Will Zynga finally promote Adventure World in FarmVille and elsewhere?

According to the numbers, it just might have to. FarmVille Freak has found an unreleased piece of Adventure World in Zynga's first big time Facebook game, FarmVille. The website discovered that soon (if not already), Zynga might cross promote the first Facebook game by its Boston studio through the familiar billboard method that players are used to seeing.

This might come in addition to a neighbor card featuring the Adventure World logo that will likely take players directly to the brand new game. Adventure World, Zynga's largest, most ambitious (and different) Facebook game to date isn't doing so hot after its first week of existence, according to AppData.

The game has only managed to garner just over 419,000 monthly players since its launch last week, and just a maximum of over 203,000 daily players. What's worse is that number is already on the decline, as today it reads just over 190,000. This news may seem premature, as the game has only been on Facebook publicly for a week. However, consider games like Empires & Allies and CityVille, which soared within their first two weeks on Facebook to tens of millions of players.

Adventure World doesn't seem like it will enjoy that astronomical growth, judging from what the first seven days have shown us. In the game's defense, Adventure World hasn't enjoyed much cross promotion between Zynga's existing games, if any at all. Based on the differences from my early look at the game and playing it since, there are some features to the game I could do without, such as the Base Camp (let's just focus on the adventures, hm?).

Nevertheless, if there is one Zynga game that deserves at least the same growth Empires & Allies earned in the first few weeks after its release, it's Adventure World. While it includes a few of the common trappings that many believe hold Facebook games back today, it's also treading new ground with its interactive environments and huge scope. So, here's to hoping Zynga Boston's debut finds its second wind--and fast.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

What do you think of Adventure World so far? Do you think the game deserves the millions of players that the company's more traditional games cater to? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

PlaySay uses Facebook friends as language lessons to get you to 'Hola'

Following its debut at TechCrunch Disrupt, the giant startup launch conference in San Francisco, PlaySay is now playable for budding linguists and aspiring polyglots on Facebook.

Founder Ryan Meinzer, who has already acquired over $570K in funding, as well as a partnership with McGraw Hill, came up with PlaySay while trying to learn Japanese in Japan. Right now, PlaySay is only teaching Spanish. But Meinzer wants to use players' Facebook friends as social lures to spread interest in non-English languages.

PlaySay does this with random Flickr photos (under the Creative Commons license) and tagged photos of your Facebook friends. This part of it works like flash cards. You'll look at photos and get asked questions en español, such as, "Is your friend in this photo?", "Which friend is this?" or "Is this a photo of a girl?" Not very sophisticated stuff, but when audio is included, the potential for tougher lessons grows.



You can also post a status to Facebook via PlaySay, and then friends can click on it and get a small quiz about the meaning of what you posted. Meinzer's logic is, "Your Facebook friends are your new classmates. Check ins, status updates and pictures are your course materials." Basically, he's banking on your most curious and nosy friends to go the extra mile.

Trivia and quiz games aside (e.g. Who Want to Be a Millionaire), there really aren't any educational Facebook games right now. At one point, I fantasized that Crowdstar's Happy Aquarium or Zynga's FishVille would actually teach people about real aquarium-keeping because both use virtualized real fish in their games, but no dice. Instead, Zynga flailed in the tank with things like Fish Battle Arena.

Gallery: PlaySay

One downside to PlaySay's reliance on tagged photos is that people don't always tag photos that have them in it. And sometimes, friends tag other friends onto something to circumvent privacy settings or to just get their attention. Hence, I got asked by PlaySay, "Is one of your friends in this photo?" while I was shown a photo of a sneaker, and then told I got my answer wrong when I said the sneaker wasn't my friend. All Facebook beta game launches undergo some buggy rite of passage, but PlaySay will have to anticipate problems that no bug fixes will solve. Mind you, it's not that I particularly want them solved, because seeing that sneaker was actually pretty darn funny.

To keep track of PlaySay's development follow its official Facebook fan page.

Click here to play PlaySay on Facebook now >

How important do you think it is to learn another language? Would you like to see more educational games on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Dunkin' Donuts pushes its brand with a free Sims Social Lawn Chair

Dunkin' Donuts strikes again in The Sims Social. On top of all the free fan gifts from Playfish and EA rolling out daily on the game's official fan page, the American coffee-and-donuts chain has chipped in for the first Sims Social-branded virtual item in the form of an exclusive Dunkin' Donuts Lawn Chair.

To get the chair, you've got to 'like' the official Dunkin' Donuts Facebook page here and then head over to the section of the page titled "DD & The Sims Social".

Owning the lawn chair adds 250 points to your house value, which is a modest, but no small amount. It also sells for 15 Simoleons, which is chump change, but hey, free furniture! And lastly, the chair comes with a bit of extra animation.

Just click on the chair, and your Sim will get the option to "Sit" or "Drink Dunkin' Donuts Coffee". So kick back, and watch your Sim lie down on the chair to sip from a steamy cup.
Dunkin Donuts Sims Social Lawn Chair
Do you enjoy branded goods in games? Do you think it makes them more realistic? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Pioneer Trail Ice Shed: Everything you need to know

Just days ago, we saw the launch of the Potting Shed in Pioneer Trail, and now we've seen another "shed" added to the game. This one, the Ice Shed, will allow you to "keep your milk cold," while receiving Critter Milk for free everyday. You'll unlock two new animals via the construction of this building, and will also have a couple of goals to complete along the way. Here's a complete guide to the Ice Shed, so get our your hammers and get ready to build! Note: This feature may not be available to all players as of this writing.

Once this update rolls around to you, you can either place the base right away, or you can purchase it from the store at a later time if you choose to finish some other tasks first. Once you place it, you'll need to gather plenty of building ingredients: 10 each of Rivets, Sheet Metal and Warm Gloves, along with 15 each of Ice Boxes, Saw Dust piles and Insulation. These final three items are earned through individual gift requests sent to friends, while the former trio are earned through general news feed posts.

Once built, your Ice Shed will give you access to free Critter Milk everyday when collecting the building's Daily Bonus, and you'll also receive a free Dairy Cow (that goes by the name of Daisy) once you finish the building's two goals:

Milk Cooler

    * Place Ice Shed
    * Tend 25 Adult Cows
    * Collect 15 Blocks of Ice


You'll need to ask your friends for the Blocks of Ice, as you might expect. For finishing this first of two goals, you'll receive 500 XP, 1,000 coins and a single bottle of Critter Milk.

Stockpiling

    * Tend 15 Neighbor Goats
    * Tend 15 Pigmy Goats
    * Collect 15 Glass Milk Bottles


Again, you'll finish this collection task by asking your friends to help you, while you'll need to visit at least three neighbors for all of those regular Goats. As for the Pygmy Goat, it becomes available to purchase in the store once you've completed your Ice Shed. If your friends beat you to it, it looks like you can tend their Pygmy Goats instead. Finish this goal and you'll receive 800 XP and the Daisy Dairy Cow that I told you about earlier.

All told, this is a fairly simple and straightforward building project and goal series (albeit probably a bit time consuming), so just make sure to take a few seconds out of your day to ask for these building pieces and you'll eventually finish both off.

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

What do you think of the Ice Shed in Pioneer Trail? What other sorts of items would you like to receive free from buildings, if not Critter Milk? Sound off in the comments.

Cafe World 2 Year Anniversary Winston's Royals Goals: Everything you need to know

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, chefs (I really do), but it looks like there's a new goal series - actually, an entire event - now taking place in Cafe World celebrating the game's two year anniversary. Via this (apparently first?) goal series, you'll be helping Winston prepare a feast fit for a King, because you are indeed cooking for Royals (our anniversary celebration includes a vacation to Britain). There are new dishes up for grabs in these goals, and if you can finish them all within the next 18 days, you'll have the ability to repeat them to earn all of the dishes therein. Yes, that's right, two of your favorite things are present here - repeatable goals and a time limit. While I know that not all of you out there are opposed to such things, there are plenty more who are, so we'll try to help you through these goals at least once with our guide.

