As we reported a few days ago, the Mint Candy Tree was then an unreleased tree that we expected would be released in FarmVille in the near future. It turns out that the future is now, as technically speaking, the tree is now available to purchase in the game's store. It's listed as a regular, permanent addition to the store, so your best bet at easily finding it is to sort the tree area of the store by "Name (A-Z)."
Once you've found the tree, you'll see that you can purchase this level 2 tree for 30 Farm Cash. However, the image associated with the tree is entirely wrong, as you can see from the picture to the right (the tree in that picture appears to be a Granny Smith Apple Tree). The actual Mint Candy Tree looks like the image below:
To save yourself some Farm Cash (and some headache), it is believed that this new tree will actually be available as Mystery Seedlings produced when placing a Sugar Plum Tree in one of your orchards, but that tree has yet to be released in the game, so we can't confirm this rumor as of this time.
All of that being said, it's up to you whether or not you'd like to risk purchasing one of these trees early, before Zynga has a chance to fix the many issues associated with it. Was the tree released early by mistake? Is there just a glitch in the system that no one seems to have noticed yet? It's presumable that Zynga will allow those users that purchase the tree to keep it once they've fixed it, but in the off chance that they have to remove those purchased trees from the game, we'd suggest waiting until they have sorted everything out before spending the premium currency.
Friday, January 13, 2012
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Holiday Elf Pig, Elf Costume, and Ski Bunny Costume
In an effort to keep you as up to date as possible about all things happening in the world of FarmVille, we've come across a set of three new unreleased images for Winter Holiday items that we believe will be released in the game in the near future.
These three items are the Elf Pig, and two costumes for your avatar: the Elf Costume and the Ski Bunny Costume. As of right now, the details are slim concerning all three items, as we are unsure when they will be released, along with their prices, or even if they will be made available as free gifts, or just as items available to purchase in the store.
We can speculate, however, that should the Elf Costume and Ski Bunny Costume be made available in the store (this makes sense, as there would be one costume for boys, and one costume for girls to purchase), that they will be available for 10 Farm Cash each, as that is the current price of the Santa and Reindeer costumes that have already been released in the game as part of this year's Winter Holiday theme.
For the Elf Pig, this looks like an item that would also be made available for Farm Cash, as it is incredibly rare for Zynga to release a limited edition animal for coins.
Remember, there is no guarantee that we'll actually see any of these items in the game, so keep that in mind.
These three items are the Elf Pig, and two costumes for your avatar: the Elf Costume and the Ski Bunny Costume. As of right now, the details are slim concerning all three items, as we are unsure when they will be released, along with their prices, or even if they will be made available as free gifts, or just as items available to purchase in the store.
We can speculate, however, that should the Elf Costume and Ski Bunny Costume be made available in the store (this makes sense, as there would be one costume for boys, and one costume for girls to purchase), that they will be available for 10 Farm Cash each, as that is the current price of the Santa and Reindeer costumes that have already been released in the game as part of this year's Winter Holiday theme.
For the Elf Pig, this looks like an item that would also be made available for Farm Cash, as it is incredibly rare for Zynga to release a limited edition animal for coins.
Remember, there is no guarantee that we'll actually see any of these items in the game, so keep that in mind.
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Brown Lamb, Brown Sheep, & Golden Lion Monkey
Welcome to another edition of the FarmVille Sneak Peek, where we give you lucky farmers a chance to get a sneak peek of items that we believe will be coming to FarmVille in the near future. This edition is animal-themed, with three new animals available to take a look at, all of which come in the form of unreleased images.
The three animals are the Brown Lamb, the Brown Sheep, and the Golden Lion Monkey (from left to right in the picture above). As none of these three items scream "Winter Holiday" to us, it's unlikely that they will be released as part of the Winter Holiday theme of items, so that leaves us to wonder whether or not we'll have to wait until after the new year to see these items (when the Winter Holiday celebration has ended), or whether they may be included in an upcoming Mystery Game or the like (if this is the case, our earlier chance to see them will be in tomorrow's updated Mystery Game). These items could even end up as Free Gifts - nothing is certain at this point other than the fact that we want these animals to place on our farm!
If these items are released a general purchase items in the store, it makes sense that they would be released for Farm Cash, as Zynga rarely releases a limited edition animal for coins. If they are Free Gifts, however, it would give the FarmVille free gifts page a much needed makeover from the current items that have been available for weeks, or even months.
What ever the case may be, remember that there is no guarantee that these animals will finally be released in the game, so keep that in mind. All we can do is speculate, but you're welcome to join in on the fun!
