FarmVille LE Wild West Buildings: Wild West Fort & Blacksmith

    farmville blacksmith
FarmVille introduced two new additional Limited Edition Wild West buildings tonight that includes a Wild West Fort and a Blacksmith. Still no Saloon.

You can purchase both of these buildings in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.

FarmVille LE Wild West Buildings (Released September 7, 2010):

    Wild West Fort – 50 FV$
    Blacksmith – 36 FV$


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Will you purchase any of these buildings for your farm?

FarmVille LE Wild West Animal: Western Longhorn

farmville western longhorn bull
Attention all Longhorn lovers, there is a new special Wild West Limited Edition Western Longhorn that FarmVille debuted tonight.

You can purchase the Western Longhorn for 20 farm cash in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only. The Western Longhorn can be placed in the Dairy Farm and there will also be a chance at yielding a Western Longhorn Calf.

FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released September 7, 2010):

    Western Longhorn – 20 FV$


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Will you purchase a Western Longhorn for your farm?

FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations: Stream, Gold Panning, Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush & Tumbleweed

    farmville wanted poster     farmville wild west well
Continuing with the Limited Edition Wild West theme, there are lots of new decorations that FarmVille released tonight.

You can buy a Wild West Stream, Gold Panning, Wild West Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush and Tumbleweed in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.

FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations (Released September 7, 2010):

    Wild West Stream – 22 FV$
    Gold Panning – 20 FV$
    Wild West Well – 8,000 Coins
    Wanted Sign – 6,000 Coins
    Mine Cart – 4,000 Coins
    Sagebrush – 1,000 Coins (decorative plant)
    Tumbleweed – 800 Coins (decorative)


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

What is your favorite Wild West decorations or item thus far?

For 'Zynga to become the Google of games,' it will take more than good timing

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus
Earlier this summer, The New York Times spoke with Zynga CEO Mark Pincus about his rise to social gaming domination and came to the conclusion that the Facebook gaming mogul, who is expected to take in as much as $500 million this year alone, could "become the Google of games." And they just might be right, but it's going to take Pincus to execute a lot more creative energy and finesse than those before him.

Pincus said to the New York Times that his chance to capitalize on social gaming was "like search before Google came along."

The creator of FarmVille is actually following Google's path pretty closely, coming into the social games market in the middle of its Wild West phase and taking a stranglehold of the market much like how Google blazed the trail for search back in the late 1990s. However, there is one key difference in Zynga's empire than those of the internet titans like Google, eBay, Yahoo, Amazon and Facebook: Zynga depends more heavily on those before it than any successful internet start-up has to date.

Find more on how similar Zynga's path to greatness is to Google's and how it is to stay on top after the break.

Zynga
While Pincus was right in thinking in 2007, "There has to be more than "a garage sale, a bookstore, a search engine and a portal," where would social gaming be without Facebook, Google or even Yahoo? All three of these companies have contributed such a great deal to Zynga's success to the point now that the company owes much of its reign over social games to them. Which is exactly why Pincus has made good friends with all three to stay in the game.

It's been rumored that Google has invested a considerable amount of cash in Zynga, while in return the company is helping them along in developing its imminent games initiative fittingly-named Google Games. Recently Zynga and Facebook came to end a squabble--one that could have easily ended in Zynga saying goodbye to its primary platform--that resulted in the gaming giant cosigning to the social network's new, regularized currency, Facebook Credits, for five years with Facebook seeing a portion of the profits. Yahoo just signed a deal with Zynga to host its lot of social games as well, which will surely boost the company's monthly user base by a considerable margin.

Much like Google, Zynga has also drawn the ire of the public recently with the "ScamVille" incident covered by TechCrunch and the San Francisco Chronicle revealing some of Pincus' harsher words to his former employees. While Pincus is experiencing the usual highs and lows of an uber-successful internet start up, he will soon--if he hasn't already--reach the point where the only room for growth is innovation. Google could have never been the top search engine in the world if it didn't tweak its game with Google Apps, a movement that has earned the company some of the most used web applications around like Google Mail, Blogger, Picasa and Google Docs.

