!"

While I'm sure I'm reading more into this than I should, wouldn't it be great if you and your three friends could actually play the game simultaneously and see each other's actions as you travel? While we haven't had any indication that this is in the works, it will likely end up being a more solo experience as with other game mechanics, where perhaps these friends will earn bonuses for sending us items, for instance, rather than actually being "forced" to take part actively. Still, this is an exciting new update, that only makes us even more anxious to hit the trail!

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

What do you think of today's clue about the upcoming Pioneer Trail? Do you think there will be any real-time interaction between players, or is this "team" more for show?

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Water Wheel coming soon?

Another building project looks to be coming to FarmVille in the very near future in the form of a Water Wheel. The image above shows you what the final menu of the Water Wheel will look like. Don't be fooled by the "Spring Garden" text, as this is likely a placeholder that will be corrected upon the Wheel's final release.

The comparison, however, does give us something to go on, in that we know that once we're done building the Water Wheel, we'll be able to choose any of the stages we'd like to actually show on our farm, allowing for a bit of customization should the massive, heavily decorated final product not be to your liking. I personally think it's lovely, but to each farmer their own.

No word yet on which set of building materials this will require, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of Watering Cans being a required ingredient since this is a Water Wheel after all. We also don't know if the building will have a function, or if it will just be decorative (I'm leaning towards the latter). We'll make sure to give you all of the details about this new building as soon as it officially launches in the game.

What do you think of the FarmVille Water Wheel? Would you like to be able to use this building for some purpose - Watering Can production, perhaps? Or, are you happy adding another customizable decoration to your land?

Professor Layton: Brain-bending game goes social and mobile later this year

The popular puzzler/adventure game series starring a top-hat wearing sleuth named Professor Layton will be getting a social overhaul and will launch on mobile phones in Japan later this year.

Professor Layton Royale will be the first product of a partnership between Layton creator Level-5 and the Japanese mobile social network DeNA. The two companies plan to work together and adapt other popular video games into social games.

Right now, details are scant on the upcoming Professor Layton mobile game, outside the fact that you will take on the role of detective, citizen or thief and the game will feature a mashup of characters from both the Layton universe (including Layton and his precocious boy sidekick) as well as those from Mobage's popular Kaito Royale series.

Professor Layton Royale will be released on the Japanese Mobage social network. At launch, the game will only be available in Japan, but a press release says there are plans "to provide soon [sic] localized versions to international users on the highly anticipated global Mobage service."

There's no news about Royale being released as an Android or iOS app, but based on the popularity of this series (the franchise is one of the most popular Nintendo DS-exclusives and has sold 12 million copies worldwide), I'm sure -- as the old maxim goes -- where there's a will, there's a way.

As a side note: It's interesting that one of the Nintendo DS' most popular games is headed to mobile. Will this be a wake-up call to Nintendo, whose president recently said that the gaming company is 'not interested' in mobile and Facebook? I remember -- just a few years ago -- several Nintendo executives told me that Apple wasn't the competition. Fast forward to 2011. Nintendo higher-ups declare that Apple is the 'enemy of the future' and readies the Nintendo Wii-U, which bears a striking resemblance to the Apple iPad, for launch.

Empires & Allies Doing a Solid Missions: Everything you need to know

Hey Empires & Allies players - Captain Krunsch, the old scallywag you first defeated way back at the start of the game is back, but he isn't back for revenge. He actually needs our help, and we can choose to give it to him by completing a series of limited edition missions, starting with one called "Doing a Solid." Captain Krunsch's men are stranded on an island, and they need supplies to survive and eventually escape. Of course, these goals being limited and all, your time frame for completing them is rather short: just six days remain as of this writing.

Making them even more interesting is their apparent relation to a current sale on Poison Gas III attacks taking place in the market (they're available for 21 Empire Points, but only for the next five days). Coincidence?! Let's find out!

Doing a Solid

Have 4 Mission Maps
Plant 12 Pineapples
Harvest 12 Pineapples

The Mission Maps are earned through individual gift requests sent to friends, while Pineapples take a full day to grow, and cost 576 coins each. While we're still growing our Pineapples, we've learned from players on the game's official forums that the reward for this mission is five Poison Gas III power-ups and 2,000 coins. A-ha! There's the connection between the Poison Gas sale and these missions, as they offer us a free alternative, rather than spending all of those Empire Points for the same items!

Just Desserts

Plant 10 Strawberries
Harvest 10 Strawberries

Strawberries cost just 37 coins to plant, and take just 15 minutes to grow, so you should be able to finish this one off rather quickly.

Sea Worthy

Build 4 Light Battleships
Place 4 Light Battleships
Destroy 12 Gunboats

A Light Battleship is available to build in your Shipyard once you've reached level 21. A single ship costs 2000 coins and 100 Oil to build. Just make sure you have enough space in your island's waters to place all four once they're built. Meanwhile, you'll be able to find the Gunboats easily by going back and replaying previously completed sections on the map.

Prepare to Repair

Have 4 Welding Kits
Collect 1000 Wood
Collect 1000 Oil

While you can produce 105 Wood at a time in your Lumber Mill, that particular contract takes a full day, so you would be better off selecting another contract that gives off less Wood upfront, but can be completed more often. The same can be said for the 1,000 Oil, as the max production in an Oil Well is 105 barrels in a full day, while other contracts are more worthwhile. Finally, the Welding Kits are available on the free gifts page, so feel free to ask your friends to send you some to finish this one off.

As usual, these missions are new, and are subject to change at any time. Should additional missions be added to this series, we'll make sure to let you know. For now though, you're left to decide whether or not to trust Captain Krunsch, but do so fast! Once these goals are gone, they'll likely never come back!

[Goals 2-4 Via CEGamers]

Were you surprised to see Captain Krunsch make a return to Empires & Allies? Do you think the goals he brings with him are too hard, or do you appreciate a challenge?

Facebookers spend fraction of time on games and apps; a giant niche?

