Like the Sims Social Facebook page to unlock in-game rewards

While the simple fact that the Sims is finally coming to Facebook is enough to send players like myself into a virtual tizzy (ok, maybe a real world tizzy too), try this bit of news on for size: If you become one of the thousands of players that "Like" the Sims Social official Facebook fan page, you'll help all players (including yourself, of course) unlock some exclusive freebies in the game at launch.

So far, the fan page has gained over 150,000 Likes, and we've unlocked three new items for our trouble: a basic BBQ grill, a keyboard and an artist's easel. If the fan page can reach a million Likes, we'll unlock three more items along the way: a modern bookshelf, a white marble fireplace, and a blue claw foot tub. Want some more? There are spaces for three additional prizes, but we don't know what they are just yet. What do this mean? Simple: ask every man, woman, child, and heck - even animal - in your social circle to Like this fan page! We just can't wait to see what these new prizes can do!

The Sims Social celebrates fans with a week of free stuff

Free stuff? Yes, please, I'll take some of that! With almost 61 million players (and climbing), the folks at EA / Playfish have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the Sims Social on Facebook. As a way to thank their ever-growing player base for their support (even when the game suffered from some nagging loading and gameplay issues), the developers have launched a week long celebration involving free stuff that will be given away, apparently on a daily basis.

To start, we're given a gift of Social Points - a whopping 400 Social Points at that. Since your other methods of earning Social Points normally come in small increments (of 10 or less per action) when visiting friends, this really is a substantial prize. Remember, these Social Points work as a form of third currency in the game, and can be used to purchase exclusive decorations or other home items that aren't available through any other method or currency.

We've also been told that we'll be able to increase our land size in the future, although that wasn't exactly announced in as many words. To be specific, we're asked if we "need more space to build your dream home" and that with that question comes a secret that the developers just couldn't hold in anymore. We're even asked "If you could expand your land, what is the first room you'd build on it?"

Put two and two together here, and you're left with the answer that land size will soon be increasing, although no particular release date was announced (unfortunately). If you're like me, your home has already filled most nooks and crannies of land in our admittedly small square, and is surrounded by outdoor goodies to boot. Being able to increase the size of our house plot is a huge deal, and we'll make sure to let you know when that feature / ability launches as soon as it does.

In the meantime, keep checking back with the game's Facebook fan page for additional links / announcements of free prizes, and click right here to claim your free 400 Social Points.

What sorts of prizes are you hoping to receive in this week-long event of free stuff? What will you purchase with your 400 free Social Points? Sound off in the comments.