Farmville has announced the winners of the Valentine’s Day decorating contest. The farms are impressive and can give you some ideas for decorating your own farm. Check them out below and learn more about Farmville tricks like hay bale stacking in our previous Farmville cheats post.
With Valentine’s Day approaching, Farmville has followed up on the release of their Unwithers with a very interesting limited edition item called the Unwither Ring. Anyone possessing this ring will never have withered crops. It’s a very powerful ring, indeed. But with that power comes cost. This is a very expensive item, costing 250 FV Cash (a little over $40 in real money). It’s intended to be given as a gift, so if you’ve got a Farmville fan in your life, it can make for an interesting Valentine’s Day gift. But anyone who would truly appreciate this kind of gist probably logs into the game religiously and never gets withered crops anyway. Still, it’s an interesting, albeit luxurious, item to have. It’s only available for a few days.
The holder of an unwither ring will never suffer from withered crops.
If you have played a lot of Farmville then this has probably happened to you at least once. You get busy with real life, work, or go on vacation then return to the game only to discover all your crops have withered. The results can be devastating: in addition to the lost coins, there’s also lost time, which can be especially painful if you’re growing long-term crops like Yellow Melons or Red Wheat. Up until now, you simply had to plow under the crops and start again, perhaps reminding yourself to set a calendar alarm next time.
But now Farmville has answered the problem with a new item called Unwithers. This is an item you can buy in the market for 10 Farmville cash (about $6 in real money). You get a 3-pack of unwithers, and each one will completely restore your entire farm, reviving withered crops. A nice touch is that you can also use it on your neighbor’s farm. Is it worth $2 a shot. We don’t know for sure. It all depends on how much you value your time and Farmville coins.
Unwithers revive an entire farm's worth of crops.
The newest item to arrive in Farmville is the Farmville Valentines Box. This is a mailbox that you can place on your farm to send and receive Valentines from your friends. You can then trade those valentines in for special limited edition Valentine’s Day decorations that you can place on your farm. It works a lot like the holiday tree from Christmas but with a few differences.
The big change is that now there is a comparisons page so that you can see how your Valentines collection compares to your friends. Hey, it’s just like grade school all over again! Here’s what your Valentines Box will look like when you’re just getting started.
A sad and pathetic empty Valentines box in Farmville
You can ask your friends to send you Valentines as well as gift Valentines to your friends using the normal gift sending tools in the game. The new Valentines items appear on the top row in pink boxes with hearts. They don’t have separate names, but it looks like the first five gifts you can send are a heart-shaped candy box, a bouquet of purple flowers in a vase, a cuddly teddy bear, a good old Valentine in an envelope, and a round blue present.
The Valentines in Farmville
There are three new seeds as part of the Farmville Valentine’s Day specials. These three new roses are only available for the next 11 days and you cannot earn Crop Mastery for them. But they’re extremely good seeds to get and very profitable both for coins and XP. The Fire & Ice Roses, which are only available to players who are level 35 and above, are by far the most profitable crops in the game, with a stunning Net Profit per hour of 11.56 coins and will earn 0.25 XP per hour, which is among the best rates in the game. The White Roses, which don’t have the same level requirement, are not too shabby either. They have a net profit of 8.04 coins per hour and will earn you 0.17 XP per hour. The bottom line is that for the next 11 days, these are the plants you want to grow, even without the Crop Mastery gains.
These pumpkins really are super.
A special new crop has arrived in Farmville for a limited time only. Super Pumpkins are available only for players who become fans of Farmville on Facebook. The new seeds will be available for planting through the end of the month only. They’re a pretty impressive crop with some of the best statistics in the game. They have the best net profit per hour of any crop (almost twice as much as peas!) and they earn XP at a rate equivalent to all the berry crops. Bottom line: if you’re serious about earning coins and XP, become a Farmville fan now and start planting super pumpkins every four hours until they go away!
Here is a look at some of the data.
It’s too early to get full Crop Mastery data on the pumpkins, but it appears that you can earn mastery in this crop. The first star requires 1,250 harvests.
Now that's a SUPER pumpkin!
Neighbors are an important part of playing Farmville. Neighbors help to fertilize your farm and feed your chickens, and they can be a great source of gifts, lost animals, and mystery eggs. By helping out your neighbor’s farms, you can also earn coins and experience points for yourself.