It was these applications that put the Google name on nearly everything users touched daily, something Zynga should consider as it reaches that point in its life where traffic is dipping due to its platforms and users catching on. With the recent changes to Facebook, Pincus will have to do more than just expand to another platform to remain relevant.

FarmVilleLet's face it: Zynga's recent loss of 21 million players, wasn't solely due to Facebook cutting the amount of stories users posted to their feeds from social gaming. Part of the decline was because, quite frankly, at least some of Zynga's players realized that the company's current design philosophy has become a bit stale. FrontierVille has innovated on some levels of action-oriented gameplay, but we've yet to see an honest-to-goodness new design philosophy behind one of the company's games since its rise to power.

Every major company needs to bring about something new at some point to stick in the minds of the public (just look at Apple's product line). Look at Facebook, for example. There is no way the social network could ever become as massive as it is today without first opening its gates to more than just college students, then structuring itself to support games and apps and finally invading opening its arms to the internet completely with the Open Graph-- you can thank the Open Graph for the "Like" button underneath the headline of this very article.

Does Zynga have the potential to become the "Google of games?" Well, it's most definitely in that position, but it is up to Pincus to decide whether he wants Zynga to be more than just FarmVille and Mafia Wars and truly move the industry forward. Could Zynga's newest game coming this year be their answer?

What will Zynga's new SVP of mobile mean for its future mobile games?

FarmVille creator Zynga announced today that it hired David Ko, formerly senior vice president of Yahoo!'s Audience, Mobile and Local divisions (all at different points in his time there), to lead Zynga's mobile division as senior vice president. According to All Things Digital, this move has been in the works for months, but it is unknown when Ko will officially start.

"We are thrilled that David Ko has joined the Zynga team as senior vice president, mobile," Zynga said in an official statement. "David's extensive experience will be instrumental in his leadership of the Zynga global mobile strategy. David will report to CEO and Founder Mark Pincus."

Zynga brought in Ko to spearhead the company's growth in a pivotal area for the company to conquer. However, as Zynga only hosts two mobile games surrounding its Facebook properties, FarmVille and Mafia Wars for iPhone, Ko has quite a lot on his plate.

What "Zynga global mobile strategy" means exactly is uncertain, but it's safe to assume that Ko's experience in the Asian-Pacific market with Yahoo! will come into play. We hope his focus won't be on foreign markets entirely as there is still a lot of work to be done here in the good ol' USA with Zynga's existing mobile games.

Not to mention we could use a few more games to play with on our phones from Zynga's library. Can someone say, "FrontierVille for iPhone?"

FarmVille Black Cat Now Giftable for a Limited Time

FarmVille Black Cat Limited Time Gift
FarmVille has given us the option of gifting a Black Cat just in time for Halloween. This new giftable animal is only available for a limited time! Head to "Free Gifts" to send one to your neighbors.
Black Cat available as a free gift for a limited time
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

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

FarmVille Market update pretties things up, gets organized

Navigating the Market in FarmVille could take next to forever for high-level players searching for those crops tucked into the farthest reaches of the shop, but Zynga aims to change all that with a brand spanking new Market. While it may not be live for all players, this new Market looks much better and overall will hopefully simplify the shopping process for players.

The first thing you'll notice is the Specials tab, which highlights three of the current deals or themes occurring at the time. Beneath that is a new "Best Sellers," which expectantly displays the current most bought items. Then, items are separated like normal, but can easily be organized using the new "Sort By" feature. This is essentially a drop down list of several ways you can organize the items in front of you like Recently Planted, Shortest and Longest Harvest Time, Price, Most XP Gained and more. While this all sounds geared towards crops, the list of options adapts to the type of item your browsing.

For those who visit the Market frequently, it will always resurface displaying the item you last viewed or purchased. But possibly the best feature is the Preview option for many items like buildings and decorations to give players an idea of how the item would fit in their farm. Check out the forums for more details on the updated Market. As for us, we've gone shopping.