Winston's Royals 1

    * Ask for 3 old British Recipe Cards
    * Spice 6 of your own dishes
    * Place the High Table Tea Party


First, the High Table Tea Party is a new building project that we'll have a guide for as soon as possible and you can check out our guide to building it right here. In the meantime, don't panic about the spice task; if you have any extra Salts or Peppers lying around, just use those. Meanwhile, as your friends for the Recipe Cards. Finishing this goal gives you five Travel Passes. These are a huge element of this event, as they'll give you a chance to win real-world prizes like trips "around the world," or in-game items like Stoves and Cafe Cash, and you'll have the ability to collect literally hundreds of them throughout the entirety of this event.

Winston's Royals 2

    * Ask for 4 British Postcards
    * Collect 2 Anniversary Collection Items
    * Serve 10 French Onion Soups


French Onion Soup can be served after four hours. Meanwhile, the Anniversary Collection comes with five new items that you can earn by using spices on your dishes. Finishing this goal gives you 10 more Travel Passes.

Winston's Royals 3

    * Ask for 6 Old British Recipe Cards
    * Spice 10 Neighbor Dishes
    * Serve 15 Angel Fruit Cakes


Angel Fruit Cake takes 8 hours to cook. Also, when visiting your neighbors, make sure to spice cooking dishes, and not just stoves. It's possible the latter would count, but there's always a chance that it won't. Better safe than sorry, no? Finish off this third goal and you'll earn - you guessed it - more Travel Passes, 15 to be exact.

Winston's Royals 4

    * Ask for 7 British Postcards
    * Serve 2 Dishes with the Pastry Station
    * Serve 25 Gem Cakes


Here's where things get a bit complicated, as you'll have to worry about cooking dishes on your stoves and in the Pastry Station. If you've yet to build your Pastry Station, here's a complete guide to doing so. As for the Gem Cake, it takes 12 hours to prepare. Finish off this goal for 20 more Travel Passes.

Winston's Royals 5

    * Ask for 10 Old British Recipe Cards
    * Serve 18 Chocolate Creme Brulee
    * Complete the High Tea Party Table


Chocolate Creme Brulee is a specialty coffee drink found in the Coffee Machine. You will need to have hired Becky the Barista in order to unlock it. For finishing off this last goal, you'll receive a whopping 500 Travel Passes along with a Mystery Prize in the form of a new recipe. This new recipe will most likely be Yorkshire Pudding, although there are three others that might appear in random order as you repeat the goal series. These are the Bangers and Mash, Shepherd's Pie and Salmon Mousse.

As we mentioned before, Winston's Royals looks to be just the first of many goal series available in this two-year anniversary event. While it's unclear whether or not the 18 days applies to just Winston's Royals, or to the entire event, we do know that we'll eventually travel to other countries and unlock other rewards. In the meantime, here's a complete checklist of the "British" tasks you can complete, which can be found in your own game at any time (click on the airline ticket in the right-side menu).

Good luck completing these goals and earning all of the rewards in time!

What do you think of the Winston's Royals goals and the two-year anniversary event as a whole? Sound off in the comments!

Angry Birds is the top game on Google+ Games, Rovio exec says

Angry Bird explosion
Where else will the Angry Birds crash land into and dominate? Nintendo 3DS? Xbox 360? Your scientific calculator? Who knows, but according to All Things Digital, Rovio SVP of brand advertising and analytics Wibe Wagemans said yesterday at the Mobile Future Forward conference in Seattle, Wash. that Angry Birds is the number on game on Google+ Games.

Granted, that's out of all 16 games on the platform right now, but some of those games were put there by the likes of major social game creators like Zynga, Wooga, EA and Playdom. Wagemans, formerly an executive on Microsoft's Bing team, went on to say that Rovio has grown faster in the past two years than companies like MySpace, YouTube, Amazon and Skype. He also said, "We are now the fastest-growing consumer brand in history," ATD reports.

When you think about it, though: Not only is the Angry Birds game on nearly every gaming platform under the sun, but the little wingless cartoons and their amorphous green piglet enemies have been transformed into plush toys, t-shirts, board games, cook books, a feature film--need I go on?

During his talk in Seattle, Wageman revealed that Rovio welcomes over 120 million monthly Angry Birds players across the myriad of platforms the game is available on. Simply put, the western world is hooked on Angry Birds (it's science, remember?) and soon so will the East, if Rovio has any say in it. Sure, that's less than half of the 273 million or so monthly players Zynga caters to on Facebook alone, to which Wageman said, "We haven't even launched on Facebook yet." Oh ... oh, no.

[Image Credit: FuckYeahAlbuquerque]

Are you one of the 120 million or more devoted Angry Birds fans? Do you think Rovio could compete directly with Zynga when Angry Birds launches on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Survey: Bejeweled Blitz could sharpen old noggin in baby boomers

For the young, and now the old, it looks like PopCap games are good for everyone. In a survey of over 10,000 U.S. residents conducted by researcher Susan K. Whitbourne, Ph.D., 47 percent of older adults who play Bejeweled Blitz regularly reported feeling sharper while performing tasks.

Whitbourne, a psychology researcher at University of Massachusetts Amherst, presented her findings at this year's American Psychological Association's (APA) convention in Washington D.C. According to PopCap, Whitbourne believes that Bejeweled Blitz could be a viable platform for improving cognitive skills in older adults because it involves several of the skills that have been shown the be improved after playing video games.

Designed to see whether Whitbourne's inklings checked out, the survey found that 22.4 percent of participants aged 65 and over found their ability to see patterns improved. A small 23.9 percent of the same group reported that they could perform timed tasks more quickly after playing the game regularly. While the survey consisted of 10,331 adults aged 18 to 80-years-old, 41 percent of those were 50-years-old and over (and 83 percent total were women). And it's worth nothing that over 78 percent of participants reported to have a college degree.

Nearly half (47.5 percent) of adults aged 50 and older said that they paid no attention to the 60-second countdown timer in Bejeweled Blitz, and 52.9 percent of those 65-years-old and over reported the same reaction. Both groups of older folks were less likely than those 18 to 24-years-old to report feeling anxious because of the timer. Overall, a whopping 66.4 percent said that the game's multiplier gems were positively motivating.

Whitbourne's findings were well-received by some at the convention, like Dr. Walter Boot, director of the Attention and Training Lab of the Department of Psychology at Florida State University. "I believe the work Dr. Whitbourne and her colleagues are doing, using Bejeweled Blitz, is both critical and exciting, and that more research like this needs to be done exploring not only the types of games that bring about cognitive benefits, but also the types of games older adults are willing to play and why," Boot said. "The best cognitive aging intervention in the world is useless if older adults aren't willing and able to engage in it."

Of course, PopCap has a vested interested in the various applications of its hit games. But these findings are interesting, nevertheless. Well, there you have it: It looks like PopCap games like Bejeweled have become the proverbial Coca-Cola of the games industry--not only are they delicious fun, but they're good for you, too!

Do you believe that games like Bejeweled could be good for your cognitive health? What games do you or older folks in your life play to keep the brain in tip-top shape? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Adult Swim Games Arcade brings some shock and awe to Facebook

Robot Unicorn Attack -- the most magical game of all time -- and its darker twin, Heavy Metal, now have company as their developer, Adult Swim Games, has finally decided to launch a stable of their games on Facebook yesterday.

Adult Swim, a cable network (on the same channel as the Cartoon Network) known for dozens of high-quality absurdist and shock comedy shows, runs a games portal that houses over a hundred absurdist and shock comedy online games. (However, there's no overlap between the two in terms of content. That is, you're not going to get a Robot Unicorn Attack show, or a Venture Bros. game, no matter how badly you want one.) Now a fraction of that portal is accessible via Facebook.

To give you an idea of what you'll be walking into, they've got titles like "Five Minutes to Kill Yourself Wedding Day", "Amateur Surgeon", "Pole Dance Party", "Death Row Diner", and "Radioactive Teddy Bear Zombies". Of course, Robot Unicorn Attack is also there, but it's only linked there, since it was released last September as a separate app.
Adult Swim Games Arcade view all games
This new arcade app currently contains 21 games categorized along 6 genres: Action, Adventure, Twitchy, Shooter, Puzzle, and Classic. If you're wondering what "Twitchy" means, it describes games where reaction time is of utmost importance.
Adult Swim Games arcade
Unlike your usual new Facebook game launch, all of these games have stood the test of time on the Adult Swim Games website. However, the arcade app itself is currently in beta, so if something breaks or you've got a kerfuffle, shoot them an email at games@adultswim.com.

