FarmVille April Showers Spring Countdown: Everything you need to know

Last year, Zynga launched a Spring Countdown in FarmVille, giving dedicated players a way to earn plenty of then exclusive prizes for simply playing the game for 12 days in a row and asking friends for a bit of help. Now a year later, another installment in the Spring Countdown has arrived, this one being tag-lined with "April Showers."

Once again, there are 12 days of prizes ahead of us, with Day 1's prize being the only one available as of this writing. It's an April Flower Patch, and you'll earn it by asking your friends to send you three Wheelbarrows. This is accomplished via a general news item posted on your wall, so if you have plenty of active neighbors, you could finish this day's task in a matter of minutes. If you wish to purchase additional Flower Patches, you can do so for 5 Farm Cash each.

For the next 11 days, a new prize will be given away, but you can unlock the ability to earn further prizes right now for Farm Cash if you don't want to wait. As with previously released countdowns in FarmVille, if you can manage to secure each of the 12 prizes in this event, you'll win a special bonus prize. We're not quite sure what the prize is as of this writing, but we do know that impatient players can find out immediately by buying it outright for 195 Farm Cash (that number will decrease as you earn each daily item).

We'll make sure to let you know just as soon as we discover what the rest of this event's prizes will be, so stay tuned!

Are you excited to have a chance at more free decorations and items via this April Showers Spring Countdown in FarmVille? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille English Garden Items: Juneberry Tree, Garden Cottage and more

If you liked the first set of English Garden items in FarmVille, but are still looking for more goodies to revitalize your English Countryside farm, look no further than the game's marketplace, as yet another set of English Gardens has been released in the store for your shopping pleasure. We're here with a look at these new items, and we have one word of warning: I hope you've been saving up your Farm Cash.

Trees

Juneberry Tree - 6 Farm Cash
Kilimarnock Willow Tree - 12 Farm Cash
European Horse Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Red Horse Chestnut Tree - 14 Farm Cash

Animals

English Foxhound - 12 Farm Cash
Bashkir Curly Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Tea Party Cow - 20 Farm Cash
Big Tea Party Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Tea Party Pig - 16 Farm Cash

Buildings

Garden Cottage - 20 Farm Cash

Decorations

Allium Flowerbed - 10,000 coins
Rose Fountain - 10 Farm Cash

Avatar Clothing

Lady Dress - 7 Farm Cash

See all of these items for Farm Cash? At least you can't say we didn't warn you. Unfortunately, you'll need to shell out plenty of real cash to get your hands on the coolest of these English Garden items, but at least we have the Garden Tea Party feature to complete in order to get a bit of the fun of the theme for free. If you're interested in purchasing any of these items, make sure you do so fast, as they'll only be available for the next two weeks.

What do you think of these latest English Garden items? How many of them do you think you'll purchase? Will you place them all on your English Countryside farm, or will you use them elsewhere? Let us know in the comments.

The Sims Social hits the slots and shows in Vegas Week

The Sims Social will never sleep ... at least for this week. Playfish takes its numero uno social game to lovely Las Vegas this week, complete with new items, outfits and quests for players to complete and collect. The update takes the whole "Vegas" thing literally, as players can now transform their homes into miniature casinos with slot machines, shiny floors and drinks all around.

The theme also features plenty of pristine or feathery colors, like whites, pinks and purples, throughout. If you've ever been so lucky to visit Las Vegas, you'll know how close Playfish comes to hitting it on the nose. (You know, aside from the creepy dudes that try to shove "calling cards" in your face.) Of course, players stand to win plenty of Simoleons--a 10,000 jackpot, to be exact--from in-game slot machines, like the VegasLadyLuck available.

In this week's quest, players stand to win a Vegas Tiger Pal, which is just one part of a collection needed to craft the Vegas Card Trick Table. Players can also hang loose in the Vegas Ritzy Dip Pool. Basically, this week is your chance to experience Vegas without leaving your computer chair ... but we do highly recommend you make it out there. It's kind of awesome.

Are you liking Vegas Week in The Sims Social? What other themes do you hope Playfish takes on in its game? Sound off in the comments.

The Sims Social 'One Week Only' Quest: How to finish it fast

The Sims Social is knee-deep in slots, shows and shiny neon lights this week. It's Vegas Week in Playfish's crown jewel, and with it comes yet another weekly quest. Titled "One Week Only," players must help a stage performer--that clearly wants to be just like Sigfried or Roy ... we can't decide which--successfully wow your fellow Sims through seven quests in total.

