Happy Island is all about making the ultimate vacation spot. You begin the game with a desolate, tropical island sporting an airstrip and a few other establishments. After naming your island, it's up to you how to proceed.

You'll have to build and upgrade new attractions and buildings, decorate the island, and keep it clean in order to win over the hearts of tourists (and if they're somehow still grumpy after all that, you can persuade them to stay by buying them a drink).

Although Happy Island is often overshadowed by bigger games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars, the game is really great! We'll admit it may be a little slow at first, but it picks up and before you know it, you'll own a fun-filled (money-making) tropical resort.

This week it seems Happy Island is combining the Olympics and the Chinese New Year into one awesome item release. Not only can you get the Olympic Flame, there are a number of other goodies (including a dragon!) to place around your island that will infinitely increase its awesomeness.


The new items are: Olympic Flame(45 Facebook Credits), Misplaced Foot (29 Facebook Credits), Hedginator (7 Facebook Credits), Qin's General (5 Facebook Credits), Terracotta Warrior (1,299 Coins), Ozymandias (13,400 Coins), and the Winged Lion of Calah (12,800 Coins). All pictured above.

Like all Facebook games, Happy Island is free to play so it's worth checking out. If you dig the island resort theme but maybe don't love Happy Island, Tiki Resort is another great island game preferred by some of us.

So check them out and let us know what you think!

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It seems that FarmVille wasn't horsing around with the "Arborists" and "Farmhands" specials after all.


Because a new Ribbon called "Horse Power" has been added to the game (see our complete FarmVille Ribbon Achievements Guide), which tasks you with collecting random "Consumable Buffs" from your horse stable. So acquiring these "Buffs" isn't any different than getting Mystery Eggs from the Chicken Coops, or Calves from the Dairy Farm.

28. Horse Power
Task: Harvest "Consumable Buffs" from your Horse Stable
- 5 buffs, yellow ribbon
- 10 buffs, white ribbon
- 15 buffs, red ribbon
- 100 buffs, blue ribbon

And guess what? These "Consumable Buffs" are the much coveted "Arborists" and "Farmhands". So if you want 'em without having to fork over 5 FarmVille Cash, rally your neighbors and finish building those horse stables!

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Remember how awesome it was when FarmVille brought us the Tractor for plowing, the Seeder for planting, and the Harvester for... well, harvesting crops? Now imagine similar options for harvesting your trees and collecting from your animals, except you've gotta pay up some of that FarmVille cash for the privilege. That's what the new "Arborists" and "Farmhands" specials are, and you can buy them from the "Upgrade Farm" tab of the FarmVille market.



But caveat emptor, farmers! Because unlike the Tractor, Seeder, and Harvester, these new options cost 5 FV Cash and can only be used once! At least with the "3 Unwithers", the name and description of that item makes it clear that you'll get exactly three uses out of it. (Then again, you would look twice at the description when a thing costs 30 FV Cash.)

Is a one-time use at 5 FV Cash worth it in the long-run? Was it disingenuous of the game makers to tout the "harvest all of your XYZ with a single action!" instead of the single use aspect of these items? All I know is this, for the poor folks who paid up before realizing the short-term advantage, it certainly feels like a rip-off.

Hopefully, as the fanbase grows and farms get larger, Zynga will come up with a more cost-effective option for players.

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Another day, another bogus group promising free coins and items for our favorite social games. The latest scam is from a Facebook group called 'FarmVille rare items,' which makes it sound like a way to score rare items for your farm. Of course, that's not the case. Any 'gifts' friend send you is just a picture of a rare item, but nothing that can actually be placed on your virtual farm.





This application is not affiliated with FarmVille creator Zynga in any way and is largely believed to be a way to trick players into giving strangers access to their personal information, which can then be used for ... well, god only knows. We strongly recommend avoiding any program that promises 'free' anything in FarmVille (or any other social game, for that matter). Just like anything -- if it sounds too good, it probably is...

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Happy Pets expands their family of critters yet again. In addition to the cats, dogs, turtles, hamsters, jackalopes and bunnies, ducks are now up for adoption in Happy Pets. Just like the other animals, they come in a variety of colors.

Raising a duck is different from raising a cat or dog. From a young age, pet ducks need heat lamps, shelter, space and most importantly: friends. A duck is a very social animal and loves having company. Fortunately, that just applies to real-life ducks and not the ones in the game.