Click here to play Adult Swim Games Arcade on Facebook now >

Do you find Adult Swim Games disturbing or awesome? Have you ever seen an Adult Swim show? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments

Cafe World Cook for the Crafts Show Catering Order: Everything you need to know

A new catering order has launched in Cafe World this afternoon, asking you to create some "artistic" dishes to feed the folks at the local Crafts Show. To be specific, this catering order is called "Cook for the Crafts Show," and you'll have three days to finish these five tasks in order to earn the three star rating (and a new recipe).

For the cooking tasks, you'll need to serve Fish N Chips (a two-hour dish) 200 times, Pita and Dolmas (a four-hour dish) 60 times, and Pumpkin Pie (a 12-hour dish) 60 times. Ok, so maybe those dishes aren't incredibly artistic, but I guess we can't expect much. With the longest cooking time dish being just 12 hours, this one doesn't look to be too terribly difficult, especially if you have some neighbors that can help you cook these short-timed dishes frequently throughout the day. Speaking of which, you'll have the chance to add up to 13 of your friends to this order to help you, so keep that in mind.

In addition to these cooking tasks, you'll need to collect five Yarn and five Painting Easels by asking your friends to send you these items. If you can finish all of these tasks within the first three days, you'll receive the three-star rating, 15 Catering Points, 7,500 Cafe Points, 200,000 coins and the Crafty 3-Bean Salad recipe.

While you may not receive the recipe for the two or one-star ratings, here are the details for those.

Two-Star Rating (finish within two to five days)

    * 10 Catering Points
    * 5,000 Cafe Points
    * 125,000 coins


One Star Rating (finish after the first five days)

    * 5 Catering Points
    * 3,000 Catering Points
    * 75,000 coins


As usual, you can start this order at any point in the future, so don't feel rushed to start it right away. Still, if you have a lot of friends that are hardcore players, you might want to try to finish this one sooner, rather than later, so you can "guarantee" that you'll receive their help.

What do you think of the requirements for this new catering order? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Ferris Wheel Attraction: Everything you need to know

A third attraction has launched in CityVille this afternoon, being available to users level 25 and above, and this one is one of the classics: the Ferris Wheel. The Ferris Wheel base is available to purchase from the store (click on Businesses and then on the Attractions tab) for 7,500 coins.

Once you place the base, you'll need to whack it seven times to finish its frame. From there, it's a fairly standard item collection process, requiring the following ingredients:

    * 4 Carriages
    * 4 Light Bulbs
    * 4 Cement
    * 4 Turnstiles
    * 4 Control Boxes

The Carriages, Light Bulbs and Control Boxes are earned through general news posts that you'll post on your wall, while the Cement and Turnstiles are earned through individual requests sent to friends.

After the Ferris Wheel has been completed, you'll be able to start it into motion. It will stay running for eight minutes at a time, and can earn anywhere from 1500 to 6000 coins per operating cycle. Of course, after it runs, you'll need to either wait a substantial amount of time for maintenance to complete automatically, or ask your friends to send you wrenches to speed up the process.

Keep in mind that building this new structure is voluntary, and it is rather large, if you're lacking a lot of extra space on your land. Still, if you're looking to retain some of that summer fun all year round, make sure to build this one! I'm sure your virtual citizens will enjoy it!

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

Will you build the Ferris Wheel in your town in CityVille? Which attraction would you like to see released next? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Restaurant: Everything you need to know

As we told you earlier, one of the biggest themed items farmers can expect from FarmVille's new Lighthouse Cove would be the Restaurant, which serves as this third farm's Crafting Cottage. The base Restaurant, with just two Crafting tables, can be purchased from the game's store for 100,000 coins, and as of this writing, you're only allowed to have one Restaurant in your Lighthouse Cove farm.

With this starter Restaurant, you'll have an item that is far less impressive than that of the game's preview image, but will still have access to a few recipes. Here's a rundown of those, including the crops you'll need to grow to craft them.

Cheddar Cheese - 2 Red Clover, 1 Hay and 2 Rhubarb Bushels
Blackberry Ice Cream - 3 Darrow Blackberry, 2 Chandler Blueberry and 3 Strawberry Bushels
Creamed Corn - 3 Butter & Sugar Corn, 3 Tarragon and 1 Pepper Bushels

Once you level up recipes six times, you'll be able to upgrade your restaurant to level 2 (which also changes it visually). At that point, you'll unlock three Level 2 recipes:

Wild Blueberry Pie - 2 Chandler Blueberry, 3 Wheat and 2 Rhubarb Bushels
Black Raspberry Wine - 3 Raspberry, 2 White Grape and 3 Chandler Blueberry Bushels
Fruit Cider - 2 Cove Cranberry, 3 Red Currant and 3 Lady Slipper Bushels

As you might expect, there are far more recipes to unlock than this, as you level up your Restaurant and unlock new ones to craft. We'll make sure to update you when we know what those recipes are, so keep checking back.

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

What do you think of the look of the Restaurant in FarmVille? Are you going to focus on crafting just to level up its appearance to that of the teaser image, or will you craft casually and let the upgrades happen along the way? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Introduction Goals: Everything you need to know

After you've made your way into the Lighthouse Cove in FarmVille, you'll be met with a series of introductory goals, that serve to introduce you to some crops, and the crop growth limit. We'll start with Welcome to Lighthouse Cove.

    * Plow 3 Plots
    * Plant 10 Chandler Blueberries


As you can see, we're given a very easy goal to get us started in the game's third farm. Just finish these two tasks, and you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and two each of Logs, Steel Beams and Stones, the building materials native to Lighthouse Cove.

After this introductory goal, you'll launch straight into another trio, this time of limited time goals that will only be around for a week. The first is called Ahead of Schedule.

    * Get 3 Wool Blankets
    * Harvest 10 Chandler Blueberries
    * Complete 1 Pet Run

The Wool Blankets are earned through a general news item posted to your wall. Unfortunately, it does look like you'll have to build another Pet Run from scratch for this goal, as traveling to a farm with a completed Pet Run removes your access to these goals, as of this writing. Finishing this goal gives you 100 XP, a Tourist Gnome and 2,500 coins.

Pick It Up

    * Get 6 Oat Sacks
    * Harvest 45 Daylilies
    * Buy 1 Storage Cellar


Storage Cellars cost just one coin from the store. Meanwhile, Daylilies are a new crop that take 16 hours to grow. Finally, the Oat Sacks are earned through a general news feed item. Finish this goal and you'll earn 200 XP, one Scottie dog and 2,500 coins.

Happy Trees

    * Get 6 Tree Fertilizers
    * Harvest 45 Butter & Sugar Corns
    * Store 20 Trees in an Orchard

Luckily, you can purchase trees that aren't native to the Lighthouse Cove - like old fruit trees that cost just a few hundred coins each, so feel free to fill an Orchard with those. The Fertilizers, meanwhile, are earned through another news feed item. Once you finish this goal, you'll earn 300 XP, 1 Red Oak Tree and 2,500 coins.

Once you finish this trio of goals, you'll have finished the first "Chapter" in the Lighthouse Cove goal series. We're told that new "tasks" will be released in Lighthouse Cove every week, for an undisclosed amount of weeks, however, so we'll make sure to give you a look at every new set of guys just as soon as they're released.

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

What do you think of these new Lighthouse Cove goals? Do they serve their purpose of introducing you to this new farm, or should they be more difficult? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Repairing the Lighthouse Cove: Everything you need to know

One of the biggest elements of FarmVille's new Lighthouse Cove farm will come in actually repairing the dock and lighthouse after a huge storm wiped them out. This is done via item collection, using the three new tools found in the Lighthouse Cove proper: Logs, Stones and Steel Beams. As of this writing, there look to be 10 different levels for upgrades you can provide to the "Lighthouse Cove" itself, with the starting level requiring just three each of those Logs, Stones and Steel Beams. This removes the seaweed and debris from the water, but does little else.

