Send some magical free gifts to Restaurant City neighbors

It's not often when Playfish adds this many free gifts with a new theme in Restaurant City, but for this week's theme of Magic, Mystery & Mayhem (aka Harry Potter), we see four brand spankin' new items that can only be added to your restaurant after receiving them as a gift from friends.

The four items are the Owl Cage (an owl is actually in a cage), a Pickled Gubbins decorative item, that comes in the form of four bottles grouped together, a Spider, and a Purple Flavor Potions, a magical vial filled with an even more magical purple liquid.

As usual, these items will only be available to send to your friends for a limited time, so be sure to do that fast, if you know of someone who would love to decorate in the complete Harry Potter theme, this week or beyond.

Note: This also marks as your final warning to send some of the Halloween themed free gifts, as the Pumpkin Lamp and Pumpkin Lantern are now marked as "Last Chance." Send them or ask for them fast to not miss out!

EA, Playfish developing 'the hell out of SimCity' for Facebook [Report]

Hey, if The Sims Social struck gold, it only makes sense at this point. Business Insider reports, citing nameless sources, that a China-based Playfish team has suspended all other projects to "develop the hell out of SimCity" for Facebook. Of course, the idea is that the second place developer is doing so to go toe-to-toe directly with CityVille, the number one game on Facebook.

Zynga's city-builder has held the top spot on Facebook for over a year, and EA is reportedly doing everything in its power to dethrone the king of social games. According to Business Insider, multiple sources within the company say that SimCity has been in development for over a year, around the same time that Zynga started work on CityVile. But when the game broke every record in the book over the past year, EA had no choice but to ramp up work on SimCity.

At the time, Zynga had more time and resources to pour into CityVille than EA did with SimCity, which had "doubled down" on The Sims Social. Since the game has now proven itself, putting a dent into Zynga's then spotless lineup, the veteran games publisher has placed a laser focus on the social iteration of game designer Will Wright's masterpiece.

According to the news outlet, Playfish's Norway and San Francisco teams are working on entirely new games for EA. And yes, it's OK to be more excited by that rumor than yet another city-builder. This better be good.

[Via IndustryGamers]

Are you excited by the thought of SimCity hitting Facebook? Do you think it could give CityVille a run for its (boatloads of) money?

EA, Playfish developing 'the hell out of SimCity' for Facebook [Report]

Hey, if The Sims Social struck gold, it only makes sense at this point. Business Insider reports, citing nameless sources, that a China-based Playfish team has suspended all other projects to "develop the hell out of SimCity" for Facebook. Of course, the idea is that the second place developer is doing so to go toe-to-toe directly with CityVille, the number one game on Facebook.

Zynga's city-builder has held the top spot on Facebook for over a year, and EA is reportedly doing everything in its power to dethrone the king of social games. According to Business Insider, multiple sources within the company say that SimCity has been in development for over a year, around the same time that Zynga started work on CityVile. But when the game broke every record in the book over the past year, EA had no choice but to ramp up work on SimCity.

At the time, Zynga had more time and resources to pour into CityVille than EA did with SimCity, which had "doubled down" on The Sims Social. Since the game has now proven itself, putting a dent into Zynga's then spotless lineup, the veteran games publisher has placed a laser focus on the social iteration of game designer Will Wright's masterpiece.

According to the news outlet, Playfish's Norway and San Francisco teams are working on entirely new games for EA. And yes, it's OK to be more excited by that rumor than yet another city-builder. This better be good.

The Sims Social celebrates launch of Sims 3 Pets with free virtual poster

Dogs, horses and cats, oh my. Because life is better with pets, The Sims maker EA has launched an expansion pack today for players that allows pets to take center stage in the game. Helping promote this launch is a free virtual poster offered to fans of The Sims Social.

You can grab The Sims 3 Pets Poster by clicking here, after you become a fan of the game's official Facebook fan page.

Aside from looking cool, the poster takes up two tiles of wall space and adds 100 House Value points to your home. If you don't like it, it can be sold for 150 Simoleons. It also comes with one action, "Learn More", which sends you to the Sims 3 Pets website when you click on it.

The Sims Social Summer Blowout Week decor shows its pearly whites

With a freebie frenzy of sorts and a new feature in Land Expansions, Playfish has been rather busy with The Sims Social. Just recently, the team released a number of new summer-themed items in its Summer Blowout Week to ring out the brightest season ... again.

At any rate, there are quite a few items to check out both for Simoleons and SimCash. But we're going to focus on the decorations, so moving right along:

LuxLite Wonder

    * Costs: 8 SimCash
    * House Value: 1,200


Sunflower

    * Costs: 9 SimCash
    * House Value: 1,500
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Lemonade For All

    * Level 13 Required
    * House Value: 350


Contempo Chair

    * Costs: 14 SimCash
    * House Value: 2,050


Basix Lounger

    * Costs: 450 Simoleons
    * House Value: 300
    * Sleep: 11
    * Bladder: -1


Twisted Topiary

    * Costs: 15 SimCash
    * House Value: 2,200
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Heart Topiary     SolTrain Gazebo     LuxLite Lamp

Contempo Table

    * Costs: 19 SimCash
    * House Value: 2,800


Stunning Palm

    * Costs: 19 SimCash
    * House Value: 2,800
    * Fun: 3
    * Social: 3


ArchPine Chair

    * Level 12 Required
    * House Value: 650


Star Parasol Rose/Pale

    * Level 13 Required
    * House Value: 650


Heart Topiary

    * Costs: 25 SimCash
    * House Value: 3,700
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Contempo Bench

