Cityville on Facebook

The information found on Facebook about Cityville is basic and begins with a short explaination:

"Build and run your own city in CityVille. Once you have cleared some land, your city planner will help you to build up a thriving metropolis. Modernize and build housing for your citizens, add decorations to increase property value, plant and harvest crops to run restaurants and import goods to run retail stores. Trade with friends via boats and trains and build a business empire."

I have found that there are a few steps that are often missed or unknown in many game applications located across the net and on Facebook in particular. These missed steps or unknowns could really enhance your game-play fun =) Here are some tips I have found to be helpful on your way to level 50.

Follow Samantha's instruction ... place your cottage (you must place many buildings as Samantha dictates in the beginning). Later, moving anything around is quite easy as long as you have an open space to relocate it to.

Building a cottage, Head Quarters, business or other building requires energy. One click for one energy =) Smaller buildings require less clicks to complete.

The basics of "follow Samantha" through the quests are at play in the beginning and then sporatically throughout on your journey to becoming Mayor of your newly found city. While the step by step basics are adequately covered by Samantha during gameplay, the stuff you wished you knew before you began or, at the very least, just after you began is the "meat" I am going to cover here in this Hubpage =)

I have taken the screenshots to get you through the very set-up at the very beginning .... Now ... let's move into the tips, tricks, and what you really need to know early in the game to create an outstanding city.

First and foremost ... you need friends =) Neighbors for your metropolis! The more friends you have that play Cityville and become your neighbor, the easier and quicker you will build your town into a city =)

How do I gain new friends on Facebook? Get involved in the Cityville Forum! http://forums.zynga.com/forumdisplay.php?f=500 This is the fastest way to cool, new, avid, Cityville players. Post in the forum that you need new neighbors for Cityville on Facebook and include a link to your Facebook page. Then, be sure to add these new Cityville players as your Facebook friends .... Then ... add them in Cityville as your neighbor.

Joining the forum groups for adding neighbors will help as well and joing the Facebook groups for Cityville will help you meet new Facebook friends that also play.

They will visit your City, send you gifts, and Help you out as needed. Check these screenshots out below. These are of the sending gifts area, adding neighbors, and where to find how to Help Out your existing neighbors =)

Never be hesitant to ask for help from your friends. If you need a particular item, you can request from your friends a "Help Me Out" send. This is an awesome way to fulfill needs for quests in Cityville on Facebook.

One of the best tips I ever got while playing was to plant the flowers and other items under the decorations tab near homes and businesses as much as possible. Locating these "bonus" items near roads, warehouses, or HQ's does not benefit you with coin or experience points. Only placing the "bonus" infused decoration items like puppies, cows, flowers, or shade trees near a business or home gains you the bonus payouts. The HQ's (HeadQuarters) buildings should likewise be placed near the businesses for the added payoff. 

The coins, stars (experience), and "collection" items that sqeeze out of the various interactions during gameplay are important to then click on before they disappear. You will still get credit for all the stars, coins, etc. BUT ... you will gain Additional points for actually clicking on these appearing items.

Placement and balance are the two first basic keys to a strong city build. I have found many players go for the quick build by placing rows of bakerys, coffee shops, etc. for fast money instead of designing their cities to blossom into a well laid out metropolis. Gathering all of your homes, apartments, cottages, places to live in one area is also something I have seen some players strive to do. Remember, community buildings can be placed anywhere, but housing buildings and businesses Must be placed next to a road or a sidewalk.

It is your city, you lay it out and construct the design as you wish, but keep in mind the decoration placement, the amount of business as compared to the housing.

The ratio of housing to business is going to help determine how happy the residents of your city are =) Keeping the population lower than the population limit is key to a happy city!

Harvest, grow, buy, sell, and visit others cities to stock your businesses. If you have many friends, your chances of filling up your barns and silo's with harvests from your friends cities is much greater. If your neighbors are few, you will need to rely on your farm plots to supply your cities businesses with goods. While you play, plant an area with Strawberries. They grow quickly and can be utilized within a few moments, the yield is not as large as corn or some other crops, but the grow time is fast.

Franchise as many of your friends cities as you can by building a new business of your own in your friends city. You can do this when they have an open lot. Sometimes you are in queue with other friends, so you may not have arrived first to request the space for your business. As that friend adds new neighbor business placement plots, your request will emerge on top and be chosen. Keep sending a reminder via your HQ.

As you level, your HeadQuarters (HQ's) will need you to build another layer on them and as you place new businesses in your friends cities, you will find a new HQ to build waiting for you in your Inventory.

Trains and Shipping: I have seen a few schools of thought on the buying and selling of trade goods in Cityville on Facebook. I elect to sell my harvested crops mainly and to only buy from my friends who need some help =) I am a grower, but it seems the more friends you have the freer you are to become a harvester. When you go to visit your friends farms,you can fill your coffers with those harvests. You will need to use up less of your own land to plant this way and keep that land open to build some more money making businesses or homes.

Remember, you currently may have 300 neighbors. These neighbors will help you reach certain goals or unlock certain in game features. You may only display up to 50 neighbors on your neighbor ladder. You may only collect from 50 neighbors per day. gaining these neighbors by joining the forum or a group at Facebook about Cityville will help you reach this goal.

If your supply of Energy, Coin, or your city is just not progressing as fast as you would like (although, many friends and neighbors, builds a city with speed) then purchasing Cityville Coins and Cash, or earning them is for you. This is an easy transaction and the option is located along the top bar of the application of Cityville.

Here is wishing you many hours of great fun. feel free to look me up at Facebook and add me as your newest Cityville neighbor =) Stephanie Haile aka Wavecritter