Mafia Wars meets CityVille (sort of) with Urban Warfare on Facebook

Urban Warfare
Enjoying CityVille, but in search of more competition? Well, Blue Shell Games' first effort on Facebook hopes to bring social gamers the best of both worlds with Urban Warfare. With both city-building elements and Mafia Wars-style battles with friends, Urban Warfare is a jack-of-all-trades of sorts, allowing players to both maintain a sprawling town while defending it from invaders. However, this game is certainly not without its flaws. In fact, it has those in spades.

Take a look behind the break to get a detailed look at whether this game might interest you (but probably not).
Urban Warfare Battles
Urban Warfare throws players into a war-torn world where every city is required to have a full-blown military to defend itself, which would be absolutely badass in most situations (fictional, of course). It's too bad that this game doesn't bring much in the fun department. Sure, Urban Warfare is functional, but that's about where development seems to have tapered off to a point. For instance, the image above is what every battle looks like. And that's it. (Well, aside from a blank loading screen that simply reads, "Battling!")

So, don't think you're preparing for full-scale war here. Battles operate almost exactly like those in Mafia Wars, but with less detailed artwork and it's the bland soldiers you train that decide the outcome rather than collected items. Not to mention that Battles can be repeated over and over again with no real benefit or penalty. You'll almost immediately catch on to the trick of finding a weak player pummeling him repeatedly to level up at lightning speeds (due to the lack of animation), but what's the point?

City building
Not much really, though in order to compete at later levels you'll need to build out your city with coin-generating businesses, residencies that boost your population and barracks to train more soldiers--all of which cost coins. The balance between generating coins and population via plopping buildings on the grid and training an army is simple enough. In fact, it's probably too simple. In my short time playing the game, there are really no perceivable setbacks aside from losing a Battle and the excruciatingly long time it takes to train soldiers.

Despite its many shortcomings, Urban Warfare does get a few things right. Take Quests, for example. While they've surely been done before, it's somewhat reassuring to know that Blue Shell at least realizes that these have essentially standard to guide players along in social games. Taking a cue from games like CityVille, players can visit their friends' cities to provide them with boosts to supplies. Alright, I'll admit it: that's all I can think up. For Pete's sake, the game allows players to pay coins for decorations that have no benefit whatsoever besides a sliver of XP. I can get more XP in an instant by pummeling Random Newbie #27.

The game offers a paid currency known as Reward Points (sound familiar?), but I would strongly recommend you not spend your hard-earned dollars on a game with little to no animation or interesting artwork and a gameplay dynamic that doesn't feel complete before really getting to know it. It's a shame too, because the initial premise is spot-on and has loads of potential for the next big social game, which Blue Shell deserves credit for. Unfortunately, it's in the execution that Urban Warfare goes AWOL.

Click here to play Urban Warfare on Facebook now>

FrontierVille Cheats and Tips: Top Five XP sources when between Goals

Visiting Friends
With the news of Zynga increasing the FrontierVille Level Cap to a whopping 150 (though, not without issues), surely a good amount of you pioneering pros are at a loss when in between Zynga's many Goals. Believe it or not, there are plenty of things to do to increase your XP when you're out of tasks to tackle. We've assembled a list of the top five fun things to do for XP (in no particular order) when you're all out of Goals to accomplish.

1. Visit Neighbors
We'll type it out until our wrists fall off. While this is essential to nearly every major set of Goals, you should pay your friends a visit daily. Why? Because it's the only way to boost your Reputation level, but more importantly in this case it's a fine source of Energy, resources like Cloth and coins and the whole reason you're reading this: XP. Every task that you take on in a neighbor's homestead will drop some XP. While it's not much, it'll sure add up. Especially considering that it probably took quite a lot of friends to blast past Level 100 in just a few months.

2. Plant High-Yield Crops
Why not set that alarm and give yourself something to look forward to? Besides, this will help offset the costs it took to get you this far. Not to mention that harvesting crops also provides XP. Better yet, it's only a matter of time before you find a Groundhog, which with a Varmint Cannon shot gives up 14 XP and extra Food.

Continue reading for three more things to do for XP between Goals.
Varmint Cannon3.Varmint Huntin'
Come to think of it, clobbering and blasting all types of Varmints has tons of potential for XP.Especially with the Varmint Cannons, which if you're past Level 100 we'll assume you have. Bears, Foxes and Snakes will spit up 30, 12 and 10 XP when pummeled with cannon balls, respectively. While it'll take a whole lot of Energy to stir these critters up, visiting your friends should offset that loss. However, remember not to clean out your homestead of trees and foliage or you'll be out of an Energy source in no time until things grow back.

4. Maximize Collections
While this is somewhat of a meta activity as it involves just about every other task that yields XP, it's definitely a good source of motivation. In fact, set the number of Collectibles to 10 from each Collection. This way, you'll amass tons of XP, Food and coins while preparing yourself for the unknown. Just make sure that before you trade a Collection in--many of which reward XP--that you won't be needing any of the items included in that Collection. Besides, we're sure you'll be getting your fill just working toward 10 of each item.

Badges!
5. Master Every Badge
Now, this is a toughie. The recently released Jackalope Society Badges are a great way to both motivate yourself and eat up gobs of XP. This is because every single Badge rewards XP... and lots of it. For instance, master all four Energy Badges and you just made yourself an extra 2,700 XP. Master each Badge up to Level 4 for maximum amounts of XP.

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

Have you tried any of these methods to maximize your XP gain when between Goals? What tips for nabbing XP might you have handy?

FrontierVille Barbecue Party Timed Mission: Everything you need to know

It's rare that we see new timed missions in FrontierVille being released day-after-day like this (see yesterday's launch of the Playtime! mission), but such a thing has happened this afternoon, as Zynga has launched the "Barbecue Party!" mission in FrontierVille.

The Barbecue Party! mission is a timed mission, that must be accepted before the year's end. You'll have five days to complete this mission, which will see you collecting two sets of items, and selling off some adult animals within a five day time limit to receive your bounty of prizes.

For a complete look at what it takes to pass this new timed mission, meet us behind the break.

Once you activate the mission on your account, you'll have five days to complete three tasks:

Sell Ten Adult Pigs
Collect Ten Carving Knives
Collect Ten Special Seasonings

All of these tasks can be completed by spending Horseshoes (as seen in the image above), but if you'd rather go the free (or at least cheaper route, if you don't already have 10 pigs), you can do that as well.