The three animals are the Brown Lamb, the Brown Sheep, and the Golden Lion Monkey (from left to right in the picture above). As none of these three items scream "Winter Holiday" to us, it's unlikely that they will be released as part of the Winter Holiday theme of items, so that leaves us to wonder whether or not we'll have to wait until after the new year to see these items (when the Winter Holiday celebration has ended), or whether they may be included in an upcoming Mystery Game or the like (if this is the case, our earlier chance to see them will be in tomorrow's updated Mystery Game). These items could even end up as Free Gifts - nothing is certain at this point other than the fact that we want these animals to place on our farm!
If these items are released a general purchase items in the store, it makes sense that they would be released for Farm Cash, as Zynga rarely releases a limited edition animal for coins. If they are Free Gifts, however, it would give the FarmVille free gifts page a much needed makeover from the current items that have been available for weeks, or even months.
What ever the case may be, remember that there is no guarantee that these animals will finally be released in the game, so keep that in mind. All we can do is speculate, but you're welcome to join in on the fun!
Facebook How-To: Discovering new games on Facebook
With the Facebook gaming world being filled with literally thousands upon thousands of different apps that any one player could potentially try, it can be incredibly difficult to find new games to play. Wanting to find out what the newest released games are? Good luck searching for titles in the Facebook Search bar, as you're likely to find apps that A) may not even exist or B) existed at one point but have been shut down, their fan pages still lingering in space.
That being said, there actually is a way to look at all of the new applications and games that have been added to Facebook, but this app listing's location can be a bit hard to find. In fact, unless you are particularly searching for it, it's unlikely that you'd just stumble into finding it.
That being the case, in the interest of helping you guys find all of the new games that you might want to play on Facebook, we've put together a Facebook How-To, detailing the exact steps you'll need to go through to look at the games directory, and how to do so by looking at the newest games before all else. This is all done within Facebook proper - you just have to know where to look.
Meet us behind the break for a full guide on how to find new apps. To start, you'll need to head to a page that might not sound intuitive when it comes to finding new games to play, as you'll be going to a page that houses requests for those you've already installed and currently enjoy. You'll need to click on the "Game Requests" page on the left side of the screen - the same place that you go to accept all of your game gift requests.
Next, you'll need to scroll down to the very bottom of this page - past all of your gift requests, past the game-centric view of news feed items, past the list of your friends' installed games - the very bottom. There, almost hidden, you'll see a link called "Games Directory." Click on this, as seen below:
This will take you to the "All Applications > Games" page, where you'll see a list of game recommendations (which can be helpful in their own right), and a list of the most popular Facebook games on the site, in terms of monthly active users. While you are more than welcome to browse through any and all apps from this page, including those that are recommended to you, in the interest of finding the very newest apps on the site, you'll need to click on the "See All" button that is placed in the "Popular" games section of the menu. Note: You can click on "Recently Added" as well, but this shows you just a very limited list of the recently added games on Facebook, so it's not recommendable.
Only after you click on "See All," which brings up a 20 page list of the most popular apps, should you click on the "Recently Added" link. This then resorts the newest applications, and shows you a whopping 20 pages of the newest applications added to Facebook. These games come from all sorts of genres, and may not even be in your native language (for instance, as seen below, their is an App called "Citta d'Europa" listed at the top of the Recently Added page, but we doubt most English speakers would be interested in it).
In this way, you'll be able to search out the newest games on the service, or, if you choose to stick with the "popular" sorting, you can browse through the entire application directory (including non-games - using the links at the far left of the page as seen in the screenshot below) to find applications and games you may not have even known existed, but which your friends might already be playing.
Clicking on a game's name will take you to the game's page on Facebook, where you can install the game as usual, or see if any of your friends are actively playing it.
We wish that Facebook made this app directory easier to find, but for those willing to do a little bit of clicking, you too can access this incredibly convenient feature on the site. With apps being added all of the time (on a daily basis), using these few, simple steps will ensure that you stay on top of all of the latest happenings on Facebook - along with checking in with Games.com - The Blog, of course.
That being said, there actually is a way to look at all of the new applications and games that have been added to Facebook, but this app listing's location can be a bit hard to find. In fact, unless you are particularly searching for it, it's unlikely that you'd just stumble into finding it.
That being the case, in the interest of helping you guys find all of the new games that you might want to play on Facebook, we've put together a Facebook How-To, detailing the exact steps you'll need to go through to look at the games directory, and how to do so by looking at the newest games before all else. This is all done within Facebook proper - you just have to know where to look.
Meet us behind the break for a full guide on how to find new apps. To start, you'll need to head to a page that might not sound intuitive when it comes to finding new games to play, as you'll be going to a page that houses requests for those you've already installed and currently enjoy. You'll need to click on the "Game Requests" page on the left side of the screen - the same place that you go to accept all of your game gift requests.
