CityVille blasts past FrontierVille with 47.9 million players, could outgrow FarmVille in days

CityVille, for all intents and purposes, is the new ish on Facebook. It's been reported by AppData and VentureBeat that the game, after grabbing a massive 47.9 million monthly players in just 18 days, could easily soar high above FarmVille in days. Think about it: the game made mincemeat of FrontierVille's 30.9 million with ease. With the farming sim sitting at 56.3 million players after a significant drop from its peak of over 80 million players earlier this year, Zynga is apparently in competition with itself. Now that FarmVille is frighteningly close to being finally dethroned, we ask, "Could anyone else have done it but Zynga?"

Probably not.

While we've already explored what might have contributed to the insanely rapid growth of the city-growing sim, it's about time we ask another question: What could this mean for FrontierVille and FarmVille? First off, they won't be going anywhere soon. But they could very well become less profitable over time, with fewer items asking for paid currency and inversely more items that cost City Cash popping up in CityVille. We doubt Zynga's focus would shift too dramatically from game to game--heck, the company is still trying to get Warstorm off the ground--but anything is possible. Here's one last question: Can CityVille return Zynga to its former glory of raking in over 80 million souls players in a single game? Stay tuned to see if CityVille trumps the farm in time for Christmas.

March Madness Facebook Game Showdown: Round 1

Every March, the college basketball season ends with its NCAA Basketball tournament. Sixty-eight college basketball teams qualify for a frenzied rush to be named the best team in the nation. The tournament is a single elimination tournament, one loss and your team goes home. Due to the crazed nature of the games and frenetic pace the tournament has been given the name "March Madness."

At the Games.com - The Blog!, we are just as passionate about Facebook games as some people are about basketball. So -- we thought -- what the heck! Let's make a tournament of Facebook games.

Here's how its going to work:

We chose the top 16 games by daily active users and seeded them by their total number of players as of March 17 (St. Patrick's Day felt like a good day to get the numbers.)

All the first round match-ups have been listed in this post.
Vote which game you think should advance. It's that easy!
Vote early and vote often.

We'll tally all the votes over the weekend and set up out second round match ups based on which games got the most votes. It's win or go home time for you favorite Facebook games! Let the madness begin!


In our first match up we have a real David vs. Goliath. Can the upstart Car Town of Cie Games hang in there verses the hulking behemoth of a game in Zynga's CityVille? Car Town has been on the decline for the last month but has retained its most loyal players. Can it hang with the monster of CityVille?

(1) CityVille vs. (16) Car Town
CityVilleCar Town
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The number two seed is Zynga's (You're going to see Zynga a lot) FarmVille. If this had been last year, FarmVille would have been a clear number one. FarmVille has drawn the Games.com Blog's favorite game, Popcap's Zuma Blitz. This is really a match up of two contrasting styles and has different types of players. There is no way FarmVille can lose is there?

(2) FarmVille vs. (15) Zuma Blitz
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Our third match-up brings to wildly different styles to the floor. Zynga's Poker, the granddaddy of all Facebook games is taking on the cute bastion of feminine fashion, CrowdStar's It Girl. The audiences for these two games could not be more different. Could this be our first upset match-up?

(3) Zynga Poker vs. (14) It Girl
Zynga PokerIt Girl
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Zynga's FrontierVille locks horns with LOLApps's RavenWood Fair. Two games so similar could really battle to the very end. FrontierVille has the advantage in age but Ravenwood Fair has the leg up on beauty. Could this be an age before beauty situation? It could be a toss up.

(4) FrontierVille vs. (13) RavenWood Fair
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Popcap's second entry Bejeweled Blitz is the favorite in the dreaded 5 vs. 12 match-up. Wooga's Monster World has history on it's side. In the NCAA basketball tournament the 5 seed is upset more by the 12 seed than an other seeding in tournament history. Could this be Monster World's chance to shock the world?

(5) Bejeweled Blitz vs. (12) Monster World
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Two older games go head to head next Zynga's Cafe World battles Playfish's Pet Society. Both games harken way back to 2009 when Playfish and Zynga were still vying to supremacy for which company would be the biggest on Facebook. (Wow,things have changed)

(6) Cafe World vs. (11) Pet Society
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Zynga's Treasure Isle attempts to vanquish Playfish's Restaurant City in the next match up. Playfish and Zynga have a long history of going head to head and each had a game in nearly every genre in the early days of the Facebook game market. They both be itching to eliminate the other!

(7) Treasure Isle vs. (10) Restaurant City
Treasure IsleRestaurant City
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The dude match-up of the tournament is Zynga's Mafia Wars verses Digital Chocolate's Millionaire City. Both these games have a bit more of an edge and man-centric feel to them. We'll see if they come out fighting.

