FrontierVille Animal Mystery Crate: Find out what's inside

A new Mystery Animal crate mysteriously appeared in FrontierVille, bringing with it a chance to add three new, exclusive animals to your homestead. If you're in the mood to try your luck, you can buy a Mystery Animal box in the market for 50 Horseshoes (roughly $7) and open it up to find an owl, porcupine and a pink rabbit inside. If you collect all three, you'll will be able to brag about it with your new Dead Bear statue.







The Mystery Animal crate will only be around for a limited time, so all of you collectors out there should move fast before the crate disappears from the Market. (Though, judging from FarmVille's limited edition items, it's more than likely that these mystery animals will return again at a later date).

Do you think the Mystery Animal Crate is worth the price? How many tries did it takes for you to find all three animals?

FrontierVille Missions menu makes it easier to keep track of to-dos

One of the reasons I consider FrontierVille my favorite game on Facebook is because there's always a stream of missions that give you things to do. Until now, however, it's been a little difficult to keep track of them all -- especially since you can have numerous missions going at one time. They would appear and disappear from the left-hand side of the screen at random, so I was always thinking things like "Where did that groundhog mission go? Did I complete it or not?"

Now that problem has been solved as Zynga flips the switch on a new Missions menu that helps you keep track of everything you need to do in-game. You can see what missions you have going by clicking on 'My Stuff' and the clicking on 'Missions.' That will pull up a page (see above) that lists all of your missions. Click on each mission to see what else you need to do to finish.
frontierville missions menu
You can alternately click on the mission icon on the left-hand side of the game (see image below) to pop the menu.
frontierville missions menu
If you're so inclined, you can prioritize missions by reordering them, which will be handy if you've got more Missions in the hopper than I do.

FrontierVille Meal Deal: Sign up to get free meals via email

FrontierVille is presenting an offer we can't refuse -- a free meal delivered to our email inbox daily. This 'meal deal' is a limited time offer and here's how it worked when I signed up.

I went into the game and was notified that I had a letter, which I found sitting in the middle of my property with a giant yellow arrow above it.


I clicked on the letter and received the following pop up, which explains how this deal works. Basically, you'll get a daily email from FrontierVille that will contain a free meal (meals replenish your energy in the game). You have to accept the meals that same day or they will expire.



Not sure how long this meal deal will be around, there's no indication that this will be a long-term or short-term promotion. I also checked my email right after I signed up, and I didn't get an email for today. We'll see how it long it takes for this free meal thing to kick in. After all, I'm a sucker for free food -- real or virtual.

FrontierVille Giant Rabbit Timed Mission: Everything you need to know

Just as the 'Chicken Roundup' timed mission is coming to a close, FrontierVille releases another one called "Maybe it's for a Giant Rabbit." If you've been playing the game for a while, this will be a pretty simple mission to complete.

In two days, you'll need to collect the following:

    500 Wood
    21 Nails
    10 Metal Bars

frontierville giant rabbit

Wood can be collected while chopping trees. Nails and metal bars can be requested from friends and purchased for Horseshoes. You can also get these materials by responding to friends' requests.

Once the job is done, you receive a Trojan Rabbit for your troubles. This is one big decoration, so make sure you have enough room to place it on your homestead.

Are FrontierVille Babies on the way?

Unless the next update to FrontierVille is an homage to Alien, then we'd have to say yes. Zynga cryptically posted a teaser image a very pregnant woman reading, "Big things are arriving," today on the FrontierVille fan page. Now, this is just an educated guess based off of millions of years of human evolution, but we're lead to believe that the woman pictured above is about to deliver a baby.

That being said, we have absolutely no idea what this will mean for FrontierVille, but who doesn't like some good old speculation? Our guess is that this feature will introduce a new protege, if you will. A young guy or gal we can show the ropes so that they can take care of the homestead while we're out at the movies or quite simply want to escape to our fancy new Kinects for a few days hours. Planted some crops that you might miss ripen because the new episode of The Walking Dead is on? Fuhget about it; the little one knows how to harvest a mean tomato. Rampant dreams of loyal servant children aside, stay tuned for when this feature goes live as we'll be all over it.

FrontierVille: Help Zynga pick new animals to bring to the game

If you'd like to have an impact on what happens in FrontierVille in the future (at least where new animal additions are concerned), you now have that chance, as Zynga has launched a user poll over on the official FrontierVille forums, where you can choose from a list of animals (a wide variety of animals at that), with your pick being the animal that you'd most like to see added to the game.

The choices are Skunk, Raccoon, Antelope, Moose, Peacock, Camel, Unicorn, Pony, and Pegasus. Of course, some of these animals could have a much more realistic role in the game, while we have fantasy animals like Unicorns and even Pegasus to choose from, if you're into that sort of thing.