    * Costs: 25 SimCash
    * House Value: 3,700


Lizard Lounger

    * Costs: 800 Simoleons
    * House Value: 700
    * Sleep: 11
    * Bladder: -1



SolTrain Lounger

    * Costs: 29 SimCash
    * House Value: 4,300
    * Sleep: 11
    * Bladder: -1


ArchPine Table

    * Level 12 Required
    * House Value: 1,100


Contempo Lux

    * Costs: 35 SimCash
    * House Value: 5,150


Sunflower     Font of all Awesome     Pale Star Parasol

ArchPine Bench

    * Level 12 Required
    * House Value: 1,300


Mini Palm

    * Costs: 1,350 Simoleons
    * House Value: 1,450
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Aquatix Thrill

    * Costs: 55 SimCash
    * House Value: 8,150


Atlas Fountain

    * Costs: 1,750 Simoleons
    * House Value: 1,650


Font of All Awesome

    * Costs: 2,250 Simoleons
    * House Value: 1,800


Spheres Topiary

    * Level 23 Required
    * House Value: 3,250
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Dolphin Topiary

    * Costs: 4,500 Simoleons
    * House Value: 3,400
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Elephant Topiary

    * Costs: 6,500 Simoleons
    * House Value: 4,650
    * Bladder: 9
    * Fun: 3


Air and Air Pool

    * Level 12 Required
    * House Value: 9,500
    * Fun: 19
    * Sleep: 11



While a majority of these item unfortunately cost SimCash, a good amount of them go for Simoleons. The best bang for your buck? I'd recommend going for any of the topiaries to give your House Value an instant boost. Also, keep in mind that a number of new wall and floor patterns were added, too, most of which cost Social Points. So, keep visiting your friends if you want to change the overall palette of your Sim's home.

[Image Credit: Playfish]

Have you snapped up any of these summer items? What type of decor are you hoping for next in The Sims Social? Share with us in the comments. 1 Comment

The Sims Social celebrates fans with a week of free stuff

Free stuff? Yes, please, I'll take some of that! With almost 61 million players (and climbing), the folks at EA / Playfish have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the Sims Social on Facebook. As a way to thank their ever-growing player base for their support (even when the game suffered from some nagging loading and gameplay issues), the developers have launched a week long celebration involving free stuff that will be given away, apparently on a daily basis.

To start, we're given a gift of Social Points - a whopping 400 Social Points at that. Since your other methods of earning Social Points normally come in small increments (of 10 or less per action) when visiting friends, this really is a substantial prize. Remember, these Social Points work as a form of third currency in the game, and can be used to purchase exclusive decorations or other home items that aren't available through any other method or currency.

We've also been told that we'll be able to increase our land size in the future, although that wasn't exactly announced in as many words. To be specific, we're asked if we "need more space to build your dream home" and that with that question comes a secret that the developers just couldn't hold in anymore. We're even asked "If you could expand your land, what is the first room you'd build on it?"

Put two and two together here, and you're left with the answer that land size will soon be increasing, although no particular release date was announced (unfortunately). If you're like me, your home has already filled most nooks and crannies of land in our admittedly small square, and is surrounded by outdoor goodies to boot. Being able to increase the size of our house plot is a huge deal, and we'll make sure to let you know when that feature / ability launches as soon as it does.

In the meantime, keep checking back with the game's Facebook fan page for additional links / announcements of free prizes, and click right here to claim your free 400 Social Points.

What sorts of prizes are you hoping to receive in this week-long event of free stuff? What will you purchase with your 400 free Social Points? Sound off in the comments.

Dunkin' Donuts pushes its brand with a free Sims Social Lawn Chair

Dunkin' Donuts strikes again in The Sims Social. On top of all the free fan gifts from Playfish and EA rolling out daily on the game's official fan page, the American coffee-and-donuts chain has chipped in for the first Sims Social-branded virtual item in the form of an exclusive Dunkin' Donuts Lawn Chair.

To get the chair, you've got to 'like' the official Dunkin' Donuts Facebook page here and then head over to the section of the page titled "DD & The Sims Social".

Owning the lawn chair adds 250 points to your house value, which is a modest, but no small amount. It also sells for 15 Simoleons, which is chump change, but hey, free furniture! And lastly, the chair comes with a bit of extra animation.

Just click on the chair, and your Sim will get the option to "Sit" or "Drink Dunkin' Donuts Coffee". So kick back, and watch your Sim lie down on the chair to sip from a steamy cup.
Dunkin Donuts Sims Social Lawn Chair
Do you enjoy branded goods in games? Do you think it makes them more realistic? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Playfish says goodbye to Hotel City, My Empire and four more games

Playfish games shut down
The Sims Social might have dethroned the mighty FarmVille, but its success may have cut into Playfish's other Facebook games and sent them to a speedier doom, too. On August 30th, the word went out in the official Playfish forums that Hotel City, My Empire, Who Has The Biggest Brain?, Geo Challenge, Word Challenge and Bowling Buddies will be getting axed Sept. 30.

We used to cover Hotel City back in the day (the game first launched on March 26, 2010) and can remember when it was a big deal. The game was well made and had once held an all-time high of 13 million monthly players and 3 million daily players. Right now, it's at 1.4 million monthly players and about 100,000 dailies, ranking it the 9th most-played Playfish and EA game on Facebook. But it's clear that won't be enough to save it.

Hotel City's popularity is followed closely by Bowling Buddies, Word Challenge, then Geo Challenge. Finally, far beneath them all on the social games ladder are Who Has The Biggest Brain? and My Empire. Though, at least one player suspects it may not be all about numbers, because Country Story currently ranks 10th behind Hotel City. But there's been no announcement to shut it down (yet).

Are you going to miss any of these Playfish games? Care to start a betting pool on the death of Country Story? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment