Zynga’s CastleVille: Cheats, Tips, Freebies, and Add Friends

CastleVille: Cheats, Tips, Freebies, and Add Friends

2014: Currently playing Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Read about that here.

by Stan Faryna

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Does the Gloom overshadow your kingdom?

Zynga, the Facebook game partner, released a new game, CastleVille, just before the days of turkey coma and, perhaps, to keep 10’s of millions entertained beyond Thanksgiving through the winter holidays and Christmas – if I dare to publicly name the Christian holiday which marks the birth of Jesus Christ. And I do – in case you didn’t know. [grin]

Below you will find here my insights about how to get your game on. CastleVille – in other words. My insights have been reviewed by 100s of players and I’ve received quite a lot of positive feedback so far. Level zero to eight – that’s what we’re talking about. Cheats, tips, and tricks by any other name. And nothing to do with roses!

Or, we can call them by more modest terms, insight and illumination. Or to be more colorful, over turning turtles.

Yes, setting turtles on their back would be a reference to the dialogue in David Milch’s daring, western-style HBO series Deadwood – and reminiscent of Shakespeare! You can read up about Deadwood and it’s three short seasons here.

Castleville will be yet another short lived Zynga wonder for all the right and wrong reasons – just like CityVille was last Christmas. Oh – wonderful infographics are to be expected. Charting the engagement of millions, of course. 10 million registered CastleVille users in the first week, I suppose. 20 million by the third week. But nothing will graph the fall, the rate of abandonment, and the desperation of Zynga’s C-suite when Castleville’s active player base turns to other distractions.

How shall Mark Pincus and the boys (John Schappert, Steve Chiang, and Cadir Lee to name a few) ever measure up to a 100 billion dollar valuation – an epic illusion that if it succeeds means the world is still wrong and the 99 percent are right.

Beyond the dire fate of Zynga and all Facebook games AND the cheats, tips, and tricks about to be served on a silver platter like the head of John the Baptist, I remain amazed that social media gurus have not plied their sorceries, incantations, and mantras across the easy accessibility of social game channels. Where’s the clucking of hens and crowing of roosters?!

It remains further evidence that even the greatest of the social media illusionists and mavens continue to understand nothing about opportunity though they are frequent to speak about opportunity, trail blazing, and unmarketing.

Do not trust the Duke though he remind you of Santa Claus. He’s nothing more than a middle man for the opium trade. [grin]

Beware the gloom because it is your discontentment and heart break. The gloom is not an external evil to be pushed back like a crowd of students by the politzei bearing prodding clubs and pain sticks. OWS is just the beginning of the gloom – disenfranchisement, protest, and the collapse of the middle class.
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Cheats, tips, tricks, and freebies

Typically, a Facebook game’s first eight levels determines if the game is going to be played through the next ten levels. It’s the time a player gets a good feel for the game, if it’s a charming time killer or not, and what your friends have to say on the matter. It is true enough that Zynga and Playdom have failed to release new and intriguing Facebook games since the big gold rush a year ago and the lack of new games has facebook gamers ready to put up with any slop being mopped and slopped at them.

If you’ve played Farmville, Cityville, or City of Wonder, CastleVille will be obvious to you.

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Castleville Guide for Beginners (Level 0-8)

1. Friends

Friends are important in Zynga and Playdom games. The game will really drag if you don’t have a lot of them. You need a minimum of 200 Facebook friends to really crank through the levels of Casteville. Get 200 neighbors in Castleville by level eight or give up the game.

I know! That’s an incredulous recommendation, right?

That’s the best cheat slash tip that you’ll ever get.

And the hunt for 200 begins officially at level six when Alastair presents his quest (Sterner Stuff) to build one maiden’s tower. Of course, I say build two! You’ll need six people who play CastleVille to agree to fill the crew of two maidens’ towers.

I recommend sending out at least 20 Add Friend Requests per day for the first five days of your game play. Rinse and repeat. If you are lucky, at least half will accept your Add Friend Request.

Be sure to send them a message thanking them for adding you as a Facebook friend and Castleville neighbor. If you do, they may remember you when you send them a special request.

You don’t want to add just anyone. You want to add Castleville friends that will gift to you, level up, visit your kingdom, fill positions in your royal buildings, visit royal buildings, and share insights and excitement in your game play.

I know! That’s a lot to ask. Ask anyway. Just be nice and friendly about it. One out of ten may actually reply back.

The best place to look for the right kind of Facebook gamers are in Facebook groups such as the Castleville Gazette and the Castelville Players Group. Get added to the groups and then go through the member lists, send your add requests, and send a friendly message too.

Epic CastleVille players that I can recommend: Phaedrah Ellison, Cecili Sin, Michelle Collins Michael, Findell Olsworth, Az Marik, Jolena Ackerman, and Áine MacDermot.

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2. Quests

Do the quests. You get quests be interacting with the Non-Player Characters (NPCs): Rafael, Yvette, Alastair, the weasly Duke, and others. You’re first big goal is to find Alastair in the surrounding gloom by or before level eight.

In other words, you’ll need to unlock the gloom area that he is occupying.