For the Adult Pigs, you can either sell any adult pigs you may already have on your Homestead, or you can purchase pigs from the market for 365 coins each. These pigs grow to adulthood after being fed 9 times, with each feeding being possible every 6 hours, regardless of the growth state of the pig (it will start as a Baby pig, and then move into Child, Adolescent, and finally Adult stages).

Meanwhile, the Carving Knives will look pretty familiar to those of you who were playing the game back during the Thanksgiving event, as we needed to collect them to complete the "Put on the First Course!" mission. If you didn't have any leftover knives from that event, you can click on the "Ask Friends" button to send individual gift requests to your FrontierVille neighbors, asking them to send you a Knife. If a friend asks you for one instead, you will receive one for your helping them out - it's a "Give one, get one" situation.

The Special Seasoning bottles, however, are gathered differently, as you'll have to post a news item to your wall asking your friends to send you a Seasoning. If you see a friend asking for one on your news feed, be sure to click to help them, as you'll receive a Special Seasoning in return.

If you can complete the mission within the five day time limit, you'll receive three rewards for your trouble: 2 Lunch energy items (worth 15 Energy each), a Smoker decorative item, and 250 XP. This is in addition to the 415 coins you will have earned for selling each one of your 10 Adult Pigs to finish that step in the mission.

If you don't have 10 Pigs readily available on your farm, it might be smart to wait on activating the mission until you do. That way, you can take your time growing your ten pigs to adulthood, and can sell them immediately when you do finally activate the mission, all without worrying about running out of time. Likewise, if you have a lot of friends that play FrontierVille, it's entirely possible to have all of the Carving Knives and Special Seasonings necessary before ever starting the mission yourself, if you keep a sharp eye out (get it? Knives = sharp? ...sorry) requests from your friends.

As always, we'd love to hear what you think of this new timed mission in FrontierVille. Do you think the rewards are worth selling ten pigs? Do you wish that the Special Seasonings were available to earn in a different way?

FarmVille Free Farm Cash Round-up: Get 6 Farm Cash from Intel, McDonald's & Bing

Who wants some free Farm Cash? I know I wouldn't mind boosting my spending power in FarmVille this holiday season, what with all of the great winter holiday themed items being released. If you want some free Farm Cash for yourself, take a look at three new promotions that have now begun circulating around users' farms. Each offers just 2 Farm Cash, but when combined, that 6 Farm Cash will do well to help you buy yourself (or your friends) a little something this holiday.

The first is from Intel, and it asks you to take the "Intel Computer Personality Quiz." You'll do by clicking on the Sponsored Link at the bottom right corner of the FarmVille game page which will load a new window, where you'll answer a series of personality questions, about computers of course, until you are told that you earned your free Farm Cash in the top right corner of this new window.

The second new promotion is from McDonald's. Following the same procedure, this promotion, when clicked, loads a new window where you'll answer a quick poll, and will receive your Farm Cash in the same way as above - just keep an eye out for the phrase stating that you've earned your Farm Cash, and you can close the window at any time thereafter.

Finally, Bing is at it again, offering another promotion giving users 2 Farm Cash for participating. This promotion is a bit more complex, as it asks you to play the Word Challenge at Club Bing in order to earn your free Farm Cash. Please note that this promotion is different from the ones we saw released in July and November of this year.

As these Farm Cash promotions tend to appear and then disappear at random (and rather quickly at that), it's possible (nay, likely) that you won't see these particular promotions the next time you log into the game. However, with enough refreshes, or perhaps a bit of luck, they are sure to cycle around to your farm in time, allowing you cash in on some free Farm Cash.

Regardless of the promotion you click on, remember that your Farm Cash will automatically be added to your in-game total, it will NOT go to your Gift Box. Simply refresh the page after each promotion and you will see your updated (read: larger) Farm Cash total.

Wishful Features: Sharing the wealth of FrontierVille Quest items

I'm a level 49 FrontierVille player. Having played the game pretty consistently since launch, I've accumulated an overwhelming amount of duplicate items from quests, that serve virtually no purpose once the quests are completed. Items like the Dress Patterns from the Tailor Shop missions, or extra Bloody Cannonballs from the Headless Horseman missions - and the list goes on and on, for literally page after page of items in my inventory.

While it's not entirely unheard of for Zynga to re-release an item in the game in a second or even third quest (see the Carving Knife from both the Thanksgiving missions and today's release of the Barbecue Party! mission), most of the items have been used once, and only once. Will they ever be used again? We honestly don't know the answer to that, but if they aren't, or if Zynga currently has no plans of ever re-using them, why aren't we allowed to share these items with friends?

I personally know of multiple users who have yet to finish, and will probably never finish their Graveyards, simply due to the fact that the Cannonballs are no longer appearing when visiting friends. Why is it that I can't send one of my nine extra Cannonballs to those friends in order to help them out? "But what if Zynga releases another mission requiring the Bloody Cannonball?" That's all well and good, but if I choose to give away items that I don't currently need, I would be accepting the fact that I could easily find them again when and if they are ever needed for another quest.

Of course, the argument against the inclusion of such a feature would be that users would exploit it - those users with dozens upon dozens of friends would finish quests within minutes, as users pass around extra, unneeded items. But for those players that are just starting, or who don't have as many neighbors to call on for help, this could be a real time and patience saver for them.

This was made even more apparent during the Thanksgiving Feast Table event, which has just ended in the game this week. I know of multiple users on my own friends list that weren't able to collect the 40 necessary dishes in each category in time, and therefore won't be able to Serve the Feast and claim their rewards. And with Zynga announcing that they will end the event entirely starting tomorrow, these friends will have worked on collecting those 40 dishes for nothing. Why can't I voluntarily send those friends my extra dishes? I have 50 Cranberry Sauces sitting in my inventory - 50! Assuming that they will only be required in the game for the Thanksgiving event, what am I ever going to do with them? I can't sell them, so why can't I help someone that genuinely needs them?

Ultimately, the inclusion of such an in-game gifting feature really seems like it could benefit the entire community, as players who would otherwise become frustrated and quit the game after failing timed or exclusive missions would stick around, knowing that there would always be a way for them to earn some help from friends. More players = more fun, in my book, and I can only hope that Zynga comes to the same conclusion in the future.