To complete this storied quest, you'll need at least six neighbors, 1,850 Simoleons, six White Essence, five Buzz, 10 Joker Cards, 15 Herbs, an Athletic Skill item and a Music Skill item. Now, let's see how to complete "One Week Only" as quickly as possible:

One Week Only Part 1

• Become Inspired
• Have splash in ShowTime Ritzy Pool
• Collect 6 White Essence

All you need to do is fulfill all your Sim's needs to get Inspired. Luckily, Bella has a ShowTime Ritzy Pool, so visit her, click on the pool and choose the "Splash" option--not the "Splash About" option. While you're there, try to click on as many white objects as possible and choose the "Collect White Essence" option. And Bella just so happens to have six white items. Then, plant four Watermelons--you'll see why.

One Week Only Part 2

• Have 5 Buzz
• Harvest 4 Watermelons
• Have the Vegas Ritzy Fountain

Buzz comes from fulfilling your Sim's Fun need with any item, as well as from individual friend requests. Four Watermelons will cost a total of 76 Simoleons and take at least 12 hours to harvest. Finally, pick up the Ritzy Fountain for free and get to building. We highly recommend you keep working at this as you complete these quest, since the final requirement is to have this finished.
One Week Only Part 3

• Ask Friends to Watch Card Trick
• Have 10 Joker Cards
• Make Shuffle Cards Twice

To ask friends to watch the trick, you must post to your Wall and have at least two friends click on it--comment on your own post to make it more visible. To get Joker Cards, you must ask your friends directly. Finally, Bella happens to have ShowTime Card Trick Table that you must interact with twice over two days consecutively, a perfect time to work on the Fountain.

One Week Only Part 4

• Earn 500 Simoleons from Athletic Skill Item
• Check Mailbox in 24 hours
• "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" 10 Times

The best Athletic Skill items to earn the 500 Simoleons with include the Simiyoga Mat, Runner3000 and the Archery Range. Then you must wait for 24 hours to check your Mailbox. (Again, keep working on the Fountain!) Finally, visit Bella's house to use her ShowTime Nightlife Stage 10 times.

One Week Only Part 5

• Earns 800 Simoleons from Music Skill Items
• Have 3 New Furniture from Vegas Week
• Conjure Fluffy Two Days in a Row

It seems like any Music Skill item will do, so why not use the free guitar? Luckily, the Vegas Ritzy Fountain counts as a furniture item, so the next cheapest items would be the Vegas Flowers and Vegas Table, which go for 600 and 750 Simoleons, respectively. For the third and final task, visit Bella's house two days in a row, click on her ShowTime Card Trick Table and choose the "Magic Time" option. In the meantime, keep at that Fountain.
One Week Only Part 6

• Have 15 Herbs
• Harvest 4 Lettuces
• Feed Fluffy 10 Times

First, you must also plant four Lettuce, which will take 30 minutes to harvest and cost a total of 32 Simoleons. Herbs can be found while trimming weeds in your Sim's yard as well as when harvesting crops. Finally, pay Bella a visit, click on her ShowTime Card Trick Table and choose the "Feed Me" option 10 times. You should plant the Lettuce first.

One Week Only Part 7

• Clean 6 other Sims' Dirty Items
• Tell 5 Friends to See the Grand Finale
• Complete ShowTime Ritzy Fountain

First, post the News Feed on your Wall for five friends to click on. (Remember to comment on your own post!) Then, visit six friends and find dirty items to clean. By this time, you should have completed the ShowTime Ritzy Fountain. For completing this quest, your reward is a Vegas Tiger Pal, which you'll need to finish your own ShowTime Card Trick Table.

Have any tips for completing this week's quest even faster? Sound off in the comments

Expect way more The Sims Social ads where Dove Soap came from

Like, way more. Playfish parent company EA and consumer products company Unilever recently announced a huge deal that will bring lots of in-game advertising to The Sims Social, its number one Facebook game. Unilever is responsible for big time brands, including Hellman's, Axe, Lipton, Slim-Fast and yes, even Dove.

While the two companies only just recently announced their year-long partnership, according to All Things D, it actually started at the beginning of 2012 with the Dove Hair Spa. In that event, players could visit the Dove Facebook page and score a free Dove item for their Sims--this is just the beginning. Unilever and EA plan to bring brands like Magnum Mini ice cream bars and Heartbrand ice cream to The Sims Social in a spring and summer ad campaign.

EA even laid out exactly how it goes about advertising in its games through everything from video ads to branded in-game quests--ahem, Toyota. Of course, advertising in Facebook games is noting new: Zynga has been at it for years in games like FarmVille. But a deal this huge and far-reaching certainly says something about where social games are headed.

"Everyone knows the audience is there, and that they are spending a lot of time in the games, but from a media standpoint, it's still been fairly new," EA SVP of global media solutions Dave Madden said during the announcement. "For a global company like Unilever to want to partner with EA and launch a campaign globally, it's an indication that gaming is finding a stage."