Facebook users spend just 10 percent of their time playing with games or apps, according to a recent ComScore study. But aren't Facebook games expected to make the company $1 billion this year alone? Either something is missing from this equation, or Facebook gamers are the biggest niche in the history of niches.

However, this study takes all 750 million plus Facebook users into account, meaning the daily players for each game represent a much smaller demographic even within the 250 million gamers on the platform. (Though, the collective daily players still make up tens of millions of Facebook users.)

Are Facebook games something most players simply dabble in? When looking at this statistic, it sure seems that way. Social gamers could be even more casual than previously thought, barely considering themselves "gamers."

But no matter, companies like FarmVille maker Zynga and EA (who recently bought PopCap for potentially $1.3 billion) will continue to set records in the financial world, thanks to "whales." As long as these big spenders, which make up for just 1 to 3 percent of the Facebook gaming population, stick around so will Facebook gaming. If you look at some Facebook game studios like casinos without the immense upkeep costs, it's easy to see why Facebook games will be around for a long, long time.

[Via Digital Trends]

How much time do you think you spend on Facebook playing games compared to other things? Do you see this percentage increasing or decreasing over time.

Nintendo president takes blame (and 50 percent pay cut) for 3DS woes

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is taking a slap on the wrist for poor sales of its 3DS ... a slap with a yardstick wrapped in barbed wire and set on fire. Kotaku Japan reports that Iwata addressed shareholders in a meeting with the news that he's taking responsibility for the 3DS, which will result in a whopping 50 percent cut in his pay.

"For cuts in fixed salaries, I'm taking a fifty percent cut, other representative directors are taking a 30 percent cut, and other execs are taking a 20 percent cut," Iwata said. Nintendo announced yesterday that its 3D successor to the crazy successful DS line of consoles, the 3DS, would have its price chopped down to $169.99 from its $249.99 launch price. That's an $80 drop, and the system just released this March.

During a Q&A, Nintendo admitted that it must provide something that mobile phones--like the iPhone--cannot offer. While that's telling of Nintendo's increased focus on its online offerings with the 3DS and its upcoming Wii U console, that's still a tall order. The 3DS, which still uses the Friend Code format, does not have a social gaming ecosystem comparable to even the iPhone's mildly-appealing Game Center. Nintendo is clearly making strides toward the digital age of gaming, but it might need a few pole vaults to catch up.

[Via Kotaku]

[Image Credit: MTV Multiplayer]

Do you think the 3DS can bounce back from its stumble running out the gate? How will Nintendo survive in the age of mobile and social gaming?

Zynga releases FarmVille 30x30 expansions; big farms for big prices

We hate to be the bearers of bad news ... but Zynga has released the 30x30 FarmVille expansions for an immense amount of Farm Cash. Available now, the Grand Farm Estate and English County will increase your farms' size to 30x30, but for 180 and 195 Farm Cash, respectively.

That's in the ballpark of about $30 for each expansion--buying one only counts for the farm you purchased it from. And unfortunately, it doesn't look like a Coin option for this expansion is coming anytime soon.

But hey, there are always options--like taking advantage of the free Farm Cash offers Zynga puts out all the time. Or canceling that membership to the gym you've made little to no use of. (We feel your pain.) Or you could exercise some patien--never mind.

Would you ever pay this much for a farm expansion? How long are you willing to wait before a Coin option is released, and how else do you think Zynga could handle these expansions?

FarmVille: 2x Mastery Statue comes back for 12 days only

While many users voiced their concerns upon the initial release of the 2x Mastery Statue in FarmVille (that Zynga had created the ultimate money-grabber), that didn't stop many other farmers from purchasing one for their farms. Apparently, the initial release was so successful that they've decided to bring the statue back around for another go. That's right, the 2x Mastery Statue is once again available to purchase in the store, but only for a limited time (12 days, to be exact).

As a reminder, this 2x Mastery Statue gives you double the amount of mastery points on all crops and trees harvested during a two-day period. A single statue costs 25 Farm Cash, and if you're already the owner of a Platinum Mastery Statue (which has the same effect, but permanently), you'll want to skip out on buying these re-released statues as the status effect doesn't stack.

Also, let me once again point out that this double mastery boost doesn't apply to animals, so if you've really taken to Animal Mastery, there's no reason to waste your Farm Cash on these statues either. Perhaps one day we'll see a double mastery statue released just for animals, but that still doesn't solve the conundrum of whether or not these items should exist to begin with. With enough hard work and some patience, you'll be able to earn dozens, if not hundreds of mastery signs for your farm. Do we really need to pay Farm Cash to speed up the process? We'll leave that up to you, farmers.

Will you purchase a 2x Mastery Statue? Did you purchase one of these statues upon their initial release, or did you splurge on the Platinum Mastery Statue instead?

Cafe World 2 Year Anniversary Manny's Journey Goals: Everything you need to know

After spending a few days in Great Britain, the Cafe World two-year anniversary extravaganza has moved onto the Philippines, where we'll meet Master Chef Manny in a new set of goals called "Manny's Journey." Through these goals, we'll be introduced to four new dishes, but of course, they won't simply be handed to you. You'll need to finish the Manny's Journey goals multiple times in order to unlock all of the prizes, which include a 50% Lightning Stove (that would reduce the time it takes your dishes to cook by 50%). Here's a complete guide to these new goals.

As a note, we weren't told by Zynga whether or not these goals contain the same dishes for all users across the entire game, or if they vary as in past goal sets. If you notice any differences in your own game, this will likely be the cause.

Manny's Journey 1

    Ask for 3 Old Filipino Recipe Cards
    Place the Roasting Pit
    Serve 20 Fish n Chips


You'll start this goal series out serving Fish n Chips which takes two hours to prepare. You can wait for those to cook while asking your friends to send you the Old Filipino Recipe Cards, and can finish off this goal by placing the base to your new Roasting Pit. Yes, there's a building project to go along with these goals, and we'll bring you a guide to building the Roasting Pit as soon as we can you can check out our guide to building the Roasting Pit right here. Finishing this first goal gives you 15 Travel Passes. As a reminder, these Travel Passes work as contest entries of sorts, giving you a chance to win in-game prizes, along with real world trips to exotic locations.