FarmVille Winter Holiday items: Candy Cane Chicken, Winter Castle, Reindeer Balloon & More

If you check out the "Specials" tab of the FarmVille marketplace, you'll see that the middle image has now been transformed to say "Last Chance!" on "Winter Holiday Items!" However, the fact that the Christmas holiday is now just days away hasn't stopped Zynga from adding even more items to this quickly expiring theme.

Tonight's FarmVille update sees the release of a new animal, a new (and very large) building, along with five new decorative items in the game's store. Luckily, the majority of the decorative items are available for coins, so if you've got any extra space on your farm to hold them, be sure to check out all of the details about these new items with us behind the break.

First, the new animal is one that we gave you a Sneak Peek of a few days ago. It is the Candy Cane Chicken, and it is available to purchase for 25 Farm Cash. Candy Cane Chickens, when placed into a Chicken Coop, have a chance of laying a treasured Candy Cane Mystery Egg, which can then be shared with your friends via a generic wall post. As for your own farm, the chicken can be harvested from once per day and will give you 64 coins in the process. The chicken will be available for the next 9 days.

Moving on, the new building is the Winter Castle, another item that we gave you a Sneak Peek of earlier this week. It is available for 42 Farm Cash. You'll receive 4200 experience points as a reward for purchasing it, and if you'd like to sell it once the holiday season is over, you'll receive 21,000 coins in return. That's not very much, so maybe you'd try storing it instead? I know I would.

As for the decorations, four out of the five new items go for coins. The one premium item is the Reindeer Gnome. Gnome collectors better have their in-game wallets ready, as the Gnome will cost 12 Farm Cash to add to your collection. However, if you're willing to make the splurge, you'll receive 1200 experience points as a reward for doing so.

The other four items are the Chilipepper Lights, the Lighted Saguaro cactus, the Reindeer Balloon, and the Stocking Planter, which cost 10,000, 30,000, 50,000, and 5,000 coins, respectively. You'll receive 10% of the purchase price as a reward in experience points (100 for the Lights, 300 for the cactus, 500 for the balloon, and 50 for the planter). It should be noted that the Reindeer Balloon is yet another large item to be released in this theme. The base itself isn't large, but the balloon portion is, so it will probably block your view of whatever sits near it / behind it.

And there you have it! Presumably the final addition of Winter Holiday items in FarmVille for the year, which will be available for the next nine days. We'll be sure to let you know if Zynga adds any other decorative items to the game, but until then, happy holidays!

FrontierVille Gingerbread House Goals: Everything you need to know

Gingerbread House WhackingYou pioneers are never satisfied, are you? First, it's the Buildable Snowman. Then Zynga gives you 12 days of Christmas Goals. And now, because that clearly wasn't enough, it threw in one of the most elaborate cross promotions you've ever seen this side of Rattlesnake Canyon: The Gingerbread House. Man, you FrontierVille players are just plain spoiled.

It seems that this adorable little gingerbread man is having trouble building his home this Christmas season as everywhere he's gone, people have literally eaten him out of house and home. In order to help, you'll need to go back to the three locales he's tried to build at and retrieve the essential ingredients to his home: CityVille, Treasure Isle and Mafia Wars. After placing his house on the homestead and giving it a few good whacks (that cost Food this time rather than Wood, get it?), you'll be greeted by this Building's menu. (If you're having trouble finding him, he's hanging out with the Carolers near the Toy Factory.)

Find out how to complete this Goal spanning several Zynga games after the break.
Finish your Gingerbread House
We'll get the easy--well, easier--stuff out of the way first. In addition to traveling to three different game worlds, you will need 15 Pretzels, 10 Gingerbread Slabs and 10 Frosting Tubes. All three of these items are acquired the old fashioned way: begging, of course. So, keep up on tapping your friends for these Gifts while you gallivant about three games.

Paul's Improvements
Let's start with finding a Chocolate Bar in CityVille. Clicking on the "Earn for Free" button will take you to a confirmation screen that will then launch you into your own city. From there, click on the Horseshoe icon to get started with "Paul's Improvements." Here, you'll need to do three simple tasks: place two Asphalt Roads, collect from five Residences and place three Decorations (yawn). Find the Asphalt Roads in the Decorations tab of the Build menu for 10 coins a pop. Also in that same tab will be where you can find three Decorations, so pick any three and put them any old place. Then, just click on five Residences with the coin icon hovering above them. If you're trying to save money or don't have any room for this nonsense, just delete it when your done using the Remove tool. For doing this, you'll receive 50 coins.

For some reason, completing the Goal won't return you to FrontierVille automatically nor did it instantly reward me with the Chocolate Bar. Only after jumping back into FrontierVille and following the same link that go me into CityVille from the game in the first place made Paul reappear, allowing me to jump back into FrontierVille to claim my Chocolate Bar. Next, let's take a stroll down the shady streets of Mafia Wars to get the next item, the Candy Cane.

Mafia Wars Candy Cane
Following the same process again, but for Mafia Wars, will take you where you need to be for the Candy Cane. For new or low level Mafia Wars players, this is going to be cake. For the veterans out there, have fun, OK? All you need to do in Mafia Wars to get the Candy Cane is gain one level above Level 5 through Jobs, which won't be so easy for the Level 100-plus players out there. Once you level up, you should receive a similar message to that from CityVille, prompting you to return to FrontierVille and open up your Candy Cane. Next, let's dive into Treasure Isle for the final item, the Gum Drops.

Treasure Isle Gum Drops
This Goal should be even easier than the last for most. For players above Level 4 (it's a requirement), all you need to do is find five Treasures... anywhere. So, you could probably just go about your business and work on whatever it is your currently tackling. Then, you should receive a similar confirmation as before, transporting you back to the homestead with Gum Drops in hand. If this doesn't happen automatically--this goes for Mafia Wars too--try the trick mentioned above. It worked in CityVille, so it might work the same way here. Now that you know what to do, go forth and conquer the worlds of what might soon be the misfit Zynga games, cowering in the shadow of the mighty CityVille empire.

Mafia Wars 'No Crime Like the Present': Everything you need to know

If you took a look at your Operations today in Mafia Wars, you might have noticed a massive Christmas Tree plopped where your normal group missions should be. Do not be alarmed, this is Zynga's new, elaborate holiday event to ring in Christmas mobster-style, "No Crime Like the Present." In this special, limited time event, players will have to get into the holiday spirit like any self-respecting mafia member would: hoarding and stealing, of course. Mixing a little bit of gifting, stealing and protection, this event is going to take plenty dedication and team work if you want to nab the grand prize weapon: Auld Lang Syne (110 Attack, 135 Defense).