In Happy Pets, your duck won't require as much care, but will naturally have tons of friends, a yard to run around in and plenty to eat, provided you sign in and feed the little guy(s). Like the rabbits, ducks don't eat out of a bowl. To feed your duck: "get food in the Store. Click on the Can icon. Click on the arrow above the Duck once. Some corn will drop down and your Duck will eat it You will earn XP for feeding your Duck."

Like hamsters bunnies and turtles, these one-of-a-kind pets don't come cheap and are available for Facebook Credits only. The brown, white and yellow ducks cost 24 Credits (roughly $2) and the black and pink ducks cost 52 Credits (roughly $5).

Is a duck a worthy addition to your Happy Pets family? Check them out for yourself.

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Even though the game is called Happy Pets, a few animals in the game are anything but happy. That includes the "poor orphan Tiger-striped kitten," which is lost, sad and ready for adoption. The kitten popped up in our game today, and we hit publish to let our friends give this droopy eyed furball a new home.



Also worth nothing: the cat is Tiger-striped in honor of -- you guessed it -- Chinese New Year. Happy Year of the Tiger, everyone.

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While you can't light an Olympic torch with it, Happy Aquarium has released the athletic Firefish in homage to the present Winter games. A popular and beautiful addition to saltwater aquariums, Firefish are carnivorous and known to be "tank jumpers" due to their skittish personality. Now available for players Level 11 and up.


For players Level 36 and up, there's the Beaked Leatherjacket at a pricey 735 Coins! Another tropical saltwater fish, Leatherjackets are all over the Indo-Pacific oceans, but you can easily find one hanging out in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

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Seriously, Happy Aquarium, it's a little too late for Chinese New Year and far too early to be prepping for a vacation at the beach. Either way, you can now buy sandcastles, shovels, umbrellas and a tiger perched on a rock to decorate your tanks. Check out the eight new items in the image above.

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As FarmVille on Facebook nears 80 million monthly players -- and continues to attract more players -- it looks like the farming game won't go to seed anytime soon. That was further punctuated when the game won 'Social Networking Game of the Year" at the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Vegas last night.

Other nominees for this category included Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap, Farm Town from Codebell and Playfish's Restaurant City. Even though FarmVille was a 'no duh' choice for this award, we're happy to see that all of these social games were represented (in their own category, no less) at this influential industry event.



Casual Game of the Year went to Flower for PlayStation 3, a surreal game where you control the wind as it blows flower petal over different environments, which change appearance as you interact with them. Flower edged out PopCap's addictive Plants vs. Zombie, a surprise choice considering how many gamers -- both 'core' and casual -- flocked to the tower defense-style game on PC, Mac and, recently, iPhone as well.

Sony action/adventure game Uncharted 2 for PlayStation 3 swept the AIAS awards, taking home the big prize as Game of the Year, as well as 'Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction' and 'Adventure Game of the Year' 'Outstanding Achievement in Animation,' among others. Looks like things are heating up for PlayStation 3 after all.

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More exquisite antiques and beautiful Roman Statues have been released for FishVille. So while Happy Aquarium fans can stack their props into aquatic skyscrapers, those more fond of FishVille can take a classier approach to tank decor. Our once bare tank is now a regular tribute to an age gone by, with masterpieces over 2,000 years old. The selection of fine art includes a Medusa Statue, a Discus Thrower, and a Venus Statue.

For antique aficionados, FishVille has also added new items such as the Rusty Anchor, Metal Pipe, Neptune, and the Sunken Bell.


What makes these rather ordinary sounding pieces valuable antiques? Time. These decorations increase in value the longer you have them in your tank. Zynga reminds us to "be sure to watch them closely and sell them when they are at their best value!"

So whether you're starting or continuing a collection, check out these new must-have pieces.

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New Valentine's items have hit the shelves at the Furniture Store, and this time it's with your bathroom in mind. Two different sets as to keep with the Lovers/Heartbreakers theme. Items include showers/tubs, sinks, medicine cabinets, towel racks, and bath mats.

The showers/tubs, medicine cabinets, bath towels, and the broken heart bath mat are in coins while sinks and the red heart bath mat are in yocash.

Head to the furniture store to get yours today!

This article was originally posted by Jamie on YoVille Lounge.

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Can't be a winter sports athlete? Well now you can dress like one YoVille. Visit the Clothing Store and check the latest winter sports fashion. Everything you need to become a skier or skater is there.