As you continually repair, or level up your Lighthouse Cove (of course, each level takes more and more of each building material), you'll see visual transformations reflecting those repairs. This is important to note, as repairing the cove will be the only way to draw out animals like dolphins, which serve an (as of now) still unknown purpose. Your friends can send you more of these parts, or you can purchase them outright for Farm Cash.

On top of all of this, the Lighthouse Cove can actually be "harvested," once per day, giving you a chance to find "sea" bushels, like Clams. These bushels are then placed into a Market Stall for your friends to use, if they so choose.

We're sure that the upgrades given to the Lighthouse Cove will have a much larger effect on the game sometime in the future, but for right now, just focus on getting through the first few levels, while still trying to complete all of those new goals as well.

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

Have you started repairing your Lighthouse Cove area, or are you waiting for the free passes to be handed out to FarmVille players? What will be the first thing you do when landing in Lighthouse Cove? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Bonus Challenge Goals: Everything you need to know

While you're busy working on the first "introductory" chapter of goals in FarmVille's new Lighthouse Cove, keep in mind that three additional goals will soon fall onto your plate in the form of Bonus Challenges. Here's a complete look at these goals, which have a full month long time limit (that is, once they're given to you, not from today).

Bonus Challenge 1

    * Get 3 Hobby Horses
    * Harvest 70 Cove Cranberries
    * Improve the Cove to Level 4

As we told you earlier this evening, you'll "improve" your Cove by repairing the Lighthouse Cove dock and lighthouse area using Steel Beams, Logs and Stones. Once you reach level four, you'll apparently have the ability to draw out dolphins, so watch out for that! Finishing this first goal gives you 500 XP, a Fisherman / Fishing Gnome and 2,500 coins.

Bonus Challenge 2

    * Harvest 90 Chandler Blueberries
    * Expand to a Harbor Homestead
    * Make Wild Blueberry Pie Twice

Here's where things get a bit complicated. While Wild Blueberry Pies are fairly self-explanatory, and must be crafted inside the Level 2 Restaurant, the Harbor Homestead is the third homestead expansion option in Lighthouse Cove, and it costs 50 Farm Cash. To make matters worse, the two expansion before it? Yeah, they cost Farm Cash too - 30 and 40 Farm Cash each, to be specific. I'm sure there will be coin options released eventually, but keep this in mind for now. Once you finish this goal, you'll receive 1,000 XP, a Tulip Poplar Tree and 2,500 coins.

Bonus Challenge 3

    * Harvest Lighthouse Cove
    * Make Black Raspberry Wine Twice
    * Harvest the Zoo

Unfortunately, it looks like you might have to build another Zoo to finish this goal, on top of those you may have on other farms. Check out our guide to building a Zoo for more details. Also, as you might have guessed, the Black Raspberry Wine is another crafting recipe, also requiring a Level 2 Restaurant. Finishing this final Bonus Challenge goal gives you 500 XP, a Gorilla, ten Animal Feeds and 2,500 coins.

Zynga has said previously that new content will be added to the Lighthouse Cove every week (for a few weeks, anyhow), so keep checking back with us and we'll make sure to keep you up to date as new items are added.

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

Are these Bonus Challenges worth doing? Do you appreciate a real challenge in your goals, or do you wish these goals were less complex? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Crops: Everything you need to know

Just as was the case with the launch of the English Countryside in FarmVille, Lighthouse Cove has been given plenty of new crops to get you started. If you're looking for a way to earn more mastery signs, or if you enjoy crafting recipes inside your new Restaurant, you'll want to take a look at these crops to see what to expect as you play in this third farm.

Darrow Blackberry

    * Costs: 30 coins
    * Growth Time: 4 Hours
    * Earns: 60 coins
    * XP Gained: 0


Hay

    * Costs: 30 coins
    * Growth Time: 1 Day
    * Earns: 135 coins
    * XP Gained: 3


Chandler Blueberry

    * Costs: 45 coins
    * Growth Time: 8 Hours
    * Earns: 85 coins
    * XP Gained: 1


Lady Slipper

    * Costs: 50 coins
    * Growth Time: 8 hours
    * Earns: 100 coins
    * XP Gained: 1


Kennebec Potato

    * Costs: 60 coins
    * Growth Time: 1 Day
    * Earns: 155 coins
    * XP Gained: 3


Cove Cranberry

    * Costs: 65 coins
    * Growth Time: 1 Day
    * Earns: 170 coins
    * XP Gained: 3



Daylily

    * Costs: 70 coins
    * Growth Time: 16 Hours
    * Earns: 150 coins
    * XP Gained: 2


Butter & Sugar Corn

    * Costs: 90 coins
    * Growth Time: 12 Hours
    * Earns: 145 coins
    * XP Gained: 2


Tarragon

    * Costs: 110 coins
    * Growth Time: 10 Hours
    * Earns: 160 coins
    * XP Gained: 1


Red Clover

    * Costs: 120 coins
    * Growth Time: 1 Day
    * Earns: 225 coins
    * XP Gained: 3


Cauliflower

    * Costs: 125 coins
    * Growth Time: 2 Days
    * Earns: 350 coins
    * XP Gained: 4


Dill

    * Costs: 135 coins
    * Growth Time: 12 Hours
    * Earns: 190 coins
    * XP Gained: 2


While there's plenty of XP to be earned with some of these crops, keep in mind that if you want to complete all of the goals already available in Lighthouse Cove, your options for planting crops will be fairly limited, as you'll be "forced" to grow what the goals require. Even with that being the case, these crops look to be the permanent options for this new farm, so you don't have to rush to master them all. Just plant them when you have some free time and you'll earn all of those new mastery signs eventually.

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

Which of these crops do you think will be your favorite? Do you grow crops based on what they look like, or based on their stats? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: FarmVille Friends feature finally detailed

While the FarmVille Friends feature has yet to go live in FarmVille (we're told that it's still a "couple of weeks" away), Zynga has finally detailed just how it will work. Not entirely unlike the Cafe World Chef Circle (which, again, is still unavailable to the mass public), you'll be able to browse through a list of FarmVille players that aren't your Facebook friends, and can send them neighbor requests. In this way, you'll be able to access some of the social features you can take part in with actual Facebook friends with these strangers.

Unfortunately, your interaction with these new FarmVille neighbors will be limited to simply visiting their farm or sending them free gifts. It doesn't look like we'll be able to see any of their News Feed requests or bonuses, which diminishes the value of this update immensely, if you ask me. To actually add these folks, you'll simply visit the "Add Neighbors" tab at the top of the screen. From there, you'll see five players at a time, and can see their names, current profile picture, country, in-game level, and when they last played. In this way, you can pick and choose the best "crop" of neighbors to help you out. You'll have to send a neighbor request to this individual, and they'll have to accept on their end for this to work. On that same token, you may find yourself swamped with neighbor requests if you continually show up in players' results when using this new feature. Note: You can remove yourself from the pool if you don't care to be found by strangers.

To be especially clear, these new FarmVille neighbors will have no additional access to any information you have made private on your profile, and do not have to be your Facebook friends. If, however, you find that they are incredibly helpful when it comes to visiting your farm, tending your crops or Chicken Coop, and you wish to add them as a real Facebook friend to open up further interaction, you can do that as well. Again, this feature has yet to launch, but we'll make sure to let you know when it does over the next couple of weeks.

What do you think of these details about the FarmVille Friends feature? Should Zynga create a way for us to be able to activate these new neighbors' wall posts, in addition to simply visiting their farms? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille: 3x XP on Neighbor Visits this weekend only

If you're looking for a way to quickly reach the next level in CityVille (ok, so maybe it won't speed you up that much), you'll want to play as much as you can this weekend. Why? Zynga is holding a triple XP event for this weekend only, that will see you earning 3x the amount of XP when visiting and helping neighbors. Sure, it would be great if this event swept across the entire game, allowing you to have triple XP on businesses and homes as well, but I suppose we can't really complain when we're receiving something for nothing here.