Peek behind the break to get a detailed look at how this huge holiday event works.
Holiday Gifting
Before you do much of anything involving Presents, we recommend getting your tree to the max level as soon as possible for it to hold the maximum amount of Presents: 45. (This becomes vitally important later, trust us.) To make your tree shine brilliantly at Level 5, you will need to collect large amounts of each Decoration: Ornaments, Lights and Candy Canes:

    Level 2: Three of each Decoration (increases capacity to nine)
    Level 3: Four of each Decoration (increases capacity to 18)
    Level 4: Six of each Decoration (increases capacity to 30)
    Level 5: Eight of each Decoration (increases capacity to 45)


That's a total of 21 for each Decoration, which adds up to a grand total of 63 gifted items.Thankfully, you can send these Decorations to your mafia members through the Free Gifts page as well as request them, making the task slightly less tedious. However, what you can send from that page is a Holiday Sack, which may contain one of seven items: any one of the three Decorations, any one of the three Presents or a Lump of Coal. If the person you're sending the Holiday Sack too has already maxed out their Christmas Tree, then that narrows down the possibilities to one of three Presents or the Lump of Coal (a weapon with one Attack and one Defense). After you've decked out the tree with blinding holiday bling, it's time to pilfer those Presents.

Rewards List
This is done exactly how decorating the tree was, but you can send Presents directly from the Christmas Tree menu. When sending or receiving a Gift, you have a random chance at getting or giving either a Blue, Red or Green Gift. This directly effects your chances at winning the 11 available items, most of which have impressive stats, thankfully. While there are five common items that can be found inside any of the three varieties of Presents with lesser stats, there are six items that can only be inside one of the three Presents with numbers that match some Italy-grade items. Here's where you can find the rarer holiday items:

    Blue Gift: Shadow Transporter (77 Attack, 60 Defense); Bengal Tiger (72 Attack, 99 Defense)
    Green Gift: Mobile Garage (55 Attack, 79 Defense); 40mm Bunker Buster (101 Attack, 68 Defense)
    Red Gift: Achilles Salvation (69 Attack, 100 Defense); ET Hybrid (63 Attack, 75 Defense)


However, we don't recommend opening these Presents before New Year's Day. If you can't wait long enough and have the maximum amount of Presents come Jan. 1, you'll receive the grand prize. Unfortunately, that won't be so easy considering anyone can steal Presents from any Christmas Tree. Luckily for you, six friends can be enlisted to protect your Presents with their statistics contributing yours. So, make sure you recruit only your most powerful friends to keep your tree safe.

Tree Robbery
If you want to steal your own Presents, Christmas Trees will randomly appear on the Robbery Page with varying difficulty based on the mobsters protecting it, but you'll always need at least five mafia members and six Stamina to rob one. Also, Zynga added a News Feed to this Operation's home page so you can track who did what to your Presents and retaliate accordingly. With the threat of your precious Presents being stolen, we know where you're going to be this Christmas.

FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Goals: Everything you need to know for Day Nine

By now, you're probably overwhelmed with holiday-themed things to do in FrontierVille, but you must press on. And we're here to help. Today, Zynga unlocked "On the Ninth Day O' Christmas" in the 12 Days of Christmas series of Goals. Once again, seasoned players will have little to no trouble with this Goal (although it can quickly become time consuming), but players who are relatively new to the game have quite a lot of work do.

First things first, you're going to need a completed Schoolhouse to complete this task, so why don't you new players check out this detailed guide (courtesy of FrontierVille Wiki) on how to complete it and come on back when you're ready? Once that's through, you'll need to collect the Daily Bonus from the Schoolhouse twice. So, this Goal is obviously going to take at least two days--just take your time. Next, you have to find a Lunchbox. Conveniently enough, they happen to be part of the Schoolhouse Collection, so you might come across one while collecting those two Daily Bonuses, but it is random. All the while, you will need to ask your friends for 10 Book Reports, which will be used up in the Goal. Fulfill all three requirements and this Goal will be in the bag faster than that torn-up wrapping paper Christmas morning with 90 XP and 900 coins waiting for you.

FrontierVille Cheats and Tips Guide

frontierville cheats
FrontierVille has been out for a long time now, so we've had tons of time to discover all kinds of FrontierVille Cheats & Tips to help you get ahead. At last, we've combined all our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips into one easy-to-use guide. So, whether you're a new FrontierVille player looking for cheats and tips, or a FrontierVille veteran well versed in the game's cheats and tips, I guarantee you'll be able to learn something from our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips Guide.

Check out all our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips guides below:

Scroll down to see older FrontierVille Cheats & Tips at the bottom of the list.
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Crafting Workshop Guide
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Bank and Goals Guide
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Animal Hospital Goals Guide
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FarmVille Express, Words With Friends, Zynga Poker hit Facebook Mobile

Just when you thought Zynga might be through with HTML5 gaming for the time being, the developer has launched three of its most popular games to the mobile web. FarmVille Express, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker are all available now through either Facebook Mobile directly or on the mobile web.

Revealed earlier this week, the company announced the three games as part of its continued push into mobile gaming with the upcoming Dream Zoo and Mafia Wars Shakedown for iPhone and iPad. FarmVille Express is a stripped version of the native iOS game that's already available, but it allows players to plant crops on their main farm, send free gifts to their friends and respond to help requests.

There's no visual representation of your farm(s) in FarmVille Express--this is merely a companion app that's meant to let you keep up while on the go. While this is brilliant for those who don't own iPhones or other iOS devices, we can't see much reason for an iOS device owner to use this. And since the full Facebook Mobile platform is only available for iOS at the moment, that leaves Android and other smartphone users with just mobile web access to FarmVille Express.
Zynga Poker HTML5
Words with Friends HTML5Words With Friends and Zynga Poker were designed with users who have access to only the mobile web in mind, as attempting to launch either from Facebook for iOS either moves you into the native app, or isn't available at all. And Word With Friends for mobile web appears no different from its native mobile counterpart. The presentation looks nearly identical to its iOS and Android cousins, albeit with less than stunning polish.

However, the game has full sound effects and smooth animations as you navigate its menus. That said, this version of Words With Friends is probably the most impressive HTML5 game we've seen to date. It tracks your finger movements with great accuracy and little to no lag, and it even has advertisements--just like the original! But if you already have Words With Friends for either iOS or Android, there's not much reason to play this version.

