PetVille: Tahiki Build-A-Hut is coming soon

Have you made it to Tahiki yet? If so, you'll soon be able to build your very own beach-side hut. Like other DIY projects in PetVille, you'll need to work with friends to build the hut from scratch -- and once it's complete, there will be a room inside that you'll be able to decorate. Based on the picture above, looks like the items you'll need will include nails, bamboo, boards, stones and palm fronds for the roofing. Then, once you're done, your pet can kick back and relax by the seashore.

If you have yet to unlock the door to Tahiki, find out how in our our guide.

Treasure Isle: More room for everyone with new Medium Island expansion

Life on an island can be peaceful, but restricting. Especially if you're a Treasure Islander who has a vast collection of lost animals, thatched huts and/or other decor. We've been waiting for another expansion for our island, and we're happy to report that it has arrived. Now you can expand your plot of land to a Medium Island, which will cost 50,000 coins or, if you don't have enough gold stuff, you can pay 25 Island Cash ($5) to get the job done.

If you have pictures of your Medium Island, please send them to editors@games.com, and we'll feature it here.

We spotted a survey about a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event on the game's official Facebook page, asking fans if they would travel to Sin City to attend a big launch event for the upcoming expansion. The survey says the launch event will be "at the end of Summer 2010" which means that we will see MWLV this summer, but probably not until sometime around August. And, it will apparently roll out with some mild fanfare. Depending how you answer the first survey question, you get a different set of follow up questions, which gives a little more insight to what this launch event might entail. If you answered 'Yes,' then you're asked if what kind of treatment you prefer -- VIP, All-Access Pass or Day Pass to a 'conference.' (A Mafia Wars conference? Interesting.) If you answered "Maybe," then you're given multiple choice about what would keep you from attending and then what city would be most convenient for you to attend an event. (Maybe there will be launch events in several cities) If you answered 'No,' then you are given a blank form as to why you wouldn't attend and, again, asked which city you might consider visiting for an event of this sort. mafia wars las vegas launch party survey yesmafia wars las vegas launch party maybemafia wars las vegas launch party no 'Fess up: Would you attend a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event? How much would you be willing to pay to get there?

We spotted a survey about a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event on the game's official Facebook page, asking fans if they would travel to Sin City to attend a big launch event for the upcoming expansion. The survey says the launch event will be "at the end of Summer 2010" which means that we will see MWLV this summer, but probably not until sometime around August. And, it will apparently roll out with some mild fanfare.

Depending how you answer the first survey question, you get a different set of follow up questions, which gives a little more insight to what this launch event might entail.

If you answered 'Yes,' then you're asked if what kind of treatment you prefer -- VIP, All-Access Pass or Day Pass to a 'conference.' (A Mafia Wars conference? Interesting.)

If you answered "Maybe," then you're given multiple choice about what would keep you from attending and then what city would be most convenient for you to attend an event. (Maybe there will be launch events in several cities)

If you answered 'No,' then you are given a blank form as to why you wouldn't attend and, again, asked which city you might consider visiting for an event of this sort.

mafia wars las vegas launch party survey yesmafia wars las vegas launch party maybemafia wars las vegas launch party no

'Fess up: Would you attend a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event? How much would you be willing to pay to get there?

FarmVille Unreleased Swiss Chard Seed & Swiss Chard Mastery Sign

    farmville swiss chard mastery sign
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Shiori for finding these unreleased FarmVille Swiss Chard Seed & Swiss Chard Mastery Sign!

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.


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YoVille Fourth of July items added to the clothing store

4th of July costumes and accessories have been added to YoVille! Some of these items include a Male and Female Patriotic Costume for 3,000 coins, Patriotic hat for 10 yocash, Patriotic Glasses for 8 Yocash, and much more!

These items are great for celebrating the holiday. Run on over to the clothing store soon and be the next Uncle Sam!

Will you be dressing as Miss or Mister patriotic for the holiday? Tell us in the comments!
yoville fourth of july clothingyoville fourth of july cothes
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.