Are you a fan of ad content in The Sims Social, or are you against it? What effects does it have on gameplay? Sound off in the comments.

The Sims Social takes Interactive Achievement Award to Littlehaven

In the minds of the games industry's best, Playfish was certainly on onto something with The Sims Social. Its most popular Facebook game won the Interactive Achievement Award (IAA) for Social Networking Game of the Year at last night's 15th annual IAAs during the D.I.C.E. Summit. The game was joined other impressive nominees like Triple Town, CastleVille, Gardens of Time and Army Attack.

"Each year the Interactive Achievement Awards sees the top minds and personas of our industry coming together to not only celebrate, but recognize one another for the achievements of the year," Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences president Martin Rae said, according to IndustryGamers. "2011 produced an outstanding number of fantastic games in all areas of the industry – console, PC, social and mobile – we are truly witnessing a new golden age of gaming. Bravo to our winners!"

Of course, Bethesda's sword swinging and spell slinging adventure Skyrim took home the coveted Game of the Year award. (And four others last night.) As for best casual game, it also went to a Facebook game, at least in proxy. Fruit Ninja Kinect received the honor, which has been released on Facebook as Fruit Ninja Frenzy. As for The Sims Social, EA COO Peter Moore recently mused about what he wished the game could do, and if Playfish can pull it off, their game could be back next year.

Are you surprised that The Sims Social took home the IAA? If so, which game do you think deserved it? Sound off in the comments. 

Angry Birds Land is headed to a theme park relatively near you [Video]

Remember that Angry Birds theme park that's about to land in Finland? According to Mashable, we could get in on that fun, too. On the heels of the massive Angry Birds Space launch, Rovio is in talks to open Angry Birds theme parks in the U.K, the U.S. and parts of China at a later date. The move would all but solidify Rovio as more than a game company, which the Finnish game maker has looked to make clear for some time.

"Zynga is a game company. We stopped looking at ourselves as a game company," Rovio CMO Peter Vesterbacka told SFGate.com. "We sold 25 million plush toys last year. For us, it's about making Angry Birds available everywhere."

These Angry Birds attractions will follow the example of the first-ever Angry Birds Land, an addition to Särkänniemi Adventure Park in Tampere, Finland, meaning that they'll be additions to existing Western and Eastern theme parks. Lappset, the company designing the playground equipment for Angry Birds Lands, looks to blur the lines between the physical and digital worlds with Angry Birds-esque sandpits, arcade games, slides and more. Angry Birds Disney, here we come?




Would you go out of your way to visit an Angry Birds Land? Does Angry Birds have the staying power to support its own theme parks? Sound off in the comments.

Want extra levels in Angry Birds Space? Go on a Walmart scavenger hunt

Rovio, the Finnish creator of Angry Birds, was not joking when it called Angry Birds Space its biggest launch ever. The next in the developer's long list of launch partners is Walmart, who holds the key(s) to a few more extra levels in the upcoming game. Ahead of March 22, as in Angry Birds Space launch day, players can search for "Eggsteroid" clues.

What in the world are "Eggsteroids", you ask? We have no idea, but what we do know is that they're the key to unlocking four bonus levels in Angry Birds Space. First, you'll have to visit and "Like" the Walmart Facebook page to earn your first "Golden Eggsteroid" clue. (This is a branding slash retail promotion, remember?) For the remaining clues, you'll have to--gasp--go outside and find them.

The three remaining Golden Eggsteroid clues reside within or on various Angry Birds Space merchandise, like fruit snacks, t-shirts and plush toys at Walmart stores. Starting today, you'll be able to find the first clue ahead of the galactic game's release tomorrow, and the clue-ridden Angry Birds Space swag will pop up in over 3,000 Walmarts on March 25.

T-Mobile stores within Walmarts will also offer a free Angry Birds Space level with the purchase of an Android smartphone. You know, of all the branded Angry Birds gear, I've yet to find something for my own angry bird, a macaw.

Are you psyched for Angry Birds Space? Will you head into your local Walmart for these secret levels? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

Angry Birds Space will crash into 3DS, maybe even PlayStation Vita

In fact, Finnish developer Rovio wants this version of Angry Birds to be on "all the screens," according to what company CMO (and Mighty Eagle) Peter Vesterbacka told Joystiq. This isn't terribly surprising considering it's a wonder that previous iterations didn't make it to your dishwasher. But this would make for yet another first for the franchise: appearance on a Nintendo device.

