CityVille Cheats and Tips: How Decorations Earn You More Coins

CityVille decorations increase bonus to 231%
While efficient Goods management and mastering your Franchises in CityVille will certainly make you a far more successful mayor, one player has pointed out an extremely important aspect of the game that has the potential to send your profits sky high by implementing some hardcore decorating methods.

You can see in the image above, Josh Morlan (a.k.a. morlanjo) has done his math, using the Pool Hall as his example, he calculated that:

    Normal Pool Hall output: 420 coins
    Output with bonus: 1391 coins
    1 energy = 1391 coins
    Each Charlieville train I send out for more goods nets me 991 coins (that's
    -400 coins for the 100 production)

Basically, collecting money from businesses will always cost 1 Energy (Note: Resupplying businesses with goods doesn't use up Energy!). So he decided to choose a business that will pay him the most money and raise its profits by surrounding it with decorations that offer the biggest boosts. For most folks, that big boost decoration would be the Arboretum, which offers +16% and costs 4,000 Coins. In the top image, you can see he's also using the Bronze Statue (+2%) and Flower Patch (+1%) to plug any leftover space. Why is there space leftover? Well, your business needs to connect to the Asphalt Roads in order to make money. Between his Bronze Statues, you can see the small strip of Sidewalk that lets the Pool Hall connect to the street.

After all these changes, each Energy Josh spends on the Pool Hall will now nab him 1,391 Coins instead of 420 Coins. The great thing about this setup is that you can reuse the Arboretum on the sides by putting down another business. You can also swap out the business for a higher paying one when it becomes available. (Hot Tip: The bonus boosts work for when you collect, so you can use this decoration plan on more than one business. You just gotta do it one at a time.) This seems to be the best Energy-saving and money-making plan for the long run.
Macoan's CityVille 4x4 decorations chart
Another user, Michael A. Coan (a.k.a. macoan) made some handy charts to help other players with laying down decorations. For businesses that take up a 4x4 space (such as Josh's Pool Hall), click here. For those that use up 3x3, click here.

Who would've thought that having less businesses and more decorations can get you more money?

CityVille: Help choose which building(s) will be released next!

As CityVille has already been launched into the #5 spot on the overall Facebook app leaderboards, it's not surprising that Zynga is looking to expand the amount of content in the game. What's more, they've decided to give us, the real players of the game, a chance to help shape and influence the content that will be added in the coming days and weeks. This comes, first and foremost, in the form of a new poll on the official CityVille forums, where users can look at a variety of possible new buildings that may or may not be added to the game, and vote for their favorites.

As of right now, there are just five buildings to choose from, and you'll need to login to the forums in order to vote (a simply login with Facebook Connect will allow you to vote with the least amount of hassle). The choices are:

Power Plant
Gas Station
Prison
Parking Lot
Casino

As of this writing, the post has only been open for a matter of hours, and the Casino is winning with almost 46% of the vote. Second is the gas station with 24%, and the other options decrease from there. For the sake of the argument, the Parking Lot is in last place currently, with just 7% of the vote.

Interestingly, Zynga has made clear whether these items would be classified as businesses or community buildings. While it's presumable that items like the Casino and Gas Station would be released as businesses alongside the current options like the Toy Store or Diner, the Prison could very well be a community building, allowing you to add more population to your town (after all, the Police Station is a community building, so why stop there?).

We don't know when the winning item will be added to the game, but keep checking back with us, as we'll make sure you're the first to know which item wins, and when we'll see it in the game (personally, we're hoping for the Casino, so we're glad we're not alone in that vote).

CityVille: HQ Payouts doubled, game balance tweaked, bugs fixed

Almost a week has gone by since Zynga released their first major game upgrade for CityVille, providing for a Bonus Meter that's easier to fill, resulting in more profits for users, and a streamlined storage bar, that now contains both ship and overall Goods in one total (among other changes and improvements), but they haven't stopped there.

The developer has now announced an even larger list of changes that have taken place in the game this week (including one once again affecting the Bonus Meter), with some of these actually working to hurt the very rapid progress users have been experiencing since the game's launch.