Manny's Journey 2

    Ask for 6 Filipino Postcards
    Spice 6 Neighbors Dishes
    Serve 20 Gnocchi Gianna


The Gnocchi Gianna takes six hours to prepare, and is unlocked while completing the Pasta Maker goals. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 20 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 3

    Ask for 10 New Filipino Recipe Cards
    Collect 4 Anniversary Collection items
    Serve 30 Broiled Rainbow Trout


Anniversary Collection items are earned by using spices on your dishes, while Broiled Rainbow Trout takes 12 hours to cook (at the very least, this gives you plenty of time to collect spices if you don't earn the four Anniversary Collection items after running through your supply). Finish this goal to receive 25 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 4

    Ask for 8 Filipino Postcards
    Serve 12 Cafe Bombon
    Serve 30 Osso Bucco


Osso Bucco takes 18 hours to prepare, giving you plenty of time to collect these Postcards from friends. As for the Cafe Bombon, this is a Specialty Coffee Drink that can only be served after you've hired Becky the Barista to work in your cafe. It costs 55 Energy for 10 Servings, so you'll need to prepare it twice in order to reach the total required number of 12 servings. You've almost reached the finale at this point, and finishing this particular goal gives you 30 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 5

    Ask for 12 Dirty Filipino Recipe Cards
    Serve 18 Acai Blueberry Juice
    Complete the Roasting Pit


Once again, the Acai Blueberry Juice must be served from a machine - this time the Drink Bar. It's not available until after you've hired Beverly Bartender. Once you finish this goal, you'll have finished off Manny's Journey, and will receive 500 Travel Passes. You'll also receive one of four new dishes, from a selection of Beef Mechado, Filipino Paella, Lechon and Sisig.

To be especially clear, completing this goal series the first time only gives you a single recipe, and it looks like you'll need to complete the entirety of these goals another three times to unlock the remaining three recipes. These goals (along with your chance to repeat the British goals) will expire in 10 days, so you'll want to make sure and complete as many goals as quickly as possible to stand the biggest chance of unlocking everything in time.

What do you think of these Manny's Journey goals? Do you think they're easier, or more difficult than Winston's Royals goals?

Cafe World Roasting Pit: Everything you need to know

On top of being required to complete five new goals in Cafe World's Manny's Journey set, the game's two-year anniversary event has received another building project as well. This "buildable" is the Roasting Pit, the base of which will be given to you for free when you start these Manny's Journeys goals. While you may think you can simply place the base and then forget about it, if you're interested in completing these goals, and subsequently unlocking any of the four recipes associated with them, you'll be required to complete its construction.

Once you place the Roasting Pit, you'll be able to begin the process of asking your friends for building materials. You'll need to collect eight Bags of Coal, 10 Steel Plates, six Roasting Sticks and six Roasting Pit Stones. The Bags of Coal are the only items you'll be able to ask for via a general post to your news feed / wall, while the other three items are earned via individual gift requests sent to those friends that you think would be the most likely to help you.

Once you finish this Roasting Pit, you'll not only have a new "decorative" machine in your cafe, but you'll also be able to earn a single bonus mastery point for each Filipino dish you serve while the Roasting Pit is displayed and therefore "active" in your cafe. That is, instead of earning a single point for each Filipino dish, this Roasting Pit will cause you to earn two points with every serving, well, served. Also, even if you don't manage to unlock all four recipes in the Manny's Journey goal set, this Roasting Pit will still have a purpose, as a single, pre-existing dish falls under the Filipino heading: Chicken Adobo.

Again, this machine must be built in order to complete the Manny's Journey goal set in Cafe World, so check out our guide to doing just that to have the best shot of earning some new dishes - and fast!

What do you think of the Roasting Pit? Do you like items like this that allow you to earn bonus dish mastery points?

CityVille Executive Driving Range Attraction: Everything you need to know

It seems that just as quickly as we can finish the construction on an Attraction in CityVille, another one is released. Such is the case this week, as the Ferris Wheel has been followed up by the Executive Driving Range, or a golf range, if you prefer.

The base of the Executive Driving Range costs 10,000 coins, and it must be whacked eight times before the base is complete. From there, you'll need to collect various building materials, as you might have expected:

    5 City Seals
    5 Golf Balls
    5 Buckets
    5 Netting
    5 Targets


If you're lucky, you'll already have the City Seals in your account waiting for you, and can then concentrate on gathering the other four items instead. Golf Balls and Buckets can be earned by posting a general news item to your wall, while Netting and Targets are earned via individual gift requests sent to friends.

Once the Executive Driving Range is complete, you can put it into operation for five minutes at a time. Once the five minutes has passed, you'll collect your profits just as you would any other business (your income ranges from 1,400 to 6,000 coins each cycle), but you can't restock it with Goods. Instead, you'll need to wait for a countdown timer to hit zero before you can restart it. You can collect Wrenches from your friends to speed up this timer, but remember - you can only post a single request for Wrenches, which are shared among all of the four available Attractions, so you won't be able to stock up as greatly as you might like.

Of course, building the Executive Driving Range is entirely voluntary, but if you like features such as this, why not give it a swing? Note: you must be at least level 25 to access the Executive Driving Range.

Will you build the Executive Driving Range in your town, or are three attractions enough?

CityVille Reel World Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

A new timed goal has launched in CityVille this week, taking us back to the great outdoors for some fishing. If you're level 35 or above, you'll have access to this goal, which can be started at any point in your game - it's up to you when exactly you'll begin. Using our guide to the goal, you should be able to prepare yourself as much as possible before actually starting the goal, and that way you'll have a better chance of earning the gold trophy and the prizes that come with it.

