Zynga Creates CastleVille for Facebook

Zynga does it again! The social game experts have created a new game that includes building a court, harvesting, visiting and assisting friends, and expanding the players kingdom.

With an custom designed character the player starts with a small plot of land and is provided quests and a couple of friends to aid in the building of their kingdom. The game, which was released in November 2011, follows the same friend request style as CityVille, FarmVille and FishVille.

The pace of the game is your own. If you like to casually play or aggressively build and compete with your friends, you are free to do so.

When the game begins, the Duke will become your first neighbor and will provide the first quests. These starter quests will provide your character with the basics of game play.

Each additional quest giver will steer your character towards building a successful kingdom of their own.

Building a protective wall and tower buildings will generate income as well as increase the level of the character and Castle. With each level bonuses are provided and new options become available. With the tools that are provided the new land owner can move houses, animals and crops at will. Making the kingdom look completely different and accommodating new houses and villagers. As the kingdom grows, larger higher taxed houses will become available.

Planting crops, feeding livestock, gathering resources are all part of the game play. With each task inventory will grow and potions will be introduced to assist in obtaining the quest objective. New characters will be introduced which will train the character in various skill sets.

With a market for purchasing houses, crops and decorative items, each kingdom will have a unique look. Making the kingdom grow will consist of leveling while building the castle as well as decorating the area for the villagers that reside there.

There are several places to receive free items for CastleVille. Facebook has one fan page named CastleVille Cheats Page that is dedicated to listing hacks, cheats and free items. On this page there are links that provide items such as flowers and clothing items that can be obtained at no charge with one simple click.

Another way to gain assistance as your character levels is by joining the Facebook CastleVille Discussion Group. There are no links on that page, but they provide networking for players. In this networking structure, they have lists of players that would like to join as a friend in order to increase their neighbors in the game. The discussion group addresses bugs and solutions in the newly released game.

A second helpful group is the CastleVille Request Group. This group will share links with free items, hints, tips, and cheats. This group will also provide additional names of people that want to be added to play the game.

For massive giveaways simply like the CastleVille Facts and Tips and Tricks page on Facebook. They provide a wide array of items to increase the value of your kingdom. Statues, a designer topiary as well as building materials are all available free on a regular basis.

What sets this application apart is the combat element. In this CastleVille game, the character will battle beasts that invade the newly developed kingdom. Rat beasts will invade the crops and Wolf type beasts will invade the castle and wall area. The character can defend the castle and crops even without energy. Protecting the castle and crops will provide special rewards once the beast is defeated.

Increasing the castle level will allow for exploration of the surrounding area. The castle level will increase as walls, towers and buildings are built. The surrounding areas house many secret characters as well as quests and objects. Completing the quests will build up your castle level and will provide incentives for exploration.

Gaining Reputation will allow you to purchase special decorations and special items. Gaining reputation is very easy to accomplish, simply visit friends kingdoms and aid them in tasks around their land. Harvesting, fishing, collecting rent and fighting beasts are some of the options available when visiting a neighbor's kingdom.

The game has features that are familiar if you have played any of the other Zynga games on Facebook. There are new features as well to keep game play interesting.

The game released mid November and is drawing quite a number of players and with the diverse quests and options available, it looks like Zynga has another hit on it's hands.