As usual, we have the full list of improvements and changes behind the break, so meet us there, won't you?
First and foremost - the good news. The first bit of good news it the fact that HQ payout bonuses have now been doubled. That's right, from now on, when collecting from your Franchise HQs (not those franchises that your friends have added to your town - the actual Franchise skyscraper(s) you have in your town), you'll earn double the coins as before. With coins being perhaps the most valuable commodity in the game (aside from maybe energy), anyway to earn bonus coins is definitely appreciated.

Next, a bit of bad news. When supplying your franchises, you'll no longer receive bonus energy. While energy hasn't really been an issue for most users, who can play the game in five or ten minute sessions and never run out, this might become a bit harder to do, as this bonus energy is no more. Zynga says the reasoning behind this alteration was to "improve game balance," so we'll have to see how that works out for them.

As for Quests, earning items for your quests will now be easier thanks to the altered time limit for posting item requests. At launch, the request window was "once every 24 hours." Now though, players can now post item requests for items (like Chocolates, Endorsements, and the like, depending on the Quest) once every four hours.

Two other improvements come in the form of tweaked train values, which sees the amount of coins required for each amount of good when sending off your trains being altered slightly, and in the form of a changed Bronze Statue Payout Bonus. The Bronze Statue is a decorative item available to purchase from the store. Now, though, the payout bonus that you receive from the Bronze Statue has been reduced, again, as Zynga says, to help improve game balance.

While this is already a lot of changes to take in, there are even more general bug fixes to speak of, ranging from improving the texts in wall posts, to lessening the amount of Out of Sync errors that a player could potentially run into while performing certain (at the time) bugged activities. Here's the list of bug fixes, straight from Zynga:

        Collections Feed Posts - Collections feed posts now correctly states "Get 50 coins".
        Bonus Meter - Fixed/adjusted bonus meter payouts, and issues related to bonus meter progression.
        OOS errors when supplying franchises - Fixed the issue that was causing OOS errors when supplying franchises.
        Friends listed on the requests page - Requests of the same type can only be sent to the same friend once per day; fixed the issue where friends were still appearing on the list, which was causing some of the gifts/requests related issues.
        Franchise HQ displayed payout bonus - Fixed the issue where franchise HQ payout bonuses were being displayed incorrectly.
        Quest: Build City Funds - Resolved the issue with requesting "Capital Endorsements".
        XP Discrepancy - Fixed a discrepancy between XP being added and XP shown, which was causing OOS errors after leveling
        Coin Discrepancy - Fixed a discrepancy between coins being added when collecting from businesses to the coins shown, which was causing the appearance of losing coins after refreshing the game and OOS errors when spending coins which were not being counted.

As we said at the beginning of this post, we can now see that the Bonus Meter has been altered yet again (seems they haven't been able to strike a nice balance as of yet). However, instead of changing the overall amount of coins that are awarded (like with the first change of the meter), we now see its progression being altered. That is, after the first week, teh meter would stick at the "Masterful," and would slowly fill, if it ever actually filled at all. This resulted in one large sum of bonus coins being awarded (in my game the bonus was always somewhere around 4,000+ coins.

Now, though, the Masterful bar fills just as quickly as the others, and once it is completely full, the bonus levels cycle back around to the first stage of "Bonus," and continues from there. In this way, you may receive four 1,000 coin bonuses instead of one large 4,000 coin bonus, which is actually fine with us. Hopefully this is how the meter will stay too, as we really like all of those bonus coins that we've been getting.

CityVille Cheats and Tips: Guess What? You Don't Need Roads!

