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Pioneer Trail Ranch: Everything you need to know

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-07T21:15:00+00:00

Following in the footsteps of the Emporium, another building storage... building has launched in Pioneer Trail. This one's called the Ranch, and it will store up to 10 buildings when it's completed: Beehive, Thinking Tree, Potting Shed, Ice Shed, Grain Silo, Corral, Rodeo, Crop Crafting Nursery, 3F Animal Mastery Building and 3F Crop Mastery Nursery.

As with the Emporium, this Ranch comes with a very large footprint, but if you use it as intended, you will save space in the long run (as this one building takes up less space than all ten of those listed above). Of course, the Ranch comes with a lengthy building process, and requires you to collect quite a few building materials to finish it off:

7 Rustic Fence
7 Push Plows
7 Harvesting Baskets
11 Windmill Blades
11 Ridin' Saddles
11 Silo Release Spouts

The Rustic Fences, Push Plows and Harvesting Baskets are earned through general news posts placed on your wall, while the other three items are earned through individual requests sent to friends.

To go along with the construction of this new building, there are also goals to complete.

Bess is Thinking Big

Place the Ranch
Clear 12 Thorns on your Homestead
Collect 10 Land Surveys

Rewards: 300 XP, 300 coins, 2 Longhorn Bulls

Heart Ranching

Add 3 Buildings to the Ranch
Harvest 12 Green Apple Trees on your Homestead
Craft 5 Hay Bale Pulleys

The Green Apple Trees can be found on the game's free gifts page, if you don't already have some in your inventory. Meanwhile, you can craft the Hay Bale Pulleys by first crafting Simple Pulleys out of Rope Fibers (harvest flax) and Pulley Parts. You'll need three Simple Pulleys, along with five Small Hay Bales (ask friends) to craft a single Hay Bale Pulley. Needless to say, that's a pretty time consuming task. When you complete this goal, you'll receive 600 XP, 600 coins and the Ranch Daily Bonus.

Ready to Ranch

Complete the Ranch
Tend 50 Standard Adult Ducks on your Homestead
Craft 60 Tomato Peppers

Rewards: 1,000 XP, Ranch Customization, 3 Ranch Mystery Crates (contains items like XP, energy, animals, trees, boosts, Saloon drinks and more).

There may or may not be more items in this "mass building storage" feature, to go along with the Emporium and Ranch, but if more do launch, we'll make sure to let you know.

[Via and Image Credit: Zynga]

What do you think of this Ranch and the buildings that it can store? Will you go through the process of building it to store your items, or do you like looking at each individual building on your Homestead instead? Sound off in the comments.

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Who said the "copycat" business isn't good for laughs?

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-07T20:45:00+00:00

First, there was the Penny Arcade comic that took a stab at the TripleTown / Yeti Town controversy, and now there's a Dorkly comic that brings some humor to the Tiny Tower / Dream Heights story between NimbleBit and Zynga.

"The Trial of Zynga" brings in famous video game lawyer Phoenix Wright (from the game franchise of the same name), who is quickly replaced by a lawyer of Zynga's own creation: "Phanix Wrort."

Needless to say, this is a jab at the many similarities between Zynga's games and other titles, but it is all in humor.

Sure, we may all be tired of hearing the world "copycat" as it relates to social games, but this one is simply too good to pass up. You can check out the full comic below.

[Image Credit: Dorkly]

Are you tired of the copycat drama in the social games industry? Have any of these recent controversies changed your opinions on the game developers involved? Sound off in the comments.

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CityVille Welcome the World Act 1 Part 2: Everything you need to know

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-07T20:30:00+00:00

As we predicted earlier this week, the second part to the Welcome the World event has now started in CityVille, and it's all themed around France. There are three new goals to complete, brought to you by Chef Andre, and they'll see you building a new structure in your city before all is said and done.

Welcome France!

Place and Complete the French Gothic Fortress
Collect 15 Times from a French Cafe
Build 5 French Houses

If you're looking for French themed homes, either search for terms like "France" or "French" inside the store's menu, or check out some of the French themed items that were launched earlier this week in the store. As for the French Gothic Fortress, this is a community building that can be completed by asking eight of your friends to come work as staff within the building. It will raise your maximum population cap by 1,050 citizens when completed. When you finish this goal, you'll receive 25 XP and 5,000 coins.

Piece of Cake

Ask for 35 Reservations
Upgrade French Restaurant to 3 Stars
Place 2 French decorations

Again, just search the store for French related terms to find these items.