"With all our games, we're going for all the screens: Smartphones, tablets, TVs, the web, so we really want to bring Space to all the screens as well," Vesterbacka told Joystiq at this week's SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX. "As always, we have limited resources, so we can only do iOS, Android, PC and Mac for the launch, but the other platforms will follow shortly after."

And while Angry Birds Space is officially slated for 3DS, so is the entire existing catalog of Angry Birds adventures as promised. Better yet, Rovio has considered bringing Angry Birds Space to Sony's PS Vita, but that's ultimately up to Sony. (Though, Sony would be downright silly to pass this one up.)

"We'll have our games on the 3DS pretty soon. The Vita we haven't decided what to do about yet, but of course we want to be on all the screens, so let's see how the Vita does in the market," Vesterbacka said. "And of course, always when working with these console guys it's not that we can decide, it's really if Sony wants to have Angry Birds on Vita. It's more up to them than to us."

Are you excited for Angry Birds on 3DS? Will Rovio's games do well on dedicated gaming handhelds? Sound off in the comments.

Angry Birds Space on Samsung Galaxy Note hawks 30 free levels

 

Looking for the best place to experience Angry Birds Space when it lands on March 22? All signs point to the Samsung Galaxy Note, oddly enough. Rovio has revealed that the Galaxy Note version of its imminent spacefaring fowl-flinger will pack 30 levels for the fine cost of "free", according to Phandroid. Better yet, Galaxy Note-owners will get one exclusive level.

Rovio and Samsung showed as much this week during the South by Southwest (SxSW) event in Austin, Texas this week. More specifically, players that pick up the ambitious game through a Galaxy Note will score the Danger Zone content pack for free. The 30 levels packed in that update will be available to Angry Birds fans sans a Note as an in-game purchase.

Even better (or worse for those without a Note), the Danger Zone content pack also unlocks access to the Lazer Bird, which has special powers and shows off the Note's "beautiful display," according to Phandroid. (Note the name.) Check out what Angry Birds Space looks like on a Galaxy Note below:

Are you excited for Angry Birds Space? Are you even more excited, because you own a Note? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Giant Pigeon Attack: Everything you need to know

Forget Godzilla - your CityVille town is now under attack by a massive Pigeon! This giant Pigeon is hungry, and he's demanding a "seed ransom" from you in exchange for not destroying your entire town! Presumably, this feature is CityVille's nod to April Fool's Day, but it is a real, limited edition feature to complete in your game.

You'll need to pay special attention to your town's roads, as you'll see the giant Pigeon walking around with a yellow question mark above its head. Note: You might need to refresh your game a few times, or simply wait a few minutes for it to appear.

Once you find the Pigeon, he'll have goals for you to complete, similar to the "citizen rewards" feature that was released earlier this year. For instance, your first goal might be "collect from 10 residences." Another goal might ask you to collect from your City Hall (regardless of its upgrade level).

As you complete these goals, you'll receive prizes like coins, experience points and free energy. Just make sure you have a lot of energy on hand to begin with, as some of these tasks require quite a bit of it to complete. Good luck finishing all of these mini-goals before the Pigeon flies the coop!

What do you think of this Giant Pigeon Attack feature in CityVille? Were you expecting a more literal prank from Zynga for April Fool's Day? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille: Play Zynga Slingo for free energy and bonus crew

The world of Zynga Slingo cross promotions has finally made it into CityVille, giving every mayor a chance at two free prizes for simply playing Zynga Slingo on Facebook, the cross between slots and bingo. If you've been keeping track, this could be an almost instant promotion, as you've likely already finished the requirement long before now.

For those just starting out in these cross-promotional activities, you'll need to earn 30 Medals in Zynga Slingo in order to be eligible for your CityVille prizes. This is done by simply playing various Slingo boards, as there are five Medals available for each. Once you've earned your 30 required Medals, you can come back to your city to earn 10 free energy and three Bonus Crew that can be saved for future use.

Unfortunately, 10 energy really isn't that great of a prize, but the Bonus Crew will help you save three of your friends from being "bugged" into helping you staff a community building or home. Plus, both sets of items are free, so I suppose we really can't complain. Hopefully, we'll see better promotions launch in the few games in Zynga's catalog that have yet to receive them, and we'll make sure to let you know if that ends up being the case.

What do you think of this particular cross-promotion between Zynga Slingo and CityVille? Have you already earned your 30 Medals for another game? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille: Zynga finally takes the hint and releases more item storage

CityVille's biggest (and longest-standing issue) has arguably been the lack of land space available to growing towns, and the lack of storage space available for users that wish to store decorations or other items for later use. We've received a storage Warehouse, but of course its limited capacity could only go so far. That leaves users with some items in storage, but even more that are still cluttering up their city streets. Finally addressing this issue (although in no way permanently solving it), Zynga has released an upgrade to CityVille's maximum item storage capacity for all users: 150 slots in total. Of course, nothing this convenient is ever free, so you'll have to work for it first.