Finding neighbors can be tricky, especially if your friends don’t play the game. First, try sending invites to your friends to play Farmville. To do so, click on the “Invite Friends” tab above the game window and then choose people to invite among your friends list. An invite will be sent to these friends, and they can choose to accept, ignore, or decline your invitation.
You can also go to the “My Neighbors” tab and see which of your friends are already playing Farmville. On this page, you’ll see info on each friend’s level, achievements earned, and number of neighbors. We recommend scanning the list for players who are the most active. They are more likely to visit your farm and send you gifts.
If you’re looking to add highly active Farmville players as neighbors, you can also check out other resources such as the official Farmville forum. There is a thread called “Find Neighbors” where you can find other players looking for neighbors, and then add them to your farm.
You might also think about inviting people from Farmville fan sites. Search on “Farmville” in Facebook and look for results that mention “neighbors.” Many of these groups allow you to post “add me” messages so other members can invite you as neighbors; you can also send invitations to players listed on these sites. To increase your success rate, try including stats about your game level and activity, especially if you’re a very active player and highly advanced in the game.
The maximum number of neighbors that you can invite is 300, however you can keep accepting new neighbors that send you invitations.
If you’re worried about adding strangers to your account, you can restrict your privacy settings so you can add Farmville neighbors without giving them access to the rest of your Facebook profile. Here are the steps to do so:
1. Go to your “Friends” tab on Facebook
2. Click on the “Create New List” button above your listed friends
3. Type “Farmville Friends” in the box where it says “Enter a Name”
4. Hit “Create List”
5. Go to the “Settings” tab
6. Click on the “manage” link next to Privacy
7. Click on “Profile Information”
8. For each category, click on the drop down menu to the right and choose “Customize”
9. Under “Hide this from,” add “Farmville Friends” in the box that says “These people”
10. Click “Save Setting”
Now anyone you add to your Farmville Friends list will not be able to see your restricted profile information. When you click on the “Friends” tab in Facebook, you should see a “Add to List” button next to each of your friends. Click on “Facebook Friends” to add anyone you wish to include in this list.
Mystery Boxes were introduced to Farmville in October 2009. They can be purchased for 16 Farmville dollars in the Market under Decorations. Farmville is now also selling the Best of Mystery Chest, which is loaded with some of the best stuff from past Mystery Boxes.
A Mystery Box can be used as decoration for your farm, but opening it will reward you with one special item and experience points. To open a box, place it on your farm and then click on it to get the “Open” option. After choosing “Open,” the box will reveal its special contents. Once the box is opened, it disappears from your farm.
Each box usually contains one of six possible mystery items and only lasts about a week for purchase in the Market. Unopened boxes that you’ve already purchased can still be opened even after they’re removed from the Market.
Past prizes have included:
October 20, 2009 – October 30, 2009
Country Picnic Table, Fire Pit, Golden Gnome, Hot Tub, Long Chair, Red Bike, Striped Rest Tent, Tree Swing
November 10, 209 – November 18, 2009
20 Fuel Refills, 30 Fuel Refills, Acai Tree, Gazebo, Large Pond, Manor, White Owl
November 27, 2009 – November 25,2009
Animal Float, Carousel, Donkey, SilverStreak Trailer, Water Tower, Zen Garden
November 24, 2009 – November 30, 2009
50 Fuel Refills, Black Manor, Green Tool Shed, Groovy Barn, Pagoda, Treehouse
December 1, 2009 – December 9, 2009
Golden Fountain, Gold Sleigh, Holiday Gate, Platinum Gnome, Tinsel Tree, Toy Chest
December 9, 2009 – December 15, 2009
50 Fuel Refills, Golden Chicken, Gumdrop Tree, Snow Globe, Super Spin Ride, White Barn
December 15, 2009 – December 22, 2009
Dancin’ SnowLady, Frozen Pond, Gingerbread Home, Holiday Sleigh, Santa Gnome, Santa’s Workshop
December 23, 2009 – December 28, 2009
Grey Goose, Melting Snowman, Porch Swing, Rock Stream, Sneaky Crown, Stone Well
December 28, 2009 – January 6, 2010
Alpaca, Animals Statue, Giant Bell, Jack in the Box, Lighted Snowman Family, Ornate Welcome Gate
January 5, 2010 – January 12, 2010
50 Fuel Refills, Bunny Slope, Gazebo, Golden Chicken, Mini Train Set, White Barn
There is debate about the value of Mystery Boxes in Farmville. To get Farmville dollars to purchase a Mystery Box, you need to buy those dollars with real money — 1 real dollar is equal to 5 Farmville dollars; the minimum purchase amount is 5 real dollars. So you’ll end up spending about 3 real dollars for a Mystery Box.
