Thứ Năm, 15 tháng 9, 2011

Zynga, Playdom, EA and Bioware vets cause a Rumble with new freemium studio

With tonight's update, we see a ton of new trees being released in FarmVille, in both the Animal Sanctuary theme, and in the new Lighthouse Cove limited edition themes. That's right - a Lighthouse Cove theme has launched in the store, full of items that can be purchased for other farms, or for your Lighthouse Cove if you so choose (that is, if you choose to pay to get in this early). Here's a full rundown of these trees.

Lighthouse Cove

Sugar Maple Tree - 7 Farm Cash
Japanese Maple Tree - 15 Farm Cash
Bur Oak Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Pin Oak Tree - 12 Farm Cash

Here's a case where I think some price testing might be taking place. The 8 and 12 Farm Cash prices seem incredibly out of place, so if they happen to be different in your own store, that would be why. As for Mystery Seedlings, you can purchase just the Bur Oak and Sugar Maple Trees, and will (hopefully) receive the other two through mystery seedlings.

Animal Sanctuary

Painted Bamboo - 5 Farm Cash
Umbrella Bamboo - 15 Farm Cash

Again, these prices seem incredibly strange, so don't be alarmed if they're different (even potentially costing less) in your own game when you happen to check. It's a (now) normal Zynga practice to see which prices uses respond to with purchases, and we unfortunately can't prevent it from happening. Of course, the Painted Bamboo is the Level 1 tree here, while you can receive the Umbrella Bamboo from Mystery Seedlings.

Overall, the Sugar Maple and Japanese Maple Trees will be in the game for the next 11 days, while the other four trees will be around for two weeks. Keep those time limits in mind if you don't have the Farm Cash on hand to shop just yet - they won't be around forever.

What do you think of these two themes of trees? Do you like colorful trees like these maples and oaks? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary & Lighthouse Cove Trees: Sugar Maple Tree, Painted Bamboo Tree and more

With tonight's update, we see a ton of new trees being released in FarmVille, in both the Animal Sanctuary theme, and in the new Lighthouse Cove limited edition themes. That's right - a Lighthouse Cove theme has launched in the store, full of items that can be purchased for other farms, or for your Lighthouse Cove if you so choose (that is, if you choose to pay to get in this early). Here's a full rundown of these trees.

Lighthouse Cove

Sugar Maple Tree - 7 Farm Cash
Japanese Maple Tree - 15 Farm Cash
Bur Oak Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Pin Oak Tree - 12 Farm Cash

Here's a case where I think some price testing might be taking place. The 8 and 12 Farm Cash prices seem incredibly out of place, so if they happen to be different in your own store, that would be why. As for Mystery Seedlings, you can purchase just the Bur Oak and Sugar Maple Trees, and will (hopefully) receive the other two through mystery seedlings.

Animal Sanctuary

Painted Bamboo - 5 Farm Cash
Umbrella Bamboo - 15 Farm Cash

Again, these prices seem incredibly strange, so don't be alarmed if they're different (even potentially costing less) in your own game when you happen to check. It's a (now) normal Zynga practice to see which prices uses respond to with purchases, and we unfortunately can't prevent it from happening. Of course, the Painted Bamboo is the Level 1 tree here, while you can receive the Umbrella Bamboo from Mystery Seedlings.

Overall, the Sugar Maple and Japanese Maple Trees will be in the game for the next 11 days, while the other four trees will be around for two weeks. Keep those time limits in mind if you don't have the Farm Cash on hand to shop just yet - they won't be around forever.

What do you think of these two themes of trees? Do you like colorful trees like these maples and oaks? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary & Lighthouse Cove Buildings: Asian Gazebo, Seaside Cottage and more

Continuing in the double-item update in FarmVille, tonight's release brought us new buildings not only in the previous Animal Sanctuary item theme, but also in the Lighthouse Cove theme. These Lighthouse Cove items are available to purchase in other farms, so keep an eye out for them in the store when hanging out at Home or in the English Countryside as well.

Lighthouse Cove

Seaside Cottage - 25 Farm Cash
Village Store - 25 Farm Cash
Coastal Farmhouse - 25 Farm Cash
Coastal Restaurant - 30 Farm Cash

As usual, buildings in FarmVille are some of the most expensive things you can purchase, and these are no exception to that rule. The Seaside Cottage and Village Store have shorter time limits at 11 days, while the Coastal Farmhouse and Coastal Restaurant (not to be confused with the Restaurant Crafting Cottage you can purchase on your new farm for coins) will be around for the next two week.