There's two schools of thought when it comes to the best way to play CityVille -- that is, whether looking pretty and saving land is more important than cramming things to the hilt and saving Energy. Right now, the prevailing wisdom of players is to value Energy-saving over land space. Today, we already showcased an awesome way to save Energy by using decorations. But if you find yourself running out of space more than Energy, here's some pointers:
CityVille Franchise HQ bonus
1. Franchise HQs don't need Roads to work. They take up 5x5 of space, which is a lot, but you need them to manage your franchises. Most people put these buildings off to the side, but they offer a +2% boost range of 11x11 to businesses. (You can see from the sample image that one HQ can bonus boost up to five businesses.) So put 'em where you can use their bonus boosting power!
CityVille Community Buildings
2. Community buildings (e.g. Post Office, Police, City Hall, etc.) and Storage buildings (e.g. Silo, Red Barn, Sticks, etc.) don't need roads either. Community buildings give out money and owning them allows you to have a bigger population. And Storage buildings let you have more goods. But other than that, these are pretty useless. Profit bonuses from decorations don't work on them. So if you have to put a building in the corner, do it to these two kinds!
CityVille Roads versus Sidewalks
3. Contrary to the headline of this post, roads are important. We all know certain buildings can't earn coins unless they're somehow touching the roads. So what do I mean when I say you don't need them? Well, the game starts you off with some Asphalt Roads already in place. This means most of us are tempted to keep using them, so we buy more for 10 Coins each. But a better substitute is actually the City Sidewalk, which costs 20 Coins. If you care about space, one Asphalt Road takes up 3x3 land, but one City Sidewalk takes up just 1x1 land. Instead of connecting your buildings by using the Asphalt Road, use the City Sidewalk!

(Note: A piece of City Sidewalk must be touching a piece of Asphalt Road to work. See the above image where I put down one piece of road in the middle of nowhere, connected the Sidewalks to it, and the businesses are functional? And that one Coffee Shop has some Sidewalk sticking out of it, but the game says it's "Not connected to road.")

CityVille Cheats and Tips: How to move, sell and delete items

cityville cheats move items
cityville cheats how to move itemsIf you've been playing CityVille for a while, you know the importance of moving and deleting items. Moving decorations and organizing your buildings can earn you thousands of extra coins for very little energy. Unfortunately though, many people just aren't sure how to move or delete their items. This makes decorating and reorganizing your CityVille city a daunting task. Fortunately for you, moving and deleting items is extremely simple. Unlike other city building games like Millionaire City, CityVille lets you move items for free, no money, bots, or cheats required.

To move an item, building, decoration, or some other CityVille structure, simple click on the arrow or cursor button at the bottom right of the screen (pictured above). It can be found above the 'Build' button and left of the button that contains your Inventory, Collections, and Franchises.

Click the cursor button and a menu will open allowing you to either move, rotate, or sell an item. When you're done moving items, click the Stop icon where the cursor icon used to be. Simple.

CityVille: Zynga announces upcoming changes - more expansions, business renaming and more

Over on the official CityVille forums, Zynga has announced a series of new features and items that will be coming to the massive city-building game in the future. These additions or changes are those that users have been calling for once, and I have a feeling you'll like what they have to say.

So far, a list of confirmed "features in the works" include:

A bridge over the river to expand your city even further
Ability to change your city's name
Ability to change your business names
Franchise improvements

We're not quite sure what "franchise improvements" Zynga actually has in mind, but we'll let you know when we learn more. Meet us behind the break for a look at the other items Zynga has promised.
In addition to new features or gameplay changes, four new item themes are being created for additional decorations or even buildings that may be released in the future. These themes are:

Little Italy
AsiaTown
Nightlife District
Beach Boardwalk

Again, there's no telling when these features and new item themes will officially be released in the game. They very well may be full of businesses, homes, and decorations, or they could just be a series of decorative items - only time will tell at this point.

Remember to keep checking back with us in the future, as you'll be the first to know when Zynga starts launching these many additions in the futur

CityVille: Observatory, Music Store, & Furniture Store now available

If you're one that likes having at least one of each kind of business and community building in your town in CityVille, get ready to bust out your virtual pocketbook, as Zynga has released two entirely new businesses and one community building (which are all incredibly pricey) to the game's store.

The two businesses are the Music Store and the Furniture Store. Both cost 200,000 coins each, and both come with a population requirement that must be met before even having access to purchase them in the first place. You must have at least 7500 citizens in your town to unlock the Music Store, while you must have 6500 for the Furniture Store. The Music Store produces 910 coins for every 170 Goods you supply it, while the Furniture Store produces 864 coins for every 160 Goods supplied.

