FishVille's Gulf Coast Turtle helps Audubon raise awareness and funds in oil spill

Images of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continue to inspire a great deal of anger and heartbreak, but many people also offer hope by helping clean up the mess left by the spill. Zynga's FishVille and the Audubon Society have paired up this week to raise funds and awareness with their new Gulf Coast Turtle.

The Turtle came out last week and can be found under the "Creatures" tab at the in-game store. This Turtle is only available for the next 4 days. Zynga is promising to relinquish 50% of the Turtle's sales to the Audubon Society and players have the option to pay either 25 or 200 Sand Dollars for it. Sand Dollars can be bought from the "+ Add Sand Dollars" tab on the top of the game window. A set of 25 Sand Dollars cost $5 USD, and while there's no set of 200, you can buy a set of 240 Sand Dollars for $40 USD.
Adopt the FishVille Baby Gulf Coast Turtle
A new Baby Gulf Coast Turtle has also shown up in the game, which can be adopted via Facebook Wall posts, to help spread the word.

Cafe World: Lightning Super Stove now easier to build

Lightning Super Stove Cafe World
It's a regular occurrence that Zynga ends up "nerfing" their collection/buildables, making them easier over time. They did it with the Cafe World Spice Rack, and the Super Stove, after all. Now, the Lightning Super Stove is easier to build and requires less pieces in order to complete.

Previously, the Lightning Super Stove took 10 of each piece, or a total of 40 parts. Now, the Tesla Coil only requires 7 parts, and the Flux Switch only requires 8 parts. For those who aren't math gurus, this brings the total savings down by five. Whether you were planning to collect all of the parts or by them with Cafe Cash outright, it helps that Zynga have given us a break on the requirements. Perhaps something new to build is coming soon? What could it be?

The Lightning Super Stove makes all of your cooking 10% faster, plus it removes the need to do any ingredient sub-steps, therefore making cooking a quicker and more enjoyable experience.

FishVille dives down to the Deep Sea abyss

Atlantis is coming to an end in FishVille, therefore all of the mysterious items will be leaving the store to make room for the new Deep Sea theme. In addition, the Pearl Stash will be leaving as well, so those of you who have been hoarding your precious pearls should probably consider trading them in before it's too late. So far, there are only a handful of Deep Sea items, and here is the list:

Fish:

Black Angler - 12 Sand Dollars
Black Devil Angler - 10 Sand Dollars
Decor:

Brisingid Starfish - 5 Sand Dollars
Sunken Propeller - 31,250 coins
Submarine Wreck - 312,500 coins
Green Anemone - 10 Sand Dollars
Deep Sea FishVille
This won't be the last of the Deep Sea items in FishVille. Keep an eye on Games.com - The Blog for the latest releases!

FarmVille iPhone App update boosts speed and improves performance

farmville iphone app update
The FarmVille iPhone application has received an update addressing some of the issues plaguing the older version.

Continue reading to see a list of the improvements.

The FarmVille iPhone app updates are as follows:

    Optimizations to allow large farms to load better.
    Fixes for users having issues loading their farm.
    Performance improvements for older devices.
    Support for multitasking (for iOS 4.0 users).
    Better organized gift area.
    Bug fixing.


Before the update, the FarmVille iPhone app was slow, choppy, and overall, provided a pretty terrible gaming experience, especially on older devices. As seen in our demo video, FarmVille ran at a snail's pace running on an iPod touch. Fortunately, Zynga is well aware of the performance issues being suffered by players on slower handheld devices. FarmVille players with larger, more extravagant farms had it the worst as the game struggled to load their massive amount of items and land.

We're definitely relieved to see most of these troubling issues were tackled in the FarmVIlle app update. Hopefully now it plays more smoothly than ever. In addition, we're pleased to see the support for multitasking, letting able players take breaks from the grueling farm life without closing the app.

YoVille Summer Theme ends with a final item update

The final collection of Summer Items has arrived to YoVille. YoVille players can now decorate their Summer gardens with may flower pots and flower pyramids. And if you are planning to go camping, backpack, folding furniture and sleeping bags were also added to the Furniture Store.