Zynga Poker, which must be played in landscape mode, is a somewhat stripped down version of what you'll find on Facebook, but more features are promised to be on the way. However, this too is an impressive HTML5 outing for Zynga. The game lets players sit down for poker hands in real time with other players. Sure, you can send free gifts and will soon be able to buy chips from right within the browser game, but just seeing players interact in real time over HTML5 within a browser is remarkable.

These games are certainly an impressive improvement over recent HTML5 games we've seen, and will only become more robust over time. However, it's tough to recommend these versions over their iOS counterparts or even their Android cousins, when it applies. If anything, consider these games a smooth step in the direction nearly everyone else in the social games world is headed.

Zynga: Mafia Wars is not connected to Air Force drone fleet virus

It seems that Zynga's Mafia Wars might not have anything to do with this Air Force drone scare, after all. Speaking to Kotaku, Zynga Chief Security Officer Nils Puhlmann said, "We have no indications that suggest Zynga's Mafia Wars was connected with the malware that infected the Pentagon's drone program."

Earlier this week, an anonymous defense official told the Associated Press that the virus that has infected the hard drives of remote cockpits used to pilot Air Force drones "is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online." While the official simply name-dropped Mafia Wars, it seemed terribly specific.

However, Zynga's Puhlmann said to Kotaku, "We actively take steps to maintain and protect the trust of our customers, including educating our players about the risks associated with visiting untrusted sites and downloading untrusted applications. Both of those actions can increase the risk of getting infected with malware."

The malware that infected the cockpits' hard drives was first found on a connected thumb drive, but according to Air Force Space Command spokesperson Colonel Kathleen Cook, the malware has since been isolated and has not affected the drones directly. While it's possible that the drone crews weren't specifically playing Mafia Wars while said thumb drive was connected to either a personal or military PC, the malware was likely designed to attack social networks with such games on them.

According to Cook, the malware was found on a stand-alone, Windows-based support network and was considered a nuisance rather than a threat. However, the origins of the malware have yet to be determined, only narrowed slightly. Whether a social network website like Facebook was accessed through a military computer with the drive connected, or the infected drive was used on a personal computer, is still a mystery.

Namco Bandai, DeNA to tell a social tale with Tales of Kizna for Mobage

Namco Bandai has as bad a case of sequelitis with its Tales series that Square Enix has with its Final Fantasy franchise. Marking the 14th (seriously) game in the series, the publisher announced that Tales of Kizna will launch on DeNA's Mobage. Slated to release only on Japan's version of the popular mobile social game network, KLab Ltd is handling the game's creation.

The Tales series of Namco RPGs (role-playing games) always takes on a heavy Japanese anime aesthetic with real-time combat and deep, twisting plots, but Tales of Kizna will have players battle enemies cooperatively using character cards. And since the game will feature characters spanning the entirety of the franchise, we're expecting a much lighter story this time.

Players, as with most social games, will have the option to join guilds and form parties to do battle with one another. On paper at least, the game sounds a whole lot like a mobile Mafia Wars, but with a card game as its combat system. Tales of Kizna is due out on Japan's Mobage network this November, and Japanese fans of the series can pre-register for the game right now.

We imagine this game marks the start of Namco Bandai's joint venture with the social gaming giant, BDNA Inc. DeNA has reportedly had trouble gaining a foothold in the U.S. and abroad with its Android version of Mobage. But to help move that along (as its main competitor, Gree, gets a move on with OpenFeint), the company has reigned in some big time developers. For one, No More Heroes maker Grasshopper Manufacture looks to bring the bloodiest social game to date to Mobage in Japan and abroad.

Infographic: 35 percent of social gamers never played video games

STFU NOOB
First, it's understood that social games are dominated by soap-loving casual gamers. Then, we find that the amount of hardcore gamers on Facebook are growing. After that, it's found that a large amount of social game fans actually own game consoles. Now, an infographic by Mashable reports that a whopping "35 percent of social gamers have no previous gaming experience."

If anything, we now know that social game fans are the most diverse group of gamers the industry has ever seen. Well, it's either that or at least one of the upteen studies, infographics or surveys on the topic is completely wrong. Mashable's Zachary Sniderman also found in his research, titled "The Economics of Social Gaming," that one in every five Americans over the age of six has played a social game. That figure amounts to nearly 60 million Americans.

Of course, the infographic finds that Facebook is the dominant social game platform, with 83 percent of social gamers using the social network to get their daily farming fix. What's most interesting is the finding that 28 percent of U.S. and UK-based social game fans have paid real money for virtual currency. This is leaps and bounds beyond usual the 3 to 5 percent figure thrown around to estimate the amount of paying social gamers

Keep in mind while reading this fancy-looking infographic that the term "social gamer" could mean anything from fans of free-to-play games like MapleStory to Facebook games and perhaps even mobile social games. At this point, what's important to take away is that social game fans could very well be the most diverse type of gamer from demographics to play habits.

What do you think of these new numbers compared to studies released in the past? Are you part of the 35 percent that has never played a traditional game before social games? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Social Gaming Economics

Lady Gaga says gaga-game over to Moshi Monsters' Lady Goo Goo

Lady Gaga has finally seen the Lady Goo Goo music video that garnered millions of views on YouTube, and she didn't like it. Developer Mind Candy announced that Lady Gaga slapped the Moshi Monsters creator with an injunction over "The Moshi Dance," preventing the song's release as a single on iTunes through Mind Candy's new Moshi Music division.

Lady Gaga's lawyers were granted the injunction during an Oct. 10 hearing at the New Rolls building in London, England. More specifically, the injunction keeps Mind Candy from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance OR any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon," according to a release.

Mind Candy says that the lawyer's basis for the injunction was that kids may not be able to tell the difference between the cartoon Lady Goo Goo and the very real Lady Gaga. "This court ruling is a huge disappointment," Mind Candy founder and CEO Michael Acton Smith said in a release. "It's pretty obvious that kids will be able to tell the difference between the two characters. The shame is that millions of kids fell in love with Lady Goo Goo's debut single on YouTube and now won't be able to enjoy her musical exploits. It was all done in the name of fun and we would have thought that Lady Gaga could have seen the humour behind this parody."

Well, we can certainly understand Mind Candy's reasoning: There is no way kids would mistake this terribly annoying song (this writer is also much older than seven) for the real Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (also fairly unbearable). However, it's clear that Mind Candy looked to turn a profit from the parody, which is right about when the lawyers swoop down in any situation. In other news, Moshi Monsters has over 50 million players with plans for yet another Nintendo DS game--they're doing just fine.