As for the Observatory, it too costs 200,000 coins to build, and as a community building grants you access to having 1900 more citizens in your city. However, to build the Observatory, you must first have 6500 citizens in your town to unlock it in the store.

Luckily, none of these items have level requirements, so if you've been saving up the coins (and have enough people living in your town) feel free to purchase them right now and adding a bit of culture to your town.

CityVille Cheats and Tips: Energy Stockpiling 101

Energy!
Many players see the rampant Energy gain in CityVille as one of its major flaws, because it allows the game to move too rapidly. But guess what, we're stuck with it for the time being, and there are plenty of ways to essentially play the game when and how you want--for free. No more of that buying Batteries nonsense. When forum member Provincia asked how high players could increase their Energy by, the responses were staggering. Yet not impossible. In fact, shooting your Energy level into three-digits territory is easy.

1. Send and you shall receive
The best way to get Energy is to send it. So, when there is nothing else to send your friends, send them +3 Energy Batteries. There's a high chance that they will return the favor. Stow these away for a rainy day. I've seen players reach over 300 Energy using just this method.

2. Go green
Not literally, but be smart about your Energy use. If you have particularly helpful friends, leave the costly stuff to them and only collect from properties that reward Energy. Just about every Community Building has a chance of dropping Energy. Actions while visiting friends cost zero Energy, so return the favor to them. If everyone involved understands that everyone else is trying to conserve Energy, then all is well.

Batteries!
3. Collections rock
There are a few Collections in the game that reward players with Energy when turned in. That said, I'd recommend only dealing with buildings that result in Energy-yielding Collections. These would include the Coffee Shop, Hot Cocoa Shop, Toy Store, Videogame Store, Pool Hall, Tavern, Corner Store, Tofu Burger and plenty more. Just check the Collections section of the game to find out what you should be running if you want to maximize Energy through Collections.

4. Visit early and often
Your friends are valuable to you, no? Then pay them a visit every once in a while. Actually, visit them a lot! Every time you visit them you will be rewarded with one Energy. If they're a brand new friend, it's five Energy for the first time you help them out. Which leads us to ...

5. Vicarious and gregarious
Make lots of new friends. Like, all the time. For every new friend you make, that's five Energy in your pocket for visiting them. Better yet, leading the vicarious CityVille life through even more players means even more Energy conserved. (While returning the favor, of course.) While I wouldn't personally recommend this due to Franchise issues and whatnot, cycling friends could be an easy way of amassing Energy.

And there you have it. Congratulations, you've passed Energy Stockpiling 101. Enjoy playing the game indefinitely, and we'll see you in about three weeks. Don't forget hygiene!

[Image Credit: Fire Faux]

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

Upgrading the CityVille Wedding Hall: Everything you need to know

CityVille Wedding Hall Upgrade
"You know, that Wedding Hall isn't big enough," the Zynga team agreed upon during a CityVille meeting. "Let's make into a wedding multiplex!" And thus, the Wedding Hall upgrades in CityVille were born. The steps for upgrading the Wedding Hall into a Wedding Skyscraper aren't much different from previous upgrades to CityVille community buildings like the Emergency Clinic and the Bank. However, Boosting your Wedding Hall to Level 3 will give it a new look, increase its Energy drops from collection and give it a chance to drop Sunglasses upon collection. (Isn't a church enough for you people?)


CityVille Wedding Hall Upgrade window

Wedding Hall readyBefore we get into what's required, here are some pointers on the new Wedding Hall. You are allowed more than one Wedding Hall in your city, though you can only upgrade one Wedding Hall at a time. Also, if you delete a Wedding Hall, that will restart the upgrade process should you ever want to get back into the matrimony business.

Once you reach 700 or more population in your city, you'll have the option to upgrade your Wedding Hall to Level 2. Just click on the ready Wedding Hall (as pictured) and select the relevant option.