FarmVille Icicle Cottage is hot and cold at the same time

If you've gotten into the recent Icy theme in FarmVille, that has been released as a sort of sub-theme in the Winter Holiday set of limited edition items (see our Holiday Tree coverage for more items made out of ice), you'll be happy to know that a new building has been released in tonight's FarmVille update that fits in with this chilly theme.

The building is the Icicle Cottage, but unfortunately for those users unwilling to purchase premium currency, the Icicle Cottage is premium, and will set you back 25 Farm Cash. For that price, you'll receive the fairly large house (much larger than your avatar), and 2,500 free experience points as a bonus.

For those users that have are interested in decorating all of their items with Lights and Snow (either by purchasing the decorations from the market, or earning them through the Winter Wonderland Quest Set), the Icicle Cottage has been programmed to allow for these extra decorations. Sure, it won't entirely cover up the fact that the cottage is made out of ice, but it will make things look a bit more festive, and we can't argue with that.

Interestingly, this item has an 18 day time limit in the store, while the other Winter Holiday buildings are down to just nine. This is presumably due to the fact that the building doesn't necessary scream "Holiday," so Zynga would want to allow users a longer time to purchase it for general Winter decorating. That's our theory anyway.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

What do you think of the icy theme being released in FarmVille? Do you like more traditional winter and Holiday decorations, or are you excited about adding a frozen touch to your farm this winter?

FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Gingerbread Gnome, Tinsel Arch, Polar Bear Cave & More

In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the massive Winter Holiday theme growing by six new items, at least in terms of decorations. Most of these decorations are brand new to the game, for this year's celebration, but there is one that is a re-release from last year. We'll get to that in a minute.

First, let's take a look at the new items, shall we? First is the Gingerbread Gnomes, a premium item available for 18 Farm Cash. Is it just me, or does this guy look more creepy than cute? Perhaps if his eyes were more realistic, rather than just being hollow white dots I wouldn't get such a ghostly feeling from the Gnome, but alas. This gnome will provide you with 1800 experience points if you choose to splurge on him.

Other premium items are the Polar Bear Cave and White Animals statue, which cost 25 and 12 Farm Cash, respectively. The Polar Bear Cave seems to deserve its high price, as it is a highly detailed item, with trees and snowbanks and an animated bear that appears at the mouth of the cave. Meanwhile, the White Animals statue has a Polar Bear and two Penguins posed ever so cheerfully.

For the standard items, you can now pick up individual pieces of Tinsel Fencing (plain white fencing with tinsel garland draped on each piece) for 5,000 coins, or a full Tinsel Arch (what looks to be the Holly Arch with tinsel added) for 10,000 coins. As for the item that has made a return from the Winter Holiday celebration in 2009, it is the Happy Holidays sign, a very large sign that will be available seven days longer than these other new additions, at a full 16 days. In that time, you can purchase the sign for the interesting price of 4,800 coins, and we have to say that's definitely worth it.

Aside from the Happy Holiday sign, the rest of these decorations will only be around for the next nine days, which makes this farmer just a bit sad. I know I'm not alone when I say that I wouldn't mind if this theme went on longer than that, but I suppose we'll just have to enjoy the true Holiday time in FarmVille while we can.

FarmVille behind bars: Inmates use smuggled phones to tend virtual crops

Just because you're locked up behind bars doesn't mean you need to abandon your virtual farm. According to this New York Times article, smuggled smartphones are starting to become a prison cliche, much like finding a homemade shiv hidden in a mattress. These contraband phones are being used for everything from directing criminal activities outside prison to ... playing FarmVille on Facebook.

    "Almost everybody has a phone," said Mike, 33, an inmate at Smith State Prison in Georgia who, like other prisoners interviewed for this article, asked that his full name not be used for fear of retaliation. "Almost every phone is a smartphone. Almost everybody with a smartphone has a Facebook."