Baker of the Year

Ask for 28 Menus
Upgrade Cooking School to Level 2
Harvest 40 Wheat from a Late Bloomer Greenhouse

The Late Bloomer Greenhouse was released towards the end of January, so check out our guide to building one if you've yet to do so in your city.

It looks like the third part of this first Welcome the World act will bring Spain to the game, so we'll make sure to let you know when and if that ends up happening!

[Via CityVille Goals]

What do you think of these Welcome the World goals in CityVille? Are you excited to be able to continue your trek to becoming an international ambassador? Sound off in the comments.

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CityVille Rock n' Roll McDonald's: Everything you need to know

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-07T20:15:00+00:00

The third time is apparently the charm in CityVille, as Zynga has once again partnered with McDonald's to bring a McDonald's branded restaurant to our cities. This newest version is a classic Rock n' Roll McDonald's, designed after those restaurants of years past, and it again sees your regular "Burger Restaurant" being transformed into this new McD's.

As usual, this newest McDonald's restaurant can be mastered in your game, as each collection and supply cycle requires 100 Goods to complete. You'll only need to earn 20 mastery points (or complete this cycle 20 times) in order to master the Rock n' Roll McDonald's and receive a special, as of now undisclosed reward. We're guessing this prize will likely be a statue of some sort (of course themed to the McDonald's brand), but we do know one thing: it will come with an 18% payout bonus when placed near businesses or homes in your city.

There are only 16 days left to master this new restaurant and earn your reward, so make sure to constantly stock the building any time you play your game. Good luck earning enough points in the time allotted!

What do you think of this newest form of McDonald's in our CityVille towns? Have you mastered the other McDonald's restaurants that have been released previously? Sound off in the comments.

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CastleVille: More Valentine's Day items will fill your kingdom with love

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-07T19:38:00+00:00

If the first set of Valentine's Day items in CastleVille's store hasn't given you enough of the warm and fuzzy feelings in your kingdom, you can now purchase even more items in the store, including a new outfit for your avatar.

Here's a complete look at these items, which will only be available for a limited time (unfortunately, the exact expiration date isn't known as of this writing, but I'd assume they'll be available for a week or two after Valentine's Day itself actually passes).

Bear Chest - 9 Crowns
Bear Chest - 9 Crowns
Bear Head - 6 Crowns
Bear Head - 6 Crowns
Bear Legs - 9 Crowns
Bear Legs - 9 Crowns
Bridge of Love - 10 Crowns

La France Roses - 30 Reputation Hearts
Tunnel of Love - 27 Crowns
Valentine Rug - 750 coins
Winged Pig - 24 Crowns
Heart Shaped Pond - 17,500 coins
Love Ewe - 24 Crowns
Pecked Chicken - 20,000 coins
Valentine Banner - 5 Crowns
Valentines Swan - 28 Crowns

As you can see, there are at least a few items here that cost coins, so long as you have enough saved up to purchase them. Still, these animals and decorations are incredibly cute, so I personally think they're worth the splurge. There's no telling if or when we'll ever see these items available in the game again, so make sure to purchase any you're interested in now, before they leave the game.

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

What do you think of these new Valentine's Day items in CastleVille? Which ones will you purchase for your kingdom? Sound off in the comments.

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Apple's patent hammer could crush Facebook's gaming empire

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T18:30:00+00:00

Facebook needs social games, and social games need Facebook. The multibillion dollar company's recent filing for initial public offering shows that. Thanks to Facebooks' 30 percent cut of all transactions in games using Facebook Credits (um, all of them), the company made $445 million from Zynga's games alone in 2011. According to CBS News, Apple is poised to ruin the fun.

The iPhone pusher was granted a patent today that it applied for way back in May 2006, titled Digital Media Acquisition Using Credit, and it stands directly in opposition of the social network's Facebook Credits system. While we highly suggest you check out the patent in full, what it basically covers is a system that does this, as per CBS News:

associate media items with a price in company or store credits
determine whether a given item is available for a credit purchase
identify the country in which a given user is in case there is a limitation on selling to that country
perform the transaction

That sounds quite a lot how Facebook Credits works, no? Facebook's future reliance on Facebook Credits, especially in the social games space in which some players spend thousands every year, is why Apple's new patent is so threatening. Now, it's impossible that Apple filed this patent in hopes of blocking Facebook, since it was filed when the social network was still exclusive to colleges.

This possibility rests solely on whether a court would deem things like digital cows and Farm Cash as "media items," as they're described within the patent. And if worse comes to worst, this could be bad news for Facebook as far as games are concerned. And remember, Apple is definitely not afraid to swing the patent hammer.