Wedding Hall Level 2 (700 Population)

    Provides 200 Population
    More Energy when collecting
    Chance for Sunglasses when collecting


Once you do that, the above window will appear, requiring you to add six new crew members to your existing crew in the Wedding Hall. To bring in new friends, just click on the green "Hire Friends" button and you'll be whisked away to the familiar friend request screen. (Of course, you can always shell out City Cash.) Boosting the Wedding Hall to Level 2 gives you an extra 200 Population, increase the Energy you receive when collecting and adds a chance for Sunglasses to drop when you collect.

Wedding Hall Level 3Wedding Hall Level 3 (2,250 Population)

    Provides 520 Population
    Even more Energy when collecting
    Higher chance for Sunglasses when collecting


Upgrading the Wedding Hall to Level 3 is more of the same, though you won't be able to get that wedding multiplex until you reach 2,250 or more Population. Again, click the building to make the same window appear, but this time you'll need to recruit eight more friends. So, now it's time to say, "I do ... want to upgrade the Wedding Hall."

[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]

Have you boosted your Wedding Hall in CityVille yet? What do you think of these upgrades to community buildings?

CityVille: Take to the field with new Sports-themed items

I hope you had your fill of the Farm theme in CityVille, as another theme has swooped in to steal the spotlight. To be specific, this new theme has to do with Sports, and there are tons of items available (some for coins, which is a plus) to allow your citizens to spend time in the great outdoors, living a fit and healthy lifestyle. As usual, we're here to give a complete look at what these items are, and (more importantly) how much they cost, so that you can be better prepared the next time you take on your role as Mayor.

Sports Hall of Fame (Community Building)

    Costs: 60 City Cash
    Raises Maximum Population Cap by 1800 citizens
    Available for: 6 Days


Kid on Unicycle (Decoration)

    Costs: 5,000 coins
    Payout Bonus: 1% to residences and businesses; extra 1% to Sports themed items
    Available for: 6 Days


Dodge Ball (Decoration)

    Costs: 27 City Cash
    Payout Bonus: 27% to residences and businesses; extra 27% to Sports theme
    Available for: 6 Days


Win Water Sports Drink (Crop)

    Costs: 4 City Cash per square
    Harvest Time: Instant
    Supplies: 360 Goods per square
    First Star of Mastery: 3 Harvests
    Available for: 6 Days


Archery Store (Business)

    Costs: 350,000 coins
    Requires: 335 Goods
    Earnings: 1781 coins
    Available for: 6 Days


Birdie Manor (Home)

    Costs: 30,000 coins
    Population: 170-320
    Rent: 19 coins every five minutes
    Available for: 6 Days


Healthy Home (Home)

    Costs: 10,000 coins
    Population: 130-250
    Rent: 231 coins every day
    Available for: 5 Days


Red Card Residence (Home)

    Costs: 65 City Cash
    Population: 1850-3650
    Rent: 461 coins every day
    Available for: 6 Days


Half-Pipe House (Home)

    Costs: 75 City Cash
    Population: 2350-4350
    Rent: 240 coins every eight hours
    Available for: 6 Days


Trophy Store (Business)

    Costs: 20,000 coins
    Requires: 260 Goods
    Earnings: 1445 coins
    Available for: 5 Days


Big Play Brewery (Business)

    Costs: 46 City Cash
    Requires: 335 Goods
    Earnings: 1781 coins
    Available for: 5 Days


Trampoline (Decoration)

    Costs: 11 City Cash
    Payout Bonus: 11% to businesses and residences; extra 11% to Sports theme
    Available for: 5 Days


Monkey Golf (Decoration)

    Costs: 120,000 coins
    Payout Bonus: 12% to businesses and residences; extra 12% to Sports theme
    Available for: 5 Days


Holland Hole in One (Decoration)

    Costs: 135,000 coins
    Payout Bonus: 12% to businesses and residences; extra 12% to Sports theme
    Available for: 5 Days


Pirate Putt Putt (Decoration)

    Costs: 27 City Cash
    Payout Bonus: 27% to businesses and residences; extra 27% to Sports theme
    Available for: 5 Days


Fencing School (Community Building)

    Costs: 55 City Cash
    Raises Maximum Population Cap by 1700 citizens
    Available for: 5 Days


On top of all of these items, there's also a Sports Mystery Crate available for 45 City Cash. If you purchase one, you'll be guaranteed one of four items: the Half-Pipe House, Red Card Residence, Fencing School or Big Play Brewery. This Mystery Crate will only be available for five days, so you'll need to decide fairly quickly if you want to risk receiving duplicates by purchasing multiple boxes, or if you'll purchase the four items individually.