The Reel World

    Get 10 Fishing Lures
    Harvest 30 Pumpkins
    Collect 8 Times from a Seafood Restaurant


A Seafood Restaurant costs just 7,500 coins to purchase from the store, and if you're a veteran player in the game, it's highly unlikely that you don't already have at least one sitting in your town. It requires 140 Goods to operate, so your best bet to completing this particular task quickly would be to make it the only business that currently has Goods, so all citizens will flock to it, causing it to sell out much faster than normal. Pumpkins, meanwhile, take 18 hours to harvest, so unless you follow our suggestion of having pumpkins already to harvest before starting this goal, that's some serious time you'll spend (waste), waiting for them to grow.

If you can complete these three tasks within the first 24 hours of starting the goal, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, a Sailboat, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Unfortunately, you must complete this goal at this top level to receive the Sailboat. If you don't finish within the first day, but can complete the goal before the 72-hour mark has passed, you'll receive the Silver Trophy, 2,600 coins and 1,200 Goods, while finishing at any point after that cutoff gives you the Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.

Luckily, it seems that these timed goals are becoming a bit easier with each one that's released. So long as you plan ahead with the pumpkin task, you should have no real trouble finishing this one off in 24 hours, but we still wish you good luck in your attempt!

What do you think of this latest timed goal? Have you received the Gold Trophy on any timed goals in the past?

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

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

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

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

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

Click here to play Baseball Superstars: The League on Facebook Now >

Have you tried this new baseball Facebook game yet? What do you think of Gamevil's second entry into the Facebook game space, and what about their existing iOS games?

NHL Superstars coming to Facebook in October

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

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

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

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

Are you excited to see NHL Superstars come to Facebook? Which players will you look for to create your perfect team?

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Image Credit: Food Beast]

Would you go to Starbucks just to keep your high score above your fellow coffee snobs lovers'? What do you think of Rovio's immense push into the retail world with Angry Birds?

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

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

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

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

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

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

What do you think of this news just as Hi5 prepares to enter its next phase of social gaming? Do you think the company could become a viable competitor to Facebook and Google in social games?

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

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

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

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

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

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


[Video and Image Credit: Zynga]

Are you excited to get your clickers on some fresh gang bustin' in Mafia Wars 2? What did you think of the announcement trailer?

Finally, hang out with your Android buddies in Hanging With Friends

It looks like Tuesday is unofficially Zynga Game Day, as the company just announced that Hanging With Friends is now available for free on the Android Market. Keep in mind, this comes just minutes after the company revealed Mafia Wars 2. Even better news than the fact that Android players can get in on Zynga With Friends's second mobile game is that it's now cross-platform ready.

Yes, now you can play both your iPhone-toting friends and your best Android-owning enemies buds in this crazy take on the classic pen and paper game of Hangman. In case you're unfamiliar, Hanging With Friends takes the popular turn-based exchange of the wildly popular Words With Friends and applies that to a wacky game of Hangman, but with some twists.

For one, players who choose their word for an opponent are limited by the letters provided to them. Then, that challenge is sent to a player who must guess the word with a limited amount of guesses. This exchange of posing challenges and guesses continues asynchronously until one player loses all of their balloons and falls into a pit of lava or other various deathtraps.

Luckily, you have a series of power-ups at your disposal that can restore some of your guesses or reveal letters that may or may not be part of the word your friend chose in secret. Of course, these boosts cost Coins, which you can accumulate over time by winning Hanging With Friends matches or purchasing them outright in-game.
Gallery: Hanging With Friends on Android
Of course, the Android version contains all of the features that its iOS counterpart sports, like the ability to play up to 20 games at a time, in-game chat and push notifications. Finally, you can add friends via your existing With Friends account, or just connect to Facebook (like everyone else) to find more folks to crush with your wordsmithery. Have at thee, Fandroids.

Game of the Day: Alchemy

alchemy game of the dayAlchemy is a game of strategy and wit. Carefully place runes and turn the entire board to gold. You can only place runes next to pieces of the same color or shape. However, you can place a rune of any color or shape next to a grey stone. If you can't place the rune, you may discard it. But be careful, discard four runes in a row and it'll be game over! If you fill a row or column with runes, they'll all disappear, opening up the board. Similarly, a skull will let you destroy any rune on the board.

Alchemy may seem complicated at first, but once you grasp the basics, you'll be hooked on its addictive gameplay. Good luck!

Click here to play Alchemy!
alchemy game of the day     alchemy game of the day
What did you think of Alchemy? Where you able to turn lead into gold?

Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski is awfully addicted to Angry Birds

Another falls to the power of casual games. Just as actress Emma Stone had to go cold turkey on FarmVille, Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski has admitted to Collider an acute Angry Birds addiction. The actress (and voice of Miranda Lawson in Bioware's Mass Effect series) told the website she's not just hopelessly addicted to the game, but has some serious bird-slinging game.

"I don't know if this classifies as a video game, but I have a terrible obsession with Angry Birds," Strahovski admitted to Collider. "I have 3 stared every single level that has ever come out ever except for this one in this moon thing that just came out." Well, she already has me beat, it seems, and likely many of you.

When asked whether she used YouTube or something else to cheat, the Australian starlet replied, "No. I am legitimate. The only thing I looked up is that I could't find the last two golden watermelons in the Rio version. I could't find them. I was like, 'Where are the watermelons?!' So I had to go online and find out where they were." Alright, we get it, so you know your stuff.

Her next mission? Clear every level in the game with 100 percent using the Mighty Eagle. Well, I guess that's about the only challenge she has left, considering she's obliterated every last level. After that, maybe she might consider voice over work for the upcoming Angry Birds movie when it goes into production in oh, I don't know, two years? And who knows, maybe you'll catch her in a Starbucks, flicking away to destroy your high score sometime soon.

[Via Kotaku]

[Image Credit: Collider]

Are you still addicted to Angry Birds after all this time? Have you accomplished more in the game than lovely Yvonne?