Even though the smartphones are banned from prison systems (if you're found in possession of one, it can lead to additional criminal charges or affect your parole) they still manage to make their way into inmate's hands. The NYT article says that In California last year, officers discovered around 9,000 contraband cell phones. Guards, visitors and inmates smuggle in the phones and monthly payments range from $300 to $1,000, which are generally paid by convict's relatives.

There was no percentage on just how many cons use their smartphones to play games on Facebook, but it looks like FarmVille-maker Zynga might have a burgeoning new fan base on its hands.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Winter Creek & Dog Sled

As we told you yesterday evening, Zynga has released a new limited edition set of items in FarmVille called "Winter Wonderland." We've been wondering whether or not this would be a large theme, or just a single release, and we seem to have found our answer thanks to some as-of-this-writing unreleased new images that show off some like-themed items.

The two items are the Dog Sled and the Winter Creek. The Dog Sled is like that you'd find running in the Iditarod - the "Great Sled Race" - that sees participants racing their dog teams through arctic conditions. The Winter Creek, then, represents once such arctic condition - a chilly little stream of water surrounded by snow-covered pine trees.

Both of these items look to be decorative only, as we can't see the Dog Sled actually being released as an animal item, or one with a function (although watching your avatar ride around on one would be cool, I must admit), but remember, there is no guarantee as to whether or not these items will officially launch in the game, so keep that in mind.

We'll be sure to let you know when and if these items are officially released in the game, so keep checking back!

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Duck Pond coming soon?

In one of the more exciting FarmVille Sneak Peeks that we've been able to bring you, it looks like the next animal storage "building" that will be released in the game will be one for our friends the Ducks. We've come across an unreleased image of what the interior of the new Duck Pond building might look like.

As usual, it looks like the Duck Pond will be a "buildable" item, and that we might need four items in total to build it. Could this mean that we'll see an exclusive Duck Pond building ingredient - perhaps something like a "Bucket of Water" - that must be collected in addition to Bricks, Wooden Boards, and Nails? All of that, of course is still up in the air, but one thing has been revealed - the Duck Pond will apparently allow users to feature five of their ducks from their Duck Pond at the bottom of the menu.

The most likely reason for this will be that all of the Ducks you have in your Duck Pond won't be visible, but you'll be able to choose the five ducks that you most like that you'd want to see, perhaps even swimming in the water of the Pond.

We'll be sure to bring you more details about this unreleased feature as they become available, but for now, remember that there is no guarantee that we'll actually see the Duck Pond in the game. Sure, it would be surprising if it didn't launch, but stranger things have happened.

FarmVille Silly Bandz Free Games.com Giveaway

Update: This contest has ended and the winners have been notified. Head to Blog.Games.com or our Facebook fanpage for more awesome giveaways.

Folks, FarmVille creator, Zynga, has teamed up with Silly Bandz to bring us an exclusive set of FarmVille Silly Bandz. And because we love you guys, we're giving them all away to our fans for FREE in our FarmVille Silly Bandz Giveaway.

If you have a child, you've probably heard of Silly Bandz: the colorful elastic band bracelets that come in a huge variety of shapes. Silly Bandz are so big that even if you don't have a kid, you've probably heard of them anyway. People collect Silly Bandz by the dozen, and are always looking for new rare shapes to show off and collect. With these FarmVille Silly Bandz, you'll be able to take FarmVille on the go, and impress everyone with these rare collectible Silly Band shapes.

Continue reading to enter for a pack of FarmVille Silly Bandz.

farmville silly bandz free giveaway     farmville silly bandz free giveaway
The FarmVille SIlly Bandz come in eight shapes and there are 24 in a pack: FarmVille Tree, FarmVille Pig, FarmVille Cow, FarmVille Barn, FarmVille Tractor, FarmVille Biplane, FarmVille Sheep, & Zynga Dog.

To enter:
Step 1: Go to the Games.com Facebook fanpage: (http://www.facebook.com/gamescom).