As you can see, all of these items will be disappearing from the game rather quickly, so if you have any desire for them whatsoever, your best bet would be to purchase them now (even if it's just a few coin decorations), rather than waiting. Why? Well, there are few things worse than forgetting... and then regretting.

Will you purchase any of these Sports themed items before they expire from the store? What sort of theme of items do you hope Zynga releases next?

CityVille: Casa del Sol offers fun-in-the-sun living for a huge price

If you thought the Playa del Rey Apartments in CityVille were expensive, costing 75 City Cash for a population boost of 2,350 citizens (at least), try this newest building on for size. The Casa del Sol home is priced at 90 City Cash, and is also in the Mexican item theme, making it limited edition. Specifically, the Casa del Sol home will be in the game for 10 days (note that that's also one day less than the Playa del Rey Apartments).

Once you purchase the Casa del Sol, you'll have a home that starts with a whopping population of 3,000 citizens, and can be upgraded by collecting from the building (or your friends can collect from them as well; all upgrades drop randomly) to a staggering figure of 5,500 citizens. If you're looking for a quick way (albeit expensive way) to unlock that next expansion by reaching your next population goal without adding multiple homes to your town, this would definitely be an easy way to get that done. However, at a price this high, even I'm not sure it's worth it.

Still, I suppose the building's rent potential could raise its value. You'll receive 156 coins every hour if you're prompt enough to routinely collect your earnings, which would give you upwards of 3,000 coins daily, if you were really on top of things. Still, does that justify the current cost of over $11 US for this single building? I'll leave you to be the judge of that.

What do you think of the Casa del Sol in CityVille? Will you purchase one of the expensive homes for your city, or would you rather purchase multiple, cheaper buildings instead? Let us know in the comments.

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: Post your in-game achievements to the Facebook ticker

Here we are again, mayors. Another Zynga game is asking for additional permission to share your gameplay information with friends via the new Facebook ticker that appears along the right side of the screen when playing games on the site. First it was FarmVille, and now comes CityVille.

This "new permissions" set is at least far more detailed than the FarmVille request, which left many users wondering exactly what they were giving Zynga access to. Here, we're told straight up that by giving Zynga these additional permissions, you're simply allowing it to share your gameplay activity in the ticker (including achievements you've earned or goals you may have completed while playing) with your friends. Facebook apparently requires it to do so, so here we are.

You'll be able to give Zynga permission (or deny it) when you see a window like the one at right appear in your screen. From there, you can either hit "Allow" to let yourself appear in the ticker, or "Don't Allow" to keep yourself hidden. Your own gameplay experience won't change, and nothing in the game itself will change either. This all goes back to how much information you want to share with friends about your gameplay activity, all in the Facebook ticker. That being the case, feel free to choose whichever option you wish without the fear of penalty.

Will you allow Zynga to share your gameplay activity with your CityVille friends? What do you think of the Facebook ticker as a whole? 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.

CityVille VIP Gift feature rewards you for sending your friends gifts

A new incentive program has launched in CityVille, that will attempt to have you send all of your CityVille neighbors a "VIP Gift" in exchange for earning something yourself. Instead of being met with the free gifts page or any other menu upon loading the game, you'll instead be shown this page from time to time, giving you options for your free prize. Unfortunately, if you receive items like these, it's unlikely to do any good.

For an example of the prizes offered, we need look no further than my own game, where I was offered two Plaza Flowers or two Parking Lots for sending out these VIP Gifts. When approached with something like this yourself, you'll need to simply click on the Send button under one of the two (as seen below) to send all friends a VIP Gift, and earn your own rewards as promised. As for these VIP Gifts that you're sending, it seems as though they are nothing but those rewards that you have been offered yourself. It's either that, or all of my friends suddenly decided to send me Plaza Flowers and Parking Lots as their free gifts today, as my inbox was full of them!