FarmVille Pic of the Day: AlexisSkrull's petting zoo

A few days ago, I featured a massive FarmVille zoo. However, plenty of folks complained that it was just too crowded and busy. While it was a super detailed zoo, the jumbled appearance diminished its aesthetic appeal. Today's featured zoo farm resolves many of the issues present in the old farm, by attempting a simpler approach to the FarmVille zoo.

Today's featured farm, created by AlexisSkrull, is in many ways quite humble. For instance, it doesn't even fill the whole farm plot and there are no fancy complex illusions to be found. However, the simplicity of the fenced in pens full of animals is charming. It reminds me of the early days of FarmVille and FrontierVille, when all I had was a few animals, crops, and some decorations that I was forced to buy in order to complete goals.

Of course, in reality this farm is far more detailed than my boring starter farm. There are unique habitats and exhibitions built for various animals. So make sure to look closely at the images below to get the full effect of AlexisSkrull's farm.
Click the images to make them larger.
farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm     farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm
farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm     farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm
What do you think of AlexisSkrull's zoo farm? Which zoo farm do you prefer?

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

Google+ opens its doors to all, but (hopefully) mostly social gamers

The proverbial veil has been lifted, everyone. Google+ is finally open to the public, meaning anyone can join Google's social network regardless of whether they've been invited through a friend. More importantly, this means the service, which soft-launched back in August to a controlled amount of users through invites, is open to even more social gamers than before.

Granted, there are only 16 games so far on Google+ Games. But surely the company hopes, that with an influx of potential players, that developers will become even more interested in Google as a social gaming destination. However, there are several arguably basic social features that aren't yet a part of the Google+ developer API, or application programming interface.

Namely, the posts that players can push through to the Games Stream from a Google+ game are not interactive. This means that the viral nature of social gaming is severely hindered on the network--players cannot directly help one another through the Games Stream like the can through the Facebook News Feed. This essentially thwarts what is popularly believed to give social games their name.

At the moment, players can only post general updates such as, "I scored 5 bajillion points in Bejeweled Blitz!" However, Rovio played somewhat of a smarter game with Angry Birds on Google+ Games, and introduced a friend gate to most of its content, meaning players have to add so many friends to access new levels. Luckily, Google has already stated that it's working to introduce more robust features over time.

Regardless, omissions like this serve as proof that Google+ Games, while impressive in its scope, ambition and support, is still a nascent gaming platform when put up against competitors like Facebook. With this news, perhaps the race Google+ is running has changed track to whether Google+ Games can keep up with the demands and needs of its players, rather than its competitors.

[Via Inside Social Games]

Have you tried out Google+ Games yet? Do you think, after what you experienced, that Google has a chance at competing in the social games world?

Mobile social game taps into 700K player base for children's charity

What do you do when you're a well-respected mobile game with 700K players worldwide? You design a virtual soup can helmet and sell it to your players for charity! At least, that's what Per Blue's Parallel Kingdom is doing (with Playmob) for the SOS Children relief in North Kenya.

SOS Children's Villages is an independently operated, international organization that's been saving kids since 1949. Currently, funds are needed for emergency food and medical aid due to a severe drought in the area. Soup Can Helmets cost 550 Food each (the virtual currency of Parallel Kingdom), which is the equivalent of $5.50 USD and enough to feed three children. Since the helmet is priced with Food, it's possible for you to not spend any real money on the helmet for it to still count. (In fact, for those of you who haven't liked the game's Facebook page yet, there's a free 100 Food offer that you can use towards a helmet purchase.)

According to Per Blue, this charity drive is at its halfway point with only a week left to go. So far, 550 Soup Can Helmets have been sold, which means 1,650 children have been cared for. If you play the game, you can buy the Soup Can Helmet in the PK Swag section of your local Trade Post until September 29.
Parallel Kingdom Donate Food
If you're new to the game and feeling adventurous, then after the tutorial stage, click on the Food tab on the bottom of your game screen to reach the Get Food menu. You'll see the Donate Food option, but it's really just a notice for the charity drive. Instead, you need to go to Travel, click on a Trade Hub (the one in Madison, WI is one of the two biggest ones), and locate your Local Trade Post, which should be a white building with a red roof buried under a dozen other players who are represented as little heads. Finally, you need to be at Level 2 to be allowed to purchase the helmet. (If you get lost, fire up the in-game chat. Special thanks goes to MisMoon, MoldyBanana, and ZeroGr@vity for their help.)
Parallel Kingdom Trade Post
Parallel Kingdom is best described as FourSquare meets a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game). It surpassed a half million players in June, was voted 2009 Best Augmented Reality App Second Place (first place went to XMG Studio Inc.'s Pandemica) and 2009 Best MMO Game Third Place (beaten by ngmoco's Eliminate Pro, with Miraphonic's Epic Pet Wars in first place). Although Parallel Kingdom is not a true Facebook game (its Facebook game app simply links you to register on the website), it does possess Facebook Connect and can be played on your PC with a web browser.

Would you try out a game just to donate to charity?

Scam Alert: Mario Kart does not exist on Facebook, and likely never will

Nintendo has already established--rather firmly, actually--that its games will never leave Nintendo hardware. Alas, here we are, with yet another attempt at your account information to spread a dastardly scam. According to Internet security firm Sophos's Naked Security blog, a scam that claims Nintendo's popular racer Mario Kart is available for Facebook is circulating.

But it's not just circulating through News Feed posts, but through private messages between Facebook users. If you happen to click on the link that's spreading the fake news, you will arrive at what appears to be a launch page for the game. You absolutely should not click on it, but doing so takes you to an online survey rather than a thrilling race with Mario and friends.

Some users have even told Naked Security that clicking on the link attempts to install a browser extension on their computers. It should go without saying that you should under no circumstances accept the installation, but we're saying it anyway. If you were so unfortunate as to click on it, be quick to delete any News Feed or private messages sent inadvertently by you.
Mario Kart Facebook scam News Feed
And, if you did happen to install anything offered from the scam, be sure to can your computer immediately. Oh, and would you be so kind as to remind your friends that this is a scam? Sure, you'll be a dream crusher, but a computer-saving dream crusher.