Step 2: 'Like' the fanpage so you can see the latest Facebook game news, tips, and cheats.

Step 3: To enter, head to the fan page and leave us a comment telling us the following:

What is the best/strangest/most awesome Silly Band you've ever seen? What Silly Bandz shapes would you like to see?

(I saw a Silly Band cathedral once. I'd never seen anything but animals at that point, so I was very surprised to find a church on someone's wrist. If I could have Silly Bandz of any shape, I would want a whole set of classic Pokemon ones. That would be incredible!)

Next Thursday, February 10th, we'll randomly select four winners, message them on Facebook for their addresses, and send them their free FarmVille Silly Bandz. Sound easy enough?

Get started by heading to the Games.com fanpage to enter for a free pack of FarmVille Silly Bandz.

RewardVille (still) slowly rolling out - look out for news posts to receive it!

We've seen some huge news this morning - there is now a way to force RewardVille to load onto your Facebook account without waiting for Zynga to slowly (very slowly) roll it out across all of their game players. FVNation has come across posts such as the one above, showing users who are redeeming their ZPoints for a new item - the Porch Home in FarmVille.

If you see any post like this, make sure to click on the "Get Reward" link. If you're fast enough, and maybe just a bit lucky, you will be taken to a page telling you that your reward is waiting. Through this, you'll be able to use Facebook Connect to connect your Facebook account with your new RewardVille account, where you can claim the prize above, and start using the feature to its fullest across Zynga's network of games.

You'll be able to earn a maximum of 80 points per day per game, with a maximum of 300 points per day for the entire Zynga catalog. Of course, you'll need to be lucky enough to have a friend that has received RewardVille either through this method, or through actually being given it by Zynga, which is probably the hardest part of all. Still, the possibilities for receiving RewardVille have just increased, so for now we can't really argue with that.

[Image Credit: FV Nation]

Have you seen any posts like the one above on your news feed, but didn't know what they were?

FarmVille iOS update brings quicker load times, bug fixes, and access for 3G players

When browsing through my App Updates on my iPhone this morning, I came across something that almost knocked me out of my chair - Zynga has updated their mobile version of FarmVille on iOS to Version 2.0. We brought up the topic of mobile FarmVille updates back in February, as it hadn't been updated since October. It may have taken a long time to get around to this update, but it seems as though it was definitely worth it.

Via the update description, we see that Zynga has increased the speed of loading the game by 30-50%, which, of course, still varies depending on the size and complexity of your farm. If you have a 3G iPhone or even an older device, you'll also be able to load larger farms with ease. There have also apparently been "tons of optimizations and bug fixes." We can confirm that, for now anyway, these changes have taken effect, as I was able to load my massive farm in no time flat, when I couldn't even load the game at all without it crashing before the update.

You can drag your finger across the screen to see your farm follow you in mostly real time, and even animals animate - it's the FarmVille Mobile that should have been available all along, but hey, we'll take an update now, rather than never.

In terms of mobile FarmVille features, Zynga has made a change there too, offering you the ability to now send gifts to any FarmVille neighbor, rather than limiting your gifting to other players on iOS.

Zynga says they are already hard at work on another update for the game, and that they have truly taken everything players have said to heart. For now, it appears as though that definitely is the case, and we couldn't be happier.

Have you tried the newly updated FarmVille on iOS? What do you think of all of the changes Zynga has rolled out?

FarmVille English Countryside: Make Cheese in the Dairy with Lily

Check the edge of your farm in FarmVille this weekend, and you'll see another British plane dropping off mail from the English Countryside, this time from a character named Lily. Lily makes different types of cheeses in her Dairy, and could "definitely use your help." This of course means that in addition to all of the other activities we'll be able to participate in (mastering new crops, breeding multi-colored sheep, digging for treasures, and so on), cheese-making will be another.

As usual, with these special postcards comes a free in-game prize, with this prize being fairly basic - a single Farmhands that can be used on your farm to harvest all ready animals with one click. It seems these items have become a bit more rare than their Arborists counterparts, so I suppose a free one isn't entirely disappointing.