Zynga wants FrontierVille pioneers to decide its next theme

Bess Help
This is your chance, FrontierVille fans. For every theme that wasn't what you were hoping for or didn't include that one item you have always dreamed, now is the time to make a things right. Alright, so it's not that important, but you can have a say in what happens next to the game thanks to a survey Zynga just released. It appears that Zynga is fresh out of ideas since it just launched a deluge of new Goals and two (and a half) brand new characters.

Some of the more interesting choices available in the survey include a Ghost Town, Red Southwestern Canyons, Native American and a Cowboy slash Ranch theme. If what you were hoping for hasn't been included, Zynga threw in a text box where you can make any recommendation. So, go forth and change the frontier as we know it forever. Sort of.

Is PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz beating FarmVille where it counts?

According to PopCap VP of social operations Michael Carpenter, Bejeweled Blitz is the number one game on Facebook--just look at the numbers differently. In an editorial on Gamesindustry.biz, Carpenter goes into detail explaining how the success of social games should be measured. You see, Facebook games' popularity and reach are measured in two ways: monthly active users (MAU) and daily active users (DAU).

We all know CityVille surpassed what many thought might be impossible with over 100 million MAU. Yet just as quickly as it rose to the top, it's now began its descent just like Zynga's FarmVille did nearly one year ago. Carpenter doesn't address this, but rather makes his point that DAU is more important than MAU because, "A high DAU/MAU percentage means that players are actively engaged in a game, often returning several times a day to play," Carpenter said.

While PopCap, like everyone else, is beat by Zynga when it comes to reach, Bejeweled Blitz has a higher DAU/MAU percentage than any of Zynga's games. The DAU/MAU percentage is essentially the percentage of a game's total monthly active users that are also daily active users. An impressive 34 percent of Bejeweled Blitz's monthly players log in daily compared to just 26 percent of FarmVille's 54 million MAU. We're no mathematicians, but isn't 26 percent of 54 million still more than 34 percent of the 11.4 million monthly Bejeweled Blitz players? Yes, it's way more.

It's certainly an impressive feat for PopCap to keep over a third of its audience so dedicated no matter how you slice it. But Carpenter even admitted, "In a nutshell, while Bejeweled Blitz does not have as many players, it's doing a good job of retaining those it has." Most importantly, keep in mind that this is far from the first time the company has downright lashed out at Zynga for whatever reason. Now, cut the bickering and get back to making my dream of Peggle for Facebook come true.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: More Valentine's Day Quests and Candy Trees

    Quest 2     Quest 3
The Valentine's Day events in FarmVille are far from over, if FarmVille Freak's recent findings turn out to be true. (Which they usually are.) The blog has found three icons that simply read, "FarmVille Unreleased Valentine Themed Quest" 1, 2 and 3. If we can gather anything from these quest icons, it's that they will involve stuffed animals, chocolates, flower, a pig and, oddly enough, a hot-air balloon. In other words, standard fair for what many call "National Single-Awareness Day."

Cinnamon Heart Tree     Cinnamon Heart Mastery     Candy Heart Tree     Candy Heart Mastery
FarmVille Freak also found two new trees to grow this Valentine's Day, the Candy Heart Tree and the Cinnamon Heart Tree. These look to be the real deal given that each has its own Mastery sign, but of course none of these items are confirmed as future releases. But as soon as they do (or do not) find their way to the farm, you'll be the first to know.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Check out the rest of our Valentine's Day coverage right here.

What do you think these potential new quests will involve? What do you think of the brand new trees to master that might make it into the game?

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Ducklings waddling onto the farm soon?

DucklingThe Duck Pond in FarmVille is about to become much, much more useful. FarmVille Freak has found images of a new menu that will likely be part of the new Duck Pond structure in the game. The blog guesses that Ducklings, a new animal likely to be released in FarmVille if this feature makes it in the game, will be harvested from the Duck Pond.

The image implies that we'll need the help of seven neighbors to help raise the Ducklings within a time limit. Another image suggests that exactly what adult Duck the Ducklings grow into will be a mystery. As goes with all unreleased content, there is no guarantee that this will be released. But when the current Duck Pond sometimes reads "Ducklings are coming!" after a harvest, chances are more than likely.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

What mystery Ducks do you think will come of Ducklings and the updated, more useful Duck Pond? When do you think this change will be released?

Lost Island Mahjongg: Play new puzzles every single day

OK, so in addition to publishing stuff about big-name Facebook games -- Games.com is also home to thousands of casual games, a few of them we created ourselves. One of those exclusive games is Lost Island Mahjongg, a standard mahjongg puzzle game with a jungle theme. This game has been out for a while, and players have been spending an average of 300,000 hours a month matching tiles with the dexterity of a fighter jet pilot.

Starting today, we've rolled out a new daily puzzle in Lost Island Mahjongg, meaning that when you log into the game, you will get a brand new puzzle. Every single day. Today's puzzle for instance is called 'Star' because the Mahjongg tiles are -- you guessed it -- in a star shape. If you miss a couple days, you will be able to go back and play those as well. The puzzles are new every day and will never repeat (at least, that's what our developers tell me).

Gallery: Lost Island Mahjongg

Playable Angry Birds cake makes a kid's birthday seriously awesome

If you watch this video and aren't touched by the end of it, there's something wrong with the Dawww lobe in your brain. Mike, arguably the coolest British dad in the world, made his now 6-year-old son Ben a playable Angry Birds birthday cake. The video goes through the entire creation process sans the baking--kind of boring, you know? (Even the birds and pigs are iced!) The video's adorable factor goes through the roof when Ben is surprised with the most badass birthday cake in existence. He then goes on to give those pigs hell with pop's help. What, Dad, couldn't make iced cluster birds separate? What gives?

[Via Electric Pig]

What's the craziest videogame cake or craft you've seen yet?

Zuma Blitz player scores 1.4 million points with no powers

Sure, even 2 million points in Zuma Blitz is totally possible--when you have powers. YouTube user SLiangHsu posted a video today of his arduous and impressive achievement in PopCap's ball-blasting game. With no powers at all, he scored over 1.4 million points on this week's Crossroads board. How did he do it? Frankly, he shot the balls really fast. Well, extremely rapid and accurate gap shots helped too; not to mention hitting every Chrono Ball on the field. In fact, it appears as if the player intentionally wasted his Hot Frog shots just to show off. Cocky? Absolutely. Justified? You try to score a million points with just your wits (and your wrist).