Complete your Summer Rooms with these new items. All pictures and prices are after the link. Thanks to Spiralda and Nik for the fast update!


yoville summer themeyoville summer themeyoville summer themeyoville summer themeyoville summer themeyoville summer themeyoville summer themeyoville summer theme
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

YoVille Pool Collectibles now available

yoville pool collectibles
New Animated Collectibles and the last of the Summer items are available now in the YoVille Furniture Store. Your Pool Party will be a hit! Dive into the pool with the Animated Collectible Diving Board (29 YoCash) or slide into the water with the Animated Pool Slide (31 YoCash). There is also a Summer Baby Pool (17,950 Coins) for the kids!

This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

Cafe World: Head outside and expand your business

Cafe World has expanded cafes by adding a free outdoor area for all players. You can now decorate both the indoors and the outside of their restaurants with new roofs, decorations, and items.

To get started, head outside by clicking the Go Outside button at the bottom left of the screen. After stepping out, you'll see your cafe from a whole new angle. Unfortunately, you'll also find it's not the most beautiful building from the outside. Not to worry though, Cafe World has also released a ton of goodies to spice up the exterior of your cafe.

Continue reading to see the new Cafe World outside feature.
cafe world outside
When you arrive outside, you'll be guided through a short tutorial showing you everything the Cafe World outdoors has to offer:
cafe world outside
You'll want to put a new roof on your cafe. There is a wide variety and though some are very expensive, it's one of the most crucial and most dramatic improvements to the outside of your cafe.
cafe world roofs
My personal favorite is the jungle themed roof featuring a built in volcano. If that's not totally nuts, I'm not sure what is. Besides who said roofing had to be boring?
cafe world outside     cafe world outside
cafe world outside
Next, add some greenery to your cafe's outside. Planted right on a busy city intersection, your customers could definitely benefit from some nice relaxing plants in your garden.
cafe world otuside
cafe world outside
Finally, Cafe World has provided a ton of other ways to decorate the outside part of your cafe. Walls, windows, doors, paths and other items are all available for you to personalize your cafe the way you see fit.
cafe world outside
cafe world outsidecafe world outsidecafe world outsidecafe world outsidecafe world outside
We think the expansion to the outdoors was a good move on Cafe World's behalf. More than ever, players now have the ability to make their cafes something really special and unique. Both the inside and outside of your cafe can be tailored to your personality. Not to mention, a ton of the new outside items are available for coins rather than Cafe Cash, letting everyone do a little landscaping for free.

Also, we're super curious to see what this new catering feature has in store (hinted at above). Keep checking back in with The Blog for the latest Cafe World news. You can be sure we'll post on any updates regarding the upcoming catering truck.

Click here to play Cafe World>

Is there anything Zynga can do to reverse FarmVille's downturn?

While things may outwardly appear to be full of happiness and light in the world of Zynga's FarmVille – the game celebrates its (official) first birthday this month, and is, by far, the largest Facebook game on the site, sitting at around 62 million users – when you compare these figures to those found last March, which saw the game peaking at over 83 million players (32 million of which played everyday), that happiness and light turns bleak with sadness. But what is it, exactly, that has caused the game to lose over 21 million players in the span of around four months?

We've speculated about the cause of FarmVille's player loss – the game is, for the lack of a better term, hemorrhaging players, losing 4.4 million players in April, and 7.7 million users in May, as two recent examples – but no one, solid conclusion can be drawn for why players are leaving.

The downturn officially began in March, when Facebook cut-off third party notifications, meaning that, from that point forward, Zynga had to scramble to amass an email distribution list of every player that had ever added the game in order to be able to stay in constant contact with them. Aside from simply annoying players, who may feel that giving out their email address is an attack on their privacy, this meant that Zynga's amount of "spam" messages to players was immediately, and drastically cut. For the most casual FarmVille players, perhaps this lack of constant "Play our game!" reminders was enough for them to forget about the game.