Do you think that Apple would ever confront Facebook or even Google+ with its new patent? What do you think this would mean for social games moving forward? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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With the Dance Central 2 Facebook app, you'll never escape getting served

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T17:30:00+00:00

Want a constant reminder of how terrible your moves are? Look no further than Harmonix's new Dance Central 2 Facebook companion app. Now, wannabe hoofers can track their high scores, compare leaderboard standings with friends both overall and song by song. All players need to do is register the app with their Xbox Live gamertag to see just how terrible of a dancer you are.

Well, unless your gamertag is something like "TitteringHen430", "MarciomBrito" or "CollegeMan14"--you're probably more psyched than anyone about this new feature. If you're feeling particularly brave about your sick steps, you can challenge your friends to dance-offs on Xbox Live through the Facebook app. Just be prepared with a way to save face.

For those with their thinking caps firmly in place, this move onto Facebook could be indicative of what else developer Harmonix is up to on Facebook. Recently, a Harmonix designer's resume revealed that the developer is working on a joint game for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Facebook. Perhaps the Facebook portion will serve as more of a companion app. Whelp, there goes our dream of a webcam version of Dance Central on Facebook. Aw, shucks!

[Via Destructoid]

Have you tried out the Dance Central 2 Facebook app yet? What do you think of Facebook companion apps for bigger console games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution gets better, stronger, faster on Facebook

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T16:30:00+00:00

Adult Swim has the technology. The Cartoon Network subsidiary has transformed its most fabulously flamboyant Facebook game into Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution. Its most popular game franchise to date with 250 million game plays online, Robot Unicorn Attack has been enhanced for social gamers with new robot animal forms, friendly leaderboards, gifting and more.

In other words, it's just like the Robot Unicorn Attack on Facebook that we loved way back in 2010, but given the Six Million Dollar Man treatment (unfortunately sans the awesome sound effect). In this new version of Adult Swim's hit, the three chances at a high score remains unchanged. But what is changed is that, when the unicorn crushes enough stars, it will evolve into a new robot animal and enter a new environment.

So far, we've seen robot pandas, wolves, gorillas and even dragons. Of course, Adult Swim took the opportunity with this new version to introduce virtual goods, enhancements for your robot unicorn bought with Fairy Dust (i.e. Facebook Credits). Players can choose up to three power-ups before each game from boosts like triple jumps, explosive horns, gliding and more.

It's easy to think of this as Adult Swim giving Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution the "Blitz" treatment common to PopCap's social games. That's not necessarily a knock against Adult Swim--just look at Fruit Ninja Frenzy--for some games it just works. Oh, and rest assured that your favorite Erasure tune has been left untouched.

Click here to play Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution on Facebook Now >

Are you psyched that a new version of Adult Swim's best game is here? What's your favorite Blitz-style Facebook game at the moment? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Look at that view: FarmVille finally goes widescreen on Facebook

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T15:20:00+00:00

Will ya lookit that. After months of new Zynga game released in Facebook's new widescreen format, FarmVille stood as one of the few that didn't support it. Those days are finally over, fellow farmers, as the developer has allowed its flagship game to take up all of Facebook's screen space. Well, all the space it could ... next to those forsaken banner ads.

The improvement doesn't change the game's play hook at all, but is far easier on the eyes than before. While FarmVille has supported full screen play for some time, what many gamers really want is the ability to switch between the game and other browser activities, like email and perhaps even work. Doing that while in full screen is nothing short of a pain in the butt.

Now, players can get the best of both worlds with a larger amount of screen real estate and the ease of returning to, you know, more important things. Now, go off and gape at your sprawling vista of farmland. Just remember to get on back to work this time?

Have you noticed the vast visual change in FarmVille? Do you prefer to play FarmVille in full screen mode or within the Facebook browser window? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Apple tears Temple Run clone (and much more) from the App Store

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T14:30:00+00:00

With 30 million downloads, it's clear that more people than just us here at Games.com dig Temple Run. But what about Temple Jump? At one point, developer Anton Sinelnikov's game hit the top of the paid charts on the App Store, though you'll be hard pressed to find that icon today. According to VideoGameWriters, Apple has swooped in, tearing that game from its marketplace along with 58 other apps.

Among those other apps were games like Plant vs. Zombie and Angry Ninja Birds. You can probably already see where this is going: The games were knockoffs of best-selling games on the App Store. Temple Run creator Imangi Studios has spoken out on the copy, claiming that it was a scam. It's certainly a blessing for Apple to intervene, but could the damage have already been done?