Next, you'll need to scroll down to the very bottom of this page - past all of your gift requests, past the game-centric view of news feed items, past the list of your friends' installed games - the very bottom. There, almost hidden, you'll see a link called "Games Directory." Click on this, as seen below:
This will take you to the "All Applications > Games" page, where you'll see a list of game recommendations (which can be helpful in their own right), and a list of the most popular Facebook games on the site, in terms of monthly active users. While you are more than welcome to browse through any and all apps from this page, including those that are recommended to you, in the interest of finding the very newest apps on the site, you'll need to click on the "See All" button that is placed in the "Popular" games section of the menu. Note: You can click on "Recently Added" as well, but this shows you just a very limited list of the recently added games on Facebook, so it's not recommendable.
Only after you click on "See All," which brings up a 20 page list of the most popular apps, should you click on the "Recently Added" link. This then resorts the newest applications, and shows you a whopping 20 pages of the newest applications added to Facebook. These games come from all sorts of genres, and may not even be in your native language (for instance, as seen below, their is an App called "Citta d'Europa" listed at the top of the Recently Added page, but we doubt most English speakers would be interested in it).
In this way, you'll be able to search out the newest games on the service, or, if you choose to stick with the "popular" sorting, you can browse through the entire application directory (including non-games - using the links at the far left of the page as seen in the screenshot below) to find applications and games you may not have even known existed, but which your friends might already be playing.
Clicking on a game's name will take you to the game's page on Facebook, where you can install the game as usual, or see if any of your friends are actively playing it.
We wish that Facebook made this app directory easier to find, but for those willing to do a little bit of clicking, you too can access this incredibly convenient feature on the site. With apps being added all of the time (on a daily basis), using these few, simple steps will ensure that you stay on top of all of the latest happenings on Facebook - along with checking in with Games.com - The Blog, of course.
Wishful Features: Adding pop-ups to the newsletter in Cafe World
As a level 63 Cafe World player, I find myself sitting in the middle of all users - I'm not a newbie, but I'm certainly not a level 150+ player. However, my cafe is at its largest (currently available) expansion size, and I have plenty of stoves and serving stations active at any one point in time. My buzz rating is at its maximum, and I have plenty of decorations to boot. Needless to say, when I try to load Cafe World, it takes quite a while.
By the time my cafe does load, I'm normally more than ready to start cooking, but can't. Why? Because I am instantly bombarded with more than my fair share of in-game pop-ups, detailing my progress on my current quests, my active Catering Mission, how many coins I've earned since I've been away, whether or not I've received gifts, whether there is a new in-game promotion (the current being one with Maxwell House), whether there is a sale on in-game items... you get the idea.
Once gameplay actually does start, the pop-ups just don't stop, as I'm told that I could be mastering dishes faster in one pop-up, and told about earning big tips in another, after almost every dish that I've cooked and/or served. All of this complaining aside, it's not that I don't like receiving all of this information, keeping me up-to-date with what's going in my own game, and in the Cafe World universe as a whole, it's just that I wish there was some streamlined, or at least condensed way in which to view it all.
Why not add these pop-ups to the in-game newsletter that has already been released in the game? As it stands, the newsletter is available to view by clicking on the small newspaper icon in the left-side game menu, but it is entirely useless, as of this writing, containing information about "new" items that were added to the game weeks ago. This newsletter doesn't appear as an in-game pop-up, interestingly enough, as you have to click on it manually to view it, so why even have it there at all?
Why not add some of this information - how many coins you've earned since you last visited, how much time you have left in your catering mission, and so on and so forth - to this newsletter, to actually give it some purpose? I'm pretty sure users would accept and even appreciate the newsletter appearing when they logged in, so long as it didn't mean 10 other windows would appear after it.
While Cafe World could do with more additions than this to streamline the experience, a simple reduction in the number of pop-ups one receives when loading the game would do wonders to help player morale, as numerous threads are created in the "Cafe World Suggestions & Ideas" sub-forum on the official Cafe World forums on a weekly or even daily basis, begging for a fix to the number of pop-ups.
By the time my cafe does load, I'm normally more than ready to start cooking, but can't. Why? Because I am instantly bombarded with more than my fair share of in-game pop-ups, detailing my progress on my current quests, my active Catering Mission, how many coins I've earned since I've been away, whether or not I've received gifts, whether there is a new in-game promotion (the current being one with Maxwell House), whether there is a sale on in-game items... you get the idea.
Once gameplay actually does start, the pop-ups just don't stop, as I'm told that I could be mastering dishes faster in one pop-up, and told about earning big tips in another, after almost every dish that I've cooked and/or served. All of this complaining aside, it's not that I don't like receiving all of this information, keeping me up-to-date with what's going in my own game, and in the Cafe World universe as a whole, it's just that I wish there was some streamlined, or at least condensed way in which to view it all.