Other arguments could be made as to why players are leaving – FarmVille grew exponentially through the winter months, and dropped when the weather turned, so could the simple fact that people are spending more time outdoors have anything to do with it? Perhaps it was the previous level cap of level 70 that turned long-time players away, as they felt they had nothing left to accomplish in the game. Financially speaking, could it be Zynga's seemingly growing reliance on Farm Cash – more and more limited edition items are being released that can only be purchased through such means – that has made players turn tail and run, rather than be tempted into spending real money on virtual items?
farmville downturn
Whatever the reason, according to the latest AppData figures, the trend doesn't really seem to be slowing, as the last month (from June 13 to July 13) shows the game at a loss of 3.7 million players. Granted, this is a far cry from the 7.7 million lost in May, but each time the app gains in users – FarmVille gained 300,000 users from July 5 to July 6, as an example – it drops just as many, or even more, within a matter of days. To our previous example, by July 8, the app had lost 400,000 players, more than 100,000 more than those that joined just days before.

While we could spend hours speculating as to why players are leaving the game, perhaps the better question to ask is, "What can Zynga do to reverse the trend?" Surely the gaming developer has been thinking the same, but, outside of a promotion with 7-Eleven that put the game's logo all over the convenience stores' shelves (and offered free in-game items to those that purchased said branded products), it doesn't really seem like they're doing anything to stop it.

We don't work for Zynga, but perhaps if they took a look at a few of our ideas – the ideas of folks who actively play the game – they may be able to stop the bleeding.

First, while it may be hard to prove scientifically, it's common knowledge that people love free things. Offer users a free incentive, other than fuel (which can be found in numerous other ways, also for free), and perhaps they'll take a few seconds to load the game to receive said free item. Make it a good freebie, like a free run of the FarmVille Biplane (which instantly makes crops ready to harvest), or even some free Farm Cash, and users will play the game long enough to perhaps fall in love with it all over again.

Speaking of Farm Cash, where other Zynga games (run by separate teams) like PetVille and Cafe World frequently offer sales or discounts on premium currency packages ("Buy Cafe World Cash and receive 20% more for free!"), FarmVille very rarely, if ever, discounts Farm Cash packages. Perhaps if users were able to receive a few more Farm Cash for their purchase, they would be more willing to pull out their real-world wallet to purchase Zynga's virtual items.
farmville downturn
If they chose not to go that route, one major thing Zynga could do would be to lower the cost of Farm Cash items in the first place. While they would end up spending the same amount of money in the long run, why would a player want to spend $10 on a single item, when they could spend $5 on two different items?

Additionally, the many, many features of the game that require a specific amount of neighbors, or to be a specific level need to be changed. A lower level player will find that the game can actually border on the boring side of things, as they haven't leveled up to the point of being able to afford a Tractor, Seeder or Harvester, resulting in their clicking on each crop individually, which can take a substantial amount of time, especially on lower internet speeds. They can't participate in Co-Op Farming, which means they won't have a chance at that feature's exclusive items. They can't expand their farm without a specific amount of neighbors either, which means they can't add enough crops to their farm to quicken their leveling up and thus get them closer to being able to participate in the aforementioned features (of which they are many more). It's a vicious cycle, and it is perhaps the biggest argument a player could have about the game.
farmville downturn
Another argument comes from the speed of leveling up, which is quite slow, compared to other Facebook games. While games like Social City and Restaurant City offer slow leveling cycles as well, they don't have as many features locked to lower level players, so the impact is felt less. While, to Zynga's credit, there has been a leveling tweak that was said to make leveling up an easier process in the game, unless a player has 24 hours of everyday to dedicate to the game, they will still find the process to be a slow one. Why spend the better part of a week trying to level up once in FarmVille, when you can level up three or four times in a competitor's game in the same amount of time?