Surprisingly, most users apparently want to keep to the realism, rather than heading into a world of fantasy, as right now the two leaders are Skunk and Raccoon, with 353, and 381 votes, respectively, of the almost 1,000 people that have voted. If you'd like to vote for any of these animals, you'll need to head over to the official forum thread, login with either Facebook Connect or your own registered account and then vote. You can also discuss your choice with other FrontierVille players in the thread - who knows, Zynga might read your comment and make your suggestions come to life within the game!

FrontierVille Buildin' a Ski Trail Timed Mission: Everything you need to know

After quite the break from timed missions in FrontierVille, Zynga has finally launched a new one this evening entitled "Buildin' a Ski Trail." This mission will have you completing three relatively simple tasks within a five day time limit, all in the hopes of receiving the new Ski Rack item that we brought you a sneak peek of at the end of January.

You'll have until the end of the month - February 28 - to accept this mission on your land, so feel free to hold off on accepting it until you've completed the other things on your plate. As we said, you'll have five days to complete this mission to earn 500 XP, 500 coins, and the Ski Rack decorative item, so meet us behind the break for all of the details about how to complete this new timed mission.

The three steps required to complete this mission are:

Clear 30 debris from Neighbor's Homestead
Harvest 10 Cherry Trees on Your Homestead
Get 10 Trail Markers from your Friends

With these steps, you'll be able to clearly see which tasks need to be performed on your own land, and which can be completed only when visiting neighbors. For the clearing debris step, if you have six neighbors that have quit the game entirely, make sure to scroll to the far left of your friends list to visit those neighbors first. Likely, their land will be so overgrown with weeds and flowers that you'll have no problem knocking this requirement out, and fast at that.

As for the Trail Markers, you'll need to ask your friends to send them to you via individual gift requests. As this mission has rolled out to users, it's likely that some of your friends have already asked you for these Trail Markers - you'll just need to accept their requests to receive Trail Markers back for yourself.

As a reminder, the prizes for finishing this mission are 500 XP, 500 coins and the Ski Rack. It's actually one of the easiest timed missions we've ever seen in the game, so you should have an easy time of it if you follow our simple step for finding enough debris.

FrontierVille Buildin' a Snow Fort Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

Another wintry timed Goal will soon arrive in FrontierVille. Titled "Buildin' a Snow Fort, players will have a limited time to complete three requirements. This Goal is currently unreleased, but we know that players will have seven days to complete the mission. We imagine the time in which it is available will be similar to the Buildin' a Ski Trail Goal that is live right now.

First, you will need to clear 25 debris from your own homestead. This is self-explanatory, no? Then, you will be required to sell 20 Adult Sheep. If you don't already have these Sheep, then it will take an absolute minimum of 20 hours to raise 20 Sheep into adulthood and cost 5,600 coins. Finally, you can ask your friends for 10 Snowballs while you're working on the other two requirements. And remember, giving them out also creates a Snowball for yourself. Completing this Goal in the time allotted will reward you with 500 XP, 500 coins and this snazzy snow fort.

FrontierVille Canning Master Goals: Everything you need to know

Canning Master
If you weren't busy enough yucking it up in the April Goals, yet another set of Goals is coming to FrontierVille. Titled "Canning Master," these Goals will have you taking the finest vegetables, fruits and crops (and even animals) to, well, put them in cans. Hey, that's Cannery for you. However, this information is early, so the details in this guide are subject to change.

TomatoesMmm Tomato Gravy

    Harvest 50 Tomatoes
    Collect Three Butter
    Have 5,000 food


Planting all those Tomatoes will cost 1,250 coins, and the Butter is part of the Cow Collection. Put it on your Wish List to increase your chances of a friend giving you one. Yes, the food will be consumed, and yes it's a ridiculous requirement. Hang tight, it's only going to get worse from here.

Hot and Saucy

    Harvest 150 Apple Trees
    Craft 15 Fire
    Have 15,000 food


That many Apple Trees will take quite a while without a lot of them at once, which cost 800 coins. Crafting Fire is, of course, done in the Wagon for Wood and Cloth from visiting friends. This is where things get nuts (and likely to be tuned down): 15 thousand food. And it only gets worse from here.

PeppermintChicken Soup for the Pioneer Soul

    Tend 300 Chickens
    Collect 30 Canning Jars
    Have 50,000 food


This is just getting out of hand. The 30 Canning Jars are collected via--what else?--friend requests. As for the 50 thousand Food, harvest away.

Winning the Blue Ribbon

    Harvest 500 Peppermint
    Collect 100 Cloth
    Have 100,000 food


To harvest 500 Peppermint would cost 100 thousand coins (if you did it all at once), which is funny considering you'll need equally as much Food. All the while, you must visit friends to grab that 100 Cloth. Unreasonable? Probably, but the veterans have been asking for a challenge, right?

[Source: FrontierVille Info]

Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Have you seen these Goals appear in the game yet? What's your technique to amassing Food and coins?