[Via Kotaku]

Have you ever unfortunately fell prey to a Facebook game scam? What steps did you take to alleviate the situation, and what tips do you have for your fellow social gamers?

MyTown 2 on iOS: A less social CityVille that hits closer to hometown

MyTown 2, at first glance, is just another city builder. But give Nightclub City maker Booyah your time, and you'll soon realize that this location-based iPhone and iPad game has more to it than simply building a town. The game's title hits it right on the nose: You are essentially rebuilding your own neighborhood in MyTown 2 with representations of real-life spots around you. It's a novel concept, but somewhat flawed due to the limitations of location-based services and how MyTown 2 works (or doesn't work) around those limitations.

If you've played CityVille either on the web or through CityVille Hometown, you already know the basics of MyTown 2. Players build houses, community buildings and businesses to increase population and thus the profitability of said businesses. You'll earn experience and coins for nearly every action, and use those resources to gain access to new types of buildings, decorations and to expand the boundaries of your town.

But where MyTown 2 separates itself is its approach to businesses. Every shop in your town must be attached to a business in the real world that's within a few hundred yards of you. This is done through the iPhone's location capabilities, and fairly accurately. MyTown 2 recognizes businesses around you, and represents them in the game according to the service they provide. For instance, bring, say, Dattilo's Delicatessen into MyTown 2. The game will most likely know that it is a restaurant and, when placed the deli in your little digital town, it will actually look like a deli.
Gallery: MyTown 2 for iOS
However, the game has also mistaken bakeries for coffee shops and bike shops for retail outlets, but that's a minor issue compared to others. These businesses are your biggest cash cows, and you can set them to work for various amounts of time--the game will provide push notifications for when work shifts are through. As you continue to set-and-forget businesses for work, they'll level up, provide more coins and unlock remodeling options that change their looks. Most importantly, you can "check in" to any business within a few hundred yards of you. At this point, think Foursquare meets CityVille.

You can check into more business at a time as you level up, and checking into those that exist in your town will provide big bonuses like increased earnings and work speed. Checking into nearby businesses just for kicks will grant experience points and other bonuses like "First", or the first to check into a given nearby shop. MyTown 2, which is guides players largely through goals, creates a sense of home that other mobile social games might strive to achieve. But an idea as ambitious as this is not without its flaws.
MyTown 2 gameplay
For one, you do not have to be even relatively close to a business to check in and gain its bonuses. Frankly, you could play the entire game from the comfort of your bed (an agoraphobe's dream!). Aren't location-based games supposed to inspire players to explore, perhaps even leave their comfort zone and experience something new? Secondly, the game lacks the social features you'd expect (like Facebook Connect). Even with achievements to share through Game Center integration and Twitter support, thanks to iOS 5, it sure feels lonely for a game so focused on the world around you.

That said, MyTown 2 is a refreshingly smooth experience (once you get past the lengthy initial load time) with an adorable art style and accurate touch controls. The game does some things stunningly well, like allow you to create your own version of your neighborhood and make it thrive. However, for a game that touts location-based gameplay from a developer best known for social games like Nightclub City, MyTown 2 can feel quite isolated after you notice that it can essentially be played from your bedroom Though, the game is free to play, and we're sure Booyah will update the game plenty. So, why not give it a try, if only to see the potential of location-based mobile gaming?

Click here to download MyTown 2 on the App Store for Free Now >

Have you played the original MyTown before? Are you a fan of location-based mobile games and services? Which are your favorites?

Fox ladies, karate masters and robot men will do battle in Prime World

Don't worry, we're a little confused, too. Nival, the Russian social game studio behind King's Bounty: Legions, has released some new images of Prime World. The screen shots reveal a bit more of what's about to go on your PC or Mac (or Android phone and iPhone) in this downloadable strategy game that's said to have deep Facebook Connect support.

For one, the game looks pretty gorgeous, especially the spell effects like fire and what appear to be laser weapons. (Yeah, we have no idea what type of setting Nival is going for at this point.) More important are the characters within the images that are duking it out: You'll see a woman with a fox tail, a necromancer of sorts, a karate master amongst giant robot war machines. Oh, and let's not forget the giant towers and other various defensive structures.

We scored an early look at the game during this year's E3, and game looks to tread on dynamic territory. Actually, that could be said of the simple fact that this is a downloadable, apparently hardcore strategy game that uses Facebook Connect. According to a release, Prime World uses the Unity 3D engine to create its flashy graphics.
Gallery: Prime World (PC, Mac, iOS, Android)
But we think the goofy mash-up of characters is all Nival's doing. Prime World still has not been given a release date, but you can bet we'll follow the trail this game is blazing. You know, if only to see who would win in a fight: a fox lady or a robot with spiked clubs for hands?

What do you think of Prime World so far, based on our preview and these new screens? Will Facebook Connect drive the game to success?

FarmVille Pic of the Day: Occupy FarmVille? Farmer Beanz's farm riots

We're taking a break from our usual FarmVille farm of the day format to bring you one player's humorous take on the Greece riots. Though, to be honest, there's nothing funny about the on-going riots in Greece, which have been happening on and off since last May. Farmer Beanz's farm, which he revealed earlier this month, has roughly 70 gnomes (most of which being Gold Gnomes) picketing outside the Estate. The building costs 600,000 coins, making it one of the most expensive permanent items in the game.

Surrounding the gnomes are the Outdoor Torches from the Island event. Also, thanks to clever positioning, the gnomes appear to be carrying signs, specifically the ones for No Fox, No Crows, and No Gophers. At the bottom, you can see the upper half of last year's Haunted House. Finally, fencing in the gnomes at the front are the holiday nutcrackers from '09, though FarmVille called them "Soldiers". These are led by the Amex Centurion Statue, an American Express promotional freebie.

