CityVille Let it Snow Goals blanket your town in frosty flakes

Let it Snow!
While you were prepping the town's Holiday Tree, Zynga added another Goal to CityVille to turn your city into an even more wonderful winter wonderland. In "Let it Snow!" Sam asks players to ask their friends for 10 Snow Flakes and 10 Snowballs. Each requirement can also be met using 20 City Cash and doing either will allow you to buy one new Decoration item from the Build menu, Snow Cover.

For just 500 coins, Snow Cover will blanket your city's streets in snow. Interestingly enough, this change is irreversible, but the snow will automatically melt come March 20, 2011. As for the second part of this Goal series, players will have to collect 15 Winter Lights from their friends. Doing so will open up Snow Top in the Decorations tab of the Build menu. For another 500 coins, this will blanket your buildings and decorations in snow, which also will not disappear until March. Start asking away for those items now if you want your town to celebrate a white Christmas like some of us on the East Coast might enjoy.

Find the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

Have you started the Let it Snow Goals yet? Will you be completing them knowing that the change is semi-permanent?

CityVille: More neighbors can now visit your city at once, plus other game updates

If you're someone that relies on your CityVille neighbors to harvest or fertilize your crops, send tourists to your businesses, or collect rent from your citizens because you never seem to have enough energy to complete these tasks yourself, you'll be happy to know that Zynga has increased the limit of friends that can appear in your town from 10 to 15. This means that the next time you login to check on your city, if your neighbors have been busy, you'll now see up to 15 different friends' profile pictures hovering above your properties, rather than just 10.

In other CityVille update news, Zynga has lowered the requirements for many of the games quests, requiring less collectibles for quests like the "Hungry Firemen" quest that had you collecting breakfast-themed items, for instance. Additionally, City Cash options have been added to many quests for those that would rather purchase complete tasks than actually complete them, and the City Cash requirement for previously released goals has been decreased in many instances. These seem like great changes all around.

Finally, collectibles required for quests have had their drop rates increased. This means that those items that are specifically required for certain quests will be found more frequently when collecting from the appropriate business or home, or harvesting crops.

All of these improvements seem to be for the better. Now, if we can only get that land expansion bridge we were promised, that would be even better.

What do you think of these changes? Would you pay City Cash to complete a goal, or do you like working through steps the old-fashioned way?

CityVille: Purchase City Cash for one of three free exclusive decorations

For a limited time, Zynga is offering three pieces of added incentive to users who may be willing to purchase City Cash in CityVille. Via a new promotion that appears within the game itself (that's important to note), you'll be able to purchase one of three City Cash bundles, each of which comes with an exclusive decoration as a free bonus prize.

$5 - 40 City Cash and a Sundial (4% added bonus)
$20 - 179 City Cash and a Blue Lighthouse (11% added bonus)
$50 - 465 City Cash and a Bouncy Gator (18% added bonus)

There are a few catches to note with this deal, so meet us behind the break for more. Some things to note with this promotion: You must purchase one of these packages via the in-game advertisement like that above. You'll see a "Free Gift Offer" icon in your game, which will let you know this offer has rolled out to your account, and you will only receive a prize if redeeming via the window above. Game Card redemption does not qualify, nor does any purchase made from the "Add Coins/Cash" tab above the gameplay area. Finally, once you purchase a package, you aren't allowed to purchase the other two, so make your decision as to which bonus item you'd like wisely.

Sure, there are a lot of rules to get around here, but City Cash continues to be one of the cheapest forms of premium currency across all of Zynga's games. Even if you just purchased the $5 bundle, you'd have enough City Cash to purchase a few nice decorations, or even a special business. Just make sure to take advantage of this offer before it goes away, as we don't know if we'll ever see these decorations again.

Will you purchase one of these City Cash packages to receive an exclusive decorative item?

CityVille: Build a Doggie Daycare to pamper man's best friend

A new community building is now available to build in CityVille in the form of a Doggie Daycare. You'll be able to build this building from the game's Build Menu, after purchasing it for 14,000 coins. It adds a boost of 360 citizens to your total population limit, and it's actually a fairly small item, if space is a concern in your city. The building takes up just a 3x3 square area of land.