"It was upsetting to us to see some people suggesting we had anything to do with this scam app. We work very hard to create polished products, and this was damaging our brand," Temple Run co-creator Natalia Luckyanova told VentureBeat. "Due to the popularity of Temple Run, which has had over 30 million downloads, this scam got to #1 Top Paid app two days after launch. Having something like this sit at #1, with thousands of angry reviews and a whopping 1 star review average, clearly hurts the App Store customer experience"

Concern over copycatting in social and mobile games has come to head in 2012, and this is no exception. It's interesting to see a platform holder like Apple step in. Both Facebook and the Android Market are like the Wild West compared to Apple's precious walled garden, which approves all that comes in. Perhaps the two stand to learn a thing or two from the iPhone maker.

Do you think Apple was right in stepping in on this situation? Do you wish Facebook and other platform providers would do the same? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Gameloft breaks ground where Zynga hasn't, hits Google+ with Green Farm

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T12:45:00+00:00

If your itch to do some good old digital farming has somehow gone unscratched on Facebook, then perhaps it's time to move on to Google+. At least that's what developer Gameloft seems to hope, as the company has launched Green Farm on Google+. This is the French game maker's second release on Google+, and--shockingly enough--the first farming game on the platform.

It's crazy, but true. (We're downright confused.) The game plays much like you would expect a farming social game to play these days. Players plant and harvest crops to earn coins for even more crops to harvest. Of course, players can also introduce animals into their farming family and create a variety of buildings to customize it with. And, surprise: You can visit your friends' farms and send them helpful gifts.

However, Green Farm focuses more on green energy and technology, at least thematically. Players can also take up trades, like carpentry and homemade juice and dairy-making. In order to make sure players are on time with harvesting crops and feeding animals, the game will send them push notifications. And what other farming game grants players with helpful robots? Alright, so this game isn't all that different, but it beat the farming game to Google+. That shows for something, right? Right?

Click here to play Green Farm on Google+ Now >

Are you excited to see Green Farm hit Google+? Are farming games officially tired? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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MapleStory maker Nexon's KartRider Dash floors it to Facebook this March

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T11:50:00+00:00

It's sad to know that we'll never see Mario Kart on Facebook, but MapleStory Adventures maker Nexon hopes to do one better. The Korean free-to-play game publisher has announced that KartRider Dash is headed to Facebook this March. A social take on the developer's popular online go-kart racing franchise, it looks as if it will offer real-time multiplayer racing action on Facebook.

While that's not a first for social games, as Gameloft has proved on Google+ and others have tried on Facebook, Nexon's far more accessible go-kart racer could find success on the platform. Not much is known about KartRider Dash just yet, but given that not one real-time racing game has been wildly successful on Facebook, it's poised to be the first. And Nexon knows it.

"One thing I'm very interested to see from our own [studio] and from other companies is more synchronous games on Facebook," Nexon EVP of Social Games Aron Koh told Inside Social Games. "There a couple of synchronous games out there, but it's very limited. As a company we're interested to see more players jumping into that arena."

Based on the developer's previous efforts on Facebook, its established franchises do much better than new intellectual property like Zombie Misfits and Wonder Cruise, regardless of how interesting the former is. That said, KartRider Dash could set the standard for real-time racing on the platform. Just leave the blue shells at the door, OK?

Are you psyched for KartRider Dash to hit Facebook next month? How do you think a real-time kart racing game will do on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Game of the Day: Solitaire - Pyramid Giza

Alexander Armero — 2012-02-07T11:00:00+00:00

Today's Game of the Day is an addictive version of solitaire. In Solitaire: Pyramid Giza, you'll have to remove all the cards from the pyramid-shaped layout by discarding them to the foundation pile at the top right. Kings are the only card you can remove one at a time. Otherwise, you have to discard piles in pairs that add up to 13. For instance, 6 + 7, 10 + 3, J + 2, or Queen + Ace would all work. Something many players don't realize is that you can also remove kings in random pairs, to help free up diferent cards and more board space.

Solitaire: Pyramid Giza is a refreshing take on the classic card game. Matching pairs of 13 forces you to look ahead and plan your moves carefully. It isn't easy to completely finish a game unless you really consider each move. So if you managed to wrap up an entire round, pat yourself on the back. Check out Solitaire: Pyramid Giza below!

Click here to play Solitaire: Pyramid Giza!

Were you able to finish a game of Solitaire: Pyramid Giza without hints?