On a completely different note, the FarmVille for iPhone app has been incredibly successful amongst players who own iPhones and love the idea of being able to farm anywhere they go. But with its limited functionality, the novelty may very quickly wear off. Zynga needs to get people to play the game more, not less, as the less they play, the less desire they will have to play in the future, as they become distracted by other things. To that end, Zynga could (and probably should) add more exclusive, and even free, items to the iPhone app – items that can't be found anywhere else, to give players (who, generally speaking, love to collect things by default) more incentive to keep playing, if only to make sure they have one of every new item available.

Speaking of which, while Zynga has already re-released some previously retired limited edition items as permanent additions to the game's store, they would do well to release more of these items to the public. As the game grows, new players will visit their friends' farms and will probably be quite jealous of the many limited edition (but now retired) items they see there. Once they find out that they can't have them, they might be disappointed to the point of giving up on the game because "I'm being punished for not adding the game sooner." Perhaps Zynga could create a "FarmVille LE Item Re-Release Extravaganza" in the game's store, letting users spend coins on some of these items, like holiday items, and users will flock to the game in the hopes of completing collections they once thought were lost to them.

Just as we could discuss the reasons for FarmVille's downturn for hours without end, so too could we develop ways that Zynga could reverse the trend. Will we see the developer take any of these actions in the future? Only time will tell, but for now, make sure to join in on the discussion in the comments below or in our forums. Whether you're a long-time FarmVille player, a completely new player, or even if you're one who used to play but has now given up – we want to hear from you. What do you think Zynga can do to stop the loss of players in the game? Or, better yet, if you quit the game, why did you do so, and is there anything Zynga can do to win you back?

This post originally appeared on Frisky Mongoose.

Treasure Isle to give out energy for visiting neighbors

Treasure Isle energy by visiting neighbors
Treasure Isle sure has been shaking things up lately, and this is no exception. Today, on the Treasure Isle Diggers Anonymous fan page (an official page run by Zynga), the game has announced that soon you will be able to get +1 energy for each friend you visit. This is a major change to the game, because any player who has a lot of neighbors will be able to replenish their energy and play the game longer.

We're sure that there will be a maximum amount of energy you can earn per day, and you can probably only get an energy bonus the first time you visit a neighbor per day. Either way, this is yet another way that gameplay can be lengthened and players can enjoy exploring and digging longer without having to wait until their energy recharges. Also, if you were a player who often bought Energy Packs with Island Cash, you may no longer need to spend nearly as much with this new change.

So far, we don't know when this is coming down the pipe. We'll keep you updated with all the latest Treasure Isle news, so stay tuned!

Do you approve of this change? When do you think it will be released?

Treasure Isle releases purchaseable coins, makes mistake

Treasure Isle released an update tonight, and included the ability to purchase coins for Island Cash. We covered this last night, however it didn't pan out exactly how we predicted. The original Treasure Isle wall post said that soon players would be able to "trade coins for cash". Typically, this would lead us to believe that you're trading in coins and getting Island Cash in return. Apparently, the post was incorrect and was actually stated backwards. Released in Treasure Isle is now the ability to buy coins with Island Cash, so the exact opposite of what we wrote.

Treasure Isle moderator Kaerie posted the following in this thread:

    We've just got word that this was posted backwards accidentally (the blast has been removed now).

    It's actually going to be coins for cash, not cash for coins.


This was a simple miscommunication on Treasure Isle's part, and we got all excited about it. It really didn't make sense anyway, so this isn't a huge surprise. The players, however, are quite upset about the inaccuracy.

Are you upset by the results, or was this just a simple forgivable typo?

FarmVille German Themed Decorations: Majestic Fountain, Beech Tree, Market Table Set, & Porcelain Vase

   
Lots of new Limited Edition Germany themed items including a Majestic Fountain, Beech Tree, Market Table Set, and Porcelain Vase debuted tonight in FarmVille.

You can purchase all of these LE decorations in the FarmVille Market during the next 13 days only.