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YoVille Summer Bathroom items arrive

YoVille Bathroom items are released in all cool sherbet colors. Main items like bath tub , pot , sink and shower are available for YoCash while all accessories like towel stands , mirrors and storage cabinets are for Coins.

These cool colors will definitely add a fresh feeling to your summer house bathrooms, so do check them out.

A list with all prices and pictures can be found after the jump.
yoville summer bathroom items
yoville summer bathroom itemsyoville summer bathroom itemsyoville summer bathroom itemsyoville summer bathroom itemsyoville summer bathroom itemsyoville summer bathroom items
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

Mafia Wars Fourth of July Sale includes five limited edition items

Mafia Wars is kicking off the holiday weekend with a special Fourth of July Sale, that includes five exclusive new items that, frankly, have decent stats that make it worth the Reward Points.

The five limited edition items will be available in the Marketplace from July 2-7 and can be purchased for 35 RP each or 148 RP all of them. These special items include the following:

Grand Finale
A 60 D25

Lady Liberty
A 33 D 59

Parade Stallion
A 60 D 28

Uncle Sam
A 34 D 61

Washington's Sword
A 24 D 61

Since my mafia is a little low on defense, I'm considering spending my hard-earned Reward Points on Uncle Sam. The Grand Finale looks pretty appealing too, though. Decisions, decisions.

Which Fourth of July item did you/would you consider buying?

FarmVille Unreleased Hops Crop & Gladiolus Crop Items

FarmVille Unreleased Hops Crop and Gladiolus Crop
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Rainexel for finding these unreleased FarmVille Unreleased Hops Crop, Market Stall, Mastery Sign, and Bushel as well as the Gladiolus Crop, Market Stall, Mastery Sign and Bushel.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Unreleased Dino Slide, Electric Generator & Backyard Tree House

Thank you to FarmVille Freak Rainexel for finding these unreleased FarmVille Dino Slide, Electric Generator, and Backyard Tree House!
FarmVille Dino Slide, Electric Generator, and Backyard Tree House!
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.


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YoVille: New Pets coming to town... and they'll be ready for a close-up

Brand new pets are coming to YoVille soon, and they'll be more dapper than ever. According to a post on the YoVille blog, we'll be able to play dress with these new critters once they grow up. Like the pets before them, they'll want to follow you around to parties and events. But this time, they can make a statement!

While we don't know neither when these new companions will be available nor for how much (YoCash we assume), we do know how we'll have to go about raising them, training them and finally dressing them.

To train your pet in various disciplines, you'll need biscuits from either gifts from friends or via purchase. Once you get a hold of 20 biscuits and mastered your pet's training regiment, you'll have the option to grow your pet. Once you grow your pet into an adult, you can dress it up and have it follow you around wherever you may travel in YoVille. That is, after buying a pet license by selecting the "Buy License" option after clicking on your pet.
YoVille Customizable Pets
To dress your pet, all you will have to do is select your furry friend, press "Change Clothing" and go from there. While you can have the current pets follow you around, only the new pets will be able to be dressed. These new pets include updated versions of Pomeranian, Unicorn, Lion and Siamese Cat (we assume brand new pets will be joining this list as well).

We're as much in the dark about how much pet clothing will cost as when all of this fun stuff is going to launch, so stay tuned. Until then, what pet fashions would you like to see make their way into YoVille?

FarmVille Train & Railroad Coming to a Farm Near You

FarmVille Train
FarmVille is currently under a Wild West invasion and may soon be further invaded with a Railroad. We saw the loading screen teaser featuring the Train and the other unreleased items featured on FarmVille Freak. Now we have a Market teaser with prices included. Can we expect to see these items tonight?
FarmVille Trains
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market and are subject to change without notice upon release.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille rolls out new limited edition flower crop -- Lupine

In addition to Pinto Beans, FarmVille has rolled out another limited edition Wild West crop -- a flower called Lupine, which will be available in the in-game Market until October 7. The great thing about this limited edition crop -- it can be Mastered.