Given all those nutcracker soldiers, you'd think these gnomes were elves picketing Santa Claus. The only hint this is about the Greece riots at all is the Grecian flag flying over the Estate. Here in the U.S., a scene like this will probably remind us of the Occupy movement. Though, the Halloween-inclined will surely think of castle-storming, lab-stomping and monster-hunting mobs.

Do you think building a riot on your farm is a refreshingly bold idea for farm decorating, a ridiculous one, or just in plain bad taste? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

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

OpenFeint powers Chinese mobile social game network Game Zone

Google and the Chinese government have a ... tenuous relationship. And mobile social gaming, namely Android gaming, has suffered as a result. Amidst frequent shutouts of the official Android Market in China, Chinese game company The9 has announced Game Zone, an OpenFeint-powered mobile social game network and distribution channel.

Through Game Zone, Western mobile social game makers can hit Chinese mobile game audiences across 30 Android app stores other than the Android Market. The service was made possible by deals The9 made with all three major Chinese mobile carriers: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. The deals also allow Game Zone to be preinstalled on Lenovo, HTC, and Motorola Android phones.

While The9 will fund smaller American and European Android game creators through the $100 million-strong Fund9, it's the big league creators that might benefit most from this. PopCap recently announced that Plants vs Zombies will shuffle toward Chinese audiences, which is joined by Rovio's Angry Birds. Several Zynga games have launched in China, and perhaps this opportunity will nudge similar moves by the social game giant on Android.

We often talk about how Japan's mobile social game companies are encroaching upon Western audiences. It looks like the inverse is happening in China, where Western mobile and social game makers are looking to tap into their audience. It makes you wonder why Chinese game companies have yet to try the same at such a scale.

Would Western game companies be smart to enter China through products like Game Zone? When, if ever, will Chinese social game companies push as hard into the West as Japanese companies?

GreenSpace on Facebook wants you to make the (distant) future tidy

With the way waste management around the globe is going, the Earth probably won't look so hot in a few decades. Canadian social game maker RocketOwl Inc. asks gamers to fast forward a couple hundred years in its new Facebook game GreenSpace. In that time--assuming we've yet to destroy ourselves--our planet will likely be inhabitable if we maintain this track, and it's up to you to reclaim a previously colonized and, of course, dirtied up planet one piece of litter at a time.

GreenSpace has officially exited its open beta period today, and is now available for all to play hopefully bug-free. The game tasks players with managing a colony as they transform it from a heap of trash into a lush, green mountain valley. While GreenSpace's presentation doesn't seem terribly different from games like CityVille, RocketOwl touts the game's animations, artwork and addictive cleaning actions. Fast-paced mini games are also said to play a role in GreenSpace.
GreenSpace in action
"We've been working with players over the past few months to fine-tune the game,"RocketOwl CEO Graeme Barlow said in a statement. "Now that GreenSpace is coming out of beta, the entire team is really excited to see the public reception of the launch. We could not be happier with the final product and hope that you enjoy playing it as much as we've enjoyed putting it together."

GreenSpace strikes us as quite similar to a recent green-themed Facebook game, Guerillapps's Trash Tycoon. Both games revolve around reclaiming a territory from the clutches of clutter, though the latter is attached to real-life organizations looking to do the same in the world around us. Based on the looks of GreenSpace, RocketOwl seems to be dedicated to at least raising awareness of the same issues, but make that call for yourself.


Click here to play GreenSpace on Facebook Now >

Do you think Facebook games are a good place to raise awareness of issues of waste and other "green" concerns? Do you think GreenSpace could do or does a good job of this?

Game of the Day: Loaded Waterguns

In Loaded Waterguns you'll explore a dusty Wild West town. You'll have to use impeccable aim and shooting skills to blast away at targets. The only difference is in this town, folks don't do battle with bullets, they gun each other down with good ol' water guns.

At the start of the game you'll have a pick of two water guns. The first is the trusty Soak Gattler, which is kind of a revolver-gatling gun mix. The other choice is the slightly more unwieldy super-advanced Hydro Soaker DH-32 gun. After that, pick your settings and get shooting. Remember to only shoot the red targets and to charge up your gun before firing. When you run out of water click the glass to reload!

It's high noon, get out there and draw!

Click here to play Loaded Waterguns!
loaded waterguns game of the day     loaded waterguns game of the day
Pro Tips:

    Only shoot the red targets.
    Charge up your water gun all the way before firing.
    To reload, click the water glass at the bottom right of the screen.


Click here to play Loaded Waterguns!

Where you able to get past the incredibly difficult third level?

Look, Activision, do you want to make Facebook games or not?

Seriously, it's not a hard question. And yet, the omnipotent games publisher continues to flip-flop on the subject of social games. In October, Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty ring a bell?) CEO Bobby Kotick told Los Angeles Magazine that, while the company is at a point where it's ready to invest in Facebook games, it doesn't expect much to come of it. Here's an excerpt from Kotick's conversation:

    As of October Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick still wasn't ready. "If we can't put a creative foot forward, it's not interesting to us," he told me at the company's headquarters, which is tucked in an office complex on Ocean Park Avenue. In assessing Facebook, Kotick says he's been "trying to figure out what we could do that's different from what's being done. So now that they've gotten a large enough audience and we've done enough analysis of the opportunity, we can commit capital." He adds, however, "We don't have huge expectations."

Um, just curious ... what's the point then? Since then, Kotick spoke with Bloomberg, seeming refreshingly bullish on the prospect of Facebook games. Over the summer--before either interview--the Activision chief admitted that the company was into social games. But shortly after, other executives within the company made points to denounce Facebook gaming. What gives?

Here's the thing: If you're not going to go full bore into the social games space, then you're not going to get anywhere. Just look at EA, for instance. It's cost the company upwards of $2 billion in acquisitions to hit second place on the charts with 56.9 million monthly players, and that's not even close to the industry leader Zynga's 218 million. If Activision doesn't have "huge expectations" of its efforts in Facebook games, why even spend the cash? Hell, the publisher's own former game creators may beat it to the punch.