FarmVille: Be a Princess without a crown with new avatar dress

It seems as though Zynga might have forgotten to release a FarmVille avatar clothing item in the Fairy Tale theme last Sunday, as a new dress for girl avatars has silently appeared in the game. This item is almost identical to the Princess costume released before, but where that costume came with not only a dress and shoes, but also a tiara, this "Princess Dress" is just that - the pink dress with a nice pair of shoes.

There is a slight color difference in the bodice of these two dresses, with the solitary dress being more of an orange-shade, and you'll pay a heck of a lot less if you go for the no-crown option, as this Princess Dress costs just 30,000 coins. For the record, the Princess costume costs 100,000 coins.

It's still interesting to see that only one avatar clothing item has been released strictly for male characters (that being the Knight costume), but we'll make sure to let you know if that changes in the future. In the meantime, you have two weeks to purchase this new solo dress, while the Princess costume will leave the game in ten days.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Black Beauty Horse and Black Beauty Foal

If you liked the dark look of the Anti-Valentine's Day items in FarmVille, you'll also love the look of this new as-of-now unreleased horse. The new horse, we believe will be called the Black Beauty Horse, and it of course comes with a Foal to match.

With a name like "Black Beauty," Zynga has really lived up to that with the design of the animal, as you can see in the screenshot at right, and in the animation below. Rumor has it that new animals will be coming to this week's Mystery Game, but whether or not this will be included remains to be seen. The Black Beauty could also possibly be released as a general addition to the game's store, as we doubt it would fit in with the current limited edition Fairy Tale theme of items. As most players know, however, stranger things have happened.



Remember, unreleased items have no guarantee of officially launching in the game, and details about their pricing and availability are unknown as of this writing. We'll be sure to bring you all of the details about these horses should they officially launch in the game, so keep checking back.

What do you think of these two new horses in the comments. Would you pay Farm Cash to add the Black Beauty to your collection?

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash through Intuit promotion

FarmVille and Intuit
With the amount of free FarmVille Farm Cash flying around, it's a wonder folks are still buying the stuff. Well, considering Zynga is worth between $9 and $10 billion, maybe not so much. FarmVille Feed has found yet another Sponsored Link beneath the FarmVille game screen through Inuit, a suite of web and mobile apps for small businesses. It's slowly being rolled out to players, so don't be alarmed if you can't see this one yet. Just click on the link beneath your game screen that reads, "Build your Intuit Websites company story with the name generator to get cash."

After clicking the link, a pop-up will appear with a series of fields to put information into. Fill out the form, detailing your dream business, and click "Next." From there, simply read the generated story and check out the website that Inuit created for your dream business. Along the way, you should see a message in the upper right corner of the window informing you that you've earned your Farm Cash. With that, it's OK to close the window and the sweet cash should post to your account shortly after.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Feed]

Have you completed this Sponsored Link yet? What's the number one Farm Cash item you're after?

Lunchtime Poll: After FarmVille English Countryside, will you go back?

As a bearded Jack Shepard screamed to Kate in the airport parking lot in the Season 3 finale of Lost, "We have to go back!" Or do we? With FarmVille English Countryside--an expansion that appears to improve on the original in almost every way--on the horizon, is there any reason to go back? Sure, Zynga will update the original FarmVille alongside the new, but whether it's worth it to upkeep two farms at once is up for debate. Especially considering the disparity in quality that will show itself. So, we ask you, loyal readers:

After FarmVille English Countryside, will you ever go back?
Absolutely! I can't let my hard work go to waste.Never. Good riddance to that old n' busted farm!I plan on visiting every once in a while.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

[Image Credit: L'État c'est Moi]

Zynga Poker hacker faces two years in prison for stealing $12M in chips

Remember that guy who stole (and somehow expected to get away with) $12 million from Zynga Poker? That hacker, Ashley Mitchell, faces a two-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to British Court for his, erm, hackery in 2009, Poker News Daily reports. The thief stole 400 billion poker chips from Zynga's popular poker game, which the company valued at $12 million would it had been able to sell them through normal means. The total that Mitchell scored after selling them on eBay through a long list of fake Facebook accounts? He made away with a fraction of that: $85,870.

If he wasn't caught in the process, Mitchell could have easily made away with $300 thousand, his prosecutor estimated. Has this guy ever seen Office Space? Hackers never prosper ... unless you're Angelina Jolie. In his defense, Mitchell's attorney claimed that he suffered a gambling addiction at the time when the crime was committed.

In response, Judge Philip Wassail said, "People rely on computer systems. Anyone who has managed to get into these systems for their own ends should expect a stiff sentence." And a stiff sentence he received--Mitchell will sit in the slammer for another 30 weeks for dodging a 40-week suspended sentence for hacking into his local council in 2008. And just think, Mitchell could have played in a $100 thousand prize pool tournament in this past weekend's Zynga PokerCon if he just played by the rules.

[Image Credit: Torch Alumni]

How long do you think Mitchell should have been sentenced? What steps do you think Zynga should make to prevent future hacking incidents in its games?

EA, Playfish sip on Florida Orange Juice in Pet Society, Restaurant City

We can see it now: Executives from EA, Playfish and Florida's Natural Orange Juice rocking on a creaky porch in the Everglades on a Sunday morning, sipping on delicious citrus. "You know," the EA exec says to the Florida Natural suit, "this stuff would rock in our Playfish games." "Really?" the Florida Natural replies excitedly, "How about in Dragon Age 2--" "Don't push your luck." Alright, so it definitely didn't happen that way. Nonetheless, players of both Pet Society and Restaurant City will soon find items sponsored and inspired by Florida Natural Orange Juice in their respective social addictions.

"Florida's Natural recognized the opportunity to build brand preference amongst the hundreds of thousands of avid female players of Restaurant City and Pet Society," Joy Taylor, Director of Global Marketing Solutions at EA, said. "Through this collaboration we were able to enhance gameplay and deliver significant lift in awareness that Florida's Natural doesn't import its juice, which was the goal of their marketing communications."

In Restaurant City, players can give virtual cartons of Florida's Natural to their friends, while in Pet Society they can visit Florida's Natural juice stands and send their friends the good stuff. However, it appears that this promotion is slowly rolling out to players, as I've yet to see the change in either game as of this writing. Either way, Playfish is about to load up on its Vitamin C, and you're all invited. (No, not that Vitamin C!)