The frame of the Doggie Daycare takes six whacks to construct (so, six energy in total), and afterwards, you'll need to assemble a crew of staff to work with your loveable pups by recruiting them via individual gift requests. You'll need to have seven staff in total, but remember, Samantha may pop up as two of those positions for you "for free," leaving you to find just the remaining five. You can also fill each position manually by paying 4 City Cash each.

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

Will you build a Doggie Daycare in your town in CityVille, or are you more concerned with expanding your city, rather than adding new buildings?

CityVille rolling out the red carpet for movie stars and even a movie studio?

Via a sneak peek image posted this afternoon on the official CityVille forums, we've been told that we'll soon be meeting a new, famous face in the game. Movie star Becky Bennett is coming to your town in the near future, and she'll be there to shoot her new movie. We've been told to have our cities ready for their starring roles in Ms. Bennett's new film, but any other details are still scarce.

Could this be as simple as a way to launch a Movie Studio community building in the game? Or, will CityVille truly go Hollywood with quests, decorative items, free gifts and the whole works? Perhaps Zynga will launch a series of sidewalk tiles that resemble the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Or, maybe a CityVille take on Grauman's Chinese Theatre, or even the Hollywood Sign (but with CityVille's letters) are in the works. Of course all of this is pure speculation, but with the wide variety of items already released in the game in the past, we can't put it past the CityVille development team to not make this an experience worth two thumbs up.

What do you think of tonight's Sneak Peek image? Do you think the Hollywood theme will be a small one, with just one or two buildings, or will we be able to decorate our entire towns like Tinsel Town?

CityVille killer? Zynga's Empires & Allies rockets to 23 million players

For all intents and purposes, it's crazy town at Zynga HQ right now. Empires & Allies, the studio's newest Facebook game, has reached over 23 million monthly players in just over two weeks since June 1, according to AppData. Actually, we're getting an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu in the office--oh yeah, CityVille enjoyed the same insane growth in almost exactly the same time frame.

In December of last year, the city-builder soared to 22 million players in less than two weeks. And we all know what happened afterward: The game continued to reign in players until it peaked at 101 million this January. (CityVille now enjoys a healthy chunk of that with over 90 million players.)

With the way Empires & Allies is going, this new strategy combat game could enjoy the same success as CityVille, if not eclipse it considering its potential hardcore appeal. In fact, the game has already accumulated nearly half of its predecessor's daily players with 7.7 million, though it's too early to tell whether that number will sustain over time. It's already clear that Zynga has struck gold yet again, as E&A has eclipsed several of the company's offerings that have been around for some time including FrontierVille, Mafia Wars and Cafe World. E&A could even be the second game to surpass FarmVille. Now isn't that a scary thought?

So, how did Zynga do it? Well, with promotions in FarmVille and CityVille regarding Empires & Allies, it's no surprise that the game has gotten this far. Not to mention that the game already is featured in RewardVille and above every Zynga game out there via the bar that sits above each of them. However, what we think is truly going to hook more gamers is its target demographic--those 90 million plus CityVille fans.

Much of the game is quite similar it is to its predecessor, softening the barrier to entry that the game's combat might present. Either way, with two new mobile games in Hanging with Friends and CityVille Hometown, and now another mega hit Zynga just might be able to afford that vacation to Mars for its staff. Oops, did we ruin the surprise?

Zynga plots to change CityVille expansions for better or worse [Rumor]

A nasty rumor, at that. Well, at least for folks who have strong feelings for Expansions in CityVille. According to CityVille Info, Zynga plans on changing the way Expansions are handled in the game. The website seems to quote in-game text that reads, "The Government has passed new laws on expansions. Check it out now!" However, the source of the quote remains unknown, as does its intent.

The provided image seems to be what might appear to players who come across the feature, whenever or if it does release. At the moment, Expansions are items in the Build menu that cost 20,000 Coins and Zoning Permits that players request from friends. So, whatever this change, I guess we can expect at least something in that formula to change. We would recommend buying Expansions beforehand, but what if this new method turns out to be cheaper? Sit tight on this one to see if changes are even made.

[Image Credit: CityVille Info]

Do you think Expansions in CityVille need a change? If so, how do you think Zynga should change them?