We learned that Zynga is putting the final touches on this expansion in the latest official FarmVille podcast, so keep checking back for all of the details once it officially launches in-game soon.

What do you think of the idea of making your own cheese in the English Countryside?

Zynga's RewardVille Now Available: Everything you need to know

Yesterday, we told you there was a way to force RewardVille to spawn on your Facebook account, but what if you didn't have any friends that had posted a link to their prizes that would allow you to join Zynga's rewards program? FarmVillePro has discovered that there is a single, universal, link that you can click on the activate the program on your account, and we can confirm that it does indeed work.

Want the magical link? Here it is! CLICK ME TO GET REWARDVILLE

Note: As of this writing, this link does work to activate RewardVille on your account, but as it appears to be universal, there is a chance that Zynga may shut it off if too many people use it. We apologize if that happens to be the case when you try it, but as you can see from my screenshots - it is legit.

You'll have to connect your Facebook account to RewardVille, and then "install" RewardVille (the toolbar portion you'll see above all Zynga games from here on in) on your account by accepting its terms, just as you would install any other Facebook app. That out of the way, you'll now have access to the entire program, including the ability to earn zCoins, redeem them for prizes across all of Zynga's major games (FarmVille, CityVille, Zynga Poker, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars, Cafe World, Treasure Isle, YoVille, PetVille and Vampire Wars), and send your friends free RewardVille gifts every day, among other features.

Meet us behind the break for a look on what to expect after you join. If you play FarmVille, the first thing you should do after activating RewardVille would be to claim your free Porch Home item. Simply click on the "Get It" button underneath any prize that you like, and if you have the zCoins necessary, they will be traded in for that item. In the case of the Porch Home, however, this is a free prize, so you really have no reason not to claim it. In fact, there is a free item for each and every one of the games in the rewards program, so make sure to claim the free items in all of the games you play.

How do you earn more zCoins? It's simple really - you can earn a maximum of 80 zPoints per game per day, up to your first 300 zPoints earned across all Zynga games each day. You'll earn zPoints simply by playing Zynga games as you would normally. As an example, as you play games like FarmVille, as you harvest, plow and plant new crops, you'll see the XP meter (representing your RewardVille level) increasing automatically. Once you level up your overall RewardVille level, you'll earn zCoins. Right now, it appears that only activities in games that earn you XP count towards earning zPoints, but we'll make sure to let you know if that changes. Either way, you'll know you've earned zPoints and zCoins when you see notices like these, that appear automatically at the top of your gameplay area.


As you browse through RewardVille's website, you'll notice that some items in games are locked to you currently. Just like purchasing items in many in-game stores, some items in RewardVille are locked to you until you have earned a certain level. If there has ever been incentive to play Zynga games more often, the promise of free exclusive, even limited edition prizes, will probably be it. In the case of FarmVille, as one example, you'll even notice items like the Giant Snowflake or Mandarin Tree that were available in the game in the past, but are no longer - if you missed out on these limited edition items the first time, you now have a chance to earn them again for free. We can't complain about that.

One final thing to note is the ability to send your friends free, exclusive RewardVille mystery gifts from the RewardVille website. These mystery boxes can contain up to 100 zCoins each, or "other bonuses" that will help them earn free items in the program.

And there you have it - a fairly simple setup, once you browse around for a bit and become used to the new terminology, and how the bar looks above your gameplay area. Be sure to play Zynga games often to earn the most zCoins, and then remember to turn them in for prizes that may only be available for a limited time. The bragging rights will almost certainly be worth it.

Have you activated RewardVille on your account? What do you think of the prizes that are available in each game?

Kiip rewards mobile gamers' achievements with real-world prizes

Well gii, we never thought we'd see the day when another product successfully used the letters "ii" in its name. Kiip, a new San Francisco-based start up, wants to turn the world of in-game advertising on its head, Mashable reports. Well, at least in mobile games, but is anything stopping this from hitting Facebook someday? Not likely. Kiip is a rewards-based advertising platform for mobile games that rewards players when they reach a milestone like a new high score with real-world prizes. Say you beat a level in Angry Birds with a three-star rating. With Kiip, this otherwise minor achievement turns into a reward for hard work--play, we mean play.