FrontierVille Sneak Peek: Meet Mule in the Mud, the next Injured Critter

No, this is likely not an April Fool's joke. The next Injured Critter in FrontierVille will most likely be a big ol' Mule in the Mud. While it's unclear as to how pioneers will find the Mule, details on how to save it have been released.

Because the Mule is, well, big an' old you'll need to gather friends for these positions:

    Digger
    Pulley Operator
    Mule Whisperer
    Coffee Maker
    The Muscle
    Supervisor


It's unknown if this is it for rescuing the critter, though you will of course be able to keep it. Stay tuned to the game as this donkey will drop in on your homestead soon enough.

[Source: FrontierVille Info]

[Image Credit: My FrontierVille Blog]

Have you seen this critter in the game yet? Will you be going after it when it does arrive?

FrontierVille: Strike water and build your own Water Well for boosts and critters

Why howdy pardners! There's water in them thar hills of FrontierVille! Yee-haw! Ahem, excuse the minor impersonation of Jack, but there is indeed water to be found on your Homestead, and you'll find it at random while clearing debris. To be specific, while clearing debris you have the chance to "strike water," in the form of a small Wellspring. Again, this happens at random, and at this point, there's nothing you can do to increase your chances.

Once you find a Wellspring, you'll unlock the ability to build an actual, structural Well on top of it. This is done by whacking the Wellspring three times, with each time costing nine wood. Once that's done, you'll have to collect seven different building ingredients, just as you would with any other proper building in the game. The seven ingredients are the Shovel, Rope and Bucket, Spigot, Hand Crank, Pulley, and Dowsing Rod. You'll need seven each of the Shovel, Rope and Bucket, and Spigots, and you'll earn each through individual requests from friends. Meanwhile, you can ask for the five each that you need of Hank Cranks, Pulleys, and Dowsing Rods via simple wall posts asking all of your friends at once.

After you've completed the structure of the Well, you'll be able to collect from it ten times before it goes dry. Doing so will allow you to receive all sorts of crop boosts, and even some animal boosts, along with two new (rare) critters: a Blue Frog and a Yellow Turtle, as seen below.

It's presumable that after your first Well "dries up," you'll be able to complete the process all over again, finding a Wellspring and then building another well, but we wouldn't be surprised if the requirements changed (ie: became more difficult) in the process, just as expanding the storage shed becomes ever more challenging each time you complete it. What we do know for sure is that yes, you can find a second Wellspring, and will even need to do so to finish the accompanying Water Well quests. It's just how difficult the second construction will be that's up in the air.

Sure, this Well is almost exactly like the Beehive, but with the chance at rare critters, I think it's worth a build, at least once - don't you?

FrontierVille Water Well Goals: Everything you need to know

This weekend, Zynga has launched the Water Well in FrontierVille. Along with an actual "building" (the Well) that you can place on your Homestead, and then use to collect crop and animal boosts, along with two new and rare critters (the Blue Frog and the Yellow Turtle), you'll also be able to complete a series of three goals associated with the Well. Remember, as these quests are incredibly new, they are subject to change at any time.

The first goal is called "May as well find a Spring!" and it asks you to complete three tasks:

Clear 20 Grass
Discover a Wellspring
Begin Building a Well

As we've told you before, the Wellspring can be found randomly while clearing debris. Simply whacking that wellspring (as though it were the base of a building frame) will allow you to "begin" the building of the actual well. Finishing this first quest rewards you with 100 XP, five Peanut Ready Boosts, and two Well Pulleys, which are used in the actual construction of the final Water Well. The second goal in this series asks you to harvest some crops, and help out on friends' Homesteads, along with collecting another item used in the construction of the Well (while you can ignore the Well altogether once you find the Wellspring, this proves that Zynga really wants you to go through with building it).

Harvest 10 Flax
Unwither Neighbors' Crops 15 Times
Collect 5 Dowsing Rods

For this mission, it looks like the Dowsing Rods will be collected via a general wall post asking your friends to give them to you, rather than individual gift requests. Finishing this mission gives you 150 XP and two Corn Ready Boosts.

Finally, for mission three, you'll need to complete the construction of your first Well, and move immediately into working on the second.

Complete the Well
Remove Two Stumps (on your own Homestead)
Find a second Wellspring

For a full look at completing the Well's construction, make sure to check out our guide. For finishing this final of the three missions, you'll receive 250 XP, five Unwither Crop Boosts, and a Bucket O' Duckies, a new decoration that's just overflowing with tiny rubber duckies (and is so cute!).

Remember, by completing your Well(s), you'll have a chance to collect crop and animal boosts, and maybe even a rare critter from the Well a full 10 times before it dries up and you'll need to move onto the next. These missions don't seem too terribly complicated either, so even if you only went into this looking to snag a couple of exclusive critters, you wouldn't really lose anything, other than time.

Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.