You'll unlock the increase to 150 storage slots via a new goal in the game (again, this goal will roll out to all users in the near future, regardless of level, but you'll need to be at least Level 31 to actually complete it). The goal, Maximum Storage, asks you to complete three tasks, one of which requires you to have constructed an airport in your town:

• Ask for 25 Markers
• Collect 30 Suitcases
• Unload 30 Caribbean Cruise Ships

The Markers, of course, come from asking friends to send them to you, while the Suitcases can be found at random when collecting from Passenger Planes in your city's airport. You'll need to have built the separate Passenger Terminal in order to send out Passenger Planes, so make sure to increase your priority on building that particular item if storage is an issue in your town.

Once you've completed this goal, your storage Warehouse will automatically update to its new capacity of 150 items. You'll also find that the storage menu has been revamped, allowing you to view items based on their categories: businesses, homes, decorations, community buildings and so on. This is similar to the general inventory upgrades that (in theory) have also rolled out to all users, but unfortunately a search function isn't available as of this writing. We'll make sure to let you know if further increases to storage release in the future, so stay tuned!

Are you excited to have a storage capacity of 150 items in CityVille, or will you run through that all too quickly as well? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille: Unlock the Tinsel Talent Agency and let your stars shine

While we've seen plenty of exclusive items released in CityVille over the past few months that require you to expand your land out to reach them, perhaps none are as... unique as the Tinsel Talent Agency which has now spawned in our cities. What makes this particular skyscraper unique? One look at it in your town will tell the tale: it spins!

To go along with unlocking the Tinsel Talent Agency, you can also complete a new goal called Coming Full Circle:

• Expand to Tinsel Talent Agency
• Ask friends for 20 Gold Ribbons
• Collect from Level 3 City Works three times

The Gold Ribbons are earned by asking your friends to send them to you via a general news item on your wall. While you're waiting for those to arrive, you can work on expanding out to the Tinsel Talent Agency, which may be in a different location in each player's city, depending on how far you've already expanded your town on your own. You'll need to reach it in the same way as you expand normally, by collecting Zoning Permits and adding additional population to your town.

Once you've reached the Tinsel Talent Agency, you can move the item around your town at will, or you can leave it in its current expansion. For completing the overall Coming Full Circle goal, you'll receive a single free Zoning Permit. There's no time limit on completing this goal just yet, but if history tells us anything, a timer will likely appear within the next week. That likely being the case, make sure to try your hand at reaching the Tinsel Talent Agency as soon as you can, while you still can. Good luck!

What do you think of this spinning skyscraper in CityVille? Will you take the extra time to expand out to it, or does the novelty of its animation do nothing for you? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille: Upgrade more community buildings to prepare for what's to come

 

CityVille has received a fairly standard update this week, allowing players to upgrade 11 more Community Buildings so that they can allow even more citizens to take up residence in their towns. There's no celebration of fanfare with this release, just a simple announcement that these upgrades are indeed available. Here's the list of newly upgradeable Community Buildings:

• Fine Arts Theater
• Marina
• Phone Company
• Community Pool
• Discovery Center
• Lifeguard Station
• Swiss Museum
• City Jail
• Water Bottling Plant
• Modern Art Gallery
• Observatory

While these upgrades definitely aren't mandatory, if history has taught us anything, you'll want to make sure to upgrade these buildings as fast as possible in case they're used in upcoming goals or other in-game events. It's not uncommon for a goal to specifically ask you to collect from a Level 2 or Level 3 version of a particular building, so make sure you keep all of this in mind when planning your next move. You won't want to be given a goal with a great prize only to not be able to complete it because you procrastinated (trust me, we've been there). We'll make sure to let you know just when these upgrades are required, if ever, so keep checking back with us!

What do you think of this set of Community Building upgrades? Which Community Buildings would you like to see upgrades released for next? Sound off in the comments.

Zynga is a terrible haggler, cuts CityVille Downtown to 60 City Cash

It looks like Zynga's 43.7 million CityVille players know a bum deal when they see one. Twice now it seems players have failed to bite on the early unlock price for the game's first expansion, CityVille Downtown. Now players can purchase early access to Downtown for 60 City Cash, or roughly $8. but only after the developer offered the content for much, much more.

When Zynga first revealed Downtown, it offered early access for a whopping 150 City Cash, then 90 City Cash presumably after players turned that down. (That's about $16 and $12, respectively, for those keeping score.) Of course, Zynga ultimately plans to release this content for free to all 43 million CityVille players, meaning Downtown has been ready to play for weeks.

Now let that fact sits square in your mind. Moving on, an exclusive preview given to Mashable reveals that players will need to be at least Level 20 to access CityVille Downtown. According to Mashable, players will be able to construct brand new building types, like high-end boutiques, wine bars and amphitheaters.

While creating what essentially amounts to a second city, players will meet new characters that grant quests and advance the story, including Harry Hipster, Rebecca Realtor, Susie Shopaholic and Frank the Commuter, Mashable reports. If only Zynga would cut to the chase already.

Are you excited for CityVille Downtown? Have you paid for early access yet, and what do you think of the whole ordeal? Sound off in the comments. 5 Comments

CityVille Downtown: Why pay when you can get in for free?

Earlier this week, Zynga dropped the price of entry to CityVille Downtown to 60 City Cash in one last-ditch effort to earn money from the masses before releasing the expansion for free. If you were able to control yourself and hold onto your City Cash, your patience has paid off, as you can now enter CityVille Downtown for absolutely nothing! That's right - the expansion (which might as well be called a second city) is now available to play for all users for free!

When you arrive in CityVille Downtown, you'll be taken through a short tutorial detailing the significance of Downtown Value. This can be thought of as a separate form of "population," as you'll need a specific number of Downtown Value points to expand your city, just as you need a certain number of citizens to do so. You'll start off with just a few squares in your Downtown expansion, but can expand by collecting Zoning Permits and raising your Downtown Value.

For instance, the first goal in Downtown: The Real Deal," introduces us to a new realtor character, and asks you to make your first expansion in your Downtown area:

• Increase Downtown Value to 1905
• Expand the Trucking Expansion Tile

To increase your Downtown Value, you'll want to click on the special Downtown logo within the market to build new items that have Downtown Value points to give. These are businesses like the Cheese Steak Counter or homes like a Modern Loft, Live Work Loft or Urban Apartments. Each item has a different Downtown Value, along with its specific stats like population, rent and more (depending on the item type, as usual).

As for the Trucking Expansion, this is found right next to your starting area of CityVille Downtown, so you'll only need to expand once to actually have it. Expanding requires you to earn some Zoning Permits from friends though, so keep that in mind. Once you've reached it, you'll be able to use this Trucking Depot to turn your regular Goods into Premium Goods which can then be used in your businesses. This includes the businesses that require these Premium Goods to run, like a Premium Purse Shop, Wine Bar, Italian Suit Store, Diamond Jeweler and much more.

One final feature to take note of is actually a contest available to those players who are ready to jump in and play in CityVille Downtown right away. A Downtown Central Park upgradeable item is found in the middle of your Downtown expansion, and like a Skyscraper, it comes with multiple levels that need to be completed and upgraded to in order to actually finish the item off. In this particular case, the Central Park serves as a Community Building, with there being seven levels to reach in all. Once you reach Level 7, you'll receive an increase in the allowance of Downtown Value by 15,000 points, and you'll also be entered to win up to 10,000 City Cash, as seen below. Just be fast about those upgrades, as the contest itself ends in ten days (the upgrades will be available after that, but the contest won't).

With that, you should be well on your way to success in your CityVille Downtown. Just keep in mind that any progress you make in Downtown (like adding new citizens) will carry over to your overall total. That being the case, if you'd like to expand your home town, you can use this Downtown as a storage area of sorts, for those new homes, and then expand your own town without purchasing new items and taking up space there! Pretty cool, right?

What do you think of CityVille Downtown thus far? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Web Company Goals: Everything you need to know

Your town in CityVille is about to receive a boost technologically, as a Web Company wants to set up shop in your city! This comes by way of the Web Company goal series, and the business of the same name. There are three goals in this Web Company line, so here's a step-by-step look at how to finish them off!

Master of Your Domain!

• Place and Complete the Web Company
• Ask for 15 Software CDs
• Collect from 50 Businesses

When you place the Web Company business in your town, you'll simply be able to use energy to construct it. From there, you'll need to supply it with 274 Goods, and will receive 1,504 coins in return when those Goods have been used. Meanwhile, the Software CDs are earned by posting a general request for them on your wall. You'll receive 40,000 coins and 5 energy for completing this first goal.

Social Butterfly!

• Supply 25 Businesses
• Collect from 5 Tokyo Cargo Planes
• Increase Population by 500 citizens

Rewards: 200 XP, 500 Goods
Goal 3:

• Collect Wireless Routers
• Collect from finished Web Company
• Collect from Level 2 Phone Company

Unfortunately, the details surrounding goals two and three are still incredibly slim, but we'll make sure to update this space when we've learned more about their specific requirements. In the meantime, why not jump into CityVille Downtown and spend some time in the game's newest expansion?