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The man behind Pot Farm thinks cloning can be a good thing [Interview]

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T10:30:00+00:00

You get up there, you say some shit, and if it wakes everybody up, as long as everybody's talking that's a good thing. It creates a conversation," East Side Games CEO Jason Bailey tells us, reflecting on his recent talk at a Full Indie event in Vancouver. During the talk, Bailey proceeded to pontificate on the hot topic of 2012 in the gaming world: copycatting. (Before reading on, we highly recommend you watch his six-minute rant, if not for context then hilarity.)

"Sure, I could have gone in there and blown a bunch of crap about how they're all so wonderful and moving the industry forward, and I'm proud of them to be brave enough to do independent things. That'd be boring," Bailey says. But he also points out that, while he likes "to play an asshole on TV," he has an important message: It's never been easier to break into the games industry and come out making millions, thanks to Facebook and the iPhone.

While we're not sure about that as far as Facebook is concerned these days, we sat down with Bailey to learn more about what he really thinks of the current state of the social game industry amidst the rampant claims of copycatting. Regardless of whether many agree with it, Bailey gives us a refreshingly honest opinion:

The title of the lecture was "Virality in Facebook Games." It was that general idea, right?

That's what the intent was, but like with many things, I don't always prepare something. So, when I got up there, I talked about the news of the week instead of the title of the talk they'd given me the month before that.

Is that what was just on your mind at the time? Is that just something you just wanted to get off of your chest?

Yeah, I mean it was the hot news of the week, right? I didn't go in with an agenda, but I know that's a hot topic amongst indie game developers, especially, that tend to spend months or a year building some sort of vision of their IP [intellectual property] and make some innovative new story. And they all love to pick on the big guy.

I like to get up there and play devil's advocate and defend the big guy. I'm sure I've given Zynga my share of shit over the years. It's the reality of the industry. We all build on each other's past success. It's like Hollywood and saying, 'I'm going to direct a space movie with this, that and the other thing, and I'm not influenced by Lucas or Scorsese or whatever.' It's bull shit.

I was about to say, we both know that copycatting is nothing new to the games industry. So, why do you think that it's come to a head this month?

Well, two thing. One is the whole Triple Town-Yeti Town thing, which I think was on the wrong side of the line, clearly. It wasn't just a plus one or an inspiration from, or a cloning. It was a photocopying. The values were identical. It was absolutely the identical game in every way [if it wasn't for] the art layer. That I think started some of that bubbling up.

With the community of game developers that I hang around and talk to, it's been a hot topic. We all really love Triple Town. It's kind of the independent studio, game industry darling right now. You look at my Triple Town leaderboard and it's a who's who of the games industry. People who love games, love something fun and love that game. Spry Fox wasn't able to bring it to the public. You look at their MAUs [monthly active players], after three-four months, they're still at 180,000 MAU. Everybody knew they were going to do iPhone, and there was a lot of insider gossip around the relationship that 6L [6waves Lolapps] and Spry Fox had when they launched the Yeti Town clone.

And then the NimbleBit-Zynga story hit the wire, and it was funny and humorous and hilarious how they went about it. That's what was kind of the tipping point to it becoming a sensation. Otherwise this would have just been a topic that we all talked about for 10 years. It's nothing new. Nobody can act shocked that Zynga copied some game. This is not new news.

Spry Fox's Triple Town and 6waves Lolapps' Yeti Town (left to right).

We know that it's a common thing, but you mentioned that there's a line. Where do you think the line is drawn between downright copycatting and drawing inspiration from previous games?

Now, this is not meant to be legal advice by any means and do not take this to court, but my understanding of the law is that you cannot copyright gameplay mechanics. Like the idea of having your man dance around the board with the roll of the dice and then you buy properties as you go cannot be copyrighted.

But what can be copyrighted is, "This is Boardwalk, it costs $600, and this is Mediterranean and it costs $60." The language, the descriptions, the story, the very specific art and the values of the game can be copyrighted. But the concept of a tower game or a city-building game or any of these things can't be. Then there's that whole gray area in between.

So, where something like Zynga and [Dream Heights], and, trust me, Zynga know what they're doing--they know how to copy a game properly, because they've been through it many, many times. And [they've] lost cases a few cases too where they were sued and had to pay out.

The differences between Dream Heights and Tiny Tower are a bunch of social elements. You know, the art is completely different: The core is the same, but it's that bubbly kind of Zynga avatar. Also, the values are completely different. You know, it costs $1,000 to buy one floor and $1,200 for the next floor. It's not, 'buying and stocking your store gives this kind of return in dollars.' Those numbers, in [Dream Heights] are completely different than Tiny Tower.