[Image Credit: Florida's Natural]

Have you seen this promotion appear in your game yet? What do you think of EA and Playfish's approach to branded game content?

FarmVille English Countryside launches today, slowly rolling-out

Today is the day we start all over again in a new land: England. The FarmVille English Countryside expansion is launching today in a slow roll-out to players everywhere. According to FarmVille Freak, several farmers have reported gaining access to the new game upon logging into FarmVille. Of course, you'll need to be Level 20 for Duke's Airship to crash land on your farm, but we imagine a good lot of you are well past that milestone. If not, check out our guide on how to make that happen, like, now. Even if you're Level 100 or higher and don't see Duke yet, don't worry. Your time will come. Until then, request those Special Delivery Boxes from your friends like mad if you haven't already and play your favorite game--The Waiting Game, of course.

[Source: FarmVille Forums]

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.

Have you been graced with Duke's presence yet? What's the first thing you plan on doing when you touch down in England?

FarmVille Wishing Well updated with new English Countryside loot

FarmVille's Wishing Well, which was originally available for St. Patrick's Day, has been updated with items that are far more appropriate to our new English Countryside farms. The Wishing Well works pretty much the same as before -- collect lucky pennies from friends then flick them into the well to see what items you get in return.

The collections (namely, the rewards for finishing each collection) are the biggest difference, and I have to say, it's pretty tempting to finish collect everything to get the cool red Double Deck Tractor (which looks more like a double decker bus) shown in the picture above.
farmville english countryside wishing well update

Note: If you already have a Wishing Well, you should be all set. These new English items will simply replace the St. Patrick's Day items that were in there before. If you -- like me -- sold your Wishing Well prematurely, you can find a new one in your gift box. Just place it on your property and start wishing.

Below are all of the items you'll need to collect from the Wishing Well and the reward for their completion. After you complete a collection, your well will Level up and you will unlock the next collection.

Butterfly Collection
Reward: Animated Butterfly

farmville english countryside butterfly collection

Tree Collection
Reward: White Willow

farmville england tree collection

Bird Collection
Reward: Nightengale
farmville english countryside bird collection

Tea Set Collection
Reward: Warder Duck

farmville english countryside tea set collection

English Cuisine Collection
Reward: Chef Gnome

farmville english countryside food

Vehicle Collection
Reward: Double Deck Tractor
farmville english countryside vehicles

What do you think of the new England-themed Wishing Well items? Are they worth the effort?

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Hoodwinked 2 promotion

A new FarmVille Farm Cash promotion has appeared underneath many players' game screens in association with Hoodwinked 2: The Really Imaginary Sequel (working title). FarmVille Freak found the new Sponsored Link, which has yet to appear under my game. Regardless, this promotion is business as usual: Just click on the link with the Hoodwinked logo to get started.

Clicking the link will take you to an interactive pop-up ad. A promotional video for the Hoodwinked sequel will play on the left side of the screen. (Seriously, this flick gets a sequel and we're still waiting for Finding Nemo 2?) From there, a simple series of questions will appear to the right--answer them and your notification that you've earned your Farm Cash will appear in the upper right corner of the window. When you see this, it's time to close the window, give it about an hour and refresh your game to see if the Farm Cash posted to your account.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Have you seen this promotion in your game yet? Will you be checking out Hoodwinked 2 when it releases (please say no)

FarmVille sheep breeding tip: Make your very own black sheep with white stars

If you've ventured into the unpredictable world of sheep breeding in the FarmVille English Countryside, you'll soon realize that it takes a dedicated craftsman to come up with some of the more rare mixed breeds of sheep out there. One of these elusive sheep is the black sheep with white stars, and FarmViller Korgly has come up with a visual guide on how to make your very own.
farmville black sheep white star breeding guideClick the image to make it larger

To get started, you will need Brutus the ram, a black ram, a schooled ewe and any star sheep. Then breed the various sheep as listed (click the image above to view a larger version). Of course, you might need to try more than once (or two or three times) to get the correct offspring, but Korgly says persistence will eventually be rewarded.

Please note that we have not actually tested this formula, we're just trusting Korgly knows what he's talking about.

[Via FarmVille official forums]

Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.

Have you successfully bred a black sheep with white stars? What about other rare sheep?

FarmVille English Countryside Sneak Peek: Village Map revealed!

While you've likely already seen the picture upon reaching our front page, spoiler warning! FarmVille Feed has uncovered every point on the FarmVille Village Map for the English Countryside. As you can see, the Sheep Pen, Pub and Dairy Barn are all accounted for. However, the Archaeologist's dig site, a country fair, a strange miniature farm, a courtyard and a castle all await you in your journey to turn the English farm around. Duke and the rest of the game's unnamed characters will all make their debut or cameo through these new Goals. However, when the new content will be unlocked has yet to be seen. Not to mention what that second farm is all about.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Feed]

What do you think of the future locations on the English Village Map? What areas or Goals are you most excited to reach?

March Madness Facebook Game Showdown: FINALS

In the finale of our March Madness Facebook Game Showdown, we have what can only be described as shocking turn of events. We have a finals match-up between two games that no one would have thought would have made it to the last round -- Pet Society by PlayFish and Bejeweled Blitz by Pop Cap.
playfish popcap march madness facebook game showdownClick the image to see the bracket!

Pet Society was an underrated competitor, which was able to tap into its popularity and vanquish newer games with more current players. Pet Society defeated Zynga's Treasure Isle fairly easily 60% to 40%.

The HUGE upset in our tournament has been Bejeweled Blitz's gutsy victory over the behemoth of CityVille. To give you perspective on the magnitude of this upset you need only one piece of information: CityVille has 19 million daily players while Bejeweled Blitz has a modest 3 million plus. Amazing! Bejeweled Blitz won by the slimmest of margins, 52% to 48%.

If we would have told you at the beginning of our tournament that no game made by Zynga would have made the finals you would have laughed at us. Zynga games made up half the field and nearly all the higher seeded games. To say that this finals match-up is a Cinderella story is an understatement. Or, as Dicky V of ESPN would say "It's TOTALLY AWESOME, BABY!"

So -- now is the time to pick which Facebook will win our Showdown this year. Vote early (and often) in the poll below.

Sorry, this poll is now closed. Final results will be posted soon. Thanks for visiting Games.com - The Blog!

Click here to see the winner!