CityVille Easter Egg Hunt: Everything you need to know

The Easter Bunny has made a quick detour into our CityVille towns this weekend, offering us a chance to find some hidden Easter Eggs for some easy rewards. You'll be able to spot the Easter Bunny walking around on your streets, and can click on him to activate the "Egg Hunt" menu.

This all deals with an overall building project that allows us to build the Bunny House. You'll be given a Level 1 Bunny House for free, but can upgrade it all of the way to Level 4. The more levels your Bunny House has, the more bunnies can actually live inside of it. To upgrade your Bunny House, you'll need to collect items like multi-colored carrots with the help of friends. For instance, upgrading to Level 2 requires the following:

• 2 Carrots
• 2 Light Blue Carrots
• 2 Magenta Carrots

Upgrading to Level 2 allows you to house two bunnies, while level 3 allows four bunnies and so on. You'll need to ask your friends to send you the extra bunnies that can live within it, and as you might expect, the actual upgrading process becomes more difficult as you go along (with more Carrots of different colors being required for each level).

There's a new Egg Hunt goal that goes along with this feature, that will reward you with 100 Goods and 3,000 coins for finding 10 Eggs, building the Bunny House and then upgrading it to at least Level 3. To find Eggs, you'll need to spot the bunnies on your streets and then click on buildings around them to find the egg they've hidden there. Each egg contains a prize, like energy, for example. If you're having trouble spotting bunnies, try refreshing your game and see if that makes them appear.

Good luck finding all of these Easter eggs this weekend - there's no time limit on this event currently, but I wouldn't expect it to stick around for long. Make sure to finish it off now while you still can!

CityVille Private Jet Airport Terminal: Everything you need to know

If you've completed the construction of the Airport in your CityVille town, you can now build the fourth and (for now) final terminal: the Private Jet terminal. This one is open to VIP passengers only, and you'll be able to send and receive special jets from this terminal to earn some exclusive rewards, along with the basics in terms of Zoning Permits, Goods, coins and energy batteries.

Once you're ready to build this fourth terminal on your airport, you can do so by collecting a variety of building materials with the help of friends:

• 12 Carry-On Luggage
• 12 First Class Seats
• 12 VIP Passes
• 12 Paparazzi Photos
• 12 Airplane Pillows

You can collect these items either through general news posts on your wall or by sending out individual requests for your neighbors to help you out. Once the terminal is built, you'll have two VIP Jets to choose from, the Skywing Jet that costs 100,000 coins and the Time Pigeon Jet for 50 City Cash. The Time Pigeon Jet comes with a 20% bonus to all payouts from flights sent using it.

As with your planes in other airport terminals, you'll have five options (as of this writing) for where to send your VIPs. One, Washington DC, gives you a chance to earn a large version of what looks to be the Lincoln Memorial for earning three-star mastery on that particular route. For other routes, the exclusive rewards may differ but you'll still need to earn three stars of mastery in order to receive anything truly special. Otherwise, your routes will give you a chance to earn items like coins, energy bolts, Zoning Permits or even Premium Goods. A VIP Bonus can also be triggered, which will give bonus coins to the payouts on some of your Community Buildings.

If you happen to score one of these VIP Bonuses, you'll have three minutes to collect from as many Community Buildings as you can (using the normal amount of energy to collect from them) to earn massive amounts of bonus coins in the process. This isn't a one-time feature, as you'll be able to to activate the bonus anytime a VIP arrives when you send out a Private Jet at your newest terminal. In fact, you'll need to build this terminal, send out five Private Jets and activate one such VIP Bonus to complete this feature's accompanying goal. Doing so will give you 50 XP and five energy.

It's always possible that additional terminals or features will be released for the airport feature in the future, but this terminal is the last one as of this writing. We'll make sure to let you know if we're ever given the chance to build a second airport, or simply expand our first, so keep checking back with us!

The Best Flash Games of 2011

Much like 2 years ago, “The Best Flash Games of 2010”, I spent a fair amount of my gaming time at both Newgrounds and Kongregate this year. Though the early part of the year was largely devoid of anything to get excited about, there was a lot to like in some of the Flash titles released early in 2011 in particular.

Especially pleasing were a collection of new titles that didn’t fall into the standard platformer, tower defense, and puzzle models that typify a lot of Flash gaming (though a few standout platformers did make my list this year, nevertheless).  In addition to those somewhat familiar Flash game play styles, my favorites of this year also contain some interesting strategy elements, as well as some nods to retro arcade-style action. 