[Via LA Observed]

Is it even worth it for Activision Blizzard to get into Facebook games at this point? If so, what types of games would you like to see from the games publisher?

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?

FarmVille Pic of the Day: Ditch e-cards for Faustino's farm-sized, cards display

Normally, people treat their Christmas cards as mantelpieces, but FarmVille player Faustino has traded the fireplace for the farm with his Christmas card farm display. Three wintery, holiday tableaux in the form of giant greeting cards sit around an equally gigantic holiday tree that Faustino designed himself.

Bright red hay bales frame each 'card' to make them look like they're standing upright. As for the the tree, it's obviously made of bunches of other trees put together. Even the ornaments are trees, or more specifically, Stouffer's Mac & Cheese Trees, while sprinkled on the ground are many White and Pink Star Hay Bales. Regular hay bales were used to spell "HOLIDAY" beneath the tree, as well as forming the icy-looking snowflakes in the background.

In certain ways, Faustino's holiday farm combines ideas and techniques from Brayzdin's fantastical Christmas wonderland and Hieloiceberg's greeting card holographic projection farm to create something equally original.

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

Instead of snail mailing greeting cards, what do you think of emailing pictures of a FarmVille Christmas farm you've made to people? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

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

Assassin’s Creed Line Dancing At New York’s Comic-Con

New York Comic-Con’s Just Dance 3 stage was always filled with an interesting mix of cosplayers, but these are my favorite: A dozen assassins from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed line dancing to Sugarhill Gang’s Jump On It with the help of Ubisoft’s other major hit… Just Dance.
It’s a tad long, but you should probably skip over to three minutes in to see the special guest appearance.

Lessons Learned With A New York Comic-Con Press Badge

Because today is mostly press, there is no cosplay parade to follow on the way to the Javits. I’m very lucky to not get lost.

The press lounge is exactly like a panel room but with less people, all of whom are Very Important, and more cardboard coasters for our Very Important Drinks. Sidebar: No drinks were actually served.

At the “press and pros” only panels, all of which are about libraries integrating video games into their collections and programming, I learn that somewhere there is a library that uses their computers to host a Minecraft server. Note to self–find that library.

The show floor hasn’t opened yet, which leaves me to wander the lobby and talk to cosplayers. I meet Goku and Kairi (seperate occasions) and sign up for a 5 Gum Newsletter. That’s OK, because Goku has cool hair, and the newsletter entitles me to free gum and a t-shirt. I try using my press badge to get into the show floor early, but no dice.

I have an interview with Michael Grant, who wrote the Animorphs series among other teen/young adult fiction. We talk about his new book, BZRK, which already has a huge online community consisting of a bunch of websites, even though the book doesn’t come out until February. The book is about micro-biological war. Michael tells me there are two and a half pounds of bacteria on a person at any given time. There is even some in our eyelashes.

I skip the after-parties I’ve been getting emails about for weeks, and head home to vigorously wash my eyelashes.

Uncharted 3 Fortune Hunters’ Club Is Your Ticket To Discounted DLC

Eschewing the generic Season Pass label many games are using to package together downloadable content, Sony and Naughty Dog opt for the much classier Fortune Hunters’ Club to give Uncharted 3 fans a discounted price on upcoming DLC.

Available now for preorder on the PlayStation Store and at select video game retailers, the Uncharted 3 Fortune Hunters’ Club allows players to drop $US24.99 on more than $US45 worth of downloadable Drake goodness. Drop the cash entitles the player to the first four multiplayer map packs and the first three skin packs, the first of which is due out next month following the game’s November 1 release. Players will also score an exclusive Fortune Hunters’ Club theme, and will be alerted to new DLC releases via messages on the PlayStation 3′s XMB.

CCP Now Working on World of Darkness at a “Much Slower Pace”

“We still very much have an operation here in Atlanta,” he continued, “but it’s much smaller than it was before. It’s about 100 people that are here remaining, working on customer support and World of Darkness, but they are also adding value to EVE Online this winter, and there will also be a team here working on Dust as well.”

Fixes and interface improvements

• Fix: players are no longer left without a weapon after dropping the equipped item and healing with a medkit.
• Fix: equipped items no longer swap mysteriously after drinking an energy drink
• Tweak: healing with medkits from inventory works better, makes smarter choices of medkits
• Fix: loot from dead enemies is now always identical for all co-op players
• Fix: Purna no longer finishes her Fury with fists equipped
• Fix: map tracking after death
• Fix: zone info in the quarantine zone (City of Moresby)
• Tweak: respawn point selection is now smarter

Gameplay improvements

• Level cap raised to 60
• New blueprints for weapon mods added
• Infected damage reduced
• Infected no longer interrupt player attacks
• A series of improvements to subsequent playthroughs implemented: quest XP rewards adjusted, XP rewards for challenges adjusted, XP awarded for all quests completed in co-op
• Purna's ammo carrying capacity increased by 50%
• Character state from a save game can now be loaded when using the Start from Chapter option
• New balancing option added: enemy levels can now be adjusted independently for each co-op player
• Players respawn with more health
• Lock pick skill level required to open a lock is now clearly indicated
• Improved rewards in weapon crates
• All weapon crates now contain rewards

Deep Silver Dragging Chain on Dead Island Console Patch

“We’re going to work on getting the update out as soon as we can – hurrying it along too fast will just give us a bad patch,” the Polish dev told VG24/7. “People put so much pressure on devs to announce specific release dates and then when something happens to change that they just rage again. I’ve seen tons of instances of fan rage when devs [announce delays]. ‘Oh it needs more time? It must be shit then.’”

Kinect, Windows Phone, Windows, Office: They All Live Together Peacefully In This New Ad

kicked off their new global campaign this week, showcasing not a one of their products, but all of them and they managed to squeeze in a little Dance Central too!
Apparently this is the company’s first every multi-product Christmas ad campaign. EXCITING!!!