If you play your cards right, and visit all of your friends both days this weekend, you can of course earn double the amount of bonuses, but it's understandable if you don't think the bonus XP received is really worth it. Hopefully, if this event goes over well enough, we'll receive even more bonuses in the future. Perhaps a bonus amount of XP for each home collected from? Each business? That sounds like a great way to pull in players, if you ask me, but we won't hold our breath. In the meantime, I hope you earn more bonus XP through this event than me, as I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth it...

What do you think? Will you take the time to visit all of your friends for 3x XP this weekend? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World FAQs: Zynga answers our first questions

Just as was the case for the launch of the Pioneer Trail on Facebook, Zynga has taken the time to answer some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding its newest game: Adventure World. While we've already brought you a detailed look at the overall game, along with its first few expeditions, you might still be left with questions. Luckily, we're able to show you Zynga's answers to these questions, as they were posted on the game's official forums, so read on to learn a bit more about the game.

    If I don't pick-up coins/xp/etc, will they still be added? Yes, everything that drops is added automatically, you don't have to pick it up; but it's very easy to do so by just hovering over the dropped "doobers".

    How do I gain experience (XP)? XP can be gained by performing various actions in the game. When an action grants you XP, you will see it drop in the form of a star "doober". Completing quests will also grant you XP bonuses. You can check your XP progress by hovering over your XP bar; you might also note what can be unlocked by reaching the next level.

    How can I buy new decorations for my Base Camp? Click on the "Build" button, then navigate to "Décor"; make sure you also meet all the requirements to buy it (such as coins and level).

    How do I move, rotate or delete/remove an object? Click on the "Build" button, navigate to "Décor", then select the desired tool.

    How can I place more dig sites? Click on the "Build" button, navigate to "Sites", then select the desired Dig Site.

    Where can I find my inventory? You can access your inventory by clicking on the "Inventory" button, which is located to the right of your neighbor ladder.

    How can I go on expeditions? Once you have unlocked new locations, you can travel there by clicking on the "Map" button then selecting a destination. Make sure you have plenty of supplies.

    How can I hire friends for Expeditions? You can hire friends for your expedition crew by first clicking on an "Add Bonus" button, located on the bar near the bottom of your screen, and then by clicking on an "Ask for Help" button on the screen that comes up.

    Why do I lose extra energy when fighting creatures? When fighting you may lose one extra energy point every time you attack or get hit with an attack from the creature. There is a chance you can dodge the attack, or stun them when you attack, and avoid getting hit.

    How can I get more resources? You will be able to produce one (1) of the three (3) resources, the other two (2) you can collect either by visiting friends with that specific resource and harvesting it, or by requesting them from your friends. You could also gain resources from completing expeditions.

    How quickly do supplies spoil? Supplies will spoil at 4 times their harvest time. So if you send out a boat that will be ready in 8 hours it will spoil 32 hours after you have supplied it (or 24 hours after it came back).

    How can I get more energy? Your energy will refill according to the timer on your energy bar, every time the timer counts down to 0 you will receive 1 energy point up to your max energy. You can also receive more energy by visiting your neighbors, as a random bonus drop for various actions, and you can purchase more energy with Adventure Cash by clicking on your energy bar. In addition, energy can be gifted from the free gifts page. When you reach the next level your energy bar will be fully refilled and your maximum energy is increased by 1 (up to the current maximum energy limit).

    While on Expeditions, icons for my completed quests are not being removed, is this normal? Yes it is. You will always be able to see quest icons during expeditions, even after you have completed them. Quest icons in your base camp, however, will be removed as you complete the associated quests.

    How does Expedition Mastery work? You can gain expedition mastery levels by replaying expeditions you have already completed. Rewards for every expedition increase with the mastery level.

    What do I get from completing a collection? Each collection has a different reward; these rewards are shown on the collections page and are often needed to complete quests.

    How do you obtain collection items? Collection items have a chance to drop as you perform various tasks in the game.

    How many game levels are there? Currently, 40 is the maximum level achievable, but more levels are added periodically.

    What is the maximum amount of neighbors you can have? The maximum number of neighbors you can have is 150.


If you don't want to read the entire series of questions, keep these particular facts in mind: you can currently have 150 Adventure World neighbors, and can level yourself up to Level 40 before reaching the current level cap. It's very likely that the Level cap will be increased within the next couple of months (depending on how quickly power users make their way to the top), so don't be discouraged if that seems like that game is limited in its content.

Additionally, it's great to see such a long spoil time on supplies: four times their harvest time. If you want to only play the game once or twice a day, you can still send out for the smaller supply bundles, and can be sure that they'll still be fresh when you come back to the game later that day.

All in all, Adventure World is a fairly complex experience that will likely take some getting used to, but hopefully, with these answers, you'll have an easier time of acclimating. We'll make sure to continue our coverage about the game to get you up to speed even quicker, so keep checking back.

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

What do you think of Adventure World so far? What level have you already reached? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World Cheats & Tips: Expedition Mastery Guide

While we've already brought you a detailed look at the first few Expeditions in Adventure World, did you know that you can actually repeat these Expeditions and eventually master them? That's right, each time you repeat an Expedition, you'll earn points towards mastering the Expedition itself, and with each star of mastery you earn (for that particular Expedition), your potential rewards will increase.

As of right now, it looks like each individual Expedition has a total of five mastery stars available to earn, but you won't necessarily go up a full star level each time you play through it. That is, you may have to finish a single Expedition more than five times to completely master it. In the process, however, you'll earn plenty of rewards like Food, Fuel and Coins. Luckily, you can see a complete rundown of what your additional rewards will be before really getting too deep into repeating them. Just start an Expedition as you normally would (say, on your very first time running through it), and click on the "Rewards" button at the bottom of the screen, as seen below.

This will bring up the following menu, showing you the possible maximum rewards for each star level of that Expedition. As you can see from our below example - Jungle Run - the rewards become significantly higher the more and more times you play through the entire Expedition, but remember, doing so is mostly voluntary. That is, you may need to backtrack to past Expeditions to level up and unlock new ones, but at least you can pick and choose which ones to repeat and which ones to avoid based on your preferences.

All in all, the process of mastering Expeditions really isn't that complicated - just know that by playing the game more often, you'll increase the rate at which you master them, and the rate at which you earn bigger and better rewards. And make sure to keep checking back with us as we bring you more details about Zynga's newest - and largest - Facebook game yet.

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

Will you work to master each and every Expedition in Adventure World, or are some of these Expeditions too difficult to complete more than once? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World Cheats & Tips: Base Camp Expansion Guide

Not entirely unlike the Pioneer Trail, or even FarmVille, Zynga's newest Facebook game - Adventure World - allows you to decorate a Base Camp that serves as this game's "Homestead" or "Home Farm." And just like in those other popular games, you'll be able to expand your Base Camp to hold more goodies, whether functional, or just those used for decoration.

While Adventure World starts you off with a fairly large section of land, covered in shrubs, trees and other debris, it's inevitable that we'll eventually run out of room. Even if we didn't, just look at those cool items waiting off in the shadows! There are new treasure sites (like the one pictured above), but there's even an Adventure Society Plane just waiting to be unlocked. To purchase these expansions, you can either click on something in this shadow-covered land, which automatically brings up the Expansion menu, or you can access it the "old fashioned way," by clicking on the Hammer / Bricks icon in the game's tool menu and then clicking on the Expansion tab (at the far right).

Either way, once you open this menu, you'll see that there are currently six expansions available to purchase, but they are locked based on your in-game level, or the amount of coins you currently have to spend. The first expansion costs 3,000 coins, and once you click on it to purchase it, you'll be allowed to move a large expansion area over to one of the shadowy spaces in your Base Camp. Click on the ground to purchase the selected expansion plot and voila! The shadows disappear and you can now interact with whatever item you've unlocked.

If you wish to use this land for decoration, you can do that as well, by first clicking on all of that new debris to spend energy clearing it away. As of right now, there's no "Zoning Permit" or "Land Grant" that's needed to unlock these expansions; you'll just need good old coins. It's not entirely impossible that such a roadblock might be added in the future, however, so your best bet might be to focus on expanding sooner, rather than later.

