FarmVille seems like a simple enough application: the player plants seeds, the seeds grow, the player harvests the crop, and the cycle starts again. This is in many ways the basis of everything that happens in FarmVille. Much like the real version, however, it takes more than just planting seeds to prosper at farming. There are many ways of earning ‘cash’ or ‘coins.’
Experience Points and Getting to the Next Level
The whole point of the game FarmVille is to move up in the levels. To do this the player must gain Experience Points. The number of experience points that the player has can be seen at the top of the screen, along with the number of experience points needed to progress to the next level.
Every time the player ploughs a field they gain experience points, likewise every crop has a number of experience points associated with it. Whenever a crop is planted the player gains experience points. The number of experience points for every crop can be seen in the Market just above the price.
Other ways of gaining experience points include buying animals, buildings, trees, and decorations, and helping out one’s neighbors.
Earning Ribbons
There are several prizes or ribbons which reward the player for various achievements such as harvesting crops. These can be viewed by clicking on the blue ribbon at the bottom right corner of the screen. There are different requirements for each ribbon, and different colors of ribbon. For example, owning two buildings wins the yellow Architect ribbon and a prize 500 coins and owning 6 buildings wins the white Architect ribbon, etc.
Every time a ribbon is won a cash prize is awarded along with a gift of either a farming object or an animal. The gift is often one which the player does not have access to because it is blocked to lower levels. This makes the gift more valuable as the player could not get it in the market.
Growing a Variety of Virtual Plants and Animals
There are many advantages to planting a variety of crops and trees and in buying a variety of animals. The first of which is that most of the Ribbons are awarded for harvesting from a certain number of different species. The same is true of collecting from animals and trees; different species means more prizes.
Another benefit of planting different types of crops is that they will become ripe at different times, creating a steady flow of crops and income. The harvest time for each crop can be viewed in the market above the price.
It is important to pay attention to the harvest time: leaving a crop for too long after it has become ripe (ready to harvest) can make the crop rot and waste time and money.
Helping Neighbors and Facebook Friends
Every time a player helps a neighbor they gain coins, experience points, and get one step closer to winning a ribbon.
To help a Neighbor one either has to select one from the bottom of the screen or go to the ‘My Neighbors’ page. Alternatively, a pop up might alert the player of a Neighbor needing help, all the player must do is click on ‘Accept.’ It is also possible to help a Facebook friend who is not a Neighbor by going to the ‘My Neighbors’ page where alerts at the top of the page may allow the player to help someone who is not their neighbor.
Sending and Receiving Gifts
Receiving gifts is a great way to increase yield and value without spending FarmVille coins or cash. A player can receive gifts from each Neighbor or Facebook friend once a day. Likewise a player can send gifts to each Neighbor or Facebook friend once a day. The best way to receive gifts is to send them out and hope that someone will return the favor. It is a good idea to send gifts to player at higher levels as they will be able to send back better gifts.
These basic tips will help anyone prosper at FarmVille. Happy Farming!
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