Lupine
Cost: 75 Coins
Grow time: 12 Hours
Harvest yield: 155 coins, 1 XP
farmville lupine crop fully grown - games.com
Fun facts about Lupine: It's a real flower, and there are 200+ varieties. This hardy bloom thrives in infertile soil (think Wild West barren land). I'm originally from the Lone Star State, so my favorite variety is, naturally, the Lupinus texensis, better known as the Texas Bluebonnet.
farmville limited edition crop

FrontierVille The Path to Progress Missions: Everything you need to know

FrontierVille Path to Progress
Just when you thought that you couldn't expand any further in FrontierVille, a financial opportunity like none other arises in Tolls. This new feature introduced by the Zynga team comes with a new set of missions, "The Path to Progress," and allows you to forge paths on your homestead, build a Toll Booth and collect toll from those who visit your homestead several times daily. While building a Toll Booth is a pretty simple task, these missions will teach you how to make the best profit of it.

Join us behind the cut for a guide on how to get your toll business started.
Path Finding
Before you can access the Toll Booth in the Market, you do need to complete the first few goals in "The Path to Progress." In the first goal, "Path Finding," all you need to do is:

    Chop Down Two Trees
    Move Six Cows
    Visit Frontier Jack's Homestead



Yes, to move the cows all you need to do is literally use the move tool to pick up six cows and move them somewhere else on your homestead. It turns out that all you need to do is move one cow six times to complete this requirement, which means this might be the simplest mission in FrontierVille since having to feed three chickens in "Tend Your Homestead." Finishing this awfully easy request scores you a sweet 100 Food and even sweeter 100 XP.

Let's Make a Deal
Next in "Let's Make a Deal," things get slightly more official. This goal is going to require much more time and some help from your friends with these requirements:

    Harvest 25 Corn
    Collect 10 Charter Agreements
    Buy a Toll Booth


FrontierVille Toll Booth Stage Three
While waiting 12 hours for your corn to be ready to harvest, you can ask your friends for Charter Agreements, which you will also find through gifting them to your friends. Buying a Toll Booth costs just 500 coins and 65 wood yet rewards you 100 more XP and the cost of the Toll Booth, but it'll take much more to build, which is exactly what you're tasked with in the next goal, "The Right Tool for the Job":

    Have 10 Tools
    Finish the Toll Booth
    Collect One Toll




Don't you love how the goals guide you through the new features? Getting 10 sets of tools might be something you already have through collecting bonuses when your friends are hired to work on your homestead, but if not you might have to collaborate should you want to collect these tools quickly. Just ask a few friends to hire you by clicking your name in the neighbors list, do the same for them, collect the bonuses from your News Feed and eventually you'll have amassed 10 Tools in no time. After finally finishing the Toll Booth, your final task is to collect one toll... that's it. Just ask a friend to visit your homestead one more time and you should collect some good old tax dollars, 200 XP and a Sledge Hammer.

The fourth goal, "Beating a Path to Your Door," is probably the most difficult in this entire mission. On top of keeping a certain family member out of danger while you lay the foundations of your business, you'll have to wait on your buddies to catch up:

    Build 20 Paths
    Stop a Wandering Spouse*
    Visit 10 Neighbors Who Have Paths



*In the Toll Booth update, a new feature has been implemented where your inactive spouse will begin to wander around your homestead when not active. Just clicking on your lovely husband or wife will complete this task.

Visiting 10 Neighbors who have paths is going to be tough considering it depends more on your friends' progress than your own, which is when teamwork is key. Finishing this goal will net you 80 XP and an Iron Fountain for whipping your friends into shape.
Ox
Nearing the end with the fifth goal, "Stubborn as an Ox" asks you to quell neighbor complaints of wandering Oxen on your paths. Here's what you'll need to do so they'll shut up:

    Move 10 Oxen
    Collect 10 Bovine Insurance Forms
    Feed 10 Oxen



As with the cows before them, you should only need one Ox to move ten times using the Move Tool, but feeding one Ox 10 times is going to take quite a while. Since these are free gifts, why not just send them around amongst your friends to have 10 Oxen to feed at once? Collecting the Bovine Insurance Forms will require to ask your friends like most paperwork requirements and feeding the Oxen is pretty self explanatory. Oddly enough, you'll be rewarded another Ox and 300 XP for completing this goal.