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

What do you think of the Base Camp expansion system in Adventure World? Do you like purchasing just single sections of land, or would you prefer each side of the Base Camp to simply extend further with each expansion? Sound off in the comments.

Game Developers Choice Online Awards Audience Award: Vote for your fave Facebook game

We know, you're miffed that your favorite Facebook game didn't make the cut in the second annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards nominations. Luckily for you, the Audience Award category has finally opened up for voting from the public starting today, Sept. 8, through Sept. 22. All you need to do is head on over to the Audience Award voting page, type in what game--any online game--you think should win, and provide an email address to confirm your vote.

The second annual GDC Online, an Austin, Texas-based online game-centric offshoot of the annual GDC event that takes place annually in San Francisco, is little more than a month away, running Oct. 10-13. The GDC Online Awards will be held on the evening of Oct. 12 in the Austin Convention Center. Now that you know all of the logistics regarding the GDC Online Awards, let's talk a bit about that Audience Award.

Frankly, it can be a little daunting, that blank white box, just waiting for your answer. If you need some help framing your answer deciding on a sound candidate, take a look at the nominees that were already decided upon. If that doesn't help, take a look at this month's Top 25 Facebook Games to see what's hot.

Or, you know, just vote for what game you enjoy best--just make sure it's a Facebook game, kay? League of Legends won the Audience Award last year, and while it's a blast, we can't have that this year ... or we'll miss out on the Facebook royalty checks again. (Before the flaming starts: Jokes, people, just jokes.)

Do you plan on casting a vote for the GDC Online Awards Audience Award? Which game do you think should win the honor? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments

It's time to explore Adventure World, Zynga's largest Facebook game yet

Seriously, do you have a few hours to kill? Then good, because you might need it (and some Facebook Credits, in that case). Zynga has set Adventure World loose on Facebook--all 30 maps, 200 quests, over 1,000 art assets and 20,000 objects included. In this game that just so happens to be 40 times larger than previous Zynga games like FarmVille, players assume the role of an adventurer in search of the golden city of El Dorado.

You'll trek across jungles, mountains, caverns, volcanoes and finally venture into El Dorado itself, overcoming a myriad of wild beasts, lethal traps and various puzzles using your wits in search of the ultimate treasure. Developed by Zynga Boston (formerly known as Conduit Labs), Adventure World makes use of pseudo-3D, cel-shaded visuals to achieve an art style reminiscent of comic books from the '40s revolving around the golden age of exploration.

"When we joined the Zynga family a year ago, our goal was to not only create a game unlike any other in the social gaming space today, but to create a completely new genre," Zynga Boston GM Nabeel Hyatt said in a release. "We call this genre social adventure, one where players can explore, discover and team up with friends on an adventure of a lifetime."

Gallery: Adventure World on Facebook
Player navigate the world using unique tools like whips, grappling hooks and more that level individually as your character progresses. Speaking of which, there are over 10,000 different avatar variations at launch through its customization system. Based on an early look at the game, Adventure World looks to be Zynga's most ambitious project yet, with game mechanics that teach players rather than tell them how to navigate the game world.

But players will have the help of their friends to navigate Adventure World, too. Players can enlist up to 12 friends along the way to help them overcome obstacles like puzzles and traps more easily. And as players use the same friends more often, the stronger those friends become, fostering tight-knit groups of asynchronous adventurers.


Adventure World is already available in eight languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish and Norwegian. Zynga also points out that this is the first game to feature a pygmy princess, so if that doesn't get you to click the link below, we don't know what will.

Click here to play Adventure World on Facebook Now >

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

Have you tried Adventure World on Facebook yet? What do you think so far of this massive Zynga game? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Adventure World Prologue Quests: Everything you need to know

With the launch of Adventure World on Facebook, we see the launch of Zynga's biggest Facebook game yet, split into chapters, as you work to gain entry to the lost city of El Dorado. You'll have a base camp that serves as your supply point and an overall way to earn coins and other materials, but the majority of your time will be spend on expeditions through the game's main storyline. Right out of the gate, you're taken through the game's tutorial and Prologue section of quests.

With any new game, it can be a bit difficult getting used to the new gameplay, so we've compiled a guide to these Prologue Quests to help you acclimate as quickly as possible.

Save Malcom! Part 1

Collect the First Key Fragment
Collect the Second Key Fragment
Collect the Third Key Fragment
Your fellow adventurer Malcolm has fallen into a cave after wandering off on his own (silly boy). In order to gain access to the cave to rescue him, you'll need to collect three key pieces that are scattered around the mostly linear outdoor map. You can either navigate the map on your own, hacking shrubs to clear a path (and collecting statues for coins), or you can click on the "Show Me" button within the quest window seen above to have the camera automatically pan to where you need to go. These Key Fragments are surrounded by traps, so you'll need to pull switches (as seen below) to deactivate the trap before you're caught within them!

Save Malcolm! Part 2

Collect Your Journal
Open Cave Door
Enter the Cave

The Journal will be found right in the middle of the path, on the way into the Cave Door - you can't miss it. As for opening the door, just click on the round circular rock, standing vertically in the distance, and it will be opened for you automatically. Click on it again to go inside. Note: Once you go inside the cave, it doesn't look like you'll be able to get back out, so make sure you've collected any treasures you want before you go in.

Save Malcolm! Part 3

Get the Whip
Collect Malcolm's Canteen
Save Malcolm

Poor Malcolm - he's trapped in spider webs! You'll be given a whip in order to battle those Spiders that are guarding him, so just continue along the path until you reach Malcolm's Canteen at the right side of the screen. Unlike the shrubs and spider webs, the Spiders themselves (and other animals like Snakes) can fight back, so you'll want to make sure to take them out as soon as you can. If they attack you first, you'll lose energy points. Once you defeat the Spider(s), click on Malcolm to free him from the web.

Escape the Lost Cave!

Recover the Master Key
Use the Master Key to open the door
Use the Door to escape

Now that you've rescued Malcolm from the spiders, you'll need to escape from the cave. Conveniently enough, you'll be able to pick up the master key to opening up El Dorado while you're here. Continue along the path and you'll fight a couple of additional spiders before you can pull the Master Key from the stone. One final spider blocks the exit, but Malcolm takes care of it, allowing you both to leave and head back to Base Camp.

At this point, you will have finished the Prologue of Adventure World, and will be launched into Chapter 1. While the Master Key is a great discovery, you won't actually be able to enter El Dorado until you've replaced four lost idols to the outside of El Dorado, where they surround the Master Key's hole. You've got one heck of a journey ahead of you, adventurers! Good luck!

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

What do you think of Adventure World so far? Did you complete this Prologue Chapter and save Malcolm, or are you still working your way through the Lose Cave? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World Treasure Trail Expedition: Everything you need to know

So, you've gone through the jungle and have saved your friend Malcolm from the Lost Cave, but you've really only scratched the surface for what Adventure World has to offer. With Zynga's newest Facebook game, we see gameplay that is split into two: you'll have a Base Camp that allows you to earn supplies, build buildings and collect coins (not entirely unlike the Homestead in Pioneer Trail), and can then set out on adventures, or expeditions, that help to further along the main storyline, or just serve as side-quests of sorts.

The first of these expeditions is called Treasure Trail, and it sees you being put in search of an Azure Skull. You'll need to have 600 Supplies to start this expedition (after all, if you're going to be gone from Base Camp for an extended period of time, you'll need the basics like food and water), and will have enough Supplies to last you three days. To be specific, this three day time period is how long you have to finish the entire expedition, but if you follow our guide (and work straight through), you can easily finish it in one sitting. The Treasure Trail has three quests within itself; here's how to complete all three.

Find the Azure Skull!

Recover the Rare Azure Skull

As you might have guessed, this Skull is located at the very end of this particular map, and while the path is mostly linear, there are traps and enemies in the way (Snakes) that hope to stop you from succeeding. As usual, if you ever see a tiki-head with a lever, you'll want to make sure and clear your path to it before doing anything else (particularly walking over those matching tiles on the ground). If you do happen to get stuck, you'll have to waste valuable energy in escaping, so it is in your best interest to go a bit slower to avoid the traps.