Building a bunch of businesses and a tower is the game mechanic, and you can't copyright that. So, that's why Zynga's perfectly safe in where they are. What 6L did was had a bush cost 200 coins. A tree cost 800 coins. I don't remember what all of the numbers are, but, if you look at those numbers in Yeti Town and those numbers in Triple Town and the build order and all of that stuff, it's all absolutely identical. That's where you draw the line. The only times in which you can be identical with it are things like real-life mechanics: A car accelerates like this, the physics of a bound ball are this.

Does giving a game the "plus one," (as you've said), the bits that make it special, or maybe even advance the sub-genre necessarily make it OK?

It's making it better. It's bringing it to a wider audience. It's creating a more compelling, funner gameplay mechanic. A lot of people build, especially in China, rip-offs of games in the App Store. You know, there's a billion Dynamite Fishing apps ripping off Ninja Fishing right now, but none of them are as good. They kind of miss the mark--all of the Angry Birds clones that are kind of crap.

Those aren't helping anybody, whereas what Zynga does as an example: They took what Dave Maestri had with Mob Wars, and copied it literally pixel for pixel, which is wrong and they caught a lot of shit for that and still do to this day. But eventually they did add a lot more to that game.

They made it a more fun game that appealed to more people, that monetized better, that really brought social games farther ahead and allowed more of an industry to grow around it. So, they're adding value to the community, the economy and the reach and they've done a great job of bringing social games forward.

If it wasn't for FarmVille, the farming mechanic would've never caught on. Farm Town had 2 or 3 million monthly users, but it didn't have the social phenomenon that was FarmVille. Now, I can build a farming game, and I don't have to teach people about the whole mechanic of "planting something, come back in a few hours and harvest it." That's just a known quantity. Zynga taught that to a couple hundred million players and we're all better off for it.

NimbleBit's Tiny Tower and Zynga's Dream Heights (left to right).

I think I'll level with you there and say that FrontierVille did a lot in that regard in terms of questing.

Yeah, exactly. And nobody ever complains. Like, Pincus pointed out in the email he sent the other day [Ed. Note: Zynga CEO Mark Pincus's memo to his staff following the Dream Heights incident.] that they invented the whole mystery box thing, which I will proudly stand up and say I ripped off in just about every game we have.

I love that mechanic. Pot Farm? We make a shit ton of money off of mystery boxes and jackpot boxes. I mean, we made with a flavor our own, but all of us look at Zynga. If you work in the social games industry and you don't play Zynga's games, then you're living under a log, because they do some really smart shit in there. And they measure the results of everything--they're a very data-driven company. So, you can almost always assume that, if Zynga's doing it, they're doing it because it works, and you should copy that.

If these "rip-offs" didn't exist, do you think the gaming industry would be any better for it?

No. It would be worse for it. Every game would be in its own little category. Honestly, and Triple Town, not to rip on Spry Fox because I do totally love those guys. But they made this great, innovative game, but it doesn't reach the general public. There's something missing. I'm not saying that I have the answers [or that] I'm some sort of guru. I'm in the dark too, just flinging shit at the wall to see what sticks.

But we built a game that takes a lot of the three, evolutionary, up the chain mechanic and added a new, fun bit that's a little bit more consumer reaching. We're calling it Nom Nom, and we just submitted it to the App Store, but it makes it more accessible. If I wasn't allowed to do that, I'm not allowed to be inspired by or take what somebody else has and add a plus one to it, then games like that would never get built.

FarmVille would have never been built, and therefore FrontierVille would have never been built and, for sure, CityVille would have never been built. CastleVille, I have to say, actually a really good, deep, intense quest-based game that generic gamers love. Now, my mother, my grandmother and my aunt played FarmVille, played CastleVille. And these are not people who will ever identify themselves as gamers.

And so, there is now a pool of two or three hundred million gamers that we all get to market our products to that otherwise would have never existed if a rule was made that, "There's Mob Wars and there will only ever be Mob Wars. There's to be no Mobsters, there's to be no Mafia Wars and no Kingdoms at War," that evolution wouldn't happen. If Star Wars was the only space movie that anybody was ever allowed to make, that would suck, because Blade Runner wasn't bad.