FarmVille LE Germany Decorations (Released: September 16, 2010):

* Majestic Fountain – 22 FV$
* Beech Tree – 4 FV$
* Market Table Set – 22,000 Coins
* Porcelain Vase – 7,000 Coins

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille German Themed Buildings: German Home & Tailor Shop

   
Continuing with the Limited Edition Germany theme, FarmVille released two new buildings tonight that includes the German Home (Previously Unreleased item) and the Tailor Shop.


You can purchase both of these buildings in the FarmVille Market during the next 13 days.

FarmVille LE Germany Buildings (Released September 16, 2010):

* German Home – 36 FV$
* Tailor Shop – 34 FV$


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille: Re-gifting now applies to building materials and more

Earlier this week, we noticed that we were able to re-gift unwanted FarmVille Mystery Gifts, now it looks like that re-gifting feature has been added to building supplies as well. To get rid of these items, click the purple Re-Gift button, select how many you want to give away, then post them to you Facebook Wall.

farmville regifting

And I was just about to ask everyone what they planned to do with their leftover building materials.

Mafia Wars Dublin Challenge Mission kicks off this weekend

Last week, we became the kingpens of Bollywood in Mumbai; this week, it's time to pack our bags and head to Dublin. In the new Mafia Wars Dublin Challenge Mission -- your goal is to, put simply, "Destroy your rivals and become the real power broker in Dublin."

From what I can tell so far, Dublin seems like it will work just like the previous Challenge Missions. There are three Chapters will be unlocked over the course of three weeks. Every time you finish a chapter, you will earn special Dublin Loot, in this case:

mafia wars dublin rewards

Chapter 1 Reward -- Bodyguard: 52 A, 63 D
Chapter 2 Reward -- Weapon: 84 A, 59 D
Chapter 3 Reward -- Animal (a Horse 67 A, 111 D)



Instead of London Passports or Film Reels, you'll have to collect Pints of Stout to get your jobs done. You will be able to collect 5 stout every 24 hours from the Mission screen or collect is as loot that will drop randomly from fights, jobs, robbing and other nefarious activities. You can also purchase them from the Marketplace.

mafia wars my crew

Another way to get extra Stout is by adding new members to your Crew. Every new person you sign up with earn you an additional 5 pints a pop.

This event kicks off this weekend, so I highly recommend you start stocking up on Pints of Stout and recruiting new Mafia members as soon as possible. See you in Dublin.

FarmVille Halloween Limited Edition Item Showcase [Video]

If you're a FarmVille fan, you know that limited edition Halloween items have been flooding the game's in-game market, many of which cost Farm Cash. Most of these items are also animated (admit it -- they're pretty hard to resist) and you can see them in action in the video above.

Find more stories on our 2010 Halloween Guide for FarmVille, Mafia Wars & more.


Bookmark this site!

Cafe World Jack-O-Lantern invites spooky guests to your cafe

Cafe World Jack-O-Lantern
We haven't seen a full collection of Halloween decorations in Cafe World yet, but Zynga have given us some spooky-themed fun to get the ball rolling. If you log in to Cafe World tonight, you will be greeted with an offer to place the Jack-O-Lantern in your cafe. Once placed, it looks like a pumpkin that is half buried in the ground, and has a tooltip saying "Carve Me!". Clicking on the pumpkin will bring up the above window that allows you to request parts from your friends to carve your Jack-O-Lantern.

The Jack-O-Lantern is a little pumpkin man that will summon Halloween-themed guests into your cafe. Players so far are reporting that the guests aren't too obvious, but they will be named things like "Dracula" and "Werewolf". To carve a Jack-O-Lantern, you need to collect 8 each of Knives, Spoons, Markers, and Candles. You can also by Knifes/Spoons for 1 Cafe Cash, and Markers and Candles for 2 Cafe Cash. The finished pumpkin product is storable, so you can put him away when Halloween season has come to an end. For those who want instant gratification, you can also purchase the Jack-O-Lantern for 20 Cafe Cash.

