Probably in anticipation of the new Tim Burton film, Playfish's Country Story has released new items in homage to the classic 19th Century story by Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland". And I say homage, because Alice herself, has been renamed "Girly Rabbit" and the Cheshire Cat is now called "Lazy Cat". The narcoleptic Dormouse from the Mad Hatter's tea party is called "Mouse in Kettle" and actually pops his head in and out of the pot! Honestly, these characters have never been cuter; Country Story has always had that innocent and doe-eyed anime style to it.

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FarmVille is more than just an ultra-popular farming simulation -- it's a chance to express yourself artistically through unique and creative farm layouts. To that end, Games.com's FarmVille Picture of the Day features some of the most interesting and imaginative FarmVille layouts out there. Got a FarmVille pic you want to share? Send it to submit2gamescom@gmail.com.

Today's pic: Black and White Ship (from FarmvilleArt.com)

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Like seemingly every other Facebook game maker out there, Tiki Resort developer Playdom really wants your e-mail address. How badly do they want it? Badly enough to give you 3,000 copies of the in-game currency that costs them literally nothing to produce. Huzzah!

OK, seriously, the 3,000 shell bonus for an e-mail sign-up matches the 3,000 shells Playdom gives away for becoming a fan of the game, and both are a great way to quickly spiff up your resort. If you don't mind giving up your e-mail address, why not head on over to the game page and take advantage?

[Via Frisky Mongoose]

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Yoville have been asked many questions by those who have yet to receive their free Old World Globe, but would like theirs. For those who don't know, Zynga is trying to post them to every profile on YoVille who have signed up their emails, but this could take a while to do, so they're asking for patience from its players.

Over 2 million profiles have signed up their emails to Zynga and would like to receive their free globe. Zynga have been closing peoples threads who are petitioning for one. If you keep begging, you are not going to get one, so just be calm about it as they will just e-mail you once they've sent the item to you!

If you have not signed up with your email yet, do it sometime as it is worth it for a free globe which is only for people who signed their email up.

This news is credited to YoVille Lounge.

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Even though Facebook is blocked by The Great Firewall of China, many of the country's social game developers are looking at the social network as a way to extend their reach into the West, according to a recent post on Inside Facebook. Companies like 6waves (Give Hearts), Five Minutes (Happy Farm), Rekoo (Animal Paradise) an ELEX (Happy Harvest) are already attracting millions of monthly users on Facebook, and some of the biggest players in the Chinese social gaming market -- including Shanda, Changyou and NetEase -- are reportedly gearing up for a serious push onto Facebook in 2010. The transfer works both ways, as some unnamed Facebook developers are reportedly looking to establish themselves in China as well.

Meanwhile, Facebook itself has been making a big splash throughout the rest of Asia, according to the Inside Facebook report. In Indonesia, Facebook is apparently becoming nearly ubiquitous on the country's millions of cell phones, while Taiwan has seen 900% growth in use of the service in just six months. The service is so popular in Taiwan, in fact, that restaurants there are reportedly offering coupons for Facebook currency along with meals (pictured, right). And you thought Farmville was big in the U.S.

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Right now, social networks like Facebook don't take any money directly from the social game makers that are making millions of dollars on their infrastructures. Over at Gamasutra, game designer and general misanthrope Greg Costikyan thinks this state of affairs won't last, and that Facebook could well end up choking off innovation through stifling fees.

Costikyan drives a parallel between the nascent social gaming space and the now-stagnant casual games space. There, portals that direct players to interesting casual games started by charging participating developers 50% of their revenues, but soon upped those fees to 80% when they realized the king-making power they had over the market. This choke-point on developer revenues led to what Costikyan calls "the steaming pile of poo that is the casual downloadable market today."

And he sees the same thing starting to happen in the social games space, where Facebook is starting to take revenue from game developers via a 30% fee on in-game purchases made with optional Facebook Credits. "It's a small piece, at present," Costikyan points out, but "as social network game revenues continue to soar ... why should FaceBook (and the others) not take a bigger chunk. Why shouldn't the 'Pay with FaceBook' option become mandatory? Why shouldn't that 30% become 40%? 50%? Even 80%?"

The reason, of course, is that such draconian fees strangle the life out of the market by forcing it towards risk-averse, profit-maximizing, lowest-common-denominator dreck. Will Facebook and other social networks learn the lesson in time? Here's hoping.

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Restaurant City's new "Rock Cafe" items are an obvious homage to the famous chain of Hard Rock Cafe restaurants, in existence since 1971.

To get these items, you're going to need a little bit of help from your friends. Despite being free, the items are giftable-only. But the game makers have made it easy by consolidating all giftables onto one page, including the free sweets from Valentine's Day.

To access the new gifts page, click on the hot pink-colored gift box on the left side of your screen. Just remember, since Restaurant City limits gifts to one per day, it won't be easy to collect everything without help. This means you might have to quit sending and receiving free food for your employees for a while.

But that "Rock Star Chair" sure looks sweet. And look at that upcoming motorcycle! So stayed tuned as Restaurant City promises to be rocking each Thursday with more Cafe Rock items!