5. Skinny (Thomas Brush, 21 November 2011)

Yes, yes, Thomas Brush follows the seemingly stereotypical model of building “artsy” Flash games. Take a platformer, mix with a moody, but pretty soundtrack, and pepper the game with some strange, esoteric characters and dialogue.  However, much like his debut title, Coma, Skinny does all of these things especially well and is also quite beautiful to look at.

Like Coma, the minimalist plot hints at darker concerns with the way that a system may take advantage of an individual. The titular character, a robot whose dreams suggest that a hope for some kind of humanity and individualism might exist in himself, haplessly aids in eroding the humanity of others by making sure that they do not feel the “pain” of existing outside a virtual system that keeps human beings happy and content. 

Despite its ambiguous ending, Skinny feels very much complete as a short meditation on the potential danger of following the rules.

 

4. Rebuild (Sarah Northway, 12 February 2011)

With all the games about dismembering and being dismembered by the undead, one would think that the gaming market is just a tad oversaturated by the image of the zombie. Nevertheless, Rebuild is not a survival-horror game or an action-horror game; instead, this is a turn-based-strategy horror game. That this unusual take is accomplished via a unique set of game mechanics makes all the difference in arguing for Rebuild not following the run-of-the-mill “splatter zombie brains with a baseball bat” approach of most games interested in this kind of monstrosity. 

By focusing the player on resource allocation, expansion of territory, and assignment of roles to a ragtag group of humans trying not merely to survive but to redevelop a society, the game maintains a moody and dark horror vibe but still sets a more hopeful goal for the player to achieve than is usually found in the hopelessness of zombie fiction: the ability to rebuild. The game finds a way to reconsider the value of a collective in the face of a vastly less human and humane form of “civilizing” group, the aforementioned zombie hordes, by allowing you to develop individuals into useful members of a renewed social order.

The game suffers from “the snowball effect”, much as many other strategy games do, making the late game a bit tiresome; your eventual successes will mean the zombie horde will cease to be all that threatening in the end. However, the early decision making that the player is forced to grapple with and some nice touches of personality applied to what might otherwise appear to be rather faceless “troops” makes Rebuild a nice way to while away a few hours.

 

3. Alphaland (Jonas Kyratzes, 4 May 2011)

Yes, this is a platformer. However, it is one that is focused less on reflexes and speed running than it is on exploration and discovery.

Tasked simply with helping out a game designer with some alpha testing, the player soon finds himself lost within an unfinished set of systems. The pleasure of the game is figuring out the rules of a strange, new world.  What is refreshing about Kyratykas’s approach to exploring games through his own game is his argument here that the player and system aid in creating one another, in creating a world. This more romantic take on the player-game relationship stands in contrast with the antagonism that games like Loved argue is inherent between the system and those that submit to it (or, for a more mainstream gaming example, think the relationship between Chell and GlaDOS in Portal or the protagonist and those in power in Rapture in Bioshock).

Well paced and meditative, this is a platformer that doesn’t frustrate. It merely wants you to take the time to see what it is all about.

 

2. High Tea (Preloaded, 4 February 2011)

“1830, Britain is in the grip of a mass addiction to a foreign drug. TEA!”

That addiction is the driving force of a game that I want to describe as a twitch-based economic sim. The historical premise of using the profits from selling one addictive substance, opium, to one nation, China, and then turning even bigger profits by taking advantage of Great Britain’s addiction to another addictive product, tea, becomes a very fast paced game of smuggling and following the most obvious of strategies: “buy low, sell high”. 

The explosion of demand produced by addicts, though, turns this into the fastest-paced economic sim that I can ever recall playing.  It also seems to be part of the message of the game, which turns profiting in misery into a frantic and chaotic twitch-fest, rather than a thoughtful bit of entrepreneuring.

It’s probably the game that I have found myself replaying more than any other on the list just because of its simple gameplay and the rapid escalation of its challenge in a short period of time.

 

1. Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars (Anna Anthropy, 7 April 2011)

Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars is about punishment.  Wedding retro arcade-style graphics with retro arcade-style difficulty, the game will punish you.  But only because you allow it to. 

The camp throwback to sexploitation cinema is a theme that is reflected in the mechanisms of play itself here. Anthropy makes an argument with the punishing difficulty of the game that play, pleasure, and ultimately co-operation only arise from submitting to the rules, the system, and the authority that both represent.  This game takes a different and perhaps more cynical tact to “describing” the relationship between the player and the game than Alphaland does. Playing on may cost you your dignity, but that is all part of the negotiation of power that Anthropy senses is inherent in any game.

Not everyone is going to love this experience, but I find Anthropy’s argument that pleasure and pain are related more than a little compelling, as this game brings out my inner masochist, and I find that he is pleased every time he suffers through and succeeds at one more brutal level.