[Image Credit: Bytefish]

What do you think of Bailey's opinion on copycatting in the games industry? Do you see a similar picture of the entertainment world if "rip-offs" didn't exist? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Solitaire Blitz by PopCap will dive into Facebook for real this March

Joe Osborne — 2012-02-07T09:40:00+00:00

At the moment, PopCap's just dipping its toes. We'll stop with the water references already and inform you that PopCap has announced that Solitaire Blitz will formally launch on Facebook this March. The EA-owned game studio's social take on Solitaire sneaked onto Facebook recently in a live test, but already looked polished enough for release save some needed tweaks.

It's safe to say that PopCap is working on those tweaks right now to ensure Solitaire Blitz is ready for its big debut in March. Well, the game will technically launch before then, as PopCap will employ a "gradual beta launch" until it becomes available to all Facebook gamers. In fact, the game will be on display at PopCap's publisher's Spotlight EA events in the U.S. and Europe today.

Solitaire Blitz is an aquatic-themed version of the classic card game with PopCap's trademark Blitz play hook dutifully applied. The game has players dig for buried treasure by running down stacks of cards in numerical order. And of course, it wouldn't be a Blitz game without numerous power-ups and friendly leaderboards. When Solitaire Blitz lands next month, you can bet we'll be knee-deep in it. We just couldn't resist one last water reference--deal with it.

Click here to play Solitaire Blitz (in its early state) on Facebook Now >

Are you excited to hear that Solitaire Blitz will be PopCap's next big Facebook game? How do you think this game will stack up against the lot of Facebook casino games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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FarmVille: Redeem Zynga Game Card for free Pink Pony

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-06T22:00:00+00:00

If you plan on asking your sweetie for some FarmVille Farm Cash this Valentine's Day, you'll want to be quick about redeeming those Zynga Game Cards within your game, as Zynga has launched a temporary promotion in FarmVille, offering players a free Pink Pony with every Zynga Game Card redeemed between now and February 14.

To be extra clear about this, you can redeem any value of Zynga Game Card to receive a free Pink Pony, and if you choose to purchase more than one Zynga Game Card (or, you happen to have any of those clearance Christmas plush toy codes lying around), you'll receive a single Pink Pony for each and every code you redeem. Redeem five codes, and you'll receive five free Ponies, as an example.

Just be quick, as this promotion will end just as Valentine's Day does. Sure, you'll still receive your Farm Cash and Mystery Darts for redeeming cards after the fact, but why not earn some cute pink ponies in the process?

Check out the rest of our Valentine's Day 2012 coverage here.

Will you go out of your way to redeem a Zynga Game Card for a free Pink Pony? Sound off in the comments.

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FarmVille: Play Dream Zoo for a free Mini Dream Giraffe

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-06T21:45:00+00:00

Dream Zoo may not be the most popular of Zynga's iOS games, but the Big Z wants FarmVille players to take note of the game anyhow. If you have an iPad or iPhone, and are willing to play Dream Zoo (the zoo simulation game that allows you to breed and care for animals of all sorts of colors and patterns), you'll have the opportunity to receive a free Mini Dream Giraffe back in FarmVille.

Of course, you'll need to connect your Facebook account to your Dream Zoo account within the iOS app, and will then need to reach Level 4 in Dream Zoo before you'll be eligible for your prize. Unfortunately, any sort of in-game pop-ups or text is missing about this promotion, leaving many players to simply find the Mini Dream Giraffe in their Gift Boxes after playing the mobile game.

Some players on the FarmVille forums are having a bit of bad luck in receiving the animal, as they've reached Level 4 or higher and have yet to be rewarded. While we can confirm it may take over 30 minutes for your animal to arrive (as it did in our farm), there are plenty of players on the forums who have also had it work out in their favor. Either way, reaching Level 4 in Dream Zoo takes less than 15 minutes of straight playing, so isn't it worth the time for the chance that you'll eventually receive this little giraffe in your own game?

Click here to download Dream Zoo for free from iTunes --->

Have you played Dream Zoo to Level 4? Did you actually receive your free Mini Dream Giraffe, or are you still waiting on yours? Sound off in the comments.

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FarmVille Animal Mastery Billboard: Everything you need to know

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-06T21:15:00+00:00

When the Crop Mastery Billboard launched in FarmVille in January, we speculated that it would only be a matter of time before we saw similar signs released for Animal or even Tree mastery signs. It turns out, we were right, at least partially. A new Animal Mastery Billboard has launched in the game this afternoon, giving players a chance to store their animal mastery signs, taking up less space on your farms, but retaining the ability to show them off.

The Animal Mastery Billboard requires 24 parts to start: eight each of Dark Plywood, Green Lights and Orange Overalls. Don't get these confused with the items requires for the Crop Mastery Billboard, as they are different. That is, the Crop billboard required Light Plywood, instead of Dark.