Frontier Jack's Toll Booth
Finally, in "Trolling the Toll Booth," all you need to do is accept five neighbor help requests and collect three more tolls. A little anticlimactic, we know, but consider a testament to drudging through these six goals and crafting yet another building. For your hard work, you'll be rewarded an impressive 500 XP and a Mule. Now, go forth and tax all those who may enter your lands.

FrontierVille's Toll Booth will get the tax money flowing in no time

FrontierVille's new "The Path to Progress" missions are certainly impressive, but the star of the show is the Toll Booth. Once you unlock this new feature in the Market after finishing the "Path Finding" goal, you'll be raking in serious coin. After buying the foundation for 500 coins and 65 Wood, you'll need to whack the structure five times before you can lay on the finishing touches:

    Two Shingles
    Two Mallets
    Two Pegs
    Two Windows
    Two Measuring Tapes
    Two Screwdrivers


Like any old building (think General Store), you'll have to ask your friends for these parts. Once complete, anytime a friend visits your homestead to offer some work, you'll collect a small fee from them. Now, think about how many neighbors you have. If it's not many, then go get about 10 more before you ponder this. Every visit earns a small amount of coins, but multiply that by how many friends you have and you'll be the Scrooge of the frontier before you can say "Bah! Humbug!" Now, did any of you pioneers vote on this feature? If not, we might have a small problem.

FrontierVille's Toll Collection: Can't you read the sign?

Toll Collection
Since collecting oodles of cash and experience just can't be enough, there's also a Collection to go along with FrontierVille's new Toll Booth feature. This collection, like most, can only be completed at random by collecting the Daily Bonus from your Toll Booth.

What you'll win for completing the Toll Collection is a Road Sign (pictured far right) to put near your paths. While this is a welcome addition to an already neat feature, some extra cash or experience would have been nice. Who am I kidding? With this Toll Booth, I'll net enough cash to expand my homestead to 41x41 squares when the day comes. Let's hope that's not before the fabled Gold Rush comes in.

'Social games are designed to be addictive,' says internet rehab founder

Mafia Wars addicted mothers speak out
Millions of Americans play social games daily because, according to Dr. Hilarie Cash, "these games are designed to be extremely addictive." Cash, founder of Fall City, Wash.-based Internet addiction program reSTART, spoke with The Daily Beast about the dangers of social gaming addiction and how studios like Zynga intentionally design social games with addictive elements like points, levels and gifts.

"That's absolutely consciously built into the games," Cash said, "I've talked to video-games developers who acknowledge this."

Ya don't say? When a game that's free to play relies on players' PayPal accounts attention span to stay afloat, that seems like a no-brainer. However, when certain studios appear to enable the behavior, it becomes much tougher to sympathize.

According to the Daily Beast, unlike addictions to drugs and alcohol that can tear families apart, some Mafia Wars-addicted mothers have brought the whole family into the gang busting glee. This is much unlike last month's case of the game-addled mother of three who shut her children out of her Internet life. It's all in the approach, I guess.

FarmVille Snow Collection now available for a limited time

If you were wondering why Zynga kept advertising that the Autumn Collection would soon be leaving FarmVille (there are only two hours left to complete that collection, if you have yet to do so), we have the answer tonight as Zynga has released a limited time Snow Collection in the game.

This Snow Collection asks you to collect six items, ranging in rarity from Common to Rare, and requiring different quantities of each item, depending on the rarity. Here's a list of what you'll need to find, and in what amounts.

Icicle - Common - 10 Needed
Snowball - Common - 10 Needed
Snowflake - Common - 10 Needed
Coal Lump - Uncommon - 7 Needed
Wool Scarf - Uncommon - 7 Needed
Mitten - Rare - 3 Needed

As usual, you'll be able to collect these items automatically, but randomly, while planting seeds on your farm. You can also hope that your FarmVille friends come upon a "stash" of these ingredients while planting on their own farms, which they can then share via wall posts that you can click on to earn a free item.