Once you get to the end of the map, you'll see the setup above, where you'll need to click on the highlighted button to start a Simon Says game. Click on the three totems in the order you're told and the Azure Skull will lower allowing you to collect it.

Gather the Ruby Vases

Get at least 3 Ruby Vases

These Ruby Vases stand out pretty well against the green of the jungle, and while you can normally save your energy and skip collecting them, in this case they are required. Your first Ruby Vase is located just inside the map's beginning, so knock that shrub out of the way to get to it. The next Ruby Vase is guarded by a Snake and a trap, so make sure to deactivate the trap and eliminate the Snake before focusing your attention on the Vase itself. There are two more vases located even further ahead (one up a hillside, and the other next to the bridge, as seen below), so grab one or both of them to finish this particular quest with ease.

Gather the Jade Vases

Get at least 5 Jade Vases

These Jade Vases are harder to spot (since they're green like most of the map), but the quest works the same as the Red Vase quest above. Just make your way through the shrubs, snakes and traps to gather at least five Jade Vases. Watch out - one Jade Vase is particularly well hidden, to the left of a trap at the top of the map, as seen below.

Once you've finished these three quests, you'll receive your score and expedition/quest mastery points. That's right - you can complete these expeditions again multiple times in order to earn more coins, experience points and so on. That's not the way to eventually progress through the story, but if you need a few more XP before you can level up (and unlock new Expeditions to complete), it's something to keep in mind.

Congratulations on finishing your first real Expedition, adventurers! Keep checking back with us as we break down all of the Expeditions as they become available. Happy exploring!

Have you finished the Treasure Trail expedition? What do you think of the gameplay in Adventure World so far? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World Snake Marsh Expedition: Everything you need to know

After completing the Treasure Trail expedition in Adventure World, you've hopefully come to understand how the game is played, and how these Expeditions can work in your favor to help you level up and earn coins. For the second Expedition, Snake Marsh, you'll have a single day to make your way through the entire trip, with your possible rewards being a maximum of 445 coins and one Food.

Of course, you'll need to have some goodies before starting this trip, so you'll need to have 50 Supplies, one Food, one Fuel and one Water before you begin. These can be earned either through buildings in your own Base Camp, or by collecting them from buildings in your friends' camps (including the Base Camp of John Allen, the NPC character in your team). Snake Marsh is, you guessed it, full of snakes, and three quests to complete in all. Follow our guide and you'll be able to get through the Marsh in one piece, and with the top rewards.

A Place to Call Home

Plant 3 Rare Orange Flowers
Plant 3 Rare Pink Flowers
Plant 3 Rare Blue Flowers

Apparently, the climate is so great in the Snake Marsh that you're being asked to risk life and limb to plant some exotic flowers in the soil to test how well they'll grow. This is the main goal for the overall Snake Marsh expedition, seeing you traveling from one end of the map to the other, clicking on small mounds of dirt to plant flowers. As this map has a lot of cloud cover (clouds are removed as you explore more areas of the map) and isn't as linear, your best bet would be to start at one end and work your way around the outskirts of the map, clearing out snakes and bushes as you go. In this way, you'll be able to make sure you complete everything possible on this map, if you're into that sort of thing. That is, you could also fly through, just planting the flowers, if you're more into speed rather than completion.

Snake Master

Clear 3 Wiggling Bushes
Defeat 3 Quick Snakes
Get 5 Ruby Vases

Once again, you're asked to collect Ruby Vases, but these are often guarded by Snakes. While we're once again met with the Quick Snakes (of the brown, yellow and orange variety), these kinds of Snakes need a clear path to get to you, allowing you to tackle them only when you really want to. As for the Wiggling Bushes, these let you know that a Snake is hiding inside. Clear the bush and a Snake will appear, normally taking more than one whack to remove.

Dislike Spikes

Clear 10 Bushes
Disarm or Clear the Yellow Spike Traps
Disarm or Clear the Green Spike Traps
Disarm or Clear the Blue Spike Traps

For this quest, we're introduced to traps that are different colors, and the levers themselves don't necessarily have to appear directly next to the trap they control. For instance, the Blue Spike lever is directly north from where you enter this map, but the Blue Spikes themselves are on the far left side of the map. Just be cautious that you don't go into things with low amounts of energy, as you might be surrounded by snakes (which will remove all of your energy just by attacking you), and you'll eventually come through this Expedition in one piece.

As you likely won't be able to finish this expedition in one sitting, remember your time limit: if you don't finish in a single 24 hour period, you will have failed and will likely have to start over from scratch. While you're waiting for your energy to refill, keep checking back with us as we bring you continued coverage on Zynga's newest game. Have fun!

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

Have you started playing through Snake Marsh in Adventure World yet? What do you think of its increased level of difficulty over the game's beginning Expeditions / quests? Sound off in the comments.

Troy Aikman + Facebook = A fantasy football game all about the QBs

Fantasy football, or as I like to call it: The Jock's Dungeons and Dragons, doesn't exactly make for a fun Facebook game. Even the mighty Sports Illustrated couldn't make fantasy football fun on Facebook, regardless of how robust its features are. Troy Aikman (you know, the famous former Dallas Cowboys quarterback?) and Boulder, Co.-based Prediculous--which runs a social game of sorts that challenges players to accurately predict real world events--hope to change that with Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB.

"The quarterback is one of the most important and exciting positions on a football team," Aikman said in a release. "Knowing a little something about that position, I wanted to create a fun fantasy game centered around QBs that anyone can play. From casual fans to long-time fantasy players, this game gives everyone a shot to play and win."

The game simplifies the classic fantasy football gameplay of drafting an entire team down to one of the only positions that matters most exciting positions in all of football: the quarterback. Each week, players will pick their top four QBs for the week that will earn them points based on how they perform in the real NFL games. Then, those choices will be sized up against Aikman's own picks each week found in a video feature uploaded every week.

Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB gameplay
While this will serve as a guide for the casual football fan, it should also serve as a source of competition beyond the stat crunching mega fans and their friends. However, each QB can only be chosen once every three weeks, unless you want to pay up with QB Chips using Facebook Credits. You'll earn QB Chips based on your participation each week as well. And unlike most traditional fantasy football leagues with their rigid times and rules, players can join Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB at any time during the NFL season.

Every Tuesday morning, the game will tally whose QB picks earned the most points per game based on several factors, and declare the winner within your league, which can be comprised of as many as 100 players. Of course, you can brag about your winning predictions using the News Feed, and find friends via requests. Sure, it's a simplistic fantasy football game for Facebook, but maybe that's the key to getting Facebook gamers into fantasy football. We'll see once the season starts on Sept. 8.

Click here to play Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB on Facebook Now >

Are you a fan of fantasy football or have a fan in the home? Do you think Troy Aikman's approach to fantasy football on Facebook could popularize the game on a new platform? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

FarmVille Aviary Goals: Everything you need to know

Attention all farmers! The FarmVille Aviary has started rolling out to some users this afternoon, and as we told you earlier this week, the new building comes with a full set of goals. We've got a guide to completing these goals right here, so even if you haven't been able to start building your own Aviary, you'll at least know what to expect.

For the Birds!

    * Get 6 Bunches of Bird Seed
    * Place 1 Aviary
    * Harvest 3 Aviary Birds


Of course, this new building deals with with birds, and as such, you'll need to start harvesting birds (Ducks will probably be the easiest for most farmers) to complete this third task. As for the Aviary, you'll receive a base once the update has rolled around to your game, so just clear out some land on your farm and place it to finish that. For the Bird Seed, you'll need to ask your friends to send you some bunches by posting a general news item to your wall. The rewards for completing this first goal are 50 XP, one Red Bill Duck and 2,500 coins.


Bird Watching

    * Get 6 Binoculars
    * Buy 1 Bird House
    * Harvest 100 Vegetable Crops


As usual, it doesn't matter which kind of vegetable crop you grow, so feel free to plant some of the shortest-growth-time vegetables available to you to quickly finish this off. As for this Binocular collection task, you'll be able to send out requests directly to your friends, asking them for help. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 5 Animal Feed and 2,500 coins.