CityVille Cheats & Tips: Getting Started Guide

It's time to set out on another adventure and travel to the far away lands of CityVille. Zynga's new city-building game puts you at the head of a small country town. After becoming mayor, you'll construct businesses, spread franchises, build homes, and even do a little farming. CityVille is full of great features, but this can often be a little overwhelming. Fortunately, our CityVille Cheats & Tips: Getting Started guide aims to help your city quickly develop into a budding metropolis.

Continue reading to check out our brief CityVille Cheats & Tips: Getting Started Guide to help you get started building your own city.

Getting Started
cityville cheats getting started guide
CityVille uses the standard XP, Coins, Cash, and Energy formula found in most Facebook games. You use up Energy doing tasks around your city, and you gain XP and Coins from completing these tasks. Get enough XP and you'll level up. Leveling up opens up new businesses, houses, decorations, and more for you to build in your city. Finally, Cash can be bought and is used to buy premium items, services, and to opt out of sending requests to your friends.

However, CityVille does mix things up by including Goods. Before you can collect Coin payments from your businesses, you must use Goods to stock up your store, so it's important to have a strong supply. Goods can be obtained through shipments and by harvesting crops (more on that later).
cityville cheats getting started guide

Houses & Community Buildings
In CityVille, you'll need to construct houses in order for your city to grow. Building houses will allow more people to move in, and allow you to collect more housing payments. However, your city has a maximum population limit, and as your city's population approaches the max, the citizens will get progressively unhappier.

To raise the maximum potential population, you have to build Community Buildings such as a City Hall or a Post Office. In addition to using up some Energy, these buildings require several of your friends to help by becoming employees. The alternate option is to pay 1 Cash per every position you need filled.
cityville cheats getting started guide
Businesses & Franchises
Constructing businesses is crucial to the prosperity of your CityVille City. Businesses, once unlocked, must be built and stocked before they can start making money.

A business can be turned into a franchise by building it your friends' towns. Once you have a chain going, you can build the franchise HQ in your own town and start collecting extra Coins. You are paid more based on the number of stores your franchise has opened. Collect your bonuses at the HQ.

Complete Goals & Collections
Like other popular Facebook games, CityVille is loaded with goals to complete. Completing goals rewards you with a variety of extra Coins, XP, Energy and other surprises. At the beginning, goals are often tasks that you would be doing anyways. So when getting started with CityVille, it's best to do everything based on what goals you currently have, to get those added rewards.
cityville cheats getting started guide
While in CityVille and working on your town, special items sometimes pop out of buildings. These items make up collections. Collect one of each of the five objects from the same set, and you can trade them in for XP, Energy, Coins and more.
cityville cheats getting started guide
Farming & Shipments
CityVille also allows you to work the land. Farming is one of the ways you'll be able to maintain a constant supply of Goods. Build farm plots on the land, plant seeds, and harvest crops to receive XP and precious Goods. As always, make sure to harvest those crops on time.
cityville cheats getting started guide
The other way to earn the Goods that stock your businesses, earn you coins, and keep your town running, is by using shipments. After getting started and completing various goals, you'll be allowed to make shipments with the train. Shipments either allow you to buy or sell Goods from neighboring towns. The larger the transaction, the longer the train will take to return. As you progress through the game, new modes of shipping will become available for even more ways to collect Goods.

Neighbors & Friends
In CityVille, to turn your town into an urban metropolis, you're going to need a horde of friends to help you. Friends can be used for almost every task. When visiting a neighboring town, you'll be able to harvest crops, water seeds, collect rent, and help local businesses. As mentioned above, you can also create franchises and send trains to your friends' cities.

Another great tip is to watch your friends' walls and your Facebook news feed. Your friends are bound to post notices to their walls offering free XP, Coins, and Energy which can be extremely valuable when getting started with CityVille.
cityville cheats getting started guide
The world of CityVille has a ton of features and they can be overwhelming at first. Keeping track of goods, opening franchises, and collecting rent, all on a limited Energy supply can be incredibly difficult. So although our CityVille Cheats & Tips: Getting Started Guide covered many of the basics, check out our CityVille Cheats & Tips: Energy Guide for even more detailed CityVille help.