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"Get 3 FREE Farm Cash

Become a fan of Bing and get FREE Farm Cash now! Whether you want to buy a horse or a tree, Bing can help you decide!"

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

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Many of you were disappointed to see that the new Elk poses a striking resemblance to the Holiday or Christmas themed Reindeer.

The Elk is part of the Yellowstone themed set of limited edition items and is currently available in the FarmVille Market. The Reindeer is a retired FarmVille animal that can no longer be purchased.

Here is a comparison pic of the Reindeer (left) and Elk (right) side by side on FarmVille Freak Spela's farm!
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

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Give your Happy Pets yard a makeover with six new seasonal floors in the store. Your kittens, pups and other critters can now frolick on a snow floor, forest floor, desert floor, autumn floor, fancy Flagstone floor ... or a grass floor (which is the default for the yard). The floors are available for both Facebook credits and virtual coins, all you have to do is pick which one fits best with your decorating style.

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On 03.01.10 FarmVille posted an announcement on Facebook present throughout the day stating that they have fixed or improved some common FarmVille problems:

* Gifting issues, specifically gifts received
* Out of Sync Errors
* Loading issues that result in OOS

We look forward to the resolution of these problems!

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

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Many of you have expressed that you are still unable to access the Hot Rod Harvester, even after completing the requirements you are still unable to unlock.

****Currently, only a few farmers have access regardless if you meet the requirements.****

Zynga representative, Channel Zero, has posted an official statement regarding the problems with the Hot Rod Harvester. Please read below:

"Due to a few technical issues with the feature, the availability of the Hot Rod Harvester is currently still set to a very small percentage of our farmers in order to ensure there aren't any larger problems. We do apologize for the inconvenience, and once the Harvester has been released to everyone we'll be sure to update you via the Forums."

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

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ISG has rolled out the Top 25 Facebook games list for the month of February. FarmVille is still leading the pack -- no surprise there -- with 83 million monthly players, and Cafe World is still the second most popular game on Facebook, with Zynga's Texas HoldEm Poker in a close third.


Happy Aquarium and FishVille seem to be having a hard time staying afloat, both losing players over the past month, and PetVille finally manages to overtake Pet Society as the #1 pet simulation game on Facebook.



While we can analyze this list of top games to death, we also like to use it as a way to recommend new games to try, you know, if you're tired of tending crops or taking care of virtual pets. Three must-plays this month? Zoo World, Happy Island and Hero World.

- Zoo World (#8) from RockYou! is a zoo simulation game that puts you in charge of collecting animals, hiring staff, buying kiosks and keeping zoo customers happy. It's doesn't have the slickest graphics (especially compared to the rest in the top 10), but it's definitely bringing something new to the social gaming space.

- Happy Island (#14) from Crowdstar is a resort simulation game, where you attract more tourists by building hotels, fruit stands, luaus, which bring in more money to build more attractions... more tourists... and the cycle continues. Just think of this as a virtual island getaway you can visit from the comfort of your living room [Cue tropical music].

- Hero World (#20), also from RockYou!, is a superhero-themed game that plays a little like Mafia Wars, but also has some interesting social elements, like teaming up with friends to take on supervillians. You can also challenge other players to a battle (in-real-time) and see who's really earned the right to wear those tights.

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As of yesterday, Facebook games are no longer allowed to flood your News Feed with notifications of in-game happenings. But that doesn't mean they don't want your attention. App makers are pulling out all the stops to get you to sign up for e-mail updates and/or become fans of their official news pages.

Below, we've compiled what we think is a comprehensive list of all the free goodies being offered for those who are willing to offer their attention:

	Game: FarmVille Free Gift: Carrier Pigeon Date first offered: Jan. 27 How to Get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: FarmVille Free gift: Code to unlock Buried Mystery Box Date first offered: Feb. 26 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: Mafia Wars Free gift: Limited Edition Armor (23 Attack / 47 Defense) Date first offered: March 1 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: Cafe World Free gift: 100 Cafe Cash Date first offered: March 1 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: Cafe World Free gift: Subscription to Dish of the Month Club (March dish: Dino Egg) Date first offered: March 2 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.

	Game: FishVille Free gift: Dwarf Angelfish Date first offered: Jan. 27 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: Pet Society Free gift: 1000 coins Date first offered: Feb. 25 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates or become a fan (1000 coins each) More info.
	Game: Tiki Resort Free gift: 3,000 Shells Date first offered: Feb. 26 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: YoVille Free gift: Old World Globe Date first offered: Feb. 24 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.
	Game: Vampire Wars Free gift: 40 Favor Points Date first offered: Feb. 11 How to get it: Sign up for e-mail updates More info.

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FishVille players, check your tank's Gift Box! Last night, the game surprised players by adding a completely unannounced new feature called "Oyster Beds". Judging from the blurbs and promo images, Oyster Beds will act pretty much like Treasure Chests, offering random "special rewards", while you can also harvest them for Coins and XP.

If you can't log into your tanks right now, see the rest of this post for a full visual walkthrough.

The game will start you off with one Oyster Bed and a single White Oyster. You'll find both in the Gift Box under the "Creatures" tab.