The reward for collecting all six items is a cute, and animated, Cow Snow Globe. Remember, this collection won't be available to complete forever, so start planting some seeds now to make sure you collect all of the available items before it's too late.

FrontierVille: 12 Days of Christmas missions are here... or are they?

Starting a few hours ago, some FrontierVille players were given a mysterious letter from Frontier Jack, detailing a new mission set that was apparently launched in the game at the same time. The mission set is the "12 Days of FrontierVille," the game's admitted take on the 12 Days of Christmas. However, the Carolers and the missions that this letter details are nowhere to be found. In an effort to calm some of the confusion associated with this seemingly "glitched" event, here's a recap of what we know so far.

When logging into the game, you'll receive a regular notice from Frontier Jack, pointing at a letter decorated with musical notes. If you can actually click on the letter (you may need to refresh the page and try again), you'll be introduced to a group of carolers, who sing a few lines of a revised version of the 12 Days of Christmas. This verse lets us know that the 12 Missions of FrontierVille are going to be released, one mission at a time - one mission for each of the next twelve days.

However, we're told to "click on the carolers" to activate the 12 Mission Calendar and truly start the event. The kicker being that the Carolers are nowhere to be found. They aren't in the snowy add-on released to hold the Toy Factory, the aren't scattered about the Homestead, they can't even be summoned by clicking on a Dinner Triangle.

Apparently, the entire letter itself has been released to users early, as an official comment has been made on the FrontierVille forums stating that we've received these pop-ups, including the letter from Frontier Jack early - a few hours early, to be exact.

This hasn't stopped users from panicking, as they fear the game has been broken, but we are assured that the missions will be coming to the game in the very near future, as a statement at the top of the FrontierVille gameplay area asks if you are ready to complete the missions (this is a rhetorical question, released, we believe, to assuage fears that the missions won't be released at all).

What will these missions contain, and when will they finally be released? We're guessing sometime within the next 24 hours, and we'll be sure to give you all of the details therein once they are officially released in the game.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

FarmVille Add Comment FarmVille Sneak Peek: Balloon Crop items everywhere

    Balloon Bushel     Balloon Market Stall     Balloon Mastery Sign
Things are about to very... bubbly in FarmVille. Our good friends at FarmVille Freak have found a most interesting set of unreleased items, the Balloon Crop collection. Soon enough, players will be able to plant, sell and master Balloons. And since April Fools is months away, you can rest assured that this is no joke.

Apparently, these Balloons will grow from the ground attached to plant-like stems and will be able to be collected in bushels, which could mean some Co-Op Jobs are in store involving the crop as well. We'd guesstimate that this crop will be part of ringing in the New Year since no celebration is complete without balloons, but don't quote us on that one. Stay tuned around Dec. 31 for when this crop might finally go live, but don't come crying to us if it doesn't happen then--just look at the pretty balloons and feel happy again.

When do you think the Balloon Crop will be released? Do you think it will be part of an event or simply just a limited edition crop?

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Gold and Silver Swiss Army Combine Tractor

Getting bored of your plain, old flaming Combine Tractor in FarmVille? Well, FarmVIlle Freak has struck the gold mine (literally) in finding this Gold and Silver Swiss Army Combine Tractor. We currently haven't in the slightest as to where, when nor how this shiny new vehicle will be released, but guess work never hurt anyone, did it?

Let's see, if the most recent Mystery Game features Golden items, this not-so-little gem could be included in the next Mystery Game. Also, FrontierVille recently released some Golden items in its promotions with American Express and Citi Group, so that's also a possibility if Zynga is looking to expand upon that theme. Until then, it looks like we'll be stuck with that teeny, tiny enticing image of the classiest-looking combine around.

When do you think this vehicle will be released? Would you pick it up regardless of the circumstances?