Why not add these pop-ups to the in-game newsletter that has already been released in the game? As it stands, the newsletter is available to view by clicking on the small newspaper icon in the left-side game menu, but it is entirely useless, as of this writing, containing information about "new" items that were added to the game weeks ago. This newsletter doesn't appear as an in-game pop-up, interestingly enough, as you have to click on it manually to view it, so why even have it there at all?
Why not add some of this information - how many coins you've earned since you last visited, how much time you have left in your catering mission, and so on and so forth - to this newsletter, to actually give it some purpose? I'm pretty sure users would accept and even appreciate the newsletter appearing when they logged in, so long as it didn't mean 10 other windows would appear after it.
While Cafe World could do with more additions than this to streamline the experience, a simple reduction in the number of pop-ups one receives when loading the game would do wonders to help player morale, as numerous threads are created in the "Cafe World Suggestions & Ideas" sub-forum on the official Cafe World forums on a weekly or even daily basis, begging for a fix to the number of pop-ups.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
More Like 'Team FarmVille 2': Portal creator sets Steam Trading loose
If you hadn't noticed, Portal creator Valve's Steam service and store is slowly becoming more and more like ... FarmVille. I know, it sounds strange, but true. The maker of some of the most hardcore, intense shooter games of all time like Half Life and Team Fortress has released the final version of Steam Trading. This new feature was released in a beta test last month, but now is ready for everyone. Better yet, the feature is available for two more games, at that: Portal 2 and Sega's Spiral Knights.
This feature allows Steam users to trade and gift items to their friends regardless of whether they're logged into their game of choice. Now, players can trade items or (new, never-played) games with friends for whatever they feel is an equal exchange. For instance, a Team Fortress 2 player can trade the hat she found while playing with a friend who has a nifty shield that she wants for her Spiral Knight.
However, players must be friends over Steam (or be in a Group Chat) to trade or give items to one another. Hmm, that sounds vaguely familiar, no? From offering free-to-play multiplayer games earlier this year like Spiral Knights to now allowing players to give each other items through a friends list, Steam has slowly become more and more like Facebook as a games platform. While its far from Facebook and its games, and likely always will be, the influence is undeniable. All we're waiting for is the day it takes Energy to fire bullets in Team Fortress 2. (Fat chance ... we hope.)
This feature allows Steam users to trade and gift items to their friends regardless of whether they're logged into their game of choice. Now, players can trade items or (new, never-played) games with friends for whatever they feel is an equal exchange. For instance, a Team Fortress 2 player can trade the hat she found while playing with a friend who has a nifty shield that she wants for her Spiral Knight.
However, players must be friends over Steam (or be in a Group Chat) to trade or give items to one another. Hmm, that sounds vaguely familiar, no? From offering free-to-play multiplayer games earlier this year like Spiral Knights to now allowing players to give each other items through a friends list, Steam has slowly become more and more like Facebook as a games platform. While its far from Facebook and its games, and likely always will be, the influence is undeniable. All we're waiting for is the day it takes Energy to fire bullets in Team Fortress 2. (Fat chance ... we hope.)
Diner Dash serves up good eats on iOS for free
Were you sad to see Diner Dash close its doors on Facebook? If you have an Apple mobile device, you can now fill in a bit of the hole left behind with the game's closure, as the original Diner Dash is now absolutely free to download via iTunes. Technically, the free version is only for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but you can download it on your iPad as well (the graphics will be much poorer in that case).
Before this sale, Diner Dash could be purchased for $2.99, which makes this a pretty good deal. Add to this the fact that the game is frequently updated with new content (new themed restaurants and levels, for one) and the deal becomes even better!
Sure, downloading an iPhone game won't bring back the joy of playing as Flo on Facebook, but we certainly won't turn down a free game. The only thing to keep in mind here, folks, is that this free price will only be around for a limited time. How limited? Unfortunately, PlayFirst doesn't say, but that just gives you all the more incentive to download it now, even if you don't plan on playing it until later!
Before this sale, Diner Dash could be purchased for $2.99, which makes this a pretty good deal. Add to this the fact that the game is frequently updated with new content (new themed restaurants and levels, for one) and the deal becomes even better!
Sure, downloading an iPhone game won't bring back the joy of playing as Flo on Facebook, but we certainly won't turn down a free game. The only thing to keep in mind here, folks, is that this free price will only be around for a limited time. How limited? Unfortunately, PlayFirst doesn't say, but that just gives you all the more incentive to download it now, even if you don't plan on playing it until later!
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