Animal Sanctuary

Asian Gazebo - 10 Farm Cash

This building is fairly small, looking more like a lawn ornament than a full sized building, but I suppose that helps explain the cheaper price tag. If you're interested in purchasing this one, you'll need to do so within the next two weeks, before it expires form the store.

Will we see these items again after they expire? It's likely, but in the off chance that they don't, make sure to purchase any you feel you just can't live without during this first release.

Which of these new buildings is your favorite? Are you more of a fan of the Lighthouse Cove theme or the pre-existing Animal Sanctuary theme? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary & Lighthouse Cove Decorations: Sea Lavender, Panda Arch and more

While decorations may be the last items we've discussed in tonight's FarmVille update, that doesn't mean they're the least important. These decorative items come from both the Animal Sanctuary and Lighthouse Cove themes, and there are actually quite a few coin items in this set for those shopping on a budget. As a note, these Lighthouse Cove items are available not just in your Lighthouse Cove farm, so if you chose not to buy your way in, you don't have to worry about missing out (on these items, anyway).

Lighthouse Cove

Beach Tent - 2 Farm Cash
Beach Grass - 4,000 coins
Beach Chair Set - 20,000 coins
Coastal Planter - 8,000 coins
Dark Wood Fence - 5,000 coins
Field Stone Bridge - 15 Farm Cash
Nelly Moser - 50,000 coins
Boreal Owl - 18 Farm Cash
Sea Lavender - 5,000 coins
Maple Leaf Gnome - 15 Farm Cash

You'll need to pay special attention to these items in the store, as some of them expire in 11 days, while others are around for two weeks. Overall, there are a surprisingly large amount of coin-only items here, so if you've already spent all of your Farm Cash in simply getting into Lighthouse Cove, you'll receive a break there.

Animal Sanctuary

Panda Arch - 2 Farm Cash
Cockatiel - 10 Farm Cash

As you can see, the Lighthouse Cove side of the store definitely has more items, but you can still splurge a bit of Farm Cash on these two items if you choose. They'll both be available in the store for the next two weeks.

What do you think of this pile of new items? Have you already created a retreat on your farm with these Lighthouse Cove items, or are you just starting to decorate with them this evening? Sound off in the comments.

Bubble Witch Saga pops on Facebook, King.com hits 900M players

If games like Bubble Bobble have taught us anything, it's that sometimes there's nothing more relaxing than popping bubbles. Casual and social game developer King.com knows this all too well, and has released its second bubble-bursting game on Facebook, Bubble Witch Saga. This new game is a socially-enhanced port of one of the top five most popular games ever on King.com (the casual games website of the same name), King.com Director of Product Performance, Social and Mobile, Lars Jornow told us.

The game features more levels than ever with 70 unique stages, new booster power-ups available for Facebook Credits and a deeper storyline than before. Players assume the role of an aspiring witch who wishes to join the proverbial circle of three. In order to impress the witches, you must burst the bubbles by matching three of the same color to fill their cauldron with magic goop. I mean, who knows what witches put in those things?

Bursting the bubbles will get the cauldron below bubbling, as witches are so wont to do. Each successful match causes spiders to drop from the ceiling. The more spiders you have when you burst enough bubbles, the more points you'll get (and hopefully stars), as the spiders will act as bumpers for the remaining bubbles and increase your chances of scoring big.
Buggle Witch Saga concept art
Completing each level with the most stars possible will help you reach new uncharted parts of a vast forest in your quest to become the fourth witch of the circle. Players can invite their friends to the game to help restore their lives if they fail to clear a difficult level, and later in the game they will need more friends to unlock new levels to play.

Bubble Witch Saga takes an interesting spin on the bubble-bursting sub genre of casual and social games, with its semi-realistic art style that's delightfully reminiscent of the unforgettable Halloween flick Hocus-Pocus. While the game already has six episodes (with about 10 levels each) of content, Jornow tells us that more content is already in the works.
Bubble Witch Saga gameplay
Not to mention that the game will hit mobile devices later this year. King.com also announced that it has surpassed 900 million monthly active players across all of its platforms. Granted, that's thanks to its over 200 games total, but an impressive feat nonetheless--though, the company does say that it has beat PopCap in monthly players on Facebook, according to AppData. Bubble Witch is available for play now on Facebook, so have at those bubbles, my pretties. (I promise that's the last time I say "my pretties" here ... whoops!)

Click here to play Bubble Witch Saga on Facebook Now >

Are you excited to kick back and blow up some bubbles once again? What do you think of this game so far, and the bubble-bursting sub genre of casual or social games? Share with us in the comments. Add Comment.