If you like to decorate and collect rare items in Farmville, Mystery Boxes can be an easy way to obtain cool and exclusive decorations for your farm, as well as gain experience points.
Growing crops in Farmville is the activity that typically receives the most attention. It can earn you the most coins and experience, and if you’re on top of harvesting, will advance you faster in the game. However, other activities such as adding livestock to your farm and harvesting them for coins, can also be beneficial to your advancement and enjoyment in Farmville.
While it may not make you as much profit in the game, there are advantages to raising animals. Besides being cute and decorative, they do not “go bad” as crops will do if you don’t harvest them at the right time. This can be helpful if you’re not able to visit your farm regularly, or will be away from a computer on vacation.
In addition, animals can often be received as gifts, which means you can add them to your farm and collect coins after harvesting them, without having to invest in buying the livestock with your hard-earned funds.
Getting smaller animals can be a space saver too. Animals such as rabbits and ducks don’t take up that much room, and can earn you easy coinage. You can also invest in a chicken coop or dairy farm to house multiple chickens and cows, up to 20, which can be harvested all at the same time, saving you time and space.
There are currently close to 50 animals available on Farmville. Some of them can be purchased at market, such as chickens, pigs and sheep. Limited animals also show up in market; however, you’ll need to buy them before time expires and they can be quite expensive. Most other animals are only available through gifting from friends.
Another way to add animals to your farm is to “adopt” one. This can be accomplished by checking the profile pages of your Facebook friends. If a lost animal is found on their farm, they can put it up for adoption on their Facebook newsfeed. You’ll need to be quick and on the ball to capitalize on these opportunities. The first person who clicks on the adoption link will receive the animal, and no one else can get it after that.
According to the many profit charts and discussions on farm animals in Farmville, generally the best animals to maintain on your farm are goats, horses, ducks and rabbits, but that also depends on how often you can visit your farm to harvest those animals.
For the work you spend on your animals, Farmville will also reward you with ribbons, such as the Zoologist ribbons for harvesting your animals; the Animal Shelter ribbons for adopting lost animals; and the Noah’s Ark ribbons for having different kinds of animals. Ribbons will earn you coins as well.
Finally, it is possible to pet your animals, but the only result is hearing them make sounds. There is no financial benefit to petting your livestock, but it can be a fun activity, especially if you have children!
No farm in Farmvile is complete without a good collection of hay bales. But, did you know that you can really show off by stacking your hay bales in cool and colorful formations?
Hay bale stacking is just an illusion on Farmville. The code doesn’t actually allow stacking, but by placing the hay bales in strategic locations, it can appear as though the hay is stacked in nice little rows.
The trick to doing so is to place the hay bales so the top right corner of each hay bale in your bottom row is touching the bottom left corner of each hay bale in the row above it.
Then you’ll want to place extra hay bales to fill in the gaps on the right and left sides, so the ends are even. Add two to the right on the bottom row; add one to the right on the second row, etc.
After that, add two bales immediately behind the hay bale on the bottom left, and one immediately behind the hay bale on the middle left. You’ll end up with what looks like steps on the left side.
You can expand on this process to create bigger and better hay stacks. You can also vary the colors of the hay bales that you use. There are currently ten colors of hay bales – white, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gray and black.
You can make cool designs for the holidays and different seasons of the year. How about an all-red heart for Valentine’s Day? Or a green four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day? You can try other neat designs too, like a gigantic pyramid, waterfall, logo, or smiley face. Some players build high towers and put houses on them, creating villas in the sky. There are also massive fortress-like structures that can make your farm look like a fortified battle zone.
There is really no limit to the number of designs you can make, and if you get really good at it, you can enter your designs in various contests found around the web.
You can obtain hay bales by either purchasing them in the market under “Decorations – Hay Bales” for 125 coins each. You can also receive them as gifts from friends and neighbors. The more active a player you are in giving gifts and helping others in Farmville, the more likely you’ll receive assistance and gifts of your own in return.
Hay bale stacking is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to decorate your farm and really make it stand out from the crowd. We hope you found these tips helpful. Give it a try and comment with any suggestions or feedback here!