Of course, you can collect these materials in the same way, by asking your friends to send them to you for free or by purchasing them for a single Farm Cash each. When you finish this first stage of the Animal Mastery Billboard, you'll be able to store only a small amount of individual signs. You can then expand the billboard to hold more signs by collecting more and more building materials for each level.

As of this writing, it looks like we'll be able to build additional Animal Mastery Billboards after we construct this first one, if the total storage allowed in the final upgraded product still won't hold all of your signs. Of course, this then leaves us to expect a Tree Mastery Billboard to launch within the coming weeks, so you'll want to work on these Animal Mastery Billboards quickly, so as to not become overwhelmed if and when the Tree Mastery Billboard does finally launch.

Are you excited to see an Animal Mastery Billboard launch in FarmVille? Sound off in the comments.

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Hidden Chronicles Skyview Room: Our guide to finding every item

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-06T20:44:00+00:00

The second scene in Hidden Chronicles' Valentine's Day event is called Skyview Room, and it shows off a restaurant high in a skyscraper, with a view of the surrounding buildings late at night. The room is as cluttered as you'd expect, and can be played for 9 energy each time.

We're here with a guide showing you where to find the scene's many items, so if you're working on building up your combo points or just on the scene's individual mastery scale, make sure to check out our images below!

Note: The items you'll receive will just be a selection of all of those pictured below. If you're looking to find a particular item: Hit Ctrl +F (or Command + F if on a Mac) and type in the name of the object you're looking for. This will take you directly to its image.

Set 1:

Wallet
Lacy Cloth
Watch
Spaghetti
Gargoyle
Dust Pan

Set 2:

Dog
Handprint
Baguette
Lemonade

Set 3:

Steak
Parquet Stripes
Pumpkin
Menu
Top Hat
Guitar

Set 4:

Moon
Chocolates
Hanging Bouquet
Coatrack
Teapot
Balloon

Set 5:

Glasses
Drum
Shade

Set 6:

Painted Star
Confetti
Rocking Chair
Ferris Wheel

Set 7:

Violin
Potato
Constellation
Burger

Set 8:

Pearls
Bell
White Rose
Cards
Lobster
Blue Bulb

Set 9:

Trophy
Fish
Tongs
Tomato

There are a handful of items not pictured above, as the game generates each set of items randomly, and unlocks new items to find as you earn more and more mastery trophies. This will help you get started on the first three mastery trophies in the game, and we'll make sure to update this space as we find more and more items to help you out along the way.

Check out the rest of our Hidden Chronicles cheats and tips right here.

What do you think of this second of three Valentine's Day scenes in Hidden Chronicles? Sound off in the comments.

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CityVille: Celebrate France with new themed items

Brandy Shaul — 2012-02-06T19:35:00+00:00

While CityVille's store has always contained item themes that celebrate other cultures, the international love has really picked up over the last few weeks, especially with the launch of the Welcome the World feature in the game. While Italian items have already launched in the store and in the Welcome the World feature, France is the next country on display, with new limited edition items being launched in the game's store. Here's a look at what's now available, with items being available for both City Cash or coins.

French Portrait (Decoration)

Costs: 9 City Cash
Payout Bonus: 9% to homes and businesses; bonus 9% to French items

Moreau Mansion (Home)

Costs: 65 City Cash
Population: 1,850 - 3,650
Rent: 150 coins every two hours

Cambray Cottage (Home)

Costs: 80,000 coins
Population: 290 - 560
Rent: 240 coins every eight hours

Cousseau Carriage Co. (Business)

Costs: 90,000 coins
Requires: 310 Goods
Earns: 1,670 coins

Durand House (Home)

Costs: 30 City Cash
Population: 280 - 550
Rent: 249 coins every four hours

Deja Vu Cafe (Business)

Costs: 160,000 coins
Requires: 316 Goods
Earns: 1,697 coins

Perrault House (Home)

Costs: 40 City Cash
Population: 560 - 1,100
Rent: 295 coins every 18 hours

French Mimes (Decoration)

Costs: 12,500 coins
Payout Bonus: 4% to homes and businesses; extra 4% to French items

So far, these are the only items available in the store, but it looks likely that Act 2 of the Welcome the World event will revolve around France as well, bringing more limited edition items to the game. We'll make sure to let you know if that ends up being the case, and how you can get your hands on those items in your own town.

Are you excited to add these French themed items to your town in CityVille, or are you still focuses on the Italian items that are available? Sound off in the comments.

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