Play CityVille on Facebook >

FrontierVille Buildable Snowman: Everything you need to know

A new Winter Holiday item has appeared in the FrontierVille store today, and it comes in the form of a buildable Snowman. The Snowman is able to be built over time and then customized with the help of friends. We have all of the details you need to know about this new holiday item, so meet us behind the break to find out how you can add a touch of snowy magic to your frontier.

The Snowman base can be purchased from the FrontierVille store for 100 coins (95 coins, if you have learned the "Rithmatic" class in the School House, which gives you a discount on coin items in the market.

Once placed, you'll need to "tend" your tiny snow pile three times, each time receiving one of the three balls that makes up a Snowman. This costs just a single energy to tend the Snowman one time, so three energy in all.

Your snowman will come equipped with what appears to be lumps of coal serving as the buttons that run vertically down his "chest" area. From there, you'll work on finishing the Snowman in the same way that you would finish a building in the game, by collecting various ingredients with the help of friends.

Here, you'll need to collect 4 each of Coal, Carrot Noses, Top Hats, Wintery Scarves, Snowman Pipes, and Buttons. Three of these items (the Coal, Carrots and Hats) are earned by posting requests on your wall asking your friends to click on the wall post to send you the item (and receive one for themselves in return). Meanwhile, the Scarves, Pipes and Buttons are earned via the reverse gift requests method that has you sending an individual gift request to your FrontierVille neighbors to see if they will accept them, thereby giving you the item you need.

Luckily, even if you help a friend through a gift request, you will still receive a like-item in return, as a thank-you gift for helping them out. This should ensure that most users finish the Snowman quickly, and without too much difficulty.

Once completed, the Snowman can be customized just like you can customize other "building" objects in the game, in order to make your Snowman look unique when compared to those of your friends.

The Snowman will only stick around until the snow melts in FrontierVille, so build him fast before you lose your chance! (Note: The Snowman is apparently on a slow roll-out to users, so if you don't have access to buying one in the store just yet, be patient, as we're sure you'll receive your chance soon).

FarmVille Grey Goose now available to purchase in the market

In an interesting move, Zynga has released the Grey Goose formerly given out as a bonus for purchasing FarmVille Farm Cash to the market as a "regular" premium item.

Earlier this week, if you had taken the opportunity to purchase any Farm Cash package, this Grey Goose would've been give to you for free, but as that was a limited time opportunity (that has since expired), if you want to get your hands on this interesting bird, you'll have to pay Farm Cash, to the total of 16 Farm Cash, to be exact.

It's also interesting to see the Grey Goose listed as a limited edition item - part of the new Winter Holiday theme of items. While the Goose doesn't scream either Winter or Holidays for that matter, we'll give Zynga the benefit of the doubt on this one.

You've got 14 days to add this Grey Goose to your animal collection in the game, so make sure to take advantage of its release while you can.

FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Lighted Train, Candy Gate, Arch & Fence

What better way to begin the winter holiday celebration than to purchase some new decorative items in FarmVille? There are four new decorations, to be exact, with most of these items allowing you to create a completely separated, yet themed area on your farm this winter.

First, though, there is the Lighted Train, a individual item that costs 22 Farm Cash. If you have the Lighted Gift Box from last year's celebration, you'll recognize the design of the train (which comes with the engine, one car and a caboose connected), as it is bright blue, with animated flashing lights that make it appear as though the train is moving, just as the Lighted Gift Box flashes lights on its ribbon.

The other items are those I spoke of earlier - those items that will help you truly set your other Winter Holiday items apart, in the form of fences and other dividers. It should be noted, though, that these items will be familiar to those who were playing FarmVille at this time last year, as they were available then as well. The items are the Candy Gate, which costs 7 Farm Cash, the Candy Arch, priced at 2,000 coins, and a single piece of Candy Fencing, which costs just 800 coins.

Take special note of the Candy Fencing price - normally, themed pieces of fencing cost at least 5,000 coins per square, so this is a definite bonus for those who want to create an expansive Winter / Christmas themed area on their farms this winter.