Unfortunately, you can not earn your medals. You have to buy them! Get a gold medal for 20YoCash, a silver one for 10 YoCash and a bronze one for 5 YoCash.

This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

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Zynga added three delicious Chinese dishes. Yes, once again YoVille added more food to the furniture store. If you're new to town, don't be surprised. Our developers like to do that.

Bon appetit!

This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

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With the Winter Olympics in Vancouver underway, Cafe World has chosen a great time to get everyone's flag-waving on.

Eighty-two nations are at the Winter Olympics this year, but Cafe World only has 22 flags unfurled at the moment. Each flag costs 16 Cafe Cash. We're hoping they'll add more flags later. But for now, check out the full preview below and see if your country's one of them!



1) Turkey
2) Australia
3) United Kingdom
4) Canada
5) France
6) Germany
7) Norway
8) Singapore
9) Denmark
10) Italy
11) Sweden
12) USA
13) Greece
14) Indonesia
15) Spain
16) Belgium
17) Philippines
18) Malaysia
19) Thailand
20) Portugal
21) Mexico
22) India

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Now that the Valentines Day is gone, Mafia Wars is no longer allowing us to collect love from our Mafia, but instead we can get respect from the gifts they send us. In this article I'll tell you all the details about the Mafia Wars Respect.

Respect is the new feature that works hand in hand with the Gift Safe House - you can ask for gifts from your Mafia (and they can send you either respect or disrespect, so make sure you don't spam them too much) and you can also send some to your mafia. Every time you open a present your respect meter goes 10% up and every time the gift has disrespect in, it goes down 5%. Once you reach 100% respect, you are rewarded with an item - and apparently there are more respect levels for you to fill, probably with upgraded items.

Therefore, for completing the first level of Mafia Wars respect, you will get one limited edition loot item, the Switchblade. It's a pretty poor item, with 14 Attack and 16 Defense, but it's very likely that the higher level respect items are a lot better!

This article originally appeared on Social Games Help.

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FarmVille cash cards powered by Fast Card are now available for purchase at Gamestop. This is good news for those of you who do not have credit cards or Paypal or who have credit cards/PayPal but would rather purchase farm cash via another method.

Purchasing a FarmVille cash card (or Fast card) will give you access to special exclusive items, assuming that means those items in the FarmVille Market that require farm cash to obtain.

It seems the very few who have already purchased these FarmVille Game Cards have gotten early access, as the cards cannot yet be activated. It is possible that Gamestop may have released them before their actual intended release date. However, the FarmVille cards similar to other Zynga Game Cards already released, such as YoVille, appear to be legitimate and also include Zynga's Terms of Service printed on the back.

For those of you that cannot yet activate your FarmVille cards, hold on to them as Zynga is expected to address this situation or add the function to use these cards soon.



This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

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It's hard to consider living the thug life without the fringe benefits, and one of those is handling flashy cars. Mafia Wars takes a step in the right direction by offering a new must-have New York property -- the Chop Shop.

Much like the FarmVille horse stables, this chop shop needs to be built with certain materials, and those can only be acquired as gifts from Mafia Wars friends. What does it take to build this operation? Ten of each of the following items: cement blocks, power tools, car lift, acetylene torches and shipping containers.



Of course, the key here is to give in order to receive (c'mon, don't be shy) -- so players will have two free giftable chop shop items to send to friends, which will rotate every week.



Once the Chop Shop is complete -- it will produce some sweet rides that will help make completing missions that much easier. Some of those listed are two common cars -- the Zhar-ptitsa Sedan and an Armored Limo -- and a rare car -- the CM Dragon.

Since the recent changes to the New York properties, some virtual mobsters have been shut out of buying properties -- and building this Chop Shop -- entirely. Apparently, it will take a few weeks for players who were property free prior to the update to be folded into the new property system.

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Deciding to be a Facebook fan of Restaurant City pays off -- again -- as Playfish's restaurant simulation game continues to shower loyalists with free ingredients for their places of business.

Today, fans can pick up a free orange, which is an 'I'm sorry' gift for recent technical problems in the game.

To claim your free orange, simply click this link: http://bit.ly/c9be5o, which will open the game and a pop up that confirms receipt. Right now, oranges can only be used to make orange juice, and since it only requires on orange to make -- you've basically just added a new drink to the menu. Bottoms up!

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