The below image is what the Oyster Bed will look like once it's installed in your tank. Currently, the White Oyster has been dragged into the Bed and put into place in the first slot. By counting the slots, the Bed looks like it can hold up to 20 Oysters at once. After you're done setting up your Oyster Bed, the game has two options open to you: 1) Ask for more Oysters from your friends, and you'll get the Wall Post prompt below, or 2) Send Oysters to your friends, which is essentially a Gift function, so be warned, if you use it then and there, you won't be able to send your aquarium neighbors any other gifts for the rest of the day.
More Oysters can also be bought from the in-game store. You can also get the Oyster Bed there too, but the game will only let you own one per tank. Currently there are 4 Oyster colors: White, Black, Blue, and Gold. White is the only giftable item. The other three Oysters will require Sand Dollars for purchase, where 5 Sand Dollars is roughly equal to one American dollar. It's too soon to tell how fun this will be, but one thing's for sure, FishVille has absolutely outdid themselves with this oyster business. Now if only they'd get cracking on those Battle Tanks they were all hyped up about a month ago...

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As if 100 Cafe Cash wasn't enough enticement to get you to give up your e-mail, Cafe World has apparently started a "Dish of the Month" club, offering up rare, exclusive foods to those who sign up for e-mail updates from the game. The first such dish, appearing today, is a delicious-looking Dino Egg. Six hundred servings will set you back 1800 coins but earn 10,800 coins after three days of prep time.


While many other Facebook games have taken to offering one-time rewards in exchange for your e-mail address, this is the first instance we've heard of a game offering regular, monthly rewards for remaining an e-mail subscriber. So, does this new dish make you any more likely to give over your e-mail?

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Probably, you didn't know that the level cap in Restaurant City is 65. Also, I am sure you always have wondered which are the rewards for each level. Fortunately, I have a list of levels for you below, including all the requirements and rewards to get there. So if you are curious, read on to see the Restaurant City level list with requirements and awards!

Level 1 - 50 Gourmet Points
Reward: 2500 Coins

Level 2 - 70 Gourmet Points
Reward: 3rd Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 3 - 100 Gourmet Points
Reward: Larger Restaurant 8x8 and 1000 Coins

Level 4 - 200 Gourmet Points
Reward: Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 5 - 500 Gourmet Points
Reward - 4th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 6 - 1,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant Unlock 1st Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 7 - 2,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 8 - 4,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 5th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 9 - 6,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 10 - 8,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, 13x13, Serve 2 Dishes and 1000 Coins

Level 11 - 10,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 6th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 12 - 14,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 13 - 18,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant 15x15, Unlock 2ND Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 14 - 22,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 7th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 15 - 30,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Serve Drinks and 1000 Coins

Level 16 - 38,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 17 - 46,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 8th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 18 - 58,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Unlock 3rd Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 19 - 70,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 20 - 86,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Serve 3 Dishes, Unlocked 6x6 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase, and 1000 Coins

Level 21 - 102,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 9th Employee, Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 22 - 122,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Unlock 4th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 23 - 142,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 24 - 166,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Unlock 5th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 25 - 190,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Unlocked - 8x8 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase, and 1000 Coins

Level 26 - 218,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant, Unlock 6th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 27 - 246,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 28 - 280,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlock 7th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 29 - 320,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 30 - 370,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlock 8th Garden, Unlocked - 10x10 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase, and 1000 Coins

Level 31 - 430,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 32 - 500,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlock 9th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 33 - 580,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 34 - 661,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 35 - 743,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlocked - 12x12 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase, Unlocked Floating Crystal Purchase, and 1000 Coins.

Level 36 - 826,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 37 - 910,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 38 - 995,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 39 - 1,081,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 40 - 1,168,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlocked - 14x14 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase and 1000 Coins

Level 41 - 1,256,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 42 - 1,345,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 43 - 1,435,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 44 - 1,526,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 45 - 1,618,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlocked - 16x16 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase, Giant TV Purchase, and 1000 Coins.

Level 46 - 1,711,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 47 - 1,805,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 48 - 1,900,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 49 - 1,996,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 50 - 2,093,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlocked - 18x18 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase and 1000 Coins

Level 51 - 2,191,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 52 - 2,290,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 53 - 2,390,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 54 - 2,491,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 55 - 2,593,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - Unlocked - Wishing Well Purchase and 1000 Coins

Level 56 - 2,696,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 57 - 2,800,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 58 - 2,905,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 59 - 3,011,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 60 - 3,118,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 61 - 3,226,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 62 - 3,335,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 63 - 3,445,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 64 - 3,556,000 Gourmet Points
Reward - 1000 Coins

Level 65 - 3,668,000
Reward - Unlocked - Egyptian Obelisk Purchase and 1000 Coins

What's your current level in the game?

This article originally appeared on Social Games Help.

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Holy cow! PetVille's FarmVille limited edition collectibles just keep on coming and item #7 is an adorable FarmVille Mini-Cow. Like the rest of the FarmVille collectibles, you can only receive these as gifts and they're available for one day only. So you better get moo-ving if you want to grab 'em all.

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