How it works is that when an achievement is reached, a banner ad will rise from the bottom of the screen, offering free stuff just for reaching a new height in Doodle Jump. Clicking on the ad will open a new page that asks you to provide your email information so that you can redeem the reward. The platform has support from several partners on day one including Popchips, Sephora, 1-800-FLOWERS, Carl's Jr., Dr. Pepper, Sony, Vitaminwater, GNC and Homerun.com.

And while Kiip has its lips sealed on what games will take on the new ad platform, you could imagine how Kiip could work in Zynga games like FarmVille or even Words with Friends for iPhone. Finally master that new crop in FarmVille? Here's a coupon for free Dr. Pepper. Reach 600 points in Words with Friends? Enjoy some Popchips. Kiip's success won't be visible for some time, but you can bet that social game developers are already salivating over it.

[Video Credit: Kiip]

Do you think you'd be more likely to click on a banner ad in your game of Words with Friends if it offered (legitimately) free stuff? How long do you think it will be before social games adopt a similar advertising model?

Redeem a FarmVille Game Card, score a free Spring Mystery Box

While Spring normally evokes the urge to be, you know, outdoors, FarmVille players will have even more reason to maintain that sunless, pasty sheen this month thanks to a new Zynga promotion. Redeem a Zynga Game Card in FarmVille from now through April 24 and you'll also receive a free Spring Mystery Box in your Gift Box. You'll also receive a free Mystery Game Dart, but what's inside the box is obviously far more important.
Lope Rabbit     Picnic Table     Garden Bar
Each Spring Mystery Box has the chance of holding one of these three items inside: Lope Rabbit, Picnic Table and Garden Bar. While the two decorations are surely cute, we doubt anyone could resist that bunny. Look, if you had to choose between a wooden table and a hippity hoppity bunny rabbit, which would you pick? We thought so.

[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Have you redeemed a Game Card to get one of these three items yet? We probably shouldn't bother in the face of the Lope Rabbit, but which prize would you like to have more?

Earn free FarmVille Farm Cash in promotions with Pepsi, Zumba et al.

Zynga doesn't care if you're too busy crafting Pink Carnation Tea, because there is free Farm Cash to be had. Three more FarmVille Sponsored Links were discovered recently by FarmVille Feed thanks to Pepsi, Zumba and American Express. While not all of them will be available to you at the same time, consider this a primer on all the free Farm Cash that's bound to head your way soon enough.

First, remember that all Sponsored Links are endorsed by Zynga, and they're found underneath the FarmVille game screen. Clicking on each link will open a pop-up window with usually a short survey to complete before you're rewarded the Farm Cash. In most cases, the Farm Cash posts to players' Farm Cash totals within the hour of completing the small task, so sit tight.

Zumba!: 3 Free Farm Cash

This promotion, to generate buzz for the new Zumba game set to release on all major consoles, features a video advertisement and a short series of questions. All in all, this is your standard shot at some free Farm Cash.

FarmVille Pepsi promo
Pepsi Refresh: 2 Free Farm Cash

Pepsi took a slightly different direction in its promotion. While a similar video advertisement will play for you, the company asks an open-ended question: "How would you refresh your world?" Then, you're provided with an open form to type a genuine answer into, and you must share the answer with your friends in order to earn the Cash.

FarmVille American Express promo
American Express: 2 Free Farm Cash

The ubiquitous credit card company also takes the road most traveled with is promotion. After answering some simple questions next to a static advertisement for the company's reward program, you will have completed this task and will soon be 2 Farm Cash richer.

[Image Credits: FarmVille Feed]

Have you seen or completed any of these new Sponsored Links? Are you a fan of Zynga's approach to providing players with free currency?