This all being said, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the prizes offered. They're relatively inexpensive to purchase outright from the store, so why should I send out request after request to every friend that has ever played the game, knowing that many of them will be ignored, or that I risk annoying friends that have already quit playing, or have little use for these items? While that may be an over-complication of the situation, I guess it all boils down to wanting some exclusive items to make this worth our while. If Zynga decides to offer some, we'll make sure to let you know.

What do you think of this new VIP Gift feature? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille: Russian-themed items available for a limited time

After releasing Mexican-themed items in CityVille in celebration of the Mexican Independence Day, it looks like Zynga wasn't ready to leave the international travel behind just yet, as it has released a set of Russian items into the store. As usual, you can expect to find businesses, homes, decorations and more available here, so read on for a complete overview of these items.

Cosmonaut Statue (Decoration)

    * Costs: 10 City Cash
    * Payout Bonus: 10% - extra 10% to Russian-themed items


Baranovsky House (Home)

    * Costs: 500,000 coins
    * Population: 250-480
    * Rent: 110 coins every four hours


Balalaika Shop (Business)

    * Costs: 40 City Cash
    * Requires: 305 Goods
    * Earnings: 1,648 coins


Russian Tea Room (Business)

    * Costs: 30 City Cash
    * Requires: 265 Goods
    * Earnings: 1,468 coins


Winter Wheat (Crop)

    * Costs: 4 City Cash per square
    * Harvest Time: Instant
    * Produces: 127 Goods per square


Russian Hall (Community Building)

    * Costs: 75 City Cash
    * Allows: 2,250 citizens added to maximum population cap


Matryoshka Dolls (Decoration)

    * Costs: 10 City Cash
    * Payout Bonus: 10% - extra 10% to Russian-themed items


Caviar Shop (Business)

    * Costs: 65 City Cash
    * Requires: 430 Goods
    * Earnings: 2,198 coins


Rudzinskaya House (Home)

    * Costs: 25 City Cash
    * Population: 250-490
    * Rent: 120 coins every four hours


Ballet Company (Community Building)

    * Costs: 65 City Cash
    * Allows: 1,400 citizens added to maximum population cap


Russian Folk Dancers

    * Costs: 10 City Cash
    * Payout Bonus: 10% - extra 10% to Russian-themed items


Alexandrov Apartments (Home)

    * Costs: 55 City Cash
    * Population: 1,350-2,650
    * Rent: 165 coins every eight hours



Simcovich Apartments (Home)

    * Costs: 65 City Cash
    * Population: 1,850-3,650
    * Rent: 185 coins every eight hours


On top of all of this, there's also a Russia Mystery Crate available for 40 City Cash that contains one of four items: the Russian Hall, Simcovich Apartments, Alexandrov Apartments or the Balalaika Shop. Unfortunately, that wraps up the theme at this point, with all of these items being available ranging from 11 to 12 more days in the store. With only one coin-related item available, I personally really hope that more items are added in the future, or I doubt I'll be the only one that skips this theme altogether. Am I right?

What do you think of these Russian themed items? Would you purchase many of these items if they cost coins rather than City Cash? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Neighborhood Goals: Everything you need to know

To go along with the launch of the newNeighborhoods feature in CityVille, there's also a goal set to complete as well. If you remember, these Neighborhoods allow you to store homes for easier bulk access, and also just to generally save space (a huge factor in the game to this day). This goal series starts with one called Neighborhood Watch! (or, "On the House," if you prefer), which sees you simply placing a Neighborhood into your town to get used to the feature.

Neighborhood Watch!

• Build a Neighborhood
• Place 2 Residences into a Neighborhood

As we told you in our guide to Neighborhoods, they come in three varieties (currently) and range in price from 10,000 to 20,000 coins, depending on the kind of home you are trying to store (basic residences, apartments or vacation homes). Once you complete the construction of the Neighborhood, you'll be given these two storage spaces for free, so just fill them up and complete the goal! You'll receive a cute Garden Gnome decoration as a prize.