(8) Mafia Wars vs. (9) Millionaire City
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CityVille: Premium Goods double in production, maximum capacity raised

If you were unsatisfied with the amount of Premium Goods you could both produce and store in CityVille's relatively new Factory feature, you'll be happy to know that Zynga has changed both of these elements for the better, allowing you to earn more Premium Goods when you gather your friends' help on each job.

Now, Factories now pay out double the amount of Premium Goods per worker (that is, friend) that you have helping on your job. That is, if a job used to pay out a bonus of 55 Premium Goods for each worker you had helping, you'd now receive 110 Premium Goods on that same job, by collecting just a single friend.

To account for the excess Premium Goods you'll now have on hand, Zynga has also doubled the amount of storage you'll have by default for Premium Goods to a total of 2,000 Premium Goods. This is on top of your normal Goods storage, and is not affected by how large that storage bar happens to be - it is an entirely separate meter.

It seems as though Zynga is started to move in the right direction, adding things that help the game rather than hurt it (at least in the eyes of the majority of players). We'll make sure to let you know if this trend continues in the future.

What do you think of these alterations to the Factory system? Have you even built the Factory in your town, or did you think it was too large to care about?

CityVille: New decorations accompany Dance Studio Goals

Yesterday, we brought you a complete guide to CityVille's new quest line surrounding the introduction of a Russian Dance Studio to your city. If you are interested in adding more items to your town in the same Russian theme, you'll be happy to know that a duo of new decorative items are now available in the game's store.

These items are inspired by Russian Stacking Dolls, and in fact, one of these items is one such doll. The Stacking Doll is a decorative item that can be placed near a business to add a 1% boost to its payout. You can purchase a single Stacking Doll from the store for 300 coins.

The other item is the Pigeon Popper, which looks incredibly similar to the Stacking Doll (in terms of the item's shape), but is of course themed after a Pigeon, rather than a Russian woman. It is also much more expensive, being a premium item costing 8 City Cash. The Pigeon Popper adds a 2% bonus to all surrounding buildings.

For a complete look at the other items released in this theme, which include the Dance Studio itself and the Fine Arts Theatre, make sure to check out our guide.

What do you think of these new decorations? Do you like cultural decorations in your game, or would you be happy with a never-ending supply of new flowers, trees, and the like?

CityVille: Upgrade your Noodle Shop, or buy one if you haven't already

Zynga has added the ability to upgrade your Noodle Shop in CityVille. This Noodle Shop, if you're remember, was unlocked to users that finished the Lunar New Year goal back in February. But what if you never completed that goal? Do you still have to pay the 15 City Cash to unlock access to it? The answer is a resounding "NO" (thank goodness), as Zynga has unlocked access to the building for all users, regardless of whether or not they finished the Lunar New Year Goal, or, for that matter, if they weren't even playing the game back then.

While the Noodle Shop may seem like a weird follow up to the Bakery upgrades (ok, it doesn't just seem weird, it is weird), the process works in the same way. Each time you collect and supply your Noodle Shop (the basic Noodle Shop requires 90 Goods), you'll earn a point. When you reach 125 points, the Noodle Shop will hit level two, where it will then require 120 Good to open and will earn 600 coins in profit (more than the default 405 coins). To speed up the process, you can ask your friends to help you, with each friend adding five points to the upgrade process.


You can upgrade a third time by earning more points, or asking more friends to help you, eventually bringing you to level 3. This level requires 155 Goods to operate, and will reward you with 800 coins each time you collect your profits. Remember, your Noodle Shop will also change in size and design as it levels up, so if you like the quaint look of the starting building, you might ignore asking friend for help to slow down the process.

We'll make sure to let you know when additional buildings are given the chance to upgrade, so keep checking back with us.

Have you already upgraded your Bakery in CityVille? Have you started working on the Noodle Shop upgrade? Which business would you like to see given these options next?

CityVille Coffee Shop Upgrades: Everything you need to know

Yet again, another of the starter-businesses in CityVille has been given the "upgrading" treatment, as you can now upgrade your Coffee Shop from its current, Level 1, state to Levels 2 and 3 - with a little work, of course. To start the upgrade process, you'll first need to collect the Coffee Shop's profits and then restock it with goods as normal.

From there, you can access the actual upgrade menu, where you'll see that you need to earn 50 points to upgrade from Level 1 to Level 2. You can either earn your own points slowly by simply repeatedly stocking and collecting from the Coffee Shop, you can also speed up the upgrade process by asking your friends to help you. Each friend that helps you earns you two additional points. At Level 2, your Coffee Shop will move to requiring 110 Goods, and supplying 410 coins in profit, which is a boost over the original stats of 100 Goods and 320 coins.

The same process can be completed all over again to reach Level 3, with your Coffee Shop's final stats being 640 coins earned for every 150 Goods you pour into it. Remember, you can boost your profits even more with bonus payout decorations, so make sure to place this business in a great place to really rack up the coins!

Have you been keeping up with these building upgrades in CityVille? Which Community Building or Business do you want to see upgraded next?