Pay attention to the quests and get them done. Do not spend crowns to get the quests done. You’ll need to buy and spend crowns soon enough.

If you have to spend crowns before level eight, give up. You supposed to be learning the game now and circumventing the learning process, as in life, has profound and protracted consequences.

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3. Building

Build buildings on the Courtyard to get coin and time bonuses. You can add courtyard to your kingdom by buying courtyard with coin in the marketplace. Build buildings as close as possible to each other but in a manner in which you can still click them for the collection. Use the design mode to move objects around and make the best use of the limited space you get; the design mode icon looks like arrows pointing in four directions) to move things around.

It’s recommended not to waste money on decorating stone or cobblestone courtyard until after level eight. Use the Dirt Courtyard to extend and ensure that buildings are on the courtyard. You’ll find Dirt Courtyard in the Marketplace under Decor. It costs 100 coins per square.

It is also recommended to have three workshops and two logging camps by level seven. The quests may also ask you to construct other buildings such as cottages.

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4. Royal Buildings

It is recommended to build two maiden towers and two barracks by level seven.

Royal Buildings are a little tricky in the sense that you really only want your best game friends to fill the positions required by the royal buildings. Because each time they visit the building, it will increase the level of bonuses they and you get. If you use crowns or you just ask anybody to fill the positions, you’ll miss out on those increasing bonuses.

You want serious gamers to crew your royal buildings. But don’t focus on sending invites to the highest scoring players among your friends and neighbors. Most of those with more than 2000+ points often do not spend much time on visiting neighbors – not enough time to find the royal buildings on which they crew.

That reminds me to mention that it’s up to you to make it easy for crew members to find the royal buildings. Put all royal buildings in one place as best you can.

Again, I recommend going to the CityVille Gazette and inviting people to crew on your royal buildings that share often in that forum by post or comment.

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5. Farming

Build farm plots adjacent to water. This will give a time bonus. Utilize the pond. Then add river as you need it. Generally speaking, you only need 20 “irrigated” farm plots until level ten.

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6. Animals

Feed the baby chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, peacocks, etc. from the moment you get them. Well fed chicks and calves, for example, grown into mature chickens and cows. Well fed mature chickens and cows are key to some of the quests.

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7. Chopping Wood

You’ll be chopping a lot of wood to build things and craft. This will cost energy. The Castleville Gazetters found a nice trick to conserve energy on your wood chopping. Use Super Chop on all your oak trees! You can craft Super Chop or buy it with hearts (reputation points).

When you visit friends’ kingdoms, you will get hearts by helping them. It is recommended to spend half of your hearts on Super Chop. You can buy it in the Marketplace under consumables. It costs 20 hearts.

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8. Crafting

Collect as many crystal shards, wood, and stone from your friend’s posts. You’ll need all you can get for your crafting. The top items to craft (levels 4-8) are Super Chop, clubs, Super Clobber, and the Exploration Crystal.

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9. Combat

Combat with gloom beasties uses precious energy. Hand to hand combat is the lest economical form of combat. In the beginning, use a club. You can craft clubs in a workshop.

Then use a Super Clobber. You can buy a Super Clobber in the Marketplace under consumables. It costs 20 hearts. Or you can craft a Super Clobber in a workshop.

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10. Visiting your friends’ kingdoms

You’ll collect money, wood, stone, hearts, and other things by visiting your friends’ kingdoms. You’ll make your friends happy too! Visit them every 24 hours.

Make good neighbors with at least 20 people and that starts by asking them what chores you might do on your visit that would help them the most. Yes, that means you need to send them a facebook message.

Don’t be shy. Shyness is the root of most envy and unfulfilled happiness in the world.

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11. Facebook Wall Posts

You’ll find all sorts of goody links on the Castleville posts made by your friends. Likewise, your Castleville friends will be looking at your posts for goodies that they need. Be sure to post accomplishments to your wall.

In order not to disturb your other friends not playing Castleville, you may want to customize your privacy settings on Facebook regarding the Castleville app.

You can find all the Casteville posts from your friends by using this link: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=app_107040076067341

Book mark it.

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12. Incentives and CasteVille Freebies

Zynga provides some incentive items for players. Get them free while the offer is still good.

Free In-Game Coin

500 Coins

Free Consumables

Exploration Crystal 1
Exploration Crystal 2
Exploration Crystal 3
Hypercraft Potion 1
Hypercraft Potion 2

Free Decorations

GMA Flag Pole
Fountain
Marble Fountain
Golden Fish Fountain
Archery Target
The Queen’s Silver Statue
Cannon
Topiary Castle
Blue Bonnet Flowers

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Forthcoming Cheats and Super Clobbers

Stay tuned for my forthcoming guide for Castleville levels nine through twenty.

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Feedback

If you think that this blog post sucks, let me know in your comment and don’t forget to include a link to YOUR favorite blog post.

If you think this blog post rocks, tell me why it rocks in the comment. “Awesome,””Great post,” etc. works for me. Don’t forget to include a link to YOUR most recent blog post.

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Stan Faryna
30 November 2011
Bucharest, Romania

P.S. if you’re looking for some insight and illumination about Backyard Monsters, go here.