Block Party

• Ask for 6 Neighborhood Event Posters
• Place one more Residence into your Neighborhood
• Place a Garden Gnome Decoration

Luckily, there's a "Place" button right next to this final task, so you don't have to search through your inventory to find the Garden Gnome manually. In the meantime, you'll need to ask a single friend to help you open up that new slot in your Neighborhood so that you can store your third residence. Finally, the Event Posters can be earned by posting a general news item to your wall. For finishing this second goal, you'll receive a Family Home residence, which gives you 90-170 population.

Movin' On Up

• Unlock Block 2
• Fill Block 2

As we told you in our guide, to unlock the next block of your Neighborhood, you'll need to collect building materials with the help of friends. Once you've unlocked the second block, you'll also need to gather more staff to unlock the final slots on that block, and then fill it completely with homes. Finishing this goal gives you the Neighborhood Watch item, a watch-tower that takes up a 2x2 area on your land and provides a 5% bonus to surrounding buildings.

Welcome Wagon

• Ask for 8 Neighborhood Bake Sale Goodies
• Build a second Neighborhood
• Fill one Neighborhood

This goal will likely take you the longest to complete, as it requires collecting even more building ingredients than before, and even more staff to completely fill one neighborhood to its max of 15 houses. Finishing off this final goal of the series gives you the Deluxe Tree House.

All in all, these goals don't really require rushing, but as I'm sure most of you will likely want to build Neighborhoods for your own space-saving plans, you'll eventually finish them off with time.

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

What do you think of the Neighborhood feature in CityVille? Do you like the rewards for these goals? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille says Viva Mexico! with new Mexican themed items

To celebrate Mexican Independence, Zynga has launched a full theme of Mexican themed items inCityVille this afternoon. These items range from small decorations to large landmarks, so we'll make sure to give you a complete rundown on these items to know what to expect. Keep in mind, while they do have a longer time limit than usual at anywhere from 12-14 days (the usual being a week), they will eventually vanish from the store, so do some shopping sooner, rather than later. Here's what's available:

Ice Cream Cart (Decoration)

• Costs: 5,000 coins
• Payout Bonus: 3% to surrounding businesses and homes; bonus 3% to Mexico themed items

Guerrero Residence (Home)

• Costs: 40 City Cash
• Population: 600-1200
• Rent: 296 coins every 18 hours

Sombrero Store (Business)

• Costs: 6,800 coins
• Requires: 170 Goods
• Supplies: 1,024 coins

Garcia House (Home)

• Costs: 13,500 coins
• Population: 120-240
• Rent: 18 coins every five minutes

Watch Tower (Decoration)

• Costs: 24 City Cash
• Payout Bonus: 24%; bonus 24% to Mexican themed items

Mayan Pyramid (Decoration)

• Costs: 72,000 coins
• Payout Bonus: 12%; bonus 12% to Mexican themed items
• Not Limited Edition!

Morelos Fort (Community Building)

• Costs: 70 City Cash
• Allows: 2,000 citizens added to max population cap

Hacienda de Dolores (Home)

• Costs: 65 City Cash
• Population: 1850-3650
• Rent: 451 coins every 3.1 days

House of Churros (Business)

• Costs: 40 City Cash
• Requires: 305 Goods
• Supplies: 1648 coins

On top of all of this, there's also a Mexico Mystery Crate available for 40 City Cash that contains one of four items: the Morelos Fort, Hacienda de Dolores, Guerrero Residence or House of Churros. Sure, you'd get two items from this crate at a discounted price, but remember that there's no guarantee you won't receive duplicates when purchasing more than one crate. That is, if you're going for both the Hacienda and the Fort, you may very well end up with two House of Churros instead.

Either way, we'll make sure to let you know if other items are added in this Mexican Independence celebration theme, but we wouldn't be surprised if it's a one-time-deal.

What do you think of this new theme of items? Which ones have you purchased for your town and which ones will you skip? Sound off in the comments.