CityVille Governor's Run Toy Maker Goals: Everything you need to know

So, you've already helped the farmers in your quest to be governor in CityVille, and now it's time to help another group of citizens in your town: the toy makers. This newest trio of Toy Maker goals can be found after you've helped the farmers, and they'll also introduce a new Community Building to your town. Here's a complete rundown of what to expect, and how to earn the vote from these toy makers. Note: you must be at least level 50 to access these goals.

The Misfit Toy Maker

    * Place and Build a Toy Factory
    * Collect from the Toy Factory 10 Times


Unfortunately, this goal requires you to build a new community building in your town, so I hope you have enough room to do so. The Toy Factory sits on a 4x4 square plot of land, and would normally cost 1.25 million coins to buy in the market, although there are rumblings that you'll receive one for free in your inventory once you start these goals (I personally didn't receive one, but whether that's a glitch, or by design I can't say). The building adds a whopping 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap, and requires 12 staff members to complete. That is, you'll need to ask 12 friends to help you complete the construction of this one, so I hope they're helpful! For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 2,800 coins as a reward.

Toy Soldier

    * Ask friends for 12 Toy Blocks
    * Upgrade Toy Store to Level 2
    * Place 20 Hearts in your city


As we've told you before, the Hearts are markers you can place in your town to let your friends know exactly which items to interact with whenever they visit. You can add them to your town by accessing the "Get Help" button in the cursor menu in the bottom right corner of the screen. As for upgrading the Toy Store, you can find a complete guide to doing so right here. Finish this goal and you'll receive 1,400 Goods.

Playtime is Over

    * Ask friends for 15 Wooden Duckies
    * Build Toy Tower
    * Collect from Toy Tower 15 Times


The Toy Tower is a new business that costs 1.75 million coins to purchase from the store. Hopefully we'll receive a free one of these as well, but if not - we've been warned! Once built, it requires a whopping 475 Goods to operate, and will supply you with 2,393 coins by default when collecting its profits, if you don't surround the building with payout bonus decorations. As for the Wooden Duckies, just ask your friends to send them to you, and you'll eventually finish this one off (not that it'll be easy, but it's not impossible either). Finish this final Toy Maker goal and you'll receive 100 XP. Whether or not that's worth all of the Goods you've spent on your Toy Tower or not will be up to you.

At this point, you will have finished helping the Toy Makers in your run for Governor, but still have one more group to help before Act 2 of this new political feature will start. We'll make sure to let you know what that final part entails as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.

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

What do you think of these Toy Maker goals? Are they too complicated to be in the middle of a larger feature, possible causing some users to get stuck, or do you appreciate such a challenge? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Mexican theme expands with Statue of Independence, Cantina and more

As promised, here we are again with news of more Mexican Independence items that have been added to CityVille's store. You know, I honestly thought that this would be a one-time release, but leave it to Zynga to release more items even after the holiday in question has passed (this holiday being the Mexican Independence celebration). There aren't as many items here as in the original release we told you about earlier this week, but there is a new crop here, if you happen to be into that sort of thing.

Statue of Independence (Decoration)

    * Costs: 36,000 coins
    * Payout Bonus: 12% to surrounding businesses and residences; bonus 12% to Mexican themed items


Cantina (Business)

    * Costs: 3,800 coins
    * Requires: 95 Goods
    * Supplies: 640 coins


Quince Anos Party (Decoration)

    * Costs: 12 City Cash
    * Payout Bonus: 12%; bonus 12% to Mexican themed items



Fine Arts Theater (Community Building)

    * Costs: 80 City Cash
    * Allows: 7500 citizens added to maximum population cap


Agave Crop

    * Costs: 5 City Cash per square
    * Harvest Time: Instant
    * Supplies: 450 Goods per square planted
    * First Star of Mastery: 3 Harvests


See? There aren't as many items in this release, but luckily, we're given plenty of time to purchase them either way. You'll have 12 days to do your shopping for these new items (the original section of this theme is down to a 10-day time limit), so just make sure to go shopping eventually before these items do actually expire.

What do you think of these newest CityVille Mexican-themed items? What sort of cultural or geographical theme would you like to see released next? Sound off in the comments.