No Birds in Last Year's Nest

    * Get 6 Bird Nests
    * Complete the Aviary
    * Plant 3 Basic Apple Trees


This goal takes us back to general news feed requests to collect these Bird Nests. While you're waiting for them to arrive, you can plant the Apple Trees, which cost just 325 coins each to purchase from the store. To build the Aviary, you'll need to collect ingredients, and you can find our complete guide to building the habitat right here. Finish this goal and you'll receive 50 XP, 5 Animal Feed and 2,500 coins.

Free as a Bird!

    * Get 9 Bird Toys
    * Harvest the Aviary
    * Harvest 3 Basic Apple Tress


Here's something different: instead of being able to immediately delete those trees you previously purchased, you'll need to wait for them to be ready to harvest. You'll want to make sure that these trees are not in an Orchard before you harvest them though, as harvesting trees that are in an Orchard will not count for this goal. For these Bird Toys, you'll need to ask your friends through individual gift requests to earn them. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 4 Swan Geese and another 2,500 coins.

Whistle While You Work

    * Get 9 Bird Whistles
    * Raise a Baby Bird
    * Harvest 30 Basic Cranberries


Cranberries take 10 hours to grow, so you'll want to plant them pretty quickly to not be too delayed by this goal. While you're waiting for them to grow, you can post a general news item requesting the Bird Whistles. As for the Baby Bird, you can either claim one from your friends' wall posts, or wait until your Aviary is ready to collect from with the chance of receiving a Baby Bird in the process.

The Swing of Things

    * Get 9 Bird Swings
    * Master Swan Goose to Level 1
    * Harvest 50 Fruit Crops


Again, it doesn't matter which kind of fruit you harvest. You'll collect the Bird Swings via individual requests to friends. For finishing this goal, you'll not only finish this Aviary goal series, but you'll also receive 50 XP, one Lady Amherst Pheasant and 2,500 coins.

With this new Aviary building, we've passed the halfway point in the game's new breeding building feature, and we'll make sure to let you know when additional animal breeding buildings launch in the game.

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

Have you received the new Aviary or this set of Aviary goals? What do you think of them? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Aviary Habitat: Everything you need to know

Earlier tonight, we brought you a detailed guide to finishing the new set of Aviary goals in FarmVille, that will reward you with loads of Animal Feed and even some new birds. But, of course, these goals require you to have built an Aviary, which is a bit easier said than done. The new Aviary will be given to you automatically when you next login to the game (that is, after this building has rolled around to you), and once it's built, you'll be able to store all sorts of birds inside, including (but not limited to) Geese, Turkeys and Ducks.

To actually build your Aviary, you'll need to collect 30 ingredients, all of which should look familiar to you:

    * 10 Clamps
    * 10 Hinges
    * 10 Screwdrivers


In order to earn these items, you'll either be able to ask your friends to send them to you, claim them from news feed items posted by your friends, or purchasing them outright for Farm Cash. Once it's finished, you'll receive a free Farm Goose to store inside your new Aviary, and will then have space for 19 more birds (20 in total) to live inside. As usual, you'll be able to view all of the possible birds that can be stored inside your Aviary by browsing through the 18 pages of possible animals within the Aviary's menu.

When your Aviary is ready to "harvest," you'll have a chance to receive one of two kinds of Eggs at random. Orange eggs will contain common animals, while Purple eggs are rare and can even contain past limited edition animals that would have originally cost less than 15 Farm Cash (when those eggs are claimed from friends). Any egg you claim from your own Aviary will be identical to one of the animals currently living inside (as it has literally been bred). Unlike other animal breeding buildings, these Eggs don't require Animal Feed to hatch (how would they eat it?!), but instead hatch on a timer. Rare eggs take longer to hatch than Common eggs, as you might expect.

There's no word yet as to what kind of an animal building we'll see released next in the game, so this gives you plenty of time to complete the new Aviary goals that go along with this new building. Good luck in completing them in time!

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

What do you think of the Aviary? Do you like collecting Animal Feed for these baby animals, or do you like the idea of a timer for them to grow? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Sneak Peek: Chandler Blueberry crops in the wild

Here we go again, farmers. More news about FarmVille's upcoming Lighthouse Cove has been released today by Zynga itself. This new "news" comes in the form of a single screenshot, containing two animals and an area of nine crops. To go along with this screenshot, we're given the following text:

    Not only Lighthouse Cove will have exclusive animals, but there will also be new crops like the Lady Slipper and the Chandler Blueberry. Will you be ready to master more crops?


While we already knew that Chandler Blueberries existed, based on Mastery Signs we've previously seen, the Lady Slippers do look to be new. We can also spot two animals in this picture, with one looking to be a new kind of Rooster, and a fluffy gray sheep.

What we still haven't been able to determine is where exactly our farm will "end," and where the Cove landscaping will begin. In this new picture, the crops and sheep are placed incredibly close to the water, without a dark line separating interactive farmland from background picture. If this is deliberate, it opens up a whole world of possibilities for new game features out on the water, which would further explain why so much is going on out there in the Lighthouse Cove loading screen we discovered just days ago.

Whether this screenshot really sheds light on big features or not (I suppose it doesn't, depending on your viewpoint), it does continue to raise at least this farmer's hopes for something fantastic. We'll make sure to bring you all of the continued news about Lighthouse Cove as we know more, so keep checking back.

Are you excited about Lighthouse Cove? What sorts of themed items or activities are you looking forward to seeing in this new farm? Sound off in the comments!

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary Items: Acacia Tree, Red Kangaroo, Safari Tent and more

With tonight's FarmVille update, we see a continuation of the Animal Sanctuary theme containing a pair of new trees, some animals, decorations (Gnome-collectors watch out!) and more! As usual, we'll take a thorough look at these new items before we send you off to do some shopping of your own so you'll know exactly which items you want once you get there.

Trees

Acacia Tree - 7 Farm Cash
Candelabra Tree - 15 Farm Cash

First things first, Zynga has added level markers to all of the trees in the store, which is a welcome addition, even if a bit unnecessary. After all, I think we're all accustomed to Level 2 trees costing more in the store (in fact, this Candelabra Tree is the Level 2 tree of the pair), but a quick reminder before you spend Farm Cash is always nice. Just don't think that you have to purchase this Candelabra Tree, as you can use some patience and wait to receive one or more for free as Mystery Seedlings.

Animals

Red Kangaroo - 8 Farm Cash
Cassowary - 10 Farm Cash
Black Friesian - 35 Farm Cash

I don't know if Zynga is feeling generous, or if I happened to have stumbled upon a "low" period in their price testing routine, but the Kangaroo and Cassowary prices are far lower than those for most other animals released in the store. If you've wanted some exclusive animals, but didn't want to pay 20+ Farm Cash per animal, here's your chance. Again, if the prices are higher when you look in your own store, that's probably due to price testing and it can't be changed.

Buildings

Safari Tent - 20 Farm Cash

Again, for a building, this isn't a horrible price, as we've routinely seen items priced at 35 Farm Cash or more. Is this Safari Tent a bargain? Definitely not, but it's also not something that will entirely break the bank.

Decorations

Safari Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Sunset Flower - 4,000 coins
Safari Rock - 3 Farm Cash


With these items, Gnome collectors obviously have something to be excited about, but those shopping on a coins-only budget will likely walk away disappointed (yet again). It's not that the Sunset Flower isn't pretty, but with that being the only new coin item, frustration will (understandably) be high. Hopefully, with enough public outcry, we'll see a return of more coin-only items, but for now, we'll just have to accept Zynga's arguably greedy ways.

Avatar Clothing

Safari Outfit - 10 Farm Cash

All of these items will be in the game's store for the next two weeks. Shop now while you can, as there's no guarantee that any will return after they've been retired.

What do you think of these Animal Sanctuary items? Are you becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of coin items in these FarmVille updates, or are you used to